Hi everyone. Sorry for the lapse in updates this past couple of months. I'd been tied up in several projects and work was piling up. :( But, had a week, here, to breathe and de-stress. Here's the result when I de-stress!
I took the Adamant's command center and started texturing it and prepping it for finalization.
The scene relies very heavily on dubious topology and severe color correction to make it look good. This is still very much a WIP in that I have to add the sweeteners to the holographic displays (control rings, numbers/letters/symbols, readouts, etc....) and flesh out some of the detail geometry--most notably the detail lighting and a few other things to highlight the scene a little more.
Hopefully everyone is doing good. More work on this today to finish it out and get it done!
Have a good one, all.
Dan
I took the Adamant's command center and started texturing it and prepping it for finalization.
The scene relies very heavily on dubious topology and severe color correction to make it look good. This is still very much a WIP in that I have to add the sweeteners to the holographic displays (control rings, numbers/letters/symbols, readouts, etc....) and flesh out some of the detail geometry--most notably the detail lighting and a few other things to highlight the scene a little more.
Hopefully everyone is doing good. More work on this today to finish it out and get it done!
Have a good one, all.
Dan
So, an update is in order for the Adamant's command center (CC).
So far, the majority of the heavy modelling is done. But numerous details have to be added.
Most notably, the areas I think could use some love are the floor surfaces (which seem pretty low-fi compared to the rest of the room). I'm thinking of adding some kind of visual appeal to them, although I'm not entirely certain what direction I want to go there. I definitely would like to model some access panels and whatnot, in case maintenance has to be done on any equipment stored under the deck plating. It seems unlikely that the floor would be completely solid, without any access.
I was thinking of using boolean operations and simply cutting into the floor, due to the floor's poor geometry. Or I may remodel the floor from scratch, but that would mean throwing away a lot of work. :(
The materials have gone back and forth, too. They were originally polished metal, then went over to two-tone carpet, and now have gone back to polished metal. Polished metal does look cool, but it shows up so many defects and flaws. It also looks very drab and flat, so the floor is begging for detail greeble-y bits. Problem is, it's a floor. We don't want our poor crew tripping over their own floors while they're fighting off pirates. :D
I'm going to tear out the aft consoles altogether, and may also take out those walls and add some kind of different design there, I'm not sure on a direction for that, yet, only that I'm not happy with that area of the bridge. The aft corridor, of course, needs a great deal of love. I'm completely in the dark about how to go about how I want to do a corridor for that. I may decide on a mix of the Viminal, and the Adamant motifs, simply because that seems the most reasonable.
The front is my favorite part. Those windows provide a nice, big view of space, which is the direction I wanted to go in. So that's good. The problem is, if you're going to show the crew's faces, then the camera is primarily going to be facing toward the aft. :\
Also, those panel details underneath the windows are screaming for some attention. The color seems wrong, for one thing, and they could really use some attention to detail. Some more little nooks and crannies are in order.
The room's color palette is very bland and gray right now. I'm thinking the consoles will have some color to them, which will spice up the room a bit, visually. But there's the fact that the Thrass do not see red. Their vision is shifted into the ultraviolet range, so everything will have to be left of the red end of the visible light spectrum. I'm thinking yellows would be pushing it quite a bit. That's a challenge... especially to come up with an alert color. No "Red Alerts" on Thrassi spaceships, the crew would never see it coming.
The original Adamant's color scheme was quite beautiful. It was a dark magenta / brown / tan combination with blue lighting. The impact was quite pleasant to the eyes. But it looked too "pretty". Something that bothered me about Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) was that the ship's interiors were so beautiful. This is, after all, a starship, not a luxury yacht. Now, I understand that Starfleet was more of a science expeditionary force than a peacekeeping organization (well, discounting Deep Space Nine, seasons 5 - 7). My Thrassi Navy is a bit more like the U.S. Coast Guard than Star Trek's Starfleet. So, grays and blues are probably the best option. Finding the right color correction settings for the post-production may be the best option, instead of going in and changing the entire color treatment for the entire ship.
