Amongst the commercial products available for 3D modelling and rendering are C4D, Maya and LightWave, as well as many others.

Seems there's a little bit of confusion on the matter here, so I'll clarify.

I use Sketchup to create the models because it's fast, incredibly easy, and perfect for the design of rather clunky things like NDC spacecraft. It's even quite useful in the right hands for the creation of more complex, smooth models, if needed.

I use Bryce because originally it was all I had (maybe about five years ago) and I learned to use it quite well, or so I feel. I've become rather used to materials-based texturing, but for certain ship details it makes things quite difficult. HOWEVER, I have recently developed a method by which I can apply a standard material texture to the whole of a ship, and then add surface details as necessary using transparency-enabled 2D objects oriented to the proper faces on the ship. As these support bump mapping, they can effectively blend in with the main texture just fine.

I have tried to wrestle Blender to the ground (I like the metaphor, pipeline), but it's been arduously difficult whenever I pick it up, much akin to starting a sexual relationship with a cactus. Had I a better understanding of the software, I'm sure it would find much more effective use in my library of tools. However, that moves me on to the final, and more trying step -- texturing. Quite frankly, unless it's a 128 x 128 wall pattern for the game Marathon, I can't seem to produce anything I enjoy. Hence my love of materials and procedurals as textures...

Although I appreciate the offer, EKHawkman, the main reason I started this project is because I am a writer by trade, and wanted to create an interactive version of my stories. As such, I'd much like to have control over at least that aspect of the project's creation! I'm sure I can find something for you to do.

Actually, EK, if you have a Mac OS 9 computer, or even Mac OS X with classic, then I most definitely have a task you can help me with, though it'll be a little while before I require your services. As it turns out, I have no computer with which to encode my sound files, and could certainly use help converting them into .sfil files and importing them into a Nova plug. I haven't got an entire library of sounds compiled yet, but if you can help, I'll certainly let you know when I'm ready for your assistance!

Edit -- noted above in pipeline's post was the program Maya. Although I've never had any experience with it, I know for a fact that the student edition is included with my copy of Unreal Tournament 2003 for the PC, although I'm not entirely sure I want to constantly switch systems to do my renders.

This post has been edited by Delphi : 23 May 2008 - 01:05 AM

By the way, new avatar.

Maya's powerful, but hard to learn and use fully.

I like Lightwave.

Ok And sure delphi I could totally do that. Just as long as my computer doesn't go BOOM in the next year of so!

I actually managed to procure a copy of Maya for very cheap (under $200, which isn't bad for a product that usually runs around $4,000), but haven't used it much since most of my graphics were rendered in Strata and you can't swap models back and forth between the two.

Which is a bummer too, because in every department sans rendering, Maya eats Strata for breakfast.

Boy, do I get side-tracked easily. The hoover-ship will have to wait for a little longer; I'm now designing my own personal command cruiser.

Don't worry, it'll still be a regular, flyable ship. Mine will just have bigger guns than yours, is all.

By the way, here are some tips for clever ship design; the designs that make people look and go, "huh? That's really cool!" You can try to mix-and-match these if you wish, but I find it works best to keep within one trick at a time so as to avoid complication.

1. Cut essential parts off and then replace them with "starship prosthetics". In other words, think along the lines of designing a perfectly symmetrical starship, with your generic wing-mounted engines and fuselage, and then proceed to hack off one wing and replace it maybe with a small array of little thrusters instead of the original big engine, with these held tightly against the ship's hull. Leave the other wing untouched, and suddenly your ship looks unbalanced, and actually makes people stop to contemplate its functional ability in space. Anybody can look at a rocket and say, "Oh yeah, fire comes out there and ship goes thataway." Make people think, doubt, and question.
2. Exaggerate a normally-trivial or otherwise downplayed element of the starship. The NDC is all about this. Build a ship around a giant gun. Build a gun around a giant ship (SEE: EVN Manticore); it's all up to you. One ship I've never quite finished, but is still one of my favorites, was originally supposed to be one of those "Command Cruisers", the ones that actually boast physical shielding, AKA large armored bulldozer fronts. The ship itself ended up with far too large a frontal plate, but instead of correcting for the mistake, I decided to make it even bigger. Now I'm thinking that it could be used as the opposite of a blockade-runner: a blockade starship. The large shield covers the ship's exposed fuselage and power systems from direct fire, while a massive shield generator prevents objects from passing around the shield. Several of these could be arranged into a full array capable of stopping entire fleets. Play around, and make something ridiculous, believable.
3. Add a weak-point. Make a ship, perhaps, that has a strong front end, and an equally-impressive posterior, and connect the very middle of the craft with a single pipe. Now add to that pipe, but keep the hourglass figure of the ship, as it grows in complexity. Suddenly you've got something very interesting there. Maybe the ship uses a specialized magnetic field to do something interesting, and that thin segment is where the fields converge? It's up to you. You can also do things like adding the ship's bridge at the end of a very fragile-looking gantry, as though it could snap off at any second, or perhaps make a craft with a massive wingspan and terrifying armament but a nearly completely naked cockpit, just waiting for that stray missile (SEE: Caldari Raven, from EVE Online).

