The Art of Star Trek: Reanimated - The Sequel

[Ptrope]

Just thought I'd post a couple new shots, now that I'm starting to find the time to do a bit more modeling again. These are WIPs of the Klingon briefing room, seen in "The Time Trap" in TAS; the general layout of the room is based upon what was seen in the episode, but I'm trying to flesh out the design a bit. There will be considerably more detail when this is done, as there will be the equivalents of Enterprise's tabletop viewer and comm stations, as well as hardware and comm screens on the walls and at the doorways.

Original scene from episode (Screenshot courtesy TrekCore.com)

The chairs used are nothing like those in the episode; I designed them with this project in mind, and added a more robust chair on the long edge of the table where I consider the ship's captain would normally sit, in the place of honor.

Standard chair
Captain's chair (removed the arms for the briefing room)

It's hard to see in this shot, but the briefing room has a cathedral ceiling, with a large lighting module hanging directly over the table; the image from the episode gave me the impression that this room was considerably larger and more impressive than Starfleet's utilitarian architecture.

 

[Griffworks]

Kewel! Gonna have to have Wife send me my TAS set for viewing, I guess.

"Reanimated"! I like that!

 

[Patrickivan]

I don't know- those chairs look a little too comfy for Klingons... How about some spikes.

Seriously- looks good. The steps up seem a little too much. I didn't see that ep. Where they there in it?

 

[Redfern]

Patrickivan said: The steps up seem a little too much. I didn't see that ep. Where they there in it?

They did appear. Ptrope provided an image link just under his render, but one can easily miss it. Here's the link displayed a bit more obviously:

http://tas.trekcore.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=12&pos=85

BTW, Ptrope, that is impressive and surprisingly close to the original Filmation design.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Ptrope]

Patrickivan said:
I don't know- those chairs look a little too comfy for Klingons... How about some spikes.

Actually, I was trying for a look that would be in keeping with much of the design from TOS - these chairs look like they could possibly be redressed designer chairs, like the Burke chairs used for Enterprise - I suppose I could go with solid wood or stone chairs . (XCalPro, who has many Poser freebies for Star Trek, modeled the exact chairs from "The Time Trap" that turned out great! And they look a LOT less comfortable )

Seriously - looks good. The steps up seem a little too much. I didn't see that ep. Where they there in it?

Thanks! If you look along the bottom of the linked screencap, you can see that the table is on a raised platform in the cartoon. :thumbsup:

 

[Klaus]

nice work as always... I've gotta get that TAS DVD set lol...

 

[Ptrope]

Redfern said:
BTW, Ptrope, that is impressive and surprisingly close to the original Filmation design.

Thanks, Redfern! I wanted to provide continuity with the animated episode, but as you well know, I'm not exactly restricting this to just a 3D 'enhancement' of the original Filmation artwork - the inspiration, along with the appearance of TOS Enhanced, was seeing the original animated series and thinking, "Man, these stories were pretty good, but, sadly, the visuals haven't really stood the test of time." YMMV, of course, but I'd just like to see what potential lies in approaching the visual side with more advanced technology and no real budgetary or time restrictions, while also keeping in mind TOS, especially, as a natural "barrier" beyond which the production design shouldn't extend too drastically. That being said, it's probably paramount (pun intended ) to show a shot of the STR Enterprise bridge, to demonstrate just how far I'm willing to go, even with these restrictions:

 

[Wingsley]

Regarding the Enterprise's bridge:

Did Sulu's helm station still have that hooded viewfinder from TOS' seasons 2 and 3?

 

[Ptrope]

Yes, it did, at least in this episode, and I have to model it (and finish the graphics for all of the various stations) before I can offer this bridge as a freebie. (BTW, not seen here, this bridge also has the front exit on the port side, with a curved corridor outside - far from canon, of course - along with a widescreen main viewer).

 

[TowerPower]

Wow! I have not seen that pic before (of the bridge). Great work. I'm not a huge fan ot TAS, but great work.

 

[Kail]

Why is the nav/helm brown in front?

Klingon conferance room is way cool!

 

[Ron]

Kail said:
Why is the nav/helm brown in front?

Because animated Kirk wants his helm to match the naugahyde on his armrests.

Great job Ptrope !

 

[Ptrope]

Ya know, call me crazy, but I never really noticed that before!

It's been a few months since I 'took' that picture, and I need to redo it, anyway, with the newer, cooler chairs (chardman's), but I do recall that I had a blueish spotlight shooting back from the viewscreen to cast light on the bridge as if the screen itself were doing it - the console is orange, but the blue light makes it look brown (elementary color wheel stuff )

 

[KirkTrekModeler]

I'd love to see these, but my browser will not load your page and my AV software has fits. Any suggestions?

