CBS and Paramount officially back together

[CorporalClegg]

I doubt it. If Kate's breakthrough into mainstream popularity didn't do it, I doubt this would make any difference, given that the handful of people who want to 'revisit' can do so in SD.

The only way I see there being a VOY HD is if the re-merger plans include a whole new streaming paradigm that includes all of Star Trek as a centerpiece. In that case, they might at least be willing to pay for an AI upscaling of VOY and DS9.

 

[arch101]

I do wonder if this merger has increased the chances of us seeing Deep Space Nine and Voyager in high-definition. At this point, it wouldn't just be CBS footing the bill for the work required to make this happen.

Producing and marketing DVD's today is a money-loser. I might be able to see CBS/Viacom doing the HD on Voyager and DS9 and making them exclusive to a Trek only streaming service as a hook to get subscribers.

 

[ITDUDE]

The only way I see there being a VOY HD is if the re-merger plans include a whole new streaming paradigm that includes all of Star Trek as a centerpiece. In that case, they might at least be willing to pay for an AI upscaling of VOY and DS9.

If it was just a matter of AI running a process they would have done it by now. Read what they had to do for TNG: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Remaster#Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation
For VOY (or DS9) it may be easier or it may be harder to remaster than TNG. The fact that it hasn't already been done means it's probably very hard to do (read, lots of $$)

 

[yotsuya]

Yeah, Voyager and DS9, and their contemporary that also used CG FX, Babylon 5, will probably never get a proper HD version because the FX were done on computers that are long antiquated and the files are likely lost or there is a good chance of corruption. TNG was mostly done with film FX that they could just rescan and recomposit. I think a total of 5-10 minutes of the 7 seasons could not be done that easily. Whereas the others would require either finding the original digital elements to re-render or creating brand new elements to render and then redoing each scene needed. In terms of popularity, TOS and TNG were popular enough to do that for where Voyager, DS9, and Babylon 5 are not.

 

[Amasov]

If it was just a matter of AI running a process they would have done it by now. Read what they had to do for TNG: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Remaster#Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation
For VOY (or DS9) it may be easier or it may be harder to remaster than TNG. The fact that it hasn't already been done means it's probably very hard to do (read, lots of $$)

The process they did for TNG, unless I'm wrong, would only apply to about half of DS9 and maybe even a quarter of Voyager. Those shows eventually went full CG later down the road and, again unless I'm wrong here, it would only be a matter of re-rendering those shots at a higher-resolution and combining them with the film elements that would be upped to high-definition. But even with that said, I don't know if it would require them to reassemble and re-edit full episodes like they did for TNG during the CGI period.

There was this article posted to Trekcore some years back about how DS9 and Voyager's effects shots (for the most part) still exist. It's stated that, despite knowing the shows were aired in SD, the models were built with an incredible amount of detail anyway and it would show if you just re-exported the shots to a higher resolution. They didn't design and build them with just SD in mind.

But thing is; even with that in mind, I have to imagine that there would still be some work done to these effects shots because you're talking about CGI work that's 20+ years old by this point. CGI has made some huge leaps since then and I would have to believe they'd be worked on to look a bit more realistic for today's standards. But of course, that's where cost dictates the best way forward.

 

[CorporalClegg]

If it was just a matter of AI running a process they would have done it by now. Read what they had to do for TNG: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Remaster#Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation
For VOY (or DS9) it may be easier or it may be harder to remaster than TNG. The fact that it hasn't already been done means it's probably very hard to do (read, lots of $$)

AI interpolation has come a long way in the last seven years.

 

[Ovation]

There’ll be a 4K release of TOS before an HD release of DS9 or Voyager.

 

[JoeZhang]

Babylon 5, will probably never get a proper HD version because

It's disappeared from the popular consciousness?

