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Skittles
08-31-2006, 08:45 AM
TV Guide (http://tvguide.com/News/Insider/default.htm?cmsGuid={FFD672A7-68D2-4EE3-A18C-781FC2972A5B}) and The Digital Bits (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents) are reporting that Paramount is working on a new "upgraded" version of Star Trek: The Original Series.

The newly upgraded show is going to have updated CG shots to replace the special effects from the series' original run. In addition, they're going to be fixing some of the goofs & bloopers from the series, changing some of the backgrounds to make them more animated and life-like, and updating some scenes to make them more accurate (like shots of Earth from space, for example).

Oh, and they're also re-recording the original theme, using a larger orchestra and a new singer for the "vocals".

All of these changes, including the special effects, are being done in-house at Paramount. Theoretically, this work is being done in anticipation of TOS's release in one (or both) of the High Def DVD formats. The show's going to premeire in about two weeks in syndication. The episodes are going to air out of order, starting with Balance of Terror

Here's a screenshot of the new CG work.

http://online.tvguide.com/news/insider/images/060831insider1pop.jpg

cwoody222
08-31-2006, 08:50 AM
Bah. Looks like a Pixar cartoon to me.

And showing them out of order? That's just stupid.





But I'll watch (at least a few)...

Sparty99
08-31-2006, 08:58 AM
Hey, now that there's precedent, can we get them to redo the first 2-3 seasons of the Simpsons with new drawings and voices? Those episodes are borderline unwatchable.

DougF
08-31-2006, 09:19 AM
I'm sure I'll watch a few, if not all of them, but I can't say I'd buy them. I'm not a fanatical purist, but I'll prefer to own them as they were.

I'm not surprised they are doing this. There are lots of Trek fans who say they just can't watch TOS because it's so dated.

MikeMar
08-31-2006, 09:20 AM
Hey, now that there's precedent, can we get them to redo the first 2-3 seasons of the Simpsons with new drawings and voices? Those episodes are borderline unwatchable.

What you don't like the African American Smithers?

pkscout
08-31-2006, 09:33 AM
After Enterprise's shocking failure, I didn't see how Paramount could get anymore blood out of this particular stone. I guess I was wrong. ;)

That said, I may watch some of them to see if the updated FX change things any.

Sirius Black
08-31-2006, 09:45 AM
Because updating Star Wars was such a big success with the fans, I guess Paramount wanted to do something for their sci-fi camp as well. :down:

mrpantstm
08-31-2006, 10:00 AM
hah. I'm reminded of the Family Guy bit where Neil is examing a Star Trek episode and one of the things he points out is Shatner's stunt double in the background taking his coffee break. Might be something they'd want to correct. ;) :D

Marco
08-31-2006, 10:38 AM
This idea is about 8 flavors of awful. :mad:

Big_Daddy
08-31-2006, 11:32 AM
I guess when you can't come up with any new, good ideas, you have to do something to make money.

cwoody222
08-31-2006, 11:46 AM
You know, now that I think about it...

The new movie is supposedly supposed to deal with younger versions of Kirk & Spock and take place in the classic series timeframe.

It makes sense to make the TOS more "accessible" to more (re: younger) people now to broaden the possible audience for the upcoming movie.

No?


(still think it's a bad idea for the show, but a good idea business-wise, I guess)

windracer
08-31-2006, 12:11 PM
So are they going to replace all the paper mache' rocks and red skies with CGI? :eek:

JYoung
08-31-2006, 12:20 PM
Because updating Star Wars was such a big success with the fans, I guess Paramount wanted to do something for their sci-fi camp as well. :down:


Yep.
It's George Lucas syndrome.

So will the episodes be horribly butchered to fit in a 60 minute time slot?

jlb
08-31-2006, 12:30 PM
And showing them out of order? That's just stupid.

This was picked up in USAToday today also. The out of order premise was based on fans voting for their favorites. That's where Paramount is starting.

DLiquid
08-31-2006, 12:43 PM
I never watch TOS episodes anymore, but this would get me to watch the good ones. I think it's kind of a cool idea. To me this is not quite like the Star Wars trilogy, which had very good effects to begin with. The TOS effects were pretty bad. I just hope they don't put any CGI characters in there. That would be a bad idea.

Do you think they will redo the transporter effect?

amishpriest
08-31-2006, 12:51 PM
This has got to be some kind of joke...TOS was so endearing, at least to me, because of the cheesy effects (among other things).

LoadStar
08-31-2006, 01:22 PM
Not the worst idea in the world, I suppose. The biggest problem I think will be the meshing of the old 1960's era lighting and camera work with the 21st century CGI graphics... I'd think it'd be rather jarring to switch back and forth like that.

If they were somehow able to mate the original actors into new footage filmed on the rebuilt sets (they've rebuilt three times now - DS9 ["Trials and Tribbleations"], once for TNG ["Relics Pts. 1 & 2"] and once for ENT ["In A Mirror Darkly Pts. 1 & 2"] that would be interesting. Of course, they've never COMPLETELY rebuilt - ENT's rebuild was probably the most extensive set rebuild, including hallway sets, most of the bridge, and even a portion of Engineering. They could only replace scenes set on those sets.

Mr2sday
08-31-2006, 01:22 PM
The thing that really bugs about that is the vocals for the song. The messed up Enterprise's song when they changed the style of the vocal and now they're gonna mess up one of the most famous theme songs two years after the composer died. Jerry Goldsmith RIP.

5thcrewman
08-31-2006, 01:31 PM
Kirk shot first!!

But Spock was right behind!

JYoung
08-31-2006, 01:33 PM
The thing that really bugs about that is the vocals for the song. The messed up Enterprise's song when they changed the style of the vocal and now they're gonna mess up one of the most famous theme songs two years after the composer died. Jerry Goldsmith RIP.


[geek mode]
Jerry Goldsmith, fine composer that he was, did not write the Original Star Trek theme.
Alexander Courage did.
Goldsmith did not enter the Star Trek franchise until the Motion Picture.
[/geek mode]

DougF
08-31-2006, 01:34 PM
The thing that really bugs about that is the vocals for the song. The messed up Enterprise's song when they changed the style of the vocal and now they're gonna mess up one of the most famous theme songs two years after the composer died. Jerry Goldsmith RIP.

Jerry Goldsmith did not compose the original Star Trek theme. Alexander Courage did.

Goldsmith created the theme used for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. This was later recycled for "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

<edit>
Or, what JYoung said. :)
</edit>

DougF
08-31-2006, 01:35 PM
...TNG ["Relics Pts. 1 & 2"] ...

"Relics" wasn't a two-parter.

JYoung
08-31-2006, 01:38 PM
The TOS effects were pretty bad. I just hope they don't put any CGI characters in there. That would be a bad idea.


The effects were state of the art in 1966.

And I'd prefer to leave them as they were to see how the field has evolved.

mikesay98
08-31-2006, 01:42 PM
There are lots of Trek fans who say they just can't watch TOS because it's so dated.

If this is true, they can't be true Star Trek fans. What another person said here, is that is why these episodes endure. They are the classic. The reason why they are so good is because the effects weren't everything; it was the STORY that mattered, and that's why they always had such good episodes. I agree that the picture looks like pixar. Personally, I felt the demise of Star Trek came with the computerization of the ships because the models look SO real.

While most of me is pissed at this news, a small part of me wonders if it will help bring younger people (I'm 22, but a fan since childhood) that aren't necessarily that interested in Star Trek into watching it a little. The franchise is failing, and I guess you need to take risk to revive it. Problem is, it could also destroy a classic and turn off a lot of fans while they're at it.

DougF
08-31-2006, 02:08 PM
If this is true, they can't be true Star Trek fans...

I wouldn't say that. Lots of people came on board with the movies or some of the later shows. Many of them are young and have only ever known "better" special effects. They didn't live the 60s. I didn't either (born in '71) , but I started watching Star Trek in the last 70s.

Idearat
08-31-2006, 02:17 PM
The real editing magic is one that will allow them an extra minute or two per episode for additional commericals without removing any content.

They'll just remove the empty spaces from Kirks occaisional monologues. By re-connecting the sentances into continuous streams the episode will go by quicker without removing any dialog.

scottykempf
08-31-2006, 02:22 PM
"BUT..................................Spock.................s urely......you can see.............the error......of.....your ways!!!" LOL

Stormspace
08-31-2006, 03:49 PM
The real challenge will be replacing those aliens (people in monster suits) with believable monsters. i.e. Gorn, furry white beast, cyclops things, green women ;), etc.

mikesay98
08-31-2006, 03:57 PM
Perhaps I spoke too soon...if they can do something like this, it wouldn't be too bad...

Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9XHmj-dPEY)

JYoung
08-31-2006, 04:08 PM
The real challenge will be replacing those aliens (people in monster suits) with believable monsters. i.e. Gorn, furry white beast, cyclops things, green women ;), etc.


Because that worked sooooooo well on Enterprise.
:rolleyes:

Mike10
08-31-2006, 04:25 PM
I spoke to someone who knows... Paramount is attempting to clean up the prints. Apparently the layering of film trapped dirt, dust, hair, etc. The DVDs look ok now, but when remastered in high definition they look positively filthy. This is beyond a normal clean-up job. Apparently it's easier just to reproduce elements than try to clean them

DLL66
08-31-2006, 06:24 PM
You know deep down that all of you will watch it...........right along with me!!

mportuesi
08-31-2006, 06:48 PM
I actually like this idea, and think it will open up classic Trek to a new audience that's accustomed to glitzy effects.

I saw the test reel of an updated TOS episode that went around a month or two ago (http://www.trekenhanced.com/) and really liked what I saw. (though this Paramount effort is done by a different group of people than the demo reel on trekenhanced.com)

But I emphatically don't like the idea of them being shown out of order.

sketcher
08-31-2006, 07:01 PM
But I emphatically don't like the idea of them being shown out of order.
Hopefully they will just do a few of the fan favorites first (to generate interest I guess), then go back and get the rest in series order.

Church AV Guy
08-31-2006, 07:36 PM
There are a few episodes I wouldn't mind if they left out altogether. Miri, And the Children Shall Lead, The Savage Curtain, The Way to Eden, and Spectre of the Gun, for a few examples. Star Trek was interesting in that they could mix some real awful episodes with some astonishing examples of some of the best science fiction ever on television. And it is so broad spectrum, that I'm sure at least one of the episodes I listed as some of the worst in my opinion, are on some peoples best episodes list.

LoadStar
08-31-2006, 07:41 PM
Relics was a single part episode. And they only actually constructed a sliver of the bridge for that...the rest was done (quite seamlessly, I'd say) with F/X.

Good catch by the two of you on the one part/two part mistake. And yeah, as I mentioned, they've been progressively making more and more of the TOS sets... for Relics, it was pretty much just a small sliver; for DS9, they made some hallway segments; and for Enterprise, they made a Engineering portion, a long hallway section, and a nearly full bridge.

jmoak
08-31-2006, 07:53 PM
redo Star Trek??!?!? Bah!!

Let's start a "Leave Our Trek Alone!" club.

maybe we can give away free hats........

;)

They've killed Kirk! You bastards!

Dignan
08-31-2006, 08:30 PM
They should consider maybe doing a colorized version of Casablanca....

jschuur
08-31-2006, 09:28 PM
I don't mind them redoing the original episodes. It's not like people don't have the chance to buy the original format right now if they don't like the idea of someone tampering with the classics.

But if these will be priced similarly at $85/season, then count me out. (Amazon has an offer for all 3 seasons at $175 right now).

busyba
08-31-2006, 10:12 PM
Kirk shot first!!

Damn, beat me to it! :)

jones07
08-31-2006, 11:39 PM
I'll watch

Bsteenson
09-01-2006, 12:25 AM
That's why choices are so great.

Think this is sacrilage and an outrage? Don't watch.

Interested in what it will look like? Give it a try.

Will eagerly watch anything with the words "Star Trek" in it? Then your key word Wish List in the No. 1 priority spot will grab it as soon as it appears.

BS

appleye1
09-01-2006, 12:34 AM
Hey, now that there's precedent, can we get them to redo the first 2-3 seasons of the Simpsons with new drawings and voices? Those episodes are borderline unwatchable.I liked this clip but I didn't think this was worthy of its own thread. Mentioning the Simpsons gives me the perfect opening to post it in this thread. :cool:
Slight hijack - Simpsons vs. Star Trek (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkTpUxh8Vxc)

vman41
09-01-2006, 08:46 AM
The effects were state of the art in 1966.

And I'd prefer to leave them as they were to see how the field has evolved.

Yes, we need to be reminded that phaser beams didn't always originate at the end of the phaser.

They could do a lot just adding modern surround sound, the throb of the warp drive spinning up or status reports coming from all around the bridge for example.

PJO1966
09-01-2006, 05:29 PM
I'll definitely give it a shot. My only gripe is how the ship looks in the OP by Skittles. It looks like they need to do another texture pass on it. It looks a little flat.

MarkL
09-01-2006, 05:32 PM
There are a few episodes I wouldn't mind if they left out altogether. Miri, And the Children Shall Lead, The Savage Curtain, The Way to Eden, and Spectre of the Gun, for a few examples. Star Trek was interesting in that they could mix some real awful episodes with some astonishing examples of some of the best science fiction ever on television. And it is so broad spectrum, that I'm sure at least one of the episodes I listed as some of the worst in my opinion, are on some peoples best episodes list.

