high-detailed runabout (with interiors)

[psycho]

didn't do anything since the last post before the crash... just posting this to let you know, i didn't give up (and to let you kick my ass if i don't post any updates soon ;))

[Basajaun]

WOW! :o

This is one of my favourite trek desgins and yours is definately the best 3D runabout I've ever seen :)

[Masterjedi]

Well done! This looks like a great start. Keep it up.

-MJ

[psycho]

thanx guys :)

[Roliba]

It's about time you came back! I was about to start looking for an a$$ to kick.:devil:

[nico-r44]

Looking real good!!

[Auralis]

Woop its back. Good thing, would be a real shame to have it lost in the depths of the crash wormhole or sumething :)

[Nadesico]

are you building just the cockpit? or the complete interior as shown in TNG? And are you building a Pre-dominion or post-dominion interior?

[psycho]

gonna build every imaginable interior... all cockpit variants, several stern sections (but not the tng one, because this one doesn't fit to the exterior... the windows are totally wrong and the room is a bit too long...) and many many modules :)

now that step 2 of the sensei challenge started, i don't think i can start on this too soon, but i will as soon as this challenge step is over ;)

anyway... some more of the older pics...

[Nadesico]

looking sweet, gonna have a jettisonable cockpit as well?

[psycho]

and a few more... had to pack the wireframe because of the file size limit...

[psycho]

looking sweet, gonna have a jettisonable cockpit as well?

don't really know what you mean... if you mean if it hat escape pods, then the answer is no, because the danube-class is modular, so every segment can be seperated and can act as an escape pod...

[ChrisGFX]

WOW ... very nice details :)

Greets

Chris

[Nadesico]

don't really know what you mean... if you mean if it hat escape pods, then the answer is no, because the danube-class is modular, so every segment can be seperated and can act as an escape pod...

The DS9 tech manual says the entire cockpit area is a single lifepod capable of holding 4-8 people, it's supposed to have breakaway charges and it leaves the main section behind.

[Freak]

excellent it back. this had to be one of the most detail meshes of a runabout that is out there.

[I_E_Maverick]

it looks fantastic!

[CSpaced]

Looks great, the interiors look awesome - cant wait to see some panels lit up in there!

[psycho]

thanx guys :)


The DS9 tech manual says the entire cockpit area is a single lifepod capable of holding 4-8 people, it's supposed to have breakaway charges and it leaves the main section behind.

the runabout consists of several modules:

-the warp sled
-the stern section
-the mid section (which can be one big module, 2 smaller modules or 4 VERY small modules... maybe there are even more configurations possible)
-the cockpit

every single module (expect the warp sled) can detach from the rest and serve as escape pod.

i wouldn't count on the ds9 tech manual ;)

[stonky]

Nice!

[al3d]

Incredible work man..:)...lookse awsome..:)..such a shame it<s a Max file..hehehe

[psycho]

i'm sure i'll find someone willing to convert it ;)

[MajorPayne]

Dam those interiors look realistic. Fantastic work.

[Basajaun]

The detailing is impresive. Could you post some wireframes?

[JeffrySG]

love the way those interiors are looking... slick modeling and great renders!

[psycho]

glad that you all like it... makes me wanna start working on it now... unfortunately i don't have time atm because of the sensei challenge... :(


-basajaun: there is a wireframe with the last pictures i posted... it's in the .rar file, because it was too big to attach the picture ;)

[Basajaun]

Ouch! Sorry, I didn't see it :shiner:

[psycho]

no problem ;)

[jasongodwin]

looks so good so far *dreewls*
is it going to be released to public?

[Ares Blackmane]

My favorite small craft, beautiful in its boxy ugliness. I like.

[psycho]

-jasongodwin: definately no public release... some recent events (e.g. stolen meshes sold on turbosquid) made me a bit cautious, so i'll never again release anything to the public... but if you prove me that you're worth it (make some nice images and show me that you can model as well, we can talk about you getting on my private release list...

edit: another way would be to model something i'd love to have and NOT release it to the public, then i'll contact you to ask for an model exchange :D

[timewarp82]

So psycho, where'd you get the screenshots?:devil:

Looks awesome.

[psycho]

wrong question... you should ask how paramount got my mesh for the show before i finished it :flippy:

[Lt. Washburn]

gonna build every imaginable interior... all cockpit variants, several stern sections (but not the tng one, because this one doesn't fit to the exterior... the windows are totally wrong and the room is a bit too long...)

You should at least do an "inspired by" version. Same details, but proper proportions.

[traq]

i wouldn't count on the ds9 tech manual ;)
hear, hear
...dumb book...

anyway, glad you're back at it. I second the call for an "inspired by" version of the TNG stern cabin.

happy modeling!!! :)

[jasongodwin]

hey,
i will contact you shortly with some images, and show u what i am working on in regards to models, and we can talk.
thanks
jason

[psycho]

You should at least do an "inspired by" version. Same details, but proper proportions.

that's for sure... as close as possible, as different as needed ;)

[homerpalooza67]

(if this thread is still open...)


