playing around again

[rob49152]

I was playing around with a new render engine and created a quick mock up of a console idea. Not sure what kind of controls to put on this thing.. any ideas? This coud go in the console room I played around with a long time ago http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=3954.0

[handofomega]

Have you considered holographic controls?   Ghostly images of different console controls floating slightly above the surface in the console with maybe some real controls (levers and whatnot) on the arms separating the panels.   

[rob49152]

Have you considered holographic controls?   Ghostly images of different console controls floating slightly above the surface in the console with maybe some real controls (levers and whatnot) on the arms separating the panels. 

Oh... I do like that idea!!

[BioDoctor900]

  This is beautiful. It's not even finished yet and already it looks great. What sort of rotor are you planning on and I'd love to see a bit of a cross of the original controls, some steampunk and some of the Smith/Capaldi console

BioDoctor900

[vortex maker]

Really great job! I really love the look of this. What renderer where you playing around with?

[expendable]

That's simply incredible! A wonderful, modern, elegant console!

As far as controls go, I'd suggest dynamic overlays - make the panel surfaces a touch screen, so you'd configure buttons and sliders much like the control surfaces in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Of course, this means you can have a seventh panel that combines the essential functions of all six - so the Doctor doesn't have to dance around the console - but then where's the fun in that?

[galacticprobe]

Along with the holographic controls (which is a really cool idea!), you could also muck about with some of these and tweak them to your liking:


Pretty large image cropped from a huge one of the 2005 console concept art, so if you open it in a new tab or window it might appear larger. On that panel that's directly facing us, there are some "sub-panels" with buttons (lighted, of course), toggle switches (always nice to give a nod to the classics), and some in the lower left corner that look like they could be independent lights/buttons. They could all have "touch screen"-type controls surrounding them on the rest of the main panel.


Again another cropped image from the 2005 console concept art, just not as huge as the last one. In this one, that panel that's directly facing us sort of reminds me of that odd "Telepathic" panel from the 2013 console (but without the "finger holes" in it). That could be one idea for this version of a Telepathic panel; give it that swirly look to it (sort of like the warp core from 'Star Trek: Voyager').


And then there's this one, again from the 2005 console concept art, only this one isn't cropped. The thing I find interesting on it is that panel with what looks like old-fashioned pinball machine "bumpers" on it. I've never figured out what they were supposed to be, but they look like pinball bumpers (or the kind you'd find on a bumper pool table). Maybe they could be some sort of light up indicators, again with some holographic or touch screen-type controls around them on the main panel.

Anyway, I hope that gives you some ideas to ponder (and you find these helpful).

Dino.

[rob49152]

Really great job! I really love the look of this. What renderer where you playing around with?

A while back I got Octane. It's a GPU render engine and is freaking fast!! Well probably because I have 3 GeForce 780Ti's dedicated for it

[vortex maker]

Yeah, I've heard of Octane. I'm going to try the trial version since I'm lucky and they have a version of Blender that supports it and even better, they have it for linux! I'm really surprised at that. Is it node based or panel based?

[rob49152]

It's node based. It needs an Nvidia card because it uses CUDA processing. They're really working hard to support as many 3D apps and platforms as possible.

[vortex maker]

It needs an Nvidia card because it uses CUDA processing.

I have a GT 640 so that I can render with cycles, the best (imo). It's almost unusable if you don't have a GPU.