CG Galactica

[gmd3d]

you will always find stuff you could have done better..
I see that on every model I ever built ..

your work looks very detailed . nice work

[Matador]

Here is an animation test I did... I loved that handheld camera feel they did in the new series... I did some homework to duplicate some of that. I know not everyone is a fan of it, but I thought it would be cool to see the Old Girl in the same type of camera work.

https://youtu.be/DKN9nGbkDiw

[Senmut]

Why is the landing bay open at both ends?

[Matador]

Originally Posted by Senmut

Why is the landing bay open at both ends?

It's a personal preference... I'm combining elements of both the old and new series... I've always felt the landing bay should have been open on both ends. Plus I wanted to create my own version of Galactica.

There is still more work to do on the old girl... I just wanted to test out my camera technique and look of the starfield.

[Senmut]

If the bay is open at both ends, why have launch tubes?

[Matador]

Originally Posted by Senmut

If the bay is open at both ends, why have launch tubes?

I guess more ways to launch. Seemed to work well with the new series. A benefit for both shuttles and vipers.

[martok2112]

I agree wholeheartedly with Matador.

Launch tubes are good for ensuring that the Vipers get out into space and into the battle in rapid succession.

Having open bays at both ends are good in case a fighter pilot blows his/her approach, or if the fighter needs to make an emergency wave off during a potential emergency on the flight deck.

I too always had a problem with the classic gator having closed fronts at the launch bays. This was something the new series ship got right. Open bays allows for better management in an emergency.

On a real-world aircraft carrier, a fighter can wave off, or even blow past after touchdown if there is a problem, or if they are about to blow their approach. Makes sense for space based capital ships as well...at least in terms of story telling. On real-world aircraft carriers, fighters and planes land a FULL POWER so that if they are advised to take off again, they can do so. Usually, this is called a touch'n'go, and is only invoked in emergencies, or in training flights on carriers.

(Awaiting the fanboyish....well, TOS Galactica pilots are "just that good that they don't need open bays on both ends". I'll call felgercarb on that in a heartbeat.)

Ahhh.... the advantages of being neither fan, nor purist.

[Senmut]

Ah...fanboy.
Haven't been called THAT for a while.

[Matador]

Well put martok2112...

That was my thought process too.

When I started the hole process, I did go back and fourth about the landing pods. So I decided to go my own route and put in a bit of both old and new series... I'll probably add force fields on both ends, like they had in Star Trek cargo/shuttle bays. That will be interesting to animate.

It's been a long process. I only get to work on this on my free time. Plus having to learn things over when I switched to Lightwave... Has been a process itself... I've only been working with Lightwave for a year. I'm really happy with the results I'm getting and pleasantly surprised at what I've been able to accomplish.

I do hope soon to start creating some cool space battle scenes...

I am going to keep the classic "laser" fire. I've been working on that too.

[martok2112]

Originally Posted by Senmut

Ah...fanboy.
Haven't been called THAT for a while.

I wasn't calling you that. (Unless you were of the notion that "TOS Viper pilots are 'just THAT good'....to which I also call "felgercarb" on the notion. )

[Senmut]

Nope. But had that epithet tossed in my direstion once or twice, over my dislike of GINO. When it comes to BSG, I'm just a purist.
P.S. Do you know if anyone has ever done any CGI, re Croad's fighter, or the freighter from Proteus?

[martok2112]

Just to ease your mind, Senmut...no I didn't throw that epithet your way at all.


The following is just me, speaking for myself....not for anyone else, and not against anyone else.

I gave up on fandom a loonnnnnng time ago.
I denounce the notion of so called "true fans" (because there are no such animals), and I renounced fandom of anything and everything sometime back. Just too much felgercarb to deal with in fanaticism. Haven't got the time, nor the inclination to deal with fanaticism. (There's enough fanaticism in the world without it spilling into less important things like sports, sci-fi, fantasy, music, etc.)

Am I a fan of Classic BSG? No.
Am I a fan of TNS BSG? No.
Am I a fan of Star Trek? No.
Am I a fan of Star Wars? No.
Babylon 5? No.
Firefly/Serenity? No.
Harry Potter? No.
Sports? No.
Music? No.
Sci-fi/fantasy.....hell....anything? No, no, and hell no.

