"Big D" Fan Art

  • October 03, 2015
  • 4,404 Downloads
  • 54 Likes
  • Blender 2.7x
  • Render: Cycles
  • Creator: ChrisKuhn
  • License: CC-BY-NC-SA
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Description:

A high-resolution model of the Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

This model has been a long time coming... I started it about 4 years ago, then abandoned it in favor of other projects. But I'd always meant to come back to it, and I finally have :)

The polygon count is lower than some of my other work (around 250K), but the textures are huge. There are ten (yes, ten!) 4K images (4096 x 4096 pixels each), which can really slow down your machine. That's the bad news. The good news is that 4K is overkill for most shots. You can scale down the textures and drastically improve your render times.

NOTE: All of the textures were created by me. They are "Fan Art" for sure, but they aren't stolen :)

If you're cool with all of that, then please download and enjoy - I'd love to see what you do with it!

-Chris-

======================================

Please note that this model may NOT be used commercially. "Star Trek" and all related marks, logos, and designs are owned by CBS Studios, Inc. This model is not endorsed, sponsored, or affiliated with CBS/Paramount or the Star Trek franchise.

Comments:

  • Mikel007 profile picture
    Mikel007

    Awesome. This looks so great. Thanks for sharing it with us. I can learn a lot from your models.

    Edited October 04, 2015
  • Artie61 profile picture
    Artie61

    Thanks, awesome as usual ! Question : In general do you start with a scale or is it wysiwyg modelling? and will you be using texure normal maps more often now? just curious you seem to put a spin on blender procedures that go against the grain ! Ngons are no longer taboo after watching your vids ,. rigging / tracking are the best I have seen ! would like to see your workflow with using texture normal maps . Must be many hrs in this blend. Thanks for sharing,!

    Edited October 04, 2015
  • ChrisKuhn profile picture
    ChrisKuhn

    Thanks! To answer your questions:

    1.) I don't start with a scale, per se. But I know what level of detail I'm going for, and how close I want the camera to be able to get. But you're right - that's a key decision that needs to be made up front, and I've regretted it every time I haven't done it :)

    2.) I don't love normal maps. It often takes me longer to create good quality textures than to just model stuff. And to be honest, a massive set of textures can bog down your machine just as much as extra geometry. In this case, however, the parts that needed to be recessed didn't line up with existing geometry. Plus cutting all those windows would have really messed up the topology... and for what? They're just BARELY recessed into the surface. So, yeah.

    3.) N-Gons have gotten a bad rap - they're nice once you get to know them :)

    Edited October 04, 2015
  • Artie61 profile picture
    Artie61

    Thanks !

    Edited October 04, 2015
  • Tozan profile picture
    Tozan

    Don't Paramount Studios own the Enterprise?

    Well I got plenty of work for any keen 3d modelers out there who want to freely lend their talents to help me out of their spare time to freely model up stuff for me since I have alot of 3d modeling work to try to do and I'm looking for any 3d modelers who want to help out, as I'm doing a major video game project involving tons of different alien worlds and systems.

    Written October 05, 2015
  • ChrisKuhn profile picture
    ChrisKuhn

    If you read the description, I mentioned that Paramount owns the rights and this model is Fan Art for non-commercial use.

    If you're looking to recruit people, a comment on this model may not be the best approach. Have you considered opening Blend Requests and/or creating a general post?

    Edited October 05, 2015
  • Tozan profile picture
    Tozan

    I will try to open a blend request. Although I do love the work you done on the Star Trek ship really is good, and I' already got one modler aready doing work on my dance studio for me on one of my planets scenes. I'm currently looking for someone to skin my commander as well. As for Paramount, it might come under fair use if its non commcercial use I'm not 100 % sure.

    Written October 08, 2015
  • ChrisKuhn profile picture
    ChrisKuhn

    Well, if I get any "Cease and Desist" letters, I'll pull it down... but people have been making Fan Art of the Enterprise-D for a couple of decades now :)

    Edited October 09, 2015
  • CaptainRex profile picture
    CaptainRex

    Wonderful work!

    Might you have tutorial or You-Tube movie you would recommend, that could give me some insight into using N-gons properly?

