SFX Video
(D/L: WMV)
New and Old
Assorted
Pre-order TOS-R Season One Box from Amazon – now $129.95
Star Trek: The Original Series – The Complete First Season [HD DVD] — $129.95
SFX Video
New and Old
Assorted
Pre-order TOS-R Season One Box from Amazon – now $129.95
Star Trek: The Original Series – The Complete First Season [HD DVD] — $129.95
Nice rings on the planet, but why so grey?
Looks good, glad they replaced the matte with a new one. Looking at the pics that old shot looks new to me… I don’t recall seeing the ship approach that red planet from that side/angle (not that it was shown from that side often). Only recall where its flying away from the back of the ship….
Anyway cool as usual!
Look, I love a lot of the remastered effects, BUT…….are my eyes deceiving me or does the ship seem “jerky” as it moves through space? Shouldn’t it be fluid in motion? Will it look better on the DVD set when it comes out next month?
3: That’s an artifact of the video playback on the PC.
It looked perfectly smooth on the TV Saturday night.
Thanks for the clarification!
#3 are you watching crappy, highly-compressed internet clips or are you watching it on TV? The motion looked perfectly smooth to me on TV.
#3: Sorry, I didn’t realize that someone had already given the same answer.
Looks like good shots here.
Ok, KLSR Eugene seems to have dropped the 11:30 pm Sunday rebroadcast of Trek. With the league championship series and World Series coming up on Fox, I am missing these episodes… but at least for good reason.
Alright, so the question is: Anyone in the Eugene market know when these will be shown, or are we out of luck till the end of the World Series?
More ship beauty shots – very nice. There must be such a library of them now they surely can concentrate on other stuff?
Well, let me be the first to ask. What the heck is going on with the new Tantalus exterior “matte painting?”
From the soundtrack, Kirk and Noel should be beaming into the image. Instead, some sort of small, indistinct, opaque blob dissolves into the shot just before it cuts to the original footage.
I am missing something? Does it make more sense in HD?
Yes because you are seeing them materialize from a long way out. The sound efects are just to tell you that they are beaming down at the entrance of the lab.
This episode has to be king of the Captain “Inappropriate Touching” Kirk episodes. Oh, sure, his behaviour in other episodes could be seen as sexual harassment or they could be seen as a sign of sexually liberated 23rd century but here…
The best qualified staff not getting the appropriate assignments because they got the benefit of the Captain’s Log first hand and now he’s trying to avoid them.
For shame, Jim, for *shame*…
Some nice work here by the CBS Digital team, and what a difference a ‘ringed’ planet makes here and there. Now if only there could be a few more planets ‘stylized’ with moons…
And I hope the crew were all holding onto something for that steep ‘banking’ manouver…
If they replaced the matte painting anyway, why replace the nice rust-colored planet with this dull urine-colored blob, color-wise? The continuing attempts to water down the original style with more so-called “realism” and comtemporary [bland] style is nothing but tiring…
More color, more light, more contrast, guys!
(And no, that’s not just a matter of changing TV settings…)
Superb!
Nice comparisons. I don’t know if it’s your capturing software or the way they were recorded from TV but the remastered shots take on a dull lifeless quality here. Any chance of fixing them in photoshop beforehand?
@14. Perhaps they are thinking about where would you want to build a high security underground facility. Pick a nice idllyic world with lots of grass and flora for the lunatics to look at out a window, or pick somewhere that is of no interest to anyone.
Also, if its an underground facility then it stands to reason that there must be a good reason for not building on the surface. Perhaps because it is a dull grey blob of a planet and there is nothing up there of any note.
THis was good with the CGI. My only complaint is when they cut scenes out for syndication. I hope I can get the DVD. IT is terrible when you see that. For example: When you here Spock Make his log about using the Vulcan Mind meld, in the syndation you here him make it while doing the meld itself. In the original he is talking to Dr. Mccoy between the log and the meld, the meld also is a little longer. I also missed the first 10 minutes because I overslept.
Another note. THese episodes are good, but I would like to see an episode where the enterprise isn’t spending practically the entire episode orbiting a planet. I know that there weren’t very many of them but WHen I see one I hopefully will be very impressed.
Looked ok, but as others have mentioned…why the hell do they keep dulling the look of TOS down to such a distilled and lifeless palette?
#19. Impressed by what?
Some very nice Enterprise shots in this episode. I really loved the scene with the Enterprise entering Tantalus orbit. You can see the impulse engines lighting up as they kick in. Very cool.
I wish the FX reel had shown the doorway shot following the new matte. How well the matte leads into that is part of the effect.
The old #3 pic’s link is incorrect. This is the correct link:
once again, the original studio miniature shots are more convincing. using a cgi model was a mistake given their budget and schedule. cgi models can look like solid, real objects, but it can’t be done in haste. too bad this remastering is just another repackaging money-grab by paramount… it sure shows. interesting though. the original matte painting using parts of the old lithium cracking station to me showed the use of common machinery technology for the period. the new matte is pretty cool though. the original planet looked more alien… and was pretty good for the day.
Nice!
