Yet Another TOS Battlestar WIP

[gmd3d]

great update.. really stunning work

[Slink-T-Ferret]

I'm really really liking the look of this so far. You do great work, hope to see more soon.

[maudib]

Update 5-3-10

Top lateral hull plating is half done... working front to back.

[gmd3d]

stunning work ..

[maudib]

Taranis... whenever you start on your battlestar mesh, please post pics so I can get some ideas. Some areas of my mesh are a complete blank to me and I'm running low on inspiration. Just FYI

[gmd3d]

Originally Posted by maudib

Taranis... whenever you start on your battlestar mesh, please post pics so I can get some ideas. Some areas of my mesh are a complete blank to me and I'm running low on inspiration. Just FYI

I no where near ready to start ..... but check out the work done by Titon and Folkrm posted here .......

[gmd3d]

Hey maudib.. I am doing some early planing for the Galactica in lightwave ... its been so long since I worked on my last attempt I could use some advise on the forward Head area .. how to the the basic shape or how did you ..

[Punisher454]

Usul no longer needs the weirding module!

This galactica is so awesome I usually cant even think of how to comment on it. Be cautious though, with both of you joining forces, the ram chips in your computer may explode!

[gmd3d]

Originally Posted by Punisher454

Usul no longer needs the weirding module!

This galactica is so awesome I usually cant even think of how to comment on it. Be cautious though, with both of you joining forces, the ram chips in your computer may explode!

I had a go at building the Galactica based roughly on the drawing of ralph mcquerry .. I never finished it .. the forward command area is one I like to get right and start with first .. and then work back ..




I am hoping that maudib will point me in the right direction

[maudib]

The battlestar is a tough design to wrap your mind around. I can now see why so many others have tried to model it and it doesn't come out looking quite right. I DO NOT recommend focusing on a particular area. I use my basic art training in painting (get the overall shapes defined first, and work in the details). I meshed in the basic shapes after studying the detailed images available to arrive at an overall configuration to my satisfaction. I am still tweaking the shapes as I view the mesh and compare it to the photos. I don't use schematics anymore, but directly use the original model images. I roughly model one section such as head section, render it exactly as taken in a corresponding photo and then composite them in photoshop to see where there are any variations. I am still not happy with the landing bays, but the way I am approaching this build ( also front to back), I can tweak it without too much trouble ( too much work! once is enough).

But I am just a novice 3d modeler compared to you and others here. I don't have much else to offer.

[Punisher454]

Originally Posted by maudib

But I am just a novice 3d modeler compared to you and others here. I don't have much else to offer.

Thats the biggest understatement I've ever read.
To my eye the biggest thing that sets your work apart from most others, is the way you can add in details that are either non-existent or just unknown. Not the fact that you have added some detail in, most anybody can do that, but the character and context of the details is what is so striking. Everything looks logical and functional, not just random junk to fill an area up like most people do (myself included).

[gmd3d]

Originally Posted by maudib

The battlestar is a tough design to wrap your mind around. I can now see why so many others have tried to model it and it doesn't come out looking quite right. I DO NOT recommend focusing on a particular area. I use my basic art training in painting (get the overall shapes defined first, and work in the details). I meshed in the basic shapes after studying the detailed images available to arrive at an overall configuration to my satisfaction. I am still tweaking the shapes as I view the mesh and compare it to the photos. I don't use schematics anymore, but directly use the original model images. I roughly model one section such as head section, render it exactly as taken in a corresponding photo and then composite them in photoshop to see where there are any variations. I am still not happy with the landing bays, but the way I am approaching this build ( also front to back), I can tweak it without too much trouble ( too much work! once is enough).

But I am just a novice 3d modeler compared to you and others here. I don't have much else to offer.

you sell yourself short .. I´am still just plodding through CGI and your approach to the big G is great. thanks anyway .. I´ll plodded on and see if I can remember the way I did it before .

