Old and New Projects: Plagarus, Adamant Command Deck, and Jaspera Interspatial Station

Hey all,

Well, it's been a crazy few months, with commissions and stuff.  But it's time to get back to my personal projects that I've been putting off.  I have a mind-shelf full of ideas and I need to get them down in a more-or-less polygonal state before they get stale.

Jaspera

Since I've been a kid, I've had this idea of a space station that is, essentially, a giant mall in orbit of a very affluent planet.  This station, called Jaspera, had inflicted upon it one inept attempt thus far to build it.  I need to do something better this time:

A very old model I built over ten years ago... eww. :(

The scene above is very old.  But it's a general approximation of what I want to do with the space station.  It does capture the mood, as it was described in my original one-page description of the scene I wrote up when I was about 15, sitting in a lobby of a Chinese food restaurant that my father cleaned in Skowhegan, Maine.  (I had finished my job of vacuuming the carpet on the main floor, by the way, so I wasn't being lazy, as I recall...)

I want to build the following sections:

1.) Main Atrium -- This is pictured above.  It's a 20 - 30 story tall inner core with a skylight above pointed at the sun.  There walkways all around the periphery that connect to the various storefronts along the external hull of the station.

2.) Industrial Docking Bay -- The docking bay is at the bottom of the station.  It's where the thousands of space ships that visit the station every day have berths and refuel gantries to resupply the station.  It's a more industrial part of the station and less pretty than the civilian areas.

3.) Passenger Docking Bay -- At the top of the station.  It's a more elegant docking area, where yachts and whatnot dock.

4.) Shops -- I want to build some of the generic shops.  These can be modular in design so that I can make a bunch of 'em if I want.

5.) Ol' Baid's Bar -- A bar in my magnum opus, Armranath (a colossal film project which will never be made), but it would be cool to have the bar.

6.) Hotel Area -- An outer ring of the station is a massive hotel, with windows facing space or the inner core, depending on what you desire.  It'd be cool to see that actually completed.

At any rate, that's the goal.  Probably will take the better part of a year to complete.

Plagarus, Part 3

Plagarus... :\  I'm still working on Part 3.  Got a bit of work done on it this month!  But it's slow going simply because being a one-man animation machine is tough.  I may have recruited a real life friend to help me out on some of the animation, but he's still hammering out school over in Full Sail, so it might take a bit of time, unfortunately. So I apologize that this time around, you'll still probably be dealing with my crappy animation skills.  :(

I'd just like to say that the stills look a lot better than the actual action. :(  I'm dreadful at character animation, and try to avoid full body stuff at all costs.  But, I've chosen to focus on modelling mostly.  Movies are, by far, the most complex art form out there, and it takes more than one person to make one.

At any rate, I'm expecting Plagarus, Part 3 some time this late spring/early summer, depending on how much I get done.

Adamant Command Deck

Also, there is the Command Deck of the SSC Adamant, which I still have to complete.  I'm planning on getting that thing done pretty soon, as I was thinking about incorporating a scene on the Adamant in Plagarus.  We'll see how that goes, though.

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So, there will hopefully be more updates coming on this page now that I'm through the woods and get to start putting attention on my own projects again.  I'll definitely try to put up a link to the Star Wars fan projects I was privileged to assist with for the Star Wars Fan Film Awards that are scheduled to be released in a few months.  Also, huge shout out to Ansel Hsiao who was gracious enough to allow me to use his awesome Star Destroyer model for the space scenes in one of the films.  I finally got to meet a personal inspiration--the guy that got my butt into gear with spaceship modelling in the first place--and it was awesome.




Well, that's about it.  Hopefully everyone is doing awesome and that things are going well.  If not, I hope things get better for you soon!

Dan

Adamant Command Center WIP Update

So, an update is in order for the Adamant's command center (CC).

So far, the majority of the heavy modelling is done.  But numerous details have to be added.

Floors:

Most notably, the areas I think could use some love are the floor surfaces (which seem pretty low-fi compared to the rest of the room).  I'm thinking of adding some kind of visual appeal to them, although I'm not entirely certain what direction I want to go there.  I definitely would like to model some access panels and whatnot, in case maintenance has to be done on any equipment stored under the deck plating. It seems unlikely that the floor would be completely solid, without any access.

I was thinking of using boolean operations and simply cutting into the floor, due to the floor's poor geometry.  Or I may remodel the floor from scratch, but that would mean throwing away a lot of work. :(

The materials have gone back and forth, too.  They were originally polished metal, then went over to two-tone carpet, and now have gone back to polished metal.  Polished metal does look cool, but it shows up so many defects and flaws.  It also looks very drab and flat, so the floor is begging for detail greeble-y bits.  Problem is, it's a floor.  We don't want our poor crew tripping over their own floors while they're fighting off pirates. :D

 

Aft Section:

I'm going to tear out the aft consoles altogether, and may also take out those walls and add some kind of different design there, I'm not sure on a direction for that, yet, only that I'm not happy with that area of the bridge.  The aft corridor, of course, needs a great deal of love.  I'm completely in the dark about how to go about how I want to do a corridor for that.  I may decide on a mix of the Viminal, and the Adamant motifs, simply because that seems the most reasonable.

