3DSciFi

For people who missed this in the WYUT thread, here's what's going on. Windows and I have parted ways once more. My one and only Windows PC developed a problem with its motherboard. The Windows 10 license was tied to that board because it was an OEM license that came with the computer. I upgraded the board, but I can't reuse the license. I have no desire to pay over $100 for another license or run an unlicensed or bootleg copy, as I don't even like Windows 10 all that well. I've tried to get Lightwave 2018 to work in Linux, but the license for that won't work because it's tied to the Windows firewall due to the network render service. Even if you don't use that service, the firewall has to be there for it to work. I can't use Lightwave 9 or 10 due to the hardware lock dongle. So, Lightwave is out and Blender is in.

So, this is going to be a thread for my Star Trek models. I was working on a new Enterprise model in Lightwave before the old forum crashed, but that's now shelved permanently. I've started on a new ship, though. I'm once more diving into the 24th century, around the time of the Ambassador class.

I decided to do a cruiser, the same overall design and layout of the Constitution class, in fact it's even about the same size as a Connie refit. Design elements are a blend of Connie-R, Excelsior and Ambassador. By 24th century standards, this would be a smaller cruiser, when stacked up against the Excelsior and Ambassador.

Most of the main elements are at least started. There's more work to be done, of course, but the overall layout is there. There's been a lot of pushing vertices and subdividing to get to this part. Everything is box modeled, as messing with splines is a pill.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/24cruiser001.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/24cruiser001.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/24cruiser002.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/24cruiser002.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/24cruiser003.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/24cruiser003.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/24cruiser004.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/24cruiser004.jpg)

Anyway, more to come on this (hopefully.)

Wow!  Nice work!

Thanks Eric.

This is looking really good!

Thanks dude. :)

The nacelles are probably going to get redone when I get home. The Sub D on them is kind of a proof of concept, but I already applied the filter and there are some changes I want to make and at least one spot to fix. Rebuilding them will be the quickest way to achieve this.

So, this isn't much progress, but I went 4.5 days without electricity. That's because I live in Dayton, Ohio and there were 15 tornadoes that ripped through this region a week ago. A rare and powerful EF4 tornado passed about a mile north of where I live. Fortunately, all I lost was electricity and there was minor damage (that's been fixed) to the house I live in. there were buildings and houses so badly damaged that they're unlivable, because that's the kind of damage a EF4 tornado does. The scale tops out at EF5. So, very lucky there.

I presently don't have internet at the house. Spectrum (my ISP) was supposed to call Saturday with an estimate as to when they'd be out, but they've not called and it's Monday night, so they lost a customer. AT&T will be out Friday to hook up my new internet. In the meantime, I'm using my phone. Fortunately, it's an Android phone, so I can side load images onto it. I couldn't do that with my last phone, which was an iPhone SE (waste of money.)

So, this may not look like much, but I got new nacelle bodies built. Much of what I'm doing on this ship is proof of concept, as I've never built components like these before and I'm also getting used to the quirks of different software. Still, it's going well. This is only version 4 of the nacelles (the less said about versions 2 & 3, the better.)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser005.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser005.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser006.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser006.jpg)

Much of what I did was shape refinement. The first version had some mesh errors around the back, I eliminated those with the new shape. I also wanted them to be a much more complex shape than juat a simple half circle, so that took some refinement. The top cutout starts a little farther back and is deeper than it was on version 1. So that's all I have for now. More to follow.

The new nacelle are looking really great.

Sorry to hear about the Internet being out, hopefully your new suppler will be better.

Thanks bro.

I've been with AT&T before. They're OK, you just have to look out for rate hikes. ::)

I am so glad you came through the storms relatively unscathed.  I am sorry about the loss of power.  That can be rough!

Nice work though!

The power outage would have been manageable if I hadn't had to listen to someone else complaining about it. That's what I hated most. I was mostly just reading when I was at home with no power.

Due to my work schedule and other stuff that needs done (cleaning, etc.) I'm working on this in small bursts. I'll probably hit it harder this weekend.

The warp coils are in, or at least the blue part is. I decided to just box model and subdivide those, as I did the nacelles and secondary hull. The bussards are also started. One thing that's superior with Blender's Cycles render engine is that I find it quite effortlessly filters light through a transparent material. The materials are all temporary, but I like how that's working. I couldn't find the setting to make that work correctly in Lightwave 2018. Anywho, this is where I am for now:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser007.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser007.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser008.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser008.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser009.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser009.jpg)

I'm going to move back to the saucer next, as I still have major components to add to it.

Looking Good Chris.

Thanks Dean. :)

Excellent work, Chris!  I'm glad you find Cycles materials useful.  I know my Enterprise wouldn't look like it does without Cycles Render Engine.

I want to see more of what you do with this!

Thanks Eric.

I've always liked Cycles, but other things have always taken me back to Lightwave. I'm not letting that happen this time. The render engine in LW2018 and 2019 tries to be like Cycles, but it doesn't work as well.

Wow!  That's kind of shocking to hear.

Not really. Cycles was kind of rough when it started. However, the advantage of open source software is that anyone can come up with a fix for something and submit it. If it works, you could see that fix hit the next update.

By comparison, closed source software like Lightwave is worked on by a small team, and it's up to that team to figure out all of the fixes to major issues. From what Brandenberg over at SFM has been telling me, this render engine was new for LW2018 and they're still chasing issues with it. Now, someone half a world away may have come up with a patch that will fix something, but they can't just release that upstream and get it into the software right away like you can with open source. The best they could do is submit it to Newtek and hope they listen. But, Newtek may not since it didn't come from their programmers. Even if they do listen, they'll still want their people to go over it and whatnot. It's just a much slower process.

This is an often overlooked advantage to open source. Most people just like it because it's free. But, it's free in more than one sense of the word.

Work continues on the cruiser. I got the main parts all in place, now it's just a matter of adding details. The thing that starts under the bridge, follows the saucer curve and has the impulse engines in it is based on a ship that I did more than a decade ago. The structure under the bride (deck 2) is based on the Ambassador class, as is the bridge itself. I did elongate the back, though. One thing that bugs me about the Ambassador class is how its bridge is basically a detailed dome. Unlike other ships, there's no obvious indicator of the turbolifts. I'm assuming that's because the model was designed and built in a hurry. Still, it bugs me. I'll be doing all of that on my ship. The planetary sensor is also based on the Ambassador class, in its original configuration. They added more details for later use of the ship.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser010.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser010.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser011.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser011.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser012.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser012.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser013.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser013.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser014.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser014.jpg)

Really Liking that impulse unit.
It got a feel of the design that John Eaves introduced with the Sovereign-class and TOS. 

Thanks. Yeah, I think I had the Sovereign in mind when I did that part originally.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/eratosthenes03.jpg)

I started on the shield grid lines with the upper saucer. This is long and tedious work, so it's not going to go super fast.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser015.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser015.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser016.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser016.jpg)

Since the upper saucer shape is pretty much based on the Excelsior, I based the grid pattern on that ship as well.

Chris, you do spectacular work and this is a joy to see come together.  Thank you for sharing your progress with us!

Thanks Eric. Though, I'm not sure what you're thanking me for. If it wasn't for you guys, I'd have given up on this stuff ages ago, so I'm the one who should be thanking you.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Jun 08, 2019, 09:48 pmThanks Eric. Though, I'm not sure what you're thanking me for. If it wasn't for you guys, I'd have given up on this stuff ages ago, so I'm the one who should be thanking you.

I'm glad you've kept at it.  You've got obvious talent and it is a pleasure to see your work.  And your lightsaber videos!

I started adding windows to the ship. I decided to start with the saucer perimeter. I opted for one row of windows here, as they did with the Enterprise-C, as I feel two rows would be too cluttered. I also broke up the edge with horizontal blue stripes, as they did with the Excelsior and Enterprise-C.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser017.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser017.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser018.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser018.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser019.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser019.jpg)

I was going to keep the window size consistent with the Ambassador class (Enterprise-C) but I found there's nothing consistent with that class as far as size. When Andrew Probert was designing the ship, he apparently went with roughly 524m for the size of the ship, which puts it nicely between the Excelsior at 467m and the Galaxy at 642.5m. When Rick Sternbach took over the design of the Enterprise-C, he apparently put it at about 478m. (Gary Kerr came up with that number based on the model sizes, and Sternbach agrees) The biggest issue with that number is that it's only 11m longer than the Excelsior. I guess someone else decided that and increased the scale on Sternbach's blueprints by 15%. So, the ship comes out to 526m. The problem with that number is that this image seems to support the Enterprise-C being smaller:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/yesterdays_enterprise_hd_114.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/yesterdays_enterprise_hd_114.jpg)

That, of course, is from the episode and it seems to support the notion that the Enterprise-C was built at a scale to fit with the Enterprise-D at about the size that Sternbach originally intended. Why a "stepping stone" ship that's between the Excelsior and the Galaxy is so small is beyond me, but that's what it looks like, at least to my untrained eye.

So, to make a short story long, I can't accurately determine what size the windows are supposed to be on the Ambassador without accurate figures, so I came up with my own number. They're approximately 60cm by 1.2m. Eventually, they'll have rooms behind them, but they obviously don't now, that's why they're all dark.

I found a shortcut to doing booleans in Blender without leaving behind a bunch of geometry I don't want and it's been a real time saver for getting these windows in. I figured out, if I separate the faces where I want to do my cut, it just cuts through and leaves a hole, it doesn't leave me with more geometry added by my cutting object. I do the same thing for my windows themselves, and I wind up with just the faces I want when I intersect that with my cutter, then I can inset, extrude and bevel my windows in how I want them. Then I just re-join all of that with the main mesh and I'm good to go. 🙂

So, since my windows started going faster, I also added some phasers and escape pods.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser020.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser020.jpg) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser021.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser021.jpg) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser022.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser022.jpg)

So, one last update before I call it a day. I've been thinking about how to add text to the ship. Of course, textures are always an option. However, I've heard good things about the "Shrinkwrap" modifier. So, I modeled the name and registry and used that to make it follow the curvature of the saucer. 🙂

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser023.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser023.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser024.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser024.jpg)

Chris, this looks AMAZING!  You're moving so quickly and doing such an excellent job.

I know I posted this on your website, but for the windows, do you mean that you detach the quads where you want windows, cut them, and then reattach the quads to the model afterwards?

Excellent work!

Quote from: scifidude79 on Jun 08, 2019, 08:35 amThanks. Yeah, I think I had the Sovereign in mind when I did that part originally.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/eratosthenes03.jpg)

By the way, I love this image.  Did you make a larger version?

No, I don't have a larger version of that particular shot. However, I revamped the ship sometime after that:

https://evilgenius180.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/brisbane-class-revamp/

Some of the stuff I did on that ship is an influence for this one.

Quote from: scifieric on Jun 09, 2019, 01:12 pmI know I posted this on your website, but for the windows, do you mean that you detach the quads where you want windows, cut them, and then reattach the quads to the model

Yes, that's what I did. It was initially to try something else to make cutting the windows in and getting rid of what I wanted go more quickly, but then I found out that I didn't wind up with what I didn't want. So, it worked even better than I thought. :)

So, despite my claim that I was done with this for now, I can't help but be nitpicky. My escape pod hatches were bothering me. What really bugged me was that some of them were close to the phaser arrays. However, while I was fixing those, I decided to tighten up the spacing on them all, to put them in tight groups.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser025.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser025.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser026.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser026.jpg)

Anyway, I think it looks less sloppy. Each pod holds up to six people and there are 36 pods (so far) on the top of the saucer, allowing 216 people to abandon ship using these pods. Of course, more will come on other parts of the ship, and possibly more on the saucer top.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Jun 09, 2019, 01:24 pmNo, I don't have a larger version of that particular shot. However, I revamped the ship sometime after that:

https://evilgenius180.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/brisbane-class-revamp/

Some of the stuff I did on that ship is an influence for this one.

