Four Redux - Biolab Walls Redesign Progress

  Coming back to my old work and upgrading it has so far been an enjoyable exercise in design techniques. Transforms, textures, warpings and UVs, all sorts of tricks have been used to give a serious touch-up on what I have previously built.

  The most engaging stage so far has been trying to keep the look authentic while also making a distinct style. The laboratory run by Smithston-Wessex, the megacorp funding an expedition to a far-off planet, is clean, slick, but this hides the more insidious nature of their work. While it might be a little safe to design a sterile look for one of my major forays into environment modelling, the uncomplicated nature allows me to focus on clean design. Which, with that mastered, can be a springboard for more daring aesthetics.

  I have brought the environment forward in time a little. Looking back on my references, I was always inspired by the styles of the late 1960s and mid 1970s. Too contemporary for the original Star Trek, a lot more in line with Space 1999 and 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

  The new design however might have creeping elements of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which developed its style in part from the visual re-imagining given to the original Star Trek series for its films. What I mainly took from this series was maybe the cleaner, rounded styles (which was popular in the Sixties) but definitely the large bands of fluorescent lighting. Along the ceiling and stretching from bottom to top, this design choice is really good for giving an illuminated feel to a room. A little impractical if you're actually within the room as it basically has you staring into a fluorescent light wherever you look, but definitely a feature emblematic of the era's science fiction film and television.

  I did not want to go overboard with the creep towards the 80s. Although it is going to be interesting to combine this with the Ridley Scott-esque corridors of the base since I made a few subtle changes to the shape of the doorways and window openings. Not that I'm too worried, I considered redesigning the doors anyway.

  True to form, I'm not done yet with this style - apart from the obvious bits like the need for a ceiling and a floor, I want to remake the doors to the isolation chambers (as well as the isolation chambers themselves) in that tapered peak threshold but in a way that is far more in line with the aesthetic I am going for. What I have in mind is to adapt the panelling already used for the door and window to fit the door to the isolation unit, which might need more bulk as it is supposed to be more heavy-duty than your typical base door.

  Could be adapting what I have, could be I design new geometry for it. But it will be enjoyable.

  For now I have decided to focus on the biolab itself. In a sense, it is my "hero" environment, where most of the project takes place. The corridor, which in previous efforts was designed as if it were a focus, will come later as it can be attached to the windows looking out into the rest of the base.

Mock environments, locked doors and reflected, polarised or shuttered windows could be used to make the base appear much larger than it really is.

  And just as a demonstration of the difference, here is the biolab design in the first attempt, with a few props, a door and a window to give an idea just how much of an overhaul this has been. To say it has been significant however I believe is an enormous understatement.

Personally I can hardly tell these are intended to be for the same room.

Four Redone: Building a Better Base

  The last couple of weeks I have felt invigorated to return to developing my first proper story. Which so far has played out in the for mof a revision to the environments I had designed originally. With confidence I've found I am much more confident creating detailed models while also playing around with tricks to get the look just right. Right now the main work has been on the texturing for leather and some of the walls. Some of these kits were arranged to share textures for ease of rendering.

  It has also been a time for inspiration. Today came flooding with ideas on what the chambers such as the biolab could look like with a little bit of polish and planning. I had strong inspirations from 2001 A Space Odyssey with this approach, which could give a lot more character to Ceti Base's airlock and layout even if the design will also be staying mostly true to that 1960s and 1970s space aesthetic.

This time around I definitely plan to add a few more doors so the whole place doesn't feel like a series of tunnels. Maybe some furniture for the airlocks like spacesuit racks or some corridor furniture like trolleys or scattered cables. I'll look into that. For now the priority has been on a look for the rooms themselves.

I'm planning to keep at least some of the basic layouts.

Mosquitro Redesign: The Needle

  I spent some time today modifying the head of my mosquito model. After adjusting the lenses so the pole would be pointing outward, the whole shape appeared to nestle more smoothly into the gap designed for it.There was some adjustment needed but these were only a few tweaks. There does appear to be a fair amount more flow, however as the geometry for the eyes runs more in line with the cavity for the head..

  The next big challenge was the port for the mosquito's proboscis, which in the mechanical model would function like a powerful injector. I had a stroke of inspiration that the port would open up like a flower. The mechanisms for this however, might require some thinking as the needle would either push these petals out or they'd open out in preparation for the needle extending..

  The model is quite detailed, so I am planning to look into making a normal map for a simplified model for more full-body shots of the vehicle.

Mosquito Redesign: Working Legs

  I didn't have much success implementing an IK nor getting it to compress, but they say the simplest solution is often the most effective. In the case of my piston the simple solution was to parent each of the pistons with each other, tie them to 'aim' themselves at the opposing hinge and create a few driven keys to mimic the pistons extending and compressing.

  After that it was a simple matter of constraining each of the hinges. and the pistons so they stop at a fixed instance into and out of their sockets. By adding a fifth segment to the leg I am able to extend its reach to a motion window of between 92 and 168 degrees (any more open and the piston will collide with the knee hinge). Which might be one of them ore complicated elements of the model out of the way.

From what has been assembled so far, I think I can easily fit six of the legs into the main body with plenty of room to spare.

Mosquito Redesign: Leg Hydraulics and Industrial Fun

  Much of this afternoon has been spent reworking the leg to make it something more industrial. I've looked into completely redesigning the limb using the hydraulic system idea to give the legs weight and balance. What I've got so far appears to work to a decent degree, even if the geometry might be a little heavy. I'll look into fixing the UVs before the leg is repeated.

  The piston that would appear to keep the leg unbent will use some manner of spline to adjust itself. I'll need to perform some experiments to get a system that can extend the segments - what is on display is the furthest the leg can bend with this but with some clever re-positioning I might be able to extend the leg further. I can also use the freedoms presented by the digital medium to make it easier for the base to compress into the pivot it's connected to, allowing the sections to fold in and extend automatically and the pivots to rotate appropriately. This further tweaking might also allow the lower leg to more easily fold in.

  That still leaves how to fit six of these inside the body. The folding in isn't the most efficient use of space, it could be the legs are arranged diagonally and drop through hatches in the mosquito's underside (which will be fun to build and set up). Only one leg will be worked on until the UVs, bones and controls are set up, which will be reproduced five times.

  Overall, it appears to be quite a flexible setup. The leg bends in the right place, the lower joint provides most of the positional mobility and the foot has full free rotation so it can plant itself flat in a large variety of poses. An IK/FK system could be used for deployment, positioning and resting as one thing that could be implemented are shock-absorbers at the ankle - a simple tube that compresses into the body to give the feeling the machine is bearing weight when its turns its engines off.

It's about ready for the UVs