Slightly OT: Sternbach's Art for Carl Sagan

[Albertese]

I'm just re-watching Cosmos for the first time since I was a teenager and I noticed in the credits Rick Sternbach's name.

This was such a great series and I forgot just how much I liked it.

Rick, I know you occasionally look through this board so, if your reading this, I was wondering just what parts you worked on for this show? I realize it was ages ago but I was wondering if anything in particular stands out all this time later. Now that I'm thinking about it, I seem to recall your name elsewhere in Sagan books as well, but no longer have any of them (sadly ).

In any case, Carl Sagan is a man to be missed. And if you haven't ever watched Cosmos, check it out on youtube.

--Alex

 

[Rick Sternbach]

I'm just re-watching Cosmos for the first time since I was a teenager and I noticed in the credits Rick Sternbach's name.

This was such a great series and I forgot just how much I liked it.

Rick, I know you occasionally look through this board so, if your reading this, I was wondering just what parts you worked on for this show? I realize it was ages ago but I was wondering if anything in particular stands out all this time later. Now that I'm thinking about it, I seem to recall your name elsewhere in Sagan books as well, but no longer have any of them (sadly ).

In any case, Carl Sagan is a man to be missed. And if you haven't ever watched Cosmos, check it out on youtube.

--Alex

I was one of the first artists hired back in late 1977 to do some very early conceptual work, but it wasn't until mid 1978 (after I wrapped up on TMP) that we got the whole art team together for the big VFX push. I and my space art colleagues did animation cels, physical planet and spacecraft models, ran z-axis animation cameras and downshooters, and texture maps on JPL's early CGI computer. You name it, we did it. It all stood out. It was a wonderful time in art and VFX and space exploration, Carl believed in us, and we pushed because we believed the show would become an important milestone. Lately I've been talking with the folks who hope to do the next COSMOS miniseries; cross your fingers.

Rick

 

[Klaus]

Loved that series and all Sagan's work, it came out when I was in college... knowing you were involved makes it even more special.

 

[Wingsley]

I haven't seen a whole episode of COSMOS since it made its debut on PBS in 1980. Thanks for sharing the link!

The incredible artwork in COSMOS was breathtaking. Really ahead of its day. That Starship Dandelion Seed must've had transwarp drive, eh? Those iPad-like touchscreen controls on the bridge predated TNG by about 7 years.

I'll have to monitor the discussion in this thread. It will no doubt be extremely interesting.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Expect Seth McFarlane to geek out on you for the first several hours.

 

[Rick Sternbach]

I haven't seen a whole episode of COSMOS since it made its debut on PBS in 1980. Thanks for sharing the link!

The incredible artwork in COSMOS was breathtaking. Really ahead of its day. That Starship Dandelion Seed must've had transwarp drive, eh? Those iPad-like touchscreen controls on the bridge predated TNG by about 7 years.

I'll have to monitor the discussion in this thread. It will no doubt be extremely interesting.

The "cosmic zoom" animation that was featured in the first episode in particular was done with 27-field cels and minute bits of airbrushing; of course, nowadays that sort of thing is left in the dust by even home desktop CGI. We all know that Maya and Modo and Cinema 4D and the like can build 3D planets and volumetric nebulae, though it still takes a combined scientific and artistic eye to get the details right. On the original miniseries, we were fortunate to have a critical mass of artists who understood things like comparative planetology, geology, stellar evolution, galaxy formation, and knew how to draw and paint. And if there was anything we didn't understand, well, we had the best scientists available to talk to. The coolest thing was sitting in the Von Karmen auditorium at JPL while Voyager 1 was cruising past Jupiter and being able to watch the pictures stream in while the PIs were discussing the things we were all seeing.

The miniseries got updated for laserdisc and DVD editions over the years, but there's still a big block of 30+ years of knowledge that has to be conveyed to both old and new audiences, like all of Hubble's telescopic images, MGS/MRO and the Mars rovers, Galileo, Cassini, LRO, Messenger, and Dawn out to Vesta. Great time to be looking outward.

Rick

 

[Albertese]

Wow, a next Cosmos series would be tremendous. I'd love to see that.

One of the things that really impressed me in the first one was the Library at Alexandria. Sagan was clearly being matted into a model, but, dang. Everything lined up so well. He was walking around and behind columns and up stairs and every step seemed where it should be. The only real give away was the lighting differences and the lack of cast shadows. Rick, do you remember what scale that model was built to?

--Alex

 

[Wingsley]

Hello Mr. Sternbach,

Absolutely fascinating to read about your experiences with COSMOS and the JPL.

