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Naboo fighter

Mastering 3D Graphics ~ issue #5

LightWave
~ Rich Maurice

Overview.
The release of the new Starwars
movie, The Phantom Menace,
brings some new craft into the
Starwars universe. The new ships
are of a far more radical design
than their predecessors in the first
three movies. One of these is the
Naboo Fighter of the Royal Naboo
Honor guard, the N-1. This tutorial will show you how to digitally
recreate this classic ship. No space
fighter is complete without its pilot, so we will also create a Naboo
fighter pilot for added realism.
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Throughout the galaxy, peoples often go beyond pure


utilitarianism in their Royal spacecraft designs, and express the values of their native culture through their ships
a custom which explains the striking look of the Naboo
Royal N-1 Starfighter. This handcrafted space fighter
embodies the Naboo love of elegant design, and includes
all the necessary equipment within a custom designed
space frame, making the ship a work of art.
Created for the purpose of planetary defense sorties, patrols
and formal diplomatic escort missions, the N-1 sports galactic standard sub light engine components in a vectored Jtype (twin radial) configuration, allowing the lightweight ship
to maneuver with quickness and precision. In accordance
with the Naboo philosophy of harmony, the engines were
modified for cleaner operation, which results in fewer atmospheric emissions during launch and landing cycles.
The N-1 pilot is assisted by a galactic standard astromech
unit (R2), loaded through a hatch in the underside of the
ship. The cockpit is equipped with complete life support
systems, while a compact hyperdrive provides the spacecraft with deep space autonomy, especially useful when
N-1 fighters serve as the Queens Honor Guard on visits
to other planets.
As the galaxy edges into increasing unrest, the symbolic
purpose of noble fighter corps like Naboos N-1 squad-

rons begins to fade before the threats and actions of great


powers. The dreadful weapons and ships now being
amassed by certain organizations are dedicated to nothing but destruction, and there is little that comparatively
fragile artwork spacecraft could do against such savage
war machines.

Naboo fighter technical specifications.


The single pilot Naboo Royal N-1 Starfighter was developed by the Theed Palace space vessel engineering corps
for the volunteer Royal Naboo Security Forces. Sleek and
agile, the small N-1 faces its aggressors with twin blaster
cannons and a dual magazine of proton torpedoes. The
N-1 is only found on the planet Naboo and rarely seen
even there. The N-1 like the Queens Royal Starship uses
many standard galactic internal components in a custom
built space frame that reflects the Naboo peoples love of
handcrafted elegant shapes. The Naboo engineers fabricate some of their own parts such as fuel tanks and sensor antennae, but most of the high technology equipment
is acquired by trade with other more industrialized worlds.
The Theed Palace engineers developed a customized engine system however, based on a standard Nubian drive
but significantly modified to release fewer emissions into
the atmosphere. The Naboo being a peaceful people, the
Space Fighter Corp is maintained more through tradition
as for military defense, and primarily serves as an honor
guard for the Queens Royal Starship. Nonetheless, the

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Royal Naboo security Forces train in the N-1s on a regular basis, prepared for the honor of serving the Queen if
necessary, since service to the Queen symbolizes service
to the great free people of Naboo themselves.
The center rat tail finial projecting from the rear of the
N-1 is a vital component, linking the ship to the palace
hanger systems via a plug-in socket found at the rear of
each ships protective revetment area. The primary purpose of this finial is to receive high voltage power charge
energy delivered from the palace generators to activate
the ships systems. The secondary purpose of the center
finial is to receive coded information from the palaces
battle computer. The palace battle computer transfers
complete battle coordinates and strategic plans into each
fighter, allowing the pilots to concentrate on operating
their ships systems while the flight computer automatically directs the ship on a trajectory to the target zone.
The rat tail finials projecting from the engines may look
like design flourishes, but in fact they are part of the customized engine system developed by the Theed Palace
engineers. The finials are actually heat sinks, which circulate coolant and help dissipate the excessive heat of the
Nubian engines. The customized Naboo engine configuration burns hotter than normal so as to burn more cleanly,
since the Naboo people are very careful not to pollute
their planets environment.

