• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

CGI Effects.

TedShatner10

Commodore
Commodore
Does anybody else think the CGI effects in NuWho overall good or poor? Although the writing, directing, and casting is more important, the visual effects are an important component and on average I think NuWho's visual effects are generally better than the original show's effects (even though some of the CGI seemed a bit rushed, especially in the fifth season, and they unwisely ditched the model effects they used to successful effect in Season One).

The best CGI monster effects in NuWho so-far were the Krillitane from "School Reunion", the Toclafane, the Pyrovile from "The Fires of Pompeii", and the Swarm from "The Planet of the Dead". The Saturnyn and Prisoner Zero seemed not quite as good as those earliar creatures from the RTD era, but are still more convincing and less superflous looking than that horrible Lazarus creature played by Mark Gatiss (when Mark Gatiss in a elaborate puppet costume similar to the Racnoss Empress would've been much more effective).

Not to say that Old Who effects and production values were genuinely bad for the time and budget (especially in 1980s stories like "Remembrance of the Daleks" and "Caves of Androzani"). And the CGI often being a little cheesy seems to fit with the general tone of NuWho and its fairy tale qualities (especially in the Moffat era).
 
Last edited:
Cgi's been great. I particularly liked the Beast in The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit and the Crucible in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End.
 
I think they were pretty good initaly during the RTD era. However the move to HD coupled with the reduced budget in the Moffat era makes the CGI no so convincing.
 
they pull of cgi backgrounds pretty well, but usually the monsters look a bit dodgy. live action dalek = awesome!, cgi flying daleks = laughable!
 
I think they were pretty good initaly during the RTD era. However the move to HD coupled with the reduced budget in the Moffat era makes the CGI no so convincing.

I had that feeling seeing some parts of S5 with a lot of the production crew getting restructured, but S6 seemed to have a larger budget or the reshuffled production crew got more bang for their buck in their second year (especially in stories such as "A Christmas Carol" and "A Good Man Goes to War").

I think having CGI Daleks swarming in the background behind the live action Daleks looked alright and convinced me more than the armies of practically entirely CGI Republic Stormtroopers from the Star Wars Prequels, despite the comparatively small budget.
 
In the first season the CG was questionable, but they didn't really have that big a budget to play with back then. Since, Who has delivered some top quality CG work.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top