
 At least read some of this. J.P.



                          Objects Guide - July 1989


 
   Background: 

      A short time ago I realized that absolutely nobody was working
  feverishly on decent objects so, being unemployed at the time (through
  no fault of my own, save my sarcasm and inept laziness) I set about to
  rectify this situation. Not being sure what I was going to construct in
  3D, I grabbed a ladder and made toward my attic. I had'nt been up there
  in years and what a wonderous sight met my eyes (darkness, I forgot to
  flick on the light). I found (after achieving enlightenment) Sci-Fi
  models from an array of Sci-Fi movie/series concieved throughout the
  history of moviedom. Hmmm... I thought, while battling the urge to hack
  and cough (attics are quite excessively packed with fiberglass
  insulation... ), what the heck.

      So, here they are, a smathering of Sci-Fi objects from my archive of
  model kits. If you're into the kits, forget it. I purchased most of them
  in the early 70's and they are IMPOSSIBLE to find . I hope you appreciate
  the detail on some of 'em 'cause they died an untimely death at the blade
  of Mr. Bandsaw whilst I seeked the dimensions I needed to recreate them
  in 3D (Yep, slicing those suckers in sections every 10mm will get you
  accuracy).
      Aha! You say. You don't see all the Sci-Fi ships you know of here.
  Well, if they offered it in a kit, I've got it, but do you really want
  a 3D model of the SpinDrift shuttle from the Land of the Giants series?
      Maybe when I get bored.

 
   How I dun it:

      I dun it all with Modeler 3D and Videoscape 3D. Very very much thanks
  to Stuart Fergusen and Alan Hastings for these excellant programs with
  which these objects would have never seen life without. 
      If you absolutely must do modifications to the objects, I suggest only
  one program at this time - Modeler 3D. Why? Obviously because all the
  objects were created using this program.
   
   System:

      All the objects were designed to be used on a single drive Amiga with
      a minimum of 1Meg of RAM. This means that when creating an animation
      with Videoscape, you are running ONLY Videoscape and no other
      background tasks. To accomplish this, make a working copy of
      Videoscape and edit the s/startup-sequence file to look like this:
  
                                       3D

      thats it. or simply edit all the text out of s/startup-sequence and
      DOS will default to a CLI screen and await your typing in of " 3D ".
      I'm not trying to make it hard on you, but if you want quality
      animations without RAM problems, load ONLY videoscape. 
         If you have 1.5Meg or more of RAM you should be able to do as you
      darn well please, but for us guys (I've only got 1Meg) who are almost
      RAMless, well, we gots to suffer. And if you have 3Meg or more you're
      one of the blessed ones that can use Z buffer in Videoscape in HAM
      mode, I hope that you've got an '020 or '030 machine, 'cause if not,
      better find alot to do while these things render (like take a weeks
      vacation or something). 


   Using Modeler:

      You should be able to load ANY of these objects (or more) into
      modeler without any RAM problems. Though in a severe case you may
      not be able to get a color preview with the 65K or larger models.
      Do not leave Modeler active while using Vscape (unless you have an
      ungodly amount of RAM or are simply masochistic). 

   Mods:

      Before you load up the object you wish to modify, review it in
      Videoscape to verify what colors/polygons you wish to modify.
      Load the object into Modeler 3D. 

   Changing individual polygons:

