An ambitious Star Trek project.

[Vong]

Everything's looking great... I noticed the comment about the ERTYL model not being up to spec. I dunno where you guys are getting your starship design from, but I've found this place to be very accurate, with pics and descriptions. Maybe it'll help you all out!

 

Keep up the good work, can't wait to see the finished product.

[NEKOSEI]

Yeah, we have that and a whole bunch of other sites bookmarked for getting our information on starships.

The reason I was using the ERTL model and sheets is because there are *NO* accurate plans of the Excelsior online, at least not in the form that it actually exsists. They are all early designs and not the final. The closest we get is the Heavy cruiser version a-la Enterprise B. The ERTL model at least is accurate enough that it's the actual design, but they sure as shootin' didn't get the whole thing right.

 

On another note, my website has gone down worse then a school girl on tentacle appreciation day and I've had to get a new host. With a new URL. But this will be better for everything involved. More space, more bandwidth, which means better quality videos can be uploaded and distributed.

[Darkwing]

Just a question, will you have a whole storyline (like a main ship and crew) or is this just a bunch of exterior shots depicting the battle of Wolf 395?

[animas3D]

This is cool. Star Trek Lives!

 

By the way, how do you achieve such soft edged shadows and dramatic lighting on the image above?

[NEKOSEI]

Wow... sorry about the late replies... I don't come here as often as I should. XD

 

Okay, about the storylines:

 

We will be having a script written up with a few storylines of various people involved in the battle. We won't be following anyone exclusively. The stories however will be done by listening in on the comm chatter, rather then having people in costumes or CG people. Unless of course we can get some *REALLY* good looking sets and characters to use. We will also have a few different strategies to show to give some credit to the battle plan other then a giant fur-ball in space. Otherwise the main CG will be exteriors.

 

Soft shadows:

 

The soft edged shadows were created by changing the rays cast in the shadows to 2 rather then 1. That image was rendered using multi-pass as well.

[NEKOSEI]

Well, it has been a *very* long time since I've done any work on this project, but since the last post about the Excelsior class I've learned a bunch of new things with A:M, even improved and finished a few models that have nothing to do with the Wolf 359 project, and re-vamped my website some.

 

But I didn't want to post again until I had something significant to share with you all.

 

The past week I have been working on the star of our little production... the Borg cube.

 

I started with a simple cube. 6 patches, with a very nice looking texture mapped to each side.

This was only to give the cube some depth when you look deep into the finished mesh of the piping all around it.

 

Then I started laying the pipe work for the outer hull. Laying pipe after pipe after pipe. Even making the pipes a low poly count, I still had over 104,000 patches making up the single layer of piping around the cube. I hit a bit of a snag at this point however. It would take 6 hours for the program to find all the patches and normals if I deleted or attempted to copy and paste anything.

So getting more then one layer of it was going to be a huge waste of time.

 

So, I instead set up the single layer of pipes and the basic cube in separate models. Thus I can create a cube of massive complexity bringing in multiple instances of the same piping, and using actions putting them around the base and increasing the scale ever so slightly.

 

This is with 4 layers of piping overtop of the base:

 

 

Still not quite done, as I need to add color, and a bunch of chunks to give each side a bit more personality, but that will all be taken care of with the base... no waiting for hours to finish it off.

[totlover]

wow... that ship is awesome

[nyahkitty]

100,000... patches....?!

 

....droooooool......

[Dhar]

Consider me assimilated

 

That's a great use of layers if I ever seen one.

[Drakkheim]

very cool.

 

I had a thought that might save you some rendering time..

What if for the layers below the first(outer) layer of pipes you simply had a flat patch with a normal mapped decal of a layer of pipes on it.. That should look convincing enough except for the closeups where you can bring in the full patch version.

[NEKOSEI]

That's deffinatly an option... I had thought of having a low poly cube with mapped images of each side of this one made for distance shots, but I didn't think of creating a version with one layer of actual piping overtop of rendered images of the rest of it. That would be useful for medium shots for sure...

 

Any bit that sticks out past the final pipe layer can simply be kept in as well... those certainly won't hurt impact rendertimes much.

 

Great idea! Thanks for that one!

[largento]

There's some great work going on here! Kudos!

 

Not too sure about the Borg cube, though... The detailing is too small, I think. Makes it look kind of fuzzy.

 

I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing this, though!

 

Do you know how you're going to do the narrative? Or is this just going to be just a tour through the battle?

 

Should be awesome either way...

[Nunsofamerica]

whatever man! Use a decal. That must have taken forever!