Definitely going to finish out the consoles. At first, I thought I was going to go the route of TNG, which had back-lit flat panels made of clear plastic. But I think that's a bit too Trek for the direction I want to go in. I'm going to go back and add buttons and sliders. This will have the advantage of adding visual interest and, depending on the color scheme of the buttons (note to self: no reds/oranges!), it should add some color interest, too. Of course, it has the downside of adding even more geometry to an already substantial mesh... but oh well. I'm not making a game, here. :)
In addition to the button-y consoles, I was going to do holographic displays for at least two consoles:
1.) The Central Engineering Display (CED, a.k.a. "The Altar", which is that table-like console in the aft). The CED is the place where the engineer stands if he's on the command deck, to monitor all ship's systems. There is an interactive holographic representation of the ship hovering over it. The CED can also be configured to show mission specific things, like interactive maps of planets or star systems, if they wish. I may change that and provide additional holotables like this one on port/starboard sides of the CC.
2.) CONN. The conning station (a.k.a. "helm"), where the ship's pilot actually flies the ship from, was originally going to have a hologram of the ship which can be manipulated via the conning officer's fingers. I don't know if I'll keep that, but it's in the lore, and I wanted to keep faithful to it as much as possible. So I may just put it in.
The issues with this, is that the model of the ship I have right now for the hologram is actually the real Adamant exterior model, with all the trimmings, sans the turrets and some minor details too small to see. But it still is extremely heavy and was the cause of some serious crashes. :(
So it looks like I'll have to just use a simply stand-in for the Adamant holograms. Of course, most of that work may be done in post anyway.
I'm happy with the command chair for the most part, but the area around it could use some love. The floor, again, is pretty flat and boring, and the stanchions around it are pretty drab and flat. I may adjust the materials on those. The floor really needs some care. It's embarrassing to show this. :(
And here is a overview of the Command Deck Complex so far:
It fits pretty well inside the upper deck of the Adamant...
So, that's the update. Pretty wordy and I apologize. :(
Hope everyone is doing well!
Dan
So far, the majority of the heavy modelling is done. But numerous details have to be added.
Floors:
Most notably, the areas I think could use some love are the floor surfaces (which seem pretty low-fi compared to the rest of the room). I'm thinking of adding some kind of visual appeal to them, although I'm not entirely certain what direction I want to go there. I definitely would like to model some access panels and whatnot, in case maintenance has to be done on any equipment stored under the deck plating. It seems unlikely that the floor would be completely solid, without any access.
I was thinking of using boolean operations and simply cutting into the floor, due to the floor's poor geometry. Or I may remodel the floor from scratch, but that would mean throwing away a lot of work. :(
The materials have gone back and forth, too. They were originally polished metal, then went over to two-tone carpet, and now have gone back to polished metal. Polished metal does look cool, but it shows up so many defects and flaws. It also looks very drab and flat, so the floor is begging for detail greeble-y bits. Problem is, it's a floor. We don't want our poor crew tripping over their own floors while they're fighting off pirates. :D
Aft Section:
I'm going to tear out the aft consoles altogether, and may also take out those walls and add some kind of different design there, I'm not sure on a direction for that, yet, only that I'm not happy with that area of the bridge. The aft corridor, of course, needs a great deal of love. I'm completely in the dark about how to go about how I want to do a corridor for that. I may decide on a mix of the Viminal, and the Adamant motifs, simply because that seems the most reasonable.
Front Section:
The front is my favorite part. Those windows provide a nice, big view of space, which is the direction I wanted to go in. So that's good. The problem is, if you're going to show the crew's faces, then the camera is primarily going to be facing toward the aft. :\
Also, those panel details underneath the windows are screaming for some attention. The color seems wrong, for one thing, and they could really use some attention to detail. Some more little nooks and crannies are in order.
