StarTrek.com have put up a new interview with the Trek Remastered producers Dave Rossi, Denise Okuda and Mike Okuda. Here are some highlights
- The "Doomsday" planet killer will ‘honor the original concept’, but have a new ‘cool animation effect’
- The Machine doesn’t have "bristling weapons” (desired by original writer that didn’t end up in original design) because they don’t want to "stray too far from the familiar elements"
- Many changes in the project can’t be made due to time, such as ( Kirk’s tombstone ‘T’ and Gary Mitchell’s screens)
- Hope to change all chronometer shots to match new one in "The Naked Time”
- Impulse engines not always glowing is due to only showing them glow them when Enterprise is ‘stepping on the gas’
- Think Gene Roddenberry and Matt Jeffries would like the project
- The Ent may fire red phasers if they have to match live action shots (like in "Who Mourns For Adonais?”)
Trekmovie.com is told that the preview for Doomsday will not be available until next week. The article has a gallery of images of some of the CBS team and includes some animatic images from Doomsday…
for more see the full interview
Well, in this case they need to honor the original look
Thanks for the link, Anthony.
They’re doing a great job in the eternal srtuggle between art and commerce.
Nice article. Some questions I had answered, a few I wished had been on the list. Mainly will they be able to go back and tweak some of the things they didn’t get a chance to the first time. As is mentioned in the article the screens in WNMHGB, he said they found the original text. Also whether our not with there tight schedule they will be able to make the shots to replace the ship in the earlier episodes?
Cool to see that preliminary pic and the description of the Planet Killer, been checking pretty reguarly for the preview. For some reason that PK looks allmost like a physical model, I think mainly the seams…kinda looks like tin plating or something. Can’t wait to see the Constellation!
It says they hope to change the chronometer in future eps, if they are refering to the one they allreay have changed I would hope so. Also hop they can match the live action phasers to there new standard blue.
One more week!
Yeah… great article. I really get a sense of their dedication to the project. I love reading this kind of stuff!
The pictures for the article have many more animatic shots of the episode than the one above.
#4 John N.
While I am thinking of it, I want to commend you for your opinion and behaviour on the threads. I find your posts thoughtful and precise and I appreciate you keep a level head.(thinking back to the Takei story…)
X
And now they edit the article to include that little fact. :(
> Actually, all three of us changed our minds on the Kirk’s middle initial at least once. The real tiebreaker was time. There were nine shots with the tombstone, and the camera is moving in some of them, which makes replacement more time consuming. Fixing one or two of them wouldn’t have been a big deal. But fixing all of them would have forced us to cut too many other things. The funny thing is that we got a lot of comments from fans who approved of the “decision” not to change the tombstone!
Well, I hope the groupthink lemmings here read this, because it wasn’t just “one stationary shot of the tombstone, and why the hell can’t the TOSR team just change that one shot because I did it in Photoshop.”
Yeesh.
I think it is fairly clear that these folks are really working hard to give us good special effects. It is also clear that they have tremendous time contraints that do not let them do everything that want to do to properly update these episodes. The question remains, will they be given the time to come back and work on those thing they were unable to change? It would definitely be cool if they could. I also think it would better if they were given more time to work on the episodes before airing them.
At any rate, great job guy and gals at CBS-D! Here’s looking forward to more of your good work!
I love that unrendered shot!
“She’s delisting!”
“She’s spinning out of control!”
I do worry that CBS-D’s production schedule is too compacted, but such is life, eh?
I want to touch on a point addressed in the interview. It’s one that I have brought up a couple of times on other articles on this website.
The Impulse Engines.
Should they be lit up or shouldn’t they?
Their explanation is lame, in my opinion. The starship is always in a constant state of motion, unless otherwise stated (Dead stop — but even then, the starship would have to be using thrusters or engine power to keep it at still.)
So, only to show the Impulse engines lit up when Sulu is “stepping on the gas” is a lame excuse. The Enterprise is not a race car. It is a massive starship flying through outer space.
