TheHobb and SteveW official now?

[Darrell Lawrence]

TheHobb, AKA Todd Boyce, a member here who happens to work for SOny Pictures (or did last I knew) has a Battlespoo web site where he has a few of his own design takes that take place in the original BG universe. His ships are non-canon, etc etc.

This particular design-

http://ravensbranch.allen.com/artwork/defender_inv.jpg

- was then CGI modeled by our own SteveW, aka Steve Wilson, in trueSpace format.

I myself converted the model to Lightwave format for usage-

http://www.colonialfleets.com/gallery/data/media/1/projectposter-bg3.jpg

Anyways... the ship has now appeared in nuBG-

http://ravensbranch.allen.com/artwork/newseries_defender_med.jpg

-without Todd's knowledge!

"The Defender is my own design and is now undeniably canon as the ship is seen clearly in the season 2 finale of the new Battlestar Galactica series. It is unknown at this time if the ship serves the purpose I've outlined above" - Todd Boyce, as seen on his Battlespoo site.

http://ravensbranch.allen.com/colonialshipdescriptions.html

Look for the Defender.

[ernie90125]

Not sure this is BSG news, or more something for the modellers to debate.

There is a very similar debate located here, started by someone who believes that his X-Wing model has been used in SW advertising. http://boards.theforce.net/fan_films/b10015/23259649/p1/?104

It is my understanding that including another ship in a film is a homage. The original Enterprise is a ship in TNS fleet, placed there by Lee Stringer, but it took 2 years for anyone to spot ! I have also heard that the Millennium Falcon is in Star Trek : First Contact.

But I think these gentlemen should follow it up....

A model of theirs has been used in a commercial production, made for profit, without appropriate credit given.

Warrior - what was the Scattered Worlds project ? And will it see the light of day ?

[TwoBrainedCylon]

I can answer some of that. Shatterred World was a script written by John that has been adapted to Exodus Episode 2, which still retains the name "Shatterred Worlds". Production on this begins next Wed.

The Defender design was used as the "prowler" for The Exodus Series. There's some indication that Ron Moore and company paid some attention to the original script as some concepts very similar to those in the first draft script (which was posted on the Internet) seem to have appearred throughout GINO. There's some question as to where along the line this design made it into the GINO fleet but I now think the best explaination is simply that Fabio translated the Steve W. TRUESPACE mesh and was familiar with it. He could well have rebuilt the model and then used it in the Fleet as a CG effects insert. Under this concept, the producers were likely unaware that they were including a ship design that originated from a fan website. If someone has Fabio's e-mail, it might be worth it to touch bases with him and find out for sure.


Sandy

[Darrell Lawrence]

I'm trying to contact Fabs on messenger. I'm gonna talk to Lee Stringer about it too. I've pointed SteveW this direction to see if he can shed light. Also gonna e-mail/PM Todd.

earnie, this *is* news, and is thus posted here. Why is it news? Simple.

Either one or two of our members are now "famous" in having their work produced, ala Titon, *or* they've been ripped off (or both, depending on how you view it :) ).

[Darrell Lawrence]

Ok... cleared up a lot here folks! Talked to Lee about it. He put it in as an in-joke, and was himself suprised it actually made it to screen :)

[kingfish]

More than likely poor Steve and Todd were ripped off. Moore doesn't have one original idea of his own. It's all borrowed look at New Caprica. Well new Kobol was Tom DeSanto's idea for the CONTINUATION. Ron was going to reinvent the genre, well looks like all he did was rip peoples ideas off as his own.

[ernie90125]

Another inside joke, along with the original Enterprise.... One wonders how many other ships from other shows were added to the Fleet as 'inside jokes' ? Suppose the more inside jokes you have, the less original ships have to be created.

Pleased to hear the Shattered Worlds project will see the light of day......any news on the animation you were going to re-render Warrior ?

[Darrell Lawrence]

Paul, in this case, it was Lee who put it in there. He is always trying to do REAL tributes to the original and the fans. Due in large part to him, many of the Rag Tag ships from the original are in the new show.

As we've stated before here, the FX team of Zoic is one of the BEST things about that show.

[Stevew]

This might be the one they used but I am not sure, I did not watch the showhttp://www.firedragon.com/~cfleets/SWPIKS/libranpatrol.jpg

I could not tell but it looks like they removed the lower bay

[AlternityOrange]

The fan ship Lee put in was seen in the Desanto inspired-episode the other night right? Was this a bit of recycled footage from the mini or early season one? I'm confused because Lee doesn't work on the show anymore and hasn't in some time.

[Darrell Lawrence]

I'm not sure when the footage was from. Zoic had done a LOT of FX shots that were never used. This could be one of those.

On the other hand, when I talked to Lee yesterday, he didn't say whether or not he was still with Zoic, who *is* still doing FX for the show.

