Star Trek CGI Video: "No Place to Park"

I found this video on a CD I burned a few years ago. I was testing the Matte/Shadow features in 3D Studio Max and hit upon the idea of the U.S.S. Enterprise looking for somewhere to park in downtown Pittsburgh. Just made it as a bit of fun. Enjoy!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Star
• Trek
• CGI
• Video
• USS
• Enterprise
• NCC-1701
• 3D
• Studio
• Max
• Pittsburgh
• No
• Place
• to
• Park

[jtschau]

You are very talented. I wish I could help you answer the question on the official dimensions of the Enterprise, and at one time I could because I had the original blueprints by Franz Joseph Designs. But alas, it got thrown out with my comic collection by that woman I use to call "Mom". Oh, the horrors, the horrors I've seen....

[buckaroohawk]

@jtschau Thank you for the kind words. I sympathize with the loss of your collections. For better of worse I was spared such heartbreak because my mother never throws anything out. In fact, she's got stuff I'd pitch in the trash if I could get at it. I have the Franz Joseph blueprints, and while they are amazing in their detail, he got a lot of things wrong, so they aren't very reliable source material. Thanks for watching and for leaving a comment!

[Fetch26291]

Length wise, the Constitution class Enterprise is roughly the length of a football stadium. The secondary hull would fit on the field, but the nacelles and saucer would stick out over the stands.

[buckaroohawk]

@Fetch26291 From most of my research that sounds about right to me, but only when measuring the length of the field itself, not a whole stadium because some are bigger than others. I'm not sure how the US Steel Building stacks up (pardon the pun) against a football field, though. Maybe I can ask the building owners to move it across the river and set it down horizontally next to Heinz Field so I can get a confirmation. :-) Thanks for writing!

[Redrobin1301]

How the hell did you make this????? Please tell me!

[buckaroohawk]

@Redrobin1301 I rendered it in 3D Studio Max using a 3D model of the Enterprise and simple geometric objects placed where the buildings were in the photo. Then I applied a Matte / Shadow filter to those objects to make them transparent but still able to block any object moving behind them. Then I just passed the ship behind those objects and over the camera. Thanks for writing!

[Scioneer]

" Sir, the guy at the docks just said the Titanic came to port!"

" Screw the Titanic, did you see what just flew by?"

[nova2384]

lol I think I would faint if I saw the enterprise pull into my drive way. Could you imagine the Enterprise Dropping u off at school. and what about those traffic jams, just fire a phazer, no more jam. lol  my heads turning now Thank you

[buckaroohawk]

@TheDigitalThreat I hadn't thought of that. The angle of the photo doesn't give any reference to how far away the Steel Building is, which would muddle the size comparison a bit. Even though I know where the photographer stood when the photo was taken, I can't give an accurate distance from that spot to the building. I suppose the mystery (and the debate) will continue. Thanks for writing!

[TheDigitalThreat]

It's hard to tell size without seeing those buildings in person, probably why it looks so small to so many

[Idazmi7]

@buckaroohawk Your welcome!

[buckaroohawk]

@Idazmi7 I searched a ton of sources while trying to figure out the scale of the ship against the buildings, but there is a lot of contradictory info out there. I finally just went with what I felt looked best. Thank you for the link, though. It will certainly come in handy when I get around to making some new videos!