Star Trek TV Series To 3-D - CBS possible Conversion

Discussion in 'Future of Trek' started by jefferiestubes8, Apr 29, 2010.

  1. AviTrek

    AviTrek Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Once new FX are being done in CGI, it would not cost that much more to render them in 3D. Just a second render pass from a different camera location.

    Of course converting the filmed live action footage will be much more difficult. I wonder if this technology they claim to have is any good or if we're talking Clash of the Titans issues.

    Either way, it's possible that the 3D channel is putting up money to convert shows and that is being used to fund TNG-R the same way HD-DVD was used to fund TOS-R.
     
  2. Captain Robert April

    Captain Robert April Vice Admiral Admiral

    I suspect you're oversimplifying a tad. With this sort of thing, even the inexpensive stuff costs a boatload of cash.
     
  3. AviTrek

    AviTrek Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Of course, but rerendering a cgi film is a lot easier than converting live action to 3D. That's why a lot of the early 3D films were CGI.
     
  4. Captain Robert April

    Captain Robert April Vice Admiral Admiral

    I think what we'd be looking as is this: Take the cost of rendering the sequence in the first place. Now double it, because you're now rendering it twice, and odds are you won't be able to just use the first version and add another rendering to make it 3D, you'll have to rerender the whole damn thing. Twice. Plus the cost of having to figure out how far to offset the one rendering from the other for the desired 3D effect, which'll be different for each shot (remember, these guys don't work for free, or even cheap), and like I said, even the inexpensive route costs major bucks. And all this for something that's still pretty iffy as far as the home market is concerned, and, as stated above, where there's no industry standard at present, which always invites disaster for at least one party (like the poor schmucks holding the HD-DVD bag), sometimes all parties (anybody remember AM Stereo?).

    Network execs and studio heads are basically cowards. Nobody wants to be the first on anything, and generally won't make a move until someone else sticks his neck out first.
     
    Last edited: Jul 7, 2011
  5. Gary7

    Gary7 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    They're trying to do 3D technology without the glasses now. In theory, it sounds interesting, but in reality it is not. I saw it displayed on a new cellphone, the EVO 3D. It looks like those hologram postcards that shift the image as you move it, but a terrible version of it. Even if they get it to the point where it looks good, it's just bizarre. Has Hober stated, it becomes a matter of what the eyes can focus on. It isn't elegant by any means.

    The physics are undeniable. Outside of an actual hologram, in order to properly see a 3D projection you need to have special glasses. A true hologram is a technology that is still quite a number of years away. And even still, it presents a big problem: A movie is about directing what your eyes see. If you can see everything, then your eyes aren't directed. You lose the substance of what the movie intends to show. So, I really don't think holographic technology will ever really make it as a viable entertainment medium for something like a movie. It will be terrific as an educational tool or for documentaries.

    No... 2D provides an experience that feels "right." It enables a wonderful means by which a story can be told, which creates an illusion in the mind of the viewer. 3D works in some special respects, but not most. And quite frankly, at home it's seriously tedious, having to take off the glasses anytime you do something away from the TV and then put them back on when you resume watching.
     
  6. jefferiestubes8

    jefferiestubes8 Commodore Commodore

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    I think conversion of TNG or any other Trek TV series or TOS feature films would be very gimmicky.

    I think that shooting the next Trek TV series in stereoscopic 3-D for the live action and the CGI fully rendered in 3-D would really take a TV series to the next level.
    from the Could the next Trek TV series be shot in 3-D? thread:
    It would always be available almost immediately in 2D high definition from such places as iTunes store, Amazon.com, and months later as full seasons in Blu-Ray in 2D & 3-D. CBS would not make it 3-D only and no way to purchase a 2D version.
    Too much money to lose out on...

    As far as 2D ruining the illusion in the mind of the viewer just watching in HD sometimes does it:from the TOS-R season 1 Blu-Ray
     
  7. jefferiestubes8

    jefferiestubes8 Commodore Commodore

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  8. AviTrek

    AviTrek Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    "The idea would be to offer a pay channel that would presumably broadcast the same content that's on CBS, but in 3D." Sounds more like a 3D simulcast of what's currently on CBS, not a library conversion.
     
  9. jefferiestubes8

    jefferiestubes8 Commodore Commodore

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    Since CBS is doing TNG-R (still unofficially) as a Blu-ray sampler. Would it be possible that the sampler be available as a 3-D Blu-ray?
    Any and all Visual FX would be CGI & rendered in stereoscopic 3-D?

    There are 10-year old videogames which are being re-released in stereoscopic 3-D & high definition and better framerates as well as Pixar movies such as Toy Story and now Disney's Beauty & the Beast which are being re-rendered in 3-D.

    see:
    Huge Success of 'The Lion King' 3D Re-Release Has Studios Studying Their Libraries


    Since CBS is retelecineing TNG from the original camera negative & redoing all the Visual FX why not do a stereoscopic 3-D conversion of the live-action footage & render all the CGI VFX in 3-D?
    Maybe even get people to pay for it in the cinema for a short time for Best of Both Worlds in 3-D & then sell it as a 3-D Blu-ray?
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2011
  10. Captain Robert April

    Captain Robert April Vice Admiral Admiral

    I still have yet to see any mentions of redoing the effects in TNG.
     
  11. AviTrek

    AviTrek Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I have still yet to see a post production 3D conversion that I want to watch, even assuming no difference in cost to me.
     
  12. jefferiestubes8

    jefferiestubes8 Commodore Commodore

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    With the official CBS announcement
    in the next 4 years I think we can safely put this thread to sleep. No mention of a Blu-ray 3D release or conversion of TNG in the above official press release so it is not happening.

    also from the TNG subforum
    The OFFICIAL STNG-R general discussion thread!
     
  13. Rarewolf

    Rarewolf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I just got a new 3D small TV with built in convertor, and have been watching everything in '3D'. Results vary, but some are pretty good. Doctor Who and Torchwood looked amazing. Voyager looked very flat. I'll certainly check out what TNG looks like converted at home when I have the disc.
     
  14. Psion

    Psion Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'd like to point out that interstellar vistas involve extraordinary distances and to be able to perceive anything on an interstellar scale in 3D in real life, you'd have to have a distance between your eyeballs measured in tens of astronomical units. Even the view of a starship hanging against a nebula should look pretty flat from a normal Star Trek shot since our stereoscopic vision doesn't work beyond about fifty feet ... if that. Any attempt to represent a 3D starship shot against an interstellar vista, while that sounds great, would actually make the ship look like a toy. Even ship-to-ship encounters like those seen in Wrath of Khan should look flat or they'll come out toylike.

    Now that isn't to say that I disagree with the rest of your statements. Alien creatures and environments would work very well in 3D ... just look at the movie Avatar for an example.
     
  15. jefferiestubes8

    jefferiestubes8 Commodore Commodore

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    I came across this today. a Hollywood Reporter article about Fox channel testing 2-D to 3-D converter technology for movies as well as television.

    Ian Harvey, senior vp, advanced technology at Fox,
    Fox Testing JVC Technology for 2D-to-3D Conversion

    If JVC is allowing a major TV network to test it then a few other companies have similar technology they are working on too. There are a number of patents for this type of technology.
    New Girl is a single-camera comedy that shoots traditionally and I don't really see the need to convert modern TV to 3-D with a post conversion. Why not shoot a sitcom in stereoscopic 3-D to give a sense of depth to the set?
    Sure convert cheaply old episodes of Miami Vice because it will air on the 500 channel universe with 100 3-D channels. I guess if people have a 3-D HDTV they want new HD content to watch in 3-D other than stereoscopically shot native 3-D sports.

    What else can CBS Home Video really do with TOS-R after syndication and selling the HD files and downloads of TOS-R? What other video products can they sell with the TOS property of the Trek franchise? I can see CBS doing this in 10 years when better technology comes out.