https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/4935
"In this thesis, we present a detailed analysis of the conventions that
appear in fictional spaceship design, including a discussion of their
origins, their uses in emulating certain traits, and reasons these
conventions might be followed or ignored. We uncover these conventions
by examining and comparing popular spaceship designs from the past sixty
years, which we present in a detailed survey. We also examine an
aesthetic interpretation of information theory, which can be used to
describe the balance of uniformity amidst variety, and discuss specific
strategies for incorporating these principles into the creation of
spaceship surface details. Procedural modeling describes a set of
techniques used to allow computers to generate digital content such as
3D digital models automatically. However, procedural modeling to date
has focused on very specific areas: natural scenery such as trees and
terrain, or cityscapes such as road maps and buildings. While these
types of models are important and useful, they focus on a specific
subset of the procedural modeling problem. Though procedural generation
can be an invaluable tool for providing viable and dynamic content, it
is troubling that so few types of objects have been studied in this
area. Using the aesthetic and spaceship principles we define, we have
developed a prototype system to procedurally generate the surface
details of a large scale spaceship. Given a surface representing the
frame of a spaceship, we apply geometry automatically in a coherent
manner to achieve the appearance of a spaceship by emulating important
traits."
This is a really interesting thesis! Lots of great examples of SF
spaceships.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