The on board astromech R2 unit performs in flight systems


management and flight performance optimization as well as
offering limited repair capabilities. To fit into the N-1s small
droid socket, the on board R unit is loaded into the fighter
from below. The droids legs then telescope into themselves
slightly and the droids head telescopes upwards from its
body to appear at the back of the fighter.
The canopy of the N-1 slides forwards to allow boarding
by its pilot. The small cockpit has full life support capabilities and contains all the instruments for navigation and
weapon systems.
The N-1 fighter sports a gleaming chromium finish on its
forward surfaces; purely decorative, as this finish indicates
the ships royal allegiance. Early Naboo spacecraft required
a chrome like finish for protection from harmful rays in the
planets upper atmosphere. Now the spacecraft and their
pilots are fully shielded from such rays by electromagnetic
field technology. The chrome finish is now retained for tradition and kept as a royal symbol. Only royal ships may
carry the hand finished chromium treatment.

Ships data.
Design and manufacture: Space frame by Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering Corps
Configuration: J-type (twin radial sub light engines)

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Length: 11 m (36 ft)


Sub light engines: Nubian 221, modified.
Hyperdrive: Nubian Monarc C4
Crew: 1 pilot assisted by 1 mandatory astromech droid.
Armament: Twin laser cannons, proton torpedo magazine with a capacity of 10 proton torpedoes.

Reference Material.
Reference material for the Naboo N-1 was pretty hard to
acquire on the Internet. I managed to find some information and a few small pictures of it however. For a more
accurate model though the best approach would be to
buy a plastic model kit, as you could use it to get the
actual dimensions of the ship.

turing purposes and integration with other objects in your


scenes. We know the model is 11 meters long, so set
your view so that you see at least 11 squares of 1 meter
in your side view port.
Now, depending on what resource material you are working with, load in your background template image. You
could use a side view image that you got from the Internet
or a book, or you might be able to scan a side profile
from a plastic model kit. If you cant find a suitable image, load in the background images included in the resource file. Scale your background image so that the fighters body will span 11 meters.
Go into add points mode and outline your N-1s side profile as shown in figure 1. Try to make these points as

Creating the
basic body
mesh.
Lets start creating the
N-1. Open your 3D
application and zoom
the side view until you
have an appropriate
grid size. Its best to
create all your models
to scale for both texFigure: 1.

Figure: 2.
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evenly spaced as possible, and add just enough for the


basic outline, as too many points at this stage will make
modeling a lot more difficult later.
Now, starting from
the front of the model,
add points in straight
vertical rows. Keep
them in line and
again, dont overdo it;
adding rows of 3 will
be enough for the
body sections, and 6
for the body/cockpit
canopy area. See figure 2 for the total
points added at this
stage. Note how extra
points are added for
the cockpit detail and
the front area of the
model.

front of the model and select points in a clockwise direction. Create Quads wherever possible as these work better with metanurbs. For the completed flat mesh, see figure 3. Give the model a surface name and
make it a bright yellow color.
Time to give your model some depth. Select
the center row of points as shown in figure
4. Pull these points out in the top view and
manipulate them with the drag tool to give
your model the shape as seen in figure 5.
Select the next row of points up as seen in
figure 6 and pull them out so that they are
midway between the top and center rows of
points. Repeat this step for the row just be-

Figure: 3.

We can now proceed


with creating polygons to create the flat
mesh. Start at the
Figure: 4.

Figure: 5.

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low the center row. You should now have an object that
resembles figure 7.
The cockpit area is still
flat, so we will add
some depth to it by
manipulating the
points as we did for
the body of the craft.
To make this task
easier the body that
has already been
formed will be hidden.
Select the flat polygons as shown in figure 8, and hide
unselected. Manipulate the points by
dragging them into
the positions shown in
figure 9.

movie. Lets remedy this by using metaform and smooth


shading. Select subdivide and use metaform with the default settings. The mesh is now a lot smoother and has a

Figure: 6.

Figure: 7.

Figure: 8.

Figure: 9.