To each their own. Personally, Curtain and Spectre were a couple of my favorites. Miri could definitely have some traction with today's interest in bioscience, gene therapy, stem cells, etc. The other two .. perhaps they will do those last. :)

Fish Man
09-01-2006, 05:39 PM
There are a few episodes I wouldn't mind if they left out altogether. Miri, And the Children Shall Lead, The Savage Curtain, The Way to Eden, and Spectre of the Gun, for a few examples. Star Trek was interesting in that they could mix some real awful episodes with some astonishing examples of some of the best science fiction ever on television. And it is so broad spectrum, that I'm sure at least one of the episodes I listed as some of the worst in my opinion, are on some peoples best episodes list.

+1 on the "to each his own".

I'd agree that "Spectre of the Gun", "And the Children Shall Lead, and "Way to Eden" were weak episodes. However, IMHO, "Savage Curtain" was fine, and "Miri" was one of the best episodes of the series! The kids came off as truly menacing and dangerous, not just annoying as hell like in "And the Children Shall Lead". In Miri, they even had a 27 year old actor, Michael J. Pollard, convincingly playing a pre-teen kid! (Jahn) That's television history! ;)

My vote for the two lamest episodes of the entire series:

First runner up (second lamest): "Spock's Brain"

Lamest: "Turnabout Intruder"

"Turnabout Intruder" was the series finale (if you could call such a horrible episode that). Talk about going out with a fizzle, rather than a bang!

bdlucas
09-01-2006, 07:14 PM
While they're at it maybe they can touch up some of the plot, dialog, over-acting, etc.? :)

bootedbear
09-01-2006, 07:29 PM
"Miri" was the first episode of ST I ever saw (during its first run) and I also think it's a great episode!

JYoung
09-01-2006, 09:17 PM
Yes, we need to be reminded that phaser beams didn't always originate at the end of the phaser.

They could do a lot just adding modern surround sound, the throb of the warp drive spinning up or status reports coming from all around the bridge for example.


And that's important to the story how?


This reminds me of when Turner tried colorizing all those old B&W movies and shorts and that didn't go over well.

Unfortunately, we seem to be an audience now that prefers style and glitz over substance (to wit: The Phantom Menace).
This is the kind of like not wanting to watch the original King Kong because it's a stop motion figure or not watching Citizen Kane because it's in Black and White.

And we should not support productions of Shakesphere because they use paper machie sets.

I'm not totally against this idea though, if it was done with the care of the Trek Enhanced guy but this is Paramount here.
It may be more of "since Enterprise wasn't the cash cow we thought it would be, let's make a few cosmetic changes to TOS and get those stupid fans to double dip."

vman41
09-01-2006, 10:25 PM
And that's important to the story how?


It doesn't improve the story, it improves the telling of the story, enhancing the verisimiltude just as good background music enhances the drama.

zordude
09-02-2006, 02:26 AM
I just noticed that Deep Discount DVD has the complete series on sale for $137.

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemid=PRD005538

Z

bootedbear
09-02-2006, 03:11 AM
Anyone locate a list of the stations that will be airing this?

fergiej
09-02-2006, 08:38 AM
And that's important to the story how?


This reminds me of when Turner tried colorizing all those old B&W movies and shorts and that didn't go over well.

Unfortunately, we seem to be an audience now that prefers style and glitz over substance (to wit: The Phantom Menace).
This is the kind of like not wanting to watch the original King Kong because it's a stop motion figure or not watching Citizen Kane because it's in Black and White.

And we should not support productions of Shakesphere because they use paper machie sets.

I'm not totally against this idea though, if it was done with the care of the Trek Enhanced guy but this is Paramount here.
It may be more of "since Enterprise wasn't the cash cow we thought it would be, let's make a few cosmetic changes to TOS and get those stupid fans to double dip."
But, they aren't charging US for it. This is from the Startrek.com website:
The first question we can already answer for you:
There is no confirmation as yet if, or when, these episodes will eventually appear on DVD, HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. This is likely to change at some point.
So, there isn't the motivation of more $$ from the fans driving this (yet). I believe the are trying to revive it to bring the characters to a younger, much more critical (effectswise) audience to prepare them for the movie. And, i'm not such a huge fan of the TOS that I won't be able to tolerate this. I think...it'll...look...pretty good.

drew2k
09-02-2006, 11:34 AM
Anyone locate a list of the stations that will be airing this?If you have DirecTV and get your distant networks from NY, you may be able to see it on September 16 on WNBC/4-NY.

My newspaper just had an article on the Trek enhancements, so I'm really hoping Channel 4 does present it in HD.

Fish Man
09-02-2006, 12:05 PM
One question I have about this:

Will they be edited for time, or time compressed?

I'm enjoying the Star Trek marathons on G4 where they run them 1:10 so that they can put the typical 2006 number of commercials in them yet not have to edit or time compress the show. (However, G4's Star Trek 2.0, with the boarder of moving text all around the picture is an abomination!)

Anyway, if they plan to release this revamped Star Trek in syndication as a 1 hour show, they'll have to trim about 10 minutes out of the show either by time compression or by delating scenes/shots, or by a combination of both. Commercial TV stations are going to demand 18 minutes worth of commercial time in a 1 hour show. They're not going to accept the 1966 standard of 8 minutes.

I sort of like the idea of updating the look of the space shots, planet backgrounds, and special effects. But, if the syndicated version is edited for time or time compressed, that will royally suck, and kill my interest in the revamped program.

mportuesi
09-02-2006, 12:40 PM
I'm not totally against this idea though, if it was done with the care of the Trek Enhanced guy but this is Paramount here.

On his site, the "Trek Enhanced" guy says he knows the people involved with the new production, and has confidence they will also treat the series with care.

Bondelev
09-02-2006, 02:22 PM
Anyone locate a list of the stations that will be airing this?
I noticed that TV LAND will be airing a bunch of episodes on 9/14 which they have labelled as STAR TREK 40th ANNIVERSARY. I had assumed these were the updated version. But maybe not, they don't seem to mention it.

TV LAND (http://www.tvland.com/shows/startrek/)

ParadiseDave
09-02-2006, 04:40 PM
But what about the Klingons? Will we get wrinkled heads or bushy eyebrows? :)

byte_me123
09-03-2006, 12:43 PM
Yep.
It's George Lucas syndrome.

So will the episodes be horribly butchered to fit in a 60 minute time slot?

More like a 45 minute time slot, the rest of the time is for commercials. :mad:

purple6816
09-03-2006, 01:04 PM
This has got to be some kind of joke...TOS was so endearing, at least to me, because of the cheesy effects (among other things).

OK. I cant figure out the TOS acronym. I know we are refering to the original season.

PJO1966
09-03-2006, 01:05 PM
OK. I cant figure out the TOS acronym. I know we are refering to the original season.


TOS = The Original Series

purple6816
09-03-2006, 01:06 PM
TOS = The Original Series

The answer just dawned on me. I went to delete my post and you had posted and locked it in. Thanks. A senior moment. Like Bill I think I have mad cow. :confused:

JYoung
09-03-2006, 05:33 PM
So, there isn't the motivation of more $$ from the fans driving this (yet). I believe the are trying to revive it to bring the characters to a younger, much more critical (effectswise) audience to prepare them for the movie. And, i'm not such a huge fan of the TOS that I won't be able to tolerate this. I think...it'll...look...pretty good.

Syndication still brings them money on this with low overhead.
Plus, I believe that they are hedging their bets concerning Blu-Ray/HD-DVD.
I personally believe that BR/HD is going to be a harder sell to Joe Sixpack and they are going to need additional enticements to make people double dip or maybe even single dip for BR/HD.




On his site, the "Trek Enhanced" guy says he knows the people involved with the new production, and has confidence they will also treat the series with care.

What else can he say? He works in the industry and wants to continue to do so.
Reading between the lines, I believe that one of the reasons that Rick Sternbach left the franchise was due to the lack of caring about the quality of the work.
(i.e. the Delta Flyer was actually too big to fit through Voyager's Shuttle Bay door.)



More like a 45 minute time slot, the rest of the time is for commercials. :mad:

It's worse than that. Enterprise was clocking in at just under 40 minutes of content, including credits!

TOS episodes run 50:15 to 50:30 so that's over 10 minutes over material that would have to be cut to fit in a "stardard" 1 hour time slot.
(or God forbid, run less commercials)

I wonder how TVLand is going to handle this on Friday.

(and does anyone find it disturbing that over one third of any program you watch is dedicated to commericials? Thank God for TiVo.)

LoadStar
09-03-2006, 05:45 PM
It's worse than that. Enterprise was clocking in at just under 40 minutes of content, including credits!

A standard program these days is usually 42 minutes +/- 1 minute.

atrac
09-03-2006, 06:16 PM
It's been quite awhile since I've watched TOS and since I am so hard up for some Star Trek right now, I'm actually looking forward to seeing this.

I do hope the effects look better than that CGI screen shot though.

JYoung
09-03-2006, 07:04 PM
A standard program these days is usually 42 minutes +/- 1 minute.

Sorry, I forgot that I almost never included the credits to Enterprise due to the God awful theme song.

bootedbear
09-03-2006, 08:16 PM
The Guide Data on my boxes has finally reached the 16th and for Time Warner Cable in Austin, KNVA, the WB affiliate, has a listing for Balance of Terror.

There's nothing to indicate whether this is an airing of the original TOS episode, or the re-vamped version.

cwbaker
09-03-2006, 10:17 PM
Does anyone know which (if any) Boston station might carry this? Alternatively which Comcast or DirectTv channel? Looks like G4 is running TOS & TOS 2.0 now, so maybe it will be them.

I'd prefer a Boston station in HD though!

murgatroyd
09-04-2006, 04:00 AM
First runner up (second lamest): "Spock's Brain"

... which inspired one of the best episodes ever of The Wonder Years.

Thus is equilibrium maintained. :D

As someone who watched the show on its original run, my vote is to leave the effects alone. The creators did the best they could with the resources at hand. The effects were, in many cases, the most expensive done to date. If I'm going to buy DVDs, I want the show I saw when I was a kid, not some tarted-up substitute.

Edited to add: when I do Save to VCR, I include the opening and end credits as well as the main part of the episodes. Most current shows come in around 45 minutes. So that's 3/4 of the timeslot for the show vs. 1/4 of the timeslot for commercials.

Jan

cwbaker
09-04-2006, 04:39 PM
Does anyone know which (if any) Boston station might carry this? Alternatively which Comcast or DirectTv channel? Looks like G4 is running TOS & TOS 2.0 now, so maybe it will be them.

I'd prefer a Boston station in HD though!

Found episode information for "Balance of Terror" on 9/17 at 2:35am on Boston channel 5. Show is listed as 60 minutes in the Comcast channel guide.

Nothing to indicate if is the new version or if it is to be broadcast in HD, but it is the right episode on the right weekend.

MarkL
09-04-2006, 07:19 PM
I don't have "Terror" but I do have "Plato's Stepchildren", "City on the Edge of Forever", "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "Man Trap", all showing in consecutive hours on 9/8. Again, no indication if they are the enhanced eps or not. Guess we'll find out soon enough!

cwoody222
09-04-2006, 07:20 PM
I don't have "Terror" but I do have "Plato's Stepchildren", "City on the Edge of Forever", "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "Man Trap", all showing in consecutive hours on 9/8. Again, no indication if they are the enhanced eps or not. Guess we'll find out soon enough!

The enhanced episodes start on 9/16 or later. So your 9/8 ones aren't them.

DougF
09-04-2006, 11:45 PM
I don't have "Terror" but I do have "Plato's Stepchildren", "City on the Edge of Forever", "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "Man Trap", all showing in consecutive hours on 9/8. Again, no indication if they are the enhanced eps or not. Guess we'll find out soon enough!

Those are probably the TV Land episodes airing on the 40th anniversary.

LoadStar
09-04-2006, 11:56 PM
Unfortunately, I don't think any of the local stations have purchased equipment to record syndicated HD programming for later rebroadcast... which means that I doubt we'll see the HD versions here at all.

atrac
09-05-2006, 12:03 AM
If anyone finds the Los Angeles area airing, please let me know. I have guide data for the 16th now and nothings shows up yet. :(

I would have thought the second largest market in the country would have it immediately.

cthomp
09-05-2006, 01:01 AM
Detroit area: Sept 17th 2am channel 7.

ZeoTiVo
09-05-2006, 05:16 AM
I actually like this idea, and think it will open up classic Trek to a new audience that's accustomed to glitzy effects.

I saw the test reel of an updated TOS episode that went around a month or two ago (http://www.trekenhanced.com/) and really liked what I saw. (though this Paramount effort is done by a different group of people than the demo reel on trekenhanced.com)

But I emphatically don't like the idea of them being shown out of order.

I'll be watching

the order of shows is not so important to me. TOS was important because it brought good Stories to television that were decidely Science Fiction in an era when Sci-Fi or any type of deep storytelling was not considered commercially viable. To me TOS is interesting in the trade off of made for TV characterization and interplay vs the "serious" Sci-Fi story telling.
There is the Star Trek timeline to work within but TOS had no real intro, middle or end to the whole series - it was simply a good Sci-fi story each and (most) every week

gastrof
09-05-2006, 01:59 PM
Those are probably the TV Land episodes airing on the 40th anniversary.


Exactly.

Starting at 8 eastern time, a four hour mini-marathon.

TV LAND will be running the original version of TOS, and this is the first taste of that.

I'm not sure what the regular start date is tho', or the regular timeslot.

DougF
09-05-2006, 03:48 PM
Exactly.

Starting at 8 eastern time, a four hour mini-marathon.

TV LAND will be running the original version of TOS, and this is the first taste of that.

I'm not sure what the regular start date is tho', or the regular timeslot.

I think it starts sometime in November on TV Land.

crazywater
09-05-2006, 04:34 PM
Perhaps I spoke too soon...if they can do something like this, it wouldn't be too bad...

Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9XHmj-dPEY)
Very cool...I like what I saw, it helps that "The Doomsday Machine" is one of my favorite episodes...

drew2k
09-05-2006, 05:31 PM
Well, I finally have guide data through 7 PM on 9/16, and despite what Newsday wrote, I don't see any listings for any variation of Trek on WNBC-NY-4 that weekend. I'm disappointed, because WNBC-4 is in HD on DirecTV and I was hoping to catch this ... :(

PJO1966
09-06-2006, 03:24 PM
I see Balance of Terror listed on NBC here for the 18th at 12:05am...

PJO1966
09-06-2006, 03:27 PM
Found some updated info here. (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents)

Church AV Guy
09-06-2006, 05:39 PM
I suppose if this is a ratings and money winner, then we can expect other series to follow suit? I wouldn't mind Mission Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., all of the classic Doctor Who, but I draw the line at Lost in Space and Gilligan's island. :D

Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind these being released on regular DVD.

LoadStar
09-06-2006, 06:06 PM
Well, that confirms it - I won't be seeing the HD version. The station that currently shows Enterprise in strip syndication is WMLW, a low-power independent not currenly broadcasting in HD. They're owned by the local CBS affiliate, and they do broadcast in digital - but only on a sub-channel of the CBS digital channel.

JYoung
09-06-2006, 06:47 PM
Found some updated info here. (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents)

Thanks, Paul.

A couple of things that I noted:


All 79 episodes are being done, plus the pilot. 35-40 episodes will be done for weekly broadcast syndication airing this year, and another 35-40 for next year. The entire length of the episode is being done, not just the 43-minute syndication length (broadcast stations choose how much they wish to show of the episode). There are somewhere between 15-70 effects shots per episode, and the total length of enhanced footage per episode could be as little as a minute and a half (depending on the episode).


Yiiikes! :eek: So it's going to be up to the individual stations as to how much to chop out?
:eek:
(and it is less then 43 minutes these days)



Masters are apparently being created in both 4x3 and 16x9. [Editor's Note: We're working to determine EXACTLY what this means, and how the specific footage is being handled.] Eventually, the producers expect that there will be a DVD release of the new versions [and presumably high-definition HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions as well], but not right away, as it's going to take at least a year to get all the work on all the episodes done.


How are they going to convert to 16:9? Crop the top and bottom?


In terms of which specific stations will be showing the new versions, The Original Series is apparently replacing Enterprise in syndication. So if your local station has been showing Enterprise in recent months, that station will now be showing the new enhanced Original Series episodes. Enterprise is being moved to strip syndication on Sci-Fi Channel and HDNet.


Translation, Enterprise didn't make as much money as they hoped in syndication.

PJO1966
09-06-2006, 07:00 PM
Translation, Enterprise didn't make as much money as they hoped in syndication.

For what it's worth:


Enterprise Wasn't Bumped for Trek, Says Nogawski (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6369242)

JYoung
09-06-2006, 08:29 PM
For what it's worth:


Enterprise Wasn't Bumped for Trek, Says Nogawski (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6369242)


What else are they going to say.
If they say it was under producing, Sci FI channel may very well decide that they don't want to pay what Paramount asked of them.

PJO1966
09-06-2006, 09:00 PM
To add insult to injury, the episode I saw on TiVo's guide was listed as 58 minutes. I was hoping that since it was airing at midnight that they would air the uncut episodes and let it run for 75 minutes or whatever it turned out to be, keeping all the original footage and still making time for the commercials. Seriously, what would they have to lose by doing such a thing at midnight?

drew2k
09-06-2006, 09:29 PM
I finally found it listed on NY WNBC Channel 4 for Monday 9/18 at 3:35 AM with a running time of 55 minutes for "Balance of Terror". Looks like WNBC is being a tad less generous than the LA station ... :mad:

PJO1966
09-06-2006, 09:33 PM
At that hour they should run them commercial-free.

byte_me123
09-07-2006, 07:26 AM
I finally found it listed on NY WNBC Channel 4 for Monday 9/18 at 3:35 AM with a running time of 55 minutes for "Balance of Terror". Looks like WNBC is being a tad less generous than the LA station ... :mad:


Asking any TV station to air a 40 year old show that has been seen for the 1000th or so time, in prime time IS asking a lot, for them.

drew2k
09-07-2006, 07:56 AM
Asking any TV station to air a 40 year old show that has been seen for the 1000th or so time, in prime time IS asking a lot, for them.Who's asking for it to be in prime time? I was comparing the length of the NY airing (:55) to the length of the LA airing (:58). Guess which city will see less Star Trek and more commercials? :rolleyes:

PeternJim
09-07-2006, 09:31 AM
I can't speak for any other area, but in our area Enterprise was in "syndication" -- but only the final season, showing over, and over, and over. I certainly would have watched the rest of it, but how often do they expect people to watch the same episodes before the viewship drops?

byte_me123
09-07-2006, 10:46 AM
Who's asking for it to be in prime time? I was comparing the length of the NY airing (:55) to the length of the LA airing (:58). Guess which city will see less Star Trek and more commercials? :rolleyes:


Sorry my bad. Some thing else I thought of, CBS now owns Star Trek, I wonder how that will play on an NBC Station?

PJO1966
09-07-2006, 06:25 PM
It looks like these won't be distributed in HD right away. I don't have a link to the original article, but here's (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8378819&&#post8378819) a link to the thread on AVS where I saw it.

LoadStar
09-07-2006, 07:24 PM
Original Article (http://www.tvweek.com/page.cms?pageId=284)

byte_me123
09-07-2006, 07:51 PM
In HIGHDEF Every pimple, seam in Spocks ears, hicky, you name it will now be visible. Remember the makeup use back then was for low res 60's TV. Hell you can already see it in the new DVDs.

DLiquid
09-07-2006, 07:58 PM
I was getting psyched for this in HD, but an SD facelift isn't nearly as appealling. I think I'll skip this until the HD version comes along.

HTH
09-08-2006, 08:59 AM
How are they going to convert to 16:9? Crop the top and bottom?
I did a comparison of SD and downconverted HD Super Bowl ads this time around. Most of the HD ads were reframed from the 4:3 aspect. I even did overlays of some widescreen ads across the SD ads, and they don't always cut the same amount above and below and they sometimes sweep across the frame. Some elements were relocated to fit the tighter framing.

Of course, I'm talking about ads, so they made sure no essential graphics would get cut off, and were shot with 4:3 and 16:9 both in mind.

There are other methods too. Analysis of adjacent frames can provide detail to fill in the spaces on either side of a 4:3 image to make it 16:9. Though you can't always get that information; it would be a lot easier to make the animated series (now available for pre-order) widescreen.

HTH
09-08-2006, 09:03 AM
BTW, this could still be terrible. Remember what they did to Red Dwarf?

cthomp
09-08-2006, 09:44 AM
BTW, this could still be terrible. Remember what they did to Red Dwarf?

No. What did they do to Red Dwarf?

HTH
09-08-2006, 09:56 AM
No. What did they do to Red Dwarf?
They went back and updated the effects sequences, changing the Blue Midgets and the Red Dwarf to match their apperances in the last season, first episode even overlaid a couple scutters in the first scene, badly. They cut jokes out of the show to make room for them, reshot scenes of Holly, and changed the first two season openings completely.

This revamped version was what was shown on BBC America. The DVDs proclaim they are the original versions.

Skittles
09-08-2006, 10:05 AM
They went back and updated the effects sequences, changing the Blue Midgets and the Red Dwarf to match their apperances in the last season, first episode even overlaid a couple scutters in the first scene, badly. They cut jokes out of the show to make room for them, reshot scenes of Holly, and changed the first two season openings completely.

This revamped version was what was shown on BBC America. The DVDs proclaim they are the original versions.FWIW, I have the DVD releases of Red Dwarf, and they're all the original edits... none of the Updated effects, cuts, or anything like that. They even use the original theme song without the montage of clips.

HUGELY refreshing. I hated the updates.

cthomp
09-10-2006, 07:07 PM
They went back and updated the effects sequences, changing the Blue Midgets and the Red Dwarf to match their apperances in the last season, first episode even overlaid a couple scutters in the first scene, badly. They cut jokes out of the show to make room for them, reshot scenes of Holly, and changed the first two season openings completely.

This revamped version was what was shown on BBC America. The DVDs proclaim they are the original versions.


That explains it. I don't get BBC America.

bobcarn
09-11-2006, 01:47 PM
Well, I don't think I'll mind updated special effects. Actually, I think I'd like to see them. I mean seriously, I've seen those episodes a thousand times. I owned the entire series on VHS, and even started buying the DVDs when they were released with two episodes per disc. In other words, I'm an old Trek fan and have seen those shows sooooooo many times, updated special effects will only make them a bit more interesting to me.

I wouldn't compare it to what Lucas did with Star Wars though. I supported using CGI to remove the visible matting from the space scenes, but he went so far as to reedit the original movies and add in completely new scenes.

One of my favorite episodes of Deep Space Nine was when they went back in time and put themselves on the original Enterprise. The thing I liked most about it was the exterior shot as the camera slowly panned over the ship. NCC-1701 never looked that good!

Back in the 60's, special effects in prime time were extremely rare. The audience didn't have many standards to compare them to, so they saw them differently than they do today. Today, we look at them and think they're quaint and remember how incredible we thought they were back then and smile when we see the rubber costumes and wires. We simply don't view the same shows the same way we did back then. What was realism then is merely nostalgia now. If a few scenes are polished up to bring us back to that level of immersiveness, then it's OK with me. Like I said, I've seen them a thousand times. If a new generation of people get exposed to them, it'll be nice if more than just a couple young viewers with an odd penchant for old films likes them.

Fish Man
09-11-2006, 03:02 PM
FINALLY... It's listed locally.

WVUE "FOX8" New Orleans has "Balance of Terror" listed for 11:00 PM Sunday Sep. 17 and "Miri" listed for Midnight, immediately following.

Now a bit of sad irony.

The one local station that has the capability to show a syndicated show that they originate in HD is WVUE! And, alas, it's not available to them that way. (Sigh!)

:(

And another :( that these episodes will certainly be edited for time...

byte_me123
09-12-2006, 11:18 AM
Well, I don't think I'll mind updated special effects. Actually, I think I'd like to see them. I mean seriously, I've seen those episodes a thousand times. I owned the entire series on VHS, and even started buying the DVDs when they were released with two episodes per disc. In other words, I'm an old Trek fan and have seen those shows sooooooo many times, updated special effects will only make them a bit more interesting to me.

I wouldn't compare it to what Lucas did with Star Wars though. I supported using CGI to remove the visible matting from the space scenes, but he went so far as to reedit the original movies and add in completely new scenes.

One of my favorite episodes of Deep Space Nine was when they went back in time and put themselves on the original Enterprise. The thing I liked most about it was the exterior shot as the camera slowly panned over the ship. NCC-1701 never looked that good!

Back in the 60's, special effects in prime time were extremely rare. The audience didn't have many standards to compare them to, so they saw them differently than they do today. Today, we look at them and think they're quaint and remember how incredible we thought they were back then and smile when we see the rubber costumes and wires. We simply don't view the same shows the same way we did back then. What was realism then is merely nostalgia now. If a few scenes are polished up to bring us back to that level of immersiveness, then it's OK with me. Like I said, I've seen them a thousand times. If a new generation of people get exposed to them, it'll be nice if more than just a couple young viewers with an odd penchant for old films likes them.

Funny thing about that is, it and the station were NOT CGI, but real models.

byte_me123
09-12-2006, 11:31 AM
Take two movies as an example, one The Thing, the original, and 2001. There was very little or no SP effects in The Thing. Yet it held you spell bound. Plus good acting, on the other hand 2001 had tons of SP effects and very little of anything else that it put some people to sleep. So unless a proper balance is found it could be a disaster.

WinBear
09-12-2006, 11:39 AM
Here's a site with a complete list of stations picking up the remastered Trek and some air times. I would say this list is not completely accurate. It lists "KTEN" as "Denton, Tx" but that is "Denison, Tx" about 70 miles northeast.

http://trekmovie.com/tos-in-hd/hdtv-star-trek-tos-channel-list/

madscientist
09-12-2006, 12:03 PM
Take two movies as an example, one The Thing, the original, and 2001. There was very little or no SP effects in The Thing. Yet it held you spell bound. Plus good acting, on the other hand 2001 had tons of SP effects and very little of anything else that it put some people to sleep. So unless a proper balance is found it could be a disaster.Not quite sure what you're trying to say: these are the original episodes with original actors, dialog, etc. etc. There is no redubbing or recreation or anything like that: it's purely tweaking the easy-to-change special effects (external shots of Enterprise, etc.) I don't think there's any way this kind of updating could swing any balance.

They're going to redo Miri? Excellent. That episode scared the ever-lovin' beejeezus out of me when I first saw it (I was pretty young :o ). So naturally it's one of my favourites now :)

MassD
09-14-2006, 11:40 AM
The messed up Enterprise's song when they changed the style of the vocal and now they're gonna mess up one of the most famous theme songs two years after the composer died. Jerry Goldsmith RIP.

I wouldn't be so sure. I read that the redone theme is going to be totally following the original composition... they dug up the original score and notes, and are following it religiously, from the orchestra, to the vocals...

The aim was to make an exact replica of the original performance, not a modern interpretation of it.

