Evaluative Blog Week 5 - Ultimate Progress

The week has had a lot of stressful work in it.

this gets rid of the fade

I have primarily focused on creating my Star Destroyer at home, trying to learn from my mistakes i am still trying to be less harsh with the polygon count.

I would later use Align so it was
an exact copy

My work returned on making the main engines of the Star Destroyer, however, i realised that my Desktop computer wouldn't be the same as the Laboratory Computers. My first problem was when my viewport started constantly fading to black on realistic views (Wireframe was fine), after many forums i found the solution (after downloading the Maintenance Update that is - which helped me actually load 3DS Max).

Autogrid is easy to
find

My Second Problem became a much more important one, where the X-Ray feature (Alt+x) wouldn't operate on my computer, meaning i had to seek an alternative of creating a copy of my Reference Plane to create the additional placements of my Ship.

Removing the lines the second
cone made means that i save a few
polygons

Using the additional plane, i was able to use the Autogrid feature to place the primitives neatly on the back reference, i used this mainly because that would make a perfect scale and it could show me how many Polygons i could get away with. I used a Cone for this mainly because i was familiar with it; although i do regret not using a Tube for most of my cylinder or cone-based creations. After using the Align and Boolean  Union tool, i removed edges to reduce the polygon count. I then Cloned (Shift and Move Primitive) the engines to make three of them - meaning only the x and z axis needed to be altered. Once complete, i aligned them to the original plane to be placed with the Base Pyramid (i tried a Boolean but the shape changed).

Think of the Polygons...

Welding became useful at times

     My work on the main tower was the one that took it's toll. The basic Boolean for the larger platforms seemed simplistic enough - where some Welding was involved - but the smaller Deflector Shields (the small orbs on the top) became the difficult ones. A Sphere in any shape usually means high Polygon counts; especially with spikes sticking out the top. To reduce polygons yet again, i Extruded certain points of the sphere and used a Boolean to stack it on its podium. the Centerpiece for the tower became a difficult combination of extruding and adding/removing vertices; when the first half was complete, i tested the Mirror Tool to see how it worked. Although it does the same thing, i still prefer to clone and rotate Primitives, seeing as the Mirror Tool can make it difficult to tell the Primitives Apart - as they are merged together.

CLONES

There's an easy way and a hard way
of things; somehow i  always seem
to pick the Hard Way

     My Mistake however was applying the entire tower as a Boolean, leading to edges being made and then deleted and lines that refused to Weld together. After searching for a version with the primitives not in a Boolean, i discovered there was no copy/paste format. What i did find, on the other hand, was by Selecting Element on the Sidebar, i could move the Primitive. I then discovered the Detach tool to separate the Boolean, this left Holes in the main shape, which made me have to create a polygon to fill the void - i later chose to delete the entire face and draw a new one instead. Instead of using a Boolean, i have instead Grouped the tower together (twice, as i have with the large and smaller engines).

Mirror Mirror on the Floor

Some of the most useful things
are found by accident

My next piece of work is probably the final and most difficult part; the raised platforms. After much deliberation i decided that using a Spline and converting it into a Editable Poly would be the best method. After finding which platforms would be first raised, i cut off the additional details and already placed them onto the Star Destroyer Base - but moving Vertices mainly, however i do intend on using the Snap Angle tool - my next part is extruding the platform and then grouping the ship overall.

Soon i had to detach the sides
by making them their own
polygon and using 'Detach'

by removing the lines on the face
of a sphere i reduce polygons
and make it easier to stretch

I would say this is 85% done

Between the time i have done the Star Destroyer i have also began my work on a Second Model; the Tie Fighter. The Fighter itself became as clear cut as imagined; editing a Sphere to the correct angle, utilising the X-Ray vision i do not have at home and pulling out faces to create the shape. I do later intend on using the Mirror Tool once more and also work on my Engine Room model. If there is time before the hand-in, i will do a Decayed House.