No Federation Sick bay should be Without...

As you probably know from yesterday's post, I've been working with 3D, specifically working on an animation that will form part of the Sickbay systems. Today, I've taken a break from the 3D and started to work on some more 'traditional' animations.

You will of course, remember the "Patient Biomedical Scan" monitors from various Sickbay monitors. This proved to be a tricky animation to get just right but I think I got it just the way I wanted it. There's an option to switch the animation for a flat-line where vital signs will slowly fade.

Sadly, there were no medical sounds in Star Trek: Nemesis to use as event sounds for this animation. With that said, I'm gonna get to work remasteing some audio from Star Trek: Voyager so they sound like they'd be from Nemesis so they fit with the theme. You're now cleared to go on away missions, because in the next update, LCARS 47 has you covered...

3D and the Lack Thereof

It always annoyed me that LCARS 47 didn't have 3D elements in there. There were a few tiny 3D elements, but they were done on the fly and let's face it, they're pretty crude. Other bits just 'look' 3D through perspective trickery.

Well, all that's about to change. I just learned 3DS Max... This image will become part of a "Molecular Analysis" animation for the medical systems. Click the image to the right to see an animated GIF version. It's basic, but it's 3D. So far, my skills are limited, but I'm told I have a warped mind, so I should be able to pick it up fairly fast.

Thankfully there are a ton of 3DS starships out there on the Internet already meshed up thanks to the generous contributors of places like Scifi-Meshes and so on, so I guess there's no knowing how far we could take this.

Please State the Nature of the Medical Emergency

I've started work on the Sickbay/Medical systems and monitors today. The whole module will feature a few animations based on those seen throughout Star Trek. Some modules will also contain custom files like the Roster database where you can add custom medical reports and such.

There's also a microscope feed monitor where you can hook up your webcam (like the Security Monitor Feed) or even a real USB microscope if the webcam option is not enough for you.

I'll probably include a medical catalogue database as well, which will contain various data file on common illnesses such as the Vidian Phage (Voyager: "The Phage", "Faces"), Anchilles Fever (TNG: "Code of Honor"), Levodian Flu (Voyager: "Tattoo"), and so on.

I'll also be adding a 'lifesigns monitor' and a few static images for good measure.