Warning: FAQ Sheet And Answers Ahead!
Rendering is a sport for the patient - the Coronado bridge, aside from the time put into creating it, takes over 10 minutes to render a single image. While many people are impressed when I tell them that I was able to build the rough draft of the Coronado's bridge in a week, or assemble the Surprise's bridge in just a few days, the reality is that it's taken me well over 4 years to be able to do this, and even then, I'm still considered an amateur. Aside from bandwidth issues, most of my early work - and a bulk of other short-lived projects - aren't even on the site because, well, it's rather pathetic compared to my latest work.
Every project I do though is a learning experience. Sometimes I get lucky and get something that looks good by accident, but I also spend quite a few hours leafing through books, trying to find the appropriate reference passage while ogling over some of the masterpieces other artists have created in 3D.
So that brings us to here - a frequently asked questions sheet or "FAQ" to experienced Internet dwellers:
Q: What software do you use?A: Given that I had a rather low-end computer when I got into the hobby, I originally started out with 3DStudio 4, an old DOS renderer that quite a few people still use today. From there, I eventually moved up to a copy of 3DSMax provided by a neighbor, and since then I've partially kept up with the various newer versions. Currently I use a copy of 3DSMax Revision 3 running on Windows 98SE. Granted, it would run much smoother and I could network render if I had a copy of Win NT to run it on, but for my uses as an amateur, this suits my purposes fine as is.
Q: And the hardware?A: Again, it's varied over the years. My very first rendering project - a rather nice looking but undetailed Starbase 74 mesh - was all done on a 486 66MHz PC with a 2MB graphics adapter. That later got upgraded to a Pentium 100/133 Evergreen overdrive chip that never quite worked perfectly due to clock speed issues. A few of the early Chase Skiff renders were done on that setup as well as on my parent's old Pentium 166MHz. The bulk of the Chase Skiff, Jupiter Station, and other oddball meshes were done on a Pentium II 350MHz, and I currently use a Pentium III 866MHz PC. Needless to say, I no longer have to wait an hour for a single 640x480 render to finish. <VBG> My current system has a total storage capacity of 140GB on two drives, as well as the full 512MB of RAM that Windows 98 supports.
Aside from that, I have the standard tools of any person who uses a computer; I use a Samsung SyncMaster 753DF monitor as well as an Aiptek HyperPen graphics tablet, and if need be I can pull still or video images from any video source through my video card, a 4X AGP ATI Radeon All-In-Wonder 128 Pro.
UPDATE!: Not quite upgrades, but my rendering system since the writing of this document has shifted slightly; aside from now having high speed access to the Internet, it now boasts 180GB of storage capacity on two drives, 640MB of RAM, and now runs Windows 2000 Professional. The upgrade to Win2K was required not only to have a better secured operating system for a machine on the 'net 24/7/365, but also to necessitate the further progress in a rendering project (as yet unreleased) that was causing continual program aborts when a render was attempted on the mesh file in Max R3. The added drive space, as well as the fact that Win2K supports over 512MB of RAM without program faults, also helps speed renders.
Q: How long did it take you to learn how to use the software?A: One of the reasons I enjoy using 3DSMax is that it's a very intuitive interface. That is, when you do something, you almost know right away what you've done, and if something's wrong, you can quickly undo it. Between frequent backup saves and the 'hold/fetch' command, it's hard to totally screw up a mesh, and it's very easy to recover from a massive mistake. In terms of learning how to get a specific task done, let's just say it took me 2 years before I managed to build a streamlined hull for the Chase Skiff, and even then it's not the exact one I wanted. There's also things I still haven't mastered, such as various texture application methods and dealing with lighting.
Then again, I'm a 'weekend CGI artist'. Were I doing this for a living, I'd certainly be FAR more advanced in my skills - which aren't that bad considering what I've accomplished so far.
Q: Do you design your interior meshes beforehand? What is your inspiration?A: At the risk of incurring the wrath of set designers and computer programmers worldwide, the answer is most definitely NO. With the exception of the USS Coronado bridge - in which case I was working off someone else's floorplan - I don't like to try do a floorplan before because a lot of the things I do are either locked away in my brain as a visual image, or come as a 'spur of the moment' addition, such as the sunken conference room on The Unpublished Bridge. In the case of the USS Pegasus and USS Coronado bridges, however, I'm more often then not working to meet what the GM thinks his bridge looks like.
Most of my inspiration, unsurprisingly, comes from Star Trek and my own feeling about a starship's bridge. You have to meet two different goals - not only must the bridge be operational, but it also needs to be a place where you don't mind spending an 8 hour shift. I'd like to think my designs combine a little bit of both. The Surprise's bridge is very suitable for commanding a fleet from it, and yet when not in that situation, it's still very much a nice place to be. I like the idea of a command pit or dias, because that serves as a focal point. Forward facing main stations, close proximity to system trunks, turbolifts, and escape paths, and of course, the look of a Star Trek bridge.
In terms of exterior designs, the more sleek looking, the better. I favor the Galaxy class nacelle type, but am open to other starship features such as the Excelsior's neck and engineering hull, the Sovereign's shuttlebay setup, and the Defiant's pulse phasers.
Q: Do you do your own LCARS?A: When I get to a final version of a bridge, I tend to piece together LCARS consoles from the console images from the ST:TNG Technical Manual CD-ROM or screen-capped from The Captain's Chair CD-ROM. Most do go through some sort of editing cycle in which I cut/paste buttons and images around as need be, which is the case for the turbolift "blinky" displays on the USS Surprise bridge.
Q: Can I get a copy of your meshes?A: As I write this, no. I don't mean to be rude or selfish, but Geocities likes to shut my site down frequently because it exceeds the paltry bandwidth limitations that are imposed on it. Uploading a mesh to here would only make it next to impossible for anyone to access the site - that, of course, assumes that Geocities would even let me upload the zip of the mesh and its image files. (Previous Geocities limitations have included not being allowed to upload zip files or non-website-associated file extensions.
The other problem lies in the fact that most of my old meshes use materials stored all OVER my hard drive; thankfully I've eliminated this problem with most of my recent projects. As such, some meshes MIGHT be available upon request in the near future - public meshes will be announced on the website when they become available. At the time of this writing, it's possible that the Surprise bridge mesh may become a public mesh.
Q: How about a special render of one of your meshes?A: So long as I don't get a flood of requests, this is something I will generally do. I can't say I always will, but if you're looking to use one of my rendered images on your site and you're willing to provide a link to the render site and a credit line for the image, I have no problems with doing special render images.
Q: I have this idea for a bridge, can you render it for me?A: Sadly I'd have to decline. Between work, running my own RPG, and all the other fun parts of life, rendering is very much a 'a few times a month' hobby for me. Projects on this site that I have rendered for other people are projects I took on willingly, in most cases, getting them half done before the GM's even knew about it. <G> Also, I've had specific problems with working within one person's visions of their bridge compared to what I thought was reasonable and sane, and I'd rather not have to go through that with another person. That said, if I'm ever looking for a new render project, you can be sure I will post the request on this site.
Q: Can I use images from your render projects on my site? Can I link to your site?A: Yes and yes, but not for the USS Pegasus and USS Coronado bridge renders - these are either based on work done by or were influenced by members of those role playing games and as such, these images are not mine to freely distribute. Please contact the respective GMs regarding use of those images.
For my own personal work, I enjoy hearing from people who like my work and want to use it on their site, and all I ask is that you provide a link to this render site and have a small credit line to me somewhere in your website (or with each used image.) Example:
"Interior starship images on this site created by Dennis Busse."
Please make certain all links point to http://www.geocities.com/chaseskiff/