The N-1 is now taking shape, but it looks


quite rough, unlike the
smooth curvy shape
of the N-1 from the

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much higher density. Open the change surface panel and


check the smoothing box. You should now have a nice
smooth model as in figure 10. We now need to create the
skirt to complete the
body shape. Select the
center row of points
using the side view.
Select the point from
the front tip, to just
past the cockpit, as
shown in figure 11.
Rotate these by about
10 degrees and pull
them down so that the
point at the front lines
Figure: 10.
up with the tip. Switch
to the top view and
pull these points out to
the right slightly, see
figure 12.

ure 13. In the side view, pull these points out to length as
shown in figure 14. Weld these selected points together
to create the point at the tail tip, then use the knife tool

Figure: 11

Moving on to the tail,


straighten up the last
row of points on the
tail section using the
drag tool, then select
them, as shown in figFigure: 12.

Figure: 13.

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to create another row of points about 1 meter in front of


the tip, see figure 15.
Now it is time to create the compartment
for the R-2 unit behind the cockpit. This
is best achieved by
using boolean union.
Lightwaves boolean
functions dont work
too well on open geometry, so we will
have to temporarily
join the two halves of
the fighter together.
Now select all the
polygons and mirror
the fighter half. Use
the numeric requester
to make sure the mirror is dead center.
Now invert the polygon selection and
name the selected surface temp. Switch
to a new layer and cre-

ate a cylinder that just fits snugly behind the cockpit, as


shown in figure 16. Give the cylinder the same surface
name as the Naboo hull. Now do a boolean union to join

Figure: 14.

Figure: 15.

Figure: 16.

Figure: 17.

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the cylinder to the hull. Use the statistics box to select all
of the polygons named temp and delete them to leave
just the original half of the hull. Select the polygons that
make up the left half
of the R-2 compartment, as shown in figure 17 and delete
these as well. Clean
up the join by merging points. You might
also have to manually
drag and weld some of
the points together to
get a clean join as
shown in figure 18.
Lets create the cockpit canopy. Select the
polygons shown in figure 19 and give these
a new surface.
Change the color to
dark gray and name
the surface canopy.
Cut and paste the
canopy into a new
layer and save this object, see figure 20.

The wings will be created using smooth shift. First we


need to create the wing profile shape. Use the knife tool
to cut the polygons shown in figure 21. Use the drag tool

Figure: 18.

Figure: 19.

Figure: 20.

Figure: 21.

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on the newly created points to create the shape shown in


figure 22. Select these wing polygons and smooth shift
with a value of zero. Pull these polygons outward and
scale them slightly, as
shown in figure 23.
Smooth shift, pull outward and scale two
more times to form
the final wing shape.
Once your wings look
correct, subdivide using metaform once
more. You should now
have a complete basic
body mesh for the
fighter, figure 24.

the Z-axis. Use the set value of Z=0 for these two points
and hit the P key to create a polygon, figure 26. Then
Lathe around the Z-axis; just 12 segments will be fine for

Figure: 22.

Figure: 23.

Figure: 24.

Figure: 25.

Adding Detail.
We will start adding
detail by creating the
engines. Select a new
layer and add seven
points, as shown in
figure 25, making
sure that both end
points sit exactly on

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this, see figure 27. Subdivide the newly created engine


using metaform. Now position the engine on the end of
the wing as figure 28 shows. Use boolean union to attach
the engine to the
wing.
At this stage its a
good idea to create
some surfaces. The N1 has a chrome under
side and front. We will
start with the front
first. Open a new
layer and use the box
tool to create a box
that covers the front
of the fighter as
shown in figure 29.
Give this box a new
surface, make it dark
gray and call it
chrome.
Use
boolean stencil to create the front surface
of the N-1. Select the
underside polygons of

the body as shown in figure 30 and give these the chrome


finish also.

Figure: 26.

Figure: 27.

Figure: 28.

Figure: 29.

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Moving on to the cockpit, select the points at the back of


the cockpit where we removed the canopy, and copy/
paste into a new layer. Make a new point at the x,y center
and make a polygon,
figure 31. Change its
surface to cockpit
back and cut/paste it
back to the fighter to
form the cockpit back.
Save the fighter object, see figure 32.
Load the previously
saved canopy into
modeler and metaform it with the subdivide function. Create a new sur face
named canopy frame
and use the same yellow color as the main
body. Make this surface smooth and double sided, figure 33. In
a new layer create a
box and position it
over the canopy leav-

ing the edges uncovered by it, figure 34. Use stencil to


create a new surface named canopy glass. Again make
this surface double sided and smooth. The canopy object

Figure: 30.