Beautiful, staggering work!  You do FANTASTIC work!  Absolutely lovely.

Quote from: scifidude79Yes, that's what I did. It was initially to try something else to make cutting the windows in and getting rid of what I wanted go more quickly, but then I found out that I didn't wind up with what I didn't want. So, it worked even better than I thought. :)

I'll have to try that, one of these days.  I'm determined to make both pilot versions of the Enterprise.  Perhaps I'll try there.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Jun 09, 2019, 02:03 pmSo, despite my claim that I was done with this for now, I can't help but be nitpicky. My escape pod hatches were bothering me. What really bugged me was that some of them were close to the phaser arrays. However, while I was fixing those, I decided to tighten up the spacing on them all, to put them in tight groups.

Anyway, I think it looks less sloppy. Each pod holds up to six people and there are 36 pods (so far) on the top of the saucer, allowing 216 people to abandon ship using these pods. Of course, more will come on other parts of the ship, and possibly more on the saucer top.

Wow!  This looks great!

The previous placement looked okay to me, but these discrete groups really look terrific!

Thanks Eric. :)

Quote from: scifidude79 on Jun 09, 2019, 11:07 pmThanks Eric. :)

You've certainly deserved it.  You're a great artist, Chris!

Looking Good Chris and your moving quickly with this build.
Look like you got into the flow of using blender. ;)

Thanks Dean. Yeah, I seem to be getting along with Blender this time. :)

It's not a massive update, but I've kind of been picking at the lower saucer grid lines all week. It's tedious work, so I've been breaking it up. I also added the registry to the bottom. That will help me with my window layout, so I don't have to guesstimate where that will be. Tonight I'll start working on the windows, phasers and escape pods for the lower saucer.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser027.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser027.jpg)

That is absolutely cool!

Thanks Eric. :)

This is a more substantial update than the last one. I got the rest of the saucer section windows in. I put quite a lot of windows on the saucer bottom, to fit with other Star Trek ships. And, to fit with other ships, some of them are at a more extreme "downward" angle than I'd like them to be, but that's how Starfleet rolls, I guess. And, to finish up the windows, I did the structure under the bridge too. I also redesigned my phasers to be more like TNG phasers. The ones I had before were too "poofy." These are flatter. And, of course, more escape pods. There are an odd number of those on the bottom, but I'll even it out up top as there are still more to add up there.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser028.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser028.jpg) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser029.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser029.jpg) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser030.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser030.jpg) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser031.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser031.jpg) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser032.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser032.jpg)

There are 55 escape pods in the lower saucer, added to the 36 up top and that's a total of 91. As I said previously, the pods can hold up to 6 people for a total of 546 people. However, ordinarily the pods hold only 4 people, for a total of 364. The pods would only have to be filled to max capacity if the ship was carrying extra people. After all, the shuttles can also be used to abandon ship. I don't figure the ship has a crew anywhere near as many as there are escape pods. That's normal, though, as the ships do sometimes carry extra people. The Enterprise-D had enough pods for 1400 people, plus shuttles, and a crew of only a little over 1000. Even though this ship is the same size as a Constitution class, I figure it only has a crew of about 350, owing to modern automation and stations/departments that are no longer necessary in the 24th century. IE: the ships no longer have communications officers, as the tactical and ops officers usually handle communications. The helm and navigation stations were also combined into one flight control station. We have to assume other redundant departments would be combined and unnecessary ones removed. This trend is evident by the Galaxy class having a crew of only a little over 1000 when it's much larger than a Constitution class. The Enterprise-A in Star Trek VI had a crew of 500.

Anyway, that's what I have for now. I may move on to the secondary hull next and get those grid lines and windows knocked out.

Looking Good Chris.

You made one mistake and it not with the ship. It actually the number of crew of a Galaxy Class Ship. You State that it has a crew little over 1000. The crew number is actually lower than that. As the Galaxy Class also carried families aboard. Let assume that just under half the crew have brought their families along and they have kids. lets say 2 each.
So that would put the actual crew of the Galaxy Class ship roughly around the 550 to 600 mark and the rest would be civilians living aboard. :p

I always figured the 1,000+ crew didn't include the civilians. Andrew Probert wanted there to be at least 4X as many people aboard, but the budget didn't allow for the extras needed to make it look convincing.

I'm in the kitchen right now, but I have the technical manual upstairs. I'll take a look at the crew compliment when I get up there.

According to the DS9 Technical Manual, since the TNG one isn't much help, the crew of the Enterprise is 1,012 officers and crew, 200 visiting personnel (civilians.) Take that with whatever grain of salt you want to, the exact crew specs were never said in an episode.

Yeah It was never mentioned on screen.
Though I think Picard did say something like their are "1200 souls aboard" in one episode.

This looks absolutely terrific, Chris!  Great work!

Thanks Eric and Dean. :)

Quote from: Freak on Jun 15, 2019, 10:42 amYeah It was never mentioned on screen.
Though I think Picard did say something like their are "1200 souls aboard" in one episode.

Yeah, that does sound familiar. It may have been when the Yamato was destroyed.

"Jean-Luc, if I may ask, how many people are there on board?"
"One thousand fourteen, including your guest, Dr. Quaice."
"Is there something wrong with that count?"
"No, that's the exact number there should be."

-Episode "Remember Me"

So, I guess the 1,014 does include the civilians.

Assuming there are only 200 (at most) civilians on board, that would put the officers and crew at a little over 800. Given the size of the ship, that actually strengthens my statement about increased automation. The ship I'm doing is from roughly 20 years prior to the launch of the Enterprise-D, and the Enterprise-D was the most advanced ship in the fleet at launch, so that means it would likely have the best of everything, including automation systems.

I would put the Civilians a little higher than that. Don't forget that there are Civilians who worked on the ship that where not members of Starfleet and where not there because of a spouse. Keiko and Guinan are prime example of this.
There also the episode where Worf takes Alexander to school and their where about 20 kids in it. Though I can't remember if that was a mix age class or not. If was not then there would be more classes but some of them would be mixed aged groups due to the number of kids aboard close to that age.

But yes I agree the Enterprise is the most automation ship to that point.

Yeah, it's really unclear. I'm still shooting for 350 for the crew of my ship. It's a good number. This type of ship, being a smaller ship of the time, would likely do missions mainly inside of Federation space. Those missions would vary, so they'd need a variety of personnel aboard.

I bought another computer. This one is a refurbished Dell laptop. It's been totally refurbished, cleaned up and it looks like they maybe upgraded things like the hard drive, RAM and WIFI adapter. They also put a brand new copy of Windows 10 Pro on it. That means I can once again run Windows only software, such as Lightwave. So, I'm determined to finish this ship.

Unfortunately, while I had the project files and blueprints backed up, I didn't have the files to align the blueprints with the background. So, I had to line them back up. They're not perfect, but they're close enough. If I was after the perfect version of the TOS Enterprise, it may be more of a concern. But, that ship sailed when I started adding stuff to the model that wasn't on the original. So, close enough will do. Anyway, I added the deflector and planetary sensor, before I got into dorking around with materials.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip048.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip048.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip049.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip049.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip050.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip050.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip051.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip051.jpg)

This is after playing around with materials:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip052.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip052.jpg)

Lightwave 2018 uses newer materials than Lightwave 10, the last version I had before purchasing the upgrade last year. It uses Principled BSDF materials, which is also what Blender uses with its Cycles render engine. I had been cheating in Lightwave and using the old style "Standard" materials, which were only left in there so that you didn't have to redo the materials on older models that you imported. (unlike Blender) But, I decided to switch over to the Principled BSDF instead. Really, it has so many improvements over the older style materials that I can see why it's the standard now.

Anywho, it's nice using Lightwave again. I don't know what this means as far as my work in Blender. Buying this computer was a spur of the moment decision because the other laptop I have is terrible and I know people in the Linux community who swear by these Latitude E series laptops. But, it's also not the speediest thing for rendering. It gets the job done, though. I also may purchase Windows 10 for my desktop computer, but the jury is out on that one. There are still things I like better about Lightwave than Blender, and that will never change. And, it's not like I can't either import that ship I'm working on or just rebuild it. (rebuilding it will probably be easier)

Really stellar work, Chris.  Outstanding!

looks, good man.

I ditched all my old 3d tools almost now. I can do all the my stuff in blender 2.8 now. yep I think I can do all I usually do in  B2.8

to me, Blender 2.8+ is nothing like its earlier incarnation the 2.7-. The new UI just makes more sense to me. But you can use its tolls to make the UI mostly like teh old 2.7 , however, the lead dev has said they will not be moving in that direction in the future.


lol don't buy win 10, just instal and never activate. it will only nag you.
see this video when you get a chance. https://youtu.be/Xzbrhbrejqo
NOAB  he's  good for us low bucks guys

Thanks guys. :)

The things I don't like about Blender have nothing to do with the UI. I've never really had a problem with Blender's UI. In fact, I mainly know where things are in 2.79b. The issues I have are with some of the tools and how they work VS how they work in Lightwave. I just prefer Lightwave. I also paid $400 for the upgrade from LW10 to LW2018, so I might as well use it some more.

I also don't watch YouTube videos, with very few excpetions. I do know what you're talking about, though. You get that "Windows isn't activated" thing in the bottom of your screen and you can't use account services.

Looking Good Chris.

I hope you finish the other ship in Blender instead of moving it over to / start over in LW.

Thanks Dean. We'll see.

lol , i have a valid copy and i do have a MS account but it's not active on this rig . i have local Admin account and a local super user. I do all my daily grind in superuser.

Also, there is a registry hack that removes that watermark.

Also i knwo what you mean about being familiar with the tool. I was totally 3ds Max &  and then 9  and then F' them  LOL
i had some other tools from various  Humble bundle deals.  Then Max changed stuff, and well it was or felt like total fucker with the  UI and tools.

I gotta say im glad i never fully learned Blender under the old UI, so it's actually easier for me to pick up.

I hope you get some good mesh smiting outta the new rig.

I was looking at Microsoft's website this morning and it looks like all I have to do to put Windows 10 on another computer is download a utility to my laptop and create installation media from that. All I need is a licensed copy of Windows, a flash drive and that utility. :)

Quote from: scifidude79 on Jun 25, 2019, 01:38 amI was looking at Microsoft's website this morning and it looks like all I have to do to put Windows 10 on another computer is download a utility to my laptop and create installation media from that. All I need is a licensed copy of Windows, a flash drive and that utility. :)

Yep .
it quite automated ..  i knwo you hate videos but you might wanna watch one or read as how to skip the simpler telemetry stuff. There are a few things you cna pick during a clean install.

I don't hate videos, I hate YouTube. I'm honestly not that fond of Google in general right now. But, I'm too invested in their services and have an Android phone, so there's no backing out at present.

I'm still thinking of at least purchasing a Home license for my desktop. After all, it's my money. I get paid on Thursday and Amazon can have it to me the next day. I might as well use those Prime benefits now, I canceled and my Prime membership expires on July 11th.

I'm playing with ideas for the bussard collectors. It took trying out a few different things to get to this point.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip053.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip053.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip054.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip054.jpg)

The light spill on the hull is there, but not as high as I'd like it to be, but I think I know the setting to change on my glass material. I'm using a Dielectric shader for the glass, as it's supposed to more accurately simulate glass than Principled BSDF does.

Since those renders, I've further tweaked the bussards and increased the luminous setting on my impulse engine glow.

You could always record the front of the warp engines and then project the light from the recording onto the saucer hull.  It's cheating, but if you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough!

Actually, it looks terrific, Chris!  Great job!

Thanks Eric. I already fixed it, I just didn't share the render. (it's on my laptop) I just had to increase the luminosity of the lights and transmission distance of the dome. I also turned up the luminosity inside of my impulse engines.

videos are a PITA to deal with vs a text website even a nfo file. and yes, all the telemetry crap should be disables activated or not, making a MS account is a load of BS as well. Like google forcing people to have a google+ account to comment or do anything on youtube and other services. Spamming your location and activities by default.

