Favourite Warp Effect...

[Cyke101]

I've said before that the Abrams warp "tunnel" is reminiscent of quantum slipstream and similar drives in Voyager, and I've no problem with that. The tunnel is growing on me. But after rewatching the movies, it just dawned upon me...

1. Let's assume, for the sake of the question, that the alt. universe uses the same warp scales as Voyager (more or less, as long as it takes decades to return to the Federation at high warp)

2. At such scales and given stardates and times between episodes, it's not uncommon for Voyager to be at warp for days or even weeks non-stop

3. There are whole scenes on the nuEnterprise bridge where, while the ship is at warp, the bridge lights dim, the whitish-blue hue from the warp tunnel fills the bridge, there's an audible hum, and the viewscreen/windshield constantly shows the hypnotic tunnel passing by

4. Seriously, that tunnel can get really hypnotic

So question: could you imagine if Voyager spent days or weeks in that warp tunnel, with the crew looking at the tunnel the entire time? How long would they look before shutting off the viewscreen for their own sanity? What about the rest of the ship?

The way TNG-era warp acceleration looks from inside, with a tunnel-like blue blur, flash and then cut to streaking stars, I've wondered if maybe it "really" looks as it does in the new movies and the streaking stars is a holographic illusion, something easier on the eyes.

Huh, could be. It would certainly explain why stars are visible at warp when, in reality, starlight would never be able to touch a warp ship from all angles. Maybe the streaking stars are like map representations on that hologram, like markers on Google Maps?

 

[xvicente]

I cant vote for JJ. It was too weird for me to be in the cinema in 2009, with all those quick cuts and people shouting and lens flares and Vulcan gone at almost the same time I couldnt figure where was I, to say nothing of having to digest the Enterprise being built on Earth with those oversized nacelles and Uhura kissing Spock. Too weird. Evaluating the beauty of the warp effect wasnt very high in the list of priorities.

But to those who rate the TMP effect as cartoony, it is because the people who made it tried to get it right: due to the Doppler effect, stars would change color with the increasing of the ship's speed, redshift ahead blueshift behind (I believe), so the rainbow has some basis. Also the tunnel: if you somehow traveled faster than light your eyes would see the things ahead of you shrunk due to aberration and also the things behind because you would be catching up with the light they (the objects behind) emitted previously in the same direction creating a virtual tunnel. Hard theoretical stuff. To say nothing of putting a wormhole in a wide-release summer movie in the 1970s. That took balls.

Hey nobody said mixing science with art would end well for anyone.

 

[Maurice]

Nah...on TMP they wanted to do a stretch effect like TNG ultimately did, but they didn't have time to work it out, so they went with a streaking effect. The final effect was a compromise, not designed to be "realistic".

 

[BillJ]

I cant vote for JJ. It was too weird for me to be in the cinema in 2009, with all those quick cuts and people shouting and lens flares and Vulcan gone at almost the same time I couldnt figure where was I, to say nothing of having to digest the Enterprise being built on Earth with those oversized nacelles and Uhura kissing Spock. Too weird. Evaluating the beauty of the warp effect wasnt very high in the list of priorities.

What do story elements have to do with the warp effect of a given ship?

 

[xvicente]

What do story elements have to do with the warp effect of a given ship?

Almost nothing. But one can only concentrate on so many things during one and a half hours.

 

[Balrog]

Damn. That sucks for you.

I vote Abrams too. Awesome effect. I like the crystalized trails behind the warp nacelles when she jumps.

 

[Use of Time]

I always thought hte Enterprise-E had a nice slick entry into warp in FC.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I happen to be very fond of TMP's warp effect, probably because it is so different from all the other versions. The Motion Picture was a very artistic approach to STAR TREK that, unfortunately, was never attempted again. I think the rest of the franchise could've benefitted from more of the same ...

 

[publiusr]

The TMP tube effect I think should be used for ringships only...

