ALL SCI-FI

[Pow]

Been watching Youtube today with some nifty videos from the original Trek series.

They've put up episodes where you can see the differences between the original FX & the remastered FX.

The screen is split so you can view them side-by-side with the original FX on the left hand side & the newly remastered FX on the right hand side.

[Bud Brewster]

Thank God I have access to the Krell machine and can just wish for the link to that YouTube video and . . .

Wait, the Krell machine can't materialize links because they aren't "solid objects". Help us out here, Pow!

However, the fact that you found that on YouTube deserves an Honorable Mention, sir!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Here's a full page of the FX comparison videos Pow mentions above.

By the way, have you folks noticed that YouTube has converted all their thumbnails to gifs? This makes it hard for me to put a thumbnail with a YouTube link when I post one on All Sci-Fi.

Star TOS FX comparison
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

Boy Bud, Your Krellian Reality Manipulator sure is SLOW!
Took five years to come up with the URLS? Better put Robby in maintainence mode and turn him loose to do a tune-up on that baby!

Only kidding! Thanks for the data!
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

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I was amazed when our friend Brent Gair posted that he didn't like the enhanced versions of TOS because he felt like they jarred with the look of the old episodes.

Frankly I've always felt like the poor original special effects jarred with the lofty goals of this series, which was supposed to portray the future of mankind. The enhanced CGI special effects are exactly what the series needs to tell it's intelligent and imaginative stories.

That's why I watch series like Star Trek. I don't do it just to revisit my childhood.

Brent seems to want the series to remain a nostalgic memory from his younger days, similar to his devotion for Lost in Space, which I think is vastly inferior. Brent was apparently not inspired by Star Trek's vision of the future. He just wants it to remain a fond memory from his past . . .

Oh well. Different stroke for different folks, I guess.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]

[Eadie]

But compare it to Lost in Space (CBS 1965 - 1968), which is currently on MeTV, the then effects of the space shots are poor.

Those old film & model makers work is of far superior quality.
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Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.

[scotpens]

Lost in Space did most of its FX using miniatures on flying rigs, rear projection, and other in-camera techniques. The Enterprise flybys and other space shots in Star Trek were done with bluescreen composites, which introduced grain and degradation of the image each time they were copied another generation. But I'll still take the original effects over the digital ones any day of the week.

I mean, look at the crappy low-res polygon mesh of the CGI Romuklingon ship in "The Enterprise Incident." Absolute garbage.

[Bud Brewster]

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I must admit, you certainly picked an example of an original FX that compares really well to the new FX.

But I'd hardly call the one on the right "garbage".



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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

Well, like I said, all a matter of taste . . .

[Bud Brewster]

[Krel]

[Bud Brewster]

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I don't think this is a matter of our individual sharpness of vision, it's a matter of the basic assumption on which we differ.

You're assuming that those flat areas across the front side and the underside of main body of the ship are caused by a "low-res polygon mesh" — a new term that scotpens made me aware of.

I, however, can make a good case for the idea that they were done deliberately — a laudable effort to be consistent with the very angular nature of the Klingon design. It's not "sleek and lovely" like the Enterprise. It's lean, mean, and unfriendly, like something that would not feel pleasant to hold in your hand!

This is true for both the original model and the CGI version, although the CGI folks decided to render the flat surfaces with a "faceted" construction . . . something which was not included in the less detailed model.





If we look more closely at the faceted surfaces we can see that they go very well with the sharp-edged and angular nature of the ship's overall design.





The two slightly different angles shown in the images below seem to indicated a certain amount of individual shading and colorization applied to the facets.

This indicates that these aren't actually evidence of a low-res polygon mesh — they're intended to be metal plates which form the hull of the ship, with different patterns of rust (or whatever), as well as shadows based on the light source.







I believe the reason for this embellishment of the ship's appearance is based on the idea that Klingons don't go in for the kind of rounded elegance and clean hulls of the Federation's "pretty starships". The sharp edges and flat metal plates used in the construction of their ships are just fine for those bad boys!

But if you still think the main body of the ship has those facets just because of lazy CGI rendering, please note that the "neck" and sphere, along with the forward curve of the vessel's foremost portion, show no evidence of a low-res polygon mesh. Even the visible edge between the horizontal and vertical surfaces of the "bridge" is smoothly rounded.


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All these well-rounded, curved surfaces argue against the notion that it's a low-res object based on an initial CGI "wire frame" which has too few facets to create curved surfaces.

The original model is relatively clean, featureless, and smooth — whereas the GI version includes convincing details such as the dark, rusty look, and those lighted windows!

Respectfully, gentlemen, I contend that you've misinterpreted an intentional detail in the design when you assumed they indicated of a sloppy job of CGI rendering.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]