Nice mesh. I use lightwave myself and find it by far the easiest to use and the best hotkeys to do work quickly with a great 4 port view. Plus has a real nice rendering part to it too.

Incidently what is this model for. I haven't read the whole thread but im hoping its not for ingame in the 3d battles as the polycount is huge lol.

Dont forget to remove splines as they will often cause smoothing errors which u can find with i think its ctrl or shift or alt and w iirc when in polygon mode. And if in point mode find the ones with 0 and delete. Should help get rid of waste.

Oh and one tip LAYERS use them for each part and subpart of the model. Far easier to uvmap this way imo. Also to group things when you can. For example if you group the bridge and move it to a layer then you can select the whole top saucer easier and group that without the sides and bottom which will be good to group that as uppersaucer tho i dont think ud need a layer for sections of sections of sections if u know what i mean but meh u will find what works for you.

Nice to see you here Skeeter. I saw you were buried in snow in frosty Great Britain too.

Yes, I have learned those tricks for getting rid of errors. In the case of the ones I just fixed, it had to do with nonplanar polygons. I had to use the triple command.
My next task is learning to UV map. I do have the different parts of the ship in different layers. Couldn't do the work without it. I also have another file with Polygons I used to cut things into the ship.

I am making it for a number of reasons. One is that I need something simpler to UV map (to learn) than the Fortunate (Freighter). I am also making it because to me, 1701 A is my favorite ship in the Star Trek Universe. Also, as computers get faster, someday we might be able to use the high poly ships in the combat engine. When I am done she should be under 20,000 polys.

Bash

I once got a b5 minbari cruiser in homeworld game and that was 20-30k polys. Managed ok with one lol but i would have to see a computer run if someone builds alot of them in their skirmish games.

We keep low poly because most engines do better with lower polys which means more ships on screen in battle etc. But in games like bridge commander where you dont get more than a few ships. Mods for that game can have very high poly models i think at least up to 10k for the srs enterprise.

My fav tools in lw were stencil using layers to use one layer with a object in to cut sections out of other layers models. Bevel which can create a very detailed model from a simple cube lol if used well. Pen to trace over a imported backdrop image (remember to use max detail and invert a little to get lines of the ship to show better). Knife to create a poly somewhere or do divide a part like say a square into two parts along one axis. Or somit.

When you group objects. dont use the default of 89 or whatever smoothing. 35 is often one of the best figures to use. And never group a ship as one then smooth as it can create alot of smoothing errors. Best done on the fly per model part/group. Becareful of steap angle changes. Like the saucer connecting to the bridge.

All good advise. I just learned that smoothing angle of 35 thing from a tutorial DVD. There are a number of things there I will have to ask you more about.

My 1701 A has separate 1) Saucer, 2) bridge, 3) section just below bridge 4) neck, 5) Torpedo launcher, 6) booms, 7) deflector cone 8) Sensor array (under saucer), 9) Hull and shuttle bay, 10) and the engines are in about 8 parts.

I am actually starting a Reliant now too since I have done the engines.

I gotta admit, I would LOVE to see your work if you want to PM it. I am really having a good time with Lightwave.

Thanks Skeeter Bashir

Getting Closer. Finally solved the Engines. I am finally getting to where I would UV map and paint it. Bashir

Nice progress Captain.

It is looking better each time.

Thank-you gentlemen. I should note that there is a curved dining table and chairs behind the large windows in the section below the bridge. Can't seem to get it to display right.

I was at a Museum Exhibit of Star Trek Props and costumes yesterday. I was hoping there were ship models but alas... They did not allow pictures but I snuck some anyway. The costume shot includes Ricardo Mantalban's Kahn outfit. You could walk around and touch the 1701 D engineering console. Bashir

I said I was going to do a Reliant. Not as hard as I thought. The Photon Torpedo launcher on the top cross piece was, and still is (going to be), a bear.

Very sexy
Another New Years gift

Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!

Sorry, but I just had to.

I can't wait until you start painting your models, Bashir. Do you plan to do it yourself, or are you going to look for someone else to do the work? We can always do a "ship texturers wanted!" thread.

Therrrrrre she is, and not so painted as we were led to believe... But thanks Ken and Matress

New Years Resolution made on 1/1/11- Learn UV mapping and be quick about it. It's just that I keep learning new tricks with Lightwave Modeler and it is soooo much fun. And I need to do Vjeko's Enterprise.

Side note: In my Kurv studios modeling DVD, the guy (from New Zealand) calls the small techie detail (the dark things in the two indentations on top of the ship) "Nurnies." The word has stuck with me.

Noonian Sing Bashir

Ah Bashir, my old friend. Do you know the modding proverb that states this is a sweet ass model?

HeHeHeHeHe Vjeko MY old friend, you always make me laugh! Here's one for everyone to laugh but especially Vjeko

This is an actual sign (I'm Serious) at a national park in Canada.

801 posts Bashir

Hehehehehehehehehe.

Glad you liked it. Another Joke.

I've got a million of them Bashir

hehehehehehe, poor mab

And here a few Star Trek jokes:



- one for the Brits


Things that don't happen in Star Trek:


--The Enterprise runs into a mysterious energy field of a type that it has encountered several times before.