    Thanks again for your contributions to this wonderful site : )

    Cheers,
    Rex

    Written October 05, 2015
  • Neubi profile picture
    Neubi

    As always great - there are now super addons in the blender it meet a good modeler very;-)

    Neubi3D

    Written October 06, 2015
  • guenni1972 profile picture
    guenni1972

    This is really awesome!!! You did a great job. It's a really cool model with great textures.

    Edited October 08, 2015
  • snu profile picture
    snu

    Great model! Always been my favorite ship design, and this model really captures it well with a lot of detail.

    By the way, scale the model up by 47.315, and it will be the correct size (according to memory alpha at least... it also says it should be 190 meters tall tho, which definitely doesn't look right), and you can take a walk around on it in fly mode.
    Really gives a sense of how huge it is, and you can get some really cool renders!

    Edited October 08, 2015
  • Jonas108 profile picture
    Jonas108

    wow

    Edited October 27, 2015
  • robertj114 profile picture
    robertj114

    Awesome, Great work!

    Edited January 20, 2016
  • robertj114 profile picture
    robertj114

    Awesome, Great Work!

    Edited January 20, 2016
  • aaronebauer profile picture
    aaronebauer

    I'm unfamiliar with blender... How can I download the textures as separate files?

    Written February 10, 2016
  • robbenklopper profile picture
    robbenklopper

    hi, i used your model for a composition and had a closer look at it. and holy shit, it is crazy high detailed! amazing, just wow. here is what i did with it, i hope you like it: http://imgur.com/4VA8W3Q

    regards and keep it up

    Edited April 29, 2016
  • drblend profile picture
    drblend

    Thanks for sharing! Absolutely Great!

    Edited June 03, 2016
  • Astro1derboy profile picture
    Astro1derboy

    A thumbs-up from me! Just more of your fantastic work. Love it!

    Written June 23, 2016
  • Trekkie1481 profile picture
    Trekkie1481

    nice job, although, can you un block my other acount trekkie1484, i will delete the enterprise d from there.

    can you please do so

    Written November 29, 2016
  • RedFrost profile picture
    RedFrost

    You will have to ask the site developer, @Poifox, or the site owner, @Mofx, to do it but I can bet that it will be very difficult to do.

    Written December 02, 2016
  • Tuinor profile picture
    Tuinor

    It may be a little late to the party, but I just gotta say that your model of the Enterprise D is astoundingly good. I love how it just lends itself to awesome lighting compositions. My respect and compliments to you, sir.

    Written December 28, 2016
  • ChrisKuhn profile picture
    ChrisKuhn

    Thank you!

    Written January 16, 2017
  • IgorAlexeyMarengo profile picture
    IgorAlexeyMarengo

    WOW ITS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

    Written June 29, 2017
  • kblargh profile picture
    kblargh

    This is a really amazing model, but i've run into a problem while trying to animate it. The windows - especially on the Saucer underside - flicker a lot as the ship moves. Reducing the IOR on the Glass BSDF node for the Saucer Underside windows down to the 0.3~0.1 range seems to stabilize it, but sacrifices a lot of the detail on the viewports.

    I've been tackling this problem for days now. All the progress i've made seems to point to the IOR value, but i can't seem to find a way to reduce the flicker while preserving the detail.

    Would you have any idea, by any chance?

    Written September 15, 2017
  • ChrisKuhn profile picture
    ChrisKuhn

    Hmm... you could try mixing the glass shader with a transparent one. That might help out. Or honestly, if you look at the windows on the show, you very rarely saw any kind of reflection in the glass. It's like they were using some futuristic material (transparent aluminum, perhaps? :) ). So you might consider just making it transparent completely.

    Written September 19, 2017
  • kblargh profile picture
    kblargh

    Unfortunately, Transparent has the exact same problem. I'm including a 60 FPS 3 frame sample.

    https://i.imgur.com/wFJ21yP.png https://i.imgur.com/73cWjRR.png https://i.imgur.com/J7Pk0vB.png

    Translucent has the same problem, and it still happens if i cut off all the noise textures. I DID downscale the Enterprise model to keep scale with the Earth model in the background, and while applying seems to have ameliorated the problem, it hasn't removed it. I somehow managed to cheat my way around it by handpainting some gloss on the windows and plug that into an Emission node mixed with a low IOR Glass BDSF. Gloss seems to avoid whatever it is, so maybe i'll mix that in too.

