Rumor: TNG-HD is a-coming

[evilnate]

I think that, if CBS are indeed remastering TNG, they will take every precaution not to screw it up. It's in their best long-term interests to make sure they do it right.

On that point, I agree. However, I don't think that CBS-D has the talent to do it in-house like they did with TOS-R. TOS-R was a fun way to revisit the series and I'm happy to own the blu-rays. However, the CGI was lacking in many areas, most notably in the the lighting, and made many of the shots poor to downright bad. However, it's difficult to argue that they're not an improvement on a technical level (but not an artistic one) over the effects that were being replaced. 40 years of special effects advancements will have that effect!

However, that's why I don't have high hopes for this project if it's done in the same manner as TOS-R. CBS-D didn't show the artistic ability to come close to matching the lighting and detail of the original shots that are present in TNG. I've been rewatching TNG and for the most part, there is nothing really wrong with most of the effects, except they're stuck at a low resolution. CBS-D, from what we saw from TOS-R is going to have a hard time even coming close to replicating the effects in CGI. Preferably they'll farm it out to a better f/x house, but more than likely they'll just do it on the cheap, and people will complain about it for years.

 

[ALF]

I can't see how they could screw it up. Are there any "Greedo shoots first" moments in TNG?

 

[evilnate]

I can't see how they could screw it up. Are there any "Greedo shoots first" moments in TNG?

Not yet!

 

[Skywalker]

I can't see how they could screw it up. Are there any "Greedo shoots first" moments in TNG?

Not yet!

"Mr. Worf..."

*The Borg cube opens fire first*

"Fire!"

 

[evilnate]

I can't see how they could screw it up. Are there any "Greedo shoots first" moments in TNG?

Not yet!

"Mr. Worf..."

*The Borg cube opens fire first*

"Fire!"

What will be worse than that will be the scene that they'll add back in to BOBW. After Picard has his talk with Guinan in Ten-Forward, we see him walking the passageways of the Enterprise. Riker finds him and then they repeat the scene with Guinan only in a slightly different way. Then Ensign Ro will walk into the scene and look into the camera for no apparent reason.

 

[RAMA]

The scale of this project, if the rumors are true, is absolutely mind-boggling to me. TOS-R was a multi-year project, involving less than half the number of episodes, and far fewer effects per-episode. TOS-R didn't have to redo every effect, nor did they have to essentially put each episode back into post-production to complete it. Makes me think that if this project does happen and that we're going to see HD remasters that there are going to be serious corners being cut. I recall a story from a year or two ago which suggested that CBS Digital was looking at some new upscaling technology for this project, and I'm worried that that's what we'll get: something that looks slightly better than that awful looking upscaled DS9 episode that was on the TOS blu-rays.

Well there are NO ST series on the air right now, so if you simply consider this as a replacement project for any new ST series, then it really isn't that big of a deal for CBS. Its just like having another series.

RAMA

 

[Start Wreck]

I don't see the benefit of just re-mastering some of the episodes -- that might be enough to put on home video, but it wouldn't be enough to widely syndicate. If CBS is going to make the investment of getting a team together to re-scan the negatives and build CGI assets, that's an awfully big investment to make on such a limited prospect as a "Best of" DVD or Blu-Ray.

Exactly! Economics of scale.

I'm excited by the prospect of seeing the original film elements in their full glory! It's going to look utterly fantastic! And as an added bonus, there's bound to be loads of deleted scenes and goofs that we've never seen before. There must be hours and hours of footage that's never been seen anywhere else.

In terms of adding new elements, I would love it if we could see some different shots of the Enterprise, rather than recreating all the same stock shots again. I suppose if they do use CGI for this project, then creating new shots is inevitable. I look forward to it!

Also, I want them replace the Angel One matte paintings with brand new cityscapes. Please!! It's vitally important!

 

[RAMA]

I don't see the benefit of just re-mastering some of the episodes -- that might be enough to put on home video, but it wouldn't be enough to widely syndicate. If CBS is going to make the investment of getting a team together to re-scan the negatives and build CGI assets, that's an awfully big investment to make on such a limited prospect as a "Best of" DVD or Blu-Ray.

Exactly! Economics of scale.

I'm excited by the prospect of seeing the original film elements in their full glory! It's going to look utterly fantastic! And as an added bonus, there's bound to be loads of deleted scenes and goofs that we've never seen before. There must be hours and hours of footage that's never been seen anywhere else.

In terms of adding new elements, I would love it if we could see some different shots of the Enterprise, rather than recreating all the same stock shots again. I suppose if they do use CGI for this project, then creating new shots is inevitable. I look forward to it!

Also, I want them replace the Angel One matte paintings with brand new cityscapes. Please!! It's vitally important!

I don't mind the Angel One matte, but they did re-use it a few times.

RAMA

 

[SoM]

I don't see the benefit of just re-mastering some of the episodes -- that might be enough to put on home video, but it wouldn't be enough to widely syndicate. If CBS is going to make the investment of getting a team together to re-scan the negatives and build CGI assets, that's an awfully big investment to make on such a limited prospect as a "Best of" DVD or Blu-Ray.