[AlternityOrange]

Well I know for certain he's not working with Zoic at present. My wife and I had dinner with him and Karen not too long ago and I spoke to him on the phone last week.

Does Zoic still just do two or three shots every couple of episodes like they were toward the end of season one or has skiffy actually started paying to use them fully again? I, mercifully, haven't been watching the show nor have I really kept up with Zoic since Lee left.

[Darrell Lawrence]

Well, I haven't watched it either :LOL: As to Zoic, not sure just what they're doing as far as the show. I state they are still working on it given far too many folks have commented RECENTLY about Zoic's work on the show, and Zoic was nominated for awards for S2 work.

[Darrell Lawrence]

Oh, and I just found out yesterday he was living in Orlando now. Lucky you!

[TheHobb]

:salute:

Hey there everyone!

Sorry for the delay in replying, I've been at a convention the last few days and haven't had internet access.

I noticed what looked like my ship in a couple of far-away shots in some previous episodes but nothing truly conclusive until I saw the shot pictured above in the finale. I was figuring that either someone at Zoic or someone from here that was working at Zoic (Titon maybe) and made it rather than an active effort of the production and I don't mind at all, though it does give me leverage should the production/studio decide to give me grief over my website in the future. :devil:

If Lee was the one that did it, could someone see if he could get me some nice renders of it for me?

Todd

[ernie90125]

I think this design is pretty neat, I like how it is within the Battlestar design family, whilst having its own character.

I hope that someone might make a fanfilm of her, with beauty shots and perhaps fending off a Cylon attack.
Show her in all her glory as a TOS ship, she deserves a showcase.

[Jan Reinar]

It's is a sad way to make a first post but I think they can made little changes in the original desing as the lack of the lower bay. But it still is the same ship! :salute:

[Darrell Lawrence]

Todd, do you mean by way of renders from the show shots, or just simply renders of it?

[TheHobb]

I'd love to get some simple top/side/front/back/bottom renders and a couple of 3/4 view renders. Nothing fancy but optimally, if Lee wouldn't get in trouble, something I could use on my site to replace the image I grabbed from the screen. :thumbsup:

[Darrell Lawrence]

Like these, you mean?

http://www.colonialfleets.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=2

[Stevew]

Hey Todd how ya been

http://www.colonialfleets.com/stevew/BSG/def.jpg

Here is my latest
S

[Stevew]

Under
http://www.colonialfleets.com/stevew/BSG/defU.jpg

[Darrell Lawrence]

Pst! Shadows, man... work in some shadows :D

[Stevew]

Don't like shadows
:rotf: :rotf:

[Darrell Lawrence]

Learn them. Love them. Bask in the glory of them ;)

[TheHobb]

Like these, you mean?

Hehe, yeah, exactly like those in fact. :D Look'n good!


Hey Steve, I've been doing pretty good, how about yourself?

[TwoBrainedCylon]

Darrrell,

Those are great!!! Any chance of scamming the Lightwave model from you?

(I'm going to alter it of course. I want to convert it to the Cygnus design for cover art, with credits to you and Todd of course).



Sandy

[martok2112]

I remember too that in my fanfic, Dark Exodus, that the Hasari Battlestars looked almost exactly like Colonial Battlestars, except that Hasari ships had a singular landing deck beneath them.

I remember gushing to Steve W about just how good his meshes looked, and how I would love (if DE were made into a movie) to use his designs as representative of the Hasari battlestars.

Respectfully,
Martok2112

[Jan Reinar]

Your ship is amazing! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[KamikazeAthena]

This is a masterpiece! (even without the shadows...)

[Titon]

This is pretty interesting. Lee hasn't been at Zoic for nearly a year. I don't understand how that model could have gotten to him other than Fabio. Fabio converted those models of Steve's a few years back and it more than likely was used as a fill ship. BUT that model should have been credited to the designer and the modelor.

Good to see you again Todd. For your info and Steve's i would have never given that ship to Zoic as a fill in before discussing it with either of you. Todd especially since you've been ripped off from the Trek people already.

Another astonishing thing that people seem not able to grasp is Zoic is not a primary provider for FX for a long time. All production is going through Canada.

Lee on the other hand is in Florida teaching at the Dave school.

[TheHobb]

Hey Don, good to see you!

You worked at Zoic at some point didn't you? I only thought that was the connection because I seem to recall specifically that you made the updated shuttle seen in the miniseries.

What're you up to now?

...

I just talked with my officemate who worked at Zoic and who will be having dinner with the compositing supervisor tonight and he's going to look into it for me. ;)

[Stevew]

Keeping out of trouble and off the streets. Where I am working I have access to an FDM2000 3D printer that is all my own
:)

[Stevew]

Thanks Jan and Kami. Martok any meshe is available for use if you wish
http://www.colonialfleets.com/stevew/Meshes/
S :)

[Darrell Lawrence]

Don, was it Fab's version Lee got a copy of, or was it from me? My conversion of the model I believe I had sent to Lee as well.

