are the babylon 5 films available at HD?

[Brikar99]

I assume the original film elements still exist (or is Warner Bros. really that stupid?) but they'll probably never see the light of day in the near future. Babylon 5 just appeals to too small an audience for redone effects to be worth doing.

It's too bad somebody like you can't their hands on those elements, though, David_cgc. The shots where computer animation and live action footage are composited look especially horrible on the widescreen DVDs we have right now.

They should totally crowd-source the effects shots out to the fan community.

 

[TtotheC]

I assume the original film elements still exist (or is Warner Bros. really that stupid?) but they'll probably never see the light of day in the near future. Babylon 5 just appeals to too small an audience for redone effects to be worth doing.

It's too bad somebody like you can't their hands on those elements, though, David_cgc. The shots where computer animation and live action footage are composited look especially horrible on the widescreen DVDs we have right now.

They should totally crowd-source the effects shots out to the fan community.

This.

I mean everyone saw how good the Babylon 5 vs Star Trek CGI battle was in 'In the Pirkinning', right? It might have take a fair few years to put together, but it shows it can be done. The problem still comes down to when it's a mixed media shot, like Londo watching the mass drivers bomb the Narn home world.

The issue is dealing with an entity like WB though. Corporations aren't best known for making enlightened decisions.

 

[Reverend]

Nice idea but contractual and union issues aside, I'm pretty sure cobbling together a group of freelance artists from the fan community to redo all the effects would be like herding cats...really skatty ones. No, you need an experienced, professional team on the payroll for a job like this. It's one thing to have a small group of talented enthusiasts turn out a little project or fan film it's quite another to produce what amounts to *dozens of hours* of footage, on schedule and at a consistent level of quality.

You only need to look at how few fan projects ever get very far to appreciate how difficult it is to organise people in a creative endeavour in their free time. Never going to happen.

 

[Jan]

Reverend is right. There's no way that it could be done depending on fan labor even if the guilds would stand for it, which they never would. For those interested in what it would entail, though, there was an extra on the Lost Tales DVD where JMS visited the effects house and they showed a board detailing all of the EFX needed, due dates and assignnemts. it was *huge*.

Jan

 

[Candlelight]

There's also the money side of things. Sure you can be a nice fan and say you'll do it for less so the money goes further but at the end of the day you have to put food on the table.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Fortunately, for Lost Tales several of the 3D models were rebuilt to stand up to HD, or enhanced. So those assets exists and could be used. BUT... That is still just a minute part of the FX work. And you'd need a dedicated crew to do it, with a sizeable budget. And it would be a *long* process to go through 110 episodes plus movies.

Here are some glorious example HD shots from Lost Tales: (1080p - source: http://www.alecm.com/gallery.htm)
B5: http://www.alecm.com/images/gallery/galleryBIG_B5TLT01_Establish_B_0030.jpg
B5 docking entrance: http://www.alecm.com/images/gallery/galleryBIG_B5TLT02_204x01_0146.jpg
B5 docking bay: http://www.alecm.com/images/gallery/galleryBIG_B5TLT01_021x30_0115.jpg
Starfury #1: http://www.alecm.com/images/gallery/galleryBIG_B5TLT01_017x02_0203.jpg
Starfury #2: http://www.alecm.com/images/gallery/galleryBIG_B5TLT01_017x02_0120.jpg
Centauri ship: http://www.alecm.com/images/gallery/galleryBIG_B5TLT01_008x01_0336.jpg

 

[Mr Light]

Damn, I forgot how good the CGI in Lost Tales looked. What a world it would be if they could redo all the CGI like that