As for the light you could always make the domes transparent to the lum light. Just do not cast shadows and it should let the light through. Generally to get the spill you want you have to break reality some as we are used to a minature model and how light travels to it. Also making the surface reflective (not glossy) should alow more of it to LOOK like it is lighting up as most of what you would get is reflective light on the hull vs bounced or direct. Drawback of a reflective surface is render times.

I've had a Microsoft account for over a decade. It was a requirement of the XBOX 360 long before it was one for Windows.

I've been trying not to break reality, but it may indeed be necessary. I usually also add at  least a bit of illumination to my bussard domes, since they don't seem to behave the way the domes on the TV show model did. But, I also want to avoid overdoing it. The dome shouldn't look like a light source.

If you scale your model to the 11 foot one with proper cd on the emissions mats it likely will spill. Scale of the scene effects the results. Max's "glow" or really emissive mats only has a cd m2 scale and kelvin temp range, the old LUM was just unknown units. Not sure what lw has likely has many more options. As mention of transmission distance etc. Max just FGs it through a photon particle system. So all ambient light no shadows etc.

The MS account thing is a trick to get you to populate a unused service like google+ know many who do not sign up but use the os. Personally W10 is not much better than mallware. The telemetry stuff though has infected 8 and 7 as well unless you block the "security" updates. heh, keylogger and botnet are security patches. . . . . . .

I build my models to scale with the fictional stats, not the filming miniatures. So, this is a 288.6m long model. I do this so I don't have to scale the models if I want multiple ones in a scene, they're already to scale. The problem with the light spill off was a simple matter of dorking around with settings. I start with lower settings and ramp them up so that I don't overdo things.

Copied from my blog:

These renders are ones I did for my own use, but there's no reason not to share them. I finally got the bussard collectors where I want them. That means I'll be moving on to other stuff. I'll definitely be working on this this weekend, but I have some other stuff planned too. One thing I have planned is to put Windows on my main computer. This laptop works OK, but it's somewhat limited due to the age and power of the processor. I've had the whole thing lock up on me more than once using Modeler, resulting in me having to do a hard reboot and lose work. Plus, it's not the speediest thing for rendering. But, it's still not a bad computer.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip060.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip060.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip059.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/enterprise2019_wip059.jpg)

Beautiful work, Chris!  The paneling is subtle, but there.  The reaction control thrusters are visible, but not in-your-face.  Nice.  Very nice.

Thanks Eric.

like the blue back light . look cool man .


I have to spend a hour or so and  clean up my lap top .  gonna be no main power ta work for next 3 days , so i may need my lappy for some coding or something. it badly need a SSD  . it would feel  3 or 4 times faster if i migrated it to ssd. I should get one of those DVD/CDrom  tray swap-out  to SSD  for it .

Thanks Scott. :)

Yeah, I've heard SSDs are good for speeding things up, but none of my computers have them.

sd is a insan boost , slap in a sata ssd  ( do teh OS transfer first ) 

on older rigs especially laptops it's a huge boost.  they are actually tougher, better for stuff in motion.
never need a defrag .. ever and newer ones are quite durable.

you can even let widow page fill to them and because they are so fats that page file makes you who rig feel way faster.

if yo have a  USB adapter (some come with one ) to go form usb to the SATA on the drive you can use the disk cloaning tool  to move or clone you windows to teh new drive, swap out the old HDD and slip in the SD  and boot into glorious speed . and with 256GB drive like 20 and 30 bucks .  hell, it way worth it.

pu teh original drive in a usb to SATA enclosure and use it as an external backup, that you can also us eas an instant rescue disk by simply putting it back in as C: again . so when you buy one try to get one that is 2x teh capacity you will need, the more free space on an SSD the faster it is .
HDD  loge space  and slwo  , SSD not as much space , blisteringly fast.

M.2 is better if you have the connection. Just make sure you avoid the slow 500mb r/w ones as I see those are more common now. 1500mbps vs 500 of a ssd. I have m.2 on the media pc and zoom zoom zoom, and it is bolted to the mobo so no cables wires etc. A lot of laptops offer this connector. Also using a standalone ssd for windows cache only speeds crap up too.

Suck is laptops usually do not have room for more than 1 of ether sata ssd or m.2 which sucks ad large storage is expensive 600usd for 4tb. but if your just looking for a boot drive 40usd for a 128mb 560/550mbps ssd, less if you trust those Chinese ones. lol (like 14usd) I used to run off a 60gig one os usually only occupies 28gig, 40 for a load of software. Just do not use a ssd for buttloads of read write and consider a boot ssd as a sacrifical drive for a life of say 2~4 yrs max. I have some over 8yrs old now and no issues low wear but I know those on vertex2 drives that died in 3yrs.

Things are starting to come to a head with me and Lightwave 2018 again. Now I remember one of the things I hate about it: trying to do TOS bussards. The above bussards still aren't to my liking. I was messing around with them this morning while waiting for a package to be delivered and I still don't like how they render, and how LW2018 renders in general. So, I'm getting pissed at this thing.

The package I was waiting for was a Windows 10 install stick. Fortunately, I went to the trouble of creating my own install flash drive, because the one they sent me is from 2017. But, that's OK, all I need is the product key. So, I'm going to install Windows 10 1903 tonight on my desktop, and I'm going to mess around with some alternatives for LW2018 on my laptop while it's installing. The two things I'm going to try include taking the ship back to Lightwave 10, where I know I can get the bussards looking how I want them, and also taking a look at what I can do with Blender. (Eric, Dean and others do fantastic looking bussards in Blender) If necessary to get it how I want it, I'll dump this whole LW file and rebuild the ship in Blender.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Jun 28, 2019, 11:16 pm(Eric, Dean and others do fantastic looking bussards in Blender) If necessary to get it how I want it, I'll dump this whole LW file and rebuild the ship in Blender.

Thank you, Chris!  That's a very nice compliment!

I hope you don't have to dump the whole thing.  Blender can import a bunch of file types.  If you do go to Blender, I'd be happy to try to help you with the model, if I can.

If I do the Enterprise in Blender, I'm going to follow your tutorial and just modify stuff where I want it to be different.

It's my experience that exporting and importing causes more headaches than a rebuild. A great example is the grid lines. I'd have to do something about the way Blender's "smooth" setting makes a mess of sharp edges. One way is, of course, the edge split modifier, but that literally makes a mess of geometry as it literally just splits the geometry, making a mess of joined together separate objects. The way I'm doing the paneling on the Heracles eliminates the need for this, but I don't want to go around and fix that after the fact. It's easier to do it as I go.

in 2.8 I have had some success smoothing particular selection. bu the only way I got it to make nice crisp edges nest smooth was to set edges to sharp or to add extra control edges.

Quote from: Prime_8 on Jun 29, 2019, 03:44 ambu the only way I got it to make nice crisp edges nest smooth was to set edges to sharp or to add extra control edges.

That's what I've been doing with the Heracles. I used the inset tool to make extra geometry 2mm from the panel edge, resulting in crisp looking lines without using edge split:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser030.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/24cruiser030.jpg)

LOL yup, i have found some cool things in blender that help me with that for some places.

edge/loop cut but of forgot the key that changes the uniform to proportion constrained when sliding teh new loop cut into place.

also for the hard surface in blender 2.8 I really like Jayanam's plugin.

early usage video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQsQ8S8vF6s

wher to get it :
https://github.com/jayanam/fast-carve/tree/fast-carve-2-8

handy for  making nurnies and greebs

Nice!  And I always forget about the sharp edge tool in Blender.  I've got to remember that for my next build.

I tried Blender 2.8 last night. My only thought is: dafuq? I can't even find the layer thing.  ???

Quote from: scifidude79 on Jun 29, 2019, 09:51 pmI tried Blender 2.8 last night. My only thought is: dafuq? I can't even find the layer thing.  ???

Yep.  Completely redone.  I intend to hold on to my 2.79b for a while.  I'll also keep a zip version that I can run.  You can still download it.

Yeah, I have 2.79b installed on Windows 10. Without manually updating it, it's not going anywhere.

Looking good Chris.

I tires 2.8 and could not get my head around it UI and left click.
I won't move over until someone come up with a decent Tut on using it. Most I have seen still uses 2.79.

why not do the  interface  setting to make it almost back like 2.7

im glad I never fully learned 2.7 ish blender, it was less of a new headspace to shift.

Quote from: Prime_8 on Jun 30, 2019, 08:08 amwhy not do the  interface  setting to make it almost back like 2.7

im glad I never fully learned 2.7 ish blender, it was less of a new headspace to shift.

Yeah, I do believe Scott is right.  If you go into preferences, SOMEWHERE there is a setting to use 2.79 interface.  Even the left mouse click can be reset like the old version.  I've got to start working on it to see if I can get some performance improvement out of the latest version.  Hm.

The left click thing isn't hard to figure out, it's in Edit>Preferences under "Keymap." You can change it back to the right to select. I always changed other versions of Blender to left click. But, yeah that UI is weird.

I'm probably just going to switch back to Lightwave 10. Since I'm a hobbyist, it doesn't actually matter if I use a later version than that. Unfortunately, the Enterprise will have to be restarted because LW10 won't read the LW2018 file. ::)

Ugh!  That's too bad.

If you export your various components as .obj or some other Lightwave-friendly format, would it save you time?

Quote from: scifieric on Jun 30, 2019, 02:45 pmIf you export your various components as .obj or some other Lightwave-friendly format, would it save you time?

Maybe. It also sounds like a headache. But, I'd also thought of that.

On the other hand, my blueprints loaded right up.

Cool.  That is exactly how I remember the builder part of the version of LightWave I tried ... oh so long ago.

Well, I was working on a new saucer when the program crashed. So, I'll have to do it again later, because I have to go to work in a little bit. ::)

export/import try fbx. LW to LW should have a plug available or even a inbuilt tool. Look to see if LW had a native export tool as well. Max used something prior to fbx adoption. Either case I have had hands on fbx exported meshes from lw blender and rino? maya? And exported for daz and lw previously.

Also does not blender have smoothing groups where you can select faces and set them to group 1,2,3,4 etc vs having to have it all 1 group and having to loop or cut edges in all over the place? could swear I had seen a radius setting for smoothing, meaning it has some sort of ID based smoothing grouping. (then again this was ages ago.

LW supports .fbx natively. I exported a mesh to .fbx once for someone.

Quote from: MadKoifish on Jun 30, 2019, 11:34 pmAlso does not blender have smoothing groups where you can select faces and set them to group 1,2,3,4 etc vs having to have it all 1 group and having to loop or cut edges in all over the place? could swear I had seen a radius setting for smoothing, meaning it has some sort of ID based smoothing grouping. (then again this was ages ago.

Oh man, that would be nice. But, not as far as I know. You either get smooth or flat.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Jun 30, 2019, 10:12 pmWell, I was working on a new saucer when the program crashed. So, I'll have to do it again later, because I have to go to work in a little bit. ::)

Sorry man.  LightWave or Blender?

Lightwave. I think I'm going to try MKF's .fbx suggestion when I get home.

I can't wait to see what happens!

Pretty much what I expected to happen. I exported the saucer to see how it did, then I exported the whole ship. The import thing allows me to keep my layers. It imported OK, but instead of meters the ship was kilometers long. But, that was easily fixed. As expected, I need to fix the materials, but it's not bad.

I've played around with the materials some. There's more work to do, but I have to go to work. But, you get the idea.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip064.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip064.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip065.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip065.jpg)

Nicely, NICELY done!

pretty sweet man. i love it when formats work.

I have been trying to work in .obj as much as i can for small components now. makes the almost assured conversion possible. and of course .dae  for bigger projects

Thanks guys. :) I knew .fbx would work, I've used it before. I like it over .obj because it at least preserved my colors. I don't know if .obj would have done that.