[TheHobb]

Keeping out of trouble and off the streets. Where I am working I have access to an FDM2000 3D printer that is all my own
:)

Oh, now that's dangerous.... :LOL:

[Titon]

Darrell, you sent Lee a copy? Then more than likely he used it in that copacity. Then Fabs may have not been the culprit. ;)

I couldn't tell you about who provided the perticular ship since i never seen a scene using this ship.

Todd, i worked on the miniseries and yes i modeled the Mark 2 shuttle plus a number of other ships seen in the series. As far as what i'm doing now it's freelance work mostly. Gun for hire? Hehehe. Anyways most of my time is occupied by my company and of course family.

How's married life treating you?

:)

[Darrell Lawrence]

Darrell, you sent Lee a copy? Then more than likely he used it in that copacity. Then Fabs may have not been the culprit. ;)

I couldn't tell you about who provided the perticular ship since i never seen a scene using this ship.Yeah, way back when I sent him a copy of my conversion. Dunno if Fabs even converted this particular mesh or not. I'll have to check my files (he does a somewhat better job of converting than me :LOL: )

[Darrell Lawrence]

Okey dokety... checked me files. I did a LW 5.6 and a LW7 (from the 5.6) conversion, and Fab's apparently did a LW7 conversion. The date on my file is 8/24/01, the date on the Fab's (I think) file is 7/20/03.

[Stevew]

Maybe we all could have joint custody of it
:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

[Darrell Lawrence]

:) It really doesn't matter to me which was used, as long as you and Todd get credit for the design- Todd over-all, you for CGI.

[Stevew]

You know I was just tickeled to see it, I only wish I could design ships like Todd
:)

[TheHobb]

How's married life treating you?


So far so good, got a house, a dog and 2 kids are on the way. :)

I've also started my own company and am developing a tabletop starship combat game complete with a line of miniatures. You can check it out here: http://www.ninjamagic.com

By the way, what's your current email address?

Todd

[Stevew]

Thats great Todd I wish you all the luck, with your talent it has to be a success
:salute:

[Darrell Lawrence]

Hey Todd, you ever hear back about this?

[TheHobb]

No, but my officemate knew about Lee and said that he provided a lot of the ships in the fleet, so most likely he was the source. My officemate probably forgot to ask.

Between Open Season and Monster House I've been working 6 day weeks going on 5 months now (and recently 11 hour days) and that's sort of killed my enthusiasm for following up on this. If anyone could contact Lee and find out, I'm still interested in knowing for sure.

[Stevew]

Long hrs. keep you out of trouble and off the streete
:rotf:
Please keep us posted, I am just curious
:)
S

[Darrell Lawrence]

No, but my officemate knew about Lee and said that he provided a lot of the ships in the fleet, so most likely he was the source. My officemate probably forgot to ask.
Ah... in regards to Lee, from earlier in the thread-
Ok... cleared up a lot here folks! Talked to Lee about it. He put it in as an in-joke, and was himself suprised it actually made it to screen :)

[Raptor]

Hey Todd, nice to see you visit here too! :thumbsup:

I think you might be right TB, it appears to not have the landing bay. Admitedly it's a blurly shot, and from certain angles you wouldn't see it anyway...

Going to have to keep my eyes open. We haven't reached the end of Season 2 over here in England ( I watch NuBSG partly since there's nothing else on, but also for a kind of twisted fun of seeing how screwed up they can make it! :nervous: )

Of course, if I mantain the momentum I've gained over the last few days, you'll soon be able to fly around your ship (and the others!), while watching it kick metal Cylon backsides! :salute: ;)

[Fabio]

I knew I saw the Defender in the season Finale! - glad to see I wasn't wrong! :) AFAIK guys I don't think I ever sent Lee any of Steve's meshes that I converted so I think it must have been your one Darrel, that Lee sneaked in there!

Either way I did get a kick out seeing the ship in there :)

[Darrell Lawrence]

Hey Fabs! Got my ICQ message finally? :D

So it was mine :shock:

Cool beans :D

[Stevew]

Hey Fabs
Good to know you are alive and well. Hope you are making lots and lots of quid :) I thought for what ever reason it was neat to see it in there.

Good to hear from you
Steve

[Darrell Lawrence]

Dredging up an old thread, but MAJOR new info here :LOL:

This image below was posted by Griffworks (Jeff) over at Resin Illuminati. Seems not only the Defender was in the show, but so was Todd's/SteveW's/my Ranger model! I forgot I sent Lee that one too! :LOL:

Trippy.

Oh, and a physical model has been made (http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/ColonialDefenderCataloguePage.htm) (with not-quite-accurate model history, ie omition of SteveW, but mentions me... go figure!), with mention the Defender was also in Serenity. Can anyone confirm it was in the movie? It was a Reaver ship.

