Apple knocks it out of the park with the almost alive iPad.

(Above) Samples of Andy Probert’s new ap for the Apple iPad.

I am not a Mac evangelist, nor am I a PC evangelist. No platform is perfect, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I use the platform that works best for what I’m up to. When I am at work at the visual effects office we use PC’s, as they deliver more bang for our buck, but lately when I am reading a book, the newspaper, or just surfing the web, you will find me with an iPad. Talk about futuristic. Who needs flying cars when you can have one of these? It’s the living incarnation of our Star Trek PADD. The iPad is sleek, smart, fast, clever, and stacked. There are thousands of aps, many of them free at the Apple ap store. If you are a lover of science fiction design, search “Andy Probert” and download the amazing one’s new E-book, “Concept 101 – The Worlds of Probert”.  In addition. I found an astonishing program called “Star Walk” and had myself an epiphany.

Watch the quicktime below and see Drexler babble like a fool over “Star Walk”. Anyone have a Taser?

Go Ahead… Make My Day!

I was delighted to read a review of the Mac iPad on the blog “Geek In The City”, and discover this:

“The iPad is impressive in its marriage of form and function. The design seems to come directly out of the lab of Herman Zimmerman or Doug Drexler, but via Cupertino and Jonathan Ive. The screen looks vibrant and crisp, and the bezel appears to be just the right size to allow one to hold onto the device without activating the touch screen. The ability to use the device at any angle certainly makes it a bit more versatile than its smaller siblings, neither of which allows you to use the screen in the upside-down mode.”

http://geekinthecity.com/?p=3038

1701 Cutaway

A cutaway I created of the original Enterprise. From our Mirror Universe episode of  Star Trek: Enterprise. Bright and colorful, just like TOS. Give it a click.

NX-01 Enterprise Class

Enterprise – Rendered by Rob Bonchune

Since we featured the Akira yesterday, I thought it would be fitting to cover the Enterprise class today. The dedication plaque refers to the class as NX (This was a request from on high), but according to naval tradition, the first ship of a new contract is what the class is named, so Enterprise class. My main mission was to inject as much of the original Enterprise into this ship as I possibly could, and I made sure that the basic dynamic between the saucer and the nacelles was the same. To a person with a sharp eye, the NX-01 is loaded with TOS Easter eggs, and one of these days I will write up a key and post it.

By the way, I have posted these images at a higher resolution than I usually do, so that you can see the enormous attention to detail that Pierre and I injected into this ship.

U.S.S. Relativity – UPDATED!

My old buddy from Foundation Imaging days, Brandon MacDougall,  just sent me this extremely cool rendering of the timeship, U.S.S Relativity, from Voyager. He rendered it anew, especially for you guys! Click for a better look at Brandon’s outstanding work.

(Below) And thank you Rick for sending your original plans along. Continued on the next page.

Alex Jaeger Week – The Akira Class

I was going to do a side by side of the Akira and the NX-01, but Alex sent me so much great stuff on his ship that we will concentrate on it, and get back to a side by side at a later date.  As everyone knows, the NX was based on the Akira, in fact the Enterprise producers had decided that they were going to use the Akira as is for the NX Enterprise! Herman Zimerman, the Enterprise production designer talked them in to letting us come up with a version that was across between the TOS ship, and the Akira class.

 Alex is an incredible artist, evidenced by this jaw droppingly original design. Not only that, but he is a great guy to boot, as evidenced by his sending me a wonderful commentary on the ship’s creation, including his stunningly beautiful sketches. So let’s get on with it, here now, Alex Jaeger in his own words -

I love the stance of the bird of Prey, so that was my main influence, to make a ship with an aggressive stance. I also wanted to make a carrier of sorts, more akin to the Galactica with fly-through shuttle hangers and I also loved the ‘roll bar’ weapons pod of the Excelsior. Therefore the bay doors are both front and rear and the weapons pod on the boom. There was considerable thought put into the placement of elements. Since we were going to flesh out one of these background ships for a close up I knew it would be scrutinized….and it has For more than 13 years!

Producer’s Layout Presentation Plans

My diagrams of the NX, compiled for Herman’s first ship’s internal arrangement meeting with our producers.

Alex Jaeger Week – Steamrunner Class – UPDATED!

Another great Alex Jaeger design, the Steamrunner class starship.

We had such a great response with Alex’s Sabre class yesterday, that we’ll just keep on goin’! Today Steamrunner! Like the Sabre, Steamrunner made it’s first appearance in “First Contact”, and like Sabre, it made an indelable impression on fandom. Similarly barely glimpsed, this ship continued to make teasing appearances on DS9. So here it is folks! Front and center! Time to analyze and ask your questions, and we’ll see if Alex will drop in and give us his thoughts! Tomorrow we’ll finish Jaeger week with the pictorial you thought you’d never see: Akira facing off with it’s sister ship, Enterprise NX-01! So get out your paddles, and get ready to stir things up! Aloha!

Sabre Class

We caught our first glimpse of the Sabre class in the Trek feature “First Contact”. Ever since, all we’ve caught are glimpses. Designed by Alex Jaeger and built at ILM, this ship has appeared countless times on DS9 taking part in gigantic space battles against the Dominion juggernaut. What always strikes me about this design is how different it’s character is in 3/4 as opposed to a side profile. Although built quickly and economically for use as deep background, the Sabre class nevertheless made an impact on fans everywhere.

Neelix’s Space Ship – The Baxial

Neelix’s ship is one of those space going winnebagos we just never ever got a chance to see clearly until today. The level of detail and texture tells me that the model was built as a one shot, with the idea that if we ever saw it again, it would be uprezzed specifically to support that scene. Rick? I think this is one of yours? Any background you can offer us on Neelix’s ride would be awesome.

Intrepid Class Escape Pod- UPDATED!

(Above) One of Voyager’s lifeboats

For some reason, starship life boats really grab the imagination. I guess it’s the suggestion of a last ditch situation that spurs it. Recently when Somali pirates held a U.S. freighter captain hostage in one of the ship’s futuristic life boats, I couldn’t help but think of it’s starship counter part. Texture and smaller detail is scant on this model, but when building it you consider that with motion blur turned on, you will never ever see it… until today, that is.

(Below) Contemporary maritime lifeboats.

Valiant Pictorial

Another rarely seen ship from Mike and Denise’s Star Trek Chronology, the Valiant. Built by master modeler Greg Jein, and built expressly for the book. These pictures were taken before the decision was made to add warp nacelles to the vessel.

I’ve always like the idea that before the Enterprise 1701, most spaceships looked like this, and that the Enterprise was the first “starship” that featured the saucer arrangement. Remember Harry Mudd’s reaction to the Enterprise. Seeing a “starship” was something special, and you didn’t see one every day. Presented here is a nice array of shots of this historic Trek spaceship, and I look forward to your analysis.