[NEKOSEI]

Do you know how you're going to do the narrative? Or is this just going to be just a tour through the battle?

 

Well, the narrative is going to be done more with "official starfleet chatter" then someone talking overtop of everything.

There will be a briefing detailing the 3 main plans starfleet will be trying, after that it will be recordings of people giving orders, reports, and the like as was heard during the beginning of First Contact before Picard joined the fight. We have a whole messageboard of volunteers at Flare sci-fi forums to help us out with that.

 

As for the fuzzyness of it, that's being cleaned up with the extra bits added on.

 

 

whatever man! Use a decal. That must have taken forever!

 

*lol*

Personally I don't think a decal would look good enough close up, no matter how detailed it was, even with the new bump rendering system. And it really only took a few days to set up the one layer. Make one side, copy paste rotate onto the other 6, move or delete pipe segments that overlap.

[NEKOSEI]

So I've added a whole metric (not imperial) schwackload of panels of various heights on each face and some stuff around the edges to get a bit more mechanical smoothness out of it.

 

After doing all of that I have realized something... I could essentially do away with the base layer, layer the new panels inside a few times, stick in an instance or two of piping, then put one giant light in the middle as it was done in the first studio model...

 

After that, adding bones to allow for various beam weapons to be emitted, and color!

 

[largento]

Well, the narrative is going to be done more with "official starfleet chatter" then someone talking overtop of everything.

There will be a briefing detailing the 3 main plans starfleet will be trying, after that it will be recordings of people giving orders, reports, and the like as was heard during the beginning of First Contact before Picard joined the fight. We have a whole messageboard of volunteers at Flare sci-fi forums to help us out with that.

 

The Borg Cube definitely looks less like fuzzy dice now. :-)

 

By narrative, I was meaning a story. My memory of Wolf 359 is just that the Federation sent a fleet to stop the Borg on their way to Earth and the Borg wiped them out and it was inferred that it was because they had Locutus' knowledge and leadership. I was wondering if you were going to do something like follow one captain through the whole battle or do it as a "tour" of the battle.

 

Sounds like you're doing a mix.

[largento]

Oops... double posted...

[GDblEK]

I've been kinda looking around, and I found this thread. I too am a trekie, though not as deep as some, but deeper than others. I have been working on my own ship design too, though I don't think you'll be able to use it on this project, being the design is too new (post voyager).

 

Your links about the skins maybe helpful in getting a more 'realistic' appearance, and from what you've posted here, you may be a better source.

 

I first posted this under glutton for punishment. I've been able to apply some of the feedback to clean this up.

 

 

I tried to link to your site that was posted earlier in this thread, but got a 404. Could it have been down?

[NEKOSEI]

By narrative, I was meaning a story. My memory of Wolf 359 is just that the Federation sent a fleet to stop the Borg on their way to Earth and the Borg wiped them out and it was inferred that it was because they had Locutus' knowledge and leadership. I was wondering if you were going to do something like follow one captain through the whole battle or do it as a "tour" of the battle.

 

Sounds like you're doing a mix.

 

Ah right... For the story itself we will be giving starfleet some credit. They won't just toss 40 ships at the cube and hope to high hell they destroy it. They will have some kind of plan, or in this case 3 plans, to throw at the cube, with the giant furball as the last resort. We won't follow one specific person, but rather have a small series of emotional stories to give it the human touch, with an arc for the klingons when they arrive that involves a portion of a failed plan.

 

I tried to link to your site that was posted earlier in this thread, but got a 404. Could it have been down?

 

My signature contains a link and the URL to my website... all the previous links in this thread are certainly dead as my website was forced to move during september 2006.

 

However, I don't know how useful I will be for getting your ships to look better... while I have made an excellent looking Excelsior, I certainly have no clue how to finish the texturing aside from the saucer... The saucer textures were created all within AM, with some photoshop adjustments... And that same technique can't really work well for the rest of the ship.

 

But we shall see what can work.

 

As for the cube, I decided the edges with the wonky boxes all around it looked very messy. So I scrapped them and created a smooth, yet thin frame helping to curb the fuzzy dice look without looking silly in the process.

 

I have also removed the base layer, and put two insances of the new paneling behind it to make it look complex and give it some depth. You can actually see the other side of the cube in some areas.

 

 

So, next on the list: Color!

[NEKOSEI]

Color... and LIGHTING!

 

Yep, lit just like the original studio model. May need some tweaks (we'll see what the director says soonish), but overall, I'm happy with this! I could sign off on it right now, but I won't just yet.

