Finally on the next vertical section: September 17, 2022
September 21, 2022
Starting the North Pole sections: September 27, 2022
Interesting tidbit I learned researching this part is a plug-like structure at the very north pole of the Death Star. While I was aware of the large opening in the original Ralph McQuarrie concept art, I didn't know a variation of that made it to the final model.
While I'm not sure that structure exists in the original 1977 model, it does appear in Rogue One before the Death Star fires on Scarif.
Completed Northern Hemisphere: September 29, 2022
One of three Hangar variations: September 30, 2022
At the moment I have three distinct styles of hanger bays on the equatorial trench. Each based on a segment seen in A New Hope, Return of the Jedi, and Rogue One.
Starting the southern hemisphere and lights: October 8, 2022
After a few years, decided to come back to my 3D model of the Death Star. This time creating a more detailed exterior model than what I've been using in my 'Death Star Escape' CAVE2 demo:
Existing Death Star model: November 5, 2015
Using a texture based on the original prop, I began to model the surface as a more detailed mesh. Aiming to get somewhere in between the level of detail in the original 1977 prop and matte paintings and the CGI model from Rogue One.
Existing Equatorial Trench Detail: December 6, 2015
Revised Equatorial Trench: September 3, 2022
A Proper Superlaser dish: September 3, 2022
Fleshing out the surface detail: September 8, 2022
Continuing section by section: September 8 - 10, 2022
"All I've found is that these red lights keep moving back and forth. Aside from that this thing seems to have no function whatsoever" - Airplane II
As seen in numerous science-fiction television shows and movies since the 1970s, the 'Dual Generator with Neon Lights' is often used as a background (and sometimes foreground) prop. Its distinctive appearance and blinking red neon lights is almost never explained within the context of the universe it appears in. Perhaps its most famous appearance in Airplane II: The Sequel (the first clip in the video above) specifically calls out the ambiguous nature of this device.
For years I've thought about modeling this in 3D. Collected a few reference images from various sources on the internet. Airplane II, The Last Starfighter, and various Star Trek films/shows being the more prominent appearances.
Created by Modern Props (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1169072769784133), until 2020 or so it was available for rent - one of many stock props that were available from Modern Props.
The ends of the device seem to be 'Baker Hydro Deluxe Vinyl Liner In Ground Skimmer' a component for ground swimming pools which traps and filters out leaves and other debris that is floating in the pool.
As part of my work on HummingbirdVR, the opening scene is a 'futuristic space lab' and while UIC design students created the scene, for our presentation of Hummingbird at SIGGRAPH 2022's Immersive Pavilion, I decided to add my own flair to the scene and this seems like an appropriate 3D model.
'Ground Skimmer' July 8, 2022
Using both the Facebook video linked above and actual dimentioned diagrams (https://www.inyopools.com/pool_parts_baker_hydro_purex.aspx), I attempted to estimate the overall size of these components.
July 8, 2022
Across its many appearances, there are a number of subtle differences. This includes various pipes which are swapped for black caps, a new different devices that appear on the center of the table, and finally the end caps on the 'Ground Skimmer' components. For the most part this 3D model is based on its Airplane II appearance, but I included an alternate end cap (the silver with red/blue glow) what was seen in The Last Starfighter and some episodes of Star Trek.
July 9, 2022
Final Render July 9, 2022
Final rendering in Unity as part of HummingbirdVR's opening scene. Again just for fun, but an inspired excuse to make a 3D model of it.
It's sometimes funny when the right moment happens where you find an excuse to dig up a project exactly 9 years old and give it a few days of work just for the fun of it.
While drawing 2D pixel art of Death Star surface tiles dates back even further, I started doing 3D renders of it back in 2013.
April 11, 2013 - Original six tiles derived from my old Kilk @ Play pixel art
April 21, 2015 - Textured except for one
Actually the very first post of this blog described the early Unity + Blender work I did on Project Starfighter. The original tile set was textured so I could use them in a procedurally generated Death Star surface. Ironically given my work at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory, the only tile I never finished modeling is the one on display at the lab..... until now:
April 12, 2022 - Starting detail work, one quad at a time
April 13, 2022 - Quad Two
April 14, 2022 - Quad Three
April 14, 2022 - Completed Tile
Of course now this tile is vastly more detailed than the other ones. Maybe too detailed for my needs, but it was a fun modeling exercise for a few days. Plus more 'greebles' to add to my digital library. Always fun to look into the craftsmanship that went into these old physical models - all the kitbashing and random parts clearly from model tanks, planes, etc.
For spring break 2022, just to shift gears a bit from my thesis work, I decided to implement another mini-project in what I like to call "Video Game Fundamentals" where I've made a small project focusing on a particular game mechanic. In the past I've done an X-Wing style flight simulator and first person shooters.
For this project, I focused on a turn-based RPG combat system based on Star Wars Galaxies. For the back-end combat logic, it used many of the documented combat equations found:
The character models and animations I got from Adobe Mixamo. Which made a good exercise in importing existing models with character animations, Unity's animation system, and Unity's NavMesh Agent system to handle the AI movements and "aggression" when a player gets close (though the latter is not in the above video. May document that feature as this prototype progresses.
The above video highlights, a default primary attack, cooldown timer, a special attack, and accuracy values. Each of those also are connected to a particular animation: Idle, Punch, Uppercut (Special), Hit, and Death.
Inspired by The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 5, I reworked the existing CAVE2 Mars demo and combined it with a scene modeled after the Tatooine map from Star Wars Galaxies.
Unlike the Mars demo, which has only has a few single rover models, this used a full Unity terrain with over 1000 separate models on it. Plenty of LOD scripts and clever rotating the world, shifting the world around the player to make the transition from the surface to space.
Created a custom splat map to generate the Tatooine planet surface. Replaced the model for Mars's Phobos and Deimos with a more standard moon model and tweaked the orbital parameters to match the classic Tatooine pan shot from Star Wars: A New Hope.
Added additional details to Beggar's Canyon to include Stone Needle, buildings in the canyon walls, and the service ramp Anakin Skywalker notably flew off of in The Phantom Menace (and was also features in The Book of Boba Fett).
Just a quick combining of existing projects for fun. Also been looking for an excuse to code this sort of thing for a while for CAVE2.
Based off of a "I got vaccinated" photoshoot/CAVE2 video I had done earlier this year, I reimaged the idea of "attacking" a Covid-19 virus in VR with a more Harry Potter theme.
I already had the Hogwarts costume from a Harry Potter birthday party a year back. Most of the background is actually from the Hummingbird VR project. I used the Orchard 2 scene and re-lit in into a nighttime scene.
Threw in some custom wand particle effects and appended some MakeHuman beefy arms and googly eyes to the Covid-19 virus model.
Added two spell effects: a basic lumos ball to light the scene and the more flashy beam one.
A fun behind-the-scenes image showing some of the fans and camera setup I used to make the image. Using the floor fan to blow the back of my cloak for "dramatic" was a fun, but ultimately a subtle effect due to how dark the scene is.
Interestingly this was one of two Halloween CAVE2 photoshoots I did this year. The other being a Star Trek themed one.