--The Enterprise goes to check up on a remote outpost of scientists, who are all perfectly all right.

--The Enterprise comes across a Garden-of-Eden-like planet called Paradise, where everyone is happy all the time. However, everything is soon revealed to be exactly as it seems.


--The crew of the Enterprise are struck by a strange alien plague, for which the cure is found in the well-stocked sick-bay.

--A power surge on the Bridge is rapidly and correctly diagnosed as a faulty capacitor by the highly-trained and competent engineering staff.

--A power surge on the Bridge is fails to electrocute the user of a computer panel, due to a highly sophisticated 24th century surge protection feature called a 'fuse'.

--The Enterprise ferries an alien VIP from one place to another without serious incident.

--The Enterprise is captured by a vastly superior alien intelligence which does not put them on trial.

--The Enterprise separates as soon as there is any danger.

--The Enterprise is captured by a vastly inferior alien intelligence which they easily pacify by offering it some sweeties.

--The Enterprise is involved in a bizarre time-warp phenomenon, which is in some way unconnected with the 20th century. [note: this one actually happens in First Contact, since that was the 21st century. Also visited was the nineteenth century, when Mark Twain found himself beamed to the Enterprise, and was asked to refrain from smoking.]

--Somebody takes out a shuttle and it doesn't explode or crash.

--A major Starfleet emergency breaks out near the Enterprise, but fortunately some other ships in the area are able to deal with it to everyone's satisfaction.

--The shields on the Enterprise stay up during a battle.

--The Enterprise visits the Klingon Home World on a bright, sunny, day.

--An attempt at undermining the Klingon-Federation alliance is discovered without anyone noting that such an attempt, if successful, "would represent a fundamental shift of power throughout the quadrant."

--A major character spends the entire episode in the Holodeck without a single malfunction trapping him/her there.

--Picard walks up to the replicator and says, "Coke on ice."

--Kirk falls in love with a woman who, unfortunately, can't take the time off from her career. She leaves him in the end.

--Scotty assures the captain that repairs will be possible, but they turn out to be against the laws of physics.

--A well-equipped, large landing party is well-equipped with security officers, and none of them die.

--Mr. Spock is among the victims of a strange alien threat, but because of his Vulcan metabolism, he succumbs more quickly.


"So the first shelat says to the second shelat...he says 'How can I set my tricorder for shelat snacks when you've got your nasal probe up my terminal waste disposal unit!'"
--The unique interplay of abilities and personality traits of the command crew make them unable to solve a crisis.

--A minor repair on the lower decks of the ship is repaired by a crew of well-trained junior engineers, instead of a member of the bridge crew, or the chief engineer, or (gasp) W______ C_______r.

--Mr. Worf demonstrates the Klingon Flower Ritual.

--Mr. Data links his brain directly to the ship's computer, reads and sends data, and then routinely breaks the connection without mishap.

--I find out what happened to Mr. Worf's (quite understandable) feelings for Counselor Troi.

--A member of the crew of the original series makes an appearance without maudlin references to and jokes from the original series and the films.

Hehehehehehehe and he, ain't all that the truth! Love the tractor beam cartoon. Seems like everyone's economy (except China?) is under tremendous gravitational pressure. CB

Ta Daaaaaah Presenting Vjeko1701F - First iteration. One or two liberties but close. Five forward photon torpedo launchers. Wouldn't want to be on the business end of that!

My evaluation: May want to use smoother sleeker engines given the sleekness of the rest of his design. Maybe a variation on 1701 D's engines.
Captain Bashir

Here is a better shot of the front. I've already fixed the overlap of the torpedo launcher with the deflector. CB

In Orbit. Nice work Vjeko.

Bashir

Update on Reliant.

A tear went down my face when I saw the model of the Ent-F, also nice torpedo design and I agree about the engines, I'll see what I can do about that. Also I would suggest a thiner saucer.

I know what you mean. Kind of nice to see your vision closer to reality. Genetically Altered Bashir

Yeah, exactly.

I'd actually suggest keeping the saucer wide, but move the Nacelles further back and bringing them in closer to the body. that would make the design sleeker and promote more of a design lineage with the Sovereign and Intrepid. You want it to look more like those designs than the Galaxy afterall, since they're much more recent designs.

I definitely agree about the Nacelle design itself though. It does look a bit boxy in its' current form. The Nacelles on the Sovereign and Intrepid have triangular leading edges that contain three circular-shaped Bussard Collectors arranged in a triangular pattern, which is why the shape.

I said thinner saucer, I'm quite satisfied with how wide it is. I was without inspiration when I designed the engines so I will give it another shot.

So I think I understood you correctly vjeko - thinner vertically, which (you are right) if nothing else, would make it look like a bigger ship. The problem with my execution is that it appears like the Enterprise is being scaled down again from the bigger galaxy and sovereign class designs. Matress I think they discovered warp drive causes cancer, so they were trying to get the nacelles further away from the ship's inhabitants. Ship's Doctor Bashir

Ok changes to this image are as follows.
1) Three rearward Photon Torpedo launchers between the Impulse engines (not visible in these shots).
2) Thinner Saucer (vertically)
3) Moved the 3-tiered bridge section back further on the saucer and increased the angle the back wall of the bottom tier.
4) Engines sleeker with some new ideas.

Bashir