 

Next update will probably be a wallpaper design like with the Gage... which I still need to re-model parts of... And get better textures going... ;_;

 

[BrainLock]

wow... the lighting and color really bring it home.

great job.

[NEKOSEI]

Thanks!

The director okayed it, but wants the cube a bit lighter in color, however.

He's so fussy. Oh wait... that's a synonym for director...

[entity]

You might want to add some piping that has a larger gage in there and some junction ports (boxes) on the surface to break up the monotomy of all those pipes that are so equal in size. That might also give it a little more depth on the surface. The actual cube used for the series seemed (IMO) to have panels on the outside as well. Don't get me wrong... the cube you made is enough to give us the impression of what the cube is made of, but there are really hard core fans that will tell you exactly what it looks like.

My best wishes to all you guys because everything you have created so far fits the look of ST so far, and the construction of most of these ships is quite beautiful.

[NEKOSEI]

So very very true.

And as I recently noticed, there are pipes that go in random directions as well.

 

And the blocking is getting a bunch more added around the corners so a few more closer to the surface won't hurt.

Heck some of the exsisting ones can be brought out further...

 

This shall be added to the list of things to do! Thanks!

[DanCBradbury]

i dont remember the borg ship being so very... pipe-ish(?). Wasn't it more like a bunch small, random flat shapes with lights behind them?

 

[NEKOSEI]

That one looks like it's from First Contact... That's not the original borg cube.

 

The original looks like this:

 

They quite literally took a bunch of the scrap from plastic models and glued them over a frosted cube shape with a lightbulb inside.

 

They did made a nicer looking cube for Emisary and may have made a new one for best of both worlds, but pretty much made it them same way as the first one.

[NEKOSEI]

Well, all this time has been spent getting the cube to look *really* good. And while it's not 100% true to the model (no random pipe placements at angles) it's darn close enough for us to say that it is done.

 

-Major changes since the last version shown:

-Extra details added to certain panels that were raised a bit more above the piping.

-Each side complexity on the box portion had been quadrupled.

-There no longer is a light in the center of the cube. The illusion of lighting is created by an ambiance setting, and a complex decal to make it uneven.

-Increased the complexity of the decals on the box portion.

-Added a per-patch decal set to the piping to dirty those up and give them specularity.

-Extended the ending points of the pipes so they actually go inside the cube mesh to give extra depth

 

We are both pleased how this new cube looks.

I know we can't please everyone, but I really think I got it looking good enough for our purposes.

I will of course release the files to the public on my website eventually...

 

Final render:

 

Scene from the original trailer with new cube:

 

Next up:

Since I have minimal skill with mapping to irregular surfaces at this time I am unable to finish the excelsior properly. Saucers are easy to map. Secondary hulls are a pain in the butt requiring different mapping techniques that I am currently a novice in.

 

So for now, I will build ships without decals, so that we can at least work on the animation while I improve my skills in mapping. Currently I am re-visiting the USS Gage and improving the mesh. I've already cut out 1400 patches from the saucer alone.

 

After I plan to add the bits to the Excelsior to make it the Heavy cruiser variiant.

 

Then... new ships! Finally!

 

Until next time fellow AMers

[largento]

Wow! Especially in the video grab, it looks exactly right and even better than what the TV show was able to do. This is going to be VERY cool!

[entity]

I agree! It is actually a better thought out cube... it is a step forward from TNG cubes. It looks good. Now leave it alone and move on!

[NEKOSEI]

Thank you both very much.

I myself am *very* happy with the cube, and I was just floored to hear you both say that it's even better than the TV show's version.

 

And yes, I'm deffinatly not mucking around with this thing anymore. It is done, done, and DONE! XD

[Darkwing]

I don't know if you have anybody doing this, but I would do special fx and stuff if you wanted me too. I've been learning how to do it some and is what I like to do best. I can do things like warping and phasers and torpedoes and such, if you wanted me to, because I'd love to work on this project, being a fan of trek and all.

[NEKOSEI]

Photon and Phasers as well as the Borg beam weapons will probably all be rendered in the choreography along with the ships, rather than added in later.

 

That being said, we still need these items built, and in the case of the photons and borg beam, animated.

 

If you are willing to work on those, then you are most welcome.

 

We will need the following:

Phaser

Photon Torpedo

Borg tractor beam

Borg cutting beam

Borg Torpedo

Klingon Tractor beam

Klingon Disruptor

[Darkwing]

No problem, I'd love ot do something for this project.

[NEKOSEI]

Sweet dude... thank you for the help!

 

As for me, I've been busy this weekend. I finally got some decent time all to myself with very few distractions, so what did I do? Model!

