New Ship Design

[Havok]

This is what I first thought of.

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

Ill try and mock something up for you Havok. In the mean time, more star destroyer distraction:

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

And just for that certain someone, I present the Havok Pattern Battlecruiser:

[Havok]

Much better.

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

So, after a little bit of work I have a comparison shot with a Venator. I'm thinking that this ship is going to be more space combat oriented and only carry a few support craft and fighters. Any good ideas for names?

[Knife]

Magister?

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

That may be good, or Justicar may also be an option. In the mean time I redesigned the turrets to be more in line with GE standard and started to greeble the trench:

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

Now working on a Super Star Destroyer type. Tell me what you think:

[Eternal_Freedom]

It's impressive, but it does look like you swelled the Venator and added touches of Executor to make it look slightly different. Also, that largish bulge in the midship section looks very out of place ,especially with gun turrets behind it aiming forwards.

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

Well, its meant to be a Clone War's Era large battleship, hence its resembles a Venator. And all the turrets can superfire, its just the angle makes it look otherwise.

[Eternal_Freedom]

In that case, I withdraw the objection about the central bulge.

Is the forward section supposed to hold hanger bays or somesuch I notice a distinct lack of heavy guns there. If not there, are there hanger bays anywhere else?

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

Yes, actually. I've avoided shots of the bottom because I haven't started detailing it yet, but there is an extensive hangar bay and the facilities take up a lot of room, hence the bulge in the middle.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Fair enough. Well, it looks good so far, I'll say more when there are more detiled shots available. Keep up the good work.

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

Im actually not to keen on the large bottom hangar, however its pervasive among GE designs, and the only other shown is the large hangar of the venator. Any ideas?

[Eternal_Freedom]

Well, one advantage I can see to the bottom or top hanger is it's protected from broadside fire, which, let's be fair, is mostly what we see in SW. If you put the hanger's on the side of the ship, the other ships can fire into your exposed and vulnerable hanger and cause Bad Shit (TM) to happen. Of course, being spaceships the hanger is going to be a vulnerable spot no matter where you put it.

I would stick with the ventral hanger, if only for continuity with other designs. Of course, if you are building this as a battleship rather than a hanger, you can get away with a small-ish hanger for shuttles and so on, and just say it doesn't carry a fighter wing at all. (Or a very small fighter wing by SW standards).

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

Well, ive done some more detail work and rendered a fleet picture thats pretty big:

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

It wont let me view the link, I get a picture of a frozen frog. Have you lined up the light source this time, it didn't match the background picture in the last one at all?

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

Im trying to figure my way around Kerkythea. I dont have any experience in actual 3d modeling or rendering so its taking me a while to figure out how to render it and getting light sources right. The one thing that is bothering me is that my shadows are solid black, so if its not in direct light you cant see anything.

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

You need to add fill-in lights to stop the solid black and add a bit of atmosphere. I'd line the main light up to match the flare and shadows of the background movie, then add fill in lights from below and slightly in front that would add pink or blue colours that the planet would be reflecting on them. Maybe even add a fourth light behind the camera as fill. The tricky part is getting the light levels and colours right so you dont see millions of shadows from all angles. Lighting a scene successfully is one of the hardest things to do, as it really makes the scene and anchors the models in the picture.

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

Started my 3rd redesign on this ship. Been working on adding details. Tell me what you think:

[Eternal_Freedom]

Very reminiscent of a Wraith Cruiser from SG:A, although with a longer and more gently tapered bow.

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

I suppose there are some parallels. However, I've had this design down for nearly 15 years. In fact I'm pretty sure I posted and orthographic of it in an earlier thread. Here, its about half way down.
http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic. ... 4&t=112430

[Eternal_Freedom]

I have no doubt that it's your design, but that's what jumped to mind when I saw it. It's a nice looking model anyway.

[Grahf: Seeker Of Power]

I think the big influences at the time were the Britannia from the Lensmen anime movie, a couple of designs from Gall Force, DS9, Babylon 5, and star wars.

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

A quick conversion job on this ship to make it a Lightwave model. I quickly stuck some lights on it and a background to get the shot done before bedtime. I'll try and finish the texturing and lighting setup tomorrow and set up an animation of it.