You should at least do an "inspired by" version. Same details, but proper proportions.


that's for sure... as close as possible, as different as needed ;)

Ever think about doing a Delta Flyer version? fromthe looks of ure other stuff, it would put the studio model to shame... :cool: :D

[Martocticvs]

Really good work on this!

[psycho]

thanx guys :)

-homerpalooza67: yep, it's still open, and every day i wish i had enough time to work on it a bit... but bad luck on that :D

maybe one day, i'll do a delta flyer, but not yet... when this is finished (which may take a few more months, if i continue like this), i already have planned many other projects... icluding a switch to maya...

[Cinnamon]

Holee Mother.

Okay, NOW I have adequate motivation to get off my butt and start modeling. ^_^

-jaime

[theleast]

Looking fantastic so far, can't wait to see the finished product.

[Avalon]

Looks great so far! I’m looking forward to the next update… :)

[Aresius]

me too... I like it, it's very realstic...

[IRML]

arrgh I thought this was an update

[DarthMcWord]

Great job!

[Ze Aratloss]

Its killer as usual!

[Comco]

arrgh I thought this was an update

Ergh. Me too. Disappointing. :(

Shame....

[homerpalooza67]

@phsyco:
This is such a freakin awesome mesh, and i would sincerely hope that my photoshop skills are worth an exchange (bec my 3d skills are practically non-existent)...but if its not i will just have to look at this thread and be envious :D :cool:...

incredible work- you put Paramount to shame....

[psycho]

arrgh I thought this was an update

me too :flippy:

[psycho]

finally, an UPDATE!!!

[Talos]

Huzzahh!

Great work on the cockpit module, this is an awesome mesh.

[psycho]

thanx

adding the gridlines is getting on my nerves. i need better references...

[dadeo911]

Wow. Coming along nicely.

[tooie32]

Nice to see your back on the runabout psycho.

Looking forward to see it done if you ya can get it finished.

So far the progress is looking good.


Carl

[psycho]

hehe... it may take a few more years to finish :D

gridlines are basically done, but still got some errors and they arn't optimized and chamfered yet...

[Spry]

HUrrah!

Awesome, top, phenomenal, great work! :D

[Tovette]

I could make that in MS Paint. :shiner: Good job!

[psycho]

lol... prove it :D

[Dark Angel]

Nice.

[hal]

very, very nice!

[Freak]

This is coinmg alone great!

[SnowCrash]

This is coinmg alone great!

Good to see engrish isn't dead :)

I am still amazed at the level of detail you are putting into this. Every time I see more of the work you are doing I want to bin my runabout. Great stuff! The bar is so high on this one it's hidden in the clouds.....

[Sean_1984]

Hey man, keep up the good work.

You probably already have this as a reference but here: Danube floorplans (http://www-rnks.informatik.tu-cottbus.de/~tweimann/tmp/bridge-blueprints%20updated/Danube%20Class/)

I stumbled upon them a while back. Hope they help.

[psycho]

thanx guys :)

-snowcrash: ah c'mon, yours is great modellingwise, it's just not that accurate! it's a difference if you want to build a great model or if you want to prove your insanity... and i go for the second choice :D

-sean_1984: thanx, but i already have them. the guy who made them contacted me some time ago and gave them to me :)

[Ozylot]

This is such a great project, its come together great!

[psycho]

all gridlines chamfered, optimized etc...

[SnowCrash]

absolutely sweet - i remember how difficult my attempt at this was - yours looks great!

[psycho]

the hardest part was to get the basic shapes of the command pod right... i started from scratch 3 times before i got it right... the rest is just a slow process of checking references and simple, but time-consuming, modelling tasks...

[psycho]

polycount:
command pod: 187440 (tris) / 91040 (polys)
module I: 27094 (tris) / 12648 (polys)
module II: 25452 (tris) / 11906 (polys)
stern section: 83986 (tris) / 41289 (polys)
warp sled: 272574 (tris) / 133623 (polys)
command pod interior: 305464 (tris) / 145148 (polys)
----------------------------------------------------
total: 902010 (tris) / 435654 (polys)

render time 1280x960: about 3min (w/o interior) / about 5 min (w. interior + minimal interior lighting) / about 9 min (w. interior + full interior lighting)

[Freak]

Sweet! After you finish this bad boy. what do you plan to do next?

[r4mir3zx]

Maybe a long holiday on Hawaii? After this really Great work! :D

[DAve]

Great to see this one back.

lookin' good so far.

DAve

[psycho]

-freak: convert it to maya, as i plan to switch. then... dunno yet... galaxy, sovereign, akira, steamrunner... maybe something non-trek... or even non-scifi... i have concepts for MANY projects, and i definately won't be able to do all of them in my short life (i'm already 21, only about 50 years left... if i stop smoking :D)

-r4xyz123: lol... would be great, but unfortuately i don't get paid for this :D

-dave: great to have time for wrking on this one again ;)

[Sean_1984]

Question: Will you be adding the rollbar + Torpedo/Sensor pod to the mesh?