      Now you're asking for it. If you have need of single polygon changes
      on something as complex as any version of the 1999Eagle... good luck.
      Na, I shouldn't be so negative. Any polygon mods can be done to any
      object as long as you cut away all most uneeded polygons into another
      layer (place all cut parts into the same back layer) then work on the
      polygons you wish to change. When finished I recommend cutting the
      layer with the modified polygons into that background layer on which
      you placed the rest of the object. Before switching to that layer,
      turn off visible points and normals by using top menu Display/visible.
      Now transfer to the layer containing the complete object. Now select
      side menu POL, then press k on your keyboard. all the polygons on your
      screen should begin to highlight in red. When they have finished
      highlighting (next tuesday), cut them to another layer (an empty one).
      The reason for this procedure is to clear out any points not necessary
      to the construct of the object, sometimes they do creep in there. Just
      for grins, before you switch to the new layer, select the top menu
      Display/NewWindow/Statistics. This will tell you how many points exist
      on the layer that you cut the polygons from. Now get rid of the 
      stat-requestor, press z to get rid of the points. Switch to the layer
      containing the complete object. check stats on that layer, there may
      be a lower point count, if not, no big deal, at least you know you had
      a clean model. Now for the waiting part. Select the top menu 
      Modify/MergePoints. If your object was over 10K... go eat lunch.
      If not, Modeler should be ready within a minute. If you had Zero 
      points merge during the operation then you've done something wrong...
      try again.

   Adding or removing part details:

      Just a gluton for punishment, EH? Follow pretty much the same as
      above, but keep in mind that the larger the object, the easier it is
      to get lost and lose parts of that object.


                                The Objects:

 StarTrek:

     Virtually everyone is familiar with the StarTrek series that originaly
  ran from 1966 to 1969 and is seen worldwide even now in syndication.
  There's no doubt that the starships first seen in the Trek series were to
  be amoungst the most beautiful ever designed. Their shapes defined
  simplicity yet were not so complicated as to distract or make them
  unremarkable. 

  
      (description)         (file size)  

    Enterprise.Complex.S       40960      (Smoothed -  note .S designation)
    Enterprise.Complex         40960      (Non-Smoothed)
    Enterprise.Simple.S        26704      (Simpler version)
    Enterprise.Simple          26704
    Enterprise.RealSimp.S      12718      (Much simpler version)
    Enterprise.RealSimp        12718

    SpaceStationK7.S           13808
    SpaceStationK7             13808

    RomulanShip.S               5448
    RomulanShip                 5448

    Galileo.S                   4962
    Galileo                     4962

   The Enterprise - 
     Availible in Complex/Simple/RealSimple and Smoothed/Nonsmoothed
     versions for whatever your system can handle. The ship is primarily
     white (15), and as I mentioned previously, white is one of worst
     colors to render/animate, but it is the Enterprises' original color.
     Originally designed by Gene Roddenerry and Matt Jefferies for 
     Star Trek - the series..

   SpaceStationK7 -
     Recreated from David Gerrolds' famous "Trouble with Tribbles" episode.
     Scaled proportionally to all other Trek spacecraft.

   RomulanShip -
     Romulan Bird of Prey. Sorry, no Bird on the hull like the real one.

   Galileo Shuttlecraft -
     Technically unexciting but included just for yuks.

   Klingon Cruiser - 
     Sorry, but I became employed 'bout half way through this one,
     so ya gotta wait till I release the next objects disk.


  Space 1999:

     A BBC (From England) series produced in the mid seventies, Space 1999
  was based on the premise of a nuclear explosion on a moonbase (Alpha)
  that forces the moon out of Earth orbit into space and two seasons
  of adventures.
   
    Eagle.Extreme.S            58714
    Eagle.Extreme              58714
    Eagle.Complex.S            39746
    Eagle.Complex              39746
    Eagle.Simple.S             32866
    Eagle.Simple               32866
    UtilityPod.S                2838
    UtilityPod                  2838

   Eagle Shuttle - 
     Based somewhat on the 2001 Moonbus, Moonbase Alphas' Eagle fleet
     primary purpose was the transportation of personnel and supplies
     between orbitting Earth Stations and the Moonbase. Originally designed
     by Brian Johnson for Space 1999 - the series.

  Star Wars: 

     Ya gotta know what this is. Nuff said.

