Spoilers SFA Ships & Tech

[B.J.]

Those were definitely the limited budgets when Physical Models ruled & CGI was expensive & new.

The Trek Production teams were slower than B5 on adopting early CGI.

It helped that B5 premiered 6 1/2 years later than TNG, and CGI tech improved a lot during that time. TNG was already locked into physical models in 1987, and they had to wait for CGI tech to improve enough to (mostly) match the look of the physical models.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Well, that’s all fine and dandy until they started using the same models for ships from both the other side of the galaxy (VOY) and from 200 years in the past (ENT). That stretches credibility a bit.

Just to fuck with us, they're probably going to throw a D7/K't'inga in the background somewhere.

 

[NCC-73515]

In a clip, the EMH has an unfamiliar padd. It seems to do more than data manipulation. Also what did the Tricorder look like?

It's odd that he asks for a medical tricorder, and then we only see him hypospray her. Maybe those two are now combined...?

 

[Unicron]

Just to fuck with us, they're probably going to throw a D7/K't'inga in the background somewhere.

I’ve mentioned this before, but it has always annoyed me that TNG, which had a modest production budget, would constantly reuse models and stock footage, while classic Doctor Who, with a shoestring budget, never reused a model or stock footage, even once.

I can't speak for Dr. Who, but I recall one of the other factors with TNG was doing non-ship SFX. Particularly for episodes like "Yesterday's Enterprise" where the effects quota would be higher than other episodes. Reusing stock footage would certainly be a continuation of the TOS tradition.

I do agree with you about how some of the ship models were reused in ENT and VOY, though. Even as a means to keep costs down it didn't always mesh well.

 

[NCC-73515]

 

[Ithekro]

There is a lot of activity in Earth orbit now. Many stations and starships.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

There is a lot of activity in Earth orbit now. Many stations and starships.

That feels very believable, although they seem to be parked fairly close to each other for the shot.

 

[Lakenheath 72]

The Athena is an Academy class starship. This is from the ship's dedication plaque. I had hoped for a more inspired class name than this.

 

[Dukhat]

The Athena is an Academy class starship. This is from the ship's dedication plaque. I had hoped for a more inspired class name than this.

So where’s the USS Academy?

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

So where’s the USS Academy?

Maybe the StarFleet War College has that ship at their campus?

 

[137th Gebirg]

The Athena is an Academy class starship. This is from the ship's dedication plaque. I had hoped for a more inspired class name than this.

That is pretty lame. Oh well...

 

[C.E. Evans]

So where’s the USS Academy?

If we go with the TOS Enterprise dedication plaque, it might be with the USS Starship.

 

[rabbid_outside_cage]

Again scaling in some scenes makes no sense. In scene where ship internal ring looks small. But in scene where it leaves shipyard it's huge.

 

[Janewaysson]

It looks about on par with the size of the SNW Enterprise imo

 

[NCC-73515]

The Athena is an Academy class starship. This is from the ship's dedication plaque. I had hoped for a more inspired class name than this.

Wow, I read it right

It could actually be an Academy Class ship.
There's a Janeway quote she told Naomi once, and the trolley in sickbay seems to be the one from TNG.

 

[Lakenheath 72]

The Athena has at least eight decks, with main engineering on deck 8, as confirmed in the first episode.

 

[rabbid_outside_cage]

It's strange but Athena's warp effect looks like Proto-Warp.

 

[Verteron]

What happened to the Pathway drive? Why is USS Athena still limited to warp?

It's nearly four years after this thing was supposed to be ready to deploy fleet-wide.

 

[F. King Daniel]

What happened to the Pathway drive? Why is USS Athena still limited to warp?

It's nearly four years after this thing was supposed to be ready to deploy fleet-wide.

It seems they're ignoring a lot of Discovery tech. None of that programmable matter on the controls, it's the same as SNW and Picard. It seems comm badge transporting (which Disco already retconned itself from being by the badge as per the Nemesis prototype to being a conduit for a chipboard system a season later) is limited to senior officers and they just tend not to do it. I did notice the officer badges are twice the size now, which is an improvement as you can see them properly now instead of just time ovals.

I think best to just accept what this show presents as how things work, otherwise it'll be a very frustrating time watching

 

[137th Gebirg]

I think best to just accept what this show presents as how things work, otherwise it'll be a very frustrating time watching