[psycho]

question: is this a simple hamburger or a triple whopper menu? ;)

[Comco]

Hot damn! I'm loving this man...I've already said it before, but as Snowy said, this is just off the scale as far as accuracy and modeling...I love it! :)

...And she sure looks like a triple whopper to me... :D

[Sean_1984]

Triple whopper? looks more like a prime steak to me, keep up the good work. Can't wait to see what you tease us with next. :D

[psycho]

are there any references on the little wings? especially the bottom? would be great ;)

[SnowCrash]

there should be a thruster at the rear of that wing!

[psycho]

i know, but i'm not sure about these parts...

[SnowCrash]

ah yes - i went with negative extrude on the balance of evidence. I decided they were probably sensors for the phasers.....

[MadKoiFish]

They are definetly recessed into the hull then ribbed. Least that is what I see >_>

[psycho]

they seem to be ribbed in only one picture. in all other references that i have they're not, although it should be visible in at least 2 other pics as well... i'll go for the ribbed version ;)

more important to me would be the underside of the wings... there are definately recessed parts, but i can't really see the shape of them, as i only have one low quality picture of that part...

[SnowCrash]

i may be able to get references - gotta wait for a contact to come online tho :)

[psycho]

that would be great :)
gonna work on the decals until you got them (or till you know that you wont get them :D)

[psycho]

some decals...

[SnowCrash]

that logo looks a little wrong :)

[Aresius]

aye...
wrong colours and too low... ;)

[psycho]

lol... yeah, i just tried to get the shape right, i forgot to hide it before rendering :D

[psycho]

better? :D

[Aresius]

definitely... :thumb:

[EBOLII]

oooh la Laaa

[Freak]

better? :D

Much better!

[mattc]

i may be able to get references - gotta wait for a contact to come online tho :)

I might be persuaded....

[psycho]

great... what's your price? ;)

[scifieric]

This is freaking awsome!

[Lt. Washburn]

question: is this a simple hamburger or a triple whopper menu? ;)

Can I get fries with that? Do the docking corridor!

TrekCore Star Trek Deep Space Nine DVD Screen Caps (http://ds9.trekcore.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=6&pos=48)

Also, probably doens't match the little model, but here's some super-detailing:

TrekCore Star Trek Deep Space Nine DVD Screen Caps (http://ds9.trekcore.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=6&pos=7)
TrekCore Star Trek Deep Space Nine DVD Screen Caps (http://ds9.trekcore.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=6&pos=11)
TrekCore Star Trek Deep Space Nine DVD Screen Caps (http://ds9.trekcore.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=6&pos=12)

I'm guessing you're already doing the cockpit shutters.

[NightShadow]

'Tis good to see this back on the workbench, Psycho. It'll be a real beaut when it's done, I'm sure of it. By the way... exactly how long have you been working on this, anyway? :devil:

[psycho]

-lt. washburn: no docking corridor, sorry... maybe one day i'll restart my ds9, with full interiors, then there'll also be the docking corridor :D

thanx for the links, i knew trekcore, butforgot about it. good to have it back.

-nightshadow: i started on april 3rd 2005... i hope to get at least the exterior done until april 2nd this year :D

[NightShadow]

Hm. Trying to beat that 1-year mark, eh? Good thing this isn't a leap year or you'd be buggered. :)

[psycho]

actually it's the 2 year mark :D

[NightShadow]

Uh. Yeah. I knew that. I was just testin' you.


Okay. I'm full of ****. Math never was my best subject. :p

[psycho]

thats obvious :flippy:

i think i got the basic shape right... if not, tell me (now, not when it's done :D)

[Freak]

That shape does looks right.

Your just blowing me away with all the detail you are putting into this.

[SnowCrash]

Looks about right to me. I think I ended up with 2 lofts when i did it as it seemed to give much more control......

[Aresius]

cool...

[psycho]

thanx :)

-freak: yeah, when i started i wanted to build a runabout that would kill my computer... now it already took me so long, that my current machine can handle this beast easily :D

-snowcrash: using loft for this part is a great idea... i don't use this tool very often, i normally use boxmodelling for nearly everything, but i guess i'll redo this with lofts, may result in a cleaner mesh... :)

[SnowCrash]

Having had a look at my old work I'd do it very differently now but I hope this wireframe helps :)

[Aresius]

looks quite proper...
I have the Starship Spotter, and there's also a Danube-class vessel in, showed with the wireframe...
Quite similiar, this section... :thumb:

[psycho]

-snowcrash: yep, helped a little :)

completely remodelled this thing... much cleaner now...

[Comco]

Looking excellent as always man. :thumb:

[SnowCrash]

looks good!