The Impulse engines should always be lit up, no matter if the starship is “stepping on the gas” or puttering along the orbit of a planet.
Now, when budget grew when the movie project was given the greenlight, and they “refitted” the Enterprise, did we ever see the Impulse Engines not lit up (sans when it was docked at Dry Dock? The reasoning behind that was that it was kept into place by the Docking’s “Umbilical cords”.)
Also, the inner warp nacelle vents were lit up in blue. I am sure the older nacelles that were in place from at least 2265 – 2269 would have also lit up in blue, but budget constraints limited the VFX guys to only be able to light up the inner window lights, and the nav sensor dome, etc. (just as budget constraints didn’t allow them to present the Klingons as we know them from ST:TMP and on, etc.)
My strong standpoint is this: I can live without the inner vents of the nacelles being lit up in blue. The Impulse engines, however — no matter what the shot or what is taking place — should ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS be lit up.
Hailing frequencies closed (for now.)
I would rather that the impulse engines never be lit because it looks too different from the way they looked in the original version of the episodes. Lit engines are kewl, but too distracting to me.
#11. In the doomsday machine, when the Enterprise warp engines are out, Sulu or someone, no Spock (of course it was Spock!), says that their fuel will be exhausted in 7 hours. He’s talking about Impulse engines isn’t he? I always thought the impulse engines were like rocket fuel. I agree with their explanation and actually think it shows that they’re thinking about this stuff.
Great article, thanks Anthony!
PS WOO HOO I GOT MY BLUE PHASERS!!
Hmm — now humor me here — but lets take a look at this realistically here. (Yes, I know its only a damned TV show, and its science FICTION, etc, etc. — but damn, even they tried to keep the realities and facts of space and how things work REAL as much as possible) —
GO BEYOND DAMNED SPECIAL EFFECTS, people! Sheeshus Mice! The damned starship is powered by thrusters, Impulse Engines, and Warp Engines. The engines are always on, period. Unless, like I said, for some other reason as I stated. Most of the time, we do not see those other reasons being applied. The damn ship is always moving; therefore the damn engines are always damn on!
This is a remastered project. They are going back and fixing the things the producers couldn’t do mostly because of budget constraints. Obviously, inconsistently.
Have I heard any one bitch about movie and post movie television shows’ starship impulse engines always being lit up? No! Why? Because we are now accustomed to them being so.
So, to say “its distracting” or doesnt keep with the original feel of the show is ludicrous, in my opinion. None of these damned remastered shots really keep with the original feel of the show, because the original feel of the show was “we have no money” and cheesy. IF THESE DAMN SPECIAL EFFECTS were of any significance, they wouldn’t have to do this remastered project in the first place.
I’ll compromise. Either have the damned engines always lit up, or don’t freakin light them up AT FREAKIN ALL! It looks stupid to only have them lit up in one scene, and not in the rest of the scenes. Anybody else on the same page as me, please show me some love here!
Impulse engines are for travelling sublight speeds. In real life, they are actually developing impulse engines. (look it up! i read the damn article in Science magazines.)
Warp engines are for travelling at faster than light speeds.
Both require fuel, but aren’t fuel themselves, or they would be called Impulse fuel.
If the Enterprise isn’t at warp speed, it is travelling at Impulse (which is 0.00 – 0.9 sublight. 1.0 is Warp Speed, Factor 1 (1x the speed of light.) Therefore, Impulse Factor 0.9 would be 0.9 x the speed of light.) Follow me here?
This isn’t secret crap I am spilling the beans on. This stuff has been known for quite some time.
Jeremy1975-
Thank you for yelling this valuable information at us. We are all the more enlightened for having it barked at us.
I’m still pissed off that they are not taking the time to finish all the shots the need to be fixed.
No doubt this will be an excuse to release a 4th, 5th, and 6th version of TOS on DVD.