Do you and Mr. Okuda still make extensive use of MacOS-based equipment for your computer-based artwork projects? I remember reading about your use of Macs in the TNG Tech Manual.

 

[Redfern]

That Starship Dandelion Seed must've had transwarp drive, eh?

Transwarp, my eye! That wondrous vessel had to be a top of the line TARDIS worthy of the Lord High President of Gallifrey.

A tad more seriously, that concept holds up today as one of the most techilogically advanced fictional vehicles ever presented in live-action media. Who's idea was that craft? Yours, Mr. Sternbach?

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Rick Sternbach]

Wow, a next Cosmos series would be tremendous. I'd love to see that.

One of the things that really impressed me in the first one was the Library at Alexandria. Sagan was clearly being matted into a model, but, dang. Everything lined up so well. He was walking around and behind columns and up stairs and every step seemed where it should be. The only real give away was the lighting differences and the lack of cast shadows. Rick, do you remember what scale that model was built to?

--Alex

I don't recall the scale exactly, but I would guess that it was probably 1"=1' so that the Magicam "snorkel" would fit inside. The scaled move system was pretty ingenious for its day, with the little camera moving inside the model, and the bigger stepper-sensor camera out on a blue-screen stage. One thing I do recall is that little glossy photo prints of marble slabs from the Getty Museum were pasted in to the floor of the library model.

Rick

 

[Rick Sternbach]

Hello Mr. Sternbach,

Absolutely fascinating to read about your experiences with COSMOS and the JPL.

Do you and Mr. Okuda still make extensive use of MacOS-based equipment for your computer-based artwork projects? I remember reading about your use of Macs in the TNG Tech Manual.

I'm still a Machead, though I need to upgrade my gear something awful. Been a Machead since 1987.

Rick

 

[Rick Sternbach]

That Starship Dandelion Seed must've had transwarp drive, eh?

Transwarp, my eye! That wondrous vessel had to be a top of the line TARDIS worthy of the Lord High President of Gallifrey.

A tad more seriously, that concept holds up today as one of the most techilogically advanced fictional vehicles ever presented in live-action media. Who's idea was that craft? Yours, Mr. Sternbach?

Sincerely,

Bill

Oh, the "Spaceship of the Imagination" was definitely one of Carl's key ideas, or at least the result of Carl and his wife Ann and collaborator Dr. Steve Soter. Technologically speaking, it wasn't terribly technological. It just worked.

Rick

 

[Wingsley]

Was that cavernous "bridge" set a real set, or was it chroma key FX like so many others in the COSMOS mini-series?

 

[Albertese]

...

One thing I do recall is that little glossy photo prints of marble slabs from the Getty Museum were pasted in to the floor of the library model.

Rick

That's a clever solution. I love all those neat tricks that go into physical models. CG can do some remarkable things, but I gotta say I loves me some real models.

--Alex

 

[Christopher]

Rick, I really hope they hire you to work on the new series. They should get as much of the band back together as they can. Although of course it could never be quite the same without Mr. Sagan.


As for the dandelion ship, it was powered by imagination, of course. Its technology was metaphor. One thing that was really cool about Cosmos was the way Sagan used the tropes of science fiction as a symbolic device for "transporting" the audience through space and time -- taking a starship to other planets and galaxies, using time travel to walk through the Library of Alexandria. It was a good illustration of how closely science fiction and science are interconnected, and how valuable SF can be as an educational tool for science -- something which I wish mass-media SF would catch onto rather than continuing to abuse and misrepresent science.

 

[RAMA]

I don't care who is producing it, another Cosmos on TV has to be a good thing.

 

[publiusr]

--the "Spaceship of the Imagination" was definitely one of Carl's key ideas, or at least the result of Carl and his wife Ann and collaborator Dr. Steve Soter.
Rick

Less was more in that design. Hoping that we see a freshened up version of her fly again. An idea that a cosmic defect could be piloted--not a ship of any kind but a field effect all by itself--is an interesting one. But imagination can always move as fast as it likes.

 

[Klaus]

It was a good illustration of how closely science fiction and science are interconnected, and how valuable SF can be as an educational tool for science -- something which I wish mass-media SF would catch onto rather than continuing to abuse and misrepresent science.

One of the things that sf has accomplished, together w/shows like Cosmos, is to greatly expand the general public's appreciation of some fairly hardcore concepts like wormholes, alternate quantum universes, AI, etc.... a lot of this stuff has become more mainstream than I ever dreamed it'd be.

 

[largo]

yeah. when a bunch of cyborg aliens finally pop out of a wormhole through the 7th dimension into new york, it's going to be completely and utterly mundane.

 

[Klaus]

In New York, no one'd bat an eye!