    X-Wing.Complex.S           27474
    X-Wing.Complex             27474
    Tiefighter.S               19738
    Tiefighter                 19738
    DeathStar.S                17248
    DeathStar                  17248

   X-Wing Fighter - 
     Designed by George Lucas/John Dykstra/ILM, The X-winger is a realistic
     interpretation of what a multirole starfighter should be. Flown by Luke
     Skywalker in the movie serials, the X-wing fighter has proven itself a
     visually effective spacecraft.

   TieFighter - 
     What self righteous X-winger would venture off into space without some-
     thing to pursue and obliterate? The Tiefighter is the main starfighter
     of the Empire, no Dark Lord of the Seth would leave home without one.
     (Oops! Almost forgot... Lucas/Dykstra/ILM creators).

   Deathstar - 
     Hey, ya gotta have some kinda target, right. So, load up those
     X-wingers and Tiefighters (throw in a Trek shuttle craft or two just
     for yuks) and try to launch some Neutron-torpedoes down the vent shaft
     on this thing. 'Cause yes, this Deathstar even has a vent shaft and
     all those crosswalk tunnels cluttering up the trench. So like, you
     better be real good with picking coordinates for those keyframes in
     your animations. And oh yea...  Copyright 1977 - Lucas/Dykstra/ILM.


  Dr. Who:

     From the BBC tv series that refuses to roll over and die, The famous 
     Tardis is simply (form the outside) a police call box. On the inside
     it's a complex Time And Relative Dimensions In Space device. But alas,
     to see the interior you'll have to watch the series on PBS 'cause
     there's no way I could have got the interior to fit (little joke,
     watch an episode... you'll get it).
 
    Tardis.Complex             29586
    Tardis.Simple              14730
    Tardis.Simplest            11334

  50s' Spaceships:

     A select pair from the 50's. The Generic ship appeared in a dozen "B"
     movies during the fifties and sixties in various configurations. The 
     forbidden planet ship is the cliche' "Flying Saucer" and was not
     really my crowning achievment on Modeler3D but hey, someone'll use it.

    GenericShip                10634
    GenericShip.S              10634
    ForbiddenPlanet.S           5038
    ForbiddenPlanet             5038

  2001: a Space Odyssey:

     From Stanley Kubricks much criticized 1965 Film of mans exploits at
     the reaches of our solar system.

    2001SpaceWheel.S           13470
    2001SpaceWheel             13470
    2001Clipper.S               3966
    2001Clipper                 3966

   SpaceWheel - 
     A fully completed (in the movie it was still under construction)
     version of the spacewheel that the PanAm clipper docks with.
     (Stanley Kubrick/Brian Johnson - creators).

   PanAm Clipper - 
     Earth to Spacestation shuttle seen in beginning of movie. (I know,
     I know, everyone wants the moonbus right? I wish that I had the model
     kit, I would have done it... sorry).

   Thats it folks. If you're real nice and send for lots more subscriptions
   from the folks at AmazingComputing/AMIGA maybe I'll get my butt in gear
   and finish some of the partially completed objects I've got around here.


                        John Adam Pfeiffer - July 1989

  If you must contact me for some reason, heres my address, don't abuse it.

                        John Adam Pfeiffer
                        c/o Hey!3DStuff (don't really have to include this)
                        446 Algene Drive
                        Lake Orion, Mich. 48035


Copyright: (Or something deceptively similar)

  Note: This is not commercial software nor is it shareware, so like ya 
  can't sell it to anyone or recieve compesation for distributing it 'cause
  like it's PUBLIC DOMAIN!!!... and I can do anything I want with this
  software cause I'm not selling it or making any money off it (rats!)
  and I can send it or give to anyone I want and you can't do diddley
  squat 'cause It's mine...  so there... Pffft!


     JOHN PFEIFFER a trademark of "The John Pfeiffer software that is

     freely and unavoidably distributable 'cause he wants it that way
 
     and 'cause he can do anything he wants with it so there pffft!" 
  
     Corporation.  (Not really).