I'm probably forgetting a few tricks I use, but I'll throw them here when I remember.

I'll update again once I get something modeled. Until then!

This post has been edited by Delphi : 25 May 2008 - 07:42 AM

I could totally take you and your command cruiser! I think.............. I would need a NDC type ship though. I don't think anything else would stand a chance. I can't wait to try this plug!
BTW I got a new computer thats Intel so I can't run Nova BUT we are keeping the old computer so for your sound stuff(and any testing you might need ) I will just use that one. But asdlfkj my new black macbook is sexy!
Oh and Delphi If you would like another place to show off your work go to silentoutpost.net/forums and talk to Tom(ravenheart) and he could get you your own blog space!

Interestingly enough, this is almost the exact opposite of the design philosophy behind the EV Nova ships, where our goal was first and foremost raw functionality (where possible). We first asked "how does it work?", and only then asked "...and how can we make it?"

The Manticore, though, is a chopper, literally: she's made from the wreckage of a Leviathan or two. Note the engines, cargo pods, etc.

Well the dragon is the coolest ship yall ever made. Followed closely by the Fed Patrol Boat.............. I love you. So much. :laugh:

You should have seen the original Dragon. It was, quite literally, shaped like the mythical animal in flight.

It got scrapped fairly early on.

Thats probably a good thing. What bout the Fed Patrol Boat, was it always like that and was there any thoughts about making a rebel version?

Hey Sol got any delicious new ships(or even concepts) for our viewing pleasure?

The Federation Patrol Boat had a very chequered history. It was listed as a "model to be done" for nearly two years, and the version that I first made looked kind of like a flattened Zodiac dinghy. It was poorly modelled (one of my first attempts that weren't just a reworking of a Scott Vardy model) and poorly textured.

That model didn't make the first cut when we got contracted by Ambrosia. Andrew Welch conducted a full graphical critique of the ships, and the Patrol Boat was singled out as dodgy. A lot of interesting stuff came out of that review, not the least of which was me being grumpy for a few weeks because I'd just had most of my stuff panned. I got over it when I saw that most of his criticisms were valid, and Nova's the better game because of it.

The second model was the one you see now. It was based on a sketch by Philip Chick that I happened to misread - I confused a planar projection with a front projection, and ended up with something neither of us had first thought of. It turned out to be something akin to an Apache gunship coupled with a little bit of the Cheyenne dropship from ALIENS, but not really either. It's an odd looking bird. It was also one of Steve Chick's first attempts at a new style of Federation hull texturing, and it worked really well.

--

In terms of the story, the Federation Patrol Boat is a fairly new vehicle in terms of the story, and it's also very hard to source parts for. Hence Donald Chick and the Rebels haven't attempted to make a variant of it. It's in the same boat as the RAGE Gunboat; it's just too new. The Rebels need older, more reliable gear. Cheap doesn't hurt, either.

--

Finally, in terms of the name, the history of World War II is replete with tales of the gallant actions of the Pacific patrol boats and their crews. Australia in particular retains a number of these vehicles as our primary coastal defence. The need for a number of small, swift vessels capable of performing interception operations around the vast uninhabited coast of Australia has always been paramount, and we felt that the Federation Patrol Boat fills a similar niche.

Do you still have the 3d model for the fed patrol boat? as i am working on a rebel variant.

Well it is one of the coolest ships and I use it every Fed string. But with Delphi being released I think the Renon will become my new standard ship.

I still have all the model, textures and scene files for all the Nova stuff.

what type of a file is it?

It's a LightWave Object File, along with the LightWave Scene File for the lighting/camera setup, and a series of Amiga Image File Format texture image files.

And to forestall your next (obvious) question, ATMOS doesn't give this material out. I may (and I stress the "may") be able to run off a Rebel rendering at some stage, but don't count on it.

But you know you would LOVE to give it to us. Oh and may I ask who had the coke at the end?

Dang Delphi we kinda hijacked your thread........ again I think.........

Heh, you beat me to the punch pipeline. :laugh: