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Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:19 pm
by SuperSaiyaMan12
...models and CGI? I mean, for its time, the CGI was great, but when it goes all the way to the current era? It doesn't hold up well. Conversely, Deep Space Nine and The Next Generation were made around the same time, but they combined both CGI and Models. Would things have held up better with that strategy than just full CGI?
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:22 pm
by Tsukiyumi
Maybe.
Some of the shots do look cheesy by modern standards, but I think some of the sequences still look incredible, especially considering the budget constraints. I doubt they even had the money for high-quality models.
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:28 pm
by Reliant121
I believe this was one of the shows that used entirely CGI for its cinematic shots, in that vein, I think it was groundbreaking. Not quite up to modern par, but you have to give it credit. 7 years later and Voyager still used models. It looks cheesy now, but it is still great for its pure drama, and the way they were constructed, not for being shiney shiney.
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:51 pm
by Monroe
The amount of motion in their ships would have made models very difficult. So many of their ships, especially the human ones, rotated. I'm not sure models would have been possible.
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:51 am
by Sionnach Glic
There's that, and then there's the fact that it was made on a fraction of the budget that TNG and DS9 were. It's debatable whether they could have afforded models of TV quality.
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:59 am
by Aaron
IIRC they used CGI because they couldn't afford models, or at least enough models to have all the ships we saw. Yeah, it looks bad now but perhaps we'll see a remastered version.
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 11:04 am
by Tsukiyumi
Cpl Kendall wrote:...perhaps we'll see a remastered version.
That would rock!
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 11:27 am
by Sionnach Glic
What I'd love to see is a modern remake. Hire better actors (let's face it, they weren't great back then), CGI to rival nBSG, and have everyone follow the original scripts to the very letter. No deviations, just perfect updates of the episodes.
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 12:20 pm
by Tsukiyumi
Rochey wrote:...Hire better actors...
IDK, I always liked Garibaldi, Sheridan, Delenn, Londo, G'kar, and Lenier.
A remake
could be cool, but I think a special edition with updated