The OFFICIAL STNG Next Level Bluray watch and review thread

[Trekker4747]

I just watched the opening on the DVD and, yeah, it's pretty much the same. I do kind of think the stars in the BD look more odd (too bright?) but overall other than the orientation of the BoP the shots are pretty much the same with the odd star movement. I guess the Enterprise and the BoP don't have very good station-keeping thrusters? Why are they drifting through space fast enough to see star movement?

 

[Dac]

So, I've finally found a way to quickly and easily perform the DREADED, HIGHLY ILLEGAL ACTION of screencapping a video. -_-

Urgh.

With that out of the way, here's a couple shots of the Enterprise.

A nice shot from EaF: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-13h32m05s212.png

And the CG flyby from the Inner Light toward the end of the shot. I'm pretty sure this is further over to the right than the original. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-13h42m15s193.png

 

[JJohnson]

Transporter effects: I thought they looked great. Different people have different priorities, but reflections on the floor (or lack thereof) weren’t a big deal for me.

Agreed. I'm just happy that they've finally brightened the beam up, and removed that dull, overly-pixalated look it had.

Same goes for Q's energy orb and the phaser beams. It was just amazing to me how much cleaner and sharper every effect was.

Even Q's "flash" effect looked brighter and more realistic.

Speaking of the Q-flash FX, if you look at when Riker is watching the episode on the back of the battle bridge, that uses the SD version, with the bad edit of the Q-flash in it.

 

[JJohnson]

But In VLC I just push a button...

Then use that. VLC will play .m2ts files. After you've run AnyDVDHD, just drop the appropriate stream file onto VLC player and take your screen captures.

VLC does? I tried last night and it didn't do anything. Just drop the mts into the player and I'm good?

 

[JJohnson]

They're doing that stuff solely because it doesn't exist in a form that will translate to HD. The model work will.

Is this desire to "fix" stuff a Trekkie thing? Are there blu-ray forums filled with people wanting Alien or Total Recall or Tron fixed up? Special Editions don't really seem to fly. The Star Wars fans seem to get that now. ET 2002 won't even be on the new BR disc. When I personally watch a BR movie or see it again in the theater I'm doing it because I want to see what I've been seeing in SD in a sharper form. I don't want to see something new. If I wanted to see something new I'd watch a new movie. Does that make any sense?

2012 effects added to TNG will look as bad as the original stuff in ten years time (if not in ten minutes). If the remasters are eventually going to look bad, shouldn't it be with the original work in it?

Well they've already replaced a few model shots (like during the saucer sep), and most people seem to love the new planets, transporter beams, LCARs, and other little touches.

Are you saying you really want to see the original, heavily pixelated versions of THOSE effects superimposed over this pristine new footage we're seeing? Those would stand out like a sore thumb, and look frankly ridiculous.

While I did think some of the new TOS-R shots got a little too flashy and sophisticated, I have no problem with updating some of the more badly outdated effects-- mainly because A) They're only effects, and B) I'm much more interested in seeing the story told as well as possible.

This.

The FX aren't sacrosanct to me. They're there as part of the story and to help suspend disbelief. If they're glaringly horrible in HD, that isn't nostalgic to me, it's distracting and detracting to the show. Seeing Data with pink skin in EaF on the holodeck or seeing a horribly pixelated planet when we could color correct the skin and get a beautiful CGI planet means I can more completely engross myself in the show and not be detracted by the old budget/time constraints of a running TV Show.

 

[JJohnson]

I've got a Sony BR player, and I have 2 discs that both give me a 'check disc' error for some reason...not cracked or anything. That's odd.

 

[JJohnson]

If they sell for around $80 each they got me as a customer. More than that and I'd have to think about it. I'm already bored of the 3 episodes I have so far, once the novelty of watching them in HD wore out. Up to $100 and I will probably choose the better seasons to buy. If they actually charge more than that, well, I will probably pass on it considering what I've seen so far.

Well, personally I rewatch individual TNG episodes relatively frequently. Really, Star Trek is my comfort food; when I get stuck at home with a nasty cold or whatever, I pop on Trek episodes . And obviously I'm going to prefer the HD version to the DVD version for doing that in the future.

The other reason to buy it is voting with my wallet: I'd like them to get filthy rich from making TNG-R, so we get a DS9-R and a VOY-R.

Biggest reason I've not rewatched TNG in several years is the SD quality looked so bad on my HD TV. It will now be a staple of my TV watching again! That and TOS-R. And I agree. I'm going to buy all the seasons of TNG and TOS-R so that they will be more inclined to make VOY-R and DS9-R.

 

[Start Wreck]

With that out of the way, here's a couple shots of the Enterprise.