Yeah OBJ and 3ds are horribly outdated. The worst of it is all the "flavors" of obj and 3ds as each app and version of that app adds their own illegal parameters that generally fuck everything up when your using those formats for the purpose they were made for. Worst though is none of those formats support anything not a tri. I had at one time managed to get a obj to make quads and ngons but again it would only work with 2 programs and you had to dig about to find the right setting.

What is odd though is FBX within the same app should retain a lot more than the color and geo. In max I have managed to even import in bones sliders and some materials from simple blender exports and Lightwave. Oh and cinema 4d as most of Nightfevers models I dl are in fbx.

Yeah, it kept the colors. The materials were just different because LW2018 uses totally different materials than LW10. But, it was mostly as I had it.

I remember having all kinds of pain with .obj back in the day, so I definitely didn't want to use that.

And, finally, the bussard collectors are looking how I imagine them:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip066.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip066.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip067.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip067.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip068.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip068.jpg)

I may redo the lights inside, but the point was to get the materials where I want them. I normally don't worry about materials at this stage, but this is a crucial element to any TOS era Starfleet ship.

glowy.

.obj was the first 'common' format ( in its original design ) to support n-gons and strips and nurbs. But the support of that all in the app is dependent on how lazy the app dev was.

.obj is more of a language in its highest forms. HAving hand coded importers and exporters for .obj it is one of my favourite ways to throw tris, quads and n-gons about LW supports most of the higher .obj functionality / my old P3D supports almost all but nurbs and besier surfaces. ( I don't understand the math magic that makes them work at a code level, how 3 curves make a huge surface if needed ?? like how does that work. LOL  )

^^ pure .obj has no poly or sub-object limit. remains human readable ( except you can't just see the mesh in the numbers (lol if you can you are probably a singularity) if you are above 10 or 12 faces ( nice to meet yo uMr Data))

.3ds dies because of the hard poly and vert limit, 65,536 -1.  that is you can't have more than 65,536-1 of anything.  a crack was made at a .e3ds (bigger than 16bit int max indexes) , but meh why it lacks other poly info and is only tris. one advantage is that it has simpler sub-object transforms but was never used ..ever

again .obj is more like a language is in some cases and yeah has soo many flavours, but at its core, the tris or quads will remain easy to use.
the cool think about .obj the purest version tri and quad strips .. can be loaded directly into vert buffers in GL and they just render.
one other curiosity, with OBJ, you can list the verts in reverse and if you use negative indexes you still end up with the same mesh. the biggest issue with .obj is how some app took the lazy way out in their importers and exporters, choosing to skip parts of the Wavefront .obj guide. It has no tris or vert limit. making it handy for point-clouds work. I have crashed modern rigs opening poly meshes that are too big. due to that last thing where you can build a .obj in reverse using negative indexing means you can construct a .obj on the fly by appending the file. A si has found out the hard way you can make and export a mesh that exceeds the ram limit very easy. ( depending on your rig, having access to cutting edge fluid dynamic SIM rigs at work that have more ram in the work terminals connected than I have ever owned in total LOl, yeh they could load my  'bloated' .obj no problems and display it. suppose it a perk of working in a research facility and knowing some of the teh researchers well enough to have them try my crazy ideas. LOL

for big stuff, I prefer .dae (colada) as it like FBX is actually just a container for mesh and scene graph data held within like a big special zip file. i don't like max's because its a bitch to work with programmatically because you have to have the correct version of fbx converter installed and linked. and that's the 2nd piss off for fbx .. max can even convert properly between versions of FBX without having the correct FBX converter installed.

.obj its not your grandpa's format .. well ok yeah it is but it's also not. it was just never used properly .. yet.  again it helps to think of .obj as a language vs just a format. not all to diff from GCode.And yeah apps like Lightwave tried to extend it. but just the original format of  .obj supported so much more than the computer of its day could really handle.

oh just thought for just mesh data and keeping .mtl out of it  ..  just thinking the only thing .obj needs is a bin version and sub-object transforms and pivot supports. too bad .obj never had pivots or the concept of a parent, multi-objects in a file but pure .obj has no parent info, all mesh data sits at the origin.

Didnt read it all but I still wont use OBJ for anything. It is always broken wont open or everything is full fo tris and it is useless for anything because it DOES have so many variations it is impossible to know what will or wont export or import. Hence if I see stuff in it I often just plain avoid it. It either means hours cleaning fucking tris off faces clearly meant to be quads or ngons. Fixing flipped faces doubled faces or holes everywhere.

FBX is not just"max's" it is a format or as said container supported by most large applications hence why it is so much easier to transport content between apps

I have NEVER had obj export across apps without massive issues. NEVER. OBJ is stuck in DOS land with an inability to read any modern file naming so maps if they DO import over are always broke to the point it is faster to re do it all.

Long and short FBX works OBJ does not. I can get my meshes into LW blender and MAYA with FBX obj it always is broken or more work than it is worth to FIX all the fuck ups.

Chris, I'm glad you were able to get the warp domes to your liking.  I'm anxious to see your final result!

Thanks Eric.

I remember having issues with .obj format in the past. I can't say specifically what they were, it was too many years ago. That's why, when MKF mentioned .fbx, I decided to try that.

Ugh, don't even get me started on .3ds format. I think I definitely remember that one not liking ngons at all.

yeh for gen use .obj not friendly, it lives in the real of pure mesh, as it barely has material settings. Autodesk owns FBX. they make it hard ( expensive ) to integrate it.  Especially if they think you app might be a competitor in any way. It has inter-version compatibility issues. that's why Autodesk had to make so many versions/builds of the FBX conversion tool. It also allows hand editing of the FBX containers contents.


.obj is used in research where large meshes need to be described without any extras hanging about with variable precision .again the errors and tribulations you have had with .obj stem from / is the app's fault, due to lazy implementation. It's that latter part most fo that time that results in having to fuss with flipping vert's windings, edges and such. Mainly because lazy devs even in big studio apps seem to copy and paste the same old .obj import export lib. Usually breaks in the triangulation process.

again file internal names are the fault of the app, not properly letting the user pick exact path vs relative path, or implementing auto detect.

It only has 1 job define just a mesh. possibly it materials if you count .mtl.
totally useless for scene setup.

However, Nvidia is bringing it (.obj) back.  Nvidia doesn't want to use FBX ( lic. issue and problems integrating toolchain larger than the app usually )
Nvidia physics plan to add .skl to the bench allowing .obj fo the mesh and .skl for the bones and joint and vert weights.
the bonus herein by using .skl to hold joint and skeleton data it won't break existing tools ( given they did their job in the first place )

FBX is great for Autodesk and film industry toolchains or any toolchain that can either integrate FBX converter command line tool or integrate it into their engine and pay for it at the tech lic level.

and 3ds lol .. well it died a death fitting as it again had MAX_INT-1 as the biggest number it can take or use as an index. ie max face/verts and all had to be under 16 bIT MAX_INT. But like most things that was considered "whos' gonna use more ?".
In games, the kins was the temperamental  .x and .B3D, with .B3D winning in the end because MS kept changing .x

Well, Newtek must have licensed the use of .fbx, because both Lightwave 10 and Lightwave 2018 support it natively.

yep, or they did an in-house importer from scratch like blender did, and while you can support only a specific version of FBX too ( by date ) back in 2014 Auto desk stopped screwing with the format. again in 2017 Autodesk changed a little bit how animation indexers were stored. its no issue for apps that use the Autodesk binary blob or build the FBX lib from A.D. source themselves. Result in some apps cant get skeletal aims to load properly.
Again any time an app creates an importer, it's their responsibility to make sure they use the data correctly.

or they used the not too shabby but also not perfect ASSIMP ( because it's free ), but not official: https://github.com/assimp/assimp . I have used this in the past. It gets better every year.

where it hits an issue like all formats is in the implementation of the format. FBX which is actually just a container like a .zip or .mkv can hold streams or blobs of data, but it has some expected contents in particular ways. .dae is also a container but holds its data in text and binary blobs inside an XML hierarchy.
some .dae can be human readable and fixed with a good text editor. Some rely heavily on 


it converts all formats to ASSIMPs internal format in RAM, and it provides tools and an API to use ASSIMPS data
also glTF is coming. well, it's here, but its gaining ground, because it is open source and has no royalties or Lic. issues. LOL. https://github.com/KhronosGroup/glTF

Most apps already use/support glTF 2.0 or better now. like old .obj the mesh data is structured in a way as to just load it into a (modern) video buffer.
oh and its network optimised for streaming it is essentially JASON used to store scene and mesh datas

OK, now that I have the warp domes sorted, I've turned my attention to the impulse engines. I'm having a weird issue with them. Looking at this image:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip069.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip069.jpg)

If you look above the impulse engines, you can see some light bleed. There's a red-orange "strip" of light there. It's driving me crazy. I've tried changing Radiosity settings, I've tried adding geometry to block the light. Nothing seems to be working.

However, looking at this shot:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip070.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip070.jpg)

There's no light bleed. I don't know what's causing it to happen on the wider shot, but not in the closeup. Perhaps it's just some odd limitation of the global illumination in Lightwave 10. I am aware of some issues it can have, but mostly in animation. But, it's nothing that can't be sorted. I may just redo the impulse engine guts to a completely different design. What I have in mind should fix the bleed issue, as it won't go as deep into the structure. (though, where it is now shouldn't be an issue)

Looks interesting, and I can't wait to see how you change it!

looks cool to me man.

Thanks guys. :)

New impulse engine guts. Now without light leaks.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip071.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip071.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip072.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/enterprise2019_wip072.jpg)

Looks spectacular!

Looking good Mate.

Thanks guys. :)

they have that massive warm space heater look . very nice.

also could not help it

We sell Flex Seal where I work.

Thanks, that's actually the effect I was going for. The lighting is indirect, the inner liner of the cavity has the luminous material and it's shining on the parts you see.

I tweaked my GI and material settings, but there wasn't time for renders before leaving for work. So, I'll have to do them in the morning.

I decided I wasn't in the mood to work on the Enterprise last night, so I planned to start a new ship instead. However, the new ship was going to be a design I've done before, so I took a look at my old model and decided it's not too bad. It was for a fan film project I was involved in back in 2014. For full details, see this post:

https://evilgenius180.wordpress.com/2018/09/23/starship-revamp-pt-01/

Anyway, getting the model back into Lightwave 10 and taking a look at it, I decided there wouldn't be much to be gained by starting a new model. So, I started modifying the existing one. I started by getting rid of a lot of the greeblies and stuff. These bits were things I added after I finished the model initially, but I was trying to add more visual interest. Most of that stuff came from the Constellation class and really didn't fit, so I got rid of it. I also got rid of the trenches. I have something else in mind for back there. Getting rid of those involved destroying geometry and creating new faces. That didn't take too terribly long. Then the real fun began. I had to remove the name and registry from the ship. Well, I didn't have to, but I wanted to. I'm not a huge fan of doing earlier versions of canon ships. Besides, that name and registry were for that fan film and I really don't want them on the model. So, that was a long and tedious process, but it's done. Then I imported the impulse engines from my Enterprise WIP because I like how I did them. AFter that, I started fooling around with materials. There's still a long way to go, including adding some parts and possibly doing new textures, but it's a start:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship01.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship01.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship02.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship02.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship03.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship03.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship04.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship04.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship05.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship05.jpg)

After that, I started messing around with some of the other models I did for that project. One of which is a Klingon D7:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/d7-01.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/d7-01.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/d7-02.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/d7-02.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/d7-03.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/d7-03.jpg)

I like that model and plan to use it. It may also get new textures. It's a shame I don't have my Romulan ship anymore, but I can always build another one. That's actually the easier of the two TOS main alien ships to build.

