Galaxy Class Main Shuttlebay miniature

[137th Gebirg]

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve done that to myself. That’s not including multiple injuries from the soldering iron while trying to build an internal lighting system!

And there’s that time I accidentally got high from using gasoline to clean my paint brushes after I ran out of turpentine. That was some good shit, man!

 

[FormerLurker]

Once upon a time I had a co-worker that, due to a lack of sleep, tried to solder her thumb to the board she was working on. These things happen.

 

[publiusr]

That's not bionics work...

 

[BajaTym]

IMO, you're never too old to build models. Incredible modeling work.

 

[TheTrekBack]

IMO, you're never too old to build models. Incredible modeling work.

Yeah, tried to tell that my wife but it is similar to explain her that model trains are no toys for kids
She won't believe either if I told her physical model makers were demanded specialists in the movie industry once. True artists in a time without 3D printing or laser cut.

 

[TheTrekBack]

Oh you know I’m just joshin’. Your physical miniature of the main shuttlebay is absolutely fabulous.

I, on the other hand, managed to stab myself in the leg with an XActo knife the last time I tried to build a physical model of something (true story!).

No worries - got it I know your XActo incident from the Type 5 Galileo thread. Tell you what, 12 years old me accidentally hit himself across the face with a soldering iron. It looked really nice for a few weeks. Still today 25 years later on a cold day I can see the slighty red irritations on my cheek that the burnings left. Let's call it war injury

 

[publiusr]

That or an air brush hypo…

 

[TheTrekBack]

2Hi guys,

Already over half a year ago. The time is really the fire in which we burn in, right? Here I have a few screenshots of the finished animation for you, fresh from After Effects. The sequence is essentially finished, but will only be seen as a moving image in the finished film.

The shots of the bay were taken with a slightly sideways camera movement, so that the impression is created that the ship is moving slightly. It looks much more lively that way. However, this creates the problem that you then have to track all the digital content.

The launch of the shuttle is implemented using classic motion control. This means that the physical model is fixed during the recording and instead the camera moves on a motor-controlled slider. In principle, it is the same as with Image-G and or ILM back then - a little smaller, of course, and I can only move on one axis at the moment.

The result is satisfactory, although not quite perfect. However, this effect was also visible in some shots of the films and series: the acceleration of the shuttle seems a little bumpy at first. The problem is that even the smallest stuttering during recording is immediately noticeable impacts the illusion. Another problem was that the ship's hull was not clean and detailed enough in the front area. I had to do some digital retouching there. The CHALLANGER lettering on the model also didn't look good and I digitally replaced it with a larger version.

Screenshot 2024-08-10 020939 by Alan Smithee, auf Flickr

Screenshot 2024-08-10 020820 by Alan Smithee, auf Flickr

Screenshot 2024-08-10 021226 by Alan Smithee, auf Flickr

 

[137th Gebirg]

Glad to see you’re still out there working on this. Nicely done!

 

[Michael]

Looks very authentic and super cinematic, too. Looking forward to seeing the complete effects shot in motion. Your approach of working with physical models and and a homemade motions control rig is so fascinating to me.

 

[Rekkert]

Absolutely stunning work with the model and animation! That digital shuttlebay interior looks familiar

 

[PCz911]

Amazing work. Bravo

 

[TheTrekBack]

That digital shuttlebay interior looks familiar

 

[TheTrekBack]

Your approach of working with physical models and and a homemade motions control rig is so fascinating to me.

Yes - it is also super fascinating for me to explore this technique and see and understand the problems back in the days. Although it is much easier today thanks to camera technology and the possibilities in post-production. You can't rate highly enough what kind of art that was.

 

[SCE2Aux]

Gorgeous images! Looking forward to seeing the full video!

Yes - it is also super fascinating for me to explore this technique and see and understand the problems back in the days. Although it is much easier today thanks to camera technology and the possibilities in post-production. You can't rate highly enough what kind of art that was.

Indeed, using practical effects and miniatures for a weekly tv show of 26 episodes per season sounds insanely difficult to me, and yet somehow they pulled it off.

 

[Firebird]

Indeed, using practical effects and miniatures for a weekly tv show of 26 episodes per season sounds insanely difficult to me, and yet somehow they pulled it off.

I remember an interview that Rob Legato did where he said the VFX group had a list of like 30 stock shots of the Enterprise they were gonna do for use throughout the series, but they burned through all those before the end of season 1 because of the demands of each new script.

 

[FormerLurker]

As a result VFX did new stock shots before every season. I don't know how many.

 

[Tallguy]

As a result VFX did new stock shots before every season. I don't know how many.

I'm not going to find out. But I'm curious if someone else wants to.

I just hope that this isn't the same kind of claim like TOS only had "ten shots of the Enterprise".

 

[FormerLurker]

I read it in multiple articles of Star Trek: The Magazine over the years. And a couple of Starlogs.

 

[Tallguy]

I read it in multiple articles of Star Trek: The Magazine over the years. And a couple of Starlogs.

I have no doubt. And I noticed the stock footage in TNG and I never once did in TOS. Not because of any deficiency in either TOS or TNG but just because I was actually watching TNG new every week.

I'm only saying that in the case of TOS people either exaggerate (down) or don't know what they're talking about when they say "Hey there were only X shots of the Enterprise".

In the case of TNG I recall that the bulk of the season 1 shots were from ILM on Farpoint and that they intentionally banked them for just that reason. (I for one thought it was thrilling to see one of them in Generations on the big screen. It wasn't "cheap". It was legendary!)