Figaro
09-14-2006, 11:46 AM
Heh...the Boston affiliate has tons of confidence in Star Trek. 2:35am Sunday night/Monday morning. :p
Mines on at 5 and 6 pm on Saturday.

byte_me123
09-14-2006, 12:22 PM
Not quite sure what you're trying to say: these are the original episodes with original actors, dialog, etc. etc. There is no redubbing or recreation or anything like that: it's purely tweaking the easy-to-change special effects (external shots of Enterprise, etc.) I don't think there's any way this kind of updating could swing any balance.

They're going to redo Miri? Excellent. That episode scared the ever-lovin' beejeezus out of me when I first saw it (I was pretty young :o ). So naturally it's one of my favourites now :)

About the only effect is of the Enterprise orbiting "another Earth" a cloudless one, what other things are they going to "Redo"?

DougF
09-14-2006, 01:21 PM
I wouldn't be so sure. I read that the redone theme is going to be totally following the original composition... they dug up the original score and notes, and are following it religiously, from the orchestra, to the vocals...

The aim was to make an exact replica of the original performance, not a modern interpretation of it.

This trailer (http://trekweb.com/articles/2006/09/11/Watch-Full-Trailer-for-Remastered-Star.shtml) for the remastered episodes confirms that.

PJO1966
09-14-2006, 01:29 PM
This trailer (http://trekweb.com/articles/2006/09/11/Watch-Full-Trailer-for-Remastered-Star.shtml) for the remastered episodes confirms that.


Well done trailer... I'm ready.

JSM522
09-14-2006, 01:56 PM
I'm a direcTV user in the Dallas Fort Worth area. From what I've read it's supposed to be on ch. 21, Sunday at 3am. So far the only thing in the guide data at that time is "Paid Programming". Anyone else seen it listed?

Figaro
09-14-2006, 02:00 PM
This trailer (http://trekweb.com/articles/2006/09/11/Watch-Full-Trailer-for-Remastered-Star.shtml) for the remastered episodes confirms that.


oh my I think I just had a nerdgasm... :eek:

drew2k
09-14-2006, 05:05 PM
"One week from today ... the ship hits the fans!"

:D :up:

TIVO_GUY_HERE
09-14-2006, 05:56 PM
According to above listing KTXA / KTVT in Dallas is supposed to air it at 3AM on sunday, but only listing on TiVo is G4 and not episode "balance of Terror" which is the 1st episode they will show. :(

dylking
09-14-2006, 07:42 PM
my stupid station is only showing BoT, not Miri. :( 12:35am on a Sunday, you'd think they could bump "Maximum Exposure"....

JYoung
09-15-2006, 02:47 AM
I wouldn't be so sure. I read that the redone theme is going to be totally following the original composition... they dug up the original score and notes, and are following it religiously, from the orchestra, to the vocals...

The aim was to make an exact replica of the original performance, not a modern interpretation of it.


Well, except for the fact that the First Season credits had no vocals.

PJO1966
09-15-2006, 01:18 PM
Well, except for the fact that the First Season credits had no vocals.


I don't remember that.

DougF
09-15-2006, 01:22 PM
The first season credits had no vocals and the opening credits were yellow instead of the blue used for seasons two and three, IIRC.

JSM522
09-15-2006, 02:08 PM
I set my box to manually record at 3am on sunday Morning on channel 21. I keep forgetting that is how we use to have to program our VCR's. It felt wierd to record by time and channel and not by show! Of course my wife keeps asking me why I'm recording "Paid Programming".
Hopefully they will have the guide fixed by next week so I can set up a season pass.

JYoung
09-15-2006, 04:52 PM
Why not just set a manual recording on your TiVo?

JSM522
09-15-2006, 05:06 PM
That's what I did. I was just saying that I felt like I was programming a VCR.

I made the manual recording every Sunday but I would have rather use the season pass to keep from getting duplicates.

Bondelev
09-15-2006, 07:13 PM
The first season credits had no vocals and the opening credits were yellow instead of the blue used for seasons two and three, IIRC.

Season 2 credits were also yellow.

<ashamed that I know this>

Figaro
09-15-2006, 07:33 PM
Wow, guys. You need to get out a little more often ;)

byte_me123
09-15-2006, 09:51 PM
I don't remember that.



He was talking about the woman “singing” not the “Space…the final frontier.” Of course in "Where no man has gone before” there was no “Space… the final frontier”.

byte_me123
09-15-2006, 09:51 PM
Wow, guys. You need to get out a little more often ;)


Your right...

PJO1966
09-16-2006, 08:11 PM
He was talking about the woman “singing” not the “Space…the final frontier.” Of course in "Where no man has gone before” there was no “Space… the final frontier”.


I knew what he meant. I'm now having vague memories of strings handling the part otherwise done by the soprano.

timr_42
09-16-2006, 11:48 PM
Well, I'm watching Balance of Terror. Funny our local station cut the opening credits. All that new CG work for the opening and they cut it. LOL

DLL66
09-16-2006, 11:53 PM
Wow, guys. You need to get out a little more often ;)


EXACTLY!!! :p

Figaro
09-17-2006, 12:05 AM
heh, the guide data is flipped for my two episodes. Miri was first then Balance of Terror.

SnakeEyes
09-17-2006, 02:20 AM
Ugh, severe weather watch has ruined my recording... damn map and bug at the bottom the entire time.

dylking
09-17-2006, 02:29 AM
Ugh, severe weather watch has ruined my recording... damn map and bug at the bottom the entire time.
Well, at least you got some of the show.

I got over an hour of gospel music. I sent their programming folks a nasty gram. Even their website was showing it was supposed to be on at 12:35am. I'm sitting here fastforwarding through a gospel hour.

:mad:

SnakeEyes
09-17-2006, 03:08 AM
Hopefully it shows up online.

sonnik
09-17-2006, 06:17 AM
For some reason KASW (Phoenix) aired the retouched "Miri" on Saturday, with "Balance of Terror" airing on Sunday.

It is pretty subtle for "Miri" at least. The only thing that caught my eye (and it wasn't painfully obvious) was how clear the planet shots were. The Enterprise looks great too.

I then bounced to the opening credits... the red planet the Enterprise always orbited was almost too detailed. Still looked good, but a lot of purists won't like it. In my opinion, they DID go out of their way to stay as true as they could.

I think they missed a ship "swoosh" also, at the first fly-by.

I think some people will complain about the font they used for titling (episode title, closing credits). I know the font changed throughout the series, but I think they used a plain Sans Serif font.

Overall, I think it works. I'm looking forward to see other treatments.

I'd be willing to say if they could do something like this to early episodes of TNG, it would be worth it also. Some of those early mattes they did look horrible, even for 1987 technology.

wprager
09-17-2006, 09:13 AM
Which "The Thing" are you talking about? The "original" would be the 1951 film called "The Thing from Another World" by Howard Hawks. John Carpenter did a remake (it was based on the same short story) called "The Thing" in 1982. I liked that one quite a lot, actually; I've never seen the 1951 version in its entirety. I was not aware of any 2001 remake, and I don't see one listed on IMDB. In fact, the Wikipedia entry for "Who Goes There" lists only these two adaptations.

On re-reading the post, I am now wondering if you are talking about two different movies (not an original and a remake of the original). In that case, are you talking about "2010: The Year We Make Contact" as compared to "The Thing"?

Sorry, I'm notr trying to be difficult, just trying to understand the point being made.

Take two movies as an example, one The Thing, the original, and 2001. There was very little or no SP effects in The Thing. Yet it held you spell bound. Plus good acting, on the other hand 2001 had tons of SP effects and very little of anything else that it put some people to sleep. So unless a proper balance is found it could be a disaster.

byte_me123
09-17-2006, 09:57 AM
Which "The Thing" are you talking about? The "original" would be the 1951 film called "The Thing from Another World" by Howard Hawks. John Carpenter did a remake (it was based on the same short story) called "The Thing" in 1982. I liked that one quite a lot, actually; I've never seen the 1951 version in its entirety. I was not aware of any 2001 remake, and I don't see one listed on IMDB. In fact, the Wikipedia entry for "Who Goes There" lists only these two adaptations.

On re-reading the post, I am now wondering if you are talking about two different movies (not an original and a remake of the original). In that case, are you talking about "2010: The Year We Make Contact" as compared to "The Thing"?

Sorry, I'm notr trying to be difficult, just trying to understand the point being made.

WTF??? I'm talking about effects in movies, The thing from another world made in 1951, and 2001: a Space Odyssey. One with no effects, Thing, and the other full of effects, 2001, Thing good stoy full of suspense and action, 2001 pit you to sleep after a while. All the wizbang effects in the world mean nothing with out a story to go with it.

byte_me123
09-17-2006, 10:00 AM
Well, I'm watching Balance of Terror. Funny our local station cut the opening credits. All that new CG work for the opening and they cut it. LOL

I think thats just because other then the sex up effects its still the same Star Trek they or others have shown for the 10000th time nothing new, not that it's bad or anything, just there is really nothing new.

wprager
09-17-2006, 12:36 PM
No need to use obcenities (even if only using the first letter). I was genuinely not sure what you meant. You mentioned one movie by name, using the term "original" then, for the second movie, you only mentioend a year (the full name is "2001: A Space Odyssey"). I don't think it was completely strange for me to assume you were talking about the origianl "The Thing" and a 2001 remake.

That said, although I'll agree that "2001: A Space Odyssey" is on the slow side, I was never put to sleep by it, and I never thought anyone would confuse this classic with an effects-laden, story-less movie.

"My God, it's full of stars!"


WTF??? I'm talking about effects in movies, The thing from another world made in 1951, and 2001: a Space Odyssey. One with no effects, Thing, and the other full of effects, 2001, Thing good stoy full of suspense and action, 2001 pit you to sleep after a while. All the wizbang effects in the world mean nothing with out a story to go with it.

timr_42
09-17-2006, 03:17 PM
One question about "Miri" that always bugged me. I'm not putting spoilers tags on a 40 year old show :)

What was the big deal when the children stole the communicators? They went days without contacting the ship. Who was running the ship, Scotty? You would have thought that the Enterprise would not stay out of contact that long. They knew where they were, they had beamed things to them. Could they not have just beamed in new communicators or send some type of device to find out what happened????

bootedbear
09-17-2006, 03:32 PM
What was the big deal when the children stole the communicators?

It was clearly stated that without the communciators, contact with the ship's computers was lost -- contact necessary to establish the veracity of the vaccine.

In "Balance of Terror" the shots of the Romulan ship were fantastic!

My partner, a life-long fine-scale modeler who specializes in Sci-Fi ships (especially of the Trek variety), gives the CGI Enterprise model a pretty good review. He of course had a long laundry list of things that weren't quite right, but on the whole he thought they did a really good job of trying to get it accurate.

vman41
09-17-2006, 04:39 PM
My partner, a life-long fine-scale modeler who specializes in Sci-Fi ships (especially of the Trek variety), gives the CGI Enterprise model a pretty good review. He of course had a long laundry list of things that weren't quite right, but on the whole he thought they did a really good job of trying to get it accurate.

What did they do about the fact that some details of the ship varied over time? I'm thinking in particular of the back end of the nacelles.

bootedbear
09-17-2006, 06:01 PM
Here's what he said (paraphrased by me, so I hope I'm getting it right):

They are using the production version of the Enterprise -- the one created after the first two pilots. He suspects that when they go back to the early pilots, that they will use CGI models that are appropriate to those episodes.

With specific regards to the backs of the nacelles, there were three versions:

The Cage: flat rear caps with rectangular plating
Where No Man Has Gone Before: flat rear caps with holes
Production: spheres

As you probably know, in many of the episodes they mixed and matched shots. For example in the Doomsday Machine there are shots of the pilot model as well as the production model. He suspects that they will use the same model consistently as approriate to the time-frame of the episodes.

He had tons more to say, but I cut him off at that point... :)

byte_me123
09-17-2006, 07:40 PM
Here's what he said (paraphrased by me, so I hope I'm getting it right):

They are using the production version of the Enterprise -- the one created after the first two pilots. He suspects that when they go back to the early pilots, that they will use CGI models that are appropriate to those episodes.

With specific regards to the backs of the nacelles, there were three versions:

The Cage: flat rear caps with rectangular plating
Where No Man Has Gone Before: flat rear caps with holes
Production: spheres

As you probably know, in many of the episodes they mixed and matched shots. For example in the Doomsday Machine there are shots of the pilot model as well as the production model. He suspects that they will use the same model consistently as approriate to the time-frame of the episodes.

He had tons more to say, but I cut him off at that point... :)

It was also because of money they had to use older shots. Plus it took quite a while to film, develop not one but four “mask’s” of the ship plus what ever it was moving against. The only “new” shot that I can thingk of is the one taken in the first season was the Enterprise and the Botany Bay. That is why NBC had reversions about the show in the beginning. Could they deliver a show on time week after week with all those effects.

wmcbrine
09-17-2006, 09:10 PM
I just saw the remastered "Balance of Terror" last night. The colors were really vibrant -- maybe too vibrant, in some cases. I'd always known that Spock was supposed to be slightly green, but last night is the first time I saw it. Other than that, it was pretty subtle (which is good). I was surprised at what they didn't clean up: some bouncing (noticeable when they're viewing the map) and brightness variation. I realize it's incredibly tedious to fix that, but I thought that was the kind of work they were doing. Also, it wasn't quite as sharp as I expected.

The comet was beautiful. The effects used for the phasers looked more like what I usually associate with photon torpedos, but I don't remember how they were originally done in this episode.

timr_42
09-17-2006, 10:20 PM
It was clearly stated that without the communciators, contact with the ship's computers was lost -- contact necessary to establish the veracity of the vaccine.



I know, but, think about this, you are in command, your Captain, First Officer, Ships doctor and a red shirt or two are on the planet. You have lost communication for a couple of days, do you not try and do something????