A nice shot from EaF: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-13h32m05s212.png

Beautiful. There's my new wallpaper.

And the CG flyby from the Inner Light toward the end of the shot. I'm pretty sure this is further over to the right than the original. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-13h42m15s193.png

Ugh, not good. There's my new toilet paper.

 

[GNDN]

With that out of the way, here's a couple shots of the Enterprise.

A nice shot from EaF: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-13h32m05s212.png

Beautiful. There's my new wallpaper.

And the CG flyby from the Inner Light toward the end of the shot. I'm pretty sure this is further over to the right than the original. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-13h42m15s193.png

Ugh, not good. There's my new toilet paper.

The CG replacement is certainly detailed, and perhaps even accurate, but there is a definite 'plastic/unreal' quality to it that just doesn't hold a candle to the photograph seen above.

I'll admit I haven't seen the shot in motion, but this still (and the earlier one released with the stars 'color-banding') have not impressed me. Perhaps it has to do with the lighting more than the model. I appreciate that the CG model follows the lines of the original 6-foot model, but I hope that the quality doesn't take me out of the story as many CGI Enterprise shots did for me in TOS-R

 

[lewisniven]

With that out of the way, here's a couple shots of the Enterprise.

A nice shot from EaF: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-13h32m05s212.png

Beautiful. There's my new wallpaper.

Same here, I quickly knocked up a widescreen version, help yourselves...

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/827/vlcsnap2012020213h32m05.jpg/

 

[Dac]

Here's another cap from that shot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-14h09m28s178.png

This is at the very beginning when its the furthest from the camera. I feel like this is the most telling of the fact its new/CG simply because the shape IS perfect to a schematic. In my experience, the things that make CG look real are imperfections. Warping the mesh a little bit may help sell the look.

 

[GNDN]

Here's another cap from that shot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-14h09m28s178.png

Yeah, I'm sorry, but that looks like video game animation. I hope the shot is re-rendered or the original model footage is found before the season set is released. If not, meh, I'll live.

 

[Start Wreck]

Here's another cap from that shot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-14h09m28s178.png

This is at the very beginning when its the furthest from the camera. I feel like this is the most telling of the fact its new/CG simply because the shape IS perfect to a schematic. In my experience, the things that make CG look real are imperfections. Warping the mesh a little bit may help sell the look.

I'm sure the mesh is accurate, I don't think it's that. It's the lighting, particularly on the secondary hull. It's just too bright.

Bathe it in harsher shadows and add a bit of film grain and it'd probably look alright. The CGI shot of the saucer separation looks absolutely fine - again, harsher shadows help. (Or that may have been a matte rather than CG, I couldn't tell.)

Same here, I quickly knocked up a widescreen version, help yourselves...

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/827/vlcsnap2012020213h32m05.jpg/

Cheers, saved me the bother!

 

[Trekker4747]

I don't think that CGI at-warp shot looks too bad, actually. I'm just not a fan of that angle of the ship it sort of does little justice to the grace of the secondary hull and helps support the "top-heavy" look of the ship.

Can we get a screen-cap of the starboard view of the ship near the end of TIL as it passes through frame? That's always been one of my more favorite shots of the ship and really shows of her grand size and beauty.

 

[Dac]

This one?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-16h39m56s42.png

 

[Dac]

And as for the CG flyby, I don't think it looks bad, just noticeably different.

 

[Trekker4747]

This one?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-16h39m56s42.png

Yep! That's it. Can you composite the scene together to get the whole side-view of the ship?

 

[davejames]

The shot looks odd because it replicates the style of the original shot. The first few years of TNG had an unfortunate habit of doing space shots where the stars move a lot even if the ship doesn't. But everyone seems to be acting like this is new.

I think the shot works fine for the first 3 or 4 seconds, but then the camera just continues to hang onto it way too long.

It might have helped to at LEAST have some running lights blinking on the ships.

 

[Dac]

This one?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/Dac/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-16h39m56s42.png

Yep! That's it. Can you composite the scene together to get the whole side-view of the ship?

Hahaha. You read my mind. I tried it, but the ship moves ever so slightly in a curve, meaning the angles don't match up when I tried to composite them together.

EDIT: Or rather, the ship is slightly at an angle TOO the camera.

EDIT 2: Instead, ignore this and look further down.

 

[davejames]

And as for the CG flyby, I don't think it looks bad, just noticeably different.

Yeah I'm starting to think the same thing. Once it gets up close to the camera, it looks just as solid and real as any of the other model shots.

The problem is just that it's LIT a bit different, and it's a much more slender design than the bulkier 4-foot model it's replacing.