Topic: TOS Federation light dreadnought available

[Rod ONeal]

I haven't had a project keep my interest very well lately (maybe it's a hangover from the GK Ent?), but this is getting far enough along that I feel confident that I'll finish it soon.

Here's a teaser shot. I'll have more later.

[Rod ONeal]

Alrighty then... Not a lot of interest in a Fed Fast Dreadnought, eh?  That's alright. I was being a bit cheeky giving a front view not unlike STXI. I've got more texturing done today though and can show more. Hopefully it'll be finished this weekend.

[Centurus]

Incredibly clean mesh.  I still think the front end of the saucer needs viagra.  Other than that, beautiful work.

[markyd]

looks real nice rod, textures look clean and crisp too.. the saucer looks warped, is that the way its supposed to be or is it just an odd angle in the render, great model though mate.

[Atolm-Rising]

Sweet work there mate!
I personally am glad to see that some-one besides me has opted a Sukhoi-like saucer , and to pop one on a TOS ship, that's ballsy
Nicely done

[Centurus]

looks real nice rod, textures look clean and crisp too.. the saucer looks warped, is that the way its supposed to be or is it just an odd angle in the render, great model though mate.

The front of the saucer is bending downward. 

[Terradyhne]

model and textures look great but i never liked those so called fast ship designs with a streamlined saucer

[Rod ONeal]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the comments.

Yeap, the saucer is curved. I knew it would be controversial, but I did it because as I looked at the design I thought that it'd have a big blind spot looking out over the long nose. As Atolm noted with the Sukhoi (I was thinking the SST.) to improve visibility you drop the nose. Not important in space, I know, but it could be in space dock. LOL For me it makes it look more aggressive, like a Sukhoi.

[Starforce2]

might make sense for a tighter field and shield bubble too

[Lepton]

I think the curved saucer is great.  The model looks a lot better than the Starline miniature of the DNL.  The only thing I might change is to decrease the size of the curved areas leading to the main bridge and the sensor dome.  Basically, hold the saucer by the top and bottom and squeeze.  It just looks a little extreme in head-on view.

[Rod ONeal]

I'll have to double check. I put this up against orthos of the Federation-class dreadnought when I made it. I matched the profiles of the two ships. I do see what you are pointing out though. Because of the reduced width of the saucer it looks bulbous.

[atheorhaven]

Love the fast saucer design personally.. as for the dropped nose though for visibility, what about a pulled in design similar to p81's FCX?  It'd be something that I'd personally like to see. 

[Starforce2]

it makes it look like it's smiling at ya lol

[Centurus]

it makes it look like it's smiling at ya lol

I wonder what's feeding the warp core, space mary jane?

[Starforce2]

Or it could be just happy to see ya... it does have a 3rd nacelle..

[Centurus]

Or it could be just happy to see ya... it does have a 3rd nacelle..

I've got a 4th nacelle, and I ain't particularly happy to see many people.  :-p

[Rod ONeal]

Not finished, but an update. I still have to do the main warp pylon textures, a bit of touch up details, and light maps

[USS Mariner]

If anything, alter the forward windows so that they remain parallel with the deck structure, and not just the curve of the saucer. That'll help.

[Centurus]

If anything, alter the forward windows so that they remain parallel with the deck structure, and not just the curve of the saucer. That'll help.

I was looking at that too.  I was wondering if the people in the forward hull felt disoriented, or if the grav plating had to be adjusted.

[Wicked Zombie]

This is definitely a well-crafted piece of work, right down to the little details. I took a shot at one of these a while ago and never bothered to continue - I wasn't going to finish the damned thing anyway but now I have an excuse

As for the dip-saucer, stick to my credo - if it doesn't piss someone off, you aren't doing it right.

[Centurus]

This is definitely a well-crafted piece of work, right down to the little details. I took a shot at one of these a while ago and never bothered to continue - I wasn't going to finish the damned thing anyway but now I have an excuse

As for the dip-saucer, stick to my credo - if it doesn't piss someone off, you aren't doing it right.

So that's why you remade the Lethality.   

[Rod ONeal]

Thanks a lot, Wicked Zombie. I have more of your models than anyone else's in my games. It's nice to get a positive critique from someone who's work I respect so much. Not that I don't appreciate everyone else's comments and interest.

Here's an update. I've still got lights to add. I'm going to see if I can light up the shuttle area like Lord Schtupp's FDN. I tried it once before, when I did the USS Nimitz CVL, but at the time I couldn't pull it off. We'll see if I've progressed that far yet.

[Vipre]

Sweet lion.

[Rod ONeal]

Up at battle clinic. Enjoy!
http://www.battleclinic.com/docks/dock/4623-FDNL-Light-Dreadnought-details.html#4623

[markyd]

The textures and build of this model look sublime, your talents have come a long way rod, its top work, the design however i dont like (mainly the saucer) but hey thats just my opinion, i look forward to your next release, keep these TOS models coming, your not far off the par off LS with these..

good job mate 

[Rod ONeal]

Thanks, Markyd. Schtupp is someone, along with a couple others, whom I draw inspiration from.

I've got permission from Adam Turner to do his now official SFB CX design. He's sent me some hires orthos to work from. That should be my next project. I do have some Tholians to get back to, also.