Figure: 31.

Figure: 32.

Figure: 33.

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should now look like figure 35. Save the canopy and load
the Naboo hull object into the same layer, figure 36.
Select the front polygons of the engines,
merge the polygons
then bevel them using
an inset of about
20mm and shift of
zero. Bevel again with
an inset = 0 and shift
= 20mm. Bevel two
more times using an
inset of about 100mm
and a shift of 200mm.
These values are just
guidelines and will
vary depending on the
size of your object. Select all the polygons of
the newly created engine
cone
and
metafor m
them.
Deselect these polygons except for the
last two rows where
the cone meets the

engine. Give these rows the same color as the Naboo


yellow surface. The front of the engine should now look
like figure 37.

Figure: 34.

Figure: 35.

Figure: 36.

Figure: 37.

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Select the rear polygons of the engines, merge the polygons then bevel them using an inset of 20mm and shift of
zero. Bevel again with an inset = 0 and shift = -50mm.
Copy and paste the
selected polygons to
an empty layer, then
bevel once more with
an inset = 0 and shift
= -50mm. Give the
selected polygons a
new surface called engine inner, figure 38.
Now change to the
layer where you
pasted the selected
Figure: 38.
polygons earlier. Bevel
with an inset = 40mm
and shift = 0. Select
every other polygon
around the edge of the
disk and delete them
to form a gear shape.
Extrude this gear
shape by 30mm. Now
select the inner disk
and bevel twice as we
did for the engine
Figure: 39.

cone, but make the last edge slightly bigger. Smooth shift
with a value of zero and pull out a few meters to form the
engine finial. Select the end points and weld them together. Metaform the polygons as shown in
figure 39 to complete the rear of the engines. Make these polygons the same color
yellow as the rest of the fighter, but name
the surface engine rear. Cut and paste the
rear of the engines back on to the fighter. It
should now look like figure 40.
No space fighter is complete without its
weapons, so lets create these now. Select
an area of polygons around the upper
chrome front of the hull and hide unselected.

Figure: 40.

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Using stencil, cut out an oblong section, select this section and then smooth shift with the value set at zero. Pull
the selected polygons to scale and rotate slightly to form
a channel for the guns, figure 41. Create a small tube
that will fit into this
channel, figure 42.
Boolean union the
gun into the gun channel as shown in figure
43. Un-hide the polygons and you should
have something that
resembles figure 44.
Working on the underside of the hull now,
create a channel for
Figure: 41.
the torpedo tube. Select about 15 of the
center polygons,
smooth shift and pull
in as we did for the
gun channel. Delete
the polygons that
form on the centerline
along the X-axis, figure 45.

Figure: 43.

Now its time to mirror the hull and merge the points as
we did before. Before you do this however, make sure all
of the points along the centerline sit exactly on the Xaxis. This is easily achieved by selecting these points and

Figure: 42.

Figure: 44.
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using set value X = 0; see figure 46 for the mirrored


fighter. Save your object!
Select the top ring of
points on the R-2
compartment. Copy
and paste into an
empty layer. Select
these points in a
clockwise direction
and create a polygon.
Bevel with an inset =
20mm and shift = 0.
Then again with an
inset = 0 and shift = 50mm. Cut and paste
back to the main
model, figure 47.

Figure: 45.

Figure: 46.

Figure: 47.

Figure: 48.

Just the torpedo tube


to add now to complete the basic model.
Create a tube as we
did for the guns and
boolean join into the
torpedo tube channel
as shown in figure 48.

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The R-2 Astromech Droid.


The Droid is very easy to model, as only the top dome
will be seen. The droid will be a separate object so it can
be animated later if required. Start with a
default sphere, figure
49 and delete the bottom 5 rows of polygons. Select the bottom row of points and
scale them up to the
same diameter as the
sphere, moving them
up slightly. Now select
the bottom row of
Figure: 49.
polygons as shown in
figure 50 and Smooth
shift with a value of
10mm, see figure 51.
Give this a white surface. Select the polygons shown in figure
52 and give them a
smooth blue surface.
Use the same surface
for the polygons
shown in figure 53.
Figure: 51.

