YACGE (Yet Another CG Enterprise)

[aridas sofia]

^Absolutely. I still miss the precision with which Freehand handled snapping to a line or guide. I gave up Freehand slowly, and at a time when Illustrator was much more stable than its current bloated incarnation. It seems that the more stuff gets put in Illustrator, the slower and more uneven it runs.

I am none short of amazed that you used no meshes on that image, Kirkunit. You could teach me a thing or two, for sure.

 

[Kirkunit]

^I used Freehand years ago, but switched to Illustrator and never looked back. I haven't noticed Illustrator to be unstable at all. What sort of problems are you having? The only issue I have with newer versions of Illustrator (from 10.3 on) is that I can't import .dxf files from Alias anymore. I have to keep an older version installed for that reason only.

FYI, I started playing with meshes again & I might have to give them a second chance. I think the way I've been proceeding probably gives me more control, but meshes might work in some instances.

 

[Kirkunit]

Update time!

Added windows, running lights and markings to the saucer.

 

[Kirkunit]

I haven't forgotten about this. Really. Here's an update with a bunch of little details.

Here's a couple of close-ups to show off some of the fussier details...

I also thought it might be fun to show the reference I'm using for this image. This is a rendering I did in Alias. I built this years ago & dug it up to get a good, dynamic view. I didn't care too much about lighting, other than I wanted to make sure the shapes were reasonably well defined.