    It wasn't the animated reflection so much as the great effect the Glass shader has on the windows - they look very authentic. I tried baking one frame onto a texture, but Blender just makes up error after error and will not let me do it.

    I'm admittedly a rookie when it comes to material editing (i'm primarily an animator), so maybe it's something really simple that i'm overlooking, but i can't figure out what it is. I'm using a lot of smoke and mirrors to make the shot look passable, but it's not really a substitute for the proper effect.

    Written September 20, 2017
  • ChrisKuhn profile picture
    ChrisKuhn

    From what I see in the renders you attached, it just looks like the noise that you get from an insufficient number of samples. You're using Cycles, right? What sample size are you using? You can try cranking it up, or possibly messing with your clamp settings.

    Written September 22, 2017
  • kblargh profile picture
    kblargh

    Using 400. Very little i know, but it's a 2000+ frame animation and my render time is about 2 minutes a frame as it is. Ramping it up to 2000 didn't make a difference, nor did the clamp settings or light bounces.

    Whatever it is, seems to affect that area the most. The bigger windows on the underside also seem the most affected - the ones on the hull also suffer from this, but to a lesser extent. Being on the dark side and so close to the camera may also be exacerbating it, but that's as far as i'm able to speculate.

    Written September 22, 2017
  • AndyDatRaginPurro profile picture
    AndyDatRaginPurro

    Excuse me, i was using this model for a fan art render but i think the file has a missing texture

    Written September 18, 2017
  • kblargh profile picture
    kblargh

    The bridge crew and behind the windows?

    Written September 19, 2017
  • ChrisKuhn profile picture
    ChrisKuhn

    If it's the bridge crew, the texture should be packed in the file...But just in case, here is that texture:

    https://i.imgur.com/x4qYWho.png

    Written September 19, 2017
  • kblargh profile picture
    kblargh

    It is packed, just not linked. Entering it in the compositor should fix the issue.

    Written September 20, 2017
  • ayenbraack profile picture
    ayenbraack

    Wow, this is awesome. You did a really nice job. Thanks for sharing it.

    Written November 14, 2017
  • joeblow123 profile picture
    joeblow123

    Hey Chris, this is fantastic! I am actually using the model in another program so I exported it from Blender to OBJ... is there a texture for the hull or is that just materials? And if it is a texture, can I get the texture for that? Seems to be missing from this: https://i.imgur.com/x4qYWho.png

    EDIT: Nevermind I got it to work. Thanks for this model! Here is an iray render from DAZ3D: https://imgur.com/a/6hFEoBp

    Written January 23, 2020
  • trekkiepatrick profile picture
    trekkiepatrick

    Hey Joeblow123, do you happen to still have the Daz3d file and the textures in place? as im looking forward to it to test this out my self with Daz3D

    Written April 18, 2023
  • dimkgames profile picture
    dimkgames

    Great work! Engage! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y033he8zXE

    Written April 11, 2020
  • Patryk567 profile picture
    Patryk567

    Really great work, this is most likely the best, most detailed free model of the Enterprise-D on the Internet.

    But I also have to say that this has to be the worst, most messy material node setup I have ever seen. I know this is from 2015 and the Principled BSDF didn't exist back then but still holy sh*t that's a lot of mix nodes. It does the job beautifully, but editing anything is an absolute nightmare.

    Written June 28, 2020
  • MawSav profile picture
    MawSav

    Awesome and beautiful work. Thanks for sharing!!

    Written February 15, 2021
  • tercero profile picture
    tercero

    This model is gorgeous. You've done amazing work here, and really captured the ship beautifully. I'd love to use this model as a basis to make a high resolution 3D print of the Enterprise. I wanted to do some water slide decals for it so that I can have the details on the surface, but my modeling package handles textures as separate files, so I can't map them to the model after I exported it. Is it at all possible that you might be able to email me the texture files? I'd be willing to send you a 3D printed enterprise once I set it up along with a page of the decals if you're willing.

    Written March 09, 2021
  • LittleFranklin profile picture
    LittleFranklin

    Amazing work. Made myself a nice wallpaper with this: https://i.redd.it/8z7rztckkpq71.png

    Written October 01, 2021