 FG Shipyards - Starship Trident, Building a Frontier Guard ship of the line |
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Rob Caves, Executive Producer, Editor, 3D Artist
 Group: Root Posts: 5,476 Joined: 6-February 03 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 4  |
 Feb 4 2009, 04:55 PM
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#1
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The aim here is to build a sleek "new-looking" ship for the Frontier Guard universe. Polaris was a bucket of bolts, and the other heavy cruiser and carrier I built for the teaser look pretty dated with similar design elements and textures as the Polaris.
So with the Hercules and transport as intermediate points I asked Arkady to sketch up a few things. Ironically it was one of his earlier drawings that caught my eye, so that's what I'll be using as a starting point. 
assaultcarrier.gif ( 168.56K )
Number of downloads: 115I say starting point, because I want to show some common themes with other established FG ships, like the conning tower mid-ship and winglets that jut out at 45 degree angles mid-ship. So we'll start with the front, mesh out the bow with spline-patch modeling (we could do it the way we did the Hercules, but splines will give us a little more control as we try to match the shape).
tim5.jpg ( 18.6K )
Number of downloads: 42Some design elements will be kept, but the back of the ship will differ the most from the sketch. Here's the front after some stretching and manipulating.
tim6.jpg ( 25.02K )
Number of downloads: 34I went with the name Trident because the sketch reminded me of a spear. The script calls this ship the USS Timmerson, so either we'll go with Trident, or perhaps make Trident the class ship. Before we go further, one thing that's been eating at me is the need for some more advanced looking rings. I had a design pop in my head last night so this was actually the first thing I did.
tim1.jpg ( 15.88K )
Number of downloads: 26From simple beginnings, more detail added...
tim2.jpg ( 22.85K )
Number of downloads: 25One problem is the polygon count will skyrocket once the rings are formed, so unfortunately this is about all the detail we can mesh. The rest will have to be textures. And honestly, we'll never get close enough to see that there isn't more, so the job here is done.
tim3.jpg ( 25.78K )
Number of downloads: 38And the rings lined up:
tim4.jpg ( 36.1K )
Number of downloads: 57That's it for now. Time to go check on the Hercules test animation! Rob |
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Commander
 Sic vis Pacem, Para Bellum Group: HF Productions Cast / Crew Posts: 1,156 Joined: 22-September 05 From: Chained to a Drawing Table in the Basement... Member No.: 1,920 |
Feb 5 2009, 03:48 AM
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#2
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Hehe niiice.
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Lieutenant J.G.
 Group: Members Posts: 69 Joined: 4-December 08 Member No.: 4,296 |
Feb 5 2009, 08:16 AM
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#3
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The new ring style is looking good. It's great to see another behind-the-scenes look at the new ships.
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Rob Caves, Executive Producer, Editor, 3D Artist
Group: Root Posts: 5,476 Joined: 6-February 03 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 4 |
Feb 5 2009, 01:17 PM
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#4
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Lieutenant J.G.
 Punch it! Group: Members Posts: 146 Joined: 1-December 08 Member No.: 4,294 |
Feb 5 2009, 01:20 PM
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#5
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Looks good Rob, keep up the good work!
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Rob Caves, Executive Producer, Editor, 3D Artist
Group: Root Posts: 5,476 Joined: 6-February 03 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 4 |
Feb 5 2009, 01:23 PM
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#6
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I'm not sure I like the scale on the rings. They might need to be beefed up a bit. I thought making them small would help sell the scale of the ship being bigger, but it may make them look too flimsy... Thoughts?
Rob |
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Admiral
 Admiral KUJ - Chief Recruiter of the Elite StarFleet Man Candy Corp. Join Today! Group: Members Posts: 8,650 Joined: 21-June 06 From: Kansas Member No.: 2,538 |
Feb 5 2009, 02:31 PM
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#7
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QUOTE (Rob_C @ Feb 5 2009, 03:23 PM)  I'm not sure I like the scale on the rings. They might need to be beefed up a bit. I thought making them small would help sell the scale of the ship being bigger, but it may make them look too flimsy... Thoughts? Rob They do look a little flimsy. Have you thought of making them tapered? Make them skinny where they join the ship and then flare out the further away from the ship? This will bulk up the rings, but when they are close to the ship for size comparison they aren't as big. |
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Rob Caves, Executive Producer, Editor, 3D Artist
Group: Root Posts: 5,476 Joined: 6-February 03 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 4 |
Feb 5 2009, 02:58 PM
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#8
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Digging what you mean, Kuj. If there's a scientific reason why that wouldn't work, I haven't figured it out yet.