Front Section:

The front is my favorite part.  Those windows provide a nice, big view of space, which is the direction I wanted to go in.  So that's good.  The problem is, if you're going to show the crew's faces, then the camera is primarily going to be facing toward the aft. :\

Also, those panel details underneath the windows are screaming for some attention.  The color seems wrong, for one thing, and they could really use some attention to detail.  Some more little nooks and crannies are in order.

Color Scheme:

 

 

The room's color palette is very bland and gray right now.  I'm thinking the consoles will have some color to them, which will spice up the room a bit, visually.  But there's the fact that the Thrass do not see red.  Their vision is shifted into the ultraviolet range, so everything will have to be left of the red end of the visible light spectrum. I'm thinking yellows would be pushing it quite a bit.  That's a challenge... especially to come up with an alert color.  No "Red Alerts" on Thrassi spaceships, the crew would never see it coming.

The original Adamant's color scheme was quite beautiful.  It was a dark magenta / brown / tan combination with blue lighting.  The impact was quite pleasant to the eyes.  But it looked too "pretty".  Something that bothered me about Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) was that the ship's interiors were so beautiful.   This is, after all, a starship, not a luxury yacht. Now, I understand that Starfleet was more of a science expeditionary force than a peacekeeping organization (well, discounting Deep Space Nine, seasons 5 - 7).  My Thrassi Navy is a bit more like the U.S. Coast Guard than Star Trek's Starfleet.  So, grays and blues are probably the best option.  Finding the right color correction settings for the post-production may be the best option, instead of going in and changing the entire color treatment for the entire ship.

Consoles:

The defensive/weapons stations.  This is where the Palatine-class cruiser's massive destructive power is controlled from

Definitely going to finish out the consoles.  At first, I thought I was going to go the route of TNG, which had back-lit flat panels made of clear plastic.  But I think that's a bit too Trek for the direction I want to go in.  I'm going to go back and add buttons and sliders. This will have the advantage of adding visual interest and, depending on the color scheme of the buttons (note to self: no reds/oranges!), it should add some color interest, too.  Of course, it has the downside of adding even more geometry to an already substantial mesh... but oh well. I'm not making a game, here. :)
 
In addition to the button-y consoles, I was going to do holographic displays for at least two consoles:

The CED (pronounced "sed", rhymes with "bed").  Thrassi Palatine crews unofficially call this console "The Altar"

1.) The Central Engineering Display (CED, a.k.a. "The Altar", which is that table-like console in the aft).  The CED is the place where the engineer stands if he's on the command deck, to monitor all ship's systems.  There is an interactive holographic representation of the ship hovering over it.  The CED can also be configured to show mission specific things, like interactive maps of planets or star systems, if they wish.  I may change that and provide additional holotables like this one on port/starboard sides of the CC.

Two officers man the CONN.  A Chief Conning Officer (CCO) and an ensign who assists

2.) CONN.  The conning station (a.k.a. "helm"), where the ship's pilot actually flies the ship from, was originally going to have a hologram of the ship which can be manipulated via the conning officer's fingers.  I don't know if I'll keep that, but it's in the lore, and I wanted to keep faithful to it as much as possible.  So I may just put it in.

The issues with this, is that the model of the ship I have right now for the hologram is actually the real Adamant exterior model, with all the trimmings, sans the turrets and some minor details too small to see.  But it still is extremely heavy and was the cause of some serious crashes. :(

So it looks like I'll have to just use a simply stand-in for the Adamant holograms.  Of course, most of that work may be done in post anyway.

Command Chair:

 

The Big Chair.  The captain sits here

I'm happy with the command chair for the most part, but the area around it could use some love.  The floor, again, is pretty flat and boring, and the stanchions around it are pretty drab and flat.  I may adjust the materials on those.  The floor really needs some care.  It's embarrassing to show this. :(


And here is a overview of the Command Deck Complex so far:

It fits pretty well inside the upper deck of the Adamant...

So, that's the update.  Pretty wordy and I apologize. :(

Hope everyone is doing well!

Dan

Adamant Command Deck Concept

Concept work beginning on the Palatine-class Adamant's command center.

I recently was asked via email why I didn't have more starship "bridge" sets.  The answer, in a nutshell, is command centers/bridges are stinking difficult to concept and finish out.  I always run out of steam before they're completed.  But, seeing as there's a significant lack in my portfolio for suitable command decks, I decided to move to the Adamant's Command Center.

