Is anyone else blown away by this show's special effects?

[Spaceship Jo]

I think the production design and visual effects are incredible. I always disliked the drab and repetitive designs that crept through the franchise at its most fatigued state

The visual exterior effects shots are pretty great in DSC. The production design, on the other hand, is at least as "drab and repetitive" (to my highly subjective eyes) as the Berman era at its worst. Not bad, just... bland. The interior visual effects shots, on the third hand, are all over the place, though I'm not sure if it's in the conception, execution, or compositing of the shots, but they vary broadly from excellent set extensions and shiny things to weird, flatly lit "somethings" that look vague, busy, and detached from the real bits of set.

 

[Vger23]

The visual exterior effects shots are pretty great in DSC. The production design, on the other hand, is at least as "drab and repetitive" (to my highly subjective eyes) as the Berman era at its worst. Not bad, just... bland. The interior visual effects shots, on the third hand, are all over the place, though I'm not sure if it's in the conception, execution, or compositing of the shots, but they vary broadly from excellent set extensions and shiny things to weird, flatly lit "somethings" that look vague, busy, and detached from the real bits of set.

Disagree entirely on production design. This is the only design effort I've found inspiring since the TMP era.

 

[Donker]

The VFX for S1 looked pretty bad imo, everything was ultra cluttered, the texture and lighting work in the VFX was pretty bad across the board by the latter half of S1 honestly the exterior shots were on the level of cutscenes of video games circa 2008. S2 legitimately has some of the best VFX I think I've ever seen, this stuff is frankly, above what you often even get in major blockbuster hollywood movies, I love how far more clean as well the exterior shots are now as well. The amount of money they've poured into this must be staggering.

That said I agree on the interior shots, there is just a lot ... bleh despite the build quality being again, major hollywood blockbuster tier. Too much orange/blue lighting, everything is still too dark, too much blue and silver in the backgrounds with no colour in the environment, for god knows what reason using those terrible S1 uniforms that have the exact same colour profile as the environment so characters just camoflage into the background making characters not in direct focus near impossible to see.
Could easily be fixed by adding more orange/red to the background or simply changing the uniforms to the TOS uniforms seen in S2E1 and adding some goddamn proper lights.

 

[Qonundrum]

Great CGI for exterior and space shots, warmly distracting from the poor quality scripts. Most of the CGI, anyway, the USS Discovery looks weird, particularly the nacelle pylons. The rotating saucer section is nifty but feels more at home as a 25th century Trek or Kelvin timeline incarnation. If nothing else, from top view, it looks like a designer pizza cutter one could buy at The Sharper Image for $50.

I'm happy with TOS-R quality CGI (which is almost on par with Orville's) - the CGI sells what's needed and the higher quality scripts keep one engaged.

 

[ELURIA]

I see plenty of storytelling, which suggests you can't pay attention to the production values and the storytelling at the same time.

I like the part where you thinly veil your trolling

 

[Mudd]

The CG effects of the first episode this season were very good, a great improvement over the first year. Last year, certain kinds of shots, like set extensions, were good and others like most of the space shots were not fully professionally competent. There was no such variation in "Brother."

But there's nothing to be "blown away" by here - it's standard, if expensive, stuff.

I'm happy with TOS-R quality CGI (which is almost on par with Orville's) - the CGI sells what's needed and the higher quality scripts keep one engaged.

Both STD and The Orville feature much better effects than TOS-R, although the folks doing that project did a pretty good job in most cases.

 

[Alan Roi]

Both STD and The Orville feature much better effects than TOS-R, although the folks doing that project did a pretty good job in most cases.

Orvilles best special effects are circa 1990s TV quality. This is, of course, their intention. The worst special effects on Disco are 1990s movie quality. There is a vast differential between the two series. Some of that is intentional, but the fact that both series have similar budgets suggest that someone on the Orville side is pocketing a large amount of cash that isn't making it to the screen.

 

[The Rock]

I'm happy with TOS-R quality CGI (which is almost on par with Orville's) - the CGI sells what's needed and the higher quality scripts keep one engaged.

I noticed that a lot of the CGI in TOS-R look incredibly fake. Certainly better than any special effects from the original TOS though. But damn, a lot of the CGI in it looks really bad.

 

[Tuskin38]

I like the part where you thinly veil your trolling

I’m not seeing any trolling in that post, just an observation.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

It's great! It's definitely a labor of love by everyone involved in the making of this show.

 

[Mudd]

Orvilles best special effects are circa 1990s TV quality. This is, of course, their intention. The worst special effects on Disco are 1990s movie quality.

 

[Alan Roi]

View attachment 8012

No one in any universe take's white Khan's comments seriously.

 

[tomalak301]

I could be if I wasn’t so nauseated by the camera movement. Things don’t always have to be consistently moving or inexplicably shot upside down. That was the worse part of the recent episode.

 

[Alan Roi]

I could be if I wasn’t so nauseated by he camera movement. Things don’t always have to be consistently moving or inexplicably shot upside down. That was the worse part of the recent episode.

Either you're not a fan of Brian DiPalma or you're not aware that there is not up or down in space. Some of us have watched movies, so can actually handle a series that doesn't limit itself to the cinematography of, say,a typical Friends episode.

 

[tomalak301]

Either you're not a fan of Brian DiPalma or you're not aware that there is not up or down in space. Some of us have watched movies, so can actually handle a series that doesn't limit itself to the cinematography of, say,a typical Friends episode.

What???

Oh and congratulations, I guess.

Bu the way to expand a little here, some of my favorite series are space shows (the current one being the expanse) and I can actually see what is going on to enjoy the visual effects. The spin and burn scenes, for example are great because it makes space more realistic and dangerous, which is what it should be.

With Discovery, I loved the asteroid field scene, and I am loving the shots of Discovery flying through the clouds. What I don’t like is not being able to enjoy it because the camera angle doesn’t allow me to enjoy it. For example, there was a scene, on Quo’nos by the way, where the shot was filmed upside down and then panned to normal. How does that enhance anything? How does the quick camera angles allow me to emerse myself in the environment. I don’t want to watch Discovery and then feel dizzy afterward. This last episode did exactly that.

 

[guyute03]

Show looks quite excellent. Very happy with that aspect of it.

 

[Alan Roi]

What???

Oh and congratulations, I guess.

Bu the way to expand a little here, some of my favorite series are space shows (the current one being the expanse) and I can actually see what is going on to enjoy the visual effects. The spin and burn scenes, for example are great because it makes space more realistic and dangerous, which is what it should be.

With Discovery, I loved the asteroid field scene, and I am loving the shots of Discovery flying through the clouds. What I don’t like is not being able to enjoy it because the camera angle doesn’t allow me to enjoy it. For example, there was a scene, on Quo’nos by the way, where the shot was filmed upside down and then panned to normal. How does that enhance anything? How does the quick camera angles allow me to emerse myself in the environment. I don’t want to watch Discovery and then feel dizzy afterward. This last episode did exactly that.

If you feel dizzy then how can you not be immersed I can't say I am so bothered by you by how they are presenting things, but man, I am not so physically involved in watching the show.

 

[Ridcully]

Really like that we get more spaceship shots now Enjoy that alot!

 

[Butters]

The quality and style is much improved is season 2. I would still like to see some classic fly by shots in good light. Recreate some of the classic TNG shots.