Sorry about the “yelling” — forgot about that. I actually use caps to emphasize points since all you can read is text, and not hear the inflections of my voice. I forgot some people are sensitive to caps, and consider this as someone “yelling”. It’s easier for me to use caps in certain situations, then trying to remember the html code of “bold” and using that code to enhance the text im typing.
I will try my best to refrain from using caps in the future. All that pettiness aside, the point I was trying to make was made, and that’s what really matters. Not someone’s spelling errors, internet lingo, or “use” of caps lock, etc.
(by the way, some people use caps all the time — they aren’t yelling, they are just talking, and this is how they communicate text wise.) We must be open minded of how we are all different, and that we communicate in different ways.
Sheeshus Mice! We’re Star Trek fans, we should have this brainwashed into our heads by now!
Well, it was also further accentuated by including “DAMN” and “FREAKIN”, which implied you were angry…further implying yelling. I’ve moderated several messages forums in my day, and the vast majority of folks do consider caps to be yelling. Yes, it’s a matter of interpretation…but most interpret them as stressful and harsh.
To the camp that feels the impulse engines always have to be on, I submit to you that any object once in motion stays in motion until something against said motion.
Well, I do admit there was some frustration present, yes. Let’s put the use of caps and colorful metaphors aside for just a second … let me ask you this … what was the point I was trying to convey? Did it come through clearly? Did it seem based in fact and reality? Or was it totally left field?
The guys at CBS-D and fans all over are an awesome bunch, don’t get me wrong. But, sometimes they make points that just don’t make sense.
“Only when Sulu is ‘stepping on the gas’…” to justify when to have the engines lit or when not to have them lit is a good one to use as an example.
The Starship Enterprise, at least during the visible shots during each show, is always “stepping on the gas” — always moving. That, minus the frustration, the caps, and the colorful metaphors that we humans sometimes unconsciously choose to express ourselves with, is ultimately the point I was trying to make.
Jeremy1975- Here’s a basic science lesson for you: Because of the laws of motion, the engines would only have to be on while accelerating. In the zero-G environment of space, the Big E would maintain a constant speed, since there is nothing to slow it down. Therefore, its perfectly reasonable to only see the impulse engines lit up at certain times, but not others, even while the ship is moving.
OK so the photos showed them Rotoscoping Kirk & Spock’s shirt, does this mean they will be putting the proper shirt on Kirk when he gets out of the Turbo Lift in Charlie X?
Rotoscoping like that is a pain in the butt. If only they have the untouched footage but, those negatives are probably dirt by now.
And sound cannot travel in the vacuum of space. I give up.
People in charge of the special FX in later productions must have not been aware of this science fact — since they always portrayed the impulse engines lit up … and the original FX people of TOS really mustn’t have been aware, since they never showed the engines lit up at all.
Wow, we sure do get testy and passionate about the little details as fans, don’t we? LOL.
To be or not to be, that is the question…
Pity about the Vulcan sky in “Amok Time.” But I wonder if the brief glimpse of the Vulcan landscape they mention will echo the big statues seen in the Director’s Edition of TMP (which were, for my money, the single best addition made for that version)?
#25 – Jeremy1975. I probably shouldn’t wade in here, but what exactly is your point? The basic physics pointed out by Laviano and Spartacus are absolutely accurate — the engines would only be engaged when the ship is *accelerating,* not when it’s in motion. And they certainly wouldn’t remain engaged just to stay in one place. Are you saying that because the show ignores physics when they have “sound” in space, that they should ignore it here too? I’m not getting your point.
#23 Kelvington — it looks to me like they’re rotoscoping Kirk and Spock walking in front of the main viewscreen, which suggests to me that they’re matting in space shots on the screen (hopefully dynamic ones, like in Daren’s tests) to replace the static starfield in the original.
Actually, there is a precedent of the impulse engines on the 1701 lighting up as Sulu “steps on the gas.”
In TMP, watch as the Enterprise is leaving Earth orbit. As Sulu accelerates the ship, the normal orange glow in the impulse engines brightens up considerably.
