[DrPepper]

Is it a good thing or bad?
We know how some Star Wars fans feel about E4-6.
I don't mind as long as the CG matches the 60's designs.
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/rumormill.html#082806

"new" Enterprise image
http://tvguide.com/News/Insider/

CBS Paramount Domestic Television's official press release on the Star Trek CG upgrade:

"Hollywood, Calif. -- STAR TREK is getting a 21st century makeover. CBS Paramount Domestic Television is releasing digitally remastered episodes of the iconic 1960s sci-fi series, with all new special effects and music, to celebrate the groundbreaking series' 40th anniversary, it was announced today by John Nogawski, president of CBS Paramount Domestic Television.

The new episodes also mark the first time in 16 years that the original STAR TREK series can be seen in broadcast syndication. The episodes will begin airing on the more than 200 stations that own the rights to the weekend broadcast syndication window starting Sept. 16 (check local listings for station and dates). All 79 episodes of the original STAR TREK series will eventually be remastered, with the first batch of episodes chosen from a list of STAR TREK fans' favorite shows.

"STAR TREK redefined science-fiction and constantly pushed the envelope with concepts that were ahead of their time," Nogawski said. "By giving the series a digital upgrade using the best technology available today, it will continue to be a leader in cutting-edge television programming as we introduce the series to a new generation of viewers."

The most noticeable change will be redoing many of the special effects, created with 1960s technology, with 21st century computer-generated imagery (CGI). That includes:

• Space ship exteriors -- The space ship Enterprise, as well as other Starships, will be replaced with state of the art CGI-created ships. The new computer-generated Enterprise is based on the exact measurements of the original model, which now rests in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

• Show opening -- The Enterprise and planets seen in the main title sequence will be redone, giving them depth and dimension for the first time.

• Galaxy shots -- All the graphics of the galaxy, so frequently seen through the window on the Enterprise's bridge, will be redone.

• Exteriors -- The battle scenes, planets and ships from other cultures (notably the Romulan Bird of Prey and Klingon Battle Cruisers) will be updated.

• Background scenes -- Some of the iconic, yet flat, matte paintings used as backdrops for the strange, new worlds explored by the Enterprise crew will get a CGI face-lift, adding atmosphere and lighting.

The refurbished episodes also feature higher quality sound for the famous opening theme. The original score by Emmy Award-winning composer Alexander Courage has been re-recorded in state-of-the-art digital stereo audio with an orchestra and a female singer belting out the famous vocals. A digitally remastered version of William Shatner's classic original recording of the 38-word "Space, the final frontier…" monologue continues to open each episode.

The remastered episodes have been converted from the original film into a High-Definition format, which gives viewers a clearer, crisper, more vibrant picture than before, even when viewed in standard definition. Once stations upgrade and start broadcasting HD signals, the episodes will be all ready for viewers to enjoy in HD."

[PoochJD]

Hi,

Personally speaking, I have no problem with Hi-Def remastering/restoration work (to improve picture or sound quality), being done on old shows and films, but I do wish people would STOP having to tinker with them, to make them more modern-looking, ala "Star Wars" (episodes 4-6)! It causes a real problem, for viewers who simply want good quality versions of old favourites, and then they see that their fave show/film has been modified.

I think, that all tinkering (e.g. souping-up special effects, eradicating errors, et al) should not be allowed, unless audiences are given the option to see an uncorrected original as well. Just look at the problems Lucas caused over the Star Wars series.

Can't TV and movie companies leave good things alone?!


Pooch

I liked the updates to SW but watching Trek on sci-fi at the moment I can't it being as well merged, neither can I see them spending what Lucas had at his disposal. Trek looks kinda shonky and probably should stay that way imo.

[hottstuff]

Oh dear.
Councellor troy , and 7of9 in HD.
Thats all the trekkies wanna see.

Can't imagine the series being a sensation in HD.

[Starburst]

I'm all for using modern techniques to upgrade/replace the visual effects used in the original series. While you can argue that somethings should never be changed it's not as if there are not decent quality DVD's out there if you want the true 1960's optical effects both visual and audio.

Redone transporter effects, weapsons fire and ship/space scenes seamlessly merged in with the live action and all in HD, very nice

As long as they don't mess with the actual stories or re-edit the shows in the manner Lucas did I can't see a problem after all the modern fan films have better shots of the Enterprise

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by hottstuff

Oh dear.
Councellor troy , and 7of9 in HD.
Thats all the trekkies wanna see.

