The "Inner Space II" series continues! In Episode 2 we explore and play where no one has ventured before. What will the new interiors look like?
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CreativityTranscript
00:00Hello, DP community, and welcome back to Innerspace 2.
00:17This is the continuation of 2020's Episode 1, so yeah, it's been a while.
00:22But I hope you're ready to continue, because I'm again counting on your participation and
00:27ideas to create the same level of magic and satisfaction I felt when we wrapped the first
00:33Innerspace series.
00:35If you recall from Innerspace 1, we went from this sort of rough blocking and discussion
00:41in the second episode to this amazing new viewing room in the finale.
00:46Two years later, that new space remains part of DP's official Phobos interior design.
00:54Innerspace 2 refocused our attention to the Mystery Decks, and just like the first series,
01:00I used Episode 1 to introduce the situation and boundaries we need to think about for
01:06this next rebuild.
01:08Please do watch Episode 2.1 as a refresher.
01:12Now while many of you were offering up ideas and suggestions following that opening episode,
01:18I was looking for further ways to filter the possibilities.
01:23To this end, I revisited Starfleet's familiar Frigate lineup, which as luck would have it,
01:29I had already featured in the single-shot episode, Thug Life.
01:34So let's make use of a readily available DP image.
01:42These three Frigate starships need to look distinct and special, otherwise there's really
01:48no point in having multiple classes.
01:51But do you notice something about the Lachnar-class Exemplar that stands out here?
01:56And no, I'm not referring to the split secondary hull, because that's the design feature unique
02:03to the Lachnar refit that defines her as a separate Frigate class.
02:08The Miranda has her roll bar, and the Soyuz has her prominent spine extension.
02:15If you're a seasoned Trek fan, I'm sure you're locked on to what's missing.
02:19Do you see it now?
02:21Well, I had started thinking about this when episode one went live, and so I was eager
02:26to see if any of your comments would bear this out.
02:29Yep, there it is.
02:31Stephen Firestein had the same thinking, though he might have arrived at his idea using a
02:36different line of reasoning.
02:38Bays.
02:39Of course, it has to be some sort of utility bay that lives here.
02:44The Miranda has her 1 and 2 bays.
02:47The Soyuz has her 1, 2, and 3 bays.
02:51So it makes perfect aesthetic sense that our Lachnar refit must sport her own version
02:56of the 1 and 2 bays.
03:00So during the holiday break, I went ahead and worked on the exterior portion of the
03:05new bays.
03:07Just ignore any strange geometry or brokenness that you see.
03:11This is my mock-up mesh.
03:13It is not the filming model.
03:15The purpose of today's episode and your ensuing comments is to reach a decision about
03:21what's going to live in this part of the Starship, but none of that will change the
03:26fact that this space will normally appear like this, doors closed.
03:33What I've done here is rebuild the hull so as to recess the door a bit.
03:39In keeping with Starship canon, I've also decorated the edge with lighting and have
03:44added some lettering detailing.
03:46My thinking here is that because the two new bays are prominent starboard and port structures,
03:53I could have the signage double as navigation side lights.
03:58So the bay on the port side would have the same lettering, but in red light.
04:02I'm not married to this detail, however, so if you think it makes better sense to use
04:07some kind of, I don't know, amber or white illumination on both sides, do let me know
04:13in the comments.
04:15The reason the inner space to build is so important and more complicated is we have
04:20to simultaneously consider the upper deck space.
04:24Recall that this area of the Starship is three decks.
04:28The lower two decks will become some kind of utility bay and the top deck will become
04:33the new peek-through space.
04:35Whatever we build here will likely have new window configurations and will provide a new
04:40source of interior detail to the camera, much like the officer's lounge, the e-lounge,
04:49and the viewing room.
04:51One issue you need to factor is whether the upper deck space has any functional connection
04:56to the bay space.
04:57It doesn't have to.
04:59Much of this will depend on what kind of bay you're imagining and today I will offer two
05:04narratives to illustrate how design of the upper deck space might be informed by the
05:10bay.
05:11I'm now going to offer some seeds.