[Titon]

Originally Posted by maudib

The battlestar is a tough design to wrap your mind around. I can now see why so many others have tried to model it and it doesn't come out looking quite right. I DO NOT recommend focusing on a particular area. I use my basic art training in painting (get the overall shapes defined first, and work in the details). I meshed in the basic shapes after studying the detailed images available to arrive at an overall configuration to my satisfaction. I am still tweaking the shapes as I view the mesh and compare it to the photos. I don't use schematics anymore, but directly use the original model images. I roughly model one section such as head section, render it exactly as taken in a corresponding photo and then composite them in photoshop to see where there are any variations. I am still not happy with the landing bays, but the way I am approaching this build ( also front to back), I can tweak it without too much trouble ( too much work! once is enough).

But I am just a novice 3d modeler compared to you and others here. I don't have much else to offer.

Like other's have said, don't sell yourself short. You've accomplished a lot in the short time you've worked on the G. Take if from someone that still is trying to perfect her it takes a boat load of patience and even more time in order to get it right. The "making it look right" problem exist's for all of us but in the end it should alway's be an artist's satisfaction that you gave it your best no matter how it turns out in the end. That's how we become better.

[gmd3d]

[QUOTE=Titon;300608Take if from someone that still is trying to perfect her it takes a boat load of patience and even more time in order to get it right. The "making it look right" problem exist's for all of us but in the end it should alway's be an artist's satisfaction that you gave it your best no matter how it turns out in the end. That's how we become better.

[/QUOTE]

that's how I see the difference between your approach maudib... and Titon hit the nail on the head .. Patience !!!!!!! something I lack ..

keep at it bro your inspiring me back into action toward the Big G

[maudib]

Update 5-15-10. The side plating on the front section is done! I added the side cubby holes ( don't know what else to call then) back in in preparation for all the silly little greebles and pipes to be added. Total poly count is 2,105,000 polys. Half of what I though it would be by this stage...



Modeling in hull plating is SO BORING and tedious. It takes a lot of hours of high precision work for not a lot of eye candy to show for it. But this is something I feel is very important to get right. I don't feel texture effects can reproduce the same results with radiosity rendering.



Now she looks complete from the front end finally. End in sight! I don't plan to doodle in countless details for now. That is bad practice in any art form. I will first complete the entire model, then go back and fill in necessary details only. By necessary, I mean detailing in areas where I anticipate close-up shots will occur. Can't wait to start on the neck area. There are a lot of fascinating details there that catch my eye.



I agree with all of your feedback on the patience part And I'm glad the website is back! Enjoy the eye candy

[gmd3d]

Originally Posted by maudib

Update 5-15-10. The side plating on the front section is done! I added the side cubby holes ( don't know what else to call then) back in in preparation for all the silly little greebles and pipes to be added. Total poly count is 2,105,000 polys. Half of what I though it would be by this stage...



Modeling in hull plating is SO BORING and tedious. It takes a lot of hours of high precision work for not a lot of eye candy to show for it. But this is something I feel is very important to get right. I don't feel texture effects can reproduce the same results with radiosity rendering.



Now she looks complete from the front end finally. End in sight! I don't plan to doodle in countless details for now. That is bad practice in any art form. I will first complete the entire model, then go back and fill in necessary details only. By necessary, I mean detailing in areas where I anticipate close-up shots will occur. Can't wait to start on the neck area. There are a lot of fascinating details there that catch my eye.



I agree with all of your feedback on the patience part And I'm glad the website is back! Enjoy the eye candy

yeah the hull details tend to be boring and just adding the nurnies and other bits and pieces just as boring.... I have restarted the Millennium Falcon and now that I have the shape right .. I am casting a weary eye at the hull plating..


you work on the Big G is great .. keep going

[Folkrm]

Originally Posted by maudib

Little more work done to the nosecap area.


Had to add more RAM to get this scene to render without crashing Lightwave.


Mesh is around 5580 feet long, and I'm working with 1/2 inch tolerance in some greebles in the details. This is going to take years. But I'm not giving up.

Happy holidays everyone!
Maudib

VERY IMPRESSIVE work! I would love to know how you do your Hull-Plating, and how you got all your surfaces soniceley rounded "beveled"

Folkrm

[maudib]

There is nothing clever in my modeling technique. Unfortunately the answer is LOTS AND LOTS OF POLYS. Every single edge is rounded ( not beveled) using Lightwave's "Rounder" app. Some of the more complex greebles are modelled using spline-patching techniques, like the car guys use in modeling car bodies.