Can't imagine the series being a sensation in HD.

No worries there, TNG and Voyager were not shot of film so can never be remastered to native HD.
TOS pre-dating video camera shooting is well suited to HD and redoing the visual effects in HD will mean you won't have to upscale the SD only source material as they are doing I believe for Firefly.

[Tight Git]

Just how much are they "correcting" ?

I have a book of Star Trek bloopers which reveals dozens of mistakes in each episode!

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by Tight Git

Just how much are they "correcting" ?

I have a book of Star Trek bloopers which reveals dozens of mistakes in each episode!

It'll be just the visual effects.
The live action was shot on film so easily cleaned and remastered to HD but the visual effects (optical methods) would have been made seperate (obviously) so can be redone. So as long as you have the original film masters you can then redo the visual effects to match the newly restored film and with modern computer based editing and post production slip them in perfectly.

A couple of examples done by fans are on You Tube here and here.

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by Starburst

A couple of examples done by fans are on You Tube here and here.

The ships look good apart from the flames coming out of the saucer pod, but I prefer the original design of the doomsday machine.

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by Garrett

The ships look good apart from the flames coming out of the saucer pod, but I prefer the original design of the doomsday machine.

Well you can't blame a fan for designing something to their own tastes or perhaps defined by the limits of the own hardware

[DrPepper]

"new" Enterprise
http://tvguide.com/News/Insider/

[hottstuff]

Originally Posted by DrPepper

"new" Enterprise
http://tvguide.com/News/Insider/

Cool.
but do i see kelly bundy advertising haynes clothes on that link.lol

[Matt]

Why???

Surely people can accept the fact that some tv and films were made before the advent of CGI??
Shakespeare didnt use slang so maybe we should update that as well
Romeo Romeo where is ya

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by DrPepper

"new" Enterprise
http://tvguide.com/News/Insider/

Nice

Now when will we in the UK see these versions and will they be on a HD channel or the blue laser format that I eventually buy

[Kebabhead]

If it's anything like the DS9 episode Trouble with Tribbles where Sisko and the gang went back in time and were GCI inserted into the original Trouble with Tribbles then forget it. For a starter Worf looked completely out of character as non of the other Klingons had a cornish pasty on their forehead

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by Matt

Why???

Surely people can accept the fact that some tv and films were made before the advent of CGI??
Shakespeare didnt use slang so maybe we should update that as well
Romeo Romeo where is ya

Well why not?
The new graphics will not detract from the stories and Trek when all said and done was not watched for it's visual effects, they were to many fans secondary. Given the remastering to HD it would be foolish to have optical based effects even if they were cleaned up (they would look seriously out of place) and as the originals are already in circulation on DVD there is a lot of sense to offering an alternative.

CGI is simply replacing the optical effects that were used in the late 1960's, the important stuff isn't changing.

Hands up who didn't get a kick out of seeing the modern CGI Constitution class starship guns a blazing in the Enterprise mirror universe ep and think how great TOS would be with those visual effects

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by Kebabhead

If it's anything like the DS9 episode Trouble with Tribbles where Sisko and the gang went back in time and were GCI inserted into the original Trouble with Tribbles then forget it. For a starter Worf looked completely out of character as non of the other Klingons had a cornish pasty on their forehead

Well it wouldn't be.
The DS9 episode was 90% brand new content with a modern show trying to look like an old one and thanks to the cleaning up of the old TOS masters the finished product matched seamlessly. In this case the visual effects were created to match the original, the new version of TOS will not be hampered by this consideration.
The DS9 story wasl also well written even though they had to skirt around the forehead issue which has plagued Trek since the first movie

Thankfully Enterprise with a fantastic season4 mini-arc explained the absence of ridges perfectly.

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by Kebabhead

If it's anything like the DS9 episode Trouble with Tribbles where Sisko and the gang went back in time and were GCI inserted into the original Trouble with Tribbles then forget it. For a starter Worf looked completely out of character as non of the other Klingons had a cornish pasty on their forehead

Did the not comment on it like where’s the Cornish pasty on their forehead, and Worf saying something like it was part of there history they did not like to talk about (genetics or biological?).