I know that Kirk and company needed the communicators, but if they didn't find them and died, would the ship just set in orbit forever?

Charon2
09-17-2006, 10:33 PM
The effects used for the phasers looked more like what I usually associate with photon torpedos, but I don't remember how they were originally done in this episode.

From a Q&A at StarTrek.com (http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/25055.html?page=1) :
In "Balance of Terror," Kirk orders the ship to fire phasers, but we see photon torpedoes. Are you going to fix this?
You know, this is the first thing that we wanted to do when we started working on this episode. But then we started studying the episode more closely and discovered a number of things. First, Kirk orders "proximity phasers" to be used. This is the only time in the entire series where he does so. Second, the phasers behave differently than normal. They fire into space, then explode like depth charges. This is clearly the intention of the writer and director [Paul Schneider and Vincent McEveety respectively], since the episode is based on submarine movie metaphors.

Finally, the sound effects clearly dictate the timing of the weapon firing, and we very early decided that we did not want to mess with the soundtrack. As a result, we thought the best approach was to use a different phaser effect than is seen in the rest of the series. The new proximity phasers will have longer bolts than they did in the original "Balance of Terror," but they will still be tied to the original sound effects.


Balance of Terror was the only one I saw listed for our market area, and I haven't watched all of it yet, but for the most part I am pleased. They didn't Lucas it much at all. Outside of more detail on the planets, I thought most of the other work was fairly subtle. The ships still look like models, and move like models, perhaps a bit smoother, but no complicated moves that would stand out as them using CGI.

JYoung
09-18-2006, 01:14 AM
I just saw the remastered "Balance of Terror" last night. The colors were really vibrant -- maybe too vibrant, in some cases. I'd always known that Spock was supposed to be slightly green, but last night is the first time I saw it. Other than that, it was pretty subtle (which is good). I was surprised at what they didn't clean up: some bouncing (noticeable when they're viewing the map) and brightness variation. I realize it's incredibly tedious to fix that, but I thought that was the kind of work they were doing. Also, it wasn't quite as sharp as I expected.

The comet was beautiful. The effects used for the phasers looked more like what I usually associate with photon torpedos, but I don't remember how they were originally done in this episode.

[Geek mode]
When Balance of Terror was written and filmed, Photon Torpedoes had not been conceived yet.
We first saw Photon Torpedoes in Arena which was filmed after Balance of Terror.
[/Geek Mode]

I know, but, think about this, you are in command, your Captain, First Officer, Ships doctor and a red shirt or two are on the planet. You have lost communication for a couple of days, do you not try and do something????

I know that Kirk and company needed the communicators, but if they didn't find them and died, would the ship just set in orbit forever?

Well what else could the ship do?
Beam someone down who would promptly get infected?

(It's not like a spaceship would have spacesuits ;) )

Charon2
09-18-2006, 02:40 AM
Slightly off topic:
Seeing how beaming technology seems to work, why did the the red suit guy or anyone else for that matter need to die? Especially by TNG where it advanced to the point it could supposedly quarantine anything off a person that wasn't supposed to be there.
My understanding of how it works is that it stores the information about you in a buffer as it "scans" you and takes you apart. It then uses this information to reassemble you at the other location. Now to know if person is coming back with a virus or something, the buffer most hold information about your last state at least until you return. So why not just beam the dead body back, but restore them to the state before they beamed away? They would loose any new memories they had from the time they beamed away, but they would still be alive. Heck, one could really abuse it and use it as a simple regeneration system for eons. This was the basis of a Star Trek story I kicked around in my head for years, but couldn't decide if I should base it early on in the Universe, showing adverse affects and that is why they didn't don't do it on the show, or after Voyager in my Final Generation Universe where they finally get bold enough to try it, or even in one of the shows/book series. Could you imagine if you could remember your death each time they resurrected you? BSG touched on it a bit with the Scar storyline...

Anyhow, I return you to your regular topic.

iDriveX
09-18-2006, 05:04 AM
Let me start out this post this way:

Hi, I'm 25.

This is the first time I have ever seen a Star Trek: The Original Series episode.

When I was younger and first taking an interest in Trek was right around Best of Both Worlds, Pt. 1 + 2 and then I was hooked. Sure there were some stations showing reruns of TOS, but I had Next Gen what did I need these old shows for. Then Voyager and DS9 came on almost immediately after TNG, still didn't need TOS. Enterprise came and went and finally I had the maturity to say "Ya know what? Let's take a look at these old TOS episodes". Then I heard about the remastering and thought it would be a perfect time to take a peak.

I just watched Balance of Terror....Dude Sarek's a Romulan! Just kidding. But it was interesting to see that actor play the Romulan Commander when he plays Spock's father every episode after that. Much like a lot of actors have played a lot of different Trek roles. The whole premise behind the Romulans and the history of the war, etc. make a lot more sense.

I can also see why true Trek continuity people got all P.O.'d when Enterprise encountered a Romulan vessel. In this episode they CLEARLY say that when the Romulan/Earth war occured, there were no ways of visual communication with each other, they were using nuclear weapons on each other and the treaty was carried out over a subspace channel.

In Enterprise, the Romulans are mentioned twice. Once when Captain Archer is in that futuristic library and is all like "What is the Rom-a-lan Star Empire" and the second time when the ship decloaks along side the Enterprise. Knowing that Archer had no clue who the Romulans were, this completely clearly breaks with continuity and it's a shame they went and did that. Enterprise had so much potential to lead up to so many conflicts and answer so many questions, they just went about it completely wrong. Shame.

MScottC
09-18-2006, 07:08 AM
Okay... So I have to say I'm Totally Pissed at WNBC TV in NYC... When I woke up this morning to watch ST:TOS-Redux on TiVo, all I caught was the last act. Apparently they broadcast it 50 minutes or so earlier than scheduled. What kind of BS is that?? I must say, I liked what I saw, but NOT enough to come up with a valid opinion.

byte_me123
09-18-2006, 08:29 AM
I know, but, think about this, you are in command, your Captain, First Officer, Ships doctor and a red shirt or two are on the planet. You have lost communication for a couple of days, do you not try and do something????

I know that Kirk and company needed the communicators, but if they didn't find them and died, would the ship just set in orbit forever?

Well let’s see,

1 go to the radio station that first brought you there in the firsat place, and contact the ship by Morse code, if you know it.

2 on the ship side beam down a person in a space suit to find them.

3 do all of the above and there goes the story.

byte_me123
09-18-2006, 08:36 AM
Let me start out this post this way:

Hi, I'm 25.

This is the first time I have ever seen a Star Trek: The Original Series episode.

When I was younger and first taking an interest in Trek was right around Best of Both Worlds, Pt. 1 + 2 and then I was hooked. Sure there were some stations showing reruns of TOS, but I had Next Gen what did I need these old shows for. Then Voyager and DS9 came on almost immediately after TNG, still didn't need TOS. Enterprise came and went and finally I had the maturity to say "Ya know what? Let's take a look at these old TOS episodes". Then I heard about the remastering and thought it would be a perfect time to take a peak.

I just watched Balance of Terror....Dude Sarek's a Romulan! Just kidding. But it was interesting to see that actor play the Romulan Commander when he plays Spock's father every episode after that. Much like a lot of actors have played a lot of different Trek roles. The whole premise behind the Romulans and the history of the war, etc. make a lot more sense.

I can also see why true Trek continuity people got all P.O.'d when Enterprise encountered a Romulan vessel. In this episode they CLEARLY say that when the Romulan/Earth war occured, there were no ways of visual communication with each other, they were using nuclear weapons on each other and the treaty was carried out over a subspace channel.

In Enterprise, the Romulans are mentioned twice. Once when Captain Archer is in that futuristic library and is all like "What is the Rom-a-lan Star Empire" and the second time when the ship decloaks along side the Enterprise. Knowing that Archer had no clue who the Romulans were, this completely clearly breaks with continuity and it's a shame they went and did that. Enterprise had so much potential to lead up to so many conflicts and answer so many questions, they just went about it completely wrong. Shame.
True they had no direct face to face visual communication. But that did not mean they did see that the ships were painted like a “Giant Bird of Pry”.

PeternJim
09-18-2006, 08:40 AM
So why not just beam the dead body back, but restore them to the state before they beamed away? They would loose any new memories they had from the time they beamed away, but they would still be alive.

As a franchise, they bit their tail on this one so often that it would be really hard to come up with an answer. The whole "take things apart and reassemble them" idea is SO far out from the rest of their technology that there are constant problems with it. They should have gone with a different explanation -- something regarding warping space, rather than the whole "our computers are slick enough to know where every atom was and put it back" thing.

There is something different between transporting and replicating, so you are left with the conclusion that something like the soul has to be involved, and whent that's gone, you're out of luck. That would even fit when the transporter accident split Kirk and the pekinese into two bodies each -- half a soul just doesn't cut it. But then TNG goes and duplicates Riker. But regardless, the best they've ever done with the transporter only works on people who are still alive.

Don't ask me. I'm still wondering why you can't take holodeck matter outside the holodeck or it evaporates, but you can eat holodeck food. What happens to the food you ate while you were there?

Umm... ick. Or else a VERY high-tech form of bulemia.

iDriveX
09-18-2006, 08:49 AM
True they had no direct face to face visual communication. But that did not mean they did see that the ships were painted like a “Giant Bird of Pry”.

Right but here's the thing....Nuclear Weapons were not on board the Enterprise. The enterprise was not a long tube/submarine like vehicle. The war had not happened yet. So for continuity to actually happen. We need to believe that the Romulans struck earth first and destroyed the Enterprise, Columbia and any other high-tech star ships, and then Earth built a bunch of submarine-like warships with no face-face communication, that were capable of Warp Drive. A battle ensued and then for whatever reason the treaty was "signed" via subspace message and then 100 years went by and no one ever saw a Romulan or an Earthling until this episode.

"What's a Rom-a-lan star empire?"

Stormspace
09-18-2006, 09:03 AM
As a franchise, they bit their tail on this one so often that it would be really hard to come up with an answer. The whole "take things apart and reassemble them" idea is SO far out from the rest of their technology that there are constant problems with it. They should have gone with a different explanation -- something regarding warping space, rather than the whole "our computers are slick enough to know where every atom was and put it back" thing.

There is something different between transporting and replicating, so you are left with the conclusion that something like the soul has to be involved, and whent that's gone, you're out of luck. That would even fit when the transporter accident split Kirk and the pekinese into two bodies each -- half a soul just doesn't cut it. But then TNG goes and duplicates Riker. But regardless, the best they've ever done with the transporter only works on people who are still alive.

Don't ask me. I'm still wondering why you can't take holodeck matter outside the holodeck or it evaporates, but you can eat holodeck food. What happens to the food you ate while you were there?

Umm... ick. Or else a VERY high-tech form of bulemia.

I know the books aren't canon, but I remember reading in at least one novel that early transporters actually killed the original and created a duplicate. I also imagine that this bit on non canon history was the basis for Bone's dislike of the transporter.

Kevin L
09-18-2006, 10:02 AM
Okay... So I have to say I'm Totally Pissed at WNBC TV in NYC... When I woke up this morning to watch ST:TOS-Redux on TiVo, all I caught was the last act. Apparently they broadcast it 50 minutes or so earlier than scheduled. What kind of BS is that?? I must say, I liked what I saw, but NOT enough to come up with a valid opinion.Noticed that this morning, too. Damn. Guess I'll have to get the torrent.

madscientist
09-18-2006, 10:15 AM
Don't ask me. I'm still wondering why you can't take holodeck matter outside the holodeck or it evaporates, but you can eat holodeck food. What happens to the food you ate while you were there?

Umm... ick. Or else a VERY high-tech form of bulemia.My understanding is that the holodeck is tied to the replicator. That is, (at least some of) the stuff that they interact with inside the holodeck is real, not a hologram, created (and destroyed) by the replicators as necessary. So, the food they eat in the holodeck is real food, or at least just as real as the food they eat in 10-forward.

However, I have to say I didn't watch every episode of TNG and I've never read any of the books, etc. I could well be wrong!

PJO1966
09-18-2006, 11:57 AM
I got Balance of Terror in LA. I hadn't watched much of TOS in a long time, but years ago I could name the episode in three seconds or less. That was a long long time ago. I had forgotten that there were some really good episodes among the high camp ones. This one definitely was an example of quality. As for the restoration, I was really impressed. The opening credits looked amazing. I noticed they used unrestored shots for the closing credits, which I found interesting. Watching the episode on a 50" screen (unstretched) it was pretty clear how shoddy the construction of the uniforms was. Kirk had a hole on his left shoulder. On 1960's TVs, nobody would have noticed that. Of course it has no bearing on the story, so who cares? It was just interesting to notice such a thing. Also, I think they did a pretty good job of cutting the episode for syndication. Sometimes you really feel like you've missed something, but this was pretty clean. Hopefully all the episodes will be edited so well.

bootedbear
09-18-2006, 12:19 PM
Hopefully all the episodes will be edited so well.

And hopefully, when they come out on DVD they will be uncut.

byte_me123
09-18-2006, 12:24 PM
As a franchise, they bit their tail on this one so often that it would be really hard to come up with an answer. The whole "take things apart and reassemble them" idea is SO far out from the rest of their technology that there are constant problems with it. They should have gone with a different explanation -- something regarding warping space, rather than the whole "our computers are slick enough to know where every atom was and put it back" thing.

There is something different between transporting and replicating, so you are left with the conclusion that something like the soul has to be involved, and whent that's gone, you're out of luck. That would even fit when the transporter accident split Kirk and the pekinese into two bodies each -- half a soul just doesn't cut it. But then TNG goes and duplicates Riker. But regardless, the best they've ever done with the transporter only works on people who are still alive.