Figure: 50.

Figure: 52.

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Triple all polygons to remove any non-planar polygons,


figure 54.
Now for the cameras.
Create a small 80mm
sphere in a new layer,
using 12 sides and 6
segments. Flatten the
top so that it looks like
figure 55. Select the
top points and pull up
50mm. Smooth shift
with a value of zero
and scale down
slightly. Smooth shift
again and pull down
by 50mm to form a
tube. Copy and paste
the selected polygon
disk at the bottom of
the tube into an empty
layer. Return to the
previous layer and
subdivide using metaform, figure 56. Go to
the layer where the
disk is pasted and ex-

trude it by 10mm. Smooth shift, move up and scale twice


to form the lens shape and give it a new surface name,
figure 57. Position the lens about midway up the tube,

Figure: 53.

Figure: 54.

Figure: 55.

Figure: 56.

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figure 58. Copy and paste the lens into the tube as shown
in figure 59. Save this object as R2 lens. Move the lens
into position and load a new lens. Repeat two more times
until the lenses are positioned as shown in
figure 60. Triple all
polygons
then
boolean join the
lenses to the R-2
head. Load the Naboo
fighter into a new
layer and move the R2 into position, as
shown in figure 61.
You may need to scale
Figure: 57.
the R-2 a little to get
it to fit. Use the rest
on ground tool with all
axes set to zero, and
save your completed
R-2 unit.

Figure: 59.

Modeling the cockpit interior.


The cockpit interior is pretty straight forward, as a lot of
it will not actually be seen. The only details that will be

Figure: 58.

Figure: 60.

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seen through the glass canopy are the instruments at the


front of the cockpit, and the detail behind the pilots headrest.
Lets start by removing the canopy. Select
all of the points shown
in figure 62 and copy
them into a new layer.
Create a polygon and
smooth shift with a
value = 0 and scale
down slightly. Change
the surface of the selected polygons, calling this new surface
cockpit interior, figure 63. Invert the selection and copy/
paste back to the
fighter layer, figure
64. In the top view in
the cockpit interior
layer, split this polygon in two using the
knife tool. Do this
about 10 points back

from the cockpit front. Select the rear polygon and smooth
shift, pull the polygon down by about 1 meter, then smooth
shift and pull down once more. Form the seat by moving

Figure: 61.

Figure: 62.

Figure: 63.

Figure: 64.

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the points shown in figure 65 up slightly. Now select the


polygon shown in figure 66, smooth shift and move it
forward. The cockpit is beginning to take shape.
Using a new layer create a cone in the top
view; use about 7 segments. Select the end
cap and scale it down
slightly by about 10%.
Change its surface to
display 1 and move it
in a little. Now use the
bend tool to shape the
cone as shown in figure 67. Copy this
cone into two more
layers. Change the
other two display surfaces to display 2 and
display 3. Scale the
new cones and bend,
then paste them together as shown in figure 68. Add them to
the cockpit interior,

then paste the cockpit back to the fighter, as shown in


figure 69.

Figure: 65.

Figure: 66.

Figure: 67.

Figure: 68.

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Just one more Item to add to finish the N-1; the pilots
seat. This object is very easy to create. Just add a box
and smooth shift or bevel the details out of it. Use
metaform to create the headrest. See figure 70 for the
finished seat. Add the
seat to the fighter and
we are done, figure
71. Paste the canopy
back onto the fighter
and save the completed object.

you could have a female piloting the Naboo if you wish.


Pose your model similar to that shown in figure 72. Once
you have a good pose, export your Poser object as a 3ds
file.

The Pilot.
For added realism, a
pilot is essential for
the N-1. For average
camera angles the
pilot wont require
a lot of detail, so an
adapted
Poser
model makes an
ideal pilot, and
saves a lot of time
and modeling work.
Open Poser and select a low detail
ideal human. I
chose a male, but

Figure: 69.

Figure: 71.

Figure: 70.