 

[Q2UnME]

^ It's ALIVE, it's ALIVE.... Gene Wilder, Young Frankenstein

Glad to see that this still has a pulse. I thought it was dead in the water. Nice work on the conference room, Ptrope. I eagerly await more updates/pictures...

Q2UnME

 

[Ptrope]

KirkTrekModeler said:
I'd love to see these, but my browser will not load your page and my AV software has fits. Any suggestions?

I wish I did - when you say, "Your page," do you mean you can't see the images in this thread? I don't know of anyone else who's having this problem - it may be your security settings are so high that whatever they're filtering out is part of my site's SOP.

Can't say about your AV software; I check my files and haven't had any problems for at least two years.

Sorry, KirkTrekModeler; I wish I could offer more help, but I don't know enough about your situation to be able to help diagnose the problem, especially since you seem to be the only one having it.

 

[KirkTrekModeler]

I don't know..... I get nothing. I don't see the pictures here and your page just will not load......??????

 

[ChuckPR]

Ptrope said:
Just thought I'd post a couple new shots, now that I'm starting to find the time to do a bit more modeling again. These are WIPs of the Klingon briefing room, seen in "The Time Trap" in TAS; the general layout of the room is based upon what was seen in the episode, but I'm trying to flesh out the design a bit. There will be considerably more detail when this is done, as there will be the equivalents of Enterprise's tabletop viewer and comm stations, as well as hardware and comm screens on the walls and at the doorways.

[image]http://64.225.237.28/Star_Trek_Reanimated/images/Klingon_Briefing_Room_002.jpg[/image]
Original scene from episode (Screenshot courtesy TrekCore.com)

[image]http://64.225.237.28/Star_Trek_Reanimated/images/Klingon_Briefing_Room_011.jpg[/image]

The chairs used are nothing like those in the episode; I designed them with this project in mind, and added a more robust chair on the long edge of the table where I consider the ship's captain would normally sit, in the place of honor.

Standard chair
Captain's chair (removed the arms for the briefing room)

It's hard to see in this shot, but the briefing room has a cathedral ceiling, with a large lighting module hanging directly over the table; the image from the episode gave me the impression that this room was considerably larger and more impressive than Starfleet's utilitarian architecture.

Kewl!!!

I really have learned to like TAS.
I didn't see it when it originally aired, and had only seen bits and pieces in reruns.

But about a year and a half ago I bought a set of the LaserDiscs online along with a LaserDisc player.

I came to really enjoy them.

I'm hoping one day fans will be able to reasonalbly easily create their own episodes via some blend of 3D/Cartoon animation.

Some of the non-photo, yet near-photo 3D art and clips I've seen on the net seem to be less satisfying then actual cartoons though.

Someone suggested once - can't take credit for it myself - that perhaps cartoons tend to cause less problems with immersion

because more realistic 3D animation causes you to snap in and out of your level of "suspension of disbelief"

due to the fact that at so many moments it looks almost real that that

near reality cause one to be distracted.

Whereas while watching a simpler cartoon, after a couple of minutes you have just accepted that you are viewing an artificial universe, and maintain the suspension of disbelief throughout.

To ramble a bit less and perhaps ask you an actual constructive question...

Are there any 3D animation tools that can take a 3D animation and make the characters' interactions appear to have been drawn in 2D?

Essentially allowing one to script the creation of 2D animation?

Not that having a team of artist put together such an animation the traditional hand drawn way might not be better,

such a routine could be a lot less labor intensive though, issues of artistic tradition aside...

 

[blakbyrd]

ChuckPR said:
I really have learned to like TAS.
I didn't see it when it originally aired, and had only seen bits
and pieces in reruns.

Likewise.

 

[Ptrope]

The better 3D packages pretty much all have plug-ins, or included settings, that produce good-looking line art from 3D models, complete with cel shading. I've seen these work to great effect on mechanical models, though most of the organic models I've seen still look a bit 'off,' especially when animated (although given that it's an order of magnitude harder to animate organics in 3D, anyway ).

And I agree that when it comes to characters, it's often more believable - or at least less off-putting - when characters are somewhat less realistic than when the modelers strive for ultra-realistic characters. Our minds are too familiar with our species and its abilities and quirks - when something isn't quite right, it stands out like a sore thumb to our minds and pulls us out of the experience.