[Adonis]

OK, textures are really nice, but that saucer is just...well...pointless. At least you could have lined the decks back in place.

[Rod ONeal]

I decided not to worry about the slope to the decks when I found out that they left the bowling alleys out of the design.
Seriously, it's a fairly gradual slope over the distance.

Glad you like the textures. Thanks.

[Adonis]

Already your TOS textures rival Adonis's and can even give WZ here a run for his undead dollar

I wouldn't jump to a conclusion like that yet, after all, you never saw a TOS ship of mine finished with my latest texturing capabilities. I could still teach him quite a few things to improve on in the department mind you. His skills are growing steady, and that's the important thing.

[Centurus]

No offense Adonis, but I have to say this.

Until we actually see a TOS ship of yours released, what you say is purely academic, with really no way of finding out if it's true or not.

Rod's textures are incredible, and from the eye candy renders, so far seem to be extremely clean and sharp.  Better than any TOS textures released to date, and most definately raises the bar up a bit.

[Adonis]

No offense Adonis, but I have to say this.

Until we actually see a TOS ship of yours released, what you say is purely academic, with really no way of finding out if it's true or not.

Rod's textures are incredible, and from the eye candy renders, so far seem to be extremely clean and sharp.  Better than any TOS textures released to date, and most definately raises the bar up a bit.

I only have a Daedalus class that frankly by my own opinion and standards, needs a redo, I got better since I did her. As for Rods ship, I can see room for improvement that I would be glad to discuss with him if he wants to.

[Rod ONeal]

I really appreciate the comments, everyone. I too can see room for improvement in my work. That's why my models continue to improve (technique wise, anyhow. some designs are better than others, I suppose). There isn't anything that I can think of at the moment to ask for help on, but I have asked, and will ask again, when there's something that I'm trying to do that I can't figure out on my own. (The last one, which I've mostly got sorted now, was baking textures. Where was all my help with that one? ) My biggest issues that I'm working with now are exporting from C4D to max to MOD. That's improving too though.

IMHO none of us should get too proud of what we are doing here. It's all quite pre-primary in the greater scheme of modeling and animation, and it would be presumptuous of any of us to think that it's anything else.

[marstone]

doesn't have anything to truely do with the DNL here, but what would be a good pack of programs to collect to do a ship for SFC?  I have seen so many lists (and they are old lists) what are the moders on a budget using today??

[Centurus]

doesn't have anything to truely do with the DNL here, but what would be a good pack of programs to collect to do a ship for SFC?  I have seen so many lists (and they are old lists) what are the moders on a budget using today??

If you are on a budget and want to buy a legitimate 3D model program, get Milkshape.  It's like 30 bucks, lifetime updates I think, and you can grab the plugins for both SFC and BC over at BCFiles.com

Do you have a high speed internet connection?

[Tus-XC]

Try blender... it beats MS hands down in capabilities and its 100% free.

[Centurus]

Try blender... it beats MS hands down in capabilities and its 100% free.

This is true.  Many people over at Scifi-Meshes use Blender, and the work they do in Blender is equal to those with 3DS Max.

[marstone]

Try blender... it beats MS hands down in capabilities and its 100% free.

does blender have the plug ins to do the mod or will I need a conversion program?

[marstone]

doesn't have anything to truely do with the DNL here, but what would be a good pack of programs to collect to do a ship for SFC?  I have seen so many lists (and they are old lists) what are the moders on a budget using today??

If you are on a budget and want to buy a legitimate 3D model program, get Milkshape.  It's like 30 bucks, lifetime updates I think, and you can grab the plugins for both SFC and BC over at BCFiles.com

Do you have a high speed internet connection?

yep, high speed.  A legit progam is always nice, but I don't mind testing a program to see if they are worth the cash.  So many programs are not even worth the time it takes to throw a disk away, let alone buy them.

[Rod ONeal]

Exporting to SFC on a budget is Milkshape territory only. Milkshape won't do break mods.

Max 3-5 are the only versions of max that will run the SFC plugins. Autodesk doesn't allow transferring of licenses though. They want to get paid by each subsequent user of the program.

I use C4D, but it's not free. IIRC it's about $1000.00 US for the base app. They do allow for you to register used copies of the app though to a new user.

Freeware: Try Blender, as has been stated. Also, there's XSI Mod tool. Very powerful modeling app. that's pretty easy to learn with lots of support.

[marstone]

thanks, I have been checking out the suggestions, I had downloaded milkshape before and had it set-up, but of course RL used up my free use.  Will look at a few others of these, probably will pay the fee for milkshape.

What do you guys use to make the skins, textures?  As these are probably more important then the actual model (look at a base model and the skined version and it makes the difference in so many ways).

[Centurus]

Paintshop Pro and Photoshop are the primary programed used for making textures.  However, some have used Paint and a few other programs. 

[Rod ONeal]

IMHO this is the best freeware paint pgm.
http://www.gimp.org/

[marstone]

Thanks guys, now back to the regularly scheduled postings.

[USS Mariner]

I've got permission from Adam Turner to do his now official SFB CX design. He's sent me some hires orthos to work from. That should be my next project. I do have some Tholians to get back to, also.

Move to LA so I can marry you.

And to the folks worrying about the decks not being lined up, just fix it yourself. If they were modeled, then we'd have a problem.