I still love it all, but I just don't fanatically love it. Yes, I build CG models, make tribute animations, and such, I'll wear t-shirts about my favorite franchises, but it's just out of love for the franchises....not out of any fanaticism toward or about them.

Being a fan in the past just left a serious sore spot for me. Not worth my sanity or health.

My anti-fandom is what allows me to have such varying views on things, whether they fly in the face of others or not, and not lose any sleep over it. I'm not constrained or slavish to lock step thinking about whether or not one show is better than another...whether one version of a franchise is better than another. I broke those chains long ago...they just got too heavy.

It's like what Josh Lyman said on The West Wing when he was addressing a group of students about Jihadi fanaticism. (Following is paraphrased) "You wanna really make 'em mad? You wanna really show them that they're not going to keep us down? That they're not gonna disrupt our way of life and liberty? Keep considering more than one idea about things. That's how you really piss 'em off."

[Senmut]

'k

[mikala]

More 3D! Less typing!

[Senmut]

Can't you type in 3D?

[martok2112]

Yes, bring on more goodness, Matador.

[Matador]

Here is my Type in 3D...

That being said... I decided to create a scene JJ Abarms style...

[martok2112]

Now 'dat's what I'm talkin' 'bout!
Very nicely done, Senor Matador!

[Matador]

Originally Posted by martok2112

Now 'dat's what I'm talkin' 'bout!
Very nicely done, Senor Matador!

Thanks... I like when the guy from "Despicable Me" says that...

Anyhew, I did some work and added a bunch of laser cannons, added the BSG LOGO, and re-tooled the lens flare scene, basically added some extra Hull lights.

[martok2112]

Originally Posted by Matador

Thanks... I like when the guy from "Despicable Me" says that...

Anyhew, I did some work and added a bunch of laser cannons, added the BSG LOGO, and re-tooled the lens flare scene, basically added some extra Hull lights.

Ok, you just scored a boatload of cool points! You completely got what I intended with my quote. Despicable Me is probably my favorite animated movie of all time, and I'm eagerly awaiting getting DM2 on blu-ray, having seen it and enjoyed it in the theater as well.

Your latest pics rock! Excellent blending of old and new! Reminds me of what I wanted to do on a narrative level with my "Galactica: The Last Battlestar" story (which I seriously need to finish!)

[Matador]

Thanks martok2112... Yeah that is a totally favorite quote of mine too. I had a science teacher in Jr. High that used to say it just like that. So I laughed my ass off when I heard him say it in the movie.

Thanks for the comps on Galactica... I hope to soon start animating a creating a story. My story will be a prequel... Somewhere with the Cylon war just beginning and the Clonial fleet of Battlestars were created to take out the massive Base Stars.

So in my story... Galactica is fairly new girl in the fleet. Adama's father hasn't been born yet.

I am a bit torn with sticking to the original story of the Cylons being an alien species that relied on robots... Or go with the new series idea of robots becoming more human.

I may go the Star Trek route and have a bit of time-travel, messing with quantum timelines, then creating an alternate universe thing... That perhaps would be the direct and easiest way to start my story. It worked well for JJ.

[martok2112]

Interesting ideas there. I look forward to seeing what you turn out.

In my story, I still had the Cylons created by (and subsequently wiping out) an alien race.

The war with the Cylons had been going on for about 100 yahren (rather than a thousand), Adama is an admiral, (Boomer and Starbuck are dudes again), and the Galactica is a brand new, state of the art warship, creating a new class (and sadly, she is the only ship of her class) of battlestar.

I've gone over the details many times in the past. You might be able to find some of them in past posts I've made. (Or you might be able to find it in the fan fic section of this forum).

[mikala]

She be loaded for bear!

[martok2112]

Originally Posted by mikala

She be loaded for bear!

...and daggit!

[Matador]

I finally started working on the aft section... The engines. I decided this was one of the most vulnerable sections of Galactica.

So I loaded her up with Aft Laser Cannons. It isn't done yet. I may change up a few things. It's not pretty, but she wasn't built for looks...

[Senmut]

Could have used those in FIS.