Color Scheme:
The original Adamant's color scheme was quite beautiful. It was a dark magenta / brown / tan combination with blue lighting. The impact was quite pleasant to the eyes. But it looked too "pretty". Something that bothered me about Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) was that the ship's interiors were so beautiful. This is, after all, a starship, not a luxury yacht. Now, I understand that Starfleet was more of a science expeditionary force than a peacekeeping organization (well, discounting Deep Space Nine, seasons 5 - 7). My Thrassi Navy is a bit more like the U.S. Coast Guard than Star Trek's Starfleet. So, grays and blues are probably the best option. Finding the right color correction settings for the post-production may be the best option, instead of going in and changing the entire color treatment for the entire ship.
Consoles:
 |
| The defensive/weapons stations. This is where the Palatine-class cruiser's massive destructive power is controlled from |
Definitely going to finish out the consoles. At first, I thought I was going to go the route of TNG, which had back-lit flat panels made of clear plastic. But I think that's a bit too Trek for the direction I want to go in. I'm going to go back and add buttons and sliders. This will have the advantage of adding visual interest and, depending on the color scheme of the buttons (note to self: no reds/oranges!), it should add some color interest, too. Of course, it has the downside of adding even more geometry to an already substantial mesh... but oh well. I'm not making a game, here. :)
In addition to the button-y consoles, I was going to do holographic displays for at least two consoles:
 |
| The CED (pronounced "sed", rhymes with "bed"). Thrassi Palatine crews unofficially call this console "The Altar" |
1.) The Central Engineering Display (CED, a.k.a. "The Altar", which is that table-like console in the aft). The CED is the place where the engineer stands if he's on the command deck, to monitor all ship's systems. There is an interactive holographic representation of the ship hovering over it. The CED can also be configured to show mission specific things, like interactive maps of planets or star systems, if they wish. I may change that and provide additional holotables like this one on port/starboard sides of the CC.
 |
| Two officers man the CONN. A Chief Conning Officer (CCO) and an ensign who assists |
2.) CONN. The conning station (a.k.a. "helm"), where the ship's pilot actually flies the ship from, was originally going to have a hologram of the ship which can be manipulated via the conning officer's fingers. I don't know if I'll keep that, but it's in the lore, and I wanted to keep faithful to it as much as possible. So I may just put it in.
The issues with this, is that the model of the ship I have right now for the hologram is actually the real Adamant exterior model, with all the trimmings, sans the turrets and some minor details too small to see. But it still is extremely heavy and was the cause of some serious crashes. :(
So it looks like I'll have to just use a simply stand-in for the Adamant holograms. Of course, most of that work may be done in post anyway.
Command Chair:
 |
| The Big Chair. The captain sits here |
And here is a overview of the Command Deck Complex so far:
It fits pretty well inside the upper deck of the Adamant...
So, that's the update. Pretty wordy and I apologize. :(
Hope everyone is doing well!
Dan
Command Deck for the Adamant still under construction. Loads of details to add, and I'm not sure about that ceiling...
And beginning the lighting test. Will need to put some more highlights in it.
Dan
And beginning the lighting test. Will need to put some more highlights in it.
Dan
Well, with the completion of the Palatine-class remodel, it's time to update the Viminal attack ship.
The Viminal gunship was designed by the Thrassi Republic for escort duty of larger ships (Adamant is accompanied by two of them almost all the time), and for fast interdiction of small targets. But they've also been used as orbit-to-surface shuttles for capital ships, too.
So, without further ado, the update that needs to happen for the ubiquitous Vimmy.
Fortunately, it seems the update to the Vimmy isn't as much work as the Pally. The Vimmy model is much more modern, and so doesn't require a complete remodel like her big sister did, so that's good. But, still, it does require some TLC.