SIDE NOTE: I kind of don't like the term "bridge" to describe a starship command center, for the simple reason that that level of retention of naval etymology really seems silly in a far advanced society.  I doubt that the Thrass, an alien race, would have had the same word etymology for their naval traditions as humans do.

In the case of the naval ships having a command deck called a "bridge", it is called that because originally an ocean going vessel had literally a raised platform which connected the wheelhouse with another part of the super structure of the ship, and it was called the bridge.  It stuck from then on.  Why a starship so far in the future would still have its command center called a bridge, I don't know.  But oh well...anyway, enough of that silliness.

Consoles.  Starting with the consoles this time, because they're the most challenging aspects of bridge designs.

Placement.  I knew the command center of the ship would be near the front, inside a heavily armored portion, with some bunker style windows looking out.  I've got to put the general placement of the various split levels.  I know I want the captain's chair and the aft sections to be raised up, with a lower level toward the front where the various lower hands operate their various stations.

Here, I simply mirrored the finished conference room to show where the captain's cabin would be.  The conference room is on the port side, the room with the table.  The captain's cabin will be somewhat adjusted to accommodate an office/ready room area and a partitioned private sleeping area for him.

The command deck itself will have three window banks at the front, with possible duty stations along the sides where there are no windows.  A central corridor will provide access from the back.  All in all, we're looking at a pretty spacious command center which should be able to house five or six duty stations comfortably.

Hopefully...

Dan

Viminal Fast Attack Gunship Rework and Nero's Fire Release Prep

Well, with the completion of the Palatine-class remodel, it's time to update the Viminal attack ship. 

The Viminal gunship was designed by the Thrassi Republic for escort duty of larger ships (Adamant is accompanied by two of them almost all the time), and for fast interdiction of small targets.  But they've also been used as orbit-to-surface shuttles for capital ships, too.

So, without further ado, the update that needs to happen for the ubiquitous Vimmy.

Fortunately, it seems the update to the Vimmy isn't as much work as the Pally.  The Vimmy model is much more modern, and so doesn't require a complete remodel like her big sister did, so that's good.  But, still, it does require some TLC.

After finishing up the changes, I'll probably release this one on Turbosquid. At the very least, the interior should be made available.  It's sat on my hard drive long enough, being neglected... We'll see.  Think I'm overly attached to these silly ships of mine.  Perhaps a therapist is in order. :)

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Also, the Nero's Fire, a freighter I worked on about a year ago also needs some TLC.  Since I have a tad bit of free time, I'll probably hit this one and get her finished up.  The only thing that really needs to be done is to finish modelling the landing gear and the loading elevator, and then she'll be ready for public release.

So that's about it for now.  Just thought I'd throw another update on here.

Hope everyone is doing well.  Have a safe week.

Dan

Adamant Interior Conference Room WIP

Continuing work on the Conference Room on board the Adamant.  Nearing completion, but still have a few details to add here and there.

By the way, if only I had a real life version of that golden Palatine to put in my room...ah, that would be wonderful.

Dan

Adamant Interior Concepts

Starting to work on the new Adamant's interior.

The bridge shell has changed shape to this, with a human model to give an impression of scale:

It's necessary to redesign the interior of the Command Deck so that it fits.

I also wanted to take this chance to redesign the ship's interior motif, too. I wanted something a bit more menacing and muted. Since the outside looks tougher. To that end, I came up with this test motif:

I'm still not thrilled with this design, and may address some of my concerns. The most notable one is...there's something about it that doesn't look good...I don't know. I know I don't like the baseboard lights. I'm going to get rid of those...the support struts also don't look quite right to me...perhaps they should follow the rounded edge motif of the rest of the design more.

Here is the Officer's Conference Room, directly aft of the Main Bridge, now, instead of to the side like the old design. This is looking to starboard. Left is forward, and that door on the left is the door to the bridge. It is shown in the old Adamant's interior color scheme. I'm seriously considering changing it.

I will definitely be adjusting the windows of the ship for the interior. I'll leave them the same on the exterior, because they're so small that they're fine the way they are. But close up, they're too angular. I'm going to round the edges for the interiors so that they provide more detail for the close-ups they'll be subjected to in any interior scenes on board the ship.

And here is the final color scheme, I think.  I need to add some stuff on the walls, including handrails, displays, door control panels and perhaps a display case for a model of the ship.

 

All that's left is adding some detail on the wall, including getting rid of the door in this image and adding a table.  I'm thinking on a circular table, with a holographic display in the center for presentations.  If that's the case, I'll change out the ceiling to fit the table. Instead of the door to the left in the following image, I want to put a display of a model of the Adamant (probably in silver or gold).  Right now the room has 3 doors.  The door to the left just leads out into the central corridor leading from the bridge, and 2 doors is more than sufficient for this room.

