Hey guys, hope everyone is doing well. Just thought I’d post my current work in progress for the latest CG Boost challenge. Still to do, I want to refine the engine trails, add some differentiation to the cargo containers (different container types, logos, gaffiti, wear… ect.), some extra details to the ship. If I have time, I may add a docking gantry for a station of some sort, to add a bit of story. Thanks for looking!
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It looks exceptional. I am very impressed with your concept. I can’t wait to see it finished.
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Thank you so much Charley, that’s a very encouraging response!
I like it, sense of scale is there and the positional light always have a warm spot in my heart 
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Thank you Linolafett! Am I correct that you’ve worked on the X games over at Egosoft? I just wanted to say that I have a soft spot for those games, been playing them since the release of X2, though with the limited amount of spare time that I have these days, I have yet to get into X4. I am also an admirer of your personal work, your Deep Space Venture project is shaping up nicely!
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Amazing design so far. To improve the sense of scale it would be helpful to incorporate more “human” elements onto the model, such as ladders and handles off the side of the vessel and walkway or platforms with railings. Adding more windows onto the hull as well as maintenance hatches would also be nice. A docking port somewhere would be great. For details, it would be nice to see piping and perhaps cables around the engines for apparent functionality. For the overall composition, applying subtle motion blur the background (especially the stars) should give the shot a sense of motion and make it pop more. It would also give a better sense to the vastness of space if more of the background is shown, increasing the size difference between spacecraft, rings, and the planet could also achieve such an effect. Keep the great work up!
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Thanks for the response MY200378, very good suggestions! I do like your recommendation for adding human elements for scale, I’m currently working on finding the best places to implement some of those items. I was able to get a little done this weekend, but not as much as I would have liked. I had already started to work on an airlock near the bridge, that a docking tube could be connected to for entry and egress, but due to the scale, it is hard to determine what it is exactly. I did add and blur the stars a little, per your recommendation, MY200378, but I think that the stars in general would not be as visible, due to all of the light from the planet. Applied some decals that I made in inkscape to the containers, creating some fictitious companies. Still plugging away, but the deadline is looming ever closer!
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Looking great! 
I love the space carrier! Cool design and concept! And great work with the details!
Personally, I’m not a big fan of the saturnian rings as they distract a bit from the carrier.
Without them, or with them less obvious / less bright, I would get more of a ‘space feeling’.
Again, just a personal opinion. It’s a matter of taste I guess. (I like ‘space’ to be dark, vast and void.) 
yoooo thats super dope!
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By the way, I’m curious as to how you’ve achieved the amazing engine exhaust effect, was it a shader in 3D?
Thanks JollyJumper, I really appreciate it! You’re absolutely right, from a realism standpoint space should be dark and empty. I just kept thinking that I need to fill the scene with more stuff. You certainly got me thinking… I will do a version with just the planet, to see what it looks like. Might be one of those cases where less is more.
By the way, I am constantly amazed with your updates on your movie. Astounding what you’ve managed to achieve in such a short time period. Truly inspiring stuff!
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Thanks Niklas!
MY200378, that’s actually one of the parts of the scene that I’m the least happy with. Nothing too exciting to it. I’m sure there are better ways of doing it, I tend to just muddle my way through things until I find something that looks okay, but I feel like I could do more here. There’s an amazing looking volumetric engine shader on the blendermarket, but I haven’t decided to pick it up yet.
Here’s the setup:
Let me know if you have any questions. I also have my mesh subdivided with a cloud displacement texture applied.
Hey, i actually considered participating in the contest, but instead i ramped up my procrastination power.
I am glad i did, because i really would have give it my best to best you and i don’t have the energy to do that right now. Participating and not winning would have really pissed me off.
I have seen what all the others have posted as finished works so far, and considering that, I am convinced you’ll got the best chances at winning.
Good work.
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I totally understand that you want to fill space a bit more. It can look very empty if you go for realism.
It could be amazing to make the rings out of millions of little rocks (as they are in reality) - which are only lit by a side-light. So you would get more details in them. But I don’t know if Blender would need a heart massage after that. 
ps: thanks a lot for your kind words. I can only return them. I always love what you create.
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Thanks Romanji, I might be glad that you didn’t enter… I remember your scifi corridor that you posted a while back, really good stuff! Would have liked to see what you would’ve come up with for this. In the end, I’m just glad to have the motivation to see a project through to the end. I’ve lost more of these CGBoost challenges than I care to count, but it’s definitely helped me to grow and push myself in ways that I never would have otherwise. Maybe we’ll see you in the next one?..
Haha, I pretty much only have until tomorrow night to finish before the deadline. Not sure I’ll get to adding 1,000,000 little asteroids, but once again, your suggestion has me thinking… I’ve had too many nights with 5 hours of sleep lately, what’s a few more?..
Ooooh, those millions of little asteroids would look stunning in the sunny backlight.
Don’t worry Ben, your work is great, no matter what you do for the background.
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Yeah, that’s what i am missing right now. I have a light case of winter-depression and i just feel drained and empty.
While you are busting your ass off, i am laying in my bed, binge watching anime and sci fi shows. 
Funny, for the composition i had the exact same thing in mind like you did. Big ship flying from right to left.
Instead of a planet with ring i had the idea to create a huge smoke cloud and debris of a ship broken in half, recently destroyed.
For the main ship itself, i had planned to make it like a spacecraft carrier with a huge opening where squadrons of fighter jets emerging from.
Couple of explosion and other ships in the background to give the impression of a space battle between huge fleets.
Quite gigantic - i think it was obvious why i failed at it - to big, not enough time, i discovered this contest only a week ago.
Maybe the next one with a topic i like. This one felt naturally appealing, since i am a sucker for SciFi.
Dude, I get it, winter depression is no joke, I’ve definitely been there. Hopefully your creativity will start flowing soon, nothing like a good project to help snap you out it. Your idea sounds pretty epic, might be worth pursuing, even though the challenge is officially over. Scale that big, might be a better long term project anyway.