The hull plating is more tedious, but straight forward. I use high res images and personal taste to locate the plating lines. Then create primitive shapes to use as stencils to mark where the plate lines are on the base surface. I then use the bevel tool to inset the hull surface the depth I want. I then stencil in the plate lines, use the bevel tool again to create channels between the plates. I then use the extrude tool to create a 2nd set of shapes from the beveled lines that match the hull plates perfectly. Then stencil these final shapes into the inset hull surface. I then extrude these sections upward to be level with the original surface. I finish by using ROUNDER to round off all edges. The end result is that each hull plate perfectly matches the compound curves on the original hull surface. My method is simple hard work and lots of hours.

[jewels]

Wow.

[drwatson55]

I think I would have a devil of a time trying to model like this with my computer (cheap laptop I got for school) but I think that an upgrade to my old desktop is in order now. I can't wait to see the finished Galactica. The model looks awesome (and I mean that in a literal sense) with only the front part done.

[137th Gebirg]

My God - I think you finally got this right. Or are getting it right, I should say.

By that statement, I mean that I've seen a lot of attempts at modeling this thing and, while elaborate and good and worthy attempts all in their own right, they've always seemed a little "off" to me.

This...I think this is the new gold standard.

Seriously.

[gmd3d]

it will be a monster to animate .. rendering images would be easier. along with folkrm´s model is magnificent work ..

[maudib]

Thanks for the good and bad reviews. I am learning as I go along. I haven't had much time to work on the mesh this month. I'm in the middle of building a 1937 Herman Hauser classical guitar reproduction in my workshop and doing a lightwave mesh for a prototype 13 string classical guitar so that I can play J.S. Bach and L. Weiss music as originally written for the 13 course lute. This image is a mesh I made of a Rodgers single tuner used for my 13 string guitar design.



I know this has nothing to do with BSG or SciFi, but I wanted to explain the dead silence lately. I originally said that this project would take 2 years, and I meant it Oh, and about this mesh being a monster to render... yeah but it will be released here and available for FREE with no restrictions. Kit bash it all you like or use as is if you've got the resources to render it, I don't care. I hope to finish the sides of the front section soon.

[gmd3d]

wow . nice work on the guitar.

regarding the animation time etc .. that the price payed with such a stunning build that your doing ..... and if as you say it will take 2 years... by then .. PC may make short work of a couple of million polys easily

that been said it fun to watch your updates

[Punisher454]

Being super high on the polycount wont be a deal breaker for me when the time comes.
It would certianly take some time, but it would be totally possible to do some poly reduction here and there.
Perhaps divide up the ship into layers,based on detail size, and within the layers group the components according to their geographic locations on the ship. That way you can hide/unhide layers and objects groups that are unseen in any particular camera shot.
Taking that a step further you could duplicate some layers and do polygon reduction either procedurally or by hand for distant shots where you have massive numbers of polys that are completely sub-pixel. Basically an LOD system.
There are several modelers here that have the capability to do this, while maintaining the integrity and majesty of this incredible model.
Plus as Taranis was saying, two years from now (assuming we have not had a major apocalypse) PC's will have a lot more rendering power. Consider also that there are also some high speed rendering engines out there too.
Anyhow i'm not worried about the multimillion polycount at all, it can be dealt with.

[gmd3d]

well said ....

I have at times reduced poly counts of a few converted models with no loss of appearance. recently I did it for a trek fan film and the model turned out fantastic .
I build a simple hanger bay for some scenes where it was required to have one.
personal super computers are on there way I am sure where polys counts will mean very little ..

[peter noble]

Updates?

[dilbertman]

Hoping to see updates of this soon.

Jim

[maudib]

Small update 11-27-10

It's been 6 months... been very busy in my free time working on guitars and pen making as gifts... sorry about the delay! I started on these side greebles, and then next the greebles in the little coves. Hope to get these finished during the holiday season. Cheers.

[mikala]

While it is great seeing regular updates on this it is your project...post 'em when you got 'em
Glad to see she's not dead in space.