The table here is probably a bit too big around.   The bridge crew consists of 6 people--the captain, first officer, helm, comms officer, gunnery, and sensor officer.  The chief engineer would likely be included in meetings, too, so, at most, I'd need room for just 8 - 10 seats.

Dan

Adamant Completed! And a New Demo Reel

Hi all,

The (major) work on the Adamant is done. :D  I suppose I'll always be tinkering, making her better.  I suppose this could be chalked up to the fact that the ship always is in for refit as new technologies become available, right? :)

Also, a new demo reel for 2015, featuring the new ship!  The old demo reel was really starting to show its age, so I decided to bite the bullet and make a new one.  Not much room for stuff in only 2 minutes of video, so I had to be choosy.  I decided to show the work for Gingerbreed and a possible future concept web series I've been tinkering with called Starship: Adamant, which would feature short little snippets of various missions the Adamant goes on in her voyages. :)



Dan

New Turrets on Palatine Cruisers Make Life Easier for Crews

THIS WEEK on Pew-Pew Weekly:

Is that comet flying through space giving you problems?  Is collision imminent?  Everyone knows that striking a piece of rock at relativistic speeds can give your spaceship crew the shakes (and don't get me started on those exploding consoles).  Well, worry no more.  Here is the solution to rowdy interstellar fragments and debris (and any foolhardy pirate looking to avoid having to face that boring legal system):  The PY-280-Z heavy cannon turret!

 

A spectacle of destructive potential!

With a full 180 degree rotation on the z-axis and 90 degree cannon rotation, this reciprocating octo-barrel laser cannon turret provides the ultimate answer to the question: Do laser cannons really work well against rocks in space...or anything else, for that matter?  At these levels of power, the answer is an unequivocal YES!

Warning: It is inadvisable to take selfies in front of these turrets

Capable of being loaded with several types of charges, these cannons can fire both ionized plasma and particle beams capable of delivering over 25 petajoules of destructive power per barrel.  That's right, that's 200 petajoules per turret, per shot! 

To give you an idea of how much that would be in pure awesome might: 200 petajoules equals the same amount of energy as 47,801 tons of TNT.  To give you humans a chance to understand, your laughable nuclear Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear bomb ever tested in your history, released 210 petajoules.  That's right, just one volley from one of these turrets releases the equivalent amount of energy from your largest nuclear bomb ever! HA! Take that, puny earthlings!

Do ya feel lucky, punk?

These new turrets will be installed on all ships in the Thrassi Navy large enough to support them.  Since that's only the Palatine and Aventine classes, those are the ships that will receive these beauties!

Here is a mock-up of a typical Palatine class cruiser with the turrets mounted.  Seriously, you don't want to mess with this ship.

It was as if millions of pirates suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced...

If there was ever a bad place to find yourself, this probably qualifies

Sal Marcus, the Scan Officer aboard the Adamant had this to say about the new turrets loaded onto his ship, "I'm just glad they're not pointed at me!"  That seems to be the general consensus of anyone who has to face these things.

I'm just glad they're not pointed at me! -- A very wise man

Here are the statistics for these lovely turrets for you tech-heads out there:

Kilim & Blastem PY-280-Z Heavy Laser Cannon Turret

• Type: Dual quad barrel reciprocating cannon turret

• Power Rating: 25 petajoules per barrel

• Rate of Fire: 10 shots per minute

• Deliverable Energy Rating: 2,000 petajoules per minute

Remember, if you're a space rock heading for an Aventine or Palatine class starship of the Thrassi Navy, it might behoove you to avoid it.  If you're a pirate, get your will in order!

Adamant Remodel Progress Renders

Changes to the overall shape of the structure have been completed.  The nose is considerably more discreet and narrower than before.  Also added a gentle slope to the lower bow region.  It's now swept back slightly to improve the curved look of the entire ship's overall motif.

I'm much more pleased with the elevation orthograhic shots.  Gone is the jarring sharpness of the dropping bow, replaced with a gentler curve which matches the rest of the ship much nicer.

The bridge section is also greatly simplified and more curved, making it much more sleek and even a bit menacing, I think.  That was an unforeseen effect of the changes--the ship looks more "wicked" than before.  Sometimes you don't know what the result will be until you try it, I guess?

Still to do: the forward deflector/shield dish section.  Finish out the panels and greebles (some are still not right--hovering greebles or whatnot).  Add windows and lighted interiors, including the hangars and their doors, and create the new quad-cannon turrets.  Also, need to re-do the insides of the main engines.  I was never quite happy with the mechanism that spun.  It was way too small to be noticeable.  I'd like to make it bigger so that it's visible from medium and perhaps even wide shots.



After that, it's the materials and light schemes and I think we're done with the remodel.  The model will be ready for import into whatever project I think up for it. :)

Dan