Then there's this:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/sb15_01.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/sb15_01.jpg)

It's pretty much an upscaled and TOS-ified Regula type station, dubbed Starbase 15. I see no reason to change that name, as it's not like "Starbase X" is specific to any show or another. I think they just drew numbers out of a hat for those. 😉 To give an idea of how big it is, here it is next to a ship:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/sb15_02.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/sb15_02.jpg)

It's pretty large. I didn't feel that Regula was big enough to fill the role of a Starbase space station, so I super sized it. I do need to redo some of the greebles. Again, some of that stuff was from the Constellation class. I dind't have a lot of time working on that project, as I was the only model maker and then they also wanted me to do animation, which I had to teach myself how to do. But, that's in the past. So, I might as well use those models for something. 🙂

Wow, Chris!  That all looks sensational!

Sounds to me like you should have turned out your animations and simply made the film yours.  I for one would love to see what you do, rather like I love to see your models.  Excellent work!

Thanks Eric.

I don't really like doing animation that much. It's OK, but it doesn't have the appeal for me that making models does. If I do any animation moving forward, it's just going to be simple stuff.

I added some boxy sensor things to the places where the trenches used to be. I figure this looks more TOS than greeble filled trenches do. Also, I've decided the ship doesn't need new textures. Much like the modeling, there would only be minor improvements that are outweighed by the amount of work involved. So, I'm going to leave them alone. I may redo the interior, though, as what's there is pretty awful. 😛

Also, I'm still deciding on a name for the ship. (no, I'm not looking for suggestions)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship06.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship06.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship07.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship07.jpg)

This will pretty much do it for the updates to this ship. (aside from the issue with the interior) The idea here wasn't to take all year on this, as it's supposed to just be an update. Most of the stuff I wanted to change on it got changed with minimal work. I look at this kind of ship as a utility ship. It's something that does various missions in Starfleet space. This is pretty much backed up by what we've seen on screen with the Miranda class. The Reliant and other Miranda class ships have been seen on scientific missions. Others have been used as cargo ships. Some are outfitted for patrol duty, such as the Soyuz-class USS Bozeman. And, who knows what kind of assignment the Saratoga was on before the battle of Wolf 359. And, of course, many were used as cannon fodder destroyers in engagements in the Dominion War. This all fits with a general purpose type of ship. It's way smaller than your big explorers, but still pretty heavily armed. This one is even smaller than the Miranda class. So, as it's a utility ship, being an ex Army man, I thought of the utility helicopter, the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk. I've ridden in a few of those. 😉 I did a search and found no canon or even licensed ship named the Black Hawk. However, I found a US Naval tradition going back to the Civil War. A ship with the name USS Black Hawk was used in a number of battles. The ship was commissioned in 1848, but it wasn't a Navy ship then, it was a civilian liner. 1848 is within the sphere of TOS registries, as NCC-1831 appears on a chart in "Court Martial," (one on the chart might be NCC-1864 as well) so I used that as the registry. The name carried over to the 20th century a well, as I fount two different Black Hawks. The only thing Trek related I found was some fan group with what looks like a website out of the 1990s that doesn't look like it's been updated in a few years. But, I never worry about fan stuff and that's a Sovereign-class ship anyway.

So, here it is:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship08.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship08.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship09.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship09.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship11.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship11.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship12.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship12.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship13.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship13.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship14.jpg?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/utility_ship14.jpg)

I tried lighting the registry on the saucer, but I was only going to do it if it would work with modeled light sources. I couldn't get them to shine on the hull just right because I wasn't cheating it. And, I didn't want to do several little lights as they do on a lot of modern Trek. So, I decided to just drop the whole idea.

Chris, I think this is really spectacular!  I love the images.  Beautiful work!

Really Nice work Chris.

Thanks guys. :)

looks crazy good man.

Thanks Scott.

This is an idea I've been playing around with for a while. I don't know if it's going any further than this. The idea is that this is a very small ship. It's not something that would go into deep space or on missions of long duration. Even with pattern replication, a ship this small simply couldn't sustain itself long term. It could be a support ship for a Starbase, or something like that.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-10.png?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-10.png)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-11.png?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-11.png)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-12.png?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-12.png)

But, I'm not really sure I like it all that well, so it may just go away. But this is what I've been working on lately.

Looking Interesting!

I'm probably going to delete everything but the saucer and see what else I can come up with.

Just put it into another layer and copy what you want to keep.
You might want to come back to what you have got here.

Yeah, that's how I did it, though what I came up with wasn't any better.

I'm curious.  If you make something with this, I want to see what it would be.  It looks unique!

super cool.depending the scale of the nacelles it's either a fast special shuttle, like a luxury yacht , or a really big cargo type thing.

I can see the yacht or the cargo hauler.  I'd want to see two more warp engines to sell the idea of speed with a fast shuttle!  Great ideas!

Thanks guys. It was probably just going to be a transport, or something. Maybe a small science vessel.

still cool to see a new shape that has familiar forms.

As this design seems to be generating interest, I may do something with it. I still have to work out something that looks better for the secondary hull, though. I may work with what I have and make some changes to the underside, which is really ugly, and do something else for the shuttlebay.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Jul 26, 2019, 12:08 amAs this design seems to be generating interest, I may do something with it. I still have to work out something that looks better for the secondary hull, though. I may work with what I have and make some changes to the underside, which is really ugly, and do something else for the shuttlebay.

Well, I'm curious to see what you do, Gowron!  LOL!

So, this is where I'm at with this little funky design.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-13.png?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-13.png)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-14.png?w=600) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-14.png)

The underside is pretty flat right now, so I'm not showing it just yet. After several attempts to redo the secondary hull to something I like, I wound up just going with what I had before, but with some modifications. Right now, this ship is around 81.5m long, 45.6m wide and 11.35m tall. It's going to get taller when I add a bridge and something to the bottom. As previously stated, this is a support ship, so it's nothing that is going to have to survive for long periods of time on its own. I'm also thinking it doesn't have a very big crew, maybe 15 or so. It would likely mostly be used for transport duties, possibly the occasional scouting or scientific mission. It also would likely be used for defense.

The square part in the back is going to be for a shuttlebay, I'm thinking it only carries one shuttle. I'm not planning on giving it the ability to land, as landing gear would take up too much of the finite internal space. That's what transporters are for. Anyway, that's what I have for now.

Very cool!

I could not put in words so I drew what I was thinking. 

what about docking notch?

sorry had to use your pic.  But like an open extensive docking area that can dock to most small ships but also to whatever. dun-know just brain fart

That's actually an idea I considered early on. I could use the existing cut-out in the secondary hull. The shuttle would land on the hull itself and dock with a port. Kind of like how the Ghost and Phantom work in Star Wars: Rebels.

Looking Good Chris.

Thanks Dean. Though, the motivation to work on this or much of anything else right now is low. I opened Modeler earlier, then promptly closed it. I also downloaded Blender 2.80 RC3 to take a look and rage quit that. Since then, I've mostly been reading Dracula comics from the 1970s.

I have to do a bunch of reading and test-taking if I am going to keep my diagnostic licenses this weekend, but reading Dracula comics sounds SO MUCH BETTER!  I used to love those.

I never read any of Marvel's "The Tomb of Dracula" series before yesterday. I bought an omnibus with The Tomb of Dracula 1-15 and Dracula Lives! 1-4. I read The Tomb of Dracula 1-15 last night. I only have the other four to go. I also watched the original Dracula movie this morning. So, yeah, I'm on a bit of a Dracual kick. ;)

jeesless rc3 is out. lol
 

I know you guys came up with 2.7 and such, but I could not be happier about  2.8+ . Hell even Ubisoft 's movie department has become a gold member ( not the game division, the film industry side)

The problem is, they've gone and changed a lot of things, and some of the functions don't seem to work like they should. A great example is this. Importing a mesh with multiple layers from 2.79b, I get this:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-17.png?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-17.png)

Only the active layer from the imported object is visible. I can see the other layers in the upper right, under "Collections." (that's what they call them now instead of layers) But, I can't find a way to make them visible. According to the settings, they should be. I've tried messing with the settings over there, nothing will make the inactive layers on the imported object visible.

But, if I go into 2.79b and make all of the layers visible, then save the file, they're visible in 2.80 RC3. I can also use the tools in the upper right to make them invisible or visible at will. So, why doesn't it work with the layers that were inactive in the saved object?

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-18.png?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-18.png)

Other than that, it's a big problem of trying to figure out where the hell everything is in the program. I didn't even remember without hunting sometimes where stuff was in 2.79b, now they completely rearranged it all. Completely relearning a program is not conductive to good workflow when you're in the middle of a project. Hell, this is the type of shit that keeps people from switching programs, having to learn a brand new interface. But, Blender has gone and totally changed it in the same program. I think this is even worse than the 2.49 to 2.5+ changes they did.

Comparatively, Lightwave 10:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-19.png?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-19.png)

Lightwave 2018:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-20.png?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/screenshot-20.png)

As you can see, there are some added tools, but no major changes between LW10 and 2018. Even LW9 just had a different color scheme, it was otherwise the same. I'm not sure about earlier than that. But, that's the kind of consistency this hobby (and industry) relies on.

ugh collections, just gotta snowflake and not keep a unified naming scheme. sheesh. It is a growing issue in opensource, a consistency or uneven dev of something. And always the meh quit abandon ware scenario.

I still cannot see why blender has no way to control smoothing by group ID on a polysurface. Tot6ally eliminates a control and modeling aspect that could be open to users. IU mean how do you keep a sharp edge on a subdiv object without it or denote regions and control say a exact dai of a hole in a subdiv object without it. As a single smoothing ID you end up with shapes that shrink or grow post subdiv. In the end you have to use loops and live with hugely bloated meshes as theres tonnes of bunched edges in corners and direction changes.

Yeah, the problem with open source is that it can lack direction. New people, new ideas come in and they decided it's good to go a new way. You get less of this with paid software, particularly with something you pay a lot of money for. Companies that are making money on this stuff don't want to piss off their customers as much. And, sometimes, when they do, you find the next version goes back to what was popular before.

However, the advantage of open source is this:

https://download.blender.org/release/

That's every version of Blender ever released. You don't have to be stuck with the newer version, you can download whatever version(s) you liked better. If I don't like something like the render engine in LW2018, I can download LW10 because I own it. However, I can't go back and get LW11 (legitimately) due to the fact that Newtek no longer sells it. Effectively, it's not available to me.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Jul 27, 2019, 10:08 pmSo, yeah, I'm on a bit of a Dracual kick. ;)

That sounds good to me!

Quote from: scifieric on Jul 28, 2019, 04:33 pmThat sounds good to me!

Me too. ;) I'm probably going to read the original Bram Stoker novel again. It's been years.

---

And, on a more CGI related note, this thing is a damn pain in the ass to do. (attached) It's a very odd shape, nowhere near as straightforward as some might think. I believe the originals were hand sculpted. I chose subdivision for my method of attack. The rest of the nacelle is actually easier than the front. But, this is all I have done on it as motivation wasn't high over the weekend. I'll be picking at it all week, though. This is just a sneak peek.

Nice job so far!

At least you were working in 3D.  I was reading and taking tests to maintain my credentials as an X-ray and MRI technologist.  Ugh.

At least you have a job that pays well.

I've been thinking lately of doing the Phase II Enterprise concept again. I've done it before and in fact was working on a model of the ship almost two years ago. I couldn't find that model on any of my backup drives, so I figured it was lost. Well, as luck would have it, I got a new game controller. I'm tired of playing games on a little monitor, so I decided to hook my gaming computer up to my TV. I pulled one of my earlier desktops out of mothballs to use as a regular desktop, as I'll probably keep the gaming rig hooked up to my TV. When I went to boot it, I saw it had no operating system. No problem, that's an easy fix. I saw the drive had a backup partition on it, and plenty of unpartitioned space, so I decided to leave the partition alone and proceeded to install MX Linux on the unpartitioned space. It's a good thing I did that, because there were several files on that backup partition, including some Blender files. As luck would have it, one of the folders contains my Phase II model project from 2017. So, I installed Blender 2.79b from the MX Linux repositories and took at look at it. Naturally, I did some renders to assess the current state of the model:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip05.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip05.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip06.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip06.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip07.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip07.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip08.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip08.jpg)

It doesn't look too bad. It looks like I had a lot of the painful stuff out of the way. The saucer grid lines need to be redone. I'm not sure how thick they are, but they look pretty thick. I also don't like certain other aspects of them. If memory serves, I tried a different method with them and it didn't work like I wanted it to work. But, those are easy to redo. The warp pylons also have something funky going on with them, but I can easily redo those as well. The nacelles and secondary hull both look good, which is what really matters.