 

[Dick_Valentine]

I always loved the "Rubber Band effect"

I remember when Enterprise started the thing that annoyed me the most was that they'd A)Made a TNG warp effect for a pre-TNG series and B)Given that they'd done that, they dropped the best part of it, the rubber band part, for the cheesy movie era streak effect.

Enterprises was the worst combination of all worlds!

Probably the best ever warp scene was one of the last "rubber band effect" they did, Voyager and its allies warping out of the dark universe in....that episode where they got stuck in another starless dimension that wasn't "Night"
(Memory is failing me on that one )

Those 50 or so Missiles warping off to catch up with Voyager in an earlier ep looked pretty cool too.

I guess our favourite warp effect is just a product of our favourite era. If you grew up with the TOS era and Movies, you'll go for that. The same if you grew up with TNG/DS9 etc

That said, the recent films put on some spectacular efforts too.
If you freezeframe the fleet jump from ST09 then you can see it is a very, very extreme rubber band effect (the Reliant-link ship is the best example of this)

And I've only seen STID once but I loved every second of it, particularly the Warp Effect which felt like a tribute to both the TMP and TNG warp effects in one. A spectacular piece of art!

 

[OpenMaw]

TMP and TSFS. Loved watching the E bail outta Earth space in TSFS.

Trek 2009 had a fantastic update which was elegant, simple, and powerful. I'm not big on the tunnel, though. Don't care for the changes in STID much.

Was never big on any of the TNG/Berman era warp effects. They lacked punch for me.

 

[Captain Jed R.]

I like the entry into warp in 2009, the sort of BOOM gone, but the tunnel is horrid. The pixie dust is pretty horrid too. I like the simplicity of streaking stars, even if they're not all that realistic.

 

[OpenMaw]

I always thought a really cool effect would be to have all the light focused at the front of the ship, trailing along the sides and fading into total darkness behind it. Like a shooting star type of effect. You wouldn't be able to look out the front window of the ship without being horrifically blinded by the combined light from all the stars rushing past (thru) you.



http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2011/11/NormandyFTLFlight.png

Something similar to that ^

 

[F. King Daniel]

I got a kick out of seeing a Galaxy-class ship in a ST'09-style warp tunnel in this video:
[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn4MkElIhrc[/YT]

 

[R. Star]

The NuTrek warp bit is just too flashy for my tastes. Keeping it simple is never a bad thing.

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

The first one in TMP. It was really loud, kinda scary and extremely beautiful. I always hated the rainbow trails from the other movies and the stretch effect from TNG. Too cheesy.

 

[Kemaiku]

I got a kick out of seeing a Galaxy-class ship in a ST'09-style warp tunnel in this video:

After seeing the new warp effect a few years ago, the "streaky light" effect of the old series just seems too...silly now. It doesn't convay speed or the various stresses etc the way the '09 one does.

 

[Dick_Valentine]

It'd odd how something as simple as a special effect can divide opinion so massively.

I can clearly remember as a child the TNG warp effect was by far and away my favourite part of the series!
Nope, not for me great acting, storytelling or design, nope.
But if an episode featured a new warp drive effect I'd rate it as one of the greatest ever just for that!
(thank goodness this was the days before Youtube. I'd have nothing but a playlist of every ship going to warp in all of trek if I could have. (Assuming that's possible now :P ) )

Those scenes in bottle shows where the Captain would call for warp speed but the jump to warp would be represented by just a change in the sound effects without an exterior SFX shot, or worse, a stock shot of one we'd seen before, would be seen as the ultimate in teasing, hopes would be raised, then immediately dashed.

I guess the childlike reasons for enjoying a series are completely
alien to an adult, and vice versa.
I've grown up now to appreciate every aspect of the series.
But somewhere deep down within me there is that child that gets slightly too excited when he sees a ship jump to warp.

I hope it's not just me!

Rubber band effect ftw, a pox on your boring, cartoony movie streaks!

 

[Nine of Four]

Personally, I enjoy the TOS effect the best, where the ship was simply moving fast.

Don't like the NuTrek at all....

 

[Kemaiku]

Um, there is no TOS effect, it was the same footage as impulse.