The OFFICIAL STNG-R general discussion thread!

[gaghyogi49]

Here are comparison shots of the red giant from "The naked now":

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/122482

and the surface of Delphi Ardu from "The last outpost":

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/122484

 

[Maxwell Everett]

I don't think the sun from "The naked now" is a new effect, as the black sun spots in the original episode and the HD screenshot are a perfect match. The sky in the Delphi Ardu shot (from "The last outpost"), however, is new. Also, the Relva VII matte painting shot is a little different. While no CG elements have been added, the shot of the small shuttle drone is different in the original episode. It seems the footage is identical to the footage of the drone in "11001001", only mirrored. In the original episode, different footage of the drone is seen.

Here are comparison shots of the red giant from "The naked now":

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/122482

and the surface of Delphi Ardu from "The last outpost":

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/122484

Thanks for the screenshot comparisons.

Looks like you're dead-on about "Last Outpost" and "Coming of Age." I noticed the close similarity of the dark areas of the sun from "The Naked Now" right away as well, but I wasn't able to get a perfect match comparing it to the TrekCore screengrab -- though I realize the surface is constantly changing. You may still be right, though. Or it could be a new varying texture map that's a close approximation of the original. It might even incorporate a practical element they were able to salvage. Here's my attempt at trying to make the Blu-ray look as fantastically bad as the DVD:

 

[Sho]

It's interesting by the way how different the Enterprise itself is, see e.g. the missing big lit windows at the saucer bottom in the BD.

 

[Maxwell Everett]

It's interesting by the way how different the Enterprise itself is, see e.g. the missing big lit windows at the saucer bottom in the BD.

I think what's going on there is that they simply grabbed a still of the Enterprise element from this "Farpoint" shot here (starting at 53:28 -- it's about 18 frames earlier than the TrekCore screencap) which they had already remastered... instead of tracking down that specific shot from "The Naked Now" and scanning it just for use in this episode, which -- as you point out -- is only very subtly different.

 

[Sho]

Yep, which I think is interesting in the sense that their devotion to keeping the original elements where possible may not extend to remastering virtually equivalent stock shots. Of course it's not solid evidence in that this original element here may have been damaged or unavailable or been a poorer choice for other reasons than just saving the time and effort. (And to be clear, I personally don't mind much in this case.)

 

[Prologic9]

All 3 shots are the same stock shot. What's happened is in the original shot, the window pass is misaligned so all of the windows are shifted over to the right a little bit.

 

[Maxwell Everett]

All 3 shots are the same stock shot. What's happened is in the original shot, the window pass is misaligned so all of the windows are shifted over to the right a little bit.

You know, you're absolutely right, the window light pass is very badly misaligned, and so is the bussard collector pass. What threw me was the shadowing on the neck looks different and it appeared as if the camera angle was just the slightest bit lower with more of the underside of the ship visible in the new shot... but looking at it now, the old compositing may have been eating away at the edges of the miniature too much as well, giving that impression.

 

[Sho]

Aye, that makes sense. So it's actually a fix, nifty.

 

[gaghyogi49]

I really like what they have done to the planets and stars on TNG so far. Sometimes the original footage was kept (and it looks excellent in HD), in other cases, the planets had to be redone. Let’s see what we have so far:

Deneb IV („Encounter at Farpoint“) remains unchanged, as the original matte painting created by ILM looks great in HD.

Qo’Nos („Sins of the father“) had to be redone because the planet was created in SD.

Red giant („The naked now“): It seems the original footage was used, maybe slightly enhanced.

Three more planets have been seen so far, two in the startrek.com article http://www.startrek.com/article/tng-the-first-season-blu-ray-arrives-on-july-24

and one in the Entertainment Weekly article: http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/04/30/star-trek-tng-blu-ray-season-1/2/

Here are screenshots of the planets as they appear on the DVDs. No large screenshots of the HD planets from the new transfers are available at the moment.

Haven („Haven“) is unchanged and looks great in HD. The same footage of the planet was re-used in „11001001“ to depict Bynaus, it will be interesting to see if the footage was re-used unchanged as well.