I especially like the close orbital shot which corrects (?) a scale problem with the windows. On this shot, the E’s “bump” under the bridge (I’d call it an aeriola, but you’d blush) appears to have at least four or five decks. When the windows appear large, the scale suggests one maybe two decks. This kind of detail could enhance the familiar E and make it that much more believable in the movie. (I’d still like to be able to look in and see Helen taking a shower.)
#25. “once again, the original studio miniature shots are more convincing”
Once again the studio minature shots look like the same ones that were used a dozen times before in other episodes. ;) They also look cruddy as hell.
Underwhelming yet again CBSD. Yes, the space shots are looking better. Nice planet this week, though the rings seem odd – transperant grey?
But in all honesty, the CGI work is nothing to crow about, don’t forget it’s 2007 folks, not 1997. The level of CGI we are getting from them is barely acceptable, not groundbreaking on any level, maybe a notch above HQ game work.
What I really look forward to are all the nice little enhancements, with the exception of the new exterior matte painting, this show had none. Why couldn’t we see an updated neural neutralizer – it was a cut away shot everytime we saw it, so it could have easily been re-created, same with the control panel. And don’t get me started with wrinkled paper view screens on the bridge – won’t those look beautiful in HD – can’t wait!
I just hope that CBSD knocks our socks off with “The Ultimate Computer” and then maybe I’ll keep tuning in, but at this point, I’m just about done with this so-called re-mastering effort. It’s bordering on the pathetic.
Oh and forgot to mention the shot of McCoy on the bridge viewscreen with a matte line about 4 inches thick on the left side. Again – easily re-created . I could do that in after effects, take me about – say 5 minutes. C’mon CBSD!
I thought this was an interesting episode and as far as the new digital effects are concerned..It was OK! The ship approaching and leaving Tantalus bothered me a little it still seemed cartoonish..All in all, good job!
13. Cervantes “…… And I hope the crew were all holding onto something for that steep ‘banking’ manouver…”
That bothered me too. Can anyone explain why a starship out in space would need to tilt like that (as if it’s a small airplane) when turning around? This shot occurred when Kirk ordered the Enterprise to return to Tantalus early in the episode (second row, below “New and Old” pictures above).
Marianna Hill, who played the wonderfully-named Helen Noel, who had a liaison at a Christmas party with Kirk, went on to play Fredo Corleone’s splendidly trashy wife in The Godfather Part 2.
As a child, it was the chilling mind ripping of Kirk that I remember from this episode. As an adult I was, like, ‘Holey moley!’ on seeing the gorgeous Dr Noel! Few women have fitted a 60s Starfleet uniform so well!
#20
In a side by side comparision, the new FX do look a bit duller and less colorful I agree. But in the context of the episode, they seem to fit in very well and are actually MORE consistent with the production values in the rest of the show. Looking at the original eps, the FX seem incredibly jarring and out of place now, and don’t do nearly as good a job of telling the story.
But enough about that. The best part of THIS episode was Doctor Noell! Why is it the other Trek series never had girls this hot walking around?
We have already seen the best NCC 1701 there is. It is the movie version which is absolutely beautiful. They can’t do anything better than that in restyling the Enterprise design…
I love that scene with Noel and Kirk in the transporter room before they beam down–Noel is actually sexually harassing Kirk! That is pretty ballsy for the period. Amazing how much young Marianna Hill looks and sounds like Gina Davis.
I think this must be the last of the first season episodes, which had to be rushed to finish for the DVD box set–hopefully the pressure will let up now a little and we can see a bit more finessing in these episodes. And yes, I agree that this approach hasn’t been the best of all possible worlds where this project is concerned but I still want the DVDs and am enjoying the remastered episodes.
Jeff – I can’t them a pass because they need to rush to meet a DVD release deadline. That’s rediculous.
This entire effort has been inconsistent from the get go. I kinda buy the arguement that they are spending more time with the fan faves (“I, Mudd” “The Doomsday Machine” etc) but I’m nervous. This second season of remastered shows has been disapppointing. Like others have said, I’ll reserve final judgement until “The Ultimate Computer” and “The Enterprise Incident” hit the air… please WOW us CBSD!
Yes, here I go again with the nacelle ball size arguement. Just check the screen caps…
And I totally agree with #36 above.
A tangible, solid-looking Enterprise IS possible with CGI. D.Doc. and Dennis have shown that. Exactly WHAT CBS-D’s problem is, and has been, remains a mystery to me.
#19: But orbiting planets is pretty much all the Enterprise *did* in the old episodes, if you think about it. Instances where we see it doing anything really different (say, battle other ships) are, as you suggest, pretty few and far between, and by my count most of them have already been remastered. Tomorrow is Yesterday, Doomsday Machine, and Immunity Syndrome are examples that jump to mind. Ultimate Computer will hopefully shake up that status quo a little bit.
Regarding old pic #3:
I thought it interesting that the most awkward approach shot of the original series was replaced by an equally awkward CGI. Something about it reminded me of the shakey AMT Constellation at the end of “The Doomsday Machine”.
