At least read some of this. J.P. Objects Guide - July 1989 Background: A short time ago I realized that absolutely nobody was working feverishly on decent objects so, being unemployed at the time (through no fault of my own, save my sarcasm and inept laziness) I set about to rectify this situation. Not being sure what I was going to construct in 3D, I grabbed a ladder and made toward my attic. I had'nt been up there in years and what a wonderous sight met my eyes (darkness, I forgot to flick on the light). I found (after achieving enlightenment) Sci-Fi models from an array of Sci-Fi movie/series concieved throughout the history of moviedom. Hmmm... I thought, while battling the urge to hack and cough (attics are quite excessively packed with fiberglass insulation... ), what the heck. So, here they are, a smathering of Sci-Fi objects from my archive of model kits. If you're into the kits, forget it. I purchased most of them in the early 70's and they are IMPOSSIBLE to find . I hope you appreciate the detail on some of 'em 'cause they died an untimely death at the blade of Mr. Bandsaw whilst I seeked the dimensions I needed to recreate them in 3D (Yep, slicing those suckers in sections every 10mm will get you accuracy). Aha! You say. You don't see all the Sci-Fi ships you know of here. Well, if they offered it in a kit, I've got it, but do you really want a 3D model of the SpinDrift shuttle from the Land of the Giants series? Maybe when I get bored. How I dun it: I dun it all with Modeler 3D and Videoscape 3D. Very very much thanks to Stuart Fergusen and Alan Hastings for these excellant programs with which these objects would have never seen life without. If you absolutely must do modifications to the objects, I suggest only one program at this time - Modeler 3D. Why? Obviously because all the objects were created using this program. System: All the objects were designed to be used on a single drive Amiga with a minimum of 1Meg of RAM. This means that when creating an animation with Videoscape, you are running ONLY Videoscape and no other background tasks. To accomplish this, make a working copy of Videoscape and edit the s/startup-sequence file to look like this: 3D thats it. or simply edit all the text out of s/startup-sequence and DOS will default to a CLI screen and await your typing in of " 3D ". I'm not trying to make it hard on you, but if you want quality animations without RAM problems, load ONLY videoscape. If you have 1.5Meg or more of RAM you should be able to do as you darn well please, but for us guys (I've only got 1Meg) who are almost RAMless, well, we gots to suffer. And if you have 3Meg or more you're one of the blessed ones that can use Z buffer in Videoscape in HAM mode, I hope that you've got an '020 or '030 machine, 'cause if not, better find alot to do while these things render (like take a weeks vacation or something). Using Modeler: You should be able to load ANY of these objects (or more) into modeler without any RAM problems. Though in a severe case you may not be able to get a color preview with the 65K or larger models. Do not leave Modeler active while using Vscape (unless you have an ungodly amount of RAM or are simply masochistic). Mods: Before you load up the object you wish to modify, review it in Videoscape to verify what colors/polygons you wish to modify. Load the object into Modeler 3D. Changing individual polygons: Now you're asking for it. If you have need of single polygon changes on something as complex as any version of the 1999Eagle... good luck. Na, I shouldn't be so negative. Any polygon mods can be done to any object as long as you cut away all most uneeded polygons into another layer (place all cut parts into the same back layer) then work on the polygons you wish to change. When finished I recommend cutting the layer with the modified polygons into that background layer on which you placed the rest of the object. Before switching to that layer, turn off visible points and normals by using top menu Display/visible. Now transfer to the layer containing the complete object. Now select side menu POL, then press k on your keyboard. all the polygons on your screen should begin to highlight in red. When they have finished highlighting (next tuesday), cut them to another layer (an empty one). The reason for this procedure is to clear out any points not necessary to the construct of the object, sometimes they do creep in there. Just for grins, before you switch to the new layer, select the top menu Display/NewWindow/Statistics. This will tell you how many points exist on the layer that you cut the polygons from. Now get rid of the stat-requestor, press z to get rid of the points. Switch to the layer containing the complete object. check stats on that layer, there may be a lower point count, if not, no big deal, at least you know you had a clean model. Now for the waiting part. Select the top menu Modify/MergePoints. If your object was over 10K... go eat lunch. If not, Modeler should be ready within a minute. If you had Zero points merge during the operation then you've done something wrong... try again. Adding or removing part details: Just a gluton for punishment, EH? Follow pretty much the same as above, but keep in mind that the larger the object, the easier it is to get lost and lose parts of that object. The Objects: StarTrek: Virtually everyone is familiar with the StarTrek series that originaly ran from 1966 to 1969 and is seen worldwide even now in syndication. There's no doubt that the starships first seen in the Trek series were to be amoungst the most beautiful ever