05:14You're going to supply the soil and the fertilizer and in episode three, we'll see what grew
05:20from today's discussion.
05:23You can see I have several drafts of the new space.
05:26I would just save a new version each time I changed or elaborated the story playing
05:32out in my head.
05:33This work was done more than a year ago so I'll be trying to remember my thinking during
05:39today's discussion.
05:46All right.
05:47We are back in Lightwave Modeler.
05:51So let's open up our first project.
05:54So you have to remember that the space we're working on is literally nothing.
06:00It's an empty cavity.
06:01There's no definition on the other side of the hall so I'm guessing, even before I look
06:07at the file, I'm guessing my first file here, the first version would be me just blocking
06:14out the space, adding walls and ceilings and all that because there's nothing.
06:20So there shouldn't be too much here, just a general sketch of the space.
06:26So we've got the bay area blocked in and then we see the upper deck I have as open
06:36space.
06:37I have it as a platform actually looking down into the bay.
06:44So here's looking down here.
06:45So yeah, it's an open platform, possibly would have been maybe workstations up here.
06:53This is probably what I was thinking, but the point really is that by having the upper
06:59deck as an open platform, my early thinking is that the upper deck and the bay are connected
07:06definitely.
07:07All right, let's go to the next version of this.
07:13Okay, now I've added people.
07:17This makes sense because once I have defined the space, I would be interested to know and
07:24to feel like what the scale is.
07:26So what I've done here is I've dropped in my scaling figures.
07:32If I remember from Innerspace 1, the default size of these figures is on the short side.
07:42I think it was like 1.6 meters and we really want them to be closer to 1.75.
07:49So let me just check right now to make sure that I actually did properly scale these guys
07:55going forward.
07:57So let me pull up my measure tool here.
08:00Top of the head to the soles of the feet, great, 1.74 meters.
08:06So I did scale these guys already.
08:10Okay, so version two is nothing except me just dropping in the figures to help me start
08:17to visualize the space better.
08:20Okay, let's go to the next version.
08:24Okay, now what I've done here is I've added in a vehicle here.
08:29So now I'm starting to think about the story of this space.
08:34This shuttle, as I remember, it came from a collection, like a tactical fleet collection
08:41of shuttles.
08:43And I started to strip it down.
08:44I just wanted something very basic, but I wanted it to be a very different vehicle than
08:50the shuttle that we have in the main shuttle bay.
08:53So I found it, I thought it looked really odd, and then I started stripping it down.
08:59My recollection here is that I'm thinking of this as a tugboat.
09:05So this would be, for example, the Phobos is flying into a region of high conflict and
09:13maybe assisting a distressed starship.
09:17So in that situation, the Phobos could drop off one of these tugboats for assistance and
09:24wouldn't necessarily have to remain in that sector.
09:28So I think that was the first story I was going through here.
09:33So that means the bay and the upper deck space are just all related to maintaining, launching,
09:41and monitoring assistance with this tugboat.
09:48Okay, let's go to the next version and see how the story changed.
09:56Okay, here I've started to think about the function of this space.
10:02So I've thought about, okay, well, how do you get from the upper deck platform area
10:08down to the bay?
10:09So I threw in some stairs, which I found probably on one of the free 3D sites, object sites.
10:20So I've just very roughly threw in some stairs here to see how that might function, getting
10:28from up to down.
10:31Other than that, nothing has changed here.
10:32So let's open up the...
10:37Okay and then here I am just adding in more details.
10:39So here we've got railing now.
10:41So I found a railing and was thinking about how would I really decorate the upper platform
10:47here.
10:48Of course, you would want to have railing.
10:51You can't have people just dropping off from the upper deck.
11:00And of course, I mean, I just have this one side done, but that's just there to, as a
11:05proof of concept, the whole space would be blocked off for safety.
11:13Okay, let's go to version five.
11:17Okay, it looks like the shuttle changed.
11:20Oh, there's a couple more changes too.
11:21So the shuttle changed.
11:22I was continuing simplifying and modifying the shuttle.