[137th Gebirg]

Cool find! I knew the Defender was in multiple scenes but I didn't realize the Ranger was also in there. I believe the Defender also made a brief appearance in one of the big fleet shots in Blood & Chrome - possibly the Ghost Fleet.

[Darrell Lawrence]

Can you snag a screen grab?

[137th Gebirg]

I'll see what I can find. The only thing available at the moment is YouTube content and the picture quality may not be all that great with all the compression quantization, even in HD. IIRC, it was a starboard-side-aft shot - I'll do some digging.

[Darrell Lawrence]

Thanks. I know the HD vid can be saved from youtube. If you can't get a good grab, then lemme know which ep and the time frame.

[137th Gebirg]

Will do...working on it this weekend.

[Griffworks]

Dredging up an old thread, but MAJOR new info here :LOL:

This image below was posted by Griffworks (Jeff) over at Resin Illuminati. Seems not only the Defender was in the show, but so was Todd's/SteveW's/my Ranger model! I forgot I sent Lee that one too! :LOL:

Trippy.
The Ranger, seen in your attachment above, never actually appeared in TNS, so far as I've been able to discern. That image is actually from a "poster" that Lee Stringer made and was never officially released. Here's a link to Lee's page w/that "poster" he made: http://www.leestringer.com/Images/Print/Galactica_Fleet_11x17_150dpi_v003.jpg



Oh, and a physical model has been made (http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/ColonialDefenderCataloguePage.htm) (with not-quite-accurate model history, ie omition of SteveW, but mentions me... go figure!), with mention the Defender was also in Serenity. Can anyone confirm it was in the movie? It was a Reaver ship.
Yeppers. Below is a thumbnail to one I did a while back. I lightened up the image to make identification easier, but that's the only alteration I did on these, beyond adding arrows and in a few cases text to more easily point out what I'm on about.

http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/xx278/Griffworks/Firefly%20and%20Serenity%20Screencaps/Serenity%20Caps/th_Reavers03.jpg (http://s763.photobucket.com/albums/xx278/Griffworks/Firefly%20and%20Serenity%20Screencaps/Serenity%20Caps/?action=view&current=Reavers03.jpg)
Click the thumbnail for a larger image.

There are other screencaps I did in the Serenity Caps Album on PhotoBucket (http://s763.photobucket.com/albums/xx278/Griffworks/Firefly%20and%20Serenity%20Screencaps/) that I just uploaded today. Hope that clarifies what all was seen in Serenity.

As to the scale model, it's not a bad kit at all. And, of course, it's the only kit currently available of the design, so whether it's perfect or not is something of a moot point, IMNSHO. It's a real shame that it's been retired, tho. Glad I've not only got a built version (shameless plug of my buildup! (http://s763.photobucket.com/albums/xx278/Griffworks/Battlestar%20Galactica/Defender-Class/)), but have an unbuilt in my collection. :D

BTW, the Defender design was clearly, and to my knowledge, first seen in the second episode of TNS BSG, titled "33". We don't get a very clear shot of her, but do get an aft view that is later easy to identify.

And let's not forget that the Original Series U.S.S. Enterprise makes an appearance in the pilot episode, as well as every episode thru the end of trhe first half of Season Two.

http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/xx278/Griffworks/Battlestar%20Galactica/TNS%20ScreenCaps/th_Mini_TOS1701.jpg (http://s763.photobucket.com/albums/xx278/Griffworks/Battlestar%20Galactica/TNS%20ScreenCaps/?action=view&current=Mini_TOS1701.jpg)



Allen Ury of Fantastic Plastic is a great guy, friend of the genre and would very likely consider adding information. Please contact him and send anything additional you guys feel should be added to the background on the design.

[Darrell Lawrence]

Thanks for the clarification, Jeff. Much appreciated.

[Griffworks]

Sure thing! Glad to be of assistance. I used to obsess over this sort of detail - and still do to some degree. Not nearly so OCD about it these days, tho!

[137th Gebirg]

Thanks. I know the HD vid can be saved from youtube. If you can't get a good grab, then lemme know which ep and the time frame.Okay, I found it - at the tail end of episode 3 when they first get to the "Ghost Fleet". I got a cap of one of the scenes and labeled every ship type I could recognize (Defender is in the lower left). There are two types I could not. Most of them actually seem to be recycled RTF ships. Here's the clip:
http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/xx320/gebirg137/Battlestar%20Galactica%20-%20New/GhostFleet.jpg

[Darrell Lawrence]

Why, thank you, sir!

[Griffworks]

Nice screen grab!

[137th Gebirg]

Thanks kindly. :) Took several tries to get the best shot as this scene was only just over one second long with a bunch of motion blurring details.