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270K views 2K replies 259 participants last post by  Killed_by_Death 
#1 ·
I know there is a locked thread on this subject that turned into a reboot movie vs. this and that, but there is some new info over at trekmoive.com and at digitalbits.com

It looks like this is going to happen, but its unclear what we will get. I really can't see Paramount/CBS spending the money to properly remaster the show for HD. I think anything will be better than the DVD sets we currently have because they look terrible on anything larger than 42" screen. I bet we will see something like the the original 35mm film frames scanned in HD and the original effects added back in and upconverted from SD to HD. If done right maybe it will blend in, I don't know. I just can't see them shooting all new CGI effects for every show across seven seasons.


I really want to see this on Blu-Ray, TNG is my favorite.
 
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#603 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterTHX /forum/post/21050694


It's not a matte painting. Earth in Star Trek III, IV, and VI was.

In First Contact it's a digital model. Now are you going to argue that the digital starships are "matte paintings" because they're texture mapped?

I'll just have to come to the defense of Mr. D. here.


Yes, matte paintings used to be actual paintings on glass to matte out certain parts of the screen, but the term has made the transition to the modern digital effects as well. Your definition is somewhat archaic.

In the digital realm, the term "matte painting" certainly does apply to the planet background. Yes, it is based on photographs, just as you say, but matte paintings today are more like digital photo collages than actual paintings. I'm sure you know this.


I gather Mr. D is a practicing visual effects professional, and although he appears to be a cantankerous one
, he knows his terminology.
 
#604 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterTHX /forum/post/21050694


It's not a matte painting. Earth in Star Trek III, IV, and VI was.

In First Contact it's a digital model. Now are you going to argue that the digital starships are "matte paintings" because they're texture mapped?

Its been common practice for matte paintings to incorporate geometry for many many years , they are still "matte paintings".


I've done flybys down to surface level of planets , in these cases the planet was a model with modelled features and geometry and definably not a matte painting, the stars and nebula behind were however matte paintings even if the had been wrapped onto a sphere and had a camera flying around in front of them .


Sticking some photographic texture on a sphere to create a planet is a common matte painting process, matte painters use all sorts of tools to create matte-paintings . Utilising 3d geometry and lighting is one of them.


I'm actually doing some (pretty cheesy admitedly) spacey stuff for a film at this actual moment in time.


And whatever the reasons the matte painted earth in FC is not nice.
 
#605 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.D /forum/post/21056766


Sticking some photographic texture on a sphere to create a planet is a common matte painting process, matte painters use all sorts of tools to create matte-paintings . Utilising 3d geometry and lighting is one of them.

Well, it's been a while but I remember ILM calling it a model, much like the Genesis Planet physical model for The Search For Spock.


Now I remember them talking about Veridian III being a digital matte painting in Generations, a texture of some rusted metal and other elements.


There's a TNG link in that: many of the planets created for the series were a texture wrapped into a sphere shape (not mapped onto an object).

However Deneb IV in the pilot is an ILM matte painting.
 
#606 ·
I'll just be glad to get planets that look half way decent. The low res wraps they did on TNG were God-awful.
 
#607 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterTHX /forum/post/21058076



There's a TNG link in that: many of the planets created for the series were a texture wrapped into a sphere shape (not mapped onto an object).

However Deneb IV in the pilot is an ILM matte painting.

You are splitting hairs , a "sphere" is a "object" in 3d parlance. They have wrapped a 2d texture onto a 3d object...this is trivial standard practice in the generation of "matte paintings". Please stop this is becoming circular.
 
#610 ·
From the High Def Digest website:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/5954...ext_level.html


Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Next Level (Blu-ray)


Paramount / 1987 / Unrated

Street Date: January 31, 2012

List Price: $21.99


Genres: Science Fiction, Action, Adventure, Drama, Classic


Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton

Plot Synopsis: Blu-ray sampler including the episodes "Encounter at Farpoint," "Sins of the Father," and "The Inner Light."


Technical Specs

TBA


Video Resolution/Codec

1080p/TBA


Aspect Ratio(s)

1.33:1


Audio Formats

English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1


Subtitles/Captions

TBA


Supplements

TBA
 
#611 ·
I hadn't seen this posted here yet. A full press release, compliments of Gustavo Leao from TrekWeb.com:

Quote:
LOS ANGELES - September 28, 2011 - The beloved series STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION® will be transferred to high-definition for the first time ever and released on Blu-ray, it was announced today by Ken Ross, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Home Entertainment.


All 178 episodes from seven seasons will be transferred to true high-definition 1080p for release on Blu-ray and eventual runs on television and digital platforms both domestically and internationally.


