Here is the plotting table that was a really cool piece but had very little air time or interaction, I so wanted to take this home aftre the show,,, Come to think of it, I don’t recall whatever happened to this piece,,, HMMMMMMMM ’tis a mystery. Anyway, this was really a great project to work on and Herman just said: make us a nifty table to have meetings at!!! The early ideas were of the same layout except the rounded table top had plotting rules and sliding scales that would be able to move and plot across the entire surface. The curved surface would be made of milk plex and the images would be projected from underneath so it would act like a big hands on cartographer’s mapping system. This was axed to be instead a clear covering with a flat screen system under glass, and the sliding scales were thought of as too out of date. The end result was beautifully built by Tom Arp’s crew and stylishly detailed by Mike Okuda and Anthony Fredrickson!!!
roughs
and the final
looking from the back of Archers chair, this nook was two steps down from the bridge
side view
lower view
high view, these pictures were taken in the early days and you'll see variations in the set lighting from warm to cool as they were trying to get the right look and feel with the lighting tones
opposite side view
details for Joe Ralat
Mike and Jim's awesome work on the rear screen, this screen was in tandem to what was projected in the plotting table.
one of the inset wall panels
layout of the plotting room to the main bridge
Eavesdropping with Johnny 
I don’t recall ever seeing this. It’s pretty large! Where would you have kept it? I don’t think it would work as a replacement dining set. HA
This kind of stuff that isn’t seen anywhere else is very cool, indeed! Now I want to see it in an episode. Anyone know when it showed up?
I just added a new image to show the location of this room for you!
I’ve seen that back there but never gave it much thought. I’ll have to pay more attention!
I really like the openness, and the pipe rails are perfect! I have always thought the interiors showed the timeframe of this ship well.
Thanks for adding the shots, my friend!
I see this table all the time, and I see the various guys in that area doing busy work with the wall panels, but it’s hard to seee the table from the usual camera angles on the bridge most of the time. Now I’m certain that I was just thinking they were in a separate area like the other ships showed. I know better now!! 🙂
Dea they use that table all the time, it’s like their “situation room.”
Somehow I thought that was somewhere else, and I think I’m picturing a table for that that Doug had shown recently.
So much to look at and pay attention to! I’m losing my mind!! AHH!!!
I just sat down to what the latest DVR’d episode of ENT, and the opening scene has them gathered around this little goody! Ya, I’m such a goober…I’ve seen this lots!! 😀
I digged this, again because it gave off a submarine feeling to it. They should have used this more often in battles.
It has a definite sub feel,,, i agree
John
I need one of these tables in my design studio! Imagnine doing a client presentation on it.
A trip to Lowes and a flat screen moniter and your drawings oughta get me there.
I think I have the bluessssss-prints on this at home if ya want em!
You’re a funny guy.
That made my week.
I worked at a music theatre building and painting sets and rigging lights…I can build a plot table. And I’m just crazy enough to do it.
Those 8 Track Tapes at the end console?
You guys ever consider making it a table hockey table, so between shooting, you can goof around?
It would make an awesome Foosball table, electric football table, air hockey!!! etc!!!
To be perfectly honest I didn’t really like it. With the limitations of using a flatscreen the actual screen surface seemed way to small, both from an usability standpoint and compared with the much larger total surface of the table. In the end it kind of defeated the purpose of having such display in the first place in my mind; it felt more like just some piece of equipment standing in the way of the characters. I wonder, why didn’t you go with the projector method? It seems simpler, cheaper then such huge lcd, and personaly I think I would have liked it a lot more, as it would have alowed for a larger surface. Oh and another question, I know it served another function, but was the plotting table inspired by the “pool table” from main engeneering in the Ent-D?
no, no pool table inspiration, It was originally supposed to be a projection set up but with all the flat screens we were getting it evolved into what you see and it’s size was determined by how big the screen was thus dwarfing it to a smaller table.
This table was one of my favorite features of ole NX’s interior. I always imagined that it could have been a navigation station, from which coordinates could be relayed to Mayweather.
Perhaps you could fill me in on two burning questions I’ve had for a long time now: who designed the ubiquitous display/GUI graphics which were displayed on the flat panels, and did those displays have a name, either from a production point-of-view (akin to Okudagrams), or from an in-universe perspective (akin to LCARS).
I always liked the GUI’s recongnizable window architecture, and have actually scoured the net in vain for a GUI skin modeled after NX’s displays for my Mac. Best I could ever find were flash based screen savers.
Pretty sure that’s Mike and Denise Okuda territory there.
Aha! I just checked Mike and Denise’s webpage, and you are correct.
Did anyone ever devise a name for NX’s computer system?
Did Mike or any of the other artists or producers have a “nickname” for those video graphics?
If they don’t, I say we nickname it Herbert.
This was one of my favorite sets, any time Penny said something about finding Anthony I knew it ment a set walk and off we’d go to play 😉
I must admit, the set peices on enterprise really were great, the attention to detail on the consoles surpassed most of the other shows. The only thing missing on that table is the cupholders for your morning coffee 🙂
Although it was a beutiful set Anthony told me they weren’t allowed to do the in-jokes like on previous shows, the label sayings, and various things done on the monitors, he once added something and someone, I forget who, noticed it and made him remove it. To me it would seem to take away some of your creativity and enjoyment, but still a beutiful set nontheless.
You see, I actually like it when they get strict like that, it means you have to be even more creative to sneak things in 😉
I love this table. It remind me a lot of the one on the Defiant.
I never notice the chairs before. that is a nice touch.
I’m curious to how sturdy the table actually was, were those chairs actually usable? They just seem a tad wobbly looking at the way they are attached the the table leg, i’m not sure I’d of been brave enought to attempt to sit on one!
I liked the idea of a “plotting table.” Didn’t “seaQuest DSV” have something similar in it’s first season?
I wished that the crew had used it less as a conference area and more as a navigational tool, charting Enterprise’s course. Once again, I must state, at how functional the NX-01 sets looked. You can tell that the design work from the series did benefit from years of Trek production.
Yeah another great post from John ! 😀 I was looking for some good reference pics of the set and I couldn’t find any … (of course I could ask you earlier but university kept me very busy with other stuff). I am doing some 3D interior and exterior work for an Enterprise-based cartoon and this was the only thing that’s been missing from the NX bridge set. Now I think it will be more accurate than aything I built !
On a side note I love the big screen on the rear and the folding chairs but can’t understand why is the screen so deep in the table – it’s only harder to look at …
I don’t know if you’re going to read this John, but I just finished modelling the “table”, which is still missing chairs and the screen (but has extra reflection errors ! oh wait that’s wrong …). I think I’m going to make the screen cover the whole glossy top, just like you said it was supposed to be.
that looks great,, Is that sketch up???
No, it’s 3DS Max but with a “cartoon” material applied to the objects (it’s actually called Ink n’ paint). As I said the model is for a cartoon so I’m trying to make everything fit in the style. Here is a low-quality render of the bridge so far :
Glad you like it, it’s an honor to me 😀
that is pretty stinking awesome!!!! if you need anything before I post it just ask!!!!
Glad you like it ! Right now I will be focusing on finishing the bridge and after that I will start doing Captain’s ready room (the one that’s connected to the bridge). From what I see you posted only one pic of that room, showing the drawings on wall. Any pics of that room would be greately appreciated !
And @ DeanneM : Right now the project is still in the pre-production phase and there are 3 people actively working on it. A guy named Joe Hodkiss is the boss – he started the project when Enterprise was cancelled and does all kind of stuff – 3D, 2D characters, design and script. I’m doing 3D in every form (ships, interiors) along with textures and new designs. There is also a person named Theunis from Netherlands who does a whole bunch of designs, orthographic views and helps me out with screen displays and textures.
Right now the project’s updates are being held in a thread on SciFi Meshes forums
( http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/3d-wips/38635-enterprise-season-five-nx-toon-70.html ). I’m doing all the updates because Joe is experiencing technical problems.
Wow, Adam! That looks great!! Who’s doing this cartoon?
Greetings! I’ve been reading your site for a while now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Houston Tx! Just wanted to say keep up the great work!