USS Trilobite

[Diegoba]

When writing the background of the USS Caronte, I realized that I left open another design.
This is the other design that came out as a solution to the same problem, but this time, trying to make it as compact as possible.

The nacelles are placeholders, stolen from the Caronte, and are still missing some very short and thick pylons.
Also, the secondary hull needs some refining in the side view

[Rick King AIFD]

I like this idea......keep developing this one.

[TNC]

Looks good so far, keep it up.

[Diegoba]

Modified the nacelles, just a bit the deflector, and quite the secondary hull. Still not to happy with that last one...

[Diegoba]

Fixed the blending of the secondary hull with the primary, and added the pylons.
Quite short and thick.

Yes, I know "Your shuttlebay is open!" ;-)

[Angussky]

Very interesting, do keep up the good work.

[caisson2delta]

This is interesting. The secondary hull is especially cool, the shape is rather unique. I am really digging the nacelles. Do keep working on this one, it will definitely turn out nice.

[Rick King AIFD]

The one thing that I find unusual - and not in a good way, is that the secondary hull has some bumps........almost puts me in the mind of a lady who is just starting to show a pregnancy.

I almost think the hull needs to be a smooth taper.

[lt ponytail]

yes, rick, the way the hull is not smooth is really ugly.

[The Daft Punk]

Urgh, yeah, it looks like a fat lady wearing spandex.

[Clawhammer]

Ok, now lets try constructive please.

I'm guessing that you use some kind of meshsmooth/subdivision method to create these more organic looking shapes.  If that is the case you are on the right way. (But perhaps kind of early)

What you need is some more control over it. A guideline is that where you intensify the amount of edges in the working mesh you will create a sharp but smooth edge once the subdivision is applied. Another good idea is to keep your mesh as "quad" as possible.



If you somehow dont use a subdivision or smoothing method, I have to excuse myself!

[Pleiades]

One can achieve this in Anim8or (If you still use that I beleive) using the face editing tool known as 'bevel'. If you select the faces that you want to create Clawhammer's 'edge' around you must first select all the faces on the model that you want to apply it to, and then use the bevel tool to create that faceted edge that will prevent that blobby effect.

http://www.anim8or.com/manual/images/bevel_faces.gif

Notice how in Anim8or, faces that are 'joined' do not get beveled at those joins, only at places where you have a selected face and a non selected face, this is important in that you must select the whole GROUP of faces to bevel single edges, IE, a saucer edge. Think of this as it only beveling the OUTLINE of all the faces you have selected, it treats them as one huge face almost.

NOTE: The hexagon is a bad example though, the centre is not classed as a 'join' and so it creates another hexagon, but you get the idea.

Anyway, using the bevel tool will really help when subdividing shapes in Anim8or and will create those ''defined but smooth edges'' we see in proffesional work.

When using the bevel tool, always remember to save, but to also remember that you can always undo the last step. Even in advanced programs such as MAX I make a 'bevel' and then 'convert to subdivided' so see if its the effect I want and where it needs changing, then revert back to the un-sub'd mesh to continue working.

Also, note that you can use the bevel tool multiple times in a row to create that 'tighter control' Clawhammer is refering to when doing your subdivision. The more bevels an edge has the less it will be influenced by a subdivision in Anim8or.

I hope I didnt babble and overload your eyes with pointless information


Pleiades.

[Cleetus]

Aside from the engineering hull, I like it.

[Juvat]

Great info, Plei.  With Anim8or can't you also manually add edges to faces?  I seem to remember that from my time dabbling with the program.

[Diegoba]

  You should have seen some of the first tries!
From beached whale, to 2 humped camel, all was around.
I said before that I wasn't happy about the secondary hull and I see I'm not the only one.
A slight problem is that my PC is quite old and can't really handle it if I go over 100K faces. That's why I have to work with quite rough shapes 'till I'm almost done.
I'll try using the bevel tool and then subdivide to try to get those "sharp but smooth edges" and see how it looks. If I'm still not happy, I'll reshape the hull

[Diegoba]

I smoothed the shape.
Also, moving the pylons forward makes the hull look better, but I think that the ship looks worst like that

With the original engine position.

[Shik]

Try making them not so wide.

[Rick King AIFD]

I copied the side view of your ship in order to highlight some areas that seem problematic.

The red line above the saucer shows where the top of your secondary hull should be.

The red line below the saucer shows how the secondary hull needs to blend into the saucer. Right now you have a tiny indention that does'nt really need to be there.

The blue circles highlight the problem areas........the green circle shows that you need to thin the length of the pylons.

Hope this helps.

[ EDIT: I should mention that the nacelles themselves are in the perfect spot.........at least in the side view.

[Diegoba]

Added weapons and shuttlebay.

[Diegoba]

I copied the side view of your ship in order to highlight some areas that seem problematic.

The red line above the saucer shows where the top of your secondary hull should be.

The red line below the saucer shows how the secondary hull needs to blend into the saucer. Right now you have a tiny indention that does'nt really need to be there.

The blue circles highlight the problem areas........the green circle shows that you need to thin the length of the pylons.

Hope this helps.

[ EDIT: I should mention that the nacelles themselves are in the perfect spot.........at least in the side view.

I agree with the problem in the connection of the hulls at the bottom. That does need to be improved. I'm having a hard time finding a shape that will look good in both side and bottom view.
The length of the pylons... I'll see how they look shorter. My initial though was to have the nacelles blend with the hull, but then, they would be behind the saucer on the front view. I did something that is between a pylon and a hull extension.
Regarding the position of the secondary hull, the red lines would indicate a thinner one. But...
I scaled it to the same size of my "Caronte", they even share some components, since they were build at the same time, with the same goal. And in order to fit a vertical warp core in the secondary hull, it will have to be 4 decks tall at least ... Remember this is a tiny ship, about 170 mts long.
Anyway, I will also look into that shape, and as always, thanks for all the feedback

[Mork of Ork]

Couldn't you arrange the nacelles a bit like the Steamrunner class, so they are blended with the saucer too and the bussard collectors would poke out near the edges of the saucer but with the nacelles pressed up against the secondary hull too?

[Diegoba]

Sounds like a good idea, but when I tried, I realized that it will require a big redesign for the nacelles and hulls to blend nicely. I'll keep the idea for another design.
I'm doing some work on the secondary hull and pylons, but I think that most won't be to happy about it ;-)

[Mork of Ork]

I look forward to seeing it.

[Diegoba]

Found a shape I kind of like, added some detailing and started to work in the windows

[Shik]

Better. Still not a fan of the wide pylons, though.