But as an advance? i.e., they put out DVD/Blu-Ray of, say, BotW/Family and Unification (5 episodes, one - Family - practically a "bottle show" for effects). They then plough that money back into the major remastering effort, with several major assets - the Ent-D model, Borg Cube model, Warbird and some others - now effectively paid for, and some major stock shots fully rendered.

 

[Butters]

I don't mind the Angel One matte, but they did re-use it a few times.

RAMA

Wasn't there a second matte of this particular cityscape used in another episode, the same style buildings, only from an other angle?

It was the cityscapes in TNG that fueled my young imagination, and its this area that a redo could most excel.

 

[MacLeod]

Naturally we're going to have to same old thing we had when they remastered TOS. It's fine as it, they'll ruin it etc...

Surely the whole point of doing it is

1.>So it's more suitable for HD
2.>It'll preserve it for the future
3.>It'll make even more money in the long term

 

[Butters]

Naturally we're going to have to same old thing we had when they remastered TOS. It's fine as it, they'll ruin it etc...

Surely the whole point of doing it is

1.>So it's more suitable for HD
2.>It'll preserve it for the future
3.>It'll make even more money in the long term

Agreed. They can't ruin it as the originals will always exist.

Current TV technology makes it look terrible and consequently, its value as an asset diminishes and its appeal to new viewers drops.

 

[Rarewolf]

What will be worse than that will be the scene that they'll add back in to BOBW. After Picard has his talk with Guinan in Ten-Forward, we see him walking the passageways of the Enterprise. Riker finds him and then they repeat the scene with Guinan only in a slightly different way. Then Ensign Ro will walk into the scene and look into the camera for no apparent reason.

I wouldn't mind if they added O'Brien to Relics, just a few seconds of him rescuing La Forge and Scotty. It's a shame the ships most famous Irish lad never met the great Scott on screen.

Troi's scene might exist in the valuts too.

 

[Harvey]

I don't see the benefit of just re-mastering some of the episodes -- that might be enough to put on home video, but it wouldn't be enough to widely syndicate. If CBS is going to make the investment of getting a team together to re-scan the negatives and build CGI assets, that's an awfully big investment to make on such a limited prospect as a "Best of" DVD or Blu-Ray.

But as an advance? i.e., they put out DVD/Blu-Ray of, say, BotW/Family and Unification (5 episodes, one - Family - practically a "bottle show" for effects). They then plough that money back into the major remastering effort, with several major assets - the Ent-D model, Borg Cube model, Warbird and some others - now effectively paid for, and some major stock shots fully rendered.

Well, I assume they'll put out the remastered episodes pretty soon after completion, but there's no way that assembling the team and getting the infrastructure together only to do five episodes is the best way for CBS to spend their money. A home video release would take some time after completion to be put together and released. Then, CBS would have to go back to square one and put together everything again. That doesn't sound efficient or cost-effective to me.

 

[MacLeod]

Perhaps they should jsut go all the way and convert it to 3D. :P Only joking.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

I can't see how they could screw it up. Are there any "Greedo shoots first" moments in TNG?

Darmok, for one. Fire phasers! Uh, from the torpedo tube!

The only downside from that is that it would screw up a really cool looking effect sequence, even though it's technically wrong.

Mark

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Not that TNG has anything to do with the TOS 50th Anniversary in 2016 September but do you think that it will be 5 full years before TNG is remastered and takes advantage of the marketing for 50th Anniversary of TOS?
That would be a Autumn 2016 release.
Well it wouldn't coincide with STXIII that should come out around 2015 so maybe.

 

[Harvey]

I think it is more likely that they'll tie it to the release of a new feature film in the franchise than an anniversary, given the relative lack of new Trek content. TOS-R was released on Blu-Ray to tie in with Star Trek (2009) after all, with a trailer for the movie in front of the first disc of every season.

 

[RAMA]

What will be worse than that will be the scene that they'll add back in to BOBW. After Picard has his talk with Guinan in Ten-Forward, we see him walking the passageways of the Enterprise. Riker finds him and then they repeat the scene with Guinan only in a slightly different way. Then Ensign Ro will walk into the scene and look into the camera for no apparent reason.

I wouldn't mind if they added O'Brien to Relics, just a few seconds of him rescuing La Forge and Scotty. It's a shame the ships most famous Irish lad never met the great Scott on screen.

Troi's scene might exist in the valuts too.

See this is exactly what I DON'T want to see, they don't need to change story points. I'm content with similar FX and new ones where the originals were designed primarily to save money, ie, re-used shots, kitbashes, and abandoned ideas.

 

[RAMA]

I can't see how they could screw it up. Are there any "Greedo shoots first" moments in TNG?

Darmok, for one. Fire phasers! Uh, from the torpedo tube!

The only downside from that is that it would screw up a really cool looking effect sequence, even though it's technically wrong.

Mark

Of course they could also make it better!

Not that TNG has anything to do with the TOS 50th Anniversary in 2016 September but do you think that it will be 5 full years before TNG is remastered and takes advantage of the marketing for 50th Anniversary of TOS?
That would be a Autumn 2016 release.
Well it wouldn't coincide with STXIII that should come out around 2015 so maybe.

Likely it will finish after that, but it should start airing way before that.