The saga continues! In my quest for perfection, I’ve discovered a new aisle of study. I’ve started preparing the various graphics for bulkheads, doors, and control panels. No doubt, a project in itself. In the findings of several other talented artists on the internet that have covered this subject extensively, there are but two font faces to be used on Star Trek materials. Helvetica, and Swiss911. If you take a spin over to Michael Okuda’s site, you can see his examples of the various signage is indeed Helvetica! Open and shut case, correct? Not so fast there, wordsmith. Being the meticulous man I am, I’ve poked some serious holes in that artwork, at least for The Next Generation series.

Allow me to present my evidence. Below is a second season screen shot of a door sign. While I agree, the weight is a tad thin, Compacta Light matches the best of the three here.

Up close, Helvetica and Swiss911 do not match at all. But they are similar. I’m sure from far away (even in 3d) you’d easily mistake them for the same face. Consider this next shot from Season 3, Wesley’s terminal in the lab. Again, the font seems a tad thin, but the shape of the face fits perfectly.

Lastly a printed sticker for a bulkhead, I can’t tell you where it originated, sadly. But it does appear to be authentic. Again, Compacta matching perfectly with almost no kerning at all.

I don’t presume to know why a switch was made, or when. Just to be sure the switch was not made to Helvetica sometime within the later years of the show, I tested screen shots in season 7. In the episode “Genesis,” there are several opportunities to see signage that shows the same font face. While it is not perfect in weight all the time, adding a 1% stroke, or faux bold makes up the difference in some cases. I think the television resolution for NTSC could easily be blamed for some of that. (Hence the many LCARS jokes that would never been readable on a standard television.) Take this as a grain of salt, I am nearly adding my opinion into the community. But my project will be using Compacta! It’s not terribly expensive, and you can pick up a copy here. I welcome it to my library.

I made some progress this week. With the main corridor mock up completed, I think I can start working on the high detailed version! Here are some new renders with the complete layout.

I haven’t forgotten the project! Work has just kept me very busy lately. The project has continued to evolve into a bit of an obsession for detail and accuracy. I’ve bought some publications, scoured the internet, and I continue to reference screen shots. I’ve begun mocking up the Paramount Stage 9 layout. It’s quite rough, just so adjustments are easier to make. After I get the basics dialed in, I will begin replacing the elements with high detail mesh and textures.

There’s a great deal of satisfaction when I’m able to dial in a detail. Although I know I can never be 100% accurate to the real sets, I take satisfaction in knowing I’m very close. I just purchased the Technical Manual for the Enterprise D written by Rick Sternback and Michael Okuda. The masters! I could hardly contain myself when I discovered a drawing of K-beams used in the corridors. I scanned it and overlaid the drawing to the K-beams in my 3D file. It matched almost perfectly to what I had developed by screen measurements alone. It was very rewarding since that was one of the most difficult parts to nail down. More to come!

I’m sure it’s been done, but I’ve recently been inspired to do some renderings of the inside of the Enterprise D from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I’ve spent days searching the interwebs for any kind of reference data. There is a metric ton of information and schematics about the various ships. But surprisingly, there is almost no specific data regarding the interior of the ships other than cut-away and topographical layouts. Oh, I love a challenge.

Since I’ll need to start somewhere with an elevation plan, I decided to start taking some screen captures of objects we can define the height of. Since everything on the set is custom, people are the best choice for comparison. For some ballpark measurements to get started, it works quite well.

I recall from the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas, that the corridor outside the transporter room is remarkably cozy. With the bottom and the top of those walls angled inward, it becomes much smaller than the main corridor LeVar is pictured in. I’m on the right track so far. It seems the main corridor is close to 8 feet 6 inches high, and approximately 9 feet wide. Not exactly expansive.

As you can see from the two comparisons, we can conclude the hatches are a standard 6 feet 8 inch door opening. Who would have guessed?! With that in mind, I can start making loose measurements of objects adjacent to the characters. I definitely have some good measurements to start with here.

My artwork has been featured on Kotaku.com, I’m as happy as a little girl!

Kotaku K5

I’ve fallen off the boat of keeping my blog cutting-edge and up to date. As an act of contrition, I’ve prepared a detailed entry in an attempt to make up for the long hiatus.

I’ve recently completed the build of my new computer “Athena.” After doing the meticulous research I generally do before building a new machine, I was stunned at the progress in technology since my last build in 2003. Initially, I was so shocked that I decided to look back at all the computers I’ve ever had. After a few weeks of looking through old boxes, reading receipts, and scouring the net I’ve completed a specification chart spanning back to my first deskop!

I still have very fond memories of my parents taking me to Best Buy to purchase my first computer. Knowing nothing, the sales person persuaded us into a Packard Hell Bell Desktop. Naturally, I talked them into a couple of games as well. The most notable being The 7th Guest. Days later I was introduced to the shareware version of DOOM from a friend. It was all downhill from there!