Sat, May 1, 2021 at 3:25 PM
Ignatz,
They look nice! I like them.
Question: what aspects of imagery, besides direct contrast with a known thing, impart "size" to a model? In other words, how do you make a thing look big? Is it all to do with lighting and shadows? Does it come from external lighting, or is it how textures reflect that light? Just wondering how that works. As a non-artist, I've never been able to pin it down, though I'll sometimes see images (3D or otherwise) that are supposed to be big, but are clearly not, and other times, things that I know are small in reality, but which seem much, much bigger.
By the way, I LOVE the new logo on the fuel tank!
-David
Sat, May 1, 2021 at 11:07 PM
David,
I think you have more or less hit the nail on the head regarding "size" of a mode.
Lighting and shadow can add drama, but as humans we are always making quick 'reference comparisons' to anything in a scene that is familiar. Items in the scene that one could regard as more-or-less direct sizing objects are: the ladders, railings and airlocks. To a lesser degree the camera angle (especially from below) and the star backdrop also impart a sense of size relationship.
But it must be mentioned that this 'quick reference' method doesn't always give the correct scale. As you and I have designed this ship in collaboration, we already 'know' the correct length (about 250 meters overall). But my ladders, railings and airlocks were not created at 'everyday' size. I did this because I know that a man or woman in a spacesuit requires more space in which to manoeuvre, if two must walk or pass, side-by-side, then even more. To that end the width of the walkways is more generous than one might expect. Those airlocks are wider and taller than normal doors would have to be in order to pass the additional bulk of suited figures. Accidentally bashing one's helmet or bits of safety gear on a too tight doorway would be a very bad thing. The ladders, too, are not normal, certainly with respect to the spacing of the rungs. I imagine that rung spacing as being about one meter apart. There is no gravity, so they don't serve as something on which to stand, but merely as handholds with which to pull one's self along. Will the casual observer understand all of this at a glance? I think not. In fact, I should think an ordinary observer, although thinking this a large vessel, would tend to underestimate its size because the size objects don't read correctly.
The simple answer to all this is to put in a few space suited figures, in at least one of the views, to give a more scale reference. I've thrown some space suited figures into the scene to give you some idea of same. You will agree that the ship suddenly appears just that little bit 'larger' when we have what one can think of as a standard scaling object. It also makes some of my work look 'wrong' and oversized - the railings, in particular - by comparison. (Of course, the railings were never meant as classic railings as one might find on a balcony, but simply grab-onto's and tether line points. Too, they need(ed) to be large enough to render and be seen in a graphic sense. Flimsy defense, but I'll stick to it.)
Cheers,
- Ignatz