NICE!  I was always fascinated with that ship.  And your take on it is terrific.  I want to see how you keep going with this.

Thanks Eric. I've got some ideas to make it look like a natural stepping stone between TOS and TMP. :)

Quote from: scifidude79 on Aug 17, 2019, 09:56 pmThanks Eric. I've got some ideas to make it look like a natural stepping stone between TOS and TMP. :)

I can't wait to see!

I redid the grid lines on the saucer. I did them the same way I did my 24th century cruiser's lines, but these went faster because I had less of them to do. I was able to do one section, then clone and rotate that and join them until I had a quarter of the saucer, the just mirror that along the X and Y axis. I also started on the bridge and planetary sensor array. Those were a bit of a pill to do because Jefferies' drawings of the ship don't match between views. I got it to a point where it's between matching up closely enough with various views and the photos of the miniature being built by Brick Price. I would assume they were working with a more refined set of blueprints to make the 4 foot miniature.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip09.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip09.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip10.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip10.jpg)

My rationale for fitting this design into Starfleet is simple: They were already working on upgrading the Constitution class before the Enterprise came in for its refit. They had already done a redesign and had built and possibly even refitted some ships into this design by then. Then, when Scott and his team set about redesigning and refitting the Enterprise, they refined the design. This ship could still have been in service, though, as a variant of the Constitution class. Really, this is art imitating life as it fits with how the ship was done for the show and movie. Matt Jefferies came in to do the redesign of the Enterprise for Phase II. His design was then used and further refined by Richard Taylor and Andrew Probert for the version we saw in TMP. Since we didn't see all of the ships in Starfleet, it's possible there were ones like the Phase II ship creeping around in the 2270s. But, I will maintain that it was probably a more rare refit, perhaps five to ten vessels were done in this configuration. There is precedent for more rare versions of ships. The rarely seen Enterprise-B version of the Excelsior, for example. Even after Generations hit theaters, we still only saw one other ship in this configuration. The rest of the Excelsior class ships we saw were the original design. So, it's possible only a small number of Excelsior class ships were done in that design. It may have simply been a sub class specific to a select few ships used for special purposes. That same kind of refit logic can be applied to the Phase II refit Constitution. Perhaps it just wasn't as desirable of a refit as the TMP ship.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on this.

New warp pylons. I had some errors on the old ones. I probably could have fixed it by triangulating the faces, but I decided to just build new ones and make some slight improvements.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip11.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip11.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip12.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip12.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip13.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip13.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip14.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip14.jpg)

Excellent work, Chris!  This is looking great!

Thanks Eric.

looking good man.

Thanks Scott.

I added lines to the secondary hull. I got as close to the lines on the Matt Jefferies drawings as I could, though some of them didn't survive the passage of time. For some, I used the cleaned up schematics from the Phase II book and just eyeballed the placement. It does look like the Jefferies drawings have some more horizontal lines, but they're harder to make out and very closely spaced. They're also very straight, as opposed to how you'd normally draw a horizontal line on a curved surface. It's possible those were indications of where the decks are for him to align things like windows. I think that's highly likely as there's no indication of these lines on the bottom view. The lines I added are the ones that most depictions of the ship include.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip15.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip15.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip16.jpg?w=800) (https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/phaseii_wip16.jpg)

On a side note, I've been looking at the Eaglemoss miniature of the ship. Right now, I just have web images, but I do have my very own model of this ship on the way from an Ebay seller. (they're sold out on Eaglemoss) I noticed they didn't include any of the lines on the secondary hull, or the ones on the bottom of the primary hull. Now, I haven't seen the ones on the bottom of the primary hull on any of the drawings, I just added those myself. However, the ones on the secondary hull are definitely on Matt Jefferies' original drawings. Anyway, that's just something I noted. I'm still looking forward to getting my Eaglemoss model of this ship. I'll post pictures when I get it. 🙂

Very nicely done.  Is this modeled in LW or Blender?

Thanks Al. It's in Blender.

looking good man. 

Thanks Scott. :)

Quote from: scifidude79 on Aug 20, 2019, 04:08 amThanks Al. It's in Blender.

Wow!  Great job!

Well, I started the project in Blender almost two years ago. The thread no longer exists here, as it was long before the relaunch. When I found the files, I was thrilled. As I saw no good reason to convert the file to Lightwave, I just picked up where I left off in Blender. Besides, I love the Cycles render engine, even with the noise. (that can be dealt with) LW2018 has a similar render engine, but it's borked. You get fireflies with reflections and things like transparency and emission don't work well. I also have LW9 and LW10, but they're both incredibly old. So, I think I'm actually better off just using Blender. At least its render engine is matured and works as expected. I'm using Blender 2.79b because it's what is available in the MX Linux (Debian based) repositories and because I can effectively use it. I don't want to try to tackle 2.80 in the middle of a project.

So, that's the longhand version of why this is being done in Blender. As much as I despise YouTurd, I'm probably going to check out the texture and material part of your Enterprise tutorial when I get that far, Eric.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Aug 21, 2019, 12:43 amAs much as I despise YouTurd, I'm probably going to check out the texture and material part of your Enterprise tutorial when I get that far, Eric.

I'm certain we can come to some kind of arrangement.  I'm also on Vimeo.  Do you have an aversion to Vimeo?

Nope, I have a Vimeo account.

when . if you do make the hop to 2.8, you can go into settings now and knock it back to work mostly like  2.7ish.

Quote from: Prime_8 on Aug 21, 2019, 09:15 pmwhen . if you do make the hop to 2.8, you can go into settings now and knock it back to work mostly like  2.7ish.

It won't act exactly the same, I'm sure. And, I still don't want to fiddle with a completely redesigned program in the middle of a project. It will still be there once I get done with this ship.

Quote from: Prime_8 on Aug 21, 2019, 09:15 pmwhen . if you do make the hop to 2.8, you can go into settings now and knock it back to work mostly like  2.7ish.

Yeah, I may do that.  I've gotten used to how Blender is set up.  I can't believe I just typed that sentence!  LOL!

Quote from: scifidude79 on Aug 21, 2019, 01:14 amNope, I have a Vimeo account.

Okay, so do I.  I'll upload the videos there this weekend.

Blender's 2.5X+ interface really isn't really that bad. But then, Lightwave has a similarly tiered list of tools, but stuff like modeling tools are even more spread out. Compared to that, the way Blender 2.79 is organized might actually be more intuitive. At least I don't have to go to separate menu tiers for stuff like spin (lathe) and bevel (edge rounding) like I do in LW. (Though, I usually just used the keyboard shortcut for lathe, but that's not my point)

^^

yeah sorry, I did not mean on this project, when you start a new one, try new blender.

yeah. I find I have been using menus in the new blender because I was menu user in Max

he quickly covers the how to make it work back like 2.7

Gotcha.

And, with very few exceptions, I don't watch YouTurd videos. I want to know when that became the go-to for explaining everything. ::)

Many people are lazy and want to be spoonfed and a video is easier to them. As reading is too hard or too much effort. Which to me is odd as I read 3 or 4 500page books a month.
 I find it annoying as I have to keep pausing replaying etc to get what I need. Also it is all this money for nothing attitude lately as you will find almost all of these videos are monetized. Patreon etc has not helped at all either. Loads of artists whom shared work freely now paywall everything.

I find manuals and print tutorials easier to go back and reference things than finding that exact spot I can't remember the time of.

I'm getting ready to buy and configure my first Raspberry Pi, and I'm eying the official manual to go with it.

is it additional cost? >_<

Also thinking about it a video tut on somethings could be a good way to get the maker covering all bases. I have followed countless tuts where they leave out what they think everyone knows as a step and skip it. That or just leave a important step or way of doing something out. Just thought of some of those nerf mod tuts that have been showing up in my yt suggestions lately and though yeah maybe a video is better to do for taking something apart and showing alterations as it is on video vs writing it out and missing something. Shrug.

I do find them hugely annoying though for software or hdw. Mostly cause so many will blather for 3 min before getting to what I want. Though so many of these blog DIY things are just as fucking bad taking 5 paragraphs 3 spam adverts poop ups and overlays before getting to the instructions. I just wanted to know the reg string to hacking out rotate from the fing context menu on images! (old man brain here so shit is forgotten if older than 6mo)

Naw, I'll probably just use the Pi documentation on their website, which is free. There is also a print manual, but that costs money. The board itself comes with a quick setup guide.

Like you, I find that some people tend to babble more and include too much information, rather than getting straight to the point. If I want a quick answer, a 10+ minute video isn't going to get me there.

Really, it depends what you like. Some people like that video telling them what to do, others would just rather read it. I just think it's kind of sad that the videos seem to be replacing written tutorials. I like choices.

With Blender, I tend to find text explaining things to be lacking, but there are lots of videos out there. I may watch the video Scott posted, I may not. My issue comes more with where it's hosted than the fact that it's a video.

I was thinking there would be a pdf version of the manual. When I used to be into use manuals it would have been a boon for digital searching etc. >_>

Yeah seen a few blender tuts where they say do this that this thing and that with no understanding the noob has not fucking clue where to even look for this that and the other thing. >_> Or they use a term for a gesture or something. Though I hear much of the gesture crap is being replaced or at least made doable without it. I also loath scripted only tools and hotkey only ones. Blender had quite a few of the latter last I looked. Max has too many tools or buttons that are not hotkeyed or keyable! heh in older 2010 I think you could not bridge edges or polies (though poly bridge is annoying as it always crosses) I found out some point prior to at least 2013 they had a edge bridge so I mapped it to a key and is so damn much faster than clicking bridge every time lol.

And yeah google, went the way I had guessed back in 2008 sad. I remember the OG droid and how cool it was only took what 3yrs for that to go to shit where everything even shit apps were pay for or spyware.

Yeah, I'm not typing this on my iPhone because I have a deep love for Apple. In fact, this is only my second ever Apple product and I paid too much for what it is, but it doesn't have Google on it.

The main problem with Blender tuts is age and that thing you mentioned where people act like you already know stuff. I was trying some tutorials back in the 2.49 days where the tutorials were written for 2.3x, and tools had moved and/or changed names. It's a real pain when you're trying to learn the software. Like I said, I'll hit 2.8 after I finish the ship.

There may be a .pdf version of that manual. If there is, that will be perfect. I like to transfer .pdf manuals to my Kindle Fire because they display like books.

Very nice work on the Phase II Enterprise Chris

Quote from: scifidude79 on Aug 22, 2019, 12:49 amGotcha.

And, with very few exceptions, I don't watch YouTurd videos. I want to know when that became the go-to for explaining everything. ::)

Quote from: MadKoifish on Aug 22, 2019, 03:33 amMany people are lazy and want to be spoonfed and a video is easier to them. As reading is too hard or too much effort. Which to me is odd as I read 3 or 4 500page books a month.
 I find it annoying as I have to keep pausing replaying etc to get what I need. Also it is all this money for nothing attitude lately as you will find almost all of these videos are monetized. Patreon etc has not helped at all either. Loads of artists whom shared work freely now paywall everything.

unfortunely I fall into the Camp that prefer Videos or Texts. Reason being that I learn better by being shown over reading. Dan right it a pain with having to pause and rewind to go over a bit again, but that normal because I have missed something.

As for skipping thing because they think everyone knows how to do it is another pain the in the ares. luckily with blender I know most of the short cuts on from 2.79 back. At least Blender Guru covers everything in each tut and when he dose miss something out he tell you where you can find it in a past tut as he has covered it more than once.