Earth („Conspiracy“): The planet on the viewscreen is Earth. As it didn’t look too good in the original, it was changed. Knowing the Okudas, this is probably real footage of Earth.

Red planet: This planet is seen on the TV screen in the picture of the Okudas and the CBS producers. This shot of the Enterprise is only seen in front of a reddish planet in two season 1 episodes, „When the bough breaks“ and „Skin of evil“, so it’s either Aldea or Vagra II. As footage of Aldea was re-used for Vagra II, it doesn’t really matter, anyhow. This planet was redone as well and looks great!

 

[gaghyogi49]

Here are a few more comparisons.

The Selay:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/122558

Beta Renner cloud:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/122559

Triangulum galaxy:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/122560

Angel One:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/122561

Starbase 74:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/122562
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/122563
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/122564

 

[Sho]

By the way, Starbase 74 of course conclusively puts to rest the theory that was being floated here for a while to explain some CG replacements done for the teaser disc, namely that they are unable to reuse elements the show originally procured from the feature films for legal reasons.

 

[Sho]

Also, excuse the double post, but what strikes me as supremely interesting about TNG-R and as a sort of justification for keeping the original shots that hasn't come up in the debate yet: Basically all of the effects-heavy shows we've gotten to enjoy in HD quality yet, say nuBSG or SGU, were produced in the CGI era (or in the case of TOS-R switched to CGI for their HD remastering). TNG is sort of the first time we're getting a show in HD using photographic effects, and being able to draw upon the strength of those techniques. That makes it quite unique and fresh in a way. Despite all the ways the nuBSG effects shots are brilliants - their dynamism, etc. - you won't find a shot in there that is brilliant in the same way that this one is, due to its lighting and texture. To me this is tremendously exciting.

 

[gaghyogi49]

Yep, and the startrek.com article also has a screencap from "Conspiracy", showing the footage of Starfleet Headquarters/The Federation Council re-used from Star Trek IV. I'm glad that this was just a theory that has been proven wrong! :-)

 

[Brikar99]

My god it all looks so amazing

 

[TheSeeker]

You know, I think part of the reason I never rewatched TNG is because watching the DVDs never seemed to match up with how it looks in my head. With the Blu-Ray release it is finally matching what I see in my head!

I can't wait to get the first season. I haven't been this excited about Star Trek since I got TVH for Christmas back in 86 and saw the TNG teaser at the beginning!

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AayLwwvn77s[/yt]

 

[Warp Coil]

Well, that settles it. I'm upgrading from my DVDs to blu-ray when these are released. The results are just too impressive to ignore. Season 1 looks downright awful to watch on DVD or broadcast, but this.... this is just beautiful.

 

[groundhog]

Is it just Season 1 this year? Do we know? Don't want to sound too greedy, but Season 2 around Thanksgiving or Christmas would be perfect, especially since the plan is for two seasons per year. So, 1-2 in 2012, 3-4 in 2013, 5-6 in 2014, and 7 in 2015 - and maybe Season 1 of Deep Space Nine...

 

[davejames]

I checked the same shot at TrekCore. The star has been improved, and the ships are clearer. The registry error has been corrected on the Oberth-class model. Now, for me, I have a question - what is the light source that is illuminating the starboard profile of both ships?

Yeah that definitely looks like a new star effect to me. It's got the extra mottling detail that you only really see in modern digital effects. The original star was probably just solid orange with those black spots in the middle.

And it looks like there are some slight changes to the mountain range in that other shot as well (that aren't just caused by a sharper focus), so that's probably a new effect as well.

 

[gaghyogi49]

I don't think the star is completely new. If you watch the episode, you can see that the black spots are changing size and position in a repeating pattern. In some shots, the pattern is nearly 100% identical to the pattern seen in the HD screenshot. Maybe it was enhanced using modern technologies (the edges, for example), but I'm sure some original footage was used here.

 

[davejames]

I'm not talking about the giant black spots, but the extra detail within the rest of the surface. That looks like a more modern effect to me.