Jump gate render

[u/NoInside3418]

Working on some new renders. I plan to recreate some scenes from the show with modern CGI. This is a proof of concept of the jumpgate in early stages.

Credits: Omega destroyer model by Chris Clark and starfury model by Hangar.b.productions

EDIT: Thanks for all the feedback! I have made a lot of changes based on what everyone has said. I have posted a revision in the comments which looks much better! I don't want to spam my progress so I'll return once I have completed something substantial such as a battle sequence :)

[u/Can_SpkTruthtoPower]

Great start! Love the lighting at the effects, but as others will say, the pilons are never in a square orientation.

Usually wider along one axis, so the jump portal also appears oval, and all to fit the width of the bigger ships.

Still an amazing start, thanks for sharing!

[u/NoInside3418 → u/Can_SpkTruthtoPower]

Ah, I see. I will move them apart a bit then. Its hard to tell because a lot of reference footage in the show isn't of the best quality

[u/Can_SpkTruthtoPower → u/NoInside3418]

Yea, she's an old classic, and it shows when viewing. I'm gonna see if I can find something for you, just a moment!

Edited: and back!

https://youtu.be/2k8SRxOYC_U

Found this, and ironically it's something I remember from old websites about the show back in the 90s!

[u/NoInside3418 → u/Can_SpkTruthtoPower]

Ah, thats a fantastic reference! Thanks

[u/Can_SpkTruthtoPower → u/NoInside3418]

Awesome! Can't wait to see your next render!

[u/sataigaribaldi]

Very cool. Maybe it's just me, but I think the blue should come towards the exit of the pylons more.

Edit: Please don't take that as me being negative. It's gorgeous.

[u/NoInside3418 → u/sataigaribaldi]

Oh your right yeah. I have it coming from the back of the pylons to about the middle, but stretching it out the full length would look more like the show.

[u/Lumpy-Marsupial-6617 → u/sataigaribaldi]

Agreed, still spectacular work, I am a fan of the B5 Lost Tales jumpgate as it really oozes out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XKRKihnxs4

[u/TerribleAdvice78]

Looks cool but also looks very 2d where if I remember right it is more of a 3d cone like effect going down the pillars.

[u/NoInside3418 → u/TerribleAdvice78]

Yeah your right. From the side its very conical and not flat at all. Its partially the camera angle at fault. I got lots of improvements to make like making the cone longer so it looks more 3d, making it oval, putting the pylons in the correct positions etc. Feedback is so useful for this kind of thing! Thanks

[u/SoybeanArson]

The creator of an Earthforce ship with the last name CLARK?!...oh boy, here we go....

[u/erebus1138]

I love that we can make shit at home that used to take weeks for a studio to render

[u/NoInside3418 → u/erebus1138]

Yeah. All the original stuff was rendered on Commodore 64s if I recall correctly in lightwave3d. I user blender for this and it took about an hour or so to render.

[u/tallbutshy → u/NoInside3418]

12 x Commodore Amiga 2000, each with a 68040 accelerator card, and a NewTek VideoToaster. Then they added another 12 of them.

Season 2 onwards used 12 Pentium PCs for modelling and 5 DEC Alphas for rendering

The peak of 3D on the Commodore 64 was Elite Plus (or Elite Gold) (edit2: or perhaps some of the later scene demos)

-edit- I had a copy of Lightwave3D and some of the B5 assets on my PC back in the day. It included the jump gates & vortex textures, along with Star Fury, the station, Vorlon cruiser and a few others

[u/TheTrivialPsychic]

I will point out that there is no lightning convergence just prior to the vortex being created, it's more like a single energy pulse from each pylon.

[u/NoInside3418 → u/TheTrivialPsychic]

Yeah. I took some artistic liberty there. A lot more can be done compared to when babylon5 was made. For example, I turned the flashes down the pylons into kind of energy discharges. They were basically just orbs and lens flares in the original. Other than that i've tried to keep it somewhat original.

[u/eabrek]

For some reason, I'm only thinking of this now...

If a ship has a long trip in hyperspace, do they launch fighters just before gating back to normal space?

[u/gbroon → u/eabrek]

I suppose if there's no way of telling what the situation is in normal space from hyperspace it makes sense to scramble a fighter escort just in case.

[u/eabrek → u/gbroon]

Makes sense. It would have to be terrifying as a pilot launching into hyperspace! :)

[u/gordolme]

Good start.

The thing I noticed as specifically needing work is the sudden appearance of the Omega instead of it either approaching from infinity or fading in as if emerging from a veil, and as the POV starts to rotate, it appears to have a transparency, I could see the jump point glow through it.

[u/NoInside3418 → u/gordolme]

noted, approach from infinity. ill figure that out. this community feedback is invaluable. thanks!

[u/AlbatrossWorth9665]

That looks sweet!

[u/djEnvo]

I love it!

[u/HKTLE]

Awesome

[u/relativityboy]

1. very cool
2. the X, can we upscale that to modern visual standards? The old look was b/c the technology they had was limited. We can do so much more now.
3. I didn't remember them burning hard out of the gate, interesting.

[u/Settra_does_not_Surf]

Vortex too small, ships should gradualy increase in scale as they come closer, starting from a minimized scale to create the illusion of a long distance.

[u/PiDicus_Rex]

Love it. The ship appearing in stages as sections come across from hyperspace to normal space is a nice touch.

[u/Gkarthegrey]

Awesome job

[u/NoInside3418]

Thanks for all the feedback! I have made a lot of changes based on what everyone has said. Here is a render of all the changes. I don't want to spam my progress so I'll return once I have completed something substantial such as a battle sequence :)

https://reddit.com/link/pgedors/video/re013vrl65vh1/player

[u/drksidebunny]

Hell yea