Challenge #9 - Lizzy777 - Torus

[Lizzy777]

Not sure if this counts, but here was a rough idea I had.

Just about every torus shape I've seen in Scifi is either some sort of space station (like DS9 or the 1950s and '60s art) or the various Stargates. Well, there is the Ori ships from Stargate. But those always remind me of a toilet bowl. So I loaded a torus and started cutting into it.

It could be something as small as a fighter craft or as large as a frigate. Not sure which direction to go from here.

[Sphynx]

A doughnut / torus is fine.

[Dan]

Interesting idea. What's that in the middle, some sort of power source?

[chrono]

A doughnut / torus is fine.


Interesting idea. What's that in the middle, some sort of power source?

Why of course it's jelly! :p And speaking of doughnuts... I really should make a coupla batch's tonight. :cool:

[Lizzy777]

Yes! A doughnut shaped vessel powered by the tartness of lemon creme!

The idea of some sort of floating energy ball powering this thing was an interesting concept. I literally dreamed this idea into existence. Or rather, the idea came to me just as I was waking up this morning. Luckily I was the first to the compy before the inspiration faded with the dawn.


Right then! As soon as I get more ideas on how to proceed I'll offer up some more images.

[Lizzy777]

I'm going Capital!

Refined the basic shapes to get more of an idea. I figure if trenches work for Star Wars, why not this thing, too?

[Ozylot]

Mmmm doughnuts...this looks promising!

[CrimsonLine]

I hate to be the one to say this, Lizzy, but...


...that looks NOTHING like a Ford Taurus.



(Sphynx whispers in CL's ear)

Oh.


Um...





...never mind!

[Glazy]

Neat design !!

[Lizzy777]

Greebled the um... Core? I suppose core works. It will hold a man-made star in the middle and be the power source of this ship.

Continuing with the torus shape. Even if the center does look like a sphere when you combine them into that gyroscope shape.

[iHack]

that looks really awsome, Iam definatly liking the idea of the man made star for a powersource, its almost like a smallsolar system, you know everything revolving around the start :)

cool design... STAR DRIVE (literally)

Eric,

[Dallidas]

very cool! How big is this going to be? You can only make a stable star so small, and thats still pretty big!

[Lizzy777]

For the sake of my 1.7ghz PC, the time allotted (if the month passes before I finish, I'll continue in WIP forum), and a discussion I had with a friend about this design, I'm saying the "Star Drive" core power source -- ie. the star, will be about 2km in diameter.

If I could mesh out the monstrous beast that would require an initial idea, this thing would truly be HUGE! Imagine a civilization that captures a white dwarf star (around 3,500km diameter). So... Yeah. I'm guessing overall size will be 6km across. Lotsa room for nifty stuff and still being able to load the *.scn files.

[Lizzy777]

Just testing out some textures and lighting.

I like the "sun" core. Not sure about the copper color on the rest. The scene is lit with a single IBL ring light centered around the star.





Also...Who ever came up with "material lights" needs to be kicked in the shins...

[<:K.I.S:>]

i like it alot and as you were saying that you were not sure about the copper colour in my opinion if you tried to add a slight tint o grey then it might look better with its surroundings keep up the good work

[Lizzy777]

i like it alot and as you were saying that you were not sure about the copper colour in my opinion if you tried to add a slight tint o grey then it might look better with its surroundings keep up the good work

That's a pretty good idea! I could also take it a step further and try a layered effect. Give it a splotchy look so the color doesn't look so uniform. This part of the ship IS supposed to contain a giant ball of flaming gas after all.

Anyone have any ideas on how to create solar flares? Or should that be added in post? Or is there a third option?

[Ozylot]

That's a pretty good idea! I could also take it a step further and try a layered effect. Give it a splotchy look so the color doesn't look so uniform. This part of the ship IS supposed to contain a giant ball of flaming gas after all.

Anyone have any ideas on how to create solar flares? Or should that be added in post? Or is there a third option?

I would attempt to model them, basically a modified torus with an effect on it. Even an image plane with transparency might do the trick.

Looking good!

[Lizzy777]

I tried a number of different things to get solar flares (save for a 2d approach). Modeling them gives me the right shape, but the look isn't right. Applying texture maps, filters and all that fun stuff got me some interesting effects, but nothing I did "looked right."

So I moved onto the rear part of the ships. Most of this is stand-in stuff. I'll end up remodeling the sub-light engines and giving it a different texture. The upper and lower deck greebles work for me, so I'm keeping those.

Until I can think of something better and aesthetically pleasing, here's my current progress.

[fluxfire]

Hum the gas ball effect huh........why not try doing it with 3 layers... 1st layer the outermost kinda a semi-visable shield that holds it in the second layer would be heavally distorted to give it the spiky flare look and the last one give it light and dark spots and some bump mapping to give it some depth..... then the coloring and fall off would be up to you on how you want it too look overall... Not sure if that all made sense or even helps but that is the general concept i would think of for that effect other then post render..

Still very interesting idea

[RewiredMonkey]

That is one ambitious donut! Killer idea about trapping a sun for a literal star-drive power source. I like fluxfire's advice for making the core's texture more dynamic. Nice work so far.

[Lizzy777]

I'ma rebuild the aft section. I don't like it.

At all...

I've given up on any sort of solar flare, but a third layer for the star could work. Give it a bubbling, broiling texture to show the hot convection gasses at work. Plus I need to add a few more sunspots for effect.

Also, curse this artist block! So for something completely unrelated...A half baked Nutcracker head!

I'll get back to the donut starship soon.

[Lizzy777]

HA HA!

I think I've got it! The sub-light engines are pretty much done. Now I need to see if I should add panels to the aft section via texture or cut them in. Or a combination of both. Glad I rebuilt it. The old one looked ugly and didn't give a proper sense of scale.

The habitat/docking ring section, or whatever that extra bit is is temporary. Just playing with an idea.

[BEMEUP]

Yep, looking much better! And all it took was a nutcracker head to get you through this....

[Sphynx]

Information regarding Challenge #10 (http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/challenge-wips/54880-sensei-challenge-10-primitives-motion.html) has now been released.

[Lizzy777]

Looks like I won't be able to complete this one. So feel free to delete the thread.

I just don't have the time to complete this project in the foreseeable future.

[Ozylot]

Bummer, I liked the direction this was going.

[fluxfire]

bah finish sminish...... i think ppl should enter what they get done...... that way the effort put forth is not all for not......

[Lizzy777]

While I doubt I'll finish by the 4th, I did manage to get some time in for this model. I'll keep working on it, even if I have to get someone to move it to the WIP forum.

After a few attempts, I managed to panel the aft section and create the interior rings. The parts that will be covered by the main superstructure will be trimmed off when I have those hull parts constructed.

I'm trying to do the "Three Levels of Detail" design ethos to get a sense of scale.

[fluxfire]

Wicked coo

[Lizzy777]

...and another part.

Slowly moving to the front of this thing! Not sure that I'm getting a good sense of scale just yet. The next section will have a texture map to show cabin windows (if I can do it right). MUCH smaller than the ones on the modules I just added.

[Lizzy777]

And another piece. Trying to figure out what to do with that wide trench area and the flat open space on the end.

I'm thinking docking towers interspersed with random greebles. And more random greebles on the underside. I'd like to get a little asymmetry between the top and bottom for aesthetics.

[Ozylot]

Very nice! That certainly is a lot of repeating stuff. I agree that some asymmetry will help break it up a bit.