CBS has sent over an image of Mojave City from "The Menagerie Part II".
Captain Pike and Vina get a brand new background matte painting
original version
The Remastered Menagerie Part 2 airs this weekend
CBS has sent over an image of Mojave City from "The Menagerie Part II".
Captain Pike and Vina get a brand new background matte painting
original version
The Remastered Menagerie Part 2 airs this weekend
It’s really cool to see you guys getting the first dibs on stuff like this :) Trekweb lately has mostly been sucky, a site for people to gush about BSG v. 2.0 and complain about politics to each other.
Kudos to you guys!
actually I like BSG, but thanks for the compliment
Yikes! That one had to be a rotoscoping nightmare with all the leaves and branches. Looks very well done.
WOW.
Anonymous? I guess that’ll teach me to forget to fill in the “name” field. ;)
that is a good point about the rotoscoping. I dont think people realise how painstaking that is. Some of the shots that the folks at CBS are proudest of are the ones that need that frame by frame rotoscoping. I think in the world of greenscreen people think it is just easy to swap things in and out…and it is easy enough when you have the greenscreen.
#2: We all enjoy BSG. It’s just nice to have a site that actually, you know… covers Star Trek news, investigates rumors, occasionally calls someone on the lot… and thereby gains access that leads to lovely little things like this *really* cute image. Hooray for Tony Pascale.
I’ll be curious to see if there is stuff moving in the background like we saw with the Starbase shots. If this is how their work is going to look from now on, I can’t believe there’s anyone who wouldn’t be impressed with it.
Now how long before they overhaul Next Gen?
Awesome!
I like how the boys and girls at CBS Digital don’t chuck out the original effects and whip up new ones for thr heck of it.
Take the original and rework it put in some scale and depth.
Fantastic!
-cs™
Nice work! Amazing how the new background tears the back wall right off that studio and adds some great depth… here’s hoping for a couple of high flying birds way in the distance to really breath life into that gorgeous new background.
I love these kinds of updates.
It doesn’t take away from the story or characters, it simply enhances the viewing experience.
Great Job CBS-D!!!
The new background is really amazing. Is that a paper mache rock at the left? ;)
Thanks for posting the image and thanks to CBS for sending those for everyone to see!
That remastered image really pops! The clarity and color not only look fantastic, but it further reveals the artificial nature of the set. The new matte painting of Mojave is terrific, really adds depth as pointed out earlier. Great work! Wish I had that job!
I like Galactica too, but I agree, I have started to go to trekweb less and less as this site has news on the remastered Trek and new Trek.
Question for you CG guru’s out there…..
It sounds like it is difficult to rotoscope backgrounds frame by frame, especially if there are trees or other semi-transparent obstacles. Is it difficult to rotoscope out a solid surface or color?? For example: In “Amok Time” There is a plain red backdrop used for the sky on Vulcan. The only surrounding obstacles are the rocks and other Vulcan artifacts, additionally, there are no trees or anything really that tricky. Could the folks at CBS digital simply treat the phony red sky as a “greenscreen and rotoscope it out rather quickly and paint in a new sky similar to what we saw on Vulcan for ST:TMP?? Or is the process much more complicated than that?? Thanks in Advance.
Nice! !!! !
:)
For solid colors it is a snap. Redscreens were used in the Harrison Ford film, Air Force one. As long as it is a solid color it can be “punched out” in Combustion and a new matte inserted.
Star Trek: The Next Generation will look STELLAR when compared with this “restore” job. TNG was shot on film, scanned in at a low TV resolution and all effects were mastered in that low-res TV 4:3 video. So, all of the film will have to be re-scanned in true hi-def (1920 X 1080 24P), cleaned and, EVERY FX shot will be brand new!!!!! They have to do it that way because there is no other option.
THAT I cannot wait for. :)
But Sean4000, will that ever happen? As you pointed out, TNG was mastered in standard-def 4:3 video. To do what you’re suggesting, they would have to go back to the original filmed elements (do those even still exist?) and re-edit **the entire series**. That seems rather unlikely.
I did 63 frames of rotoscoping Kirk walking in front of the bridge viewscreen for my “Doomsday Machine” project and let me tell you, it IS a giant pain in the ass. My hat’s off to CBS Digital… that new matte painting/model/whatever of Mojave looks amazing.
^ I thought that the film was destroyed.
Then we will NEVER have high-def TNG. 4:3 video can not be blown up to HD resolutions. The camera negative must exist.
