The Art of Star Trek: Reanimated - The Sequel

[Cary L. Brown]

One thing that REALLY needs fixing on that Poser-Engineering set is the angle of the "rows of tubes." They're far too close to vertical (and the top section is way too wide). The rest of the set looks pretty good, but that part just jars the heck out of me.

 

[Ptrope]

I'll probably do something to 'accurize' the tubes (I've been referring to them as the "plasma manifolds," which makes as much sense as anything, to me at least ). They probably wouldn't show onscreen for this project, but since the set is also going to be a downloadable freebie, which anyone else could use (with the kind permission of alt1701, of course), it would be good to make sure that the parts that remain are as close to the originals as possible.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Inspired by Redfern's post above, I've started 'upgrading' alt1701's already-excellent engineering set

Oh HEY now... this is beyond cool.

A fourth season of Star Trek with more money for the episode budget... sigh.

 

[Tallguy]

Looks like the maid got really serious with the floor wax.

"These floors are so shiny!"

 

[Ziz]

"It's a floor wax AND a dessert topping!"

 

[largo]

I didn't have a problem with the idea of concrete floors in the new film, frankly, only with them having giant fermentation vats bolted to them

scotty *did* seem pretty excited about the ship...

 

[Brian]

I didn't mind the concrete floors because since it's a painted smooth surface, they could be anything.

What I did mind were the cinderblock walls. It has jumped out at me every time I've seen the film. When Captain Robau is heading for the shuttle, he takes a turbolift, then a stairway. When he's going down the stairs, you can plainly see that the wall next to him is of concrete block construction.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

I hadn't noticed. I was busy focusing on his magnificent, smooth head.

 

[Redfern]

Remember this travesty several pages back?

http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=1014186&postcount=48

Well, I made another attempt and while still not quite screen accurate, I don't feel quite so ashamed of this effort.

This time I did as the production personnel did for the episode "Arena", and built upon a human frame. The base figure has a series of morph controls to build up the muscles. It also allowed me to increase the scale of the hands and feet. As before, I used the head and upper neck region of a Godzilla mesh which I simply mounted upon the human figure's shoulders like a team mascot headpiece. And though I didn't have a toga sized for this figure, I did have enough separate items that when pieced together and textured appropriately, more or less capture the look of the Gorn's attire.

Yes, the head still needs refinement, but hopefully you don't think it's as embarrassing as my earlier version. (At the time, I thought a thoroughly non-human physique might prove an interesting alternative, but instead, it lost the Wah Chang essence of the original costume.)

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Ziz]

Are you gonna adjust his clothing or were you going for the Zapp Brannigan look?

 

[Redfern]

I assume you mean the length of his toga? As I stated above, it's a W.i.P. But I'll probably try to stretch the length of that bottom flap. Of course, that will distort the UV coordinates and any texture based material node (rather than a mathematically based one) will be similarly stretched.

Based upon his posts on another board, I think Ptrope is going to revise his version as well, also starting with a human figure (though a newer edition than the one I used) rather than the hulking frame in his initial effort.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[BK613]

Very nice job

 

[Redfern]

Right, another attempt at the Gorn, this time a close-up of his (are we so sure Kirk combated a male?) head.

I "frankensteined" a different reptile this time, the DAZ Mil' Dragon. Yes, I'm well aware the original Wah Chang costume gave the impression of a leathery, as opposed to a scaly, skin. This procedural "'gater" hide is a concession to help better blend the separate geometries. The shape of the brows and the snout is still not quite there yet, but hopefully it is a better likeness than the previous render.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Professor Moriarty]

I think you're wrong, Redfern... this looks kick-ass (and scary as shit)! If you really want to emulate the look of the TV Gorn, make the eyes more "glittery"... but really, this looks very, very good.

 

[Redfern]

Thank you, Prof'! That really means a lot coming from you, a person who's putting together his own "remastered" efforts, a sequence that already looks like it'll rival what CBS Digital achieved. You're right about the compound eyes; the specular value needs to be strengthened. I was playing with a procedural, but I'd probably get closer if I can find an actual texture.