Of course, this is different from TOSR where the engines from black to red as the ship accelerates, but it’s the same basic idea.
And of course, the physics of it are pretty simple. In space, where there is no resistance to slow down the ship, they would only need to “step on the gas” to accelerate or change course.
Great article. Answers a lot of questions! I hope it helps it clarifies it for the readers here.
I’m all for an expanded landscape on Vulcan, but I hope they don’t add the statues. I liked ’em in ST:TMP, but they would seem out of place in a TOS episode.
I can’t wait for “Doomsday”, but we’ve got “Babel” to look forward to before that. Sweet!
#6 – Xai
Thanks Xai… that means a lot to me.
Cheers! :)
BTW it’s nice to see that the tornado from the Wizard of Oz was able to find work even almost 30 years later.
After reading the report on the offical Star Trek site. The one question I would like them to ask and of answered was …why the rush?
I mean why do they have to rush to finish this project. I understand the weekly tv schedule but why cant they go back and fix these things later?
Why cant they be given more time when this is over instead of rushing these out on to DVD? But I guess they cant answer those questions
for fear of hacking off the money men. The way they have answered the questions make it sound like there will be no tweaking before a final cut for DVD and that is a shame
Its a real disappointment that these are being rushed becasue the work the guys are doing is great and getting better and better all the time. It just makes you wonder what we could of had if they where given the time.
It sounds like Niel Wray and his team are being worked into over time and on the verge of a nervous break down
“Niel Wray (visual effects supervisor) lately, the dark circles under his eyes are a little bigger, and he looks a little more haggard. He and his team have been working late into the night on this one. Even later into the night than usual!”
They should at least seriously consider adding to the team, like maybe double it that would surley help.
It makes no sense to keep the impulse engines on, you only have to accelerate once and then you won’t slow down. Basic physics.
So then .What’s with the “warp engines”?From what I understand they don’t emitt any thrust at all.they just “warp” the fabric of space,propelling the craft.
Making the Big E impulse engines work requires a lot of “creative” physics. For example:
*The location of the impulse engines is hardly efficient for maneuvering in any direction but straight ahead. And forget about full astern, unless there are some awesome hidden thrust reversers being deployed at lightning speed in Balance of Terror and other episodes. Plus, they should fire along a line of the center of mass of the vessel to prevent pitch, yaw, and roll unless you want to fire other thrusters continuously, yet we know the Enterprise can jettison its nacelles, which would make the poor ship pitch down rather badly under impulse power with the secondary hull still in place. Maybe they go REAL slow in that configuration – lol.
*The ship often moves through space in ways one would expect of an object moving through a fluid, not a vacuum. The banking in turns is pretty, but makes little sense – it would require a rather inefficient use of multiple thrusters to create those lovely sweeping maneuvers in space.
*We’ve never even seen smaller thrusters firing on the TOS Big E, they’ve only been mentioned in dialog. But of course TNG did an episode where Picard piloted the ship using lots of tight thruster shots, which was cute.
So whether or not they light up the impulse engines all of the time won’t make much difference to me. I agree that they are probably running at a lower level most of the time to provide ship power (unless they draw upon the matter/antimatter reactors for that – the plasma conduits in TNG come to mind), but that might not make them bright enough to show in the space shots. So Okuda’s approach is fine by me.
When to light the impulse engines – 101
When Accelerating
When breaking free of gravitational forces or tractor beams
When resisting gravitational forces
I’m a little torn about the lit up impulse engines. On the original model they were NEVER lit… I think if they had designed them to be lit internally they would have made the impulse engines much larger so they would “appear” more dramatic on camera… just as they did with the front of the warp nacelles. I think one possible option instead of going from black to red would be to have a constant glow. One shade could be blue (idle) and red (accelerating).
I still stick to my main point that the impulse engines (by design) were never meant to be illuminated or they would have done so on the original and made them appear to be doing something which meant they would have been designed to be bigger in the first place. This is not far fetched because they went to a lot of trouble to create window lights and running lights so a pulsing or glowing impulse engine would have been a snap.
