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Original Entry

Opportunity of a Lifetime

I know, I know... Two entries in a row after nearly a year of dormancy? Well, this couldn't wait. I got an email shortly after posting yesterday and it is going to mean big things for me.

I’ll start from the beginning.  Ever since I got into computer graphics I’ve wanted a high-quality 3D model of the Enterprise from Star Trek: The Next Generation.  While the series certainly had its drawbacks, I’ve always been enamored with its incarnation of the mighty Enterprise.  Referred to as the Enterprise-D (referring to its designation suffix indicating it is the fifth starship to bear the name), the ship is way bigger and way more detailed than the original.  As such, while many high-quality 3D models of the original Enterprise (and even the “refit” Enterprise from the movies) exist, I’ve not yet found one that looks even half as good as the miniatures they used to make the TV show.

So I decided to build my own.  This is, admittedly, a stupid idea.  I’m something of a perfectionist with a touch of OCD thrown in for good measure, and my 3D modeling experience to date didn’t include anything more complicated than a Rubik’s cube.  As such I needed help.  I found a fantastic set of blueprints by Ed Whitefire that were never published; however these only gave me a good reference to model by—I still had to figure out how to model it.  I became a member of some 3D modeling forums and started asking for help when I ran into problems (of which there were many).  To make a long story short, I had some strict guidelines I decided to work within to make adding detail easier once the rough shaping was done.

I started practicing on a small section of the front of the ship.  If I could master the techniques needed to get the geometry right here I could apply those techniques to most of the rest of the ship.  I posted screenshots of my progress as I met each new milestone.  This is where the opportunity of a lifetime hit.  My most recent screenshot (top image) showed near-final geometry rendered in fairly high quality.  I had reached a point where I was ready to tackle the rest of the ship.  Someone from CBS—the owner of Star Trek these days—happened upon this screenshot and contacted me.  Turns out they were planning on remastering The Next Generation in high definition, much like they did for the original series.  They saw my screenshot and liked it enough to offer me the job of modeling the Enterprise-D for the remaster!

While this is far from a done deal, I’m super excited to have this opportunity.  Basically, I have until July to turn in a completed model.  The screenshot (bottom image) shows the wireframe of the model in progress with the section that will eventually become what you see in the test render highlighted in orange (the back of the saucer is also highlighted due to the model being mirrored front-to-back to reduce what I have to model).  I’d guess I’m about 40% complete with the basic shape.  After that will come refined shapes and finally details.  It will be tough, but I think I can do it.

In case you think I’m going to be rich or anything, CBS will be paying me what they would’ve paid their in-house CG team to build the model, which is an appreciable sum but won’t be enough that I’m going to quit my job or anything (I’d still like to retire someday).  The biggest reward will be seeing my work in the remastered series if all goes well!

Posted by: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) in News on April 1, 2011 at 5:01 PM