Odd Choices in TOS-R cgi fx

[22 Stars]

They could have used these models for a TAS-Reaniamated and been a great achievement, but they simply weren't realistic enough for this project I'm afraid.

Most of your post I agree with, but I have to focus on this part here.

I completely disagree with this.

I did a complete rewatch of TAS last week, and I looped through the Klingon and Romulan D7 beauty shots numerous times. They really are a pleasure to behold, even with the "torpedo tube" error. Substitute those with the TOS-R Klingon model, and I'd be pretty much just as unhappy with that hypothetical TAS-R as I am with TOS-R.

No thanks!

Thanks, sorry didn't mean to include the poor Klingon ship in my summary. That really did stand out as a poor CG model even upon first viewing.

 

[tafkats]

Too bad they couldn't do anything about that godawful wig they made Walter Koenig wear at the beginning of Season 2.

 

[Metryq]

Too bad they couldn't do anything about that godawful wig they made Walter Koenig wear at the beginning of Season 2.

Finney is still doing time, so he wasn't available to reprogram the ship's records.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Eh, I like the new visual effects for the most part, but like any project of this nature there are going to be some misses that balance out the hits. For every "Requiem for Methuselah" there's a "Elaan of Troyius". And for every "Doomsday Machine" there's a "Corbomite Maneuver". Considering how rushed the schedule was, I think they did a fine job.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I thought that "The Doomsday Machine"-R was the worst effort of all. They took one of the only three 10s of TOS and turned it into a 1. You gotta be trying to accomplish that.

As always, YMMV. Keep on Trekkin'.

 

[Ssosmcin]

"Errand of Mercy" is really pretty awful during the Klingon attack. The quick shots of the D7 firing bolts is really awkward and doesn't always match the sound effects. "Corbomite" is pretty good, but the Fasarius looks like a cartoon to me. However, I thought the Romulan BoP in "Balance of Terror" looked pretty damned good. But it looks like, that early, they were trying to replicate the original effects as closely as possible.

 

[mos6507]

Considering how rushed the schedule was, I think they did a fine job.

That's just it. They never should have rushed the project. Material like this is worth the time and effort to get right for posterity. And this is right up there with the new FX for TMP not being done in HD as far as short-term bean-counter moves. These are properties that will continue to sell in some form for decades. It will have a long-tail ROI.

My opinion is they did 'OK' but it should have been great.

I also don't think it's impossible to ape the look and feel of the 60s. Exeter did it perfectly, and Continues comes close enough.

 

[Lance]

I believe I recall this same quote. In it, okuda claimed the intent was for the fx to look like something done in the 1960s . Perhaps that's why the cgi models were done in this manner?

If their intent was for the VFX "to look like something done in the 1960s," then they failed miserably at that.

My understanding is they intended them to be 'faithful' to the 1960s originals, without necessarily replicating them. But there are clearly moments in TOS-R where the team stepped outside of that remit.

On a purely gut level, I find the new VFX distracting when viewed 'en masse', ie can't watch the whole series with them turned on, but okay if I'm just watching (say) one episode in isolation. I do tend to favor the original VFX by preference.

 

[Warped9]

I keep hearing that they intended to honour the original aesthetic, but I almost never saw that.

 

[Lance]

I think in the composition of for example the the stock shots they intended to be faithful, from the angles used etc, but yeah I agree the CGI models themselves weren't greatly representative of the originals, and they tended to stray from the 'faithful' idea more often than they stuck with it...

Good intentions but poor execution?

 

[Warped9]

Drastically changing things like ship designs and putting blinking eyes on the Gorn and other swap outs is not respecting the original aesthetic.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I keep hearing that they intended to honour the original aesthetic, but I almost never saw that.

Yeah. I see someone saying that the original aesthetic needs to be amped up. I see someone rationalizing it by saying, "Well they couldn't afford to do this, so we can rectify things by adding it in now," while sweeping the question of whether they would have done "that" under any circumstances.

For example, I watched "Court Martial"-R on MeTV the other night, and couldn't help being distracted by a shuttlecraft scooting by the Enterprise. I feel sure someone intended me to squee over that.

To clarify, it's not so much that there was a shuttlecraft, but that there was zero eye for composition. It was as if the shuttle was haphazardly dropped into the scene with a double click, if for no other real reason than because it could be done.

 

[Lance]

I agree about the blinking eyes, actually. To this day that one is still a "WTF?" for me.

 

[The Old Mixer]

FWIW, the shuttle fly-by was part of a close-up of the Enterprise that was meant to establish where the "ion pod" was supposed to have been before it ejected, IIRC.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

FWIW, the shuttle fly-by was part of a close-up of the Enterprise that was meant to establish where the "ion pod" was supposed to have been before it ejected, IIRC.

And a shuttle just strolling by, not even servicing the location of the pod, is needed in the shot to establish where the ion pod was, because....?

 

[The Old Mixer]

"Follow the shuttle...just like that...THERE!"

 

[CorporalCaptain]

"Follow the shuttle...just like that...THERE!"

Oh, you mean subtly it directed our gaze to the spot where the ion pod had been?

I'd rather that they'd've had a shuttle shining a spotlight at the spot like they were getting ready to service it. At least then it would have been less ambiguous and more meaningful.

 

[Maurice]

I also don't think it's impossible to ape the look and feel of the 60s. Exeter did it perfectly, and Continues comes close enough.

In Exeter we even included (subtle) matte lines around the ships. I know a lot of time was spent figuring out how to light the ship is a way that felt consistent with the 1970-era photographic style.

 

[FrankT]

As I see it, the general rule of TOS-R is that the new ground shots are better than the space ones. I get the feeling that they'd be better if they were recomposited from the original material. But I also get the feeling that material isn't available, so I'd end up taking it to the Light Works or something to see if they can recreate them.

 

[Lance]

What's everybodies take on what Greg Jein did for DS9: "Trials And Tribble-ations"?

I know such a mass scale FX reshoot was probably outside the range of TOS-R (CGI is cheaper), but I really thought the model photography on that episode was terrific.