designed. Their shapes defined simplicity yet were not so complicated as to distract or make them unremarkable. (description) (file size) Enterprise.Complex.S 40960 (Smoothed - note .S designation) Enterprise.Complex 40960 (Non-Smoothed) Enterprise.Simple.S 26704 (Simpler version) Enterprise.Simple 26704 Enterprise.RealSimp.S 12718 (Much simpler version) Enterprise.RealSimp 12718 SpaceStationK7.S 13808 SpaceStationK7 13808 RomulanShip.S 5448 RomulanShip 5448 Galileo.S 4962 Galileo 4962 The Enterprise - Availible in Complex/Simple/RealSimple and Smoothed/Nonsmoothed versions for whatever your system can handle. The ship is primarily white (15), and as I mentioned previously, white is one of worst colors to render/animate, but it is the Enterprises' original color. Originally designed by Gene Roddenerry and Matt Jefferies for Star Trek - the series.. SpaceStationK7 - Recreated from David Gerrolds' famous "Trouble with Tribbles" episode. Scaled proportionally to all other Trek spacecraft. RomulanShip - Romulan Bird of Prey. Sorry, no Bird on the hull like the real one. Galileo Shuttlecraft - Technically unexciting but included just for yuks. Klingon Cruiser - Sorry, but I became employed 'bout half way through this one, so ya gotta wait till I release the next objects disk. Space 1999: A BBC (From England) series produced in the mid seventies, Space 1999 was based on the premise of a nuclear explosion on a moonbase (Alpha) that forces the moon out of Earth orbit into space and two seasons of adventures. Eagle.Extreme.S 58714 Eagle.Extreme 58714 Eagle.Complex.S 39746 Eagle.Complex 39746 Eagle.Simple.S 32866 Eagle.Simple 32866 UtilityPod.S 2838 UtilityPod 2838 Eagle Shuttle - Based somewhat on the 2001 Moonbus, Moonbase Alphas' Eagle fleet primary purpose was the transportation of personnel and supplies between orbitting Earth Stations and the Moonbase. Originally designed by Brian Johnson for Space 1999 - the series. Star Wars: Ya gotta know what this is. Nuff said. X-Wing.Complex.S 27474 X-Wing.Complex 27474 Tiefighter.S 19738 Tiefighter 19738 DeathStar.S 17248 DeathStar 17248 X-Wing Fighter - Designed by George Lucas/John Dykstra/ILM, The X-winger is a realistic interpretation of what a multirole starfighter should be. Flown by Luke Skywalker in the movie serials, the X-wing fighter has proven itself a visually effective spacecraft. TieFighter - What self righteous X-winger would venture off into space without some- thing to pursue and obliterate? The Tiefighter is the main starfighter of the Empire, no Dark Lord of the Seth would leave home without one. (Oops! Almost forgot... Lucas/Dykstra/ILM creators). Deathstar - Hey, ya gotta have some kinda target, right. So, load up those X-wingers and Tiefighters (throw in a Trek shuttle craft or two just for yuks) and try to launch some Neutron-torpedoes down the vent shaft on this thing. 'Cause yes, this Deathstar even has a vent shaft and all those crosswalk tunnels cluttering up the trench. So like, you better be real good with picking coordinates for those keyframes in your animations. And oh yea... Copyright 1977 - Lucas/Dykstra/ILM. Dr. Who: From the BBC tv series that refuses to roll over and die, The famous Tardis is simply (form the outside) a police call box. On the inside it's a complex Time And Relative Dimensions In Space device. But alas, to see the interior you'll have to watch the series on PBS 'cause there's no way I could have got the interior to fit (little joke, watch an episode... you'll get it). Tardis.Complex 29586 Tardis.Simple 14730 Tardis.Simplest 11334 50s' Spaceships: A select pair from the 50's. The Generic ship appeared in a dozen "B" movies during the fifties and sixties in various configurations. The forbidden planet ship is the cliche' "Flying Saucer" and was not really my crowning achievment on Modeler3D but hey, someone'll use it. GenericShip 10634 GenericShip.S 10634 ForbiddenPlanet.S 5038 ForbiddenPlanet 5038 2001: a Space Odyssey: From Stanley Kubricks much criticized 1965 Film of mans exploits at the reaches of our solar system. 2001SpaceWheel.S 13470 2001SpaceWheel 13470 2001Clipper.S 3966 2001Clipper 3966 SpaceWheel - A fully completed (in the movie it was still under construction) version of the spacewheel that the PanAm clipper docks with. (Stanley Kubrick/Brian Johnson - creators). PanAm Clipper - Earth to Spacestation shuttle seen in beginning of movie. (I know, I know, everyone wants the moonbus right? I wish that I had the model kit, I would have done it... sorry). Thats it folks. If you're real nice and send for lots more subscriptions from the folks at AmazingComputing/AMIGA maybe I'll get my butt in gear and finish some of the partially completed objects I've got around here. John Adam Pfeiffer - July 1989 If you must contact me for some reason, heres my address, don't abuse it. John Adam Pfeiffer c/o Hey!3DStuff (don't really have to include this) 446 Algene Drive Lake Orion, Mich. 48035 Copyright: (Or something deceptively similar) Note: This is not commercial software nor is it shareware, so like ya can't sell it to anyone or recieve compesation for distributing it 'cause like it's PUBLIC DOMAIN!!!... and I can do anything I want with this software cause I'm not selling it or making any money off it (rats!) and I can send it or give to anyone I want and you can't do diddley squat 'cause It's mine... so there... Pffft! JOHN PFEIFFER a trademark of "The John Pfeiffer software that is freely and unavoidably distributable 'cause he wants it that way and 'cause he can do anything he wants with it so there pffft!" Corporation. (Not really).