USS Grandeur - Final Version

[Lonewriter]

the best at doing MSD is Jose Ralet, you can look at his work on his site,JoseRalat.com, he is also a member of SFM.

[Vektor]

Originally Posted by theCommander

Grandeur-A and your Enterprise 1701 would be a great comparison!!! :-)

I’m sure I can arrange that at some point. I assume you’re talking about my conjectural Trek XI 1701 since it’s the only one that’s actually finished. The problem with that one is that I didn’t account for gamma correction when I did the texturing work, so it tends to look really washed out when I render it using physically accurate lighting, which is what I’m trying to do with everything these days. I’ve been working on redoing the textures so they render properly but I’m still learning on the whole gamma correction thing and it’s kinda slow going.

Okay, I passed that info on to Elowan, but it would still help him quite a bit to have the close-up saucer elevations (fore, aft, side) showing the bridge module for him to refence. He asked me for them twice over the weekend.

I assume that’s something you sent me an email about. Unfortunately, I haven’t checked my email since Thursday or Friday of last week so I didn’t know about it. I should be able to render out some orthographics of the bridge module, or I could even create some cross-sectional splines of each view that could be DXF’d into whatever program he’s using.

VEKTOR Is the ship exterior ready enough to start the MSD yet? We're going to need one done. I'm thinking of recruiting someone for that job... any suggestions? Of course we will need a trace-line done of the side of the ship for that.

Yeah, it’s probably far enough along for that, though I’m not going to guarantee that nothing about the ship’s profile will change, only that nothing will change drastically. Again, I can render out orthographic views or I can create cross-sectional splines. Let me know what you prefer.

As for who, I would also suggest Jose Ralat if you can get him to sign on for it.

And in answer to a question you posed some time ago, I am still debating several different approaches for texturing this baby. So far I am modeling a lot of surface details like panel lines, which opens the possibility of using just a few stock textures and tiling them over various parts of the ship. Unfortunately, this doesn't work for area specific texture details and also limits a lot of the weathering effects I like to include for added realism. The alternative is to do hi-res, "wall-to-wall" surface textures, but those come at a price, mainly memory limitations and render time depending on how close to the model you want to be able to get.

I don't know. I think I'm pretty good at actually creating textures but I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to the techniques of actually applying them to a 3D model, so I would appreciate any and all suggestions from those who are more experienced than I.

[Elowan]

After a large plate of kielbasa and beans along with 3 Grolsch's I can see that it was the angle that threw me off vis-a-vis what I have and the latest external shot of the bridge.

The cats are staying away from me for some reason , so I should be able to get some work done tonite.

[Vektor]

Something else occurs to me. REL777, if you're still out there, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know if I'm getting into more detail than you're going to want for the 3D printed templates. I know you already said the windows should not be included, which is why I'm saving them for last, but is there anything else I need to put off until those parts are mastered?

[Lonewriter]

Originally Posted by Elowan

After a large plate of kielbasa and beans along with 3 Grolsch's I can see that it was the angle that threw me off vis-a-vis what I have and the latest external shot of the bridge.

The cats are staying away from me for some reason , so I should be able to get some work done tonite.

I thought I smelled something. This ship is really looking great, it's one the best non canon ships I have ever seen.

[theCommander]

Full CGI orthographic views would be fine when the ship is farther along. I am thinking of line orthos for use with Engineering screens, like the MSD (thanks for the suggestions) and the like. These would have to be on the large side, maybe export to a vector eps or pdf so it can be imported into programs like autocad , composer, etc. I actually have a chance to do a life-size backlit MSD, so I'm talking at least 11x17 output possibilities. Deck lines would serve well on the side view, please.

As for the bridge module; fore, aft, and side CGI renders please, and a line-style cut away side view would be fine. Please designate some deminsions to scale with and an educated guess on the deck-lines to go by would be good, if you could, VEKTOR.

[theCommander]

Originally Posted by Lonewriter

the best at doing MSD is Jose Ralet, you can look at his work on his site,JoseRalat.com, he is also a member of SFM.

Thanks for the heads-up on a worthy candidate for MSD help, Lonewriter!!

I have sent Joe a PM on the matter and I hope he checks in and wants to help out.

[Lonewriter]

I've been a fan of this ship so I'm glad I could help.

[Vektor]

Well, here's what the amber deflectors look like.





I must say, I like it better than I thought I would, but I'm not committing to anything.

[JoeRalat]

Nice Update! Hey as for the MSD, I see what I can do. Right now, I am setting up my new mac. I have to install Illustrator,Photoshop...etc The best thing to do is get all the reference info & photos ready. Point out the warpcore hatch,shuttle bay..etc also have a large side view render to make the MSD.