[martok2112]

WOW! That's nifty, Matador! Something I hadn't even thought of.
I did have laser cannons mounted near the engines on my model, and facing aft, but they were a pair of anti-capital ship pulsar cannons mounted atop the engine housing, not a scattering of anti-starfighter ones. I like how you placed them! Good show!

[Matador]

Thanks... You just can't have enough cannons. Especially against a bunch of Basestars and Raiders. When you job is to protect outposts, convoys, & planets... You need all you can get.

I finally started on the nose section... Almost done I think... The rest I think will just be texture maps to fool the eye.

Time for a cigar.

[Senmut]

Probably the reason the battlestars didn't have that many guns to begin with is that carriers are not intended to operate in isolation. Normally, the Galactica would have operated as part of a battlegroup, with other vessels, as well as Vipers, performing screening duties as the situation called for. Since fleeing the Colonies, things would need to be improved and modified, as supplies permitted. That two raiders made it through, in FIS, shows the vulnerability of being stuck alone.

[martok2112]

Originally Posted by Senmut

Probably the reason the battlestars didn't have that many guns to begin with is that carriers are not intended to operate in isolation. Normally, the Galactica would have operated as part of a battlegroup, with other vessels, as well as Vipers, performing screening duties as the situation called for. Since fleeing the Colonies, things would need to be improved and modified, as supplies permitted. That two raiders made it through, in FIS, shows the vulnerability of being stuck alone.

Good points, Senmut.

You're absolutely correct. A real-world aircraft carrier would not be in the direct lines of combat with other capital ships. It's effectiveness is its reach with its fighters. Yes, carriers have the means to defend themselves (close in, point defense systems) from missiles and perhaps to a limited extent, torpedoes, but carry no offensive weaponry, save for the ordnance that is loaded onto their fighters and attack craft.

In science fiction, (regardless of franchise) starships always seem to serve in a multi-role capacity. The U.S.S. Enterprise, whilst largely being a vessel of exploration, also served as battlecruiser on more than one occasion.

In Star Wars, the Imperial Star Destroyer is not just a carrier of fighters, but it is an orbital weapons platform, base of operations, troop carrier, and battleship....thus why it possesses such heavy armaments. I liken the Galactica (both classic and TNS) to the same multi-role. At least there were also Corvettes, Frigates, Cruisers, Patrol Ships, etc in Star Wars.

In Galactica, at least the classic one, there were no supporting combat capital ships...no destroyers, no battleships, no patrol ships, no missile carriers.... the battlestars, and their sinister basestar counter parts, were the end-all/be-all of space capital ship combat, heavily armed and armored. The only tactical level craft were the fighters. But part of the mythos was that these colossal battlestars were millennial aged (or in the case of Galactica, half-millennial) warships that were the only real major line of offense/defense against the Cylons.

In TNS, we didn't exactly see much in the way of smaller cap-ships either (destroyers, escorts, etc) but there was some variety in tactical craft.

[shameless self-promotion] In my "Galactica: The Last Battlestar" story, even though battlestars are very heavily armed, and the Galactica is the latest warship to join the fleet as a new class of battlestar, these ships were also escorted by destroyers and patrol ships. Battlestars rarely operate alone, but they are also involved in direct scraps with the enemy. If I recall correctly though, I did keep the Cylon empire down to baseships, heavy raiders, and raider fighters.

I also had the battlestars serve as deterrents to war between the colonies, which was part of the reason why battlestars were constructed in the first place in my take on the mythos. The Colonials fought among each other for a long time. It wasn't until they exiled themselves from Kobol and came to an (at first) tenuous peace with each other, that they found worlds to settle in the Cyrannus system, and then Caprica constructed the first battlestar...not to serve as an offensive, conquering weapon against the other colonies, but simply to be a deterrent to prevent other colonies from resuming hostilities, especially with Caprica. Eventually, the plans and tech to create battlestars were shared with the other colonies, and with a more fortified accord, the Colonies became known as the United Colonies, and the battlestars helped to form the most powerful war fleet known to man (although I don't think the Cylons knew that )...soon to be crowned with the state of the art battlestar, Galactica.
[/shameless self-promotion]