I'm pretty sure that this test disc will not be VFX-heavy out of budget reasons.
Why? The whole point of the test would be to determine if the HD upconversion and updated VFX effects are worth doing.
Because this project is driven by marketing people and not by technicians. They will most probably choose episodes which cover all technical aspects as space shots, beaming effects, matte paintings, laser fire in both life action and space scenes and ‘Data sitting in front of the view screen’, but they will not choose very effect heavy episodes in order to keep the budget low. There is still a chance that the outcome is superb however not enough people are buying it. This 4-episode blu ray is a test balloon to see if people are willing to pay again for TNG. And unless they know the answer they will not spend too much money on it. My assumption is that they will focus on ‘good’ TNG episodes with great stories.
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted
Maybe if they didn't make the seasons so bloody expensive they'd sell more. I mean, TNG on DVD has been out for how many years and they're still $60+ a season. WTF
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quote:Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: 6. I remember reading somewhere that TNG was shot on film but edited directly on video. So not only would they have to convert every effects scene, but they'd also have to re-edit the entire episode to put it in HD.
Actually I think having all the footage on film is a good thing in his case. Any attempt to replace VFX and not have it look crap would require the best possible print to be scanned into a digital editing suit. Needless to say, film stock is is probably going to be much easier to blow up for HD than a second or third gen video transfer. Plus of course you'd need the raw footage to re-composite any new VFX regardless. Re-editing and re-scoring the entire episode is, I think a given in this case.
I think TOS-R got away with it because the limitations of 60's technology on a shoestring budget meant the shots they were replacing were pretty straight forward and took up relatively little screen time. TNG had a *LOT* more VFX elements per episode.
I'd be surprised if it goes ahead, but if any franchise can afford to have this much money thrown at it, it's Star Trek. Shows like Babylon 5 on the other hand don't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting the HD treatment. Building a whole new stable of HD quality assets and textures, re-rendering all that footage on it's own would be prohibitively expensive, never mind all the video and audio remastering legwork.
I wonder if it might be a better idea for them to work backwards. Start with Enterprise (assuming it's not already HD quality) then tackling Voyager and DS9. The digital assents are more likely to be around and a lot of the original model builders and animators are still in the business.
posted
Also, the first three seasons of Enterprise are already in HD. You can get 'em on iTunes. (Dunno why season 4 is only SD.)
But I'm still highly skeptical of any of the other shows in HD. Upgrading TOS made sense because the effects were so old and so low-res, it was a major improvement. But you're going to get diminishing returns on TNG, and even less from DS9 and VOY. And each one of those shows went for 7 seasons. It took more than two years to remaster the 3 seasons of TOS. Unless they could massively speed up the process, you're talking a 7-year project to remaster TNG, DS9, and VOY. And for what?
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
^BluRay sales? It's a simple equation; if the cost of doing it (all expenditures included) is less than the expected sales revenue then they'll do it. If anything stretching it out over a decade is a bonus.
The reason the recent shows will be easier is that there's a good chance the digital assets still exist. Not just the models and textures (at least some of which may still be serviceable) but the scene and animation files too. Once you have those you just need to re-render the same scenes at a higher resolution.
...Probably not nearly that simple, but a hell of a lot more straight forward and less labour intensive than starting from scratch. Plus the live action footage shouldn't need remastering. The early seasons of TNG on the other hand looks decidedly VHS in quality.
This was exactly what the plan with Babylon 5. It was anticipated from the get-go that widescreen HD TV wasn't too far off so the whole show was shot in widescreen, with the intention to be able to come back latter and re-render and re-composite all the CG elements once the technology was available.
The reasons it didn't work are threefold. Firstly because Netter (and possibly someone else who's name escapes me) didn't want to spend a couple extra grand on a special monitor that'd allow Foundation Imaging to frame their shots for anything other than 4:3. Secondly when Netter Digital took over from FI, they basically trashed the digital assets because they didn't know what they were doing (IIRC they were mostly the least experienced team members at FI that were poached to run Netter's new company.) And thirdly, WB who were entrusted with all the assets after the show ended (at their insistence) promptly lost them and let rats eat the live action footage (no joke!)
With a bit of luck Paramount and it's employees have taken a bit more care with their property and such a project would at least be possible. I have no idea if it'd be profitable; that's for the bean counters to decide.
posted
THey need to release TNG in HD with new effects to hype Abrams' dismantling of everything cerebral and non- Hollywood about Trek.
MORE EXPLOSIONS! MORE SEX! BIGGER STARSHIPS!
Fuck's sake.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: THey need to release TNG in HD with new effects to hype Abrams' dismantling of everything cerebral and non- Hollywood about Trek.
MORE EXPLOSIONS! MORE SEX! BIGGER STARSHIPS!
Fuck's sake.
Throwing boring diplomacy out of the window, Picard refers to all his enemies as "cupcake".
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