Figure: 72.
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Open Modeler and import your Poser model. You may


need to flip the polygons so they face outward. Scale and
rotate your pilot so that he fits snugly into the pilots seat.
You can also modify your seat to fit around the pilot.
Once it looks similar
to figure 73, you can
save your pilot object.
Time to add some
clothes. You wont be
able to see the feet so
these can be safely deleted, figure 74. Select
the head and hand
polygons then cut and
copy them to other
layers, figure 75. Create the flight suit by
smooth shifting with a
value of 5mm. Using
the head in the background layer, select
the top row of points
around the neckline
and form the collar,
see figure 76.

Use stencil to create the seat belts, as seen in figure 77.


Select the belt polygons and smooth shift with a value of
6mm to give them some depth. Give the hands a dark
surface (gloves) and paste them onto your pilot. Replace

Figure: 73.

Figure: 74.

Figure: 75.

Figure: 76.
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the head, giving it a skin surface, figure 78. Select the


polygons around the eyes and smooth shift them to form
the goggles. Create the helmet by selecting the scalp polygons and smooth
shifting out. Pull out
the front points
slightly to form the
peak. The headphones are easily
made using a couple
of discs with spheres
boolean joined to
them. For the finishing touch, make a
couple of joystick obFigure: 77.
jects using tubes with
about ten sections
then paste the pilot
into the cockpit, see
figure 79. This concludes the modeling
for the fighter. If you
dont have access to
Poser, or have any difficulty modeling the
fighter pilot, dont
Panic! Ive included
Figure: 78.

the pilot object in the resource files. Just scale it to fit


your fighter model.

Texturing The Naboo


Fighter.
Creating Templates.
Texturing the fighter is reasonably straightforward. The hull of the ship is smooth compared to the more traditional paneled look.
The first step is to grab some surfaces of the
model to use as templates. We will start with
the upper hull. Select the upper hull surface
and hide unselected polygons. In the top
view, scale the upper hull polygons to fit the

Figure: 79.

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screen, see figure 80. Use the Print Screen key on your
keyboard and paste into your paint program. Go back to
your model and repeat for the side view, figure 81. Now,
copy and paste the upper hull polygons to a new layer,
and select this as a
background layer.
Back in the main
layer, un-hide the
polygons and select
the lower hull chrome
surface. Hide un-selected and fit the
shown polygons into
the top view as before, see figure 82.

Adding small
details.

model into Modeler and select the upper hull surface.


Hide unselected and switch to a new layer, using the upper hull as a background template. Now add some text
and scale it to fit on the R2 compartment side, as shown

Figure: 80.

Figure: 81.

Figure: 82.

Figure: 83.

Small details such as


warning stickers and
other decals add realism to your models.
We will do this by using stencil as it saves
on creating extra
brush maps and uses
less memory to
render. Load your

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in figure 83. I used the Wingdings font for this as it looks


a little like what you might expect alien text to look like. I
used the pen tool to create the warning triangle. Give the
triangle and text a red
surface called warning. Select the drill
tool using warning
for the surface and x
for the axis; see figure
84 for the results. The
writing around the
frame of the cockpit
can be created using
the same method, using a dark brown
Figure: 84.
color, figure 85.
Create five small
disks on a new layer
and stencil them
onto the back of the
cockpit, as shown in
figure 86.

grab of the upper body into your paint program and crop
it so that it fits exactly into the image area, figure 87. Add
a new layer using a medium shade of gray for the back-

Figure: 85.

Creating the
brush maps.
Load your previously saved screen
Figure: 86.

Figure: 87.

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ground color and make this layer approximately 60% visible, figure 88. Use the line tool to create the flaps as
shown in figure 89. Now make this top layer 100% visible and save your image as top bump. Load in your
chrome surface
screen grab and
create a new layer
as before, figure
90. Now, using
the line tool again,
create a hatch under the R2 compartment
as
shown in figure
91; save as R2
hatch bump. FiFigure: 88.
nally load in the
side view and create the seam as
shown in figure
92; save the image as side
bump. All of the
above images
need only be 256color grayscale.

Figure: 90.

For the chrome and other reflective surfaces of the ship,


creating a reflection map is a good idea. You can use
traced reflections, but these will increase rendering time
and you will also need an environment to reflect in the

Figure: 89.

