Well, Scifieric kind of challenged me to do this, so here's my contribution to the general insanity that is modeling the USS
Enterprise. I think many of these techniques could actually be used in other 3D programs (for instance, I did much of the following in 3ds max before my PC blew up), so take what you think you need and leave the rest. Hopefully it'll be helpful.
The Enterprise has, essentially, three basic shapes…a saucer, rectangles (the warp drive pylons and the interconnecting dorsal) and cylinders (engineering section and the nacelles). The basic task of modeling these shapes is done by using vector-based shapes and manipulation of primitives, or “lathing” a shape. The actual task of modeling the Enterprise can be done fairly quickly, but the task of detailing the model is very time-intensive (and can lead to early male pattern baldness, marital stress, carpal tunnel syndrome, impotence, eyestrain, and other non-medical maladies).
Are you sure you still want to do this? Okay, then, let’s proceed.
First, it is imperative that you familiarize yourself with your application’s ability to import vector-based shapes. I’m not talking about raster outlines done in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro…I’m talking about shapes done in Illustrator or any other program that uses vectors to describe shapes. These shapes are always much cleaner in appearance, can be resized almost infinitely, and (at least in Cinema 4D and 3ds max) can be used as the basis for extrusions, lathes, and other types of shapes. Some of you may say this is cheating…I say why go through the effort of using planes with GIF files pasted on them as the basis for drawing paths when those paths are already readily available? Save yourself some time and headache, man!
If you don’t own Illustrator, see if your paint program will allow you to save out as an EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) file. If it will, then you can draw your paths in that program and export them out, then import them into your 3D app. If you can’t do that, then you’re back to drawing paths in your 3D program, using planes with the blueprints pasted on them, but that’s better than nothing. (The thread, “How to build the Starship Enterprise in TrueSpace 3” [
http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/m...pace-3-a.html] has some excellent pointers on how to do that, much better than my humble self can describe.)
A good Open Source vector drawing program is
Inkscape. It will allow you to do many of the same things as Illustrator. You'll still need the JPEGs to trace over, though.
Find a source for your blueprints or outlines. Two excellent sources are Alan Sinclair’s blueprints of the Enterprise (which can be found at
Star Trek TOS 1701 Enterprise Gallery) and Charles Casimiro’s set of blueprints (found at
http://home.earthlink.net/~casimiro/blueprints.html). Both are very good, and you can use either to draw very good vector outlines. Sinclair’s blueprints also include fairly accurate measurements of each component, as well as measurements between components. These can be of immense help. Also, Sinclair has DXF files on his site (for use in AutoCad 3D) which can be imported into Illustrator and some 3D applications. Be warned, however, that these files, while very good, are very large…and there is quite a bit of work involved in being able to use these for your 3D work. If you can do it, it’s probably easier to draw the paths in another application and import them into your 3D app.
Also, I mentioned above that primitives are used...there's a reason for that, and I personally think it's much easier than extruding polygons or stuff like that...even though it doesn't seem easier. But the method behind my madness will make itself apparent over time.
Okay, here’s where we get started. I’m assuming you’ve drawn your paths and you’ve imported them into your application. In Cinema 4D, here’s what the screen will look like (click on the thumbnail to enlarge):
Oh, you don’t see it yet? That’s because, for some reason, C4D doesn’t paste the object directly in the center (or at 0,0,0). Notice your X, Y and Z positions at the lower center of the screen. Each of these should read zero. So go into each field, highlight the numbers, then replace them with zero. Now here’s what you’ve got:
Okay, that’s better. But notice your path…the axes are in the center of the path. That may not seem like a big problem, but when you try to lathe it here’s what happens:
Hmm, that’s not what we want. Since the lathe function in most programs uses the Y axis (up/down) as its rotation point, we need to move the Y axis. In C4D, here’s how you do it.
First, note how big your path is in the X axis. In this case, it’s 583 inches. (Yes, that’s way too big, but ignore it for now…just look at the numbers.) The path is centered on the X axis. In order to lathe properly around the Y axis, we need to align the Y along the left edge of the path (what would be the “center” of the shape). Note the icons along the left edge of the screen. The second icon (directly below the one that’s selected) allows you to align the “axis” without moving the path. Click that button, then in the X position field, type in half of the 583 that’s in the X size field. (That would be 291.5.) Put a minus in front of the number. This allows you to move the axis to the extreme left of the path.
Okay, that moves our axis where it needs to be, but our path is still centered on the X/Y axis. That’s easy. Click on the button above the axis position button, and in the X position field, type 0. That moves everything back to the right.
Next: Lathing the saucer