Don't ask me. I'm still wondering why you can't take holodeck matter outside the holodeck or it evaporates, but you can eat holodeck food. What happens to the food you ate while you were there?

Umm... ick. Or else a VERY high-tech form of bulemia.

Of course the real reason for the transporter was, cheaper to go from ship to planet. Cost to much in time and money to have a shuttle go from ship to planet and visa versa.

PJO1966
09-18-2006, 12:31 PM
And hopefully, when they come out on DVD they will be uncut.


No "hopefully" needed. They've already said they're restoring the entire episodes for the DVD release. :up:

kmccbf
09-18-2006, 12:39 PM
I'm sure this has been said before. I can't believe that Paramount has handled this this way. By giving it to the networks and airing it at 12:00 am there are not going to be a lot of people who see it. Not only that, the channel that is carrying it hear is the one and only channel with constantly bad reception even through our cable company. While I can get an HD signal from them that looks great since TIVO doesn't record HD I guess I 'm not likely to catch many of the shows.

If they had syndicated normally, they might not have had the station coverage, but it would have air a reasonable time.

sonnik
09-18-2006, 01:06 PM
I can't believe that Paramount has handled this this way. By giving it to the networks and airing it at 12:00 am there are not going to be a lot of people who see it.

...

While I can get an HD signal from them that looks great since TIVO doesn't record HD I guess I 'm not likely to catch many of the shows.

The time scheduling Paramount, it's your local station. I think you'll find that depending on locale, the episodes may have appeared at a reasonable time.

Also, last I read, the episodes aren't being distributed in High Def. There's a lot of finger pointing going on on that issue also.

kmccbf
09-18-2006, 03:45 PM
The time scheduling Paramount, it's your local station. I think you'll find that depending on locale, the episodes may have appeared at a reasonable time.

Also, last I read, the episodes aren't being distributed in High Def. There's a lot of finger pointing going on on that issue also.

From what I've read above there are an awful of stations running it late at night then.

Too bad about the high Def. The channel here is running all their programing on their high def feed and the picture is much clearer even when it isn't high def. than the feed that the our cable provides for SD. And I haven't broken down and asked for the HD card so the the box can switch to the HD channels. Since I bought set with a tuner in it, I get the ones they provide for free.

bootedbear
09-18-2006, 04:14 PM
No "hopefully" needed. They've already said they're restoring the entire episodes for the DVD release. :up:

w00t!

sonnik
09-18-2006, 04:29 PM
From what I've read above there are an awful of stations running it late at night then.

In Phoenix, we get two unique episodes a week. Saturday at 9pm local time, and Sunday at 3pm local time.

byte_me123
09-18-2006, 05:02 PM
I got Balance of Terror in LA. I hadn't watched much of TOS in a long time, but years ago I could name the episode in three seconds or less. That was a long long time ago. I had forgotten that there were some really good episodes among the high camp ones. This one definitely was an example of quality. As for the restoration, I was really impressed. The opening credits looked amazing. I noticed they used unrestored shots for the closing credits, which I found interesting. Watching the episode on a 50" screen (unstretched) it was pretty clear how shoddy the construction of the uniforms was. Kirk had a hole on his left shoulder. On 1960's TVs, nobody would have noticed that. Of course it has no bearing on the story, so who cares? It was just interesting to notice such a thing. Also, I think they did a pretty good job of cutting the episode for syndication. Sometimes you really feel like you've missed something, but this was pretty clean. Hopefully all the episodes will be edited so well.

The hole was where the pull tap for the zipper of his shirt was hidden.

Fish Man
09-18-2006, 05:10 PM
In Phoenix, we get two unique episodes a week. Saturday at 9pm local time, and Sunday at 3pm local time.

You will find that was for the first week only.

To kick the revamped series off, Paramount released "Balance of Terror" and "Miri" simultaneously.

Most stations chose to show them back to back. But, apparently, a few (like Phoenix) chose to show them on subsequent days.

From now on, Paramount will only be releasing one per week.

dtivouser
09-18-2006, 05:16 PM
Dude Sarek's a Romulan! Just kidding. But it was interesting to see that actor play the Romulan Commander when he plays Spock's father every episode after that.

Mark Lenard also played a klingon once ... bonus points if you know which show...

Figaro
09-18-2006, 05:24 PM
Mark Lenard also played a klingon once ... bonus points if you know which show...
He played a klingon in Star Trek the Motion Picture.

JYoung
09-18-2006, 05:57 PM
As for the restoration, I was really impressed. The opening credits looked amazing. I noticed they used unrestored shots for the closing credits, which I found interesting. Watching the episode on a 50" screen (unstretched) it was pretty clear how shoddy the construction of the uniforms was. Kirk had a hole on his left shoulder. On 1960's TVs, nobody would have noticed that. Of course it has no bearing on the story, so who cares? It was just interesting to notice such a thing. Also, I think they did a pretty good job of cutting the episode for syndication. Sometimes you really feel like you've missed something, but this was pretty clean. Hopefully all the episodes will be edited so well.

:eek: :eek: :eek:
(Does spit take)



Did we watch the same show?

I watched it this morning and my reaction was "Not Impressed".
(I'm probably going to take some flack for the following.)

While some of the new angles were interesting and I liked the fact that they added a little bit of roll to the Enterprise's "changing course away from the camera" shot and they added some list to the "Enterprise disabled" shot, I still found the CGI models lacking.
The original 11 foot model had more detail than these.
And they really don't seem to be getting the nacelle ends right.
The Big E's caps kept bothering me as did the rear ends of the Romulan's nacelles.
And the lighting of the Enterprise seemed off as well in several shots.

And the cloaking effect, blah!
What was with this misty cloud that just winked out?

I will grant that the comet looked much better though.

With the ballyhoo of the updated effects, you'd think that they do better work than my 4 year old nephew would do.
Unfortunately, this appears to be a typical half assed Paramount effort.

Maybe I've been spoiled but I thought that In a Mirror Darkly showed that this could be done well.

Something more along the lines of this:

http://www.trekmovie.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/Eden_CGI_Enterprisesml.JPG

(More here (http://www.trekmovie.com/2006/09/08/more-images-from-edenfx).)
As for the syndication cuts, they were annoying.
They cut half of the Kirk "Why Me?" scene as well as the only scene that showed any of Tomlinson and Martine's character motivation.

(Not to mention cutting the effect of the Romulan ship listing on the viewscreen after the Enterprise has disabled.)

Not impressed so far.

LoadStar
09-18-2006, 07:25 PM
Well, since I haven't seen them here yet, I can only go on what I read in advance... but I thought they said that they were reproducing, shot for shot, the original model work in higher quality CGI. They even said that they were reducing the quality of the reproduction to more accurately match the original.

Now - you're saying that they didn't so much do this? Are you sure? Have you compared the original to the new version?

As far as the shot you included in your post - the above is the reason they didn't do this, because they didn't want to pull a Lucas and add a whole bunch of CGI shots that weren't in the original.

Idearat
09-18-2006, 07:36 PM
The colors were definitely Technicolor punchy, bright and clear. The Enterprise CGI was underwhelming though. They may have taken all the measurments from the model in the Smithsonian, but the images were pretty flat and plain. It looked more like a college freshman in art school doing the model. I wouldn't want them to add lots of stuff stuck all over the hull just to cast shadows, but a little texture would have been nice.

I saw the clips on StarTrek.com an the clean up does look good. I was surprised they re-recorded the theme music and the soloist. Curiously, I didn't see any credits referring the restoration, at least on the SF area channel 50 showings.

Bondelev
09-18-2006, 08:56 PM
Read my comments about the updates on my blog at the link below.

kenr
09-18-2006, 09:27 PM
Read my comments about the updates on my blog at the link below.There was no link "below"

LoadStar
09-18-2006, 09:32 PM
There was no link "below"

I presume he means in his signature. You might have signatures turned off.

kenr
09-18-2006, 09:35 PM
I presume he means in his signature. You might have signatures turned off.Yup. I had signatures turned off. I turned them back on and quickly saw why I had them off. I got tired of seeing everyone's add and lists of how many TiVos they own.

kenr
09-18-2006, 09:37 PM
I tried emailing WNBC in New York to let them know I was disappointed in their scheduling change. Their web page lists an email address of programming@wnbc.com as the contact address.

Too bad email to that address bounces. Does anyone have a contact email address at WNBC?

JYoung
09-18-2006, 10:47 PM
Well, since I haven't seen them here yet, I can only go on what I read in advance... but I thought they said that they were reproducing, shot for shot, the original model work in higher quality CGI. They even said that they were reducing the quality of the reproduction to more accurately match the original.

Now - you're saying that they didn't so much do this? Are you sure? Have you compared the original to the new version?

As far as the shot you included in your post - the above is the reason they didn't do this, because they didn't want to pull a Lucas and add a whole bunch of CGI shots that weren't in the original.

I'm sure.
For some shots they did an actual reproduction of the stock shots of the Enterprise but they replaced other ones with different angles or movement that were the same time length.

As for the example picture I included, I picked that one because it's a CGI redo on an existing stock shot that EdexFX did.
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/jonathany/images/Approach.JPG


Read my comments about the updates on my blog at the link below.

Interesting that you mention Daren Dochterman (VFX Supervisor on ST:TMP Director's Edition).

Here's his thoughts on the subject (http://bondelev.blogspot.com/).

DougF
09-18-2006, 11:20 PM
I watched "Balance of Terror" this morning and enjoyed it very much. It helps that this episode is one of my top-five.

The redone effects were really good, IMO. I was concerned ahead of time that they would be very distracting, but they fit in very nicely.

I'm very excited to see more.

atrac
09-19-2006, 12:06 AM
Not impressed so far.

Me either! Indeed, after all of the hype, I was *hoping* for something more along the lines of a "Lucas Redux."

The shots of the Enterprise Flybys....I kept thinking "Bran Ferren." Something about the way the ship strobes slightly...looks like bad motion control (although, yes, I know, it's not).

"Star Trek: Enhanced" is much more impressive.

But, like those involved said, they were just tweaking what was already there, not really changing it.

They've succeeded.

I've yawned.

Idearat
09-19-2006, 12:08 AM
Read my comments about the updates on my blog at the link below.

Come listen to my comments by the coffee pot tomorrow at 9:30

Bondelev
09-19-2006, 02:52 AM
I presume he means in his signature. You might have signatures turned off.

Stop talking about me like I'm not here!

I'M RIGHT HERE!

Fish Man
09-19-2006, 09:07 AM
Well, I've now had a chance to watch the two episodes.

Previously, my complete collection of "Star Trek: TOS" consisted of VHS tapes that I had faithfully made from a special series that the Sci-Fi channel ran about 7 - 8 years ago in which they aired each episode in a 90 minute time slot. They were 100% uncut and interspersed with interviews with cast and crew.

That collection of tapes was lost to Hurricane Katrina. I've never purchased the DVD collection, and now, I may be glad I didn't. In fact, I may be tempted to wait for the HD versions.

I also used to own 6 episodes on Laser Disk (disks and player lost to Katrina).

The color saturation and contrast was clearly superior to that even of the laser disks. Spock's greenish makeup was clearly apparent for the first time in the history of the series. Actually, the color definition was so good that it was rather too apparent that all the actors were wearing theatrical makeup! Clearly, television makeup budgets and techniques have improved since then! I just wish they had made it available in HD now! WVUE, the station showing it in New Orleans, has the capability to originate syndicated programming in HD (feeding it from the Emmis Centralcasting Center in Orlando FL).

In fact, I thought the most impressive improvements were in the non-CGI stuff. This was clearly the most detailed and high-quality transfer to date from the original 35 mm films.

I thought Enterprise and the Romulan ship looked fantastic too. In "Miri", the shots of the "earth" looked great even though, IMHO they still had an unrealistically low number of clouds in the atmosphere. However, this was a creative choice, no doubt, so that the continental shapes were obvious to the viewer. At least it had SOME clouds (my recollection is that the original had none).

I disagree with those who wanted something "more". A Lucasization of Star Trek would have pissed me off!

The idea of this re-mastering is not to re-imagine the show, it is to clean up this 40 year old TV show for the HDTV era. The flat mono sound would have sounded like you were listening through a telephone on a modern surround system, and the flaws in the space shots would have been jarring in HDTV. This is simply an effort to fix those problems, and as such, it's a big success, IMHO.

This is a worthy effort, and I may be rewarded for never having bought the series on DVD. I might get this one when it comes out, or wait for the HD-DVD or BlueRay versions. :)

LoadStar
09-19-2006, 10:14 AM
Stop talking about me like I'm not here!

I'M RIGHT HERE!
Boy, he gets annoyed quickly, doesn't he? ;) :D ;)

bootedbear
09-19-2006, 11:34 AM
I was *hoping* for something more along the lines of a "Lucas Redux."

No disrespect, but thank goodness you were disappointed.

Figaro
09-19-2006, 11:36 AM
Me either! Indeed, after all of the hype, I was *hoping* for something more along the lines of a "Lucas Redux."

The shots of the Enterprise Flybys....I kept thinking "Bran Ferren." Something about the way the ship strobes slightly...looks like bad motion control (although, yes, I know, it's not).

"Star Trek: Enhanced" is much more impressive.

But, like those involved said, they were just tweaking what was already there, not really changing it.

They've succeeded.

I've yawned.
Would you also like to give the Mona Lisa a new hairstyle?

Fish Man
09-19-2006, 11:46 AM
The shots of the Enterprise Flybys....I kept thinking "Bran Ferren." Something about the way the ship strobes slightly...looks like bad motion control (although, yes, I know, it's not).