Figure: 91.
1999 Mastering 3D Graphics

Naboo fighter
page 28

surfaces. The fastest way to create a reflection map is to


render some clouds using PhotoShop, figure 93. If you
dont have PhotoShop, you can create the same map
using fractal noise in Lightwave, mapped to a flat plane
and saved as an image.

object. Lets start with the chrome; select the chrome surface and use the settings for this as shown in figure 96.
For the reflection options, use your fractal map as a spherical reflection map. Open the bump panel and apply the

The instrument panels for the fighter were created from


game screen grabs. Corresponding luminosity maps were
made by adding a new layer with a black background and
using a white airbrush over the top, figure 94.
Just one more texture to
create, the luminosity
map for the engine
burners. You need a
good airbrush for this,
so I used PhotoShop
to create the image
shown in figure 95,
using the settings
shown in the airbrush
options panel.

Figure: 92.

Figure: 93.

Applying the
textures.
Open Layout and load
your Naboo fighter
Figure: 94.

Figure: 95.
1999 Mastering 3D Graphics

Naboo fighter
page 29

R2 hatch bump, using auto sizing in the Y-axis. Use the


same chrome surface without the bump map for the rest
of the chrome on the ship.

Z = 30cm. Set the texture value to 100 and use 20cm for
texture falloff. Copy and paste this texture to the specular
channel and set its value to zero.

For the yellow paint surface, use the settings as shown in


figure 97. For the bump channel apply the top bump to
the y-axis with auto sizing selected. Select add new texture
and apply the side bump to
the x-axis with auto sizing
again. Use the same paint texture for the rest of the painted
surfaces. The engine finials
will have a few more textures
added to simulate engine glow
and discoloration. Open the
engine finial surface in the surFigure: 96.
face panel and select fractal
noise for the color texture. For
the texture size use X = 4cm,
Y = 4cm and Z = 40cm. Set
texture falloff to 30% in the zaxis. Copy and paste this texture into the luminosity channel and set the texture value
to 100. For the diffuse texture select fractal noise again
using X = 3cm, Y = 3 cm and

For the cockpit canopy, use the settings shown in figure 98.
Use the fractal map for the reflection options once more.

Figure: 98.

Figure: 97.

Figure: 99.
1999 Mastering 3D Graphics

Naboo fighter
page 30

Load the R2 object and parent it to the fighter. Use the


various views to move it into position. Texture the R2 as
shown in figures 99 and 100.

Move it into position behind one of the engines. Now


make one clone of it and position the clone behind the
other engine. Select the engine core surface and use the
settings shown in figure 102, to create the engine inner

Thrusters.
Go back to Modeler and
load the fighter as a background layer. Using an
engine as a template, create a disk with 6 sides and
1 section. Remove both
end caps, select the rear
polygons and scale up by
about 30%. Metanurb
and freeze them, then sub
divide using metaform
twice. Now triple the
thruster polygons to eliminate any non-planar polygons, see figure 101. Give
the object a thruster surface,
then center the object and
save as thruster.

Figure: 100.

Figure: 101.

Back in Layout, add the new


thruster object to the scene
and parent it to the fighter.
Figure: 102.

Figure: 103.

1999 Mastering 3D Graphics

Naboo fighter
page 31

glow. Click the advanced options tab and set the glow
effect to 100%. Use figure 103 for the thruster surface
settings and for the luminosity map use the thruster luminosity map applied to the x-axis as a planar image map.
For advanced options, set edge transparency to transparent and use 50% for
the glow effect. To animate the thrusters, use
fractal bumps as a displacement map in the
objects panel. Check
the world coordinates
box and use 5cm for
the texture size in all
three axes and use
0.02 for the texture
amplitude.

He now works for a virtual reality studio in the U.K. and


mainly designs textures and animates low poly characters
and objects for use in VR worlds. He has been doing this for
the past two years. He uses a wide variety of 3D applications at work including Lightwave, 3ds Max and Gamegen.

You should now have


a complete Naboo
fighter object.

Biography
Rich Maurice started
working with 3D in the
early nineties using Imagine on the Amiga.

1999 Mastering 3D Graphics

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