Classic is a classic.

by DarenDoc on Jun.15, 2009, under Star Trek

My buddy, and geek brother, Doug Drexler put up a nice shot of the Original Series Enterprise that he and Hutzel’s team would have used had they gotten the TOS: Remastered gig…

So, naturally, not one to sit idly by and remain quiet… put forth this image that I had on my “Trek Enhanced” Site for a while… click for bigness.

21 comments for this entry:

deg
June 15th, 2009 on 10:18 am
That’s our gal, eh.

LLP,
deg
Jay
June 15th, 2009 on 1:21 pm
A noble starship embiggens the smallest man.

Beautiful stuff, cap’um.
Chris Dawson
June 15th, 2009 on 5:14 pm
Yep that is just about the best CG render I have ever seen of this ship.
I remember you speaking at a Sci-Fi convention several years ago and you showed us your take on The Doomsday Machine and that you were going to pitch for a “remastered” version.

In a way, this shot reminds me of an old poster I had when I was a child, it was a black & white shot of the ship in a very similar pose.

Nice!
Chris Dawson
June 15th, 2009 on 5:33 pm
to my eye, it looks like you have paid some attention to the lighting style used in those days . . ..
Scott Gammans
June 16th, 2009 on 5:44 am
Daren, I think you probably have come the closest to replicating the look of the “Christmas light” bussard effect of the three of us (Doug, you and myself). I gave up years ago trying to emulate this difficult-to-duplicate effect, but you pretty well nailed it. (Of course the rest of the model looks equally spectacular!)
DarenDoc
June 16th, 2009 on 9:32 am
Well, thanks, Scott… it sure is tough to figure out with the way most 3D programs work… (though, I think with the new release of Modo coming in a few weeks, that may change…) But I wracked my brain for months trying to figure how to trick Lightwave into doing it… you’ve just inspired me to make a video tutorial to show how it’s done… I think it’s time.
john eaves
June 16th, 2009 on 12:26 pm
That is one awesome model you made,,, i am looking at the grabs you made me of this beauty as we speak!!!
deg
June 16th, 2009 on 5:31 pm
As my E is a slight upgrade version, I was never into replicating the classic efx myself (and I agree with Scott, yours is very very nice), but I do know that modo 302 is pretty lacking given its über-expensive way of even doing just a translucent glass effect (I know Allen has come up with a new way for translucency with 401 though, we’ll see how it does in a coupla days). As is, 302′s translucency is a main-line ender choker, just another reason I am finally porting my E into LightWave, for its translucency, and for it much better (IMO) render options and rendering efficiency.

So Daren, why do you feel modo 401 will be good for the classic bussard efx?

LLP,
deg
DarenDoc
June 16th, 2009 on 8:20 pm
Because of the new translucency and blurry transparency. Lightwave’s translucency doesn’t work properly either… as it only shows actual lights active through the surface… but not luminous objects… so it’s tricky to get it to do that effect. (Plus, I worked this effect back in lightwave 5… (I think)… when there wasn’t even translucency… so it works without it. if that makes sense.
doubleofive
June 17th, 2009 on 5:37 am
I still think its really funny that all you VFX guys spent so much time trying to replicate CHRISTMAS LIGHTS! In the 60′s, it was the easiest way to get the effect they wanted. And here 40 years later, it takes forever to figure out how to replicate that effect. Great work by all though.
DarenDoc
June 17th, 2009 on 6:10 am
Simplicity is the most difficult thing to create… ever.
deg
June 17th, 2009 on 10:33 am
Yeah, that does make sense dude, thanks eh. Yeah, it will be interesting to see what 401 comes up with in the area of translucency, in regard to speed as well as effect.

My main reasoning for moving back into LW Layout for rendering is for the post render effect of glow on luminance surfaces, and its quickness with blurred reflections. modo has a great blurred reflection option, but again, it’s super expensive. With Layout’s Soften Reflections filter I can achieve pretty much that same efx literally in a matter of seconds as opposed to 20+ mins in modo. And modo’s bloom effect (substituting as a glow effect), in my experience, is quite lacking compared to LW’s glow post effect. Plus, in benchmark testing, LW still renders faster with my stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my modo (I model, therefore I modo), and it CANNOT be beat as a modeling and UVing package (it’s how modeling should be IMO). I just hope they beef up the render options and efficiency thereof. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow, eh.

Thanks again for sharin’ you thoughts and experience, eh.

LLP,
deg
deg
June 17th, 2009 on 10:34 am
DarenDoc:
Simplicity is the most difficult thing to create… ever.

Amen to that, brother. Amen to that.

PLL,
deg
DarenDoc
June 17th, 2009 on 11:37 am
I don’t use many of Lightwave’s post processes… since my pipeline revolves around fPrime as a preview and renderer… so, I haven’t been needing those in a while… I usually do all the post processes in after effects… such as bloom and glow…
deg
June 17th, 2009 on 11:54 am
Ah. Yeah, I use FPrime myself for previewing (which I just found its Mac UB version is finally out, yea!), rarely for finals though.

So, do you do a seperate lum render pass and then apply glow effects to that lum layer in AE then?

deg
DarenDoc
June 17th, 2009 on 11:56 am
I do a high contrast copy of the layer, with the darks and lights choked so it is very constricted… then blur that and use that for the bloom… and if any specific objects have a certain type of glow, then yes… I render out a special glow only pass.
deg
June 17th, 2009 on 12:16 pm
Thanks man, appreciate it.
Scott Gammans
June 17th, 2009 on 1:03 pm
Interesting. I learn something new every day when it comes to digital compositing and post processing techniques… thanks for sharing, Daren!
Scott Gammans
July 16th, 2009 on 8:50 am
Necroposting!!

Hey Daren… is that your Enterprise model that Mojo posted in anaglyphic 3-D over at his site today??

http://darthmojo.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/trek_len_tease2.jpg

The secondary hull texturing and especially the specularity on the dish are what make me think this is your model. If it is, I can’t wait to hear what Mojo’s up to…!
DarenDoc
July 16th, 2009 on 11:44 am
I can neither confirm nor deny that that lovely model up on Mojo’s site is in fact mine. So I won’t.
Scott Gammans
July 16th, 2009 on 12:31 pm
LAWL… that speaks volumes right there!