[Captain Untouchable]

*faints*

That is way too good. Which is gonna leave everyone creating pictures with that ship in a bit of a problem: where are they gonna find ships good enough to match that? Lol.

Seriously sweet so far. :thumb:

[psycho]

thanx guys :)

-captain untouchable: believe me, everyone who will get their hands on this ship has models good enough ;)

chamfered the edges of the cutouts and added the ripples to the stern cutout... too small though, will change that later ;)

[Endeavour3d]

I have a few of these schematics around if you need them

[Nadesico]

can we see a wireframe of that shot now psycho? What's she weighing at now, 700k?

[psycho]

-endeavour: nah, i prefer canon references... or at least references which look half-decent... :D
anyway, thanks ;)

-nadesico: will post a wireframe this evening (6 am here). polycount shoud be around 910000-920000 (tris) /440000 (polys) with interiors...

[Comco]

-nadesico: will post a wireframe this evening (6 am here). polycount shoud be around 910000-920000 (tris) /440000 (polys) with interiors...

Woah...That PC upgrade I've got coming really can't come fast enough... :lol:

I really don't want to sound like a broken record but I'm loving this...I get excited whenever I see an update to this thread. :)

[psycho]

lol... you could write a skript that posts a "whoa, i'm loving this!" reply to every update :D

[Comco]

I could...But then you'd know it wasn't from the heart... ;)

[Freak]

This has to be the best runabout meshe I have seen.

[psycho]

-comco: then just add a "♥" ;)

-freak: i hope so, took me nearly two years now :D

[psycho]

...

[Comco]

♥

;)

[psycho]

hehe :)

[SnowCrash]

this almost makes me want to rebuild mine.......

[psycho]

better finish your hope class first... you can get mine when it's done ;)

[Aresius]

getting better and better...
nice job...

[Freak]

Looks Great!

[VALKYRIE013]

Hi Psycho, if you ever get this thing ported to maya let me know.. How's you do the small ripples on the pylon?.. just wondering.. thank u

[psycho]

first of all, atm i'm not sure if i'll switch to maya or lw, i'm testing both and right now i prefer lw...
then, if i port this to maya, why should i let you know? this won't be a public release, so unless you proove me that you're worth it, you won't get your hands on this baby. first show me that you can model, make nice pictures etc, then we can talk about you getting this model ;)

about the ripples, take a look about the attached picture ;)

[Comco]

I'm interested to know why you're looking at alternative packages mate... (no max vs lw vs maya debates here people...I'm just asking Psych a simple question...;)).

[psycho]

ok, there are several reasons...

#1 - i want to get used to several packages to find out which one is the best for me as long as i go to college (=much cheaper!)

#2 - i'd love to get into the 3d business later as a modeller, so it would be useful to know tha basics in several packages, as different studios use different software and i have absolutely no idea where i might get a job...

#3 - i LOVE the nurbs-tools in maya... max doesn't have anything comparable

#4 - i've heard that modelling in lightwave is much faster and intuitive once you get used to it than in max, which would be great for me, as i don't have much time for modelling atm...

[Comco]

Fair enough man. Good luck in whichever package you settle on...

[VALKYRIE013]

Wasn't lookin to grab ur stuff and sell it on ebay..:devil: I'm just starting to learn how to cgi starships in maya and as it seems that maya is a rare beastie here.. just looking for some pointers :D

And as I'm currently in school learning maya and others ( character modeling ) the school just seems to brush over the fact you can get a job modeling things other than characters..

if you need some help with nurbs.. i've already learned a good deal.. i'm just getting in to poly's... just ask away on questions :thumb:

btw.. I'll post some work i've been tooling around on soon thank you

[psycho]

well i sounded a bit harsh, sorry for that, i just don't give my meshes out to people i don't know...

i guess poly-modelling starships in maya isn't any different than in other packages, it's just all about knowing your tools... i could give you some general tips, but none maya specific... you know, i only used the maya ple for a few weeks... and thats was 3 or 4 months ago...

maybe contact me on icq within the next days, so we can talk ;)

[BolianAdmiral]

Wow... I'm loving this... great detail on the whole thing, and the interior looks good so far! Awesome runabout! :D

[VALKYRIE013]

:cool: its all right..

I'll give ya as many pointers as i can think of, and if theres any questions that i can't answer I have teachers to ask.. ;)

any updates on the runabout?? :D

[EBOLII]

Wow this is looking fantastic. Seeing this brings feelings of sorrow...would have looked great on that project you gave me to finish

[psycho]

don't worry mate... i gave it to you because i wasn't able to finish it. so who am i to reproach you for not finishing it either? at least you tried it, and i'm grateful for that ;)

[EBOLII]

I would have loved to finish it. [for those who know not - lost due to house fire] I was hoping to get another 3d app soon...life blocked that idea again

soon

non-the-less this is looking superb! have you decided on what app to lean on? I hear the transformation from max-maya is decent but max-lw is awkward due to the different modeling tools...anyways you well?

