Star Trek: The Doomsday Machine - Teaser Online June 12

[Professor Moriarty]

The Christmas miracle would be if the entire project was suddenly finished tomorrow

Looks like the best I'll be able to do is post a test clip that's missing several of the background elements which are still rendering. I think I've overclocked a couple of my render farm computers a little too much... they both keep GPF-ing way too frequently, which is causing a lot of dropped frames that I have to go back and re-render manually. Grr. Need to invest in a good render farm manager and some better cooling, methinks.

Meanwhile, the test clip should be up either late tonight or around 8 AM EST tomorrow... hang in there...

Edited to add: YouTube is encoding it now... should be up by morning!

Edited to add #2: And here it is. Remember--this is test footage only. In fact, most of this clip is old visual effects footage from my abandoned March 2008 effort, so don't bother posting to complain that the appearance of the planet killer doesn't match, the debris field looks different, etc., etc... all of that stuff is going to be replaced.

The only effects shot that is mostly complete is the opener which I posted separately last month, although I've tweaked the planet killer appareance (again!) so I'll need to re-render that scene element. The next scene where the planet killer opens fire on the Enterprise is semi-complete, although I'm not happy with the camera angle on the PK--you can't really see the four beams lancing together very clearly. Everything else after that is eventually going in the dustbin, but I thought the clips would be of interest for--if nothing else--comparison purposes with their eventual replacements.

Happy holidays everyone! I'll be online sporadically until the new year but welcome your comments in the meantime.

 

[Mistreaper]

What you have done is just great man, nice job.

 

[22 Stars]

Great work, showing artistry, not just technical proficiency. All the hard work is really appreciated!

 

[ncc-1017-e]

WONDERFUL

 

[Barbreader]

So much fan Trek... so hard to classify. OK, so I decided the place this belongs is listed under the Pro Trek section. Of course, it wasn't what I had in mind when I made that section... but it's not a fan film or a remix... so, the place it should be is an alternative to watching the original Doomsday Machine if somebody is clicking through my website trying to decide what to watch.

I haven't figured out how to treat it in the index yet, though.

Here is where your work is in Star Trek Reviewed: http://startrekreviewed.blogspot.com/2009/06/153.html

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Oh, cool! Of course, I'm not the only one insane enough to do this. You should also include Daren Dochterman's excellent version of "Doomsday", and I know of at least one other gentleman who's redone "Balance of Terror", but I haven't seen it posted online anywhere. (I have a DVD copy he sent me, but I can't post it online without his permission.)

 

[Barbreader]

Oh, cool! Of course, I'm not the only one insane enough to do this. You should also include Daren Dochterman's excellent version of "Doomsday", and I know of at least one other gentleman who's redone "Balance of Terror", but I haven't seen it posted online anywhere. (I have a DVD copy he sent me, but I can't post it online without his permission.)

Thank you so much for that! I've added the second remake under yours, vis: http://startrekreviewed.blogspot.com/2009/06/153.html

It's funny, I was not aware that The Doomsday Machine was such a fan favorite. I knew it was rerun more than other episodes, but wow, now that I'm working with filmmakers, I see the local TV stations were actually responding to what folk wanted!

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Just to let you know that the month of February wasn't completely wasted shoveling out from under the biggest recorded snowstorm in Northern Virginia history...

Phaser effect test at YouTube

This is an "animatic" that uses a very simple model of the Enterprise, rendered so that I could evaluate the phaser fire effect I created for the Enterprise attack sequence. This is not the camera movement I'm planning on using in this sequence--the Enterprise is moving very slowly relative to the camera POV so that I could easily examine how the phaser bolts look. If you want an idea of what the final sequence will look like, well... look to the left of this post.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The beams have nice detail but don't come across as real energetic. A little "hotter" would be more persuasive even if less faithful to the original effect, IMO.

This kind of reminds me of the "exploding star" effect from the end of the ST Remastered version of "All Our Yesterdays" - I admired it, but wanted to feel a little more of a "flinch factor" suggesting the power and violence of the event.

 

[Maurice]

The beams have nice detail but don't come across as real energetic. A little "hotter" would be more persuasive even if less faithful to the original effect, IMO.

This kind of reminds me of the "exploding star" effect from the end of the ST Remastered version of "That Which Survives" - I admired it, but wanted to feel a little more of a "flinch factor" suggesting the power and violence of the event.

Isn't that "All Our Yesterdays"?

I know what you meant about the "flinch". It was missing the pop it needed.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Yes, it was "All Our Yesterdays." I've corrected it, thanks.

I really thought the nova should overwhelm the shot for at least a moment.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

The beams have nice detail but don't come across as real energetic. A little "hotter" would be more persuasive even if less faithful to the original effect, IMO.

This kind of reminds me of the "exploding star" effect from the end of the ST Remastered version of "All Our Yesterdays" - I admired it, but wanted to feel a little more of a "flinch factor" suggesting the power and violence of the event.

Thanks for the feedback, Dennis. I know exactly what you're talking about and have already adjusted the "pop" on subsequent test animatics.

 

[Captain Carter]

I'm just now finding this - what can I say, but "OMG! This is awesome!" THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE is my favorite TOS episode, as well James Doohan's. Truly a great episode...

I have a copy of Daren Dochterman's version, as well as the Paramount/CBS Television Blue-Ray/TOS-Remastered's version, but this truly is INCREDIBLE. Thank you my friend for doing this - I cannot wait to see the end product and hopefully, will be able to get a copy to view on the big screen at home. From one TOS fan to you, BRAVO!

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Extended Attack Sequence Test -- April Fools' Sneak Peek

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Let me get this straight? You have to wait 22 mins before it starts to download?

 

[Professor Moriarty]

No, you have to wait 22 minutes for Vimeo to finish encoding it... check back later this afternoon.

 

[Psion]

No, you have to wait 22 minutes for Vimeo to finish encoding it... check back later this afternoon.

I'm tempted to post the same thing here that I posted in the art forum.

Over and over and over and over and ...

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Whoops... almost as soon as I posted that the status changed... Vimeo just finished the encoding.

Click me

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Okay, waited the 22mins, and it's ready. (Glad no one else will have to wait, but Vimeo told me I had to wait because I'm not a member or some such.) Thanks for posting it. I don't think I like the short bursts repeated over and over. I'd've preferred a more sustained blast or two or three. The Doomsday Machine looks nice as does the Enterprise. Well done!

 

[Professor Moriarty]

The bursts actually are slightly longer in duration than the phaser volleys in the original scene (not to mention there are fifteen more of them slightly more closely spaced together), but it's a fair crit. Among other reasons I chose a "strafing run" attack style:

• It nicely matches the cadence of the re-edited soundtrack (which was tripled in length from about 5-1/2 seconds to almost 17 seconds)
• More dramatic camera angles vs. the Enterprise hanging in position to attack on one spot (and tactically speaking, probably less suicidal!)
• A test video where the phasers fired continously just didn't have the same "pop" (and the continual screech of the phaser sound effect was a little grating)

Thanks for the feedback!