Zentradi Carrier 07

In this 3D Studio Max project I created a Zentradi carrier ship based on Macross & Robotech. For the basic ship design I used a cylinder & converted it into an Editable Poly. From there I manipulated the shape using Vertices, Polygons, Extrusion, Bevel to model the hulls unique features. I used this same procedure for modeling the other aspects of the ships details such as the engines, weapon systems, posterior & anterior. I included designs I made Reflex Missiles, turrets, close, medium & long-range energy weapon systems. I also created antenna arrays & those sphere shapes found in Macross & Robotech on the hulls of ships.

I wanted to keep the spirit of the original ship designs in my project so I made only minor modifications to the basic design. I did adjust the front of the ship to improve the frontal hull armor. Macross & Robotech ships have extremely power energy weapons so I considered improved hull armor a worthwhile modification.

The balance of updating ships designed during the early 1980’s and keeping the ships true to their original vision is quite a task. In this project I wanted to modernize a Macross & Robotech design but not completely change it from the true formula of its inception. I am a big Macross & Robotech fan and have been since I was a kid, so doing this project has been a real treat. I plan on doing updated ship models from the Zentradi, Marduk, Robotech Masters, Invid, Vajra & U.N Spacy. I will also do mech models for the different races as well.

For the background I used a HD image of the Orion Nebula from the Hubble telescope. I find that using real backgrounds for some space scenes sets a more realistic stage scene for sci-fi vehicles and battles. I have a huge number of Target Spot Lights and an even larger number of unique lens effects programmed into them. I also used Volume Light with effects to show an orange colored engine trail. For the much smaller missile trails I used a white trail effect on the Target Lights to better define their presence and path. I included a number of Atmospheric Sphere Gizmos to illustrate explosion effects. On the smaller and medium range energy weapons I used capsules with a high luminance and an object motion blur effect. For the much more powerful frontal energy weapons I doubled up on the Target Spot Lights giving each different effects and colors to simulate the enormous firepower that Macross & Robotech fans expect.

For the textures I created highly reflective Chrome & steel textures using Raytrace, Mask, Fall-Off, Specular, Glossiness, Anisotropy, Orientation & reflective parameters. I used a green hull texture map with a high glossy effect with some of the previously mentioned settings.

I hope you enjoy viewing my recreations of the Macross & Robotech phenomenon.