#32
I was thinking that the [fictional] creators of the machine misinterpreted the concept of a “Horn of Plenty’
(transl) “I developed something that I call the (double-quote gestures with fingers) “Cornucopia of Destruction” … bwah-hah-hah!
What I’d like to see on a really good CGI episode is some directional thrusters peppered on the surface details of the E(similar to the space shuttles)that would attribute to E’s manuverability,as ALL of E’s thrust power thusfar depicted seems to be for straight line performance.
The first time I saw Star Wars( 1977),I couldn’t help but think that some of the inspiration for the “deathstar” came from this particular episode of Trek.
You know, I understand the trouble of rotoscoping, and I’m fine with that and totaly understand the time constrains involved. But does every improvement have to be so high tech? For instance, cant some simple stationary whispy coulde be superimposed high in the frame? Clouds don’t really have to move, relative to motion on the ground anyway because they are so far away. Stationary clouds would look fine. Nothing fancy, just take some cloud images and drop them in high enough so they don’t cross paths and affect the live action. Or, if the angles of the live action present the opportunity, add a simple quick sun flare to suggest it’s presence high above. Improvements don’t have to always be time intensive CGI- subtle little things could be done, but they have to think outside of the CGI box. Having said that, I love the scale of the Doomsday machine inthe animatics and can’t wait to see it in all it’s planet killing glory. And as far as the impulse engines go, I’m indifferent, either way works for me.
Warp Speed = Getting there really fast
Impulse = Not going as fast
All I need to know to enjoy the show.
42 – Stanky McFibberich
Now THAT’s funny… :)
Fix.
The.
Shuttlecraft.
Scale.
“The damn ship is always moving; therefore the damn engines are always damn on!”
No, in deep space, a ship can move at a constant rate without engine power, because there is nothing pushing against it, unlike in an atmosphere. Engine power is only needed to acceleration/deacceleration.
The argument about so-called scientific inaccuracies such as sound in space is a flawed one because Roddenberry’s dictum wasn’t about being inaccurate, it was about bending the rules to aide the viewer being able to relate with the events happening in the show.
Here is what Gene Roddenberry is quoted as saying on page 116 of Stephen E. Whitfield’s “The Making of Star Trek”…
“…The truth is, not only do we miss, but we have also cheated a bit in certain areas. We’ve done so because there are certain things that are dramatically necessary in a show…”
He goes on about there being no sound in space…
“When we did the original titles for the pilot, where we have the ship zoom past the camera at seemingly great speeds we had no sound…Just the visual movement of the ship. The shot was dead”
Roddenberry also points out that the near misses of photon torpedoes should make everyone fall out of their chairs, but without them falling out of their chairs there is no drama or sense of peril in the combat sequences.
“And we are sitting there in our chairs with not a hair on our heads disturbed. Again, a “dead” scene with no drama, no excitement. We found we had to make the ship rock in such situations…Otherwise the earthbound audience simply cannot relate emotionally to the jeopardy going on.”
So there were certain things that had to be done for the sake of dramatics. This is why there is sound in space and people bouncing all over the corridors; drama. What the CBS Digital team is doing is faithful to Roddenberry’s own standards. The impulse engines will only be seen ‘on’ when it is necessary for the sake of enhancing the drama (example: the constellation powering up for an attack on TDDM)
As we pointed out, anyone who remembers 7th grade basic physics should know why they don’t have to be on. Anyone who has seen ‘Apollo 11’ or “Assignment Earth” would know that once the thrusters burn out they get discarded.
Phasers must be blue ( not red ). Lit up that impulse engines.
Nice angle on the maw “suck-in” scene; maybe they’re trying to escape at this point?
Jeremy1975 – you might want to review Newton’s laws of motion.
Nor changing the R on the tombstone was a mistake. His middle initial is T. Unless the new movie is going to have Gary Mitchell actually address that issue, that needs to be fixed.