That is an artifact of the time compression used on these time-compressed versions for syndication. Time compression is applied to the final video after the remastering.

On the uncut versions (as would be released on DVD, for example) this effect will not be present.

JYoung
09-19-2006, 12:39 PM
.

I thought Enterprise and the Romulan ship looked fantastic too. In "Miri", the shots of the "earth" looked great even though, IMHO they still had an unrealistically low number of clouds in the atmosphere. However, this was a creative choice, no doubt, so that the continental shapes were obvious to the viewer. At least it had SOME clouds (my recollection is that the original had none).

I disagree with those who wanted something "more". A Lucasization of Star Trek would have pissed me off!




Except I'm one of the people who has always been against a "Lucasization of Star Trek" (and I'm not to thrilled with what he's been doing to his films either) and the CGI models weren't even up to the original's detail level.
Plus the lighting was off.
And the nacelle animation was crap. It looked like cartoon animation.
In A Mirror Darkly got it right with their Constitution Model.
Why can't we see that here?

(And the stars were all white as well. TOS would throw in the occasional red or blue one.)

I agree that the live action transfer looked very good though but with all the fuss that the CBS/Paramount marketing has been making over the new effects, I think we should have gotten better than Babylon 5 Season 1 CGI.

DLiquid
09-19-2006, 08:30 PM
I watched "Balance of Terror" and I was pretty entertained. The effects were very subtle, which is good, but I agree it didn't really look up to the caliber of DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise.

If it was HD I think I might watch all of them, which I haven't done since I was a kid. I hope they air it in HD in the future.

Spock really did look green, huh?

atrac
09-20-2006, 12:04 AM
Would you also like to give the Mona Lisa a new hairstyle?

Nope. I wouldn't add a third nacelle to the TOS Enterprise either. But like JYoung is saying, the effects didn't look that good.

I was expecting the quality of "Star Trek: Enhanced." That's all. ;) I wasn't expecting added or altered sequences that changed the intent of the original production. So my "Lucas-Redux" comment was a poor description on my part.

FreakyD
09-20-2006, 12:25 AM
I wasn't expecting added or altered sequences that changed the intent of the original production. So my "Lucas-Redux" comment was a poor description on my part.Hmmm, indeed. I can just imagine watching next week's episode and seeing Jar Jar Binks pop out of a turbolift.

"Yousa say da red shirt's gonna die??"

<ducks to avoid the inevitable Photoshopped stills>

:D

Figaro
09-20-2006, 10:25 AM
Nope. I wouldn't add a third nacelle to the TOS Enterprise either. But like JYoung is saying, the effects didn't look that good.

I was expecting the quality of "Star Trek: Enhanced." That's all. ;) I wasn't expecting added or altered sequences that changed the intent of the original production. So my "Lucas-Redux" comment was a poor description on my part.
Oh Ok, cool. Nerd rage subsiding now. :D

PJO1966
09-20-2006, 11:58 AM
I don't see "Miri" in the guide data for Los Angeles. Did I miss it?

JYoung
09-20-2006, 12:28 PM
Nope, hasn't shown in LA yet.

madscientist
09-20-2006, 10:02 PM
Not in Boston, either, unless it somehow wasn't caught by my SP. Bummer :(

atrac
09-20-2006, 11:45 PM
I don't see "Miri" in the guide data for Los Angeles. Did I miss it?

Yikes, I hope we haven't been stiffed! Geez, and here in Los Angeles too. We should all go down to Melrose and protest!

byte_me123
09-21-2006, 08:21 AM
Except I'm one of the people who has always been against a "Lucasization of Star Trek" (and I'm not to thrilled with what he's been doing to his films either) and the CGI models weren't even up to the original's detail level.
Plus the lighting was off.
And the nacelle animation was crap. It looked like cartoon animation.
In A Mirror Darkly got it right with their Constitution Model.
Why can't we see that here?

(And the stars were all white as well. TOS would throw in the occasional red or blue one.)

I agree that the live action transfer looked very good though but with all the fuss that the CBS/Paramount marketing has been making over the new effects, I think we should have gotten better than Babylon 5 Season 1 CGI.

Is it me, or did they chop up Balance even more that usual? At this rate in another 40 years, its airtime will be 1 min.

Figaro
09-21-2006, 09:08 AM
Not in Boston, either, unless it somehow wasn't caught by my SP. Bummer :(
In MA Miri was shown before Balance of Terror. At least in my part of MA.

madscientist
09-21-2006, 12:07 PM
In MA Miri was shown before Balance of Terror. At least in my part of MA.Hm. If so it wasn't in the guide; I was going through the guide an hour at a time and BoT was the first showing listed (I'm watching on Boston stations).

wmcbrine
09-21-2006, 12:41 PM
I was expecting the quality of "Star Trek: Enhanced." That's all.Are we looking at the same "Star Trek: Enhanced"? Because to me, ST:E didn't look that good.

Figaro
09-21-2006, 01:09 PM
Hm. If so it wasn't in the guide; I was going through the guide an hour at a time and BoT was the first showing listed (I'm watching on Boston stations).
I can't remember which channel it was on for me. I do get some CT channels as I am closer to Springfield than I am Boston. For me the two episodes were back to back but the guide data was flip flopped for them.

Fish Man
09-21-2006, 01:39 PM
Is it me, or did they chop up Balance even more that usual? At this rate in another 40 years, its airtime will be 1 min.

It's not you.

I'm kind of excited about "Star Trek: Remasterd" because it will eventually lead to good sounding HD-DVD/BlueRay releases with a great picture, that will not chopped up.

A big :down: to the edited versions, however!

trausch
09-22-2006, 09:51 AM
What channel is this on and when? I can't find it in my guide data.

LoadStar
09-22-2006, 10:11 AM
What channel is this on and when? I can't find it in my guide data.

It's syndicated. There's a list somewhere earlier in this thread of where and when this is on in various markets, but in general, if you have a station that used to play "Enterprise" in strip syndication, it now plays this instead.

bobcarn
09-22-2006, 10:47 AM
I didn't see any of the eppys yet. I'm going to spend some quality time with Tivo this weekend and update my season passes and schedule so I can record some of them.

Slightly off topic:
Seeing how beaming technology seems to work, why did the the red suit guy or anyone else for that matter need to die? Especially by TNG where it advanced to the point it could supposedly quarantine anything off a person that wasn't supposed to be there.
He was wearing a red shirt, so he had to die. Even though they had advanced technology, the vaccine to prevent Red Shirt Death disease was in high demand and only used on important people like Scottie or his close assistants.

My understanding of how it works is that it stores the information about you in a buffer as it "scans" you and takes you apart. It then uses this information to reassemble you at the other location. Now to know if person is coming back with a virus or something, the buffer most hold information about your last state at least until you return. So why not just beam the dead body back, but restore them to the state before they beamed away? They would loose any new memories they had from the time they beamed away, but they would still be alive. Heck, one could really abuse it and use it as a simple regeneration system for eons. This was the basis of a Star Trek story I kicked around in my head for years, but couldn't decide if I should base it early on in the Universe, showing adverse affects and that is why they didn't don't do it on the show, or after Voyager in my Final Generation Universe where they finally get bold enough to try it, or even in one of the shows/book series. Could you imagine if you could remember your death each time they resurrected you? BSG touched on it a bit with the Scar storyline...

Anyhow, I return you to your regular topic.

My understanding is that you're not "digitized". The process is very analog. In TNG, when they found Scottie after all those years in a transporter loop, it was because he set up the transporter signal in some kind of loop, suggesting it was an analog signal. Degradation over time prevented them from saving his assistant who was also in the loop. The lack of a Red Shirt vaccine prevented his assitant from surviving the signal degradation.

JYoung
09-23-2006, 02:42 AM
Stumbled across these comparisons earlier today.

I stand by my statements that the CGI Enterprise didn't look better. It looks cartoony while the original shots while grainier, still look more realistic.


http://img24.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-2214/loc335/14255_balanceofterror231_122_335lo.jpg http://img28.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-14358/loc390/14259_balanceofterror268_122_390lo.jpg http://img139.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-6953/loc485/14265_balanceofterror280_122_485lo.jpg http://img46.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-28503/loc403/14270_balanceofterror296_122_403lo.jpg

Figaro
09-23-2006, 09:38 AM
Stumbled across these comparisons earlier today.

I stand by my statements that the CGI Enterprise didn't look better. It looks cartoony while the original shots while grainier, still look more realistic.


http://img24.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-2214/loc335/14255_balanceofterror231_122_335lo.jpg http://img28.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-14358/loc390/14259_balanceofterror268_122_390lo.jpg http://img139.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-6953/loc485/14265_balanceofterror280_122_485lo.jpg http://img46.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-28503/loc403/14270_balanceofterror296_122_403lo.jpg
pictures no worky for me. :(

byte_me123
09-23-2006, 12:59 PM
Stumbled across these comparisons earlier today.

I stand by my statements that the CGI Enterprise didn't look better. It looks cartoony while the original shots while grainier, still look more realistic.


http://img24.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-2214/loc335/14255_balanceofterror231_122_335lo.jpg http://img28.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-14358/loc390/14259_balanceofterror268_122_390lo.jpg http://img139.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-6953/loc485/14265_balanceofterror280_122_485lo.jpg http://img46.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-28503/loc403/14270_balanceofterror296_122_403lo.jpg

Of course the originals were of a real model so I guess it would look realistic.

vman41
09-23-2006, 02:08 PM
It's syndicated. There's a list somewhere earlier in this thread of where and when this is on in various markets, but in general, if you have a station that used to play "Enterprise" in strip syndication, it now plays this instead.

I presume there is something in the credits which would indicate the enhanced version (if nothing else, copyright notice changed to MIMLXVII, MMVI).

SparkleMotion
09-23-2006, 02:26 PM
Nope. Still retains the current copyright notice at the end of 1978, Paramount (which runs after the DesiLu production logo).

JYoung
09-23-2006, 03:13 PM
pictures no worky for me. :(


Try these links instead
http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=14255balanceofterror231122335lotx5.jpg
http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=14259balanceofterror268122390loko4.jpg
http://img46.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=14270_balanceofterror296_122_403lo.jpg

PJO1966
09-23-2006, 05:38 PM
Try these links instead
http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=14255balanceofterror231122335lotx5.jpg
http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=14259balanceofterror268122390loko4.jpg
http://img46.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=14270_balanceofterror296_122_403lo.jpg


Call me crazy (I know you want to), but I prefer the new images.

Figaro
09-23-2006, 06:43 PM
Try these links instead
http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=14255balanceofterror231122335lotx5.jpg
http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=14259balanceofterror268122390loko4.jpg
http://img46.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=14270_balanceofterror296_122_403lo.jpg


Thanks!

You are correct. Old school is better. Way more detail. A lot more windows and lights.
New school looks rubbery. It is missing some texturing and shading.

PJO1966
09-23-2006, 07:02 PM
Thanks!

You are correct. Old school is better. Way more detail. A lot more windows and lights.
New school looks rubbery. It is missing some texturing and shading.


I definitely agree that the new versions would be improved by a couple extra passes using texture and shading.

Tracy RainH2o
09-23-2006, 08:31 PM
Well all this is news to me. I have been "off board" for a while.
Season Pass is now set.

byte_me123
09-23-2006, 08:51 PM
Thanks!

You are correct. Old school is better. Way more detail. A lot more windows and lights.
New school looks rubbery. It is missing some texturing and shading.
One thing I have noticed is the lack of "Weathering" on the CGI Enterprise. The final version of the filming model had weathering added to it. The CGI also has the "New Car Lot" look to it.

SparkleMotion
09-24-2006, 04:08 AM
I missed "Miri" locally, but I'm watching "Devil in the Dark" right now. I'm not liking the new f/x at all. The guy who was proposing the enhanced series early in this thread was so much more artful in his enhancements than CBS/Paramount has been.

Carfan
09-24-2006, 09:25 AM
Not in Boston, either, unless it somehow wasn't caught by my SP. Bummer :(

I cought them on Comcast on 805 and 809 - ABC affliates in Boston and Manchester, NH

PJO1966
10-02-2006, 01:12 PM
Just watched The Naked Time. I had just seen this episode recently, so I noticed how they cut it differently from the last time it was cut for sindication. For one, they never showed the lab tech on camera,

Did anyone else think the planet was spinning too fast when they were still in a stable orbit? That just jumped out at me. One subtle effect they added was replacing the chronometer with a digital readout.

I really would love to see the HD DVD versions of these when they come out.

JYoung
10-02-2006, 02:13 PM
The old vs. new comparisons are here. (http://trekmovie.com/2006/09/30/the-naked-time-screenshots/)

Likes:

The new Psi 2000. TOS was a little weak on how planets looked.
The station in the Ice Storm. Subtle but effective.
The viewscreen orbit view. The old one always bothered me.
The flames at the edge of the viewscreen when the ship is plunging into the atmosphere.
The new chronometer.


Dislikes

The added beam for Scotty's phaser. They deliberately decided not to put that beam in originally.
The CGI Enterprise. Still insufficiently detailed when compared to the original, lit wrong, and the nacelle animation is still crap.

Figaro
10-02-2006, 02:18 PM
Yeah the CGI Enterprise looks like ass.

Fish Man
10-02-2006, 04:15 PM
The old vs. new comparisons are here. (http://trekmovie.com/2006/09/30/the-naked-time-screenshots/)

Likes:

The new Psi 2000. TOS was a little weak on how planets looked.
The station in the Ice Storm. Subtle but effective.
The viewscreen orbit view. The old one always bothered me.
The flames at the edge of the viewscreen when the ship is plunging into the atmosphere.
The new chronometer.


