Thx Vaderios for the mock-up... I think Buckethea...uh, Ripplin is right in that,while it may be the exact light scheme as the side trench as seen in all other previous shots, it may be too dark as it blends with the space on the other side of the screen.

I would suggest a half-way point with the brightness level but also add more of the blue lighting. My main thing is that the side of the Executor is damn near lit up like the CLOSE ENCOUNTERS mothership (albeit with just blue lighting, as opposed to the pale orange lighting the CE3K ship had) - the side shot has fewer lights and windows than the overall full-scale model has on its side trenches.

Another possibility could be to lighten the top and bottom flat parts of the main body, so as to help distinguish and seperate the body of the Executor with the space around it. As a higher-concept type idea, I could almost see spotlights highlighting the Falcon as it flies by too (which could help make the side shot stand out while still retaining the previous established look throughout EMPIRE). Maybe we need to hire Jaitea to create a base moving mock-up to see how it would look in motion...

EDIT: just read your new post, Ady (thx on the nose lights change - that always looked wierd to me). I agree with you on the Executor trench shot... I would say that if you did any more alterations, I would simply add more of the blue lighting/windows, as the lighting is a bit sparser than it should be (going by Angel and my mock-up with the side shot as well as others).

Okay, your pic just downloaded completely... most excellent! I think the color timing of the trench metal is perfect, but again I would maybe add some more blue lighting:

Not so much the orange spherical lights, and maybe not any of the spotlight stuff (or a few of them tracking the Falcon, though that would have to be for a rough test, as I can see it not working as well), but the overall effect, as the current trench shot is a lot more metal than lights.

vs.:

the image actually "dulled down" when I saved it in Gimp 2.0 or MSpaint, but I'm specifically looking at the overall center section of the trench above in comparison with the close-up trench shot above it.

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BTW, isn't it funny that the one shot in the 2004 SE that SHOULD be blue (or bluish) isn't?