Oh, and I rendered this short animation test to try and gauge the render times, and get an idea of how this whole thing might look when the camera is working. The render took way too long, so I had to cut it off early. Looks like I’ll be using an a render farm for the final renders.
[VIMEO]162711253[/VIMEO]
The last second or so of the animation looks amazing. How long will the final animation be? Keep up the hard work!
I expect the short film to be 6-8 minutes long, but this ship is only going to be on screen for part of that.
I’ll do render tests in the mean time, but they’ll probably not be very long.
Done!
Well not quite, but asset itself is done, with textures and shading.
This is a downscale from a 5k render, but it’s still fairly high res if you right click and open it.
I’m working on a turntable, closeups and a couple of test shots showing it up close, but I might not post them until this time next week, because I have a final exam to prepare for.
By the way, the planet is a full, dynamic 3D earth I made a few months back. This is not supposed to be earth, but a planet made mostly of water (which is basically just an excuse not to have to paint textures for the land masses).
It has atmospheric effects, cloud shadows, sunset/rise tint, everything. What you see here is a nearly raw render. Maybe I should do a post about that some time.
This is downscaled from 5k, but the 5K render is still as crisp and sharp thanks to the extreme resolution of the cloud cover textures; I’m using a 40k NASA cloud cover texture from the Visible Earth catalog.
Awesome work man! not only the technical finesse in executing this highly complex scene with high level proficiency too completion but for me personally an excellent learning pathway, so well done indeed.
It has atmospheric effects, cloud shadows, sunset/rise tint, everything. What you see here is a nearly raw render. Maybe I should do a post about that some time.
Hell yeah! gets my vote if that helps any 
Loving the spaceship! When I first found atomic rockets I also spent huge amounts of time on that site, so interesting what we are already able to do (given the budget).
I would love to see a post about how you did that planet!
Thanks guys. It’s been a while, but I was a little burned out so I took a break. Quick update:
I finished the exam (this project was part of that), and I got top grades (yay) and a job (double yay). Despite that, I was never quite satisfied with the result, so I’ve been hesitant to upload it here and call it finished. So instead I’m going to upload it here, and call it “still work in progress”.
This is what I ended up with for my exam:
[VIMEO]168027523[/VIMEO]
My issue with this version is that it’s too zoomed in, it’s hard to get a good idea of the shape of the ship or even where on the ship the camera is pointed. And while initially I liked the realism that comes with the flat lighting, the model is simply not good enough that it also looks good with flat lighting. It reveals all the flaws and missing details.
(Right click and open for higher res)
Above is the original. Below is a revised version I threw together (ignore the missing engine lights).
In this version, I pulled back the camera, moved the sun to make it more of a rim light and tweaked the bounce light from the planet a little. I think the new lighting helps you understand the shape much better, and it has the added benefit of making the planet look more dramatic too, with the orange terminator visible. The downside is that now everything is very dark. I’ll have to add some extra lights back in to highlight the parts of the ship that I want to show off.
Also, this is just a 10 minute comp job, and there’s still a lot of work, but I think it’s a better starting point.
I’m very eager to hear if anybody here has any opinions. Which version do you like the best and why?
Your whole project looks amazing. I’m in total love with what you’re doing here - the attention to detail and realism is just amazing. 
So, personally I prefer the more dramatic lighting - it also gives you the chance to make the engine lighting be visibly reflected on the superstructure in a cool way. I’d also have the engine startup be staggered slightly, with a more impulsive startup event, rather than a gentle fade. That’d help sell the power of the engines.
About 9 years ago, I worked on something like this - it’s quality really doesn’t compare, but maybe there’s some inspiration in there for you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvXjmUcNWPA
Keep it up, I can’t wait to see more of this!
Thank you! I love your own project btw, really cool presentation.
I’ll definitely have to do a test with the engines and see what it looks like. Also, you’re right, after watching yours I realize that my engines are pretty impotent. How did you do the engines firing, especially that green glow that comes right as they ignite? Particles?
FINISHED PRODUCT! I didn’t get around to fixing the engines light, so I just left it alone. I’ll revise that when/if I start work on the short film itself, which is going to be a separate project.
For now, here’s the result, along with a quick breakdown.
[vimeo]169227770[/vimeo]
Right click > open for full res