Your “DM” project was on pre-composited elements. in front of a colored uniform screen it IS a snap. Your work was tedious, yes, but not for everything.
Let’s hope the film wasn’t trashed. :(
I thought the thing about that rotoscope work was getting people out of it. I watched Amok Time recently and there are people EVERYWHERE, in every shot. How can they pull this stuff in a week’s time?
LOVE that Mojave backing. Well done Okudas, Rossi and CBS-D! Keep it up!!
The new Mojave background does look spectacular. It brings real depth to the shot. Can’t wait to see it on-screen.
Funny thing, though…it looks like they forgot to fix the faux grass carpeting around the actors. There’s a big, square brown patch exactly in the lower center of the screen. One corner of it even touches the corner of the blanket.
Little oopsy there.
I’m annoyed that folks who were masters and dare I say pioneers of effects ie Ray Harryhausen and others. Are at times dismissive of those who work in CG, they say “oh they just punch some keys on a computer etc.” And their way was the “hard way”, which reminds me of those old farts going on about the young whippersnappers got it too and in my day we had to walk to school through 5 feet of snow!”
No offense to those legends, but damn man those folks bust their nuts just like you guys did. True it is a bit easier now, but at times it just as time consuming and nerve wracking as positioning a model frame by frame.
-cs™
Great scoop Tony!
Ah, yes the picnic on the putting green!
This shot is a perfect example of why Remastered works so well. They are staying with the original aesthetic of the show. I think Lucas failed to recognize what that means to the overall viewing experience when he made his changes to the original STAR WARS trilogy for his Special Editions. Updating FX should augment the experience, not supercede the existing material.
This matte shot of the picnic is a definite product of the 1960’s style that permeates TOS. Is it a completely believable landscape? No, I think it’s obviously an FX shot, but that’s not a problem. It’s a clean shot, it works with the show, it doesn’t bouce me out of watching the important stuff, like the acting. Same goes for the matte shots in The Menagerie Part I, the Starbase 11 shots are perfect in that they keep the same style as the original episode. And herein lies the whole point of Remastered– modern audiences are distracted by terrible FX, and TOS had a whole bunch of those sprinkled throughout. Cleaning up these shots makes for a more enjoyable viewing experience. Nobody at CBS-D is showing off. This is all about making the best show possible.
Thank you CBS-D for your incredbilbe work. Yours is akin to film preservation- you’ve respected the original material and you’re helping TOS last for another 40 years and beyond.
Trekweb who??
This is my home for Trek now. Trekweb is “dead to me”.
LMAO!!!
Anthony…you are THA MAN!!! And CBS Digital is cool as shit!!! I am so glad that that awful matte painting of Mojave City is gone. Even when I was like, five, I thought that looked fake.
And man, the difference in the color between the old and new is like night and day.
Fantastic work CBS!! *drool*
If I remember correctly this particular scene is pretty static (not a lot of camera movement if I recall correctly)…that should have made the rotoscoping job for this sequence easy-ER.
TTM
Since the cityscapes from “The Cage” and “A Taste of Armageddon” were reused throughout the series, I assume they will be changed so each planet will have its distinct architecture? :)
Any chance trekmovie.com could show us these sneak previews in high def?
I wished they could have done something with that fake grassed floor and the multiple shadows cast by studio lighting. That fake rock could have been changed too.
I love the work these guys are going with the FX. I don’t think the new stuff is ‘betraying’ the original work – it’s enhancing the marvellous original designs of the matte artists. The ship shots are also way better . . . now! I certainly see the new fx as restoration!
I can’t wait to see Where No Man . . .
I was once ‘accused’ of being a member of Trekweb by someone here when I disagreed with them over some matter or other.
Personally, this was the first Trek site I came too when news of the return of Kirk brought me back to Star Trek again (I was alienated by the whole thing after the end of Trek VI) and it’s so good that I’m happy to use this as my ‘main’ Trek site and jump to anywhere else as needed! :)
The matte painting of the city is terrific, but it’s amazing how just the bit of bright blue sky peeking out in the upper left corner really opens up and changes the whole feeling of the shot. Beautiful.
#24 – Adam has it exactly right. These new effects absolutely honor and enhance the original aesthetic of the show, and of that time period, turning something many think of as “cheesy” into something new. It’s like the great old SF art from the covers of “Analog” and “Amazing Stories” was made real, and we get to walk around in it.
Cranston.
I’d love to see a return to that classic design aesthetic. Modern technology allows us to walk around in those wonderful imaginary cities. Love Blade Runner and other ‘used future’ movies as I do, I’d love to see the old-style artwork get dug out for 3D CGI adaptation.
