WIP: Imperator-class Star Destroyer in 3DS Max

Jedilaw · Post by **Jedilaw** » 2007-06-25 02:31pm

Hello all,

New member here, with a Work-In-Progress that I thought might be of interest to you guys, seeing as how this is a site dedicated to Star Destroyers: It's a greeble-for-greeble reproduction of the 8' Star Destroyer model used in the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. I've been working on it since November 2006, and I'd say I'm about halfway done. At any rate, I hope you enjoy it, and comments and constructive crits are always appreciated.

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2007-06-25 04:32pm

I'm very impressed, the level of detail is utterly astounding, especially around the bridge superstructure.

I can't wait to see what it'll be like completed.

Feil · Post by **Feil** » 2007-06-25 04:39pm

That is very pretty. Keep it up!

What are you planning to use it for, if anything?

Jedilaw · Post by **Jedilaw** » 2007-06-25 06:00pm

Feil wrote:That is very pretty. Keep it up!

What are you planning to use it for, if anything?

Local interdiction, suppression of rebellions, that sort of thing...

HD-quality animations, eventually. The looooong term goal is to create "hero" models of each section, similar to the 10' trench section ILM made, or the enlarged conning tower. That's a far distant kind of thing, of course.

Post by **Dalton** » 2007-06-25 09:17pm

I don't even want to think of how much time you spent in subobject mode...

Alan Bolte · Post by **Alan Bolte** » 2007-06-25 10:07pm

Looks like Fractal Sponge has competition!

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2007-06-25 11:29pm

Alan Bolte wrote:Looks like Fractal Sponge has competition!

BAH! "The Sponge" shall always reign supream

That said, VERY good work.. .Do I see some guns in that trench? It would be interesting to see weapon placements other than the main ones shown in movie.

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2007-06-26 04:03am

That's beautiful work.

Jedilaw · Post by **Jedilaw** » 2007-06-26 10:29am

Alan Bolte wrote:Looks like Fractal Sponge has competition!

Not competition, no. Fractalsponge's ISD will always be kick-ass, IMHO. Actually, He's been helping me quite a bit with this project. No one knows the 8' ISD better than he does, except some of the old-timers at ILM (most of whom have left).

As for there being guns in the trench, I have not added any details to the trench area that do not exist on the model. There are quite a few turrets mounted in the trench area (and elsewhere), they just don't have barrells attached to them. And there are quite a few sets of gun barrells spread around, just not attached to turrets. Go figure.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2007-06-26 01:16pm

That's absolutely mind blowing! Really, really gorgeous, I'm impressed! Good work!

Cosmic Average · Post by **Cosmic Average** » 2007-06-26 02:07pm

That's extremely impressive.

Mindblowingly so.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2007-06-26 07:48pm

Jedilaw wrote:
Alan Bolte wrote:Looks like Fractal Sponge has competition!
Not competition, no. Fractalsponge's ISD will always be kick-ass, IMHO. Actually, He's been helping me quite a bit with this project. No one knows the 8' ISD better than he does, except some of the old-timers at ILM (most of whom have left).

As for there being guns in the trench, I have not added any details to the trench area that do not exist on the model. There are quite a few turrets mounted in the trench area (and elsewhere), they just don't have barrells attached to them. And there are quite a few sets of gun barrells spread around, just not attached to turrets. Go figure.

I assume you're aware, but a lot of those parts are off of King George V battleship kits. Presumably that could help you in a reference sense.

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » 2007-06-26 07:52pm

Excellent work Jedilaw - can we look forward to more of this sort of high-quality work?

Jedilaw · Post by **Jedilaw** » 2007-06-26 08:37pm

rhoenix wrote:Excellent work Jedilaw - can we look forward to more of this sort of high-quality work?

Thanks, rhoenix, and thanks to all the others who have offered appreciation/encouragement/statements of Fractalsponge's obvious and eternal domination.

I will post periodic updates as the project continues. What I've shown so far is up-to-date, as the last area I completed was the engines (some minor details remain, but I'll likely move on for a while and return).

Howedar wrote:I assume you're aware, but a lot of those parts are off of King George V battleship kits. Presumably that could help you in a reference sense.

Thanks for that. I was indeed aware of the prominence of the King George V's parts among the ISD greebles, and I've been looking over available references for that ship to facilitate my greeble modeling for the ISD.

One day, someone ought to do a kitbash parts ID for the ISD similar to what the Millenium Falcon Builders Group is doing on Yahoo Groups for the Falcon. That someone would necessarily have to have a lot more time and patience than I have. Still, it would be nice to see such an index.
None of the behind-the-scenes materials I've read lead me to believe that ISD compiled one when they built the 8' model (not that they had a need to do so at the time).

Jedilaw · Post by **Jedilaw** » 2007-07-05 03:39pm

Update (yes, the panels are modelled, not textured):

salm · Post by **salm** » 2007-07-05 03:58pm

Looking good. What´s your poly count?

Jedilaw · Post by **Jedilaw** » 2007-07-05 04:56pm

If all of the greebles are visible, 1.4 million roughly, but that's a little misleading since you'd never see the engine details at the same time as the terrace details.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2007-07-05 05:36pm

How are you going to texture this monster? Are there good procedural solutions out there for ISDs or are you going to paint all that stuff?

Jedilaw · Post by **Jedilaw** » 2007-07-05 06:45pm

Straight procedural, with different materials having slightly different shades of gray. There's no weathering to speak of on the studio model, nor do there appear to have been a lot of ink washes, though possibly some dry brushing. No real need for a texture, in other words.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2007-07-05 06:50pm

But a worn out ISD that has gone through hundreds of battles in its lifetime would be really cool...

It might also require twice the time you´d need for the model, but still.

Jedilaw · Post by **Jedilaw** » 2007-07-16 10:00am

Still not worn down, but it does have a lot more panels now:

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2007-07-16 07:23pm

Very nice. Is the panel method automated somehow, and if so, how closely does it match the studio model?

Pollux · Post by **Pollux** » 2007-07-16 09:50pm

I think I... I...

*regains composure*

Very well done. I bow to you.

Jedilaw · Post by **Jedilaw** » 2007-07-17 10:55am

Howedar wrote:Very nice. Is the panel method automated somehow, and if so, how closely does it match the studio model?

No automation, all manually cut. This is not an exact replica of the studio model's panels, more of an "in the style of" kind of thing. However, I have tried to preserve some of the more notable aspects of the paneling, such as the way the panels follow the hull outline, the way they frame the "notches" in the hull, etc.