tim10.jpg ( 38.15K )
Number of downloads: 52I like it! Rob |
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HMD Technical Advisor
Group: HF Productions Cast / Crew Posts: 6,977 Joined: 17-February 03 From: Lost in Space and Time Member No.: 17 |
Feb 5 2009, 08:29 PM
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#9
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QUOTE (Rob_C @ Feb 5 2009, 03:58 PM) Digging what you mean, Kuj. If there's a scientific reason why that wouldn't work, I haven't figured it out yet. Physical wear/tear would adversely impact the smaller sections of the rings a lot faster if the smaller sections were connected to the spinning device. It's not as structurally sound as having it wider/thicker at the base and thinner farther along the ring surface. -Jonathan |
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Lieutenant
 Victory is life! Group: Members Posts: 386 Joined: 2-February 05 From: Austin, TX Member No.: 990 |
Feb 5 2009, 08:51 PM
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#10
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What capell said. Also, I think that while they may look flimsy when you look at them in simple pics like these, once the full render is done, and you've got lighting, hull plating and texturing, then the scaling will work fine. I say stick with the original.
This post has been edited by Centurion: Feb 5 2009, 08:52 PM |
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Rob Caves, Executive Producer, Editor, 3D Artist
Group: Root Posts: 5,476 Joined: 6-February 03 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 4 |
Feb 5 2009, 10:17 PM
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#11
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Rob Caves, Executive Producer, Editor, 3D Artist
Group: Root Posts: 5,476 Joined: 6-February 03 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 4 |
Feb 6 2009, 03:51 PM
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#12
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Lieutenant J.G.
 Group: Members Posts: 77 Joined: 22-May 08 Member No.: 4,054 |
Feb 6 2009, 05:26 PM
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#13
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they look good (your Kunfu is better than mine) i say stick to the first sketches they look sleek
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Lieutenant J.G.
 Group: Members Posts: 89 Joined: 29-July 08 From: British Columbia, Canada Member No.: 4,145 |
Feb 6 2009, 08:43 PM
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#14
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Terrific stuff. But they need to be HMS ... rather than USS
 Cos we all know Britain rules the universe. (Sorry can't help myself sometimes.) Seriously lovely work though.
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Rob Caves, Executive Producer, Editor, 3D Artist
Group: Root Posts: 5,476 Joined: 6-February 03 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 4 |
Feb 7 2009, 08:51 PM
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#15
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Made some headway today. I was definitely going for a more smooth-sleek hull with less protrusions. Also went with more of a trek-blue-silver-shiny hull color to help denote a newer build.
tim150001.jpg ( 92.22K )
Number of downloads: 61And the self-illumination test.
tim160001.jpg ( 47.72K )
Number of downloads: 51Beauty render.
tim170001.jpg ( 180.66K )
Number of downloads: 109Animation rendering.  Rob |
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Commander
Sic vis Pacem, Para Bellum Group: HF Productions Cast / Crew Posts: 1,156 Joined: 22-September 05 From: Chained to a Drawing Table in the Basement... Member No.: 1,920 |
Feb 7 2009, 09:34 PM
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#16
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Woot! Will add more later.
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Lieutenant J.G.
Punch it! Group: Members Posts: 146 Joined: 1-December 08 Member No.: 4,294 |
Feb 8 2009, 12:31 PM
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#17
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Nice renders Rob. Out of curiosity in the last render produced your "beauty shot", what is that small blue thing at the bottom, underneath the ship. Is it some kind of deflector dish simular to star trek?
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Rob Caves, Executive Producer, Editor, 3D Artist
Group: Root Posts: 5,476 Joined: 6-February 03 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 4 |
Feb 8 2009, 02:40 PM
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#18
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Yeah, it's basically a deflector dish for sublight speeds most likely.
Rob |
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Rob Caves, Executive Producer, Editor, 3D Artist
Group: Root Posts: 5,476 Joined: 6-February 03 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 4 |
Feb 8 2009, 02:45 PM
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#19
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Okay, animation is up!
I added spotlights to the bay doors. Also added a size comparison of the Achilles drop ship and the USS Polaris. There are a couple areas I might add some additional plating to, like the engine section and the dorsal surfaces of the conning tower. But it's basically there for the shot I need to do of it for the pilot which will primarily show the front section of the ship. Also continuing to play with sound design. TRIDENT TEST Enjoy! Rob |
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Michael Hudson, Website Staff
 http://www.youtube.com/hiddenfrontier Group: Website Staff Posts: 3,007 Joined: 27-August 06 From: Cambridge, United Kingdom Member No.: 2,837 |
Feb 8 2009, 02:54 PM
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#20
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Liking the sound on that, definately goes with the ships I think.
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