Yes I know you can stream it but I don't get any sense it's particular popular or well known outside of its original and shrinking fanbase. It's never has any really truefully successful spin off and everything we did see was less popular than what came before.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

As OCD Geek said, the likely result is that CBS All Access will be (after a rename/rebrand) expanded to include the Viacom/Paramount back catalog - likely with little to no increase in price.

From a Trek perspective, this is a great thing. CBS All Access was such a minor player in terms of total studio value compared to the other big players already on the scene (like Netflix) and the ones soon to enter (like Disney) that it was almost foreordained it was going to lose the streaming wars - either folding up or being bought by another studio. Now it has a fighting chance - particularly if they go after Sony Pictures and Discovery Communications, which is what the executives are indicating.

CBSAA needs to be rebranded Paramount All Access and also, they should get rid of CBS Studios and bring back Paramount Television as it was before the merger.*


*/I'd also love to see Viacom buy Cineplex and restore the Scotiabank Theaters to being the Paramount Theaters, but that's most likely a pipe dream.

 

[F. King Daniel]

CBSAA needs to be rebranded Paramount All Access and also, they should get rid of CBS Studios and bring back Paramount Television as it was before the merger.*

And put Rick Berman back in charge of Star Trek, which will have 26-episode seasons again.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

And put Rick Berman back in charge of Star Trek, which will have 26-episode seasons again.

I'm not going that far; I don't want his ass anywhere near where a Star Trek movie or TV series is being made; he and Braga brought the franchise down, requiring a reboot/revitalization from Abrams, Orci, and Kurtzman. Besides, he's retired anyway.

 

[yotsuya]

I'm not going that far; I don't want his ass anywhere near where a Star Trek movie or TV series is being made, he and Braga brought the franchise down, requiring a reboot/revitalization from Abrams, Orci, and Kurtzman. Besides, he's retired anyway.

Not him, but someone who will bring in the Okuda's and respect the original timeline and canon. It either needs to be a clean reboot or follow the old way and respect the story and visual canon of TOS through ENT. I'm all for reboots if they make a clean break and don't try to pretend to be something they aren't.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Not him, but someone who will bring in the Okuda's and respect the original timeline and

Need more Buckaroo Banzai references?

 

[Shaka Zulu]

Not him, but someone who will bring in the Okuda's and respect the original timeline and canon. It either needs to be a clean reboot or follow the old way and respect the story and visual canon of TOS through ENT. I'm all for reboots if they make a clean break and don't try to pretend to be something they aren't.

That's not going to happen, and you know it. As nice and as accomplished as the Okudas are, the current people in charge are going to do the same things they did when they made the current movies and Discovery and have new people do the art and costumes who will create a new Star Trek series and movie that will look as if it were filmed now and not in 1966.

 

[Dukhat]

That's not going to happen, and you know it. As nice and as accomplished as the Okudas are, the current people in charge are going to do the same things they did when they made the current movies and Discovery and have new people do the art and costumes who will create a new Star Trek series and movie that will look as if it were filmed now and not in 1966.

Agreed. The days of people like Okuda and Drexler carefully documenting information for the sake of canonicity and continuity are over. Heck, we're lucky that we even got class names for the DSC Starfleet vessels, and that was only because John Eaves had worked during Berman-era Trek and was familiar with things like that.

 

[Tuskin38]

and respect the original timeline and canon.

So the people they already have?

 

[yotsuya]

So the people they already have?

They haven't had anyone like that since Enterprise finished. For me that is the end of Classic Star Trek and the beginning of the reboot period. Everything since has been a reboot. We'll see if Picard can avoid that.

 

[Tuskin38]

Everything since has been a reboot.

Discovery wasn't.

 

[Phoenix219]

yeah, it basically is, in most any way that matters but lip service.

 

[yotsuya]

Discovery wasn't.

I could give you a list of all the ways that it breaks from canon and is a reboot, but that isn't what this topic is about. And I really don't want to make that list again.

yeah, it basically is, in most any way that matters but lip service.

Exactly. Visually is really is a reboot, but so many other things as well.