Star Trek TOS with new backgrounds and effects?

[spockboy]

Okay guys,
I put together 2 VERY interesting videos by 2 VERY talented guys.
The purpose was to get a glimpse of what Star Trek TOS would look/feel like with all of the actors rotoscoped over new backgrounds and new more modern styled special effects.



What do you guys think?

Spockboy

 

[Green Shirt]

Didn't see enough to have an opinion.
Plus they could have color corrected the command shirts.

 

[Melakon]

Was Mr. Abrams involved in that flyby scene?

 

[spockboy]

Didn't see enough to have an opinion.
Plus they could have color corrected the command shirts.

Why would they do that?

Spockboy

 

[Mark 2000]

The set didn't look better, just a little more complex in some spots and, frankly, less in some spots. The turbolift alcove is especially spartan. So, meh. The only thing that could be improved on the TOS set is the displays, which could use some animating. Otherwise I wouldn't touch them.

 

[Green Shirt]

Didn't see enough to have an opinion.
Plus they could have color corrected the command shirts.

Why would they do that?

Spockboy

Cause they weren't frackin yellow enough.

 

[BillJ]

It would be an interesting experiment for an episode. Not sure how I'd feel if they went back and redid the entire series this way. The bridge seems rather colorless, which kills some of the charm.

 

[Dukhat]

I thought it looked kinda cool. Although if one were to do that for every single episode it would be an absolute nightmare of work.

 

[Metryq]

That is an excellent sequence. There's even halation around Uhura's legs from the light strip under the console. Obviously the technology exists to make radical changes to the TOS scenery, but it would take a tremendous amount of effort to process—barring some breakthrough in automated rotoscoping.

I like the design of the bridge, though whether or not it is ideal for the production design is a matter of taste. If a major revision like this of the entire series were planned, the virtual sets would have to be carefully considered.

The exterior was very quick—no doubt forced by the length of the original shot. Yet the movement did not "violate" the mass of the ship, as so many of the CBS Digital shots did. The "Zoic" handheld look was nice, too. Heavy on the lens flares? Maybe, but it's an outside shot with the local sun directly in view. If one wants to start flinging JarJar's name around, we'd need a dozen flares on the interior shot.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Not crazy about the flyby at all. Jiggly camera and whatnot. The bridge looks a little too much like the set from TFF. Great work putting it together, though. Really amazing in that regard.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Interesting experiment, but the dark, metallic tones are too much like "The Cage" bridge, which clashes with the color selections of the regular series.

 

[BillJ]

If people want TOS to fit with other Trek, then they can CGI new sets in the movies and other series that more closely match what we see in TOS.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Good god, the amount of rotoscoping and match-moving done in just those few seconds... my head hurts just thinking about it.

The Enterprise flyby was gorgeous, but something tells me that its hand-held Battlestar Galactica look-and-feel would still feel out of place when juxtaposed with the fifty-year-old live action footage. Even with the snazzy new rotoscoped sets, the actors were still filmed with a camera that was usually locked down or dollied with relatively simple movement, using 60s-style blocking of scenes.

Now having said all that ... I think it's only a matter of time until someone even crazier than me attempts to retrofit an entire episode like this. Metryq is absolutely right that we're still a few years away from automated rotoscoping getting down to a price point where hobbyist enthusiasts can afford it, but mark my words, someone WILL eventually do this. (I'd love to know how long it took these guys to rotoscope and match-move that one scene.)

 

[F. King Daniel]

The interior looks amazing, but the exterior shot doesn't match in tone, and features the standard TOS Enterprise model - I'd expected something as updated as the bridge. A bit like this...
[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXa0cfaTlfk[/YT]

 

[Metryq]

Good god, the amount of rotoscoping and match-moving done in just those few seconds... my head hurts just thinking about it.

Not to downplay the work required for those few seconds, but match-moving is fairly common these days. The open source Blender has it. And the rotoscoping was no doubt aided by the fact that the shot trucked at a slow, even rate.

Newbies to rotoscope try to 'scope an entire figure with one spline, and then move from one frame to the next. If a figure (like a person) is broken up into movable segments (head, chest, upper arm, lower arm, etc.) then the splines are easier to animate. Also, the automatic 'tweening found in software cuts such work down to a fraction, and reduces "chatter." Jump 10 or so frames ahead and keyframe any changes. Odds are, most of the 'tweened frames will fit pretty well.

Again, I'm not downplaying the work that went into this video. However, Moriarty is right about the headaches converting the entire series—with all the action shots—would cause. I think he's also right that someone will eventually do it. (Maybe TOS will become public domain by then, and some fans will do it as a labor of love.)

 

[johnnybear]

Loved those continuity problem videos! Some I already knew of but the rest...
JB

 

[Wingsley]

Looks like an interesting way to use existing TOS clips to test out new set designs.

The starship entering orbit is interesting and weird, but I find the jerky-jerky BATTLESTAR faux camera movement very annoying. It is clearly incompatible with the smooth dollying of the bridge shot.

If I wanted to Forest Gump the TOS characters into a different bridge set, I would make more subtle changes to the original; like replacing some of the old buttons and switches with iPad-style touch controls. I would also love to experiment with seeing what could be done with the ring of square readout displays all around the bridge. I say leave Kirk's original command throne alone, but make subtle changes to the bridge staff's chairs, possibly adding TMP3-like restraint armrests. As for the texture and shape of the walls, I say maintain the original set intact, but give it a more metallic look in some places, like maybe the viewscreen or the turbo lift exit.

That's just me.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Yeah, taking Wingsley's lead here, what's shown in the video is interesting, but really only for demonstrating both that this sort of thing is possible and that it will someday be feasible.

The choices in how to update the bridge are far from the worst choices imaginable, but they aren't really the most interesting either.

The exterior VFX sequence is a non-starter, though. I don't even know why they bothered to put that in. No, scratch that, I do know why, but, just, no.

 

[Warped9]

Seen it. No thanks.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow jobby...