Say what you will about this project, I know that I am watching these episodes again for the first time in about 10 years, largely for the effects. But the restored prints have been delightful. A certain hairpiece has never been more evident.
Still to come from the first season: “The Alternative Factor” and “Operation: Annihilate!” The latter has a lame title; the former is just lame.
Face it, Dr. Image–no matter how hard the CBS Digital team tries, they’re never going to completely satisfy everyone’s expectations. They’re on a tight budget and an even tighter release schedule, so I’d say that what we’ve seen so far is pretty amazing, given the circumstances.
eagle219406 wrote:
> My only complaint is when they cut scenes out for syndication.
Yeah, they cut the scenes with Helen Noel crawling through the air ducts!
#32
Maybe you should also remember about Dr Noel that she was the one crawling through the badly lit aisles, causing the crucial short-circuit, knocking out that guard, grabbing his phaser, and crawling back to a quite incapable Kirk, who stood there WAITING for her…;-)
Every version of Star Trek has been done on a tight budget, relative to the plans of the producers (huge) and the expectations of the audience (even huger). I think it’s safe to say that the people making each version have done their best to stretch their production dollars to do as much as possible.
Put another way, no matter how much is done, or how it is done, it is always possible to wish for more, or to think of another way to do it.
This will no doubt apply to Star Trek XI, despite having the highest budget ever.
I liked the matte painting in “Dagger of the Mind”, BTW.
We have more fantastic stuff again from the CBS-D team. I hope they have some cool features on the team doing this work on the upcoming HD-DVD sets. I’d love to see the works in progress or ideas not used type of extras on the new set. I know how hard it is working on some of the on set shots and the rotoscoping type of work involved. The few shots they have done have put those few shows on a new beautiful level that I enjoy very much. The one shot in “Arena” with the one shot of the Gorn on its back had his eyes blink for second was awesome. I would love to hear the story behind that and why it wasn’t through out the episode. That made the Gorn a little less stiff.
It would be great to have a prototype CBS-D Re-mastered episode with more touched up material, like those horrible paper displays on the bridge. It would take ages to do of course, but I’d pay to have a set with new blinkie Winkies (the Nick Meyer type of update) or moving data (more in line with what was shown in the back ground of the motion pictures). Maybe start a petition to have more upgrading done? You could have images on those screens that could link with all incarnations in Star Trek land OK Star Trek space.
The reason I say this is because the contrast between the new shots on the live action materials shot and the space and planetary shots is a bit jarring a bit. You can see the wrinkles in the pictures in the background of the bridge in low resolution and can’t imagine what that is going to look in HD? It is still very refreshing seeing TOS in a new light now.
Love the work CBS-D is able to do with the small budget and tight timeline Paramount has dumped on them.
But I have a suggestion/question: Can’t the bridge “frame” around the main viewscreen shot be rendered digitally? (I’m talking about the close up shot as seen in the fouorth set of pictures above…so you can’t see the backs of Sulu and the navigator.) It’s used so often and the live frame is so grainy/fuzzy/dirty…it’s a real distraction when there is a lovely new CGI graphic in the screen itself. It’s one of the glaring problems of merging the new with the old. It most case it works seamlessly. But the viewscreen shot, that’s just not the case.
It’s a pretty simple background to render so it shouldn’t be too hard to make it look “real.” And we see a viewscreen shot seveal times in each episode. Seems like it would be worthwhile investment. Do it well once and you can use it throughout the rest of the episodes.
Just wondering.
37. Dr. Image
The CGI work continues to baffle me – it’s is so mediocre. What Dennis and Doc have done is amazing on virtually no budget. I’m so disappointed that in 2007 CBSD is churning out this kind of work – it’s just so sub-par.
and 44. Commodore Z
There’s no excuses – deadlines and budget – forget that nonsense. It’s a botched effort and they don’t seem to be making changes to fix that – good luck selling these DVDs.
Have “Mudd’s Women” and “The Enemy Within” aired yet?
#47: It’s easy to say that budgets and deadlines don’t matter, and as a viewer, that is perfectly valid, because all that really matters is if you like it or not. But for those who claim to speak with expertise about production, they should know that budgets and deadlines very much matter in the workplace. To pretend otherwise is to admit ignorance.
#47 – Sadly, the DVD’s will likely sell…and suckers will buy them.
For some reason, there are those who feel they need to defend every pixel that is put on the screen by CBS D. The work they’ve done truly hasn’t been of professional quality most of the time. I’m not saying their amateurs, but for the life of me…I can’t figure out why they’re putting out a product that consistently misses the mark in terms of professional quality.
I certainly don’t have impossibly high standards, and their work certainly doesn’t suck, but it’s the type of work I would expect to see posted in a fan forum. Daren did a much better job of capturing TOS. They also don’t seem to have a sense of how the ship needs to move to look real and have a sense of mass. They should look no further than TMP and TWOK for that.
Bah…it’s useless. The DVD’s will be released with subpar work. There’s no sense fighting for higher quality anymore. The execs won’t allow the team more time and money to do this properly. CBS was too pig headed to get Daren in on the project….it was doomed to be half assed from the start.