Dislikes

The added beam for Scotty's phaser. They deliberately decided not to put that beam in originally.
The CGI Enterprise. Still insufficiently detailed when compared to the original, lit wrong, and the nacelle animation is still crap.


I agree with everything except Scotty's phaser. The lack of a beam, even if it were intentional originally (I rather doubt it, actually, do you have a link?) looked like an oversight. This is the only time a phaser was ever depicted operating with absolutely no visible effect. If it was deliberate, it constitutes a continuity error IMHO. They did well to "fix" it.

A few additional comments:

The new chronometer was mandatory. The mechanical wheels with numbers painted on them and blatant mid-60's era toggle switches just had to get updated.

My favorite of the above was the flames at the edges of the viewscreen.

wmcbrine
10-02-2006, 04:27 PM
As grotty as the old chronometer was, the new one was a terrible mistake, because of the label "SHIPBOARD". If the clock was supposed to be measuring ship's internal time, then it would run the same for people -- and they could never perceive that it was running backwards. (Now, don't ask me how the chronometer measures "external time", or what that would even mean. But that's the only way for it to run backwards, other than malfunction.)

Stormspace
10-02-2006, 04:44 PM
As grotty as the old chronometer was, the new one was a terrible mistake, because of the label "SHIPBOARD". If the clock was supposed to be measuring ship's internal time, then it would run the same for people -- and they could never perceive that it was running backwards. (Now, don't ask me how the chronometer measures "external time", or what that would even mean. But that's the only way for it to run backwards, other than malfunction.)

In the original series at some point it was mentioned that time was broadcast from a subspace beacon. Of course that wouldn't explain the times they went back before the beacon was deployed, so perhaps it's based on a calculation in the distances and periods of certain pulsars.

vman41
10-15-2006, 07:25 AM
The Sinclair Broadcast Group in Columbus is showing Star Treks a week behind what their guid data says. Last week the guide said "City on the Edge of Forever" and they showed "The Nake Time". This week the guide had "I, Mudd" and they show CEF, arghh.

They seem to have cut the part where the bum vaporizes himself with McCoy's phaser.

IndyJones1023
10-15-2006, 01:20 PM
Hey, I finally caught one of these and the improved versions look great!

JYoung
10-15-2006, 02:09 PM
Hey, I finally caught one of these and the improved versions look great!


You're kidding, right?

fergiej
10-15-2006, 02:44 PM
Yeah the CGI Enterprise looks like ass.
But, who's ass, exactly? I've seen some pretty great looking ass... ;)

IndyJones1023
10-15-2006, 02:48 PM
You're kidding, right?
Compared to 40-year old effects? Nope. I like the improved colors and upgraded CG.

JYoung
10-15-2006, 03:31 PM
Compared to 40-year old effects? Nope. I like the improved colors and upgraded CG.


Some of the effects are improvements but the problem is that the CGI Enterprise looks inferior to the original model (with the possible exception of the one beauty pass at the end of Devil in the Dark)
And that's a big problem since the Enterprise is the centerpiece of the show.
If you don't sell that, you have a much harder time selling the rest of the effects.

I suggest that you read Daren Dochterman's comments on the CGI Enterprise (http://web.mac.com/drdochterman/iWeb/TREKENHANCED/Blog/D094219C-10B0-4892-8A6C-F200E8753BF6.html).
As well as taking a look at this CGI Enterprise that he knocked out on his G4 (http://web.mac.com/drdochterman/iWeb/TREKENHANCED/Blog/764CD474-5368-4917-9B23-2C7DAADB9543_files/entbeau.qtl). (Quicktime required)
Superior to the CBS version, I think.

PJO1966
10-15-2006, 07:23 PM
Compared to 40-year old effects? Nope. I like the improved colors and upgraded CG.


I'm with you, Indy.

LoadStar
10-15-2006, 08:11 PM
Some of the effects are improvements but the problem is that the CGI Enterprise looks inferior to the original model (with the possible exception of the one beauty pass at the end of Devil in the Dark)
And that's a big problem since the Enterprise is the centerpiece of the show.
If you don't sell that, you have a much harder time selling the rest of the effects.

I suggest that you read Daren Dochterman's comments on the CGI Enterprise (http://web.mac.com/drdochterman/iWeb/TREKENHANCED/Blog/D094219C-10B0-4892-8A6C-F200E8753BF6.html).
As well as taking a look at this CGI Enterprise that he knocked out on his G4 (http://web.mac.com/drdochterman/iWeb/TREKENHANCED/Blog/764CD474-5368-4917-9B23-2C7DAADB9543_files/entbeau.qtl). (Quicktime required)
Superior to the CBS version, I think.

Wow. I disagree with him on almost every point he makes, because most of the points revolve around "that's what it looked like in the original footage."

For instance, he complains about the color of the Enterprise not being blueish... he recognizes that the blue was not inherent to the ship model, but the bluescreen effect that they used and couldn't correct for. Even though he knows that the blue is not natural, and not what was intended, he still wants it, because it's "the way it was."

He complains about the stars, preferring the comic-book orange, blue, yellow, etc bright blotchy stars of the original to the new, more accurate representation of a starfield as seen from space.

He complains about the way the Bussard Collectors (ramscoops) are lit, even though the lighting he prefers would make it look more "model-like" and less "full-scale" like. He wants little lamps in the front of the nacelles, even though they're not SUPPOSED to be lamps. They're supposed to be some futuristic hardware designed to collect interstellar matter.

Frankly, the only thing I can say to people like this is: if you want it looking like the original, watch the original.

Tersanyus
10-15-2006, 09:24 PM
I don't know what some of you are watching but I think this remastered looks great. The new Enterprise compared to the old at

http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=14255balanceofterror231122335lotx5.jpg

The old Enterprise is kinda blue/green. The new Enterprise needs a little bit more detail. You can make out the lighting in the windows of the old ship. A little hard to see in the new CGI Enterprise. I also think it could be darkened a little bit too. I always thought there were way too many starts present on screen during the original scenes.

I think the best evidence of the new CGI looking better is when you'll see the old footage that was reused too many times that looks like a film that's way too dirty. There were specks of dirt, dust and such on the film.

Most of what was on the viewscreen needed to be redone. Most planet shots from the old version did look rather dull. The planet from Naked Time was pretty bad.

If you prefer the originals the way they were then don't watch the remastered ones. Now if we could just get the remastered is full 16x9 HD that would rock!

What's really gonna get me in like 10-20 years when everyone has a 16x9 TV and all these old shows air they'll see how bad some of them look. Of course, all my friends with HD sets stretch out SD to widescreen. One of them even commented how fat and short everyone looked.

I for one look forward to watching TOS Remastered. They aren't changing the story line or anything. Most all I have seen is a redo of the shots as they originally were. Some are redone though. I mean do you really want to see that crappy model of the Constellation fly into the doomsday machine? We all know that was store bought kit that was mangled with a soldering iron.

JYoung
10-16-2006, 01:33 AM
Wow. I disagree with him on almost every point he makes, because most of the points revolve around "that's what it looked like in the original footage."



And you're one of the people I wouldn't have thought that I'd have such a wide disagreement with.
I don't know if you've actually watch any of the enhanced episodes since the last time you posted in this thread you indicated that you hadn't but since one of the stated goals was to make the effects unobtrusive and like it fits, the point "that's what it looked like in the original footage" has some vaildity.


For instance, he complains about the color of the Enterprise not being blueish... he recognizes that the blue was not inherent to the ship model, but the bluescreen effect that they used and couldn't correct for. Even though he knows that the blue is not natural, and not what was intended, he still wants it, because it's "the way it was."


No, he said "The Enterprise should be a cool gray" and pointed out that it's too dark. I'll will state that I'm not sure it should be "bluer" but it's certainly too dark the way it is and contributes to it looking two dimensional in spots.



He complains about the stars, preferring the comic-book orange, blue, yellow, etc bright blotchy stars of the original to the new, more accurate representation of a starfield as seen from space.


Because all stars are white?
I look into the sky at night and I can see the occasional red star and the like.
It would be nice to see something other than a plain jane white star.


He complains about the way the Bussard Collectors (ramscoops) are lit, even though the lighting he prefers would make it look more "model-like" and less "full-scale" like. He wants little lamps in the front of the nacelles, even though they're not SUPPOSED to be lamps. They're supposed to be some futuristic hardware designed to collect interstellar matter.


Uhm, and you know this how?
The current nacelle animation looks like crappy cartoon animation. Iit can be done better and has been.
Need I point out "In a Mirror Darkly". And if you looked at the model I linked to, it's much better than what CBS video is putting out.


Frankly, the only thing I can say to people like this is: if you want it looking like the original, watch the original.

uhhhhhh, did you bother checking out the rest of the Trek Enhanced site? (www.trekenhanced.com)
Dochterman's been one of the people campaigning to redo the TOS effects.

cwerdna
10-16-2006, 02:08 AM
The Sinclair Broadcast Group in Columbus is showing Star Treks a week behind what their guid data says. Last week the guide said "City on the Edge of Forever" and they showed "The Nake Time". This week the guide had "I, Mudd" and they show CEF, arghh.
The guide data here in the SF Bay Area was also kinda messed up for the first weekend.

I also later realized that they've actually changed around the broadcast schedule too (nationwide). CEF wasn't originally scheduled for this past weekend, but it suddently did and they switched around the order at http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/25835.html?page=0 w/o warning.

I had a printout from 9/14/06 and CEF was originally going to air ~11/25/06.

appleye1
10-16-2006, 03:03 AM
The Sinclair Broadcast Group in Columbus is showing Star Treks a week behind what their guid data says. Last week the guide said "City on the Edge of Forever" and they showed "The Nake Time". This week the guide had "I, Mudd" and they show CEF, arghh.
Count yourself lucky. At least you got to see a show that was in the guide at some point. Here the guide last week said City on the Edge of Forever and they show The Naked Time. Then this week it said I, Mudd and they showed The Naked Time again. The Naked Time has never been in the guide and they've showed it twice. Hopefully it will be in the guide next week so they'll show something else. :rolleyes:

wmcbrine
10-16-2006, 03:31 AM
Not a lot of visible differences in "I, Mudd", to me, although it was painfully obvious on my 42" that when "Norman" was throwing guys around, it was a stuntman. Probably just as obvious in the original, though. But the shot at end, with the rings, was awesome.

atrac
10-16-2006, 03:46 AM
In "I, Mudd," I noticed when the male android pulls up his shirt to reveal his mechanical inner workings, it was a cool CGI upgrade.

Unfortunately they didn't bother to clean up the pock marks on his face. :(

JYoung
10-16-2006, 10:42 AM
The rings were pretty good.
Too bad the Enterprise herself wasn't.

http://trekmovie.com/wp-content/uploads/imudd/enterprise_leaves_new.jpg
http://trekmovie.com/wp-content/uploads/imudd/enterprise_changes_direction_new.jpg

The usual comparisions here. (http://trekmovie.com/2006/10/15/i-mudd-screenshots-and-audio-clip/#more-252)

byte_me123
10-16-2006, 11:16 AM
The rings were pretty good.
Too bad the Enterprise herself wasn't.

http://trekmovie.com/wp-content/uploads/imudd/enterprise_leaves_new.jpg
http://trekmovie.com/wp-content/uploads/imudd/enterprise_changes_direction_new.jpg

The usual comparisions here. (http://trekmovie.com/2006/10/15/i-mudd-screenshots-and-audio-clip/#more-252)

Trouble is with the Old version, you would see the cabling needed to light up the
warp nacelles in the heavily modified 11 foot Enterprise model used in the TV show. Plus the Starbord side was never finished.

bobcarn
10-16-2006, 01:54 PM
...

uhhhhhh, did you bother checking out the rest of the Trek Enhanced site? (www.trekenhanced.com)
Dochterman's been one of the people campaigning to redo the TOS effects.

Who is this Dochterman person? I don't think he even knows what he wants! Here's two excerpts from the same blog posting....

I thought this week was ok... but I want more. The space shots are getting better... although they still don’t look like TOS. Come on, guys... fix those nacelle caps! And why are we looking at the guardian’s planet with oceans? Seems to me that the original was pretty barren. Why the big change? I can see putting some better atmosphere on there... but really. I think the dramatic license is being a little stretched for non important reasons

Is it too much to ask for a more interesting reveal of the landing party in the valley of the guardian? Even in the Animated series we get a much more interesting ruins. With a little creativity a very engaging vista could have been generated with the elements that exist... just something more... The producers fear of changing anything is really making each episode of this remastering seem needless

Correct me if I'm wrong (or even if I'm right, I'm sure someone will), but he starts out complaining that the new enhanced version just doesn't look like the original series (duh!) and that they're making too many changes. Then he ends his posting complaining that they're not making changes because they're too afraid.

:confused:

SparkleMotion
10-16-2006, 02:21 PM
Was this the first non-season 1 episode? The theme with the soprano vocal is a MUCH better mix than the theme without her.

JYoung
10-16-2006, 02:29 PM
Who is this Dochterman person? I don't think he even knows what he wants! Here's two excerpts from the same blog posting....





Correct me if I'm wrong (or even if I'm right, I'm sure someone will), but he starts out complaining that the new enhanced version just doesn't look like the original series (duh!) and that they're making too many changes. Then he ends his posting complaining that they're not making changes because they're too afraid.

:confused:

Dochterman is a visual effects person who was the visual effects supervisor on ST:TMP Directors Edition (http://www.betafive.com/PORTFOLIOSITE/resume.html).

And I believe he's saying that showing more of the ruins is more important than oceans on a barren planet.