
			* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
                        *                             *
			*        Minbari Fighter      *
			*         by Mark Kane        *
                        *             v2.0            *
                        *                             *
			* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

		            > September 4th 1999 <


*************
Introduction:
*************

This is my recreation of the Minbari Fighter craft as seen on the groundbreaking
SciFi TV-Show Babylon 5. The Fighter can be seen often throughout all seasons of the 
show, but good examples would be the episodes "And the Sky Full of Stars" (season 1) 
and "Points of Departure" (season 2). It is my 2nd version of this model and is meant 
to replace the 2 year old 1st model, which had some inaccuracies and missing details.

The Minbari Fighter is a very elegant, organic design, and an excellent example of 
the creative ship design present in the entire series. Babylon 5's visual style, 
especially in its special effects, differs greatly from most common SciFi Universes 
like Star Wars or Star Trek, where the dominant colour of almost all ships is grey. 
This makes the designs very interesting and especially challenging to re-create.

Enjoy the model, and please read the legal notes further down the file!

For the latest news about the status of my models check the 3D Files section of 
my website.

PS: Greetings to all the guys of the B5MG out there, their support kept me 
modeling and means a lot to me, this is for you... :)


********
Contact:
********

Contact me via email at:
	GKane@GKane.de

Visit my Babylon 5 and 3D Website at:
	http://www.GKane.de


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Archive Content:
****************

- minbari_fighter_body.lwo		mesh of the main body
- minbari_fighter_wing.lwo		mesh of the wing
- minbari_fighter_beam.lwo		the fighter's beam weapon
- minbari_fighter_setup.lws		setup scene which sets up all objects and lights

- mf_body_col.iff			the various texturemaps
- mf_wing_col.iff
- mf_frame_col.iff
- mf_detail_col.iff
- mf_gunfin_col.iff
- gkane_genericpanels_diff.iff
- gkane_genericpanels_spec.iff

- minbari_fighter.jpg			a rendering of the model
- readme.txt				this textfile

The content of this archive should be unzipped and installed relative to your content directory like this: 
- objects belong into  "objects\Babylon5\Minbari_Fighter\"
- textures belong into "images\Babylon5\Minbari_Fighter\"
- scenes belong into   "scenes\Babylon5\Minbari\"
with this setup, everything should load into layout without any problems.

To import the fully setup fighter into your scenes, just hit "load from scene" and 
select "minbari_fighter_setup.lws". All objects and lights (also the beamweapons plus 
lensflares) are already setup for you and ready to animate.


****************
About the model:
****************

V2.0 of the Minbari Fighter was built completely from scratch. I did not have access 
to the original model data created by Foundation Imaging for the show.

I felt it was neccessary to replace my old model because of its innaccuracies and 
some missing details. This time the model was built to match the proportions of the 
Babylon 5 Security Manual, which was an invaluable help in building this mesh!
I decided to make it only  16 meters long though , as I agree with Tigerclaw that 
this would be a very logical size for the craft, considering the interiors we 
have seen and the size of the Whitestar (3 of these Fighters are supposed to fit 
into her bays).

Some people may wonder why I am using my genericpanels texture as diff and spec map, 
unlike in my old model, where I created seperate maps based on the organic colourmaps.
This is simply because several images, including a rendering in the Security Manual, 
show that this seems to be the case in the show! Some of these images show a clearly 
visible genericpanels-like specular highlight.

With help of the new textures, the model now looks almost identical to that seen on 
the show, I'd say its about 90% accurate concerning proportions and details.

The model was built in a modular way, which means that the wing and body are seperate 
object files. The reasons are quite simple, it's easier to map onto one wing and rotate 
that in layout than to map it onto the 2 angled wings. That would also result in a 
quality loss if no texture reference objects are used, and the use of such would mean 
the model would be usable only for LW 5.5+ users, which I don't want... last but not 
least it also helps keeping the filesize low. ;)
Best of all though, the parts of this object can be reused with the Minbari Flyer I 
am releasing at the same time as this model, as both ships are almost identical.

You may modify this model, as long as you don't publish or distribute the modified 
version. I'd also apreciate if you could notify me if you use this model, I'd very 
much like to see what you can create with this baby!


************
Legal Notes:
************

This archive is being distributed as FREEWARE.  The declaration of freeware implies 
that I hold all original copyrights to the model, but am allowing you the free use 
of this data set under the following terms and conditions.

Any productions, animations, or artwork created using this model must contain CREDITS to me as modeler. This document MUST accompany the distribution of this archive and MUST remain UNALTERED. Copyright credit to Foundation Imaging, Netter Digital, Babylonian Productions, or Warner Bros. must be acknowledged when using this data set. 

The creation of this data set was strictly for personal, self-educational purposes 
and is NOT intended to infringe upon any original material or concept copyright 
held by the above named entities.

This archive is encrypted. Now that you have read the legal notes I'm gonna give 
you the password, it is "Dukath". Enjoy!