Various props designed for Star Trek Section 31 (yes I know , lets just keep the comments related to Rhino)
The first two phasers were started using the sub d tools to get the overall forms started. Then converted and detailed using nurbs.
Rendering was all done in Modo.
Unfortunately all were barely seen if at all.
These were just a small sample of the 30 odd props designed for the movie.
These are wonderful Scott!
any particular reason you rendered in Modo instead of Rhino?
what is Rhino render still missing for you?
any photos of the real props used in the film? I assume they got made for real, no?
I always love to see how well the digital stuff translates to real parts-
These look cool my favorite pick is the first one
never got into star trek much I think I watched 1 movie and some old series
I have been trying this approuch on some projects and starting to like that workflow
Nicely done scott
Speed.
Ease of use.
Render quality.
PBR materials are sluggish and slow the files down.
More robust list of render outputs
the list goes on…
A couple really big ones…
Lights and cameras are far easier to size and position as objects . There is far more control over the light and camera settings. Texturing and UV work is far more efficient and streamlined.
And this is one I know will never happen, ability to add a figure that is rigged and can be posed all in the same file.
Basically bring it up to at least what Blender can do and now we are talking. But as it stands now, the stand alone render is years behind the competition. I know that it was never a goal of Rhino originally but if you want to be a more fully realized package then some big changes need to happen. I for one would love to stay all in Rhino but whats required of my job simply doesnt allow for me to do that. Even if I had vray or octane I still cant rig characters or position cameras and set them to be cinematic aspect ratios and lenses.
I would still end up in Modo or Blender or some 3d package that allows for rigging and animation.
I find that it speeds up form finding for many cases. I dont always use it but whats nice is it allows for me to be more fluid with the design while staying inside Rhino. Thats a big plus.
It really does extend whats possible in Rhino now i remember during v5 era “can Rhino make a skull?”
Well now we can! Lol
Oh man that looks pretty, can you go into detail the inspiration for these props?
well for the first two it was sort of a futuristic call back to the wild west. The owner of those two runs a nightclub (space station) in an outer rim of the galaxy. I wanted them to look like they were custom made for her and used the design elements of the nightclub to detail them. Both small and concealable the smaller one is the derringer style that can be concealed in a boot or waist pocket. In the end I think it was just sitting on a counter and the bad guy picks it up and uses it once. It could have been a cap gun from the drug store for all you saw of it.
As for the other two , the black phaser was inspired by the assault phaser from Start Treks 5 and 6 but smaller and updated.
The fourth one had heavy influence from the vulcan culture.
Next question… Why Rhino 7 and not Rhino 8?
At the time I did this work Rhino 8 was still very unstable. When software has as many bug reports as 8 did at that time its to risky to use when under tight deadlines. Also as a matter of habit I never adopt new releases of software until about 6 to 8 months after release so it has time to go through public trials.
That makes sense. But eventually you feel the pressure to adopt the new version. How are finding Rhino 8 today?
I wouldnt say pressured just eager to test out new features and improvements over 7. Im using 8 exclusively now. Overall im finding it working well. A little annoyed by the toolbars not being able to be torn off but that could be me not knowing what setting to change. Still adapting to the new UI set up.
Since I dont render in Rhino I can really speak to any of that. The SubD improvements are a big plus especially for the kind of design work I do. Edge weighting is a feature all polygonal software has so its nice to finally have that. I used SubD a lot for Lilo and Stitch and hope to show that work soon.
HI Scott,
This is great work, like all your work! Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
Your show and tell and case study posts are inspiring me to also post some of our completed/shipped work we do at Fresco. Not as enchanting as your prop design work, but also showing well where Rhino plays an important (or vital) role. Just like you, we use Rhino at what’s best for, along with other tools that we choose because they are the best solutions for those tasks.
We switched from Modo early on the onset of the pandemic. We had the time to retrain and move to Blender, and I already know back then that The Foundry was clueless about what to do with Modo and its death was inevitable.
Animation, rigging/posing characters, or body elements for either ergonomics explorations or in-use renderings is crucial for design and viz work. We would not expect Rhino to ever develop in that direction; we just continue to wait for much better integration. Plasticity’s Blender live-link is a good model to inspire the Rhino team.
Example: We need tools that allow us to do this when rendering a product: water simulation, skin shader, rigged humans:
I think the McNeel team sometimes doesn’t understand that we don’t want to go sailing on a race with their tugboat; we want their tugboat to help us assist a sailboat. And asking us how they could improve their tugboat misses the point.
G.
P.S.: Admins, feel free to split the topic, as I think it may be getting off track from Scott’s awesome gallery topic.
Very nice product shot
Gustavo,
I think it would not only be inspiring to see your process but a huge benefit to all. Props are really product or industrial design but our brief is reduced to story point and make it “look cool” . We dont have the monumental task you do in producing a functioning and fully engineered product. Since most of my inspiration comes from looking at the work you and your industry provides , having an inside look at that process is not only welcome but encouraged!
Thank you for your comments, its always reassuring to hear from people like yourself who have to deal with the real world.
Cheers
Scott
I completely agree with your assessment of Modo . Im in the process of adapting to Blender which has been a learning curve to be sure.
And yes I think a bridge to Blender would be the best of both worlds for Rhino. The bridge between Twinmotion and Rhino is another good example.
yup I find I work in Blender now for SubD and Sculpt, and definately for Render. Wierd they both use cycles but the Rhino implimentation is so wildly different, thing like diamonds in Rhino are jsut so hard to get right and just pop in blender.