[psycho]

fire? damn... thats bad... sorry to hear that... hope everything's alright? noone injured?

well.. if you wanna have a try again one day, lemme know ;)

i dunno why the switch max-lw should be hard, i had no problem modelling in the test version, just took me about 2 days to figure everything out... but i didn't test anything but the modelling tools, no particles or uv-stuff, but i don'tthink this would be much harder to switch...
i decided for maya anyway, i just love the nurbs-tools way too much to not use it in the future :)



UPDATE!

there's one thing that always bothered me with nearly all cg trek models: the nacelle glow.

it always seems like the warp grill itself is emitting light. i prefer the look of the physical models, where the light is emitted by something inside the nacelle. you just cant simulate that by mapping something on the warp grill... so i tested some stuff for a few days, and i figured out a simple but great looking way to simulate the light from the inside :D

if anyones interessted, i could write a small tut on how to achieve this ;)

[Comco]

Oooh...Those warp grills look damn nice man...Much closer to a physical look than the typical lens effect glows...So there is no glow or lens effect applied to them at all? Do tell how you did it... :)

[psycho]

i added a little glow in photoshop... i'll write the tut, gimme a few days ;)

[Freak]

Nice work there Psycho, I look forward to that Tut.

[VALKYRIE013]

ooo love it, nice glow efect

another way might be to put a panel light behind the grill and play with the intensity and color and shape a bit..

[Starship]

Nice modelling.
Oh, I'll look forward to that tut too. ;)

[IRML]

you'll also find that the glow itself goes towards making the nacelle look fake, a blue glow is a lot harder than just blurring the illuminated part and screening it over the original, you have to get the hotspot colour right and it's often different from the glow colour

[psycho]

i know, i didn't play around much with glows till now, i just tried to setup something to simulate light coming from the inside of the nacelle, not the grill itself... gonna tweak my glow technique later ;)

[psycho]

different bussard setup and better glow... still not perfect...

[Andrew March]

Oooh, this is looking really nice.

[IRML]

it looks excellent, this is the sort of effect I'd be trying to do with the glows though

*EDIT* - ignore the bussard glows on this image, they're crap :p

[EBOLII]

I am very very interested to see the mini tut once you have the final effect you seek...I am.....

[psycho]

thanx guys :)

irml - that looks nice... gotta play around some more until i get an effect close to yours... :)
my problem is that i always had heavy glows when i started with 3d stuff, so one day i started to tell me "less intense, less intense!".. and now my glows are too subtile :D

ebolii - i'll try to finish it sunday ;)

[IRML]

yeah I tend to prefer glows with a large diameter but a low opacity, then when you get the hotspot to be the right hue they look quite realistic and not heavy like you mention, of course the brighter the scene the less glow you need, you can't get away with a glow like that if the nacelle is in direct sunlight, I may have overdone it a bit with that image but it's close to what I'd do with a trek nacelle after looking at the shows

it works really well with what you've done making the nacelle look like it's lit from inside, I tried that once with my Ent-D and it looked awfull because the grills go all the way around the back, how did you do it?

[psycho]

i always loved the glow in this shot:
27748

yours comes close to this one, but for a runabout it's much too strong if compared to my references... this one is a good example of how it should look:
27747

so i guess something between your glow and mine should do it...



just wait for the tutorial, should be done within a few days... although for galaxy-nacelles it needs to be modified because the grill goes around the end... maybe there my setup for the bussards is better... i think i'll just add it to the tut ;)

[psycho]

here (http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/member-tutorials/18259-warpnacelle-tutorial.html)'s part 1 of the tutorial ;)

[Nadesico]

um, you are aware that in TNG and early DS9, they did not have lights inside the Galaxy/Defiant class engines or nacelles? They actually painted the effect on in post. It wasn't until voyager that they actually built lights into the nacelles themselves.

Looks good anyway, very nice effect :)

[psycho]

afaik they built in lights since they replaced the 6ft and the 2ft ent-d with the 4ft model... not sure though

[Nadesico]

the special features on the TNG DVD sets said they only tried it with Voyager and Defiant. The runabouts, D, C etc... were all painted on. They did install lights for the Generations shots though, but that was after the series.

[psycho]

ok, if they say so, i gotta believe it... but anyway... who cares as long as it looks realistic? ;)

[Nadesico]

i quite agree :)

[jay-mo]

Excelent job. Nacell effect looks great. Updates?

[psycho]

songwriting eats me up atm... so no updates yet... but if there were any, they would already be posted here, so no need to bump ;)

[homerpalooza67]

ill try and work on a proper photoshop glow, i have a lot of free time coming up. The ENt D nacelle glow is very subdued in the show, when the ship is in standby or sublight. however, when you get a warp flash, the nacelles stay brighter than before. physco, can u pls post more nacelle shots so i can try and get some photoshoping going?