After finishing up the changes, I'll probably release this one on Turbosquid. At the very least, the interior should be made available. It's sat on my hard drive long enough, being neglected... We'll see. Think I'm overly attached to these silly ships of mine. Perhaps a therapist is in order. :)
--------
Also, the Nero's Fire, a freighter I worked on about a year ago also needs some TLC. Since I have a tad bit of free time, I'll probably hit this one and get her finished up. The only thing that really needs to be done is to finish modelling the landing gear and the loading elevator, and then she'll be ready for public release.
So that's about it for now. Just thought I'd throw another update on here.
Hope everyone is doing well. Have a safe week.
Dan
The Viminal gunship was designed by the Thrassi Republic for escort duty of larger ships (Adamant is accompanied by two of them almost all the time), and for fast interdiction of small targets. But they've also been used as orbit-to-surface shuttles for capital ships, too.
So, without further ado, the update that needs to happen for the ubiquitous Vimmy.
Fortunately, it seems the update to the Vimmy isn't as much work as the Pally. The Vimmy model is much more modern, and so doesn't require a complete remodel like her big sister did, so that's good. But, still, it does require some TLC.
After finishing up the changes, I'll probably release this one on Turbosquid. At the very least, the interior should be made available. It's sat on my hard drive long enough, being neglected... We'll see. Think I'm overly attached to these silly ships of mine. Perhaps a therapist is in order. :)
--------
Also, the Nero's Fire, a freighter I worked on about a year ago also needs some TLC. Since I have a tad bit of free time, I'll probably hit this one and get her finished up. The only thing that really needs to be done is to finish modelling the landing gear and the loading elevator, and then she'll be ready for public release.
So that's about it for now. Just thought I'd throw another update on here.
Hope everyone is doing well. Have a safe week.
Dan
So, finally finished the public edition of the conference room set and uploaded it.
Starship Conference Room B
And here is the text description:
_____
A highly detailed starship interior, suitable for use as a conference room, observation lounge, or officers' mess hall.
All previews rendered in Cycles or Blender internal engines, with post-processing nodes. UV mapping only guaranteed in .blend, .obj, and .ma versions.
Features:
--Included 25,000 px across equirectangular background image (1080p version included for low ram)*
-- Included props: 2 types of meeting chairs, easy chairs, a conference room table with a built-in holographic projector, decorative plants and planters
-- UV unwrapped screens, ready for video textures
-- Optimized for physical based render engines like Cycles or Octane
-- Maya version includes scene hierarchy and primitive light set up. (See presentation image for Maya hierarchy set up.)
*Note: Blender scene is automatically set to 'GPU Render'. The background is extremely large and may exceed graphics RAM. If so, select 'CPU Render' in the Render settings, or switch to the lower resolution version of the background.
As usual, have fun!
_________
This is the first time I've put up a triangulated mesh instead of one that tried to stick to quads as much as possible. Which was a bit of a stressful thing, because tris are...well, rebellious at times, especially with UV unwrapping. But I think it ended up okay. I relied on triangles this time because of the modelling approach I did, which was much faster. I figured that most people who purchase ready-made scene models like this aren't totally obsessed with topology. We'll see how that goes...
It's also the first time I've uploaded a Maya version from the start. I'm trying to go back and redo the older products to Maya, too. But there are a lot of them, and converting them over to Maya can take the better part of two or three days, with all the elements that are in these scenes. Ah, oh well. :)
So, I put this up here just in case someone on here might be interested in taking a look.
Hope everyone is doing well!
P.S.: And... as soon as I post this, Turbosquid goes down, thus killing my link! Isn't that just the way it works? Well, hopefully they get the issues ironed out soon!
Starship Conference Room B
And here is the text description:
_____
A highly detailed starship interior, suitable for use as a conference room, observation lounge, or officers' mess hall.
All previews rendered in Cycles or Blender internal engines, with post-processing nodes. UV mapping only guaranteed in .blend, .obj, and .ma versions.
Features:
--Included 25,000 px across equirectangular background image (1080p version included for low ram)*
-- Included props: 2 types of meeting chairs, easy chairs, a conference room table with a built-in holographic projector, decorative plants and planters
-- UV unwrapped screens, ready for video textures
-- Optimized for physical based render engines like Cycles or Octane
-- Maya version includes scene hierarchy and primitive light set up. (See presentation image for Maya hierarchy set up.)