Fans have been clamoring for a high-definition release of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION® for years, said Ross. Transferring the series to high-definition presented difficult technical challenges, but our team has come up with a process to create true 1080p HD masters with true HD visual effects. We can't wait to show fans how pristine the series looks and sounds with our upcoming Blu-ray releases.


Transferring STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION® to high-definition presented numerous challenges - The series was originally shot on film and then transferred to videotape, which was used to edit episodes together. In order to create true HD masters, CBS is going back to the original uncut film negative - all 25,000 plus film reels of it - and cutting the episodes together exactly the way they originally aired. The visual effects were all shot on film and will be painstakingly recompositioned, not upconverted from videotape. The newly cut film will then be transferred to true high-definition with 7.1 DTS Master Audio. Denise and Mike Okuda are consulting on the project.


While the first full season won't be available until later in 2012, CBS Home Entertainment is releasing STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION® - THE NEXT LEVEL, a single Blu-ray disc to give fans a taste of the series in HD, on January 31, 2012. The disc will include the feature-length pilot - Encounter at Farpoint - as well as two more fan favorite episodes, The Inner Light (Season 5) and Sins of the Father (Season 3). The single disc will be available for a suggested retail price of $21.99.


One of the most popular series in the STAR TREK franchise, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION® celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2012. It premiered in first-run syndication during the week of September 28, 1987 and ran through 1994.


Set in the 24th century on the Starship Enterprise, about 100 years after the original STAR TREK series took place, the series starred Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as Commander William T. Riker, LeVar Burton as Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge, Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi, Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data, Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf, Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher and Wil Wheaton as her son Wesley Crusher.


STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION® won numerous accolades, including 18 Emmy® awards, and was the first - and only - syndicated television show to be nominated for the Emmy® for Outstanding Drama Series for its seventh season. It was also ranked #46 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time list in 2002.

I'm thinking of sending CBS Home Entertainment a "Thank You" letter in advance of even seeing screen caps. After years of wondering if/how they would choose to present TNG in HD, I feel like they're doing this the right way. They've got my hard earned money.
 
#613 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Osirus23 /forum/post/21089075


This is great. I never thought in a million years they would put forth the effort to do something like this, appears I was wrong.

WOW


I never thought they would put the effort in based on the technical issues.


Glad I was wrong.
 
#618 ·
That press release came out some time ago. The process it refers too is their re-compositing of the original 35mm fx elements, as post production on the show was previously all done on SD video. For elements that were generated on video, like phasers and planets, new CG will be added.
 
#619 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghostface1701 /forum/post/0


That press release came out some time ago. The process it refers too is their re-compositing of the original 35mm fx elements, as post production on the show was previously all done on SD video. For elements that were generated on video, like phasers and planets, new CG will be added.

Oh I know. But they didn't "come up with it"

I am very glad they're doing it this way though
 
#621 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by KBMAN /forum/post/21090360


Why go to all this trouble when it's still framed at 1.33:1???

Yes, why release anything on Blu-ray in its original aspect ratio? Let's make everything 4.92:1, just for funzies.
 
#622 ·
I shot a short film on Super8 and had the Vision3 500t negatives scanned at 1080p. I kept the aspect ratio at 1.33:1. The difference between a standard def transfer and an HD transfer is noticeable, even on such a small format. Go to 35mm, which Next Gen was shot in, and the difference is magnified. Cropping the image would not make any sense.
 
#623 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by KBMAN /forum/post/21090360


Why go to all this trouble when it's still framed at 1.33:1??? I was hoping to get 16:9, but that was not the way it was originally shot (like most of you know).....

Well, do we know with absolute certainty that the original films were not shot with a "safe area" that might allow for 16x9? I was amazed for example to see the ER series published to DVD in widescreen, from the opening pilot, only a few years later than TNG.
Quote:
The series was originally shot on film and then transferred to videotape, which was used to edit episodes together. In order to create true HD masters, CBS is going back to the original uncut film negative

I'd think too that if they are having to re-do SFX from scratch, they might be able to widen them-out.


I've not followed these developments all that closely so if we know already it will be 1.33:1 well then that's disappointing, cuz when they say "High Def" that means 16x9 and even folks who don't follow this stuff will be disappointed with pillarboxes left & right on their fancy new flat-panel TVs.
 
#626 ·
Glad they are preserving the original aspect ratio, with all this effort nothing should be gimped that way.


Mouthbreathing butt-tards with their uncalibrated Insignia crap with built in speakers can sit around and whine about 'black bars' all they want, I really don't care.
 
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