TNG-R, Which model will they use?

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It does mean that someone has to go back and find the originals and then re composite the individual passes together again to provide the complete shots.

And even then, there weren't really that many shots. How many times did we see the Enterprise fly up from the bottom left corner of the screen? Or fly past the right hand side of the camera.

Yes, and if the shots can be located - and they almost certainly can, as they were reused and recomposited in episode after episode for years and therefore were certainly assets they kept track of - it's a far, far lesser and much less expensive effort than any CG version.

It's really a question here of how much money they wish to spend and how much of an organization they want to build for what's essentially a pilot project to judge the sales potential of a full remastering.

 

[Kemaiku]

As far as I know, photography of spacecraft continued to be done on 35 mm film for the first several years of the show. Models were often enhanced with video-generated elements; the plague ship in "Haven," for instance, combines a model shot on film with a globular engine "field" created on video.

They were, several of the shots in Generations were use of the original 35mm film with new elements layed over for the film.

All of the Enterprise-D footage still exists in clean 35mm format ready for scanning. Which includes many of the "side by sides" where two models were seen together inframe, they don't need to be replaced as they're as clean and clear too.

Some scenes were overlayed group shots, the Enterprise model filmed first, then other ships filmed second and those superimposed, but again, both are on 35mm.

The only thing that needs replacing at all are phasers, torpdoes, shields etc. for those.

As for the planets well, I'm not sure how they were done so maybe those need replacing, but TOS-R managed that just fine, TNG-R will too.

Very little needs to be CGI'd, and what does doesn't cost much.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Very little needs to be CGI'd, and what does doesn't cost much.

Exactly so - mapping and rendering a planetary sphere or animating an energy blast are not technical challenges.

 

[Captain Robert April]

We'll probably see a lot of reused planets from TOS-R.

 

[Kemaiku]

Very little needs to be CGI'd, and what does doesn't cost much.

Exactly so - mapping and rendering a planetary sphere or animating an energy blast are not technical challenges.

Most people can run one up in Photoshop or GIMP so yeah I expect the most lengthy complicated thing they have to do is the actual scanning/cleaning which is basically, just the long grind through 178 eps. Seasons 1-3 could have the most grain and age to clear, but still.

 

[Captain Robert April]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwY7mjKoUWw[/yt]

 

[Kaiser]

Epic video ^__^

 

[sojourner]

^Yeah, would have been more epic if it had been in HD.

 

[Ziz]

Well, you can either stop freaking out over the possibility of a "wrong" CG model or continue to complain about the differences in the physical models.

http://www.startrek.com/article/the-next-generation-blu-rays-launch-in-2012

They're going back to the original film elements and recompositing all the FX shots with current technology, so they're not creating any new CG, just using computers to do cleaner mattes and, I'd guess, re-draw phaser and shield FX where necessary.

 

[sojourner]

The article you linked doesn't really say they are not creating new cg.

 

[Ziz]

Read closer.

CBS is, in fact, returning to the original film negatives, a mother lode of material encompassing 25,000-plus reels of footage, and editing the episodes together precisely as they were when they originally aired between 1987 and 1994. Visual effects will not be upconverted from videotape, but instead will be recompositioned. The freshly cut film will ultimately be transferred to high definition with 7.1 DTS Master Audio.

They're putting the show back into post production using current computer technology to get better results.

 

[sojourner]

Right, nothing in there about not using modern CGI when warranted.

 

[Ziz]

So you have proof that because they didn't specifically said they won't then that means that they will?

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Are the CGI scenes from certain episodes (space ravioli, etc.) in a condition where they can be upconverted, as in, not exclusivley on videotape?

 

[Captain Robert April]

Since those early CGI attempts were only meant for 480 resolution (and even then they were clearly CG), I think in those cases, it's pretty safe to assume they're gonna cook up new stuff.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

I certainly would expect to see a lot of reuse of original film elements, but I don't expect to see nothing but the "animated" elements being replaced.

For example... wouldn't you all think it would be great to see the various side-by-side ship shots in proper scale, instead of the wildly floating scales we saw throughout the series? Is it possible to do that while only using original photographic elements? I doubt it... at least, I doubt it would be possible to do it convincingly.

Other things... interactive lighting, etc... are also things that can't really be convincingly applied using post-filming photographic effects ("Aftereffects" and the like). Those can really only be done effectively in-camera, or "in virtual camera."

And for Farpoint, well... the Jellyfish were never convincing to me. They always looked like string-puppets with feathers on them. To my eye, more like muppets than like alien life forms. So... I'd be shocked if the original "muppet jellyfish" weren't replaced, wouldn't you be?

Now, for the moment we're only talking about three episodes, and only Farpoint is likely to involve any of the stuff I just mentioned. But I do agree with the comments from above that this is basically "testing the waters" to see if it's worth it to proceed.

I won't be buying this "three episode set." But, I suspect I'd be one of the first purchasers of the full-season BD sets, or a whole-series set if sold that way, with some really good remastering done (including significant reworking of the SFX stuff).

Of course, ifthey're providing this in HD, I wonder... does that mean that things we were never supposed to be able to see (in standard NTSC definition) are now going to become "canon" because they can be seen on-screen?

In other words... will there now OFFICIALLY be a giant rubber duck on the Enterprise, and will the sickby monitors OFFICIALLY monitor the insurance coverage of patients?

Well, you can either stop freaking out over the possibility of a "wrong" CG model or continue to complain about the differences in the physical models.

http://www.startrek.com/article/the-next-generation-blu-rays-launch-in-2012

They're going back to the original film elements and recompositing all the FX shots with current technology, so they're not creating any new CG, just using computers to do cleaner mattes and, I'd guess, re-draw phaser and shield FX where necessary.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Well, you can either stop freaking out over the possibility of a "wrong" CG model or continue to complain about the differences in the physical models.

http://www.startrek.com/article/the-next-generation-blu-rays-launch-in-2012

They're going back to the original film elements and recompositing all the FX shots with current technology, so they're not creating any new CG, just using computers to do cleaner mattes and, I'd guess, re-draw phaser and shield FX where necessary.

Called that one.

 

[AnyStar]

the only thing i'm really curios about is what about the "ship of the week?" that was always stock footage of Excelsior? will it still always be the Excelsior or will we get cgi inserts of more varying arrays of ships?

 

[Kaiser]

the only thing i'm really curios about is what about the "ship of the week?" that was always stock footage of Excelsior? will it still always be the Excelsior or will we get cgi inserts of more varying arrays of ships?

I hope so also i wonder if they'll use Sternbach Ent C or the now fully rendered Probert one?

 

[I Grok Spock]

I imagine CBS will do whatever requires the least financial outlay. Anything that was created at standard def will be recreated. However, since most of that will be interacting with existing film elements, I wouldn't expect many completely redone shots. The possible exception being scenes that were 100% created at 480 or if they open a film can and find an unusable reel.