[psycho]

if you get nice results, lemme know how you did it, i still try to optimize my glow ;)

[Martocticvs]

I'd probably be tempted to try rendering the illuminated parts separately (ie render the bussards on their own, and then grilles on their own) and playing around with levels and blurs in PS to try and get the right effect... though for animations that would be a bit impractical.

[homerpalooza67]

it wud prob be much easier to rotoscope on a glow in photoshop or after-effects...ill try and put in some time tom after class

[psycho]

I'd probably be tempted to try rendering the illuminated parts separately (ie render the bussards on their own, and then grilles on their own) and playing around with levels and blurs in PS to try and get the right effect... though for animations that would be a bit impractical.

well... thats exactly what i do... i just don't have the perfect ps glow till now... ;)
and rendering the bussards seperately is needed for animations, but for stills. i can seperate the bussards manually in ps, only takes a few seconds, less than deactivating the bussard materials and only render the grilles and then vice versa... ;)

[homerpalooza67]

here goes: im attaching a photoshop version in a zip

basically, i made an aqua splotch over the glowing part, then i added a navy blue ring around the outside, did a 10&#37; gaussian blur a few times, and then added the black-matte nacelle over the the glows, and changed the blend mode to color dodge.

(i made the glow layers about 65-85% opacity)

[psycho]

back at it... progress is slow, as i still only have 512 mb ram, which definately sucks when modelling a million-poly-model :D

[homerpalooza67]

pretty damn good, if you ask me!

[psycho]

thanx mate :)

[biotech]

Real sweet, cant wait to see more.

[Ozylot]

Good to see you still at it! :thumb:

And I hear ya on the 512 thing... get some ram if you can, that will make a big difference. It did for me.

[psycho]

thanx guys

yea... had 3x512, but my new mainboard didn't like 2 of them, and atm i don't even have enough money for the next rent... i guess i need a job :D

[CX]

Cool. So, you just have the pylons left then?

[psycho]

if you're talking about exterior modelling of the base model, yes. but there are still absolutely no textures, a big part of the interior is missing and i'll also make the sensor pod and several exchangeable modules, like a more modern warp sled and stuff...

[Freak]

very cool!

[DarthMcWord]

Very nice! How far are you on the interior?

[homerpalooza67]

is this gonna be released?

[CX]

if you're talking about exterior modelling of the base model, yes. but there are still absolutely no textures, a big part of the interior is missing and i'll also make the sensor pod and several exchangeable modules, like a more modern warp sled and stuff...

Cool. In that case, I look forward to seeing what you come up with. :cool:

[psycho]

Very nice! How far are you on the interior?

cockpit is about 60% done modelling wise, still no textures... didn't even start with the other interiors...


is this gonna be released?

limited release

[NightShadow]

back at it... progress is slow, as i still only have 512 mb ram, which definately sucks when modelling a million-poly-model :D

Don't give us that crap, buddy! Elim_Garak did his million-poly DS9 mesh four years ago with MAX3.1 on a system that's half the computing power you've got right now. No excuses. :)

Of course, I'm just messin' with ya. Believe me, I completely understand how the limitations of a machine can frustrate the creative process. Just keep plugging away at it, one day at a time. I'm glad you're back to work on this one, Psych. It's easily one of your best pieces of work, even though it's still incomplete.

And, for frack's sake, get a job! :)

[Comco]

Awesome to see you back on this one man. Progress is looking sweet.

Where are you located? I'm tempted to send you a stick or two to try. hehe ;)

[psycho]

Don't give us that crap, buddy! Elim_Garak did his million-poly DS9 mesh four years ago with MAX3.1 on a system that's half the computing power you've got right now. No excuses. :)

lol, yea, it's not that bad since i split the model up in several parts... only rendering all together sucks... and i think texturing must wait until i have more ram...


Where are you located? I'm tempted to send you a stick or two to try. hehe ;)


hehe... thanx, but i guess this isn't necessary... modelling is ok, as long as i don't put all parts together, and in a few weeks i'll have money again... you know, i'm a student and here in germany we get financial aid from the state if needed... only the administration is slllooooowwwww, so it may take a few weeks until i get it... still looking for a job though ;)

[psycho]

optimized the glow... only problem is that the blue completely disappears on low angles (not a problem on stills, where you can easily correct that manually, but bad for anims...), but i already have a solution for that...

[Freak]

Looks great. I hope you fix the glow problem.

[psycho]

just fixed it, works great now :)

[biotech]

Glad to hear it.

If you have any interior reference photos or schematics I would love to get a look at those.

[psycho]

contact me on icq or gimme your email ;)

[psycho]

only the impulse housing, some minor details, a few grid lines and some decals missing, then i'm done with the basic exterior model :)

[biotech]

I love it, there dosnt look a poly out of place!