You know, I wonder why they changed the look of the Gorn's eyes at the last minute. I've seen a few shots depicting the costume elements before they were worn and another upon the actor, but before he donned the tunic that hid the seams and air holes. In those images, the Gorn's eyes are smooth and polished . They look black to me, but one caption I read stated they were red. I could understand their being redressed if they had initially attempted to depict irises and pupils (because they usually end up looking rather fake), but featureless crimson or onyx eyes would have been quite creepy in their own right. (Plus, it would have made the digital "blink" added to the "remastered" episode seem more appropriate.) Was it just to give the creature an additional "alien" aspect? Did the polished eyes seem less believable on camera? Anybody have the straight poop?

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Star Trek: Reanimated - The Sequel

Ptrope I was going to say your lighting needs some work
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/Redfern/Engineering-3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/Redfern/Pike-Cabin-3.jpg
Even TOS didn't look that boring of lighting IMHO.

and then saw this:
http://www.ptrope.com/Star_Trek_Reanimated/Images/Engineroom_noir007.jpg
wow. we've not seen the original TOS enterprise with the lights down low and one source. Cool, it still could use a little texturing though.


Are you planning on any simulated film grain or are you keeping it clean CG like
Star Trek: Aurora
http://www.auroratrek.com/
Are you planning on using any atmospheric effects? haze, mist, smoke on the sets?
Are you planning on controlling depth-of-field on your medium and closeup shots?
Are you planning on using spherical highlights and/or any diffusion on female closeups as a nod to TOS? I know this is animated but I you may do it as a styleized look...

Are you planning on making your character lighting similar to TOS or closer to Voyager/Enterprise modern soft key lighting?

Are you planning on doing Star Trek: Reanimated as 16:9 framing and rendering in 1080p or at least standard definition widescreen? Star Trek: Aurora works nicely as 16:9 as did Enterprise. It gave Enterprise a more cinematic look than just a TV series (the first 3 seasons shot on film and the 4th season shot on HD video). It is the standard for television framing. If so are you going to use the full 16:9 frame or are you protecting for 4:3 center cut?
Will you be doing 24p or 30fps?
Is there a fan productions forum thread you already have ongoing? (I haven't checked)


P.S. Nice work with the Gorn models & texturing.

 

[MadMan1701A]

I like the previous head better... This one is too dragonlike.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I didn't mind the concrete floors because since it's a painted smooth surface, they could be anything.

Pretty much like the painted concrete floor that served several of the TOS Enterprise sets.

 

[Brian]

I didn't mind the concrete floors because since it's a painted smooth surface, they could be anything.

What I did mind were the cinderblock walls. It has jumped out at me every time I've seen the film. When Captain Robau is heading for the shuttle, he takes a turbolift, then a stairway. When he's going down the stairs, you can plainly see that the wall next to him is of concrete block construction.

On fifth viewing, I realized that he actually goes up the stairs. Down the lift, then up the stairs. I guess he had to go down from the bridge to a level that intersects the top dorsal, then up stairs in the dorsal? I don't know why I said down in that post, I guess I'm just used to the secondary hull being continuously down from the bridge. Anyway, it still had cinderblock walls.

 

[Redfern]

Re: Star Trek: Reanimated - The Sequel

Ptrope I was going to say your lighting needs some work
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/Redfern/Engineering-3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/Redfern/Pike-Cabin-3.jpg
Even TOS didn't look that boring of lighting IMHO.

and then saw this:
http://www.ptrope.com/Star_Trek_Reanimated/Images/Engineroom_noir007.jpg
wow. we've not seen the original TOS enterprise with the lights down low and one source. Cool, it still could use a little texturing though.

JefferiesTube, I'm not sure how I should state this, but you might wanna' check a lil' more closely as to who posts what. Don't blame Ptrope for the renders with the "boring lighting". Those first two are my "imperfect" images. Ptrope did the third with the "down low" and "cool" lighting. As for texturing, well, there isn't any as the focus of the render was to feature the modeling upgrades. Only when he's finished "upgrading" the engineering section can we expect to see textures and bump maps.

Sincerely,

Bill