Dunno I will stick to google evil over iapple evil. Least I wont pay so much for it. speaking of those things gonna probably have to get a new one soon the galaxy s5 is just so damned slow these days taking a picture is like pulling teeth. By the time it opens the camera sets up focuses and takes the pic the thing I was gonna shoot is long LONG gone. Seems every month it is slower. . . . .

They've actually done studies on which one spies on you more, and Google way worse than Apple. That wasn't the way I expected it to go. I actually thought Apple was the worst. But yeah, none of them are good. You've just gotta go with what works for you. Right now for me, that's Apple. But, it hasn't been an easy transition. A lot of stuff to change over, plus content I just don't look at anymore, like YT stuff. Though, to be honest, I was doing way too much YT there for a while. I've taken to reading instead during my bus rides to and from work and it's been nice.

The thing I hate most about Apple is their prices. What they charge for what you get is ridiculous. That's why they only thing I've actually got from them is a phone. And, it's not even a newer one, though that's actually a good thing. The iPhone 7 was the one where they dropped the headphone jack forcing you to use easily hackable Bluetooth. And, my iPhone 6S got an update to iOS 12.4, or whatever the latest is, earlier. That's another thing Google doesn't do is push updates for their older operating systems. You hardly ever get Android updates after you initially activate the phone, tablet, whatever. You get app updates, but not system updates. It's kind of disturbing if you think about it.

Anyway, a bit off track there. Like I said, it all comes down to what you like. I don't really like either company that much, but I'm using an Apple phone these days. There aren't really any other options for smartphones because everyone else's mobile operating systems seem to fizzle.

On a more relevant subject, I did a write up on that Eaglemoss Phase II ship I got off of Ebay:

https://evilgenius180.wordpress.com/2019/08/23/eaglemoss-phase-ii/

First, looking good!

Second..
For me it depends on what the tutorial is.. if its just some odd question that will take 5 seconds to read, then yep, words are fine, but If i'm doing totally something new, like a new After Effects tutorial, I like the videos.. But it is REALLY dependent on the Host/narrator.. if they suck at explaining.. its going to be torture to watch.. Bueller.... Bueller....

third.. Yeah.. Google is horrible, and Apple is actually promoting themselves on there security and secrecy for its customers.. but damn do they cost way to much.. was going to get an I phone.. till I looked at the price even for last years model.. Eeeek!

As for blender.. Read an article on how some Japanese companies are moving to that platform from Lightwave or Max.. probably to save a buck, or that you can add Blender to add infintum computers for render farms..

This is an idea I've been playing around with for the past few hours. Obviously, there's much to do, but it's a start. I'm designing as I go, so some bits have gone the way of the delete button and had to be rebuilt.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/screenshot-6.png)

Basically, it's a post TNG-era frigate. My original idea was an escort, like the Defiant is, but with more of this type of design. However, I decided to make it a bit bigger (it's still not large by TNG standards) and make it a frigate, as a frigate can have more uses than simply escorting stuff. But, a frigate is still, by definition, a warship. My idea is that this is a defensive ship. It could be assigned to a fleet, a starbase or even a planet for defense. It could potentially perform other assignments, but only in a limited capacity. Most of the ship's resources will be used for the engines, defensive systems and weapons. It's not likely to have much in the way of science labs. Obviously, it could collect scan data and take that back to a starbase for analysis, but it couldn't do the analysis itself. In fact, it can't do much of anything on its own for any length of time, but it's not designed to be on its own. If it were in a situation like what happened with Voyager, it would fare about as well as the Equinox did. My theory is that with the Dominon War, the constant Borg threat and the collapse of the Romulan Star Empire, the call for ships with more firepower would be higher than in the relatively peaceful days of TNG.

And I've already changed something. Upon looking at it, I wasn't fond of how I'd done the upper saucer. One of the disadvantages to designing is a you go is that you think it looks OK, until you get a better look at it. Anyway, it's a small change but I like how it flows better.

Old:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/screenshot-7.png)

New:

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/screenshot-8.png)

Sometimes less complex is better. ;)

Nice work, Chris!  Very cool!

I love that you have a back story and a relative size for the ship in mind.  Well done!

this is both the horror and joy of working on original universe stuff, the delete key becomes your friend in the end .
you have the added constraints or guides of trying to fit a universe with well know shape and design language.
LOL i realize everything wrote is  kind the old glass is 1/2 full , or 1/2 empty bit . :P

I can say this , there is nothing more rewarding than pulling off a original work.

quite often i would be guilty of the meme , opening blender deleting the default cube , staring at the screen and just shutting it down . :P

Looks good man .

Thanks Eric. I never start a design without having a size in mind. It helps me with my proportions, since I don't sketch stuff in 2D first. For example, with a TNG era ship and an oval saucer, at 200m long, I want the saucer to be about 100m long. The nacelles are probably going to be about that long too, or a bit longer. (I hate stubby nacelles) I'll just have to decide if I want to have the nacelles overlap the saucer slightly or if I want to make the ship slightly longer. 200m is just a starting point. I think I went 100m wide too, so I may make the ship slightly longer. Deciding a purpose for the ship also helps me design it. For something like a frigate, I want a ship that looks fast and maneuverable since, historically, frigates are warships built for speed and maneuverability.

Thanks Scott. I can never seem to find a direction for original universe stuff. I guess I'm just not that original. ;)

this is why i have deleted many default cubes and ended there .

I now try and use abstract source shapes and such to get outlines. photo bashing 2d pics to make outlines helps too .

When I actually used Blender, I always deleted the cube and saved my startup file so it wouldn't still be there. ;)

I got the lower secondary hull and nacelles started. Now it's just a matter of adding the bridge module and then getting into the details.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/ss_wip_001.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/ss_wip_002.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/ss_wip_003.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/ss_wip_004.jpg)

I got the basics of the bridge module in. It's similar to ones I've done in the past. It channels some Enterprise refit, Excelsior and Voyager love. This also gives the ship a spine.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/ss_wip_005.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/ss_wip_006.jpg)

And, speaking of spines, mine is requesting that I take a break from working on this and watch the latest episode of Picard, and maybe play some Doom 64 on the XBOX One. OK, my spine isn't really requesting Picard or Doom, but that's what's about to happen. 😉

looking cool man .

// i think deleting the default cube is ... comforting for me somehow. Sort of , " hey friend I'm not an Autodesk/3dMax product "  :P

Thanks bro.

I've used a handful of different programs, none of which are Autodesk products, and Blender is the only one that I've used that starts with a cube.

Nice progress, and I love the Enterprise in the background!

Cool ship! It looks good from every angle, nice lines

Thanks a lot, guys. :)

Quote from: scifieric on Mar 21, 2020, 03:36 pmI love the Enterprise in the background!

It's the same background I used when I made my most recent Enterprise. I was going to do something else, but then I just used that one again. ;)

Great looking ship Chris.

Thanks Dean.

I got a bit more done on the ship. I added some panel lines to the upper saucer and some blue stuff to the nacelles.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/ss_wip_007.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/ss_wip_008.jpg)

nice lines man.


The 'blue stuff' (or any other color emissive ) makes things start to look alive

Nice blue stuff!  LOL!

Looking great, Chris!

Thanks guys.

It's not much, but I've been playing with a possible way of adding text to the ship using the heat shrink tool in Lightwave. I've never used this tool before, but I like it. I may or may not go this route for the final text, but this at least gives me a look at the placement of the text and a visual guide for where it's going to be when I want to add other details. The only minor drawback to this method is that it "floats" slightly over the hull and casts a shadow, but that's an easily fixed issue. Other methods include simply texturing it or actually stenciling it onto the hull. Anyway, I did some renders to see how it looks, so I might as well share them.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/ss_wip_009.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/ss_wip_010.jpg)

It looks great, Chris!  That's the way I added text to my last three models.  I disable shadows for the text objects and it seems to work great!

Thanks Eric. Yeah, disabling the shadows is the plan. When I collapse the mesh, I'll have to leave the text/decal layer alone. It's not hard to do, I do that with my blades for my TOS bussard collectors.

I do the same thing here.

Looks great Chris.

Thanks Dean.

I took a week off of work, so I'm enjoying a nice staycation. One thing on the agenda for this week is some CGI. I toyed with the idea of starting a new project. I considered doing a new Constellation class, or even an Ambassador class, which I've never done before. However, the idea of working on other peoples' designs just isn't exciting me right now. So, I decided to go back to my 24th century frigate I was working on several months ago. Tentatively, it's still named the USS Sunstreaker, but that may change.

Anyway, upon reopening the file, I found I was in the process of adding grid lines to the ship. The last time I'd worked on it, I'd really only done the upper saucer. Well, I did the lower saucer and secondary hull. The only other parts that for sure are going to get lines are the bridge and spine, and the pylon. Though, technically, I started on the pylon piece as it's connected to part of the underside of the saucer. But, there's more to do there. I haven't decided if the nacelles are getting any lines. I checked to be sure and there aren't a whole lot of Starfleet nacelles that have engraved lines. (almost none from the TNG era) I also made the beginnings of the saucer RCS thrusters. I also changed the hull color to battleship gray and made the RCS thrusters gunmetal gray.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_011.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_012.jpg)
(yes, I see the smoothing error on the back of the saucer, I'm just not worried about it as that part isn't finished)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_013.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_014.jpg)

So, yeah, plenty more to do on this ship. Once I'm done with the tedious and time consuming grid lines, I'll probably do the tedious and time consuming windows. Though, the ship isn't going to have a huge amount of windows, as it is a warship.

I just couldn't wait to add some windows, so I didn't wait. Trying to remember how to do things that are out of the norm for the projects I do can be rough. For example, I mainly deal in circular saucers. That's great, but this is an extreme half oval. So, rotating window cutters into place isn't a simple matter of using the rotate tool. I have to use other tools. There's a handy tool in Lightwave called Rail Clone, which is great for creating duplicates of an object along a path. Similarly, Rail Extrude extrudes objects along a path (comes in handy for phaser strips and other bits.) However, the problem was trying to remember how to convert a line of verts into a path. Well, I finally got it and I got my first row of windows in place. The Rail Clone tool got me partly there, with some fiddling with the cutters by hand to get them exactly how I want them. Of course, the complex curves made it a bit of work, but I think the results speak for themselves. The windows are shaped like the ones on Voyager, Equinox, etc. Basically, just slightly rounded rectangles. The later shows and movies essentially did away with the round and pill shaped windows, until Enterprise brought them back.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_015.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_016.jpg)

So yeah, these are basically skylights. The extreme angle of the saucer makes it so they couldn't be anything else. I'll probably only do a couple more rows of these on the saucer top and then some windows you can look normally out of on the saucer edge. I may do something similar to a Ten forward. I'd do some of those window insets that various ships in the TNG era had, but the extreme curve again makes it so they'd be really odd to do. This ship has more of a "blade" type of saucer than ships like Voyager and Equinox, which had less extreme of a curve that allowed for more details like that. But, that's because this is supposed to be a fast and maneuverable fighting ship. I don't know how making a ship short and sleek helps in space, but I think it would alter the center of gravity, making tight maneuvers possible. I'm pretty sure that's why the Defiant was designed how it was.

Excellent work, Chris!  This is certainly fun to watch.

I presume that regular physics kind of goes out the window (if you'll pardon the expression) at warp speed, so I've always had it in my mind that the windows and such for the ships, heck, even the shape of the ships, are just to give us something familiar to latch onto as a viewer.  Oh, that's a Spaceship!  I can gauge the size by the windows!  (That sort of thing.)

You're doing a great job and I can't wait to see it finished.

Thanks Eric.

Yeah, windows help establish scale. From a more realistic standpoint, being able to look outside kind of helps alleviate that feeling of being "trapped." Other than that, I don't know what purpose they serve. Glowy bits to make the ship look cool?