[krish]

Originally Posted by Starburst

The DS9 story wasl also well written even though they had to skirt around the forehead issue which has plagued Trek since the first movie..

iirc (and I should really get round to watching my Klingon ST Fan Collective boxset !!).... Bashir comments on Worf not looking anything like the earlier Klingons to which he replies with something like "We don't talk about that". I though that was very funny, and also the best way to leave it; without it having to be retrofitted into ENT

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by krish

iirc (and I should really get round to watching my Klingon ST Fan Collective boxset !!).... Bashir comments on Worf not looking anything like the earlier Klingons to which he replies with something like "We don't talk about that". I though that was very funny, and also the best way to leave it; without it having to be retrofitted into ENT

Yes you should although I don't agree with the fan voting for this set


Enterprise was criticised for not expanding on the wealth of story lines we had from TOS, can't win can they
Personal opinion only but explaining why the Klingons looked as they did in TOS and why they looked different from the movies and TNG onwards was a wonderful example of what Enterprise should have been about from day1.
They also used the story to include Section 33 which no doubt would have been granted more episodes in a fifth season.

[DrPepper]

Update....

[discostewart]

outstanding update there

while on the subject of star trek am i the only one that think that season 1 and two of the next generation could do with a little mor epolishon the cgi front. Why on earth these seasons look like 1970s shows and then season three still stands up against modern TV now i dont know. Its odd.

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by discostewart

while on the subject of star trek am i the only one that think that season 1 and two of the next generation could do with a little mor epolishon the cgi front. Why on earth these seasons look like 1970s shows and then season three still stands up against modern TV now i dont know. Its odd.

They were still the early days of TV visual effects and they still used mainly models and the show did have a tight budget which limited the very immature and expensive CGI based effects.

TNG really does looke poor in terms of overall picture quality when on broadcast TV, the DVD's are a little better though but show the limitations of filming in 35mm but editing and post production in NTSC video.

[discostewart]

nevertheless

season 1 and 2 look muchmuch worse and could do with being remastered. and the effects on the pilot episode are awful even for the time (the link chain Q effect). i think they could do with sprucing up. Next Gen should not be lost to audiences over time because it dates cause it is probably some of the finest Tv made.

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by discostewart

nevertheless

season 1 and 2 look muchmuch worse and could do with being remastered. and the effects on the pilot episode are awful even for the time (the link chain Q effect). i think they could do with sprucing up. Next Gen should not be lost to audiences over time because it dates cause it is probably some of the finest Tv made.

Yeah no argument.
I don't think any re-mastering will be done simply because there is not the opportunity to move to the HD realm unlike there is for TOS. It's expensive and time consuming even when you have the original 35mm masters and pre-production optical/visual effects like they have for TOS. They don't have that for TNG so there is nothing there to start again with.

Corners were cut during the late 1980's in TV production and overall picture quality suffered, it seems bizarre that older shows look better and can be easily cleaned and adjusted for HD (and by extension SD) but that's just the way it is. It's a great shame but so is all the telly lost because they were live and no recordings were made or remain intact.

[raigraphixs]

Has anyone see these new digital enhanced versions?,

Will we get them in the UK on tv or dvd?

new;

new;

Here's a clearer image of the city from "Wink of an Eye".

....

[chaddy]

are these being released hd dvd/blu ray or are the coming to a hd channel ?

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by chaddy

are these being released hd dvd/blu ray or are the coming to a hd channel ?

I don't think there is any doubt a HD media release is on the cards but for now we can hope a UK HD broadcaster gets the rights from whoever is showing the series now.

[Pincho Paxton]

I liked everything but the metal Doomsday Machine. I think you can add your own style, but green flares, and silver casing is way too much. It should be a biological/rocky surface with some plasma/fire burning chaotically inside like sun flares bursting out.

[McNab]

You know, these episodes are available on the Xbox live US marketplace in HD.

I'm watching The Balance of Terror at the moment, But to be honest I couldn't decide if it actually was the updated episode until I saw this shot:

The odd thing is that all the new stuff (mostly external shots) is in widescreen with the old stuff in 4:3 ratio so although the CGI shots stick out a mile, they don't seem to be obvious other than the screen ratio and I think the reason for this is that the ships still don't seem to be moving correctly. They either seem a bit juddery and not moving in the direction they are facing, or are extremely static in the frame.

It's certainly nothing like the work Lucas did on his original trilogy. However, I understand that this episode is one of the first done and the newer ones far better. I'll try one of those another day

Update quality aside, it's a cracking episode.