*Note: Blender scene is automatically set to 'GPU Render'. The background is extremely large and may exceed graphics RAM. If so, select 'CPU Render' in the Render settings, or switch to the lower resolution version of the background.
As usual, have fun!
_________
This is the first time I've put up a triangulated mesh instead of one that tried to stick to quads as much as possible. Which was a bit of a stressful thing, because tris are...well, rebellious at times, especially with UV unwrapping. But I think it ended up okay. I relied on triangles this time because of the modelling approach I did, which was much faster. I figured that most people who purchase ready-made scene models like this aren't totally obsessed with topology. We'll see how that goes...
It's also the first time I've uploaded a Maya version from the start. I'm trying to go back and redo the older products to Maya, too. But there are a lot of them, and converting them over to Maya can take the better part of two or three days, with all the elements that are in these scenes. Ah, oh well. :)
So, I put this up here just in case someone on here might be interested in taking a look.
Hope everyone is doing well!
P.S.: And... as soon as I post this, Turbosquid goes down, thus killing my link! Isn't that just the way it works? Well, hopefully they get the issues ironed out soon!
Continuing work on the Conference Room on board the Adamant. Nearing completion, but still have a few details to add here and there.
By the way, if only I had a real life version of that golden Palatine to put in my room...ah, that would be wonderful.
Dan
By the way, if only I had a real life version of that golden Palatine to put in my room...ah, that would be wonderful.
Dan
Starting to work on the new Adamant's interior.
The bridge shell has changed shape to this, with a human model to give an impression of scale:
It's necessary to redesign the interior of the Command Deck so that it fits.
I also wanted to take this chance to redesign the ship's interior motif, too. I wanted something a bit more menacing and muted. Since the outside looks tougher. To that end, I came up with this test motif:
I'm still not thrilled with this design, and may address some of my concerns. The most notable one is...there's something about it that doesn't look good...I don't know. I know I don't like the baseboard lights. I'm going to get rid of those...the support struts also don't look quite right to me...perhaps they should follow the rounded edge motif of the rest of the design more.
Here is the Officer's Conference Room, directly aft of the Main Bridge, now, instead of to the side like the old design. This is looking to starboard. Left is forward, and that door on the left is the door to the bridge. It is shown in the old Adamant's interior color scheme. I'm seriously considering changing it.
I will definitely be adjusting the windows of the ship for the interior. I'll leave them the same on the exterior, because they're so small that they're fine the way they are. But close up, they're too angular. I'm going to round the edges for the interiors so that they provide more detail for the close-ups they'll be subjected to in any interior scenes on board the ship.
And here is the final color scheme, I think. I need to add some stuff on the walls, including handrails, displays, door control panels and perhaps a display case for a model of the ship.
All that's left is adding some detail on the wall, including getting rid of the door in this image and adding a table. I'm thinking on a circular table, with a holographic display in the center for presentations. If that's the case, I'll change out the ceiling to fit the table. Instead of the door to the left in the following image, I want to put a display of a model of the Adamant (probably in silver or gold). Right now the room has 3 doors. The door to the left just leads out into the central corridor leading from the bridge, and 2 doors is more than sufficient for this room.
The table here is probably a bit too big around. The bridge crew consists of 6 people--the captain, first officer, helm, comms officer, gunnery, and sensor officer. The chief engineer would likely be included in meetings, too, so, at most, I'd need room for just 8 - 10 seats.
Dan
The bridge shell has changed shape to this, with a human model to give an impression of scale:
It's necessary to redesign the interior of the Command Deck so that it fits.
