New guy trying a different approach to Trek

Hi, I am new here, but have been around the board for awhile marvelling at the work that all you guys do and although I don't have the big software yet, I have been using Ulead Cool 3d 3.5 to work on some of my own Trek stuff and thought I would post a few links and see what you guys think.

USS AMERICA AFT

USS AMERICA FLYBY

I know the background isn't mine, I just found a pic of space online and used it, but the ship is all me. Let me know what you think.

Mike

[skyhawk223]

It's not bad actually. A couple of things that stand out are that lack of textures, which you already know about, and the sharp edges, especialyl on the saucer rim. Try to soften the edge a bit.

I actually like the fresh look. I'm not a good source of info when it comes to the various classes of starships, so this may or may not be completely unique, but I've seen nothing like it. Fresh is good!

Yeah, I reallize the texture thing and the fact that the edges aren't totally clean, but its mostly due to the software. I have made textures but have had difficulty putting them onto the actual model. As for the edges I have tried to render them cleaner, but haven't had 100% success.

I do think this is an original design. I didn't use an existing ship that I had seen, so thanks for liking the design. I hope to eventually get into a better design software so that can hopefully make it look more realistic like some of the awesome work I have seen in the galleries here.

Mike

Looks like a very good start. The design is very nicely done.

Which program are you thinking about getting into?

I would love to get into using something like Lightwave, especially after seeing what some of the guys around here, and who have been doing fan films are capable of. It'll be awhile though due to funds, or lack thereof.

Mike

[skyhawk223]

Yeah, money is a big obstacle. You can get free evaluation copies, however, by asking the vendors. They may have limitations, but at least you can get an idea of what they are like and the user interface.

There's a lot of excitement right now about the most recently announced release of Lightwave (Lightwave 9)--it seems that they have done some significant upgrades to the software. You may want to check out if there are any crossgrade options that you can take advantage of, in order to reduce the price--or if there are any educational pricing options for which you might qualify. A lot of software vendors do offer any number of deals to attract customers.

At the end of the day, though, it's not the program as much as the artist. I have seen some amazing work done with any number of different packages. The skills gained in working with animation software are generally pretty transferrable between programs. The interfaces may be different, and there may be some cool features that one program has that others do not, but lighting and texturing tend to have some common elements between them.

One program that you may want to look at is Blender--an open source animation program that is starting to attract some interest. I have not used it myself, but the free download may be worthwhile.

[arrannen]

I know that lightwave has a discovery edition (its limited to something like 10,000 polygons which for the novice user is often times MORE than enough.

seems like more of the high end software companies are leaning toward scaled down versions for the average users who dont need as much, and who cant necessarily afford them. Two of the big names I know of off the top of my head are...



Maya
Lightwave

My only recommendation would be to change the coloring of the windows to a sky blue style - that would look better, I think.