Trek Ships at Warp

Using the free, open source Computer animation program called Blender, I created these clips. In them you can see different Star Trek Ships zipping by at warp speeds. I made these in order to learn compositing, and scene merging, as well as trying to figure out how to make dynamic "star streaks" as seen on the Trek programs and movies.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Starship
• Star
• trek
• Blender
• Animation
• computer
• generated
• Olympic
• Class
• New
• Orleans
• Cheyenne
• Ambassador
• Nova
• Challenger
• warp
• Flyby

[JLR0958]

The Warp imaging is wrong; the galactic field should be visible. The stars would not appear to move like that because of the vast distances between them. A faintly dust tunnel with a hint of the light spectrum mixed in should periodically appear with space particles flashing when they hit the ship's deflector shield. The distant stars would move very, very slowly and the closer stars just a little faster, but not much faster. Aside from that it looks very cool.

[Gryphon1973]

@JLR0958

Thanks. Probably I will eventually make 2 or three layers with the streaks going at different speeds, for depth. Actually, if you look at the first fly past on the Challenger and Ambassador classes, I sorta did something like that there. I know there should be a stationary star field in the background as well, but if you do that then you tend to get comments about how all the "stars" should streak. Probably because that was often how it was portrayed on television.

[JLR0958]

@Gryphon1973 The way it was done in the movies is how they believe it looks; you will have the most realistic warp image there is. The tube of ash is what will give your image a sense of speed, not the stars; they barely move. If we traveled to Proxima Centauri at light speed, the trip would take 4+ LY one way. Year 1, a point of bright star; year 2, a brighter star with two colors; year 3, two different colored very bright stars and year 4, 2 different colored suns the star field is the same.

[Gryphon1973]

@JLR0958

Oh, Yes I understand. You are completely correct. Even at relatively high warp it takes a starship hours to cross a single sector, a sector generally containing only two or three systems. But this is more or less how Trekkers are used to seeing Warp speed depicted.

[Gryphon1973]

In most of the dynamic passes I did use WAY more streaks than is generally shown, but since those streaks can't be stars anyway, that hardly matters. If those apparent Stars streaking by are just particles hitting a deflector screen, then maybe the ships are just passing through an area of relatively high density.

Eventually I will settle on a compromise between the imagery on the shows and something more "realistic." These clips are really just experiments for a part-time hobby.

[kb7rky]

@JLR0958 MMmm hmm...

Would you like a tranquilizer?

Best dialog ever between Bones and Kirk...

[msbae]

I liked the Ambassador class ship the best.

[JLR0958]

@gregstitzproductions On the contrary, they should be further away; the image should have a galactic field image ahead with faint streaks of dust passing by every now and then and flashes of space particles impacting the deflector shield and streaking around the ships field very fast. Also, the closest stars passing by very slowly to give it a realistic effect.

[JLR0958]

To calculate a star date, you need to add our present star date, 2011.04 to the distance of a star from Sol; we'll use Proxima Centauri, 4.05 LY away and you get Star date 2015.09 when you get there. When you return, you subtract the 4.05 LY. If you remained on PC for 2 years, you will add that 2 years to Star date 2011.04 and get Star date 2013.04, adding a few months for precision.

[JLR0958]

For everything there is a first time Lt.; don't you agree Admiral? Spock (The wrath of Khan)

[JLR0958]

@Gryphon1973 Since you're good at this, maybe you can do something no one has thought or considered; The solar system has an Ort cloud, Kyper and asteroid belts, I have never seen a passage ways through the Kyper or asteroid belts or Ort cloud gates into our system.

A good way for Starfleet to guard our territory.