I also wanted to take this chance to redesign the ship's interior motif, too. I wanted something a bit more menacing and muted. Since the outside looks tougher. To that end, I came up with this test motif:
I'm still not thrilled with this design, and may address some of my concerns. The most notable one is...there's something about it that doesn't look good...I don't know. I know I don't like the baseboard lights. I'm going to get rid of those...the support struts also don't look quite right to me...perhaps they should follow the rounded edge motif of the rest of the design more.
Here is the Officer's Conference Room, directly aft of the Main Bridge, now, instead of to the side like the old design. This is looking to starboard. Left is forward, and that door on the left is the door to the bridge. It is shown in the old Adamant's interior color scheme. I'm seriously considering changing it.
I will definitely be adjusting the windows of the ship for the interior. I'll leave them the same on the exterior, because they're so small that they're fine the way they are. But close up, they're too angular. I'm going to round the edges for the interiors so that they provide more detail for the close-ups they'll be subjected to in any interior scenes on board the ship.
And here is the final color scheme, I think. I need to add some stuff on the walls, including handrails, displays, door control panels and perhaps a display case for a model of the ship.
All that's left is adding some detail on the wall, including getting rid of the door in this image and adding a table. I'm thinking on a circular table, with a holographic display in the center for presentations. If that's the case, I'll change out the ceiling to fit the table. Instead of the door to the left in the following image, I want to put a display of a model of the Adamant (probably in silver or gold). Right now the room has 3 doors. The door to the left just leads out into the central corridor leading from the bridge, and 2 doors is more than sufficient for this room.
The table here is probably a bit too big around. The bridge crew consists of 6 people--the captain, first officer, helm, comms officer, gunnery, and sensor officer. The chief engineer would likely be included in meetings, too, so, at most, I'd need room for just 8 - 10 seats.
Dan
Hi all,
The (major) work on the Adamant is done. :D I suppose I'll always be tinkering, making her better. I suppose this could be chalked up to the fact that the ship always is in for refit as new technologies become available, right? :)
Also, a new demo reel for 2015, featuring the new ship! The old demo reel was really starting to show its age, so I decided to bite the bullet and make a new one. Not much room for stuff in only 2 minutes of video, so I had to be choosy. I decided to show the work for Gingerbreed and a possible future concept web series I've been tinkering with called Starship: Adamant, which would feature short little snippets of various missions the Adamant goes on in her voyages. :)
Dan
The (major) work on the Adamant is done. :D I suppose I'll always be tinkering, making her better. I suppose this could be chalked up to the fact that the ship always is in for refit as new technologies become available, right? :)
Also, a new demo reel for 2015, featuring the new ship! The old demo reel was really starting to show its age, so I decided to bite the bullet and make a new one. Not much room for stuff in only 2 minutes of video, so I had to be choosy. I decided to show the work for Gingerbreed and a possible future concept web series I've been tinkering with called Starship: Adamant, which would feature short little snippets of various missions the Adamant goes on in her voyages. :)
Dan
Changes to the overall shape of the structure have been completed. The nose is considerably more discreet and narrower than before. Also added a gentle slope to the lower bow region. It's now swept back slightly to improve the curved look of the entire ship's overall motif.
I'm much more pleased with the elevation orthograhic shots. Gone is the jarring sharpness of the dropping bow, replaced with a gentler curve which matches the rest of the ship much nicer.
The bridge section is also greatly simplified and more curved, making it much more sleek and even a bit menacing, I think. That was an unforeseen effect of the changes--the ship looks more "wicked" than before. Sometimes you don't know what the result will be until you try it, I guess?
Still to do: the forward deflector/shield dish section. Finish out the panels and greebles (some are still not right--hovering greebles or whatnot). Add windows and lighted interiors, including the hangars and their doors, and create the new quad-cannon turrets. Also, need to re-do the insides of the main engines. I was never quite happy with the mechanism that spun. It was way too small to be noticeable. I'd like to make it bigger so that it's visible from medium and perhaps even wide shots.
After that, it's the materials and light schemes and I think we're done with the remodel. The model will be ready for import into whatever project I think up for it. :)
Dan