No 33 was me, Dom, btw. Sorry! The message box has a habit of leaving the previous poster’s name in that field! :)
Beyond just the new FX on the above shot, I have to say the pic cleanup is wonderful. The colours are astonishing!!
Looks mighty fine to me.
As an aside, I see that some repeats are coming up (“Balance of Terror” among them), and I was wondering: have we heard definitively if they would be going back and remastering the remaster? You know, with the new model and such? Or will that have to wait until later?
@ # 1. I have to agree with # 2. I love BSG and rocks the house.
However, I do have to say. This amazing work and I hope to see lots more of it. And yes, I have also started coming here too as you guys are the only ones with images from the remastered on the net asides form the limited stuff on StarTrek.com.
This Screen shot looks fantastic!!!! It makes me wonder if they are going to do anything with the image of HELL they put in pikes mind when he is disobeying them. It would be cool if they have extending that a bit like the did with the castle in Catspaw.
Cranston,
Right on about Analog. The 50’s and 60’s had some fantastic sci-fi designs. When I look at some of the production sketches from TOS I think “Wow, if they had jsut some money to work with, some of these designs would be amazing.” Now we get to see the culmination of that vision with these episodes.
Dom, I agree with you- this is the only Trek site worth visiting.
StarTrek.com has this up plus a few other things from “The Menagerie.” Saw it here first, though. Love this site. Keep up the great work “AP” and CBS Digital. I truly hope the new model is in the rerun of “Balance of Terror”, but if not, I do hope it is changed for the dvd, as many are claiming they will be doing. I’m ready for the opening credits being RE-remastered, too. Fine, fine work, though.
Has anyone else Downloaded the HD Episodes off of Xbox Live Marketplace yet? I downloaded Miri last night and you should see the show in 720p, it really looks fantastic, only little niggle for some reason they are keeping the effects shots 16×9 and the live action is 4×3, kinda takes you out of the story, but you should see those effects shots in 16×9 wow !
Great work CBS Digital once again.
Just think what other background work these guys are capable of doing if given the chance…
Man, wish I had an Xbox 360, I’d be all over that. Maybe Santa will bring me one for xmas….but I doubt it. As far as the sky of Vulcan goes, or any other colored cyclorama for that matter, I don’t see why they should have to replace the whole sky with something new. I’d be happy if they would just superimpose a couple of slow moving whispy clouds up high, above the actors heads. Or just static clouds, their position, relative to the actors, wouldn’t really change, no matter how the camera moved, if the clouds were miles away. Or maybe a far reaching mountain range off to one side. Anything to break up that solid color. There wouldn’t have to be any rotoscoping at all, especially on things like dropping in some clouds (above the actors heads of course).
I’ve got a 360 but they dont seem to have the episodes to download on the market place here. I wish they’d make these Xbox 360 download’s available on the UK market place, I am dying to see an episode in its full glory.
Absolutely agree with that scenario, jonboc.
Full replacement of backgrounds is unnecessary and probably impractical anyway for this remastering effort…and most likely unwanted by most here…but ever since seeing what the CBS Digital team are capable of, I too would ABSOLUTELY love to see at least a HINT of “distance” and “detail” in certain backgrounds, such as you suggest, AND maybe the odd flying “bird / creature” to add life to the proceedings, or perhaps a hint of exrta “plantlife”.
Oh the possibilities we may yet see…
>re #8 – Now how long before they overhaul Next Gen?
Heck with that, how long before they DE-master ST Enterprise – make it look like it really did take place 100 years before TOS.
I”m looking forward to the Rigel citadel shot.
Fantastic! Man, I wish it was Sunday already! This ‘Star Trek’ show is my favorite new scifi series! ;)
Is it my imagination, or is there a cloud in the upper lefthand corner?
Wow! That really whets the appetite. Nice scoop! Seeing the Cage footage remastered has reminded me of what great production values overall that pilot had. The on-set work certainly compares favorably to a film like “Forbidden Planet” — this scene reminded me of Morbius’ garden, especially now with the new BG and gorgeous colors.
How cool would it be if CBS Paramount were to give “The Menagerie” a limited theatrical release? The new HD production values and enhanced footage would no doubt hold up well on the big screen, and it would even give them a chance to preview their 16:9 ratio they’ve talked-about. Ah well, a man can dream…
Well I think the 16×9 ratio is just the effects as the live footage on the 360 versions are 4×3