 

I have finished the Excelsior Heavy Cruiser class:

 

And got a whole metric schwackload of work done on an Oberth class ship:

 

Once the Oberth is done, we will have models for 12 of the 43 required ships completed (modeling wise anyway).

~25% complete baby!

[Darkwing]

NICE!! Those models are awesome! As for f/x, I'm building a galaxy class ship to test the f/x on. If you want ot keep on the galaxy, it's also in the wip board. So, if you have any use for a galaxy class, I'll have one soon! Keep up the good work though!

[Paul Forwood]

Once the Oberth is done, we will have models for 12 of the 43 required ships completed (modeling wise anyway).

~25% complete baby!

 

And then you can start the texturing.

 

Beautiful models!

[NEKOSEI]

NICE!! Those models are awesome! As for f/x, I'm building a galaxy class ship to test the f/x on. If you want ot keep on the galaxy, it's also in the wip board. So, if you have any use for a galaxy class, I'll have one soon! Keep up the good work though!

 

Thank you!

I did actually notice your Galaxy class model, and while we have no use for a galaxy class, we do have use for the parts for other ships that were kitbashes... like the Nebula class ships for example...

 

And then you can start the texturing.

 

Beautiful models!

 

Yeah, no kidding, huh? But hey, this will certainly make me learn how to do those *really* well.

 

Thank you, also!

[NEKOSEI]

The Oberth modeling is now complete.

 

 

Not entirely sure what I'm going to work on next... Maybe I'll take a little break from Trek and work some more on models for my own personal use... I have been wanting to get some rendering done on my comic idea for a long time... I just need to make/convert the models required to start.

[Darkwing]

Italian Chef: Itz a wonderful, no? Zis iz beautiful.

 

No really, it's pretty darn cool. BTW, I was looking at a REALLY cool fanfilm trek series called New Voyages. I recomend you take a look at it. The effects and animations are really good, you might learn something from the techniques. (Sorry mods, but i didn't want to start a topic just to say that phrase to the trek fans)

[Darkwing]

Hey, can I have one of the faster to render models to do some fx testing. It would be faster for me tha nspending the time to model something to test fx for. thanks

[NEKOSEI]

Oh, sure... have the Oberth to play with....

 

Oberth.zip

 

When it asks for images, choose cancel. They are only the rotoscope images I used.

[Darkwing]

Um thanks, but it only closes the program. Says something about attempting to connect splines and then says if I can repeat the error to let somebody know and then the program closes.

[NEKOSEI]

Okay, I have no clue why it would do that... Opens just fine for me...

It was made in version 13... If your version is earlier, then it won't work.

 

If your version is later... I have no clue what could be the problem.

 

The models that have been built are either version 12 or 13.

[Darkwing]

I have v13, I haven't a clue what'll happen

[NEKOSEI]

If you've got version 13 installed and that's not opening it, then I couldn't tell you what could be the problem.

I seriously doubt updates to v13 would affect the opening of a model... I have version 13.0q installed.

 

Anybody else have any problems opening up that Oberth model?

 

Okay, lets try another model: Here is the re-vamped mesh of the U.S.S. Gage:

 

USS_Gage.zip

[ruscular]

I was able to open it under the version 12 disc but using the v14 for the beta version with the disc and it open.

[Darkwing]

Well that's wierd, I've tried now several times with v13 and it just won't load!

[NEKOSEI]

Well that's wierd, I've tried now several times with v13 and it just won't load!

 

Well, lets not worry about it.. Unless someone else posts up with a solution, I would say just use the Galaxy class ship you have as is... I'm sure you can make the weapons look just as spiffy with what you have.

 

If you *really* want to try another model I can toss up one of the Excelsiors, but that one is render heavy even without any decals.

 

Or I can give you the only v12 model I have made... the cube. You can at least leave the piping off and only render the interior portion.

[Darkwing]

Nah, that's all right. The gage model won't work either. I just get an error 004 loading. That's all right though, you don't have to post a model, I try something I have here.

 

Edit- Here is a test showing just the beam in action.

phaserent.mov

phaserent2.mov

[NEKOSEI]

Very nice looking phaser effect there...

The light right at the hull of the ship adds some realism there.

 

The glow looks like it's coming from the red and the yellow sections of the beam... I'm wondering if the red glow can be turned off so make the beam seem more fuzzy?

 

Also, keep in mind only a small portion of ships will be able to use the saucer wrap around phaser look from TNG, most of the ships at wolf 359 have singular turrets and fire more like the Enterprise 1701 and A in the movies.

 

I need to show this to our director at some point... He's gonna want to see this.