Many, many clippers. A whole evolution chart of them. But the one you are thinking of on the recognition chart was Ariadne.
Unseen TOS....
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
Nicely done. Perhaps add a little more film grain to the shots, if that's possible?
I could see the first shot on the Enterprise viewscreen as she approached the dock. Perhaps they could have filmed a side on shot similar to the latter one seen in "Space Seed" as Enterprise pulled along side the Botany Bay, just using the 33" studio miniature entering the dock as we mentioned earlier up thread. All shown during the opening Captains Log entry.
That second view could then have been used with the 33" inside later in the episode instead of a standard orbital shot.
It isn't just the film grain that makes it stand out as a CG add on. It is also how it is too sharp compared to the planet plus the overall lighting. You'd probably want to adjust your lens settings to have a tiny aperture to keep the entire platform in focus and get some diffraction and non-sharpness. Throw in some dust spots and other random stuff onto the lens and consider adding some lighting similar to the studio setup.
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Funny, because I already blurred the image before merging it with the background. I think the lower image looks better than the upper one. But I get what you’re saying about noise. I just forgot about it.
I’ve been thinking that I don’t have a complete 3D Enterprise model made yet to put into the drydock. I was also thinking that while this would be made for the 33in. miniature it really wouldn’t bear prolonged scrutiny to tell it wasn’t the 11 footer. The 33 incher was usually used for distant motion shots. Only once, that I recall, was it used for a static shot—when it appeared on a tabletop in Flint’s laboratory in “Requiem For Methuselah.”
Even so it could still work given the miniature ship could be partially obscured.
I’ve been thinking that I don’t have a complete 3D Enterprise model made yet to put into the drydock. I was also thinking that while this would be made for the 33in. miniature it really wouldn’t bear prolonged scrutiny to tell it wasn’t the 11 footer. The 33 incher was usually used for distant motion shots. Only once, that I recall, was it used for a static shot—when it appeared on a tabletop in Flint’s laboratory in “Requiem For Methuselah.”
Even so it could still work given the miniature ship could be partially obscured.
To be sure. And hopefully I didn't come across as cheeky mentioning it. You're the one with the talent. Couldn't do what you're creating here in a million years!
No problems. It could use a bit more film grain. And some noise.
I'm just going to throw this out here... the reason that the 33 inch model wasn't used for a lot of effects shots wasn't due to lack of detail or physical differences compared to the 11 foot model. The reason was actually the same as why the larger model needed to be so large, it was the size of the cameras being used to film them.
During the shooting of the effects footage for The Cage, there was a bunch of additional shots of the 33 inch model taken to help build up a library of shots that could be used for the series (the same thing was done with the 11 foot model during WNMHGB). Some of these shots got pretty close to the model, but at a certain point the footage wasn't useable because the camera would cast a shadow on the model.
And even when shadows could be avoided or edited out, it was hard to get a small model to look large in a large camera. This can be seen when comparing two similar shots of the models.
Today it isn't too hard to replicate shots of the 11 foot model using a 1/350 scale replica (which is about an inch shorter than the 33 inch model). And even by the mid 1970s, small models could be made to look much larger (the Star Destroyer in the opening shot of Star Wars was about the same size as the 33 inch Enterprise).
So the point I'm getting at is that you could make the space dock with your current Enterprise model look like it was done with the 33 inch model by making them seem smaller relative to the virtual camera. There is only a small range of angles where the differences between the 33 inch and 11 foot models stand out, and some of that could be masked by the dock.
During the shooting of the effects footage for The Cage, there was a bunch of additional shots of the 33 inch model taken to help build up a library of shots that could be used for the series (the same thing was done with the 11 foot model during WNMHGB). Some of these shots got pretty close to the model, but at a certain point the footage wasn't useable because the camera would cast a shadow on the model.
And even when shadows could be avoided or edited out, it was hard to get a small model to look large in a large camera. This can be seen when comparing two similar shots of the models.
Today it isn't too hard to replicate shots of the 11 foot model using a 1/350 scale replica (which is about an inch shorter than the 33 inch model). And even by the mid 1970s, small models could be made to look much larger (the Star Destroyer in the opening shot of Star Wars was about the same size as the 33 inch Enterprise).
So the point I'm getting at is that you could make the space dock with your current Enterprise model look like it was done with the 33 inch model by making them seem smaller relative to the virtual camera. There is only a small range of angles where the differences between the 33 inch and 11 foot models stand out, and some of that could be masked by the dock.
Damn that is very nice, 
There are subtle details that are largely invisible because I added blur, noise and film grain to more closely match the episode screencap. The ship model lacks a lot of detail (unlike the actual 33 incher) because much of it is obscured by the dock structure itself. For this kind of shot intended for the televisions of the day you could likely get away with it. In fact I angled the shots to obscure the fact I didn’t bother adding the ship’s name and registry to the model, only the Starfleet pennants, and those are missing the yellow boomerangs. I also stuck to adding the rectangular windows and not the round ones. The windows, like a few other details are only painted on. The ship miniature has no internal lighting of its own.
I had to approximate the font for the episode title.
The composition of this shot could be questioned. It would likely pass muster to a 1960’s/‘70’s audience, but more realistically the dock should be orbiting closer to the planet. It mght have been better to setup the image showing the dock against the background of space alone, but thats not as dynamic or visually interesting. As is it works and gets the idea across.
I had to approximate the font for the episode title.
The composition of this shot could be questioned. It would likely pass muster to a 1960’s/‘70’s audience, but more realistically the dock should be orbiting closer to the planet. It mght have been better to setup the image showing the dock against the background of space alone, but thats not as dynamic or visually interesting. As is it works and gets the idea across.
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Some of it is obscured but there's enough hints there that it speaks of the detail and lets the brain know its there.
The obscuring of the name and registry allows the viewer to assume it’s the Enterprise, but it could be the Intrepid or any other starship.
I modelled the ship largely as the pilot version, but it does have the balls of the series’ version at the aft end of the nacelles. Weird, I know—I’m not sure why I felt like doing that.
Enterprise is number seven on Stone’s list. For kicks you might want to make that dock “07” instead of “05”.
Then again, who the hell would take note of such things other than me?
Then again, who the hell would take note of such things other than me?
Love that mix and match.
A good look might be for the saucer top as the 33’, second pilot nacelle vents but production nacelle front-domes..pilot bridge but production dish.
That might be a good look for Excalibur or something.
One thing that hasn’t been done:
I think there was an attempt to show the swirling nacelle patterns as they flowed back…as seen in the inward facing nacelle trenches and the aft nacelle domes.
Having a production TOS and/or FJ Achernar type Enterprise laid out like that on the way back to Earth just before the TMP refit might be a good “Turnabout Intruder” or novel end.
During TOS’ production GR apparently did inquire about having some sort of lighted effect on the nacelle inboards, but it was deemed too costly to remake or replace the nacelles, so they left it as is.
But apparently the Polar Lights 1/350 scale TOS E does include parts to allow for an inboard nacelle lighting effect.