11:26So I've removed the rocket launchers, which makes sense because my thinking is not really
11:35aggression and attack.
11:37It's more service lending assistance to a disabled starship.
11:44And then the other thing that I noticed that's different here is I actually walled in here.
11:48So here I'm playing with the possibility of having windowed walls to mark off the upper
11:57deck stations where people are working or monitoring.
12:03So modifications to the shuttle and then playing around with what if we had walls in
12:09windows.
12:11This is more similar to the shuttle bay in Star Trek V, the shuttle bay that we saw in
12:19the Enterprise A. Okay, so let's go to version six and see what's going on.
12:34Version six I checked and it does not differ from five.
12:37The only difference is I re-centered the object to make work easier on it.
12:45So there's actually no structural change.
12:47So I'm going to jump to version seven here.
12:51Okay, so now notice the upper deck now is closed and I have the beginnings of a separate
13:02room.
13:04I've taken the upper deck now and I'm now thinking about it as two rooms.
13:09So there's a room here where the guy is standing.
13:12There is a central corridor here and then another room.
13:16So here I start playing with the idea of these being suites, either living spaces or maybe
13:24large offices.
13:28And if I recall, the narrative change that led to me thinking about closing this is that
13:35I was thinking about this now being a lifeboat.
13:40So previously it's been a tugboat, a shuttle for assistance to distress or disable vessels.
13:48But here I'm thinking about VIPs and dignitaries who are on the USS Phobos.
13:56So the story here is that in the event that the Phobos is in danger or imminent danger
14:06while carrying VIPs and dignitaries, they would be staying here.
14:12This would be the VIP suites and in the event of an evacuation, they would then be on this
14:18special shuttle and would be removed from the region and from the starship.
14:28So now I'm thinking the function of the shuttle is different and then that led me to rethink
14:34the upper deck.
14:36I think later we'll see, I blocked off the front part here.
14:40So the forward part would be offices or control rooms with the VIP suites in the back.
14:49So here would be a suite, here would be another suite.
14:55And then in the front would be security stations, some type of operation where Starfleet personnel
15:02would be working or staying in here related to security and monitoring to ensure the safety
15:10or the safe arrival of important people who are on this starship.
15:17Let's see what changed for version 8.
15:21Oh, I know, that's a cutter.
15:27That's why that's there.
15:28So let me show you what it looks like without that cutter there.
15:34So that cutter was added to poke a hole in the ceiling.
15:38So I'm still on the same narrative, two suites.
15:42You can also see here now I've blocked in the forward part here.
15:46So the forward part now is like a separate station.
15:49And the idea here is that we have a corridor going to the station in the front.
15:57This cutout is, I was thinking it would be cool if that was like glass.
16:03So that's supposed to be glass.
16:05As you're walking through here, you can monitor and see the bay below.
16:15So there would be a door here going into this room and a door here going into this room
16:21and then the corridor going to here.
16:23So there would be a door here.
16:26You can see I've boxed in what would be the control room or office for this space.
16:36All right, so those are the two early ideas I was playing with as I started mocking up
16:45this space, playing around with it, and just trying to imagine what might be happening
16:50here.
16:51Yeah, so this is going to be the fun part now, waiting for you guys to continue this.
17:00So what should this space be used for and is it connected to the upper deck?
17:04Again, it doesn't have to be, but what do you see the upper deck space functioning as?
17:12In terms of peek through windows, we would probably have a window here, windows along
17:22here and possibly here.
17:28But the placement of windows will of course depend on the decision as to what this space
17:34is.
17:36All right, so at this point I want to stop and then turn the sandbox over to you guys
17:43and gals and let you decide what you want this to be.
17:48So start thinking about the space.
17:52What is the base space for?
17:55Is it connected to the upper deck and if so, how would you get there and what is the purpose
18:00of the upper deck?
18:02How would you arrange it?
18:05Where would you put windows?
18:07And then just like Inner Space 1, the final reveal will be in the next episode.
18:14All right, so have some fun thinking about this and we'll return to this in episode 3.
18:22Until next time, this is Antimatter.