More windows, some phasers, photon torpedo launchers and a couple sensor arrays.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_017.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_018.jpg)

I decided to take a break from modeling and do some texture work. I created some paneling for the upper saucer. This is pretty easy to do. I took my saucer from an earlier file, without grid lines or windows, etc, and I applied different materials to the geometry to come up with a panel pattern that exactly matches my hull shape. Then I rendered that with an orthographic camera and used planar projection to map it to the upper saucer. I also made the name part of the texture, rather than being modeled text.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_019.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_020.jpg)

I didn't like the distribution of light and dark panels. It was too much light in one spot and dark in another. So, I swapped two of the colors around all over the map and I think it looks much better.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_021.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_022.jpg)

Chris, that looks AWESOME!  Love it!

Thanks Eric.

Soooo... I had this all ready to post earlier and I realized I had my windows on a bad line. Due to the curvature of the saucer, they wouldn't have been effective on the deck they were on, they only could have been skylights for the deck below with unusually large rooms. That made no sense, so I changed them to farther up the curve and, thus, farther up the deck. Now they can be windows in quarters like the ones on the Enterprise-D that you saw over Picard and Troi's beds (probably others too, but I definitely remember those two.) So, this works better. Though, if you've never removed window cuts and rebuilt geometry by hand, I don't recommend it.

Aside from that, I also added some escape pod hatches. They're the same type on a lot of TNG-era ships. 3x3m, 6 people per pod, and there are currently 31 of them. That means the ship can currently evacuate 186 people. Of course, there will be more pods later. To get those in place, I created a flat hatch shape and positioned it over my saucer. Then I used Rail Clone to create duplicates along the curvature of the saucer and the heat shrink to put them right against the hull. Then I just had to extrude them and then round the edges and that all worked great. They're on the same line where I had those windows, but having pods there makes more sense as they can used the extra space for launch systems.

Aside from windows and pods, I added some transporter emitters and some things to make us go.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_027.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_028.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_029.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_030.jpg)

And, to make life more fun, the right button is going out in my mouse. It will randomly decide I'm not still pressing it anymore. I'll have to see what I have laying around until I get around to replacing it. I have some "mobile" mice, but I generally don't like using them because they're smaller. But, if I must I will.

I decided to try something different for the hull material and I think this looks better than the texture I had before.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_031.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_032.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_033.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_034.jpg)

Spectacular work, Chris!  I can't wait to see this completed!

Thanks Eric. I'm looking forward to that too. Sill a bit of a way to go, though.

I got the paneling done on the secondary hull. This is a long and tedious process, but no more so than making textures and fooling with UV mapping.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_035.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_036.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_037.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_038.jpg)

Excellent work, Chris!  Excellent work!

Thanks a lot, Eric. :)

Stuff.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_039.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_040.jpg)

More stuff. And a name change. I got the name Sunstreaker from The Transformers. Sunstreaker is an Autobot who is vain and arrogant. He thinks he's the best and lets everyone else know it. He also points out the shortcomings of others and doesn't help others. Basically, he's a d-bag. He's a skilled warrior, which is why the Autobots put up with his attitude. Aside from being associated with a character who's a d-bag, I don't want to use a name from another franchise. So, I renamed the ship the USS Minerva. Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare. She's not a violent battle craving psycho like God of War Mars, Minerva instead prefers to fight defensively. I feel that type of character fits the Federation a bit more than a sociopathic Autobot. Minerva's Greek counterpart is Athena, which is what I was going to go with, but it's used more frequently. I feel Minerva gets less use, so I went with that.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_041.jpg)

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ss_wip_042.jpg)

Quote from: scifidude79 on Aug 28, 2020, 10:20 pmThanks a lot, Eric. :)

You've earned it, Chris.  You continue to turn out exemplary work!

Quote from: scifieric on Aug 29, 2020, 03:44 pmYou've earned it, Chris.  You continue to turn out exemplary work!

Thanks again, Eric.

It's getting hard to be (and stay) motivated to do CGI. It doesn't help when you post work on a certain forum (you know the one, I stopped posting there for years due to this issue) and you get no response. Yet, other threads get lots of replies. And, of course, plenty of people post their stuff and want feedback on it without giving much back to the community. But, irksome as that is, I'm 41 years old, so it's not my main reason for not feeling this stuff anymore.

The biggest problem is, I'm once again getting pissed off at Windows. There are a number of reasons I prefer Linux based operating systems. For one, Windows relies on really old drivers. Some of them are 15-20 years old. If you have any doubts, pull up the Device Manager in Windows 10 and take a look at your USB or monitor drivers. By computer standards, they're ancient. I recently switched from a 24" 1080p TV to a 32" 720p TV as a monitor. It's an older TV, but a good one. It's a Sharp Aquos that my cousin got me a great deal on at HHGregg (he used to work there) many years ago. Now, the TV will do 1366x768p resolution. However, it can go up to 1920x1080i. Windows uses an ancient generic monitor driver and will only let me set the resolution to 1366x768p. Needless to say, on a 32" TV, that's huge. I tried scaling the screen to less than 100% only to find out Windows won't do that. It will only let you scale up, not down. So, I decided to give Linux another look and found it will let me scale lower than 100%, as I thought it would. However  that's not necessary as Linux correctly identifies the display as a Sharp Aquos and lets me set the resolution to 1920x1080i. So, it's basically like running it in 1080p. Why won't Windows do this? Probably old ass drivers. The monitor driver it uses predates the TV.

Another issue that cropped is where the most recent round of Windows updates screwed up my wireless mouse. I was having issues with the right button only, but I use that a lot in Lightwave. I thought the mouse was going bad, so I switched mice. That one did it too. Fresh batteries didn't help. I finally switched to a wired mouse (I had to buy one) and it works fine now. So, they messed something up with those updates that made my Logitech wireless mice stop working correctly. Can issues like this crop up in Linux? Of course they can. But, if they do, I can just switch Linux distributions. There's only one Windows.

So, where does this leave me? Linux Mint 20. I installed it on a second computer and left the Windows machine alone. Now, Lightwave will only work on Windows or a Mac. (no way in hell am I buying an overpriced Mac) I've tried getting it running on Linux using WINE, but it's a no-go. LW2018 requires Windows firewall. ::) So, it's either put up with Windows and its shenanigans or switch to Blender on Linux.

These issues are the main reason I'm re-evaluating whether or not I even want to continue doing CGI as a hobby. Nobody can help me make this decision, I have to figure it out myself.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Aug 31, 2020, 12:38 amThese issues are the main reason I'm re-evaluating whether or not I even want to continue doing CGI as a hobby. Nobody can help me make this decision, I have to figure it out myself.

Holy cow!

I know that no one can help you with this decision, but from a purely personal (and selfish) point of view, I do hope you find a way to continue.  I truly enjoy seeing your work.  But you have to do what is best for you, I get that.

Good luck either way!

I agree with Eric.  Hope you do find a way to continue with your CGI work.  You do amazing stuff as Eric does and keeps me motivated to do more and improve myself.  I usually don't post much as I really enjoy watching your work and usually don't have a lot to offer.

Thanks a lot, guys. Your support, as always, means a lot to me. :)

I was talking to a friend at work who is really into tech, he follows a lot of the tech stuff on Reddit and other places and he's always buying components and computers and doing builds and rebuilds. He told me there's been a lot of buzz surrounding that Windows update and Logitech devices. I guess it's borked a lot of peoples' devices, especially game controllers. (fortunately, I usually game on Xbox 360 controllers) So, it's not just me, it's apparently a widespread issue. While that's kind of nice to know, it's not helping me any. So, I'm still done with Windows as a productivity operating system, I just can't do it anymore. I'm going to just use my Windows computer for gaming, because that's all most Microsoft stuff is to me anymore, a toy. I just can't take it seriously.

I'm probably going to mess around in Blender again. I installed Blender on Steam, because the latest version Ubuntu has in their repositories is 2.82. ::) Sure, I could get Blender directly from their website, but Steam will keep it updated for me. :) When am I going to mess with it? I don't know. There's an Avengers game coming out this weekend, so I'm probably going to be busy playing that on my next days off.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Sep 01, 2020, 10:50 pmThere's an Avengers game coming out this weekend, so I'm probably going to be busy playing that on my next days off.

I was JUST watching the videos for that on STEAM before I came to the site.  It does look pretty cool.

And I do hope you figure out some way to keep doing 3D.  I was thinking if you took your favorite (or at least, the best working version of ... ) Windows, you could run it in an emulator and use it ONLY for 3D.  If it took that.

I'm going to look at Blender again before I touch Windows for anything but gaming. This latest issue with Logitech devices is just one item on a growing list.

My favorite version of Windows is XP, which can't even be activated anymore. Besides, I highly doubt Lightwave 2018 would run on it.

Ah, okay!

Well, I will try to help you with anything Blender-related, if I can.  I'll bet Dean would also be happy to lend a hand.

Thanks, though I usually can find the answers I need with a simple(ish) web search. But, if I have any questions I can't find answers to, I'll be sure to ask you two.

I'm thinking of doing something from the Enterprise era.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Sep 03, 2020, 10:47 pmI'm thinking of doing something from the Enterprise era.

Neat!  I hope to see it soon!

It's not likely to happen that soon.

(https://evilgenius180.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/img_20200904_222518372.jpg)

Distractions. :)

I did transfer the RAM and graphics card from the Windows machine to the Linux one. Microsoft has pissed me off pretty badly this time.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Sep 05, 2020, 12:20 pmI did transfer the RAM and graphics card from the Windows machine to the Linux one. Microsoft has pissed me off pretty badly this time.

Please tell me what you think of the Avengers game.  And enjoy yourself!

Quote from: scifieric on Sep 05, 2020, 03:00 pm

Quote from: scifidude79 on Sep 05, 2020, 12:20 pmI did transfer the RAM and graphics card from the Windows machine to the Linux one. Microsoft has pissed me off pretty badly this time.

Please tell me what you think of the Avengers game.  And enjoy yourself!

I'll let you know, when I finally play it. All I played yesterday were Tony Hawk and GTA Online.

Quote from: scifieric on Sep 05, 2020, 03:00 pmPlease tell me what you think of the Avengers game.  And enjoy yourself!

It's really fun. Looks great, plays great. I've gotten past a few areas, beaten some bosses. I'm really enjoying it so far.

Quote from: scifidude79 on Sep 06, 2020, 09:00 am

Quote from: scifieric on Sep 05, 2020, 03:00 pmPlease tell me what you think of the Avengers game.  And enjoy yourself!

It's really fun. Looks great, plays great. I've gotten past a few areas, beaten some bosses. I'm really enjoying it so far.

Excellent!  Thank you!

No problem. It's got an interesting story line. There was an accident that Bruce Banner said was the Avengers' fault, so they've been disbanded. A.I.M. is hunting anyone with powers. You play mostly as Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) and she's being hunted by A.I.M. and is trying to get the Avengers back together. Where I'm at in the game, I've got Bruce and Tony. (just got Tony before quitting this morning)

Neat!

stepping back to windows ... I would not be surprised if windows hop over to a Linux under the hood version -- soon-ish LOL
they are already sewing the foundations of it now. heck the shell can have a small extension to make it so you can install stuff totally like sudo in 'nux

Quote from: Prime_8 on Oct 19, 2020, 08:01 pmstepping back to windows ... I would not be surprised if windows hop over to a Linux under the hood version -- soon-ish LOL
they are already sewing the foundations of it now. heck the shell can have a small extension to make it so you can install stuff totally like sudo in 'nux

Yeah, I saw a complaint where someone wanted Windows either shut down or moved over to LINUX.  It would be odd.

the beginning of w10 ish interface sitting atop a Linux kernel is well a matter of skinning but could cause much fUckery in  loss of backwards compatibility
like a version of w10 that requires you to use a store much like droid and apple products.
but well at this point it might be advantageous for MS to do with the OS what they did with tier browser, grab opensource things and make a branch of it.

but meh ,,,  we live in a world where stupid happens like what java is doing. nearly free to lic to millions for some products
I believe its like 300$ USD to lic java for a product now.   this is going to send indi devs and such to other  targets like micro python and python