[Comco]

There isn't. ;) And I'd be very disappointed in him if there was... :D

[psycho]

well, actually there are 2 errors :D

1. bad modelling, i don't get this edge chamfered without messing up the whole area... gonna correct that later
2. not a mesh error or anything, but it should be a more smooth transition


edit: oh, and there are lots of unneeded polys (polycount of the arm is at about 45k atm :D
partly that's because of an insane chamfering level (gonna post a wireframe later ;)), but many are just because it isn't optimised yet at all...

[NightShadow]

...mistakes that only the modeller would notice...

But that speaks well of your attention to detail.

[psycho]

...mistakes that only the modeller would notice...


true, true... but somehow they bother me, so i'll change them ;)



an (nearly) overall shot... sorry for the cut off nose, didn't realize it until i composed it in ps :D

[biotech]

She's a real work of art.

[wild-wing]

sweet man looks like the model sitting on top of my dresser

[Freak]

the details on this just killer!

[ST-One]

Very good :thumb:

[psycho]

thank you all :)

made the impulse housing (front finished, rest about 50% done) and changed the bussard material... looks better than before, but i'm still not satisfied with it...

[biotech]

I love that engine intake grill.

Are all those hexagons modelled, or textured?

[Melak]

^Exactly what I wanted to say.
I like the bussards, what's wrong with them?

[psycho]

-biotech: all modelled and even chamfered... :D

btw they aren't hexagons, only rhombuses ;)

-melak: dunno... there's something about them that bugs me...

[biotech]

Chamfered! Damn man, thats hardcore.

[psycho]

the grill are only about 6000 polys, but it doubled render times :D

[NightShadow]

Biotech: All he had to do was model a single rhombus, chamfer its edges and then use an array function. I'm sure it didn't take him more than a few minutes to create them. But, yeah, from previous experience I do not doubt at all that it increased the render time by quite a bit.

I would suggest, if he wants to improve his render times and still have the rhonbus effect, that he makes a texture map, put the background color in an alpha channel and increase the bumb value. That'll make the render times drop like a rock and still give the same effect.

[homerpalooza67]

@nitshadow: in english please? :D lol

@psyco: i would increase the red glow on the nacelles, it looks like glass/plastic. maybe lower the opacity of the red caps to 90&#37;, to give it a little softer edge

Otherwise great job. I can almost see sisko in the full render...:D

[Starship]

Welcome back psycho. I was thinking that you had abandoned her. Nice to see that I was wrong.;)
Great update!

[NightShadow]

@nitshadow: in english please? :D lol

:confused:
Dude. That was English. At least it was enough English for Psycho to know precisely what I'm talking about. :)

[psycho]

thanx guys!

-ns: you got me wrong... i didn't model the rhombuses, i modelled the grill... the rhombuses are the holes in the grill... the glowing part is behind it...
i'm not a fan of texturing details... why use textures, when you can model them? :D

-homerpalooza: i like the glass look... it may be non-canon on runabouts, but on the ent-d the bussards sometimes looked somewhat like that... but i didn't really match the look till now... gonna tweak it a bit later...
i won't increase the glow on them either, if you check reference photos, you'll see that bussards NEVER really had a heavy glow...

[homerpalooza67]

@psyco: thats totally ure call, as its ur model. i just giving my 2 cents :D
still, i dont like those busssards..:shiner: jk, lol

[psycho]

animated glow test... the colors of the warpgrill aren't prefect, but who cares ;)

RapidShare: 1-Click Webhosting (http://rapidshare.com/files/58132264/1.mov.html)

[ST-One]

Ich finds gut.

:)

[psycho]

dann hat sich die arbeit ja gelohnt :D

[Comco]

animated glow test... the colors of the warpgrill aren't prefect, but who cares ;)

RapidShare: 1-Click Webhosting (http://rapidshare.com/files/58132264/1.mov.html)

I love it dude. That looks fantastic. :thumb:

[IRML]

looks excellent, but can I make a suggestion, you might want to try this and then if you don't like it you can keep what you've got at the moment because it does look great

what I would do is instead of having those dark stripes for your grill effect, I would have those stipes set to refract at a different level to the clear stripes, you should get a nice look to the grills from that, much like the way they looked on the physical models

also how did you model those ribbed phaser strips? I'll be having to do some of those soon on my model and the only way I can think of doing them so far is really tedious and will take me forever

[psycho]

i already decided to try this when i saw the nacelles of your yacht... only problem is that only my setup gives the look of the physical model when the nacelles are deactivated (with the copper stripes). i guess i'll use both techniques, as the current one also renders faster and is therefore more usefull on distant shots or shots with high motion blur...

the phasers were easy... i used 2 cones, deleted one half of each, connected them with several segments and extruded the outer faces... may be a bit more complicated with bended stripes...
actually i don't really like them, i guess i'll create new ones once the rest is done...

[psycho]

finished the impulse engines...

[Freak]

Looks good.

