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Doomsday Machine - Modernized - Kelvin Timeline Project

PixelMagic

PixelMagic

Fleet Captain
Fleet Captain
For those of you who aren't already aware, I am working on a CGI "fan teaser trailer" of a 4th possible Kelvin Timeline movie involving the Doomsday Machine.

The problem I had was making it be recognizable as the Doomsday Machine, without looking kind of 60s cheesy. I hope I hit an ok balance here. Concept Art by Justin Banner.

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And after it's wrecked havoc...
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As I begin layout of the Doomsday fleet battle, I need to figure out relative starship scales against the Doomsday machine. I started with the Enterprise-A (Alexander Klemm's).

The soft canon size of the Doomsday machine is 2800 meters long. The Enterprise is 725 meters long.

I may have to upscale the Doomsday Machine in the final shot to make it look more intimidating and impressive. I dunno.

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I generally imagine the Doomsday Machine was much bigger than it appeared. It already seems excessive that something smaller than, say, the moon, can ingest multiple planets within a few days. Making it smaller than most Trek space stations just seems silly. I think it could stand to be five, or maybe even ten times larger than you have it here.
 
There's no canon length for the planet killer because its size varies from shot to shot. Decker says "It's miles long." When I scaled it against the Enterprise for a CGI model c1990 the length I came up with was 4,063m/13,330ft but I suspect the intent was for it to be much bigger given "a maw that could swallow a dozen star ships."

BTW, people love to show shattered planets, but gravity being what it is the thing would quickly collapse back into a ball shape. :)

The things I like about the original are the bends in its shape which suggest a whale silhouette and the weird surface patterns that just look alien.

BTW the machine "blast planets into rubble" and feeds on the debris. There's no statement that indicates it swallows entire planets.
 
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Maurice said:
BTW the machine "blast planets into rubble" and feeds on the debris. There's no statement that indicates it swallows entire planets.
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Yeah, but if it's going to smash entire planets, that suggests that it's ingesting a significant portion of them, which is still a lot of mass whether it's taken in one gulp, or broken down first. Though I suppose if there's a significant amount of debris (hard to say with the '60s VFX), it could be that the Planet Killer is really interested in something specific, like heavy metals laced throughout the crust and sinking into the mantle. In that case, cutting up the entire planet rather than just scouring and then feeding on the rocky crust could make sense.
 
Maurice said:
The things I like about the original are the bends in its shape which suggest a whale silhouette and the weird surface patterns that just look alien.
Click to expand...

Agreed. This version could stand to have some more shaping to it, beyond being an even, radially-symmetric cone.

I like the shading in the first set of images, but the (apparently?) sharper maw rim in the second set of images. I don't feel there's should be any roundness or softness to any of the edges on this; it harms the sense of scale and reduces the menace.
 
David cgc said:
Yeah, but if it's going to smash entire planets, that suggests that it's ingesting a significant portion of them, which is still a lot of mass whether it's taken in one gulp, or broken down first. Though I suppose if there's a significant amount of debris (hard to say with the '60s VFX), it could be that the Planet Killer is really interested in something specific, like heavy metals laced throughout the crust and sinking into the mantle. In that case, cutting up the entire planet rather than just scouring and then feeding on the rocky crust could make sense.
Click to expand...
We never saw the machine doing its thing, but we have this...

DECKER: We saw this thing hovering over the planet, slicing out chunks of it with a force beam.
KIRK: Did you run a scanner check on it? What kind of a beam?
DECKER: Pure antiproton. Absolutely pure.

So it uses antimatter weaponry to...

SPOCK: She was attacked by what appears to be essentially a robot, an automated weapon of immense size and power. Its apparent function is to smash planets to rubble and then digest the debris for fuel. It is, therefore, self-sustaining as long as there are planetary bodies for it to feed on.

But Spock gives no indication of how much of the rubble it consumes. Even at miles long the thing couldn't begin to swallow an entire planet. It would be like a flea trying to swallow a whale. Even if it could do it it would take forever.
 
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@PixelMagic , your work is outstanding. Love your work. Not a fan of the JJprise, but your attention to details, color and composition is outstanding.

Any chance of using the Disoprise or classic Enterprise in some of your compositions?
 
Well since alot of alien's lately want our molten core ( Independence day 2, Darkseid) .. so.. it wants our molten core!
 
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