[biotech]

Very nice

[homerpalooza67]

pure awesomeness :)

try hosting on sharecg.com...they pay you for your uploads

[psycho]

i'm done with the gridlines! nothing bugged me more on this model than those damn lines... gonna have a beer now :D

[Darkstone]

Awesome.

How do you do those gridlines? Just a small pointer... Please? :D

[psycho]

i cut them using the slice tool, chamer them, extrude the faces and chamfer the edges... a matter of an hour or so... what's really time consuming is cleaning the mesh up afterwards...

[Darkstone]

i cut them using the slice tool, chamer them, extrude the faces and chamfer the edges... a matter of an hour or so... what's really time consuming is cleaning the mesh up afterwards...

Thx... I use the same method. Only difference is you get much better results. :lol:

:thumb:

[psycho]

post some pics of what youve got, including a wireframe, maybe i can give you some hints ;)

[Freak]

Looks great, I hate doing that myself. only done it once but hated it. ;)

[psycho]

yea, it's nothing complicated or challenging, it's just the same boring process done over and over again :D

[Martocticvs]

It's always worth the effort doing that - looking good!

[Larsen]

Very nice man... looks really great... could we see a wire?!

[psycho]

thanx guys :)

here's the wire... need to clean up a few parts ;)



edit: btw i just realized that i chamfered all gridlines on the pylons with 0.1 while on the rest of the model they are chamfered with 0.2... don't think i need to correct this though :D

[SakuraTakeda]

WOW! between you and Dave, I think that you've both made the best cannon trek ships I've ever seen. Very inspirational ^_^

[psycho]

me on the same step as dave, that's what i call a compliment :D
to be honest, i still think he's way ahead of me, we may both get great results, but for me it's still much more trial and error. he's just more experienced ;)

[homerpalooza67]

either way, you still put out quality work. :cool: I think this thread deserves a header

[psycho]

a header? bwaha... no. for a header you need creativity an astonishing designs and stuff... i just reproduce what i see on my reference pics and maybe pep it up here and there... maybe gimme a header when i start designing my own modules, but atm i don't think this thread deserves one ;)

[Darkstone]

a header? bwaha... no. for a header you need creativity an astonishing designs and stuff... i just reproduce what i see on my reference pics and maybe pep it up here and there... maybe gimme a header when i start designing my own modules, but atm i don't think this thread deserves one ;)

Did we ask for your opinion? I don't think so. Header this! :D :p

[homerpalooza67]

No a header is for excellent work, showcasing the talents of the forum members. it takes some taent and a bit of experience to reproduce what you see onscreen, where it looks like you copied it from the screen. You have no say in this matter, pysco. :)

[Tugar]

Dude...this is disheartening. Stop making such great work. It makes the rest of us look bad. :D:flippy:

[NightShadow]

Dude...this is disheartening. Stop making such great work. It makes the rest of us look bad.

Interesting. What you define as "disheartening" is what I call inspirational.

Every time I poke my nose into this thread I am reminded of the fact that no one, including me, puts Psycho's fantastic DS9 mesh to any good use. Hmm... maybe after I get done watching Heroes tonight I'll see if I can remedy that. :)

[psycho]

for a few weeks now i feel the need to start a new ds9 mesh... the old one was crap :shiner:

[homerpalooza67]

well, i wouldnt mind making a spectacular render of ur DS9 - if i could figure it out. :D

[SnowCrash]

nice work man - sweet wireframe and the panelling is great.....

[psycho]

-homerpalooza: if you want it, i can send you the mesh... gotta find the backup cd first though... or you ask nightshadow if he sends you a copy ;)

-snowcrash: thanx mate :)

[NightShadow]

Amazingly enough, I still have the RAR file you sent me back on April 30, 2005. I'll send Homer a PM to exchange email addy's and send it along to him.

[Martocticvs]

for a few weeks now i feel the need to start a new ds9 mesh... the old one was crap :shiner:

Still going on mine, you know.. well, ok I haven't worked on it for a few weeks, but that's nothing for me!

[psycho]

-nightshadow: thanx, spares me a long search :D

-martocticvs: hehe... i know exactly what you're talking about... i'm working on this runabout for 29 months now :D

[NightShadow]

Indeed. I think you started this project before your DS9 mesh, didn't you? Or was that Snowcrash's project and then you came along with, "Oh, hey. That's a cool idea." :)

Incidentally, that DS9 mesh of yours still looks fabulous. I know you consider it to be "incomplete", but I can't figure out what it's missing, if anything. Whatever it is, it's got to be tiny and fairly well hidden.

[psycho]

nah... i think i started ds9 in 2001 and stopped working on it in 2003... there are still some minor details missing, the textures are crap, many parts aren't textured at all...

i started the runabout because i wanted to do something completely with interiors... a big ship would've been too insane, even for me, a normal shuttle would've been too small, also i didn't want to design anything myself but try how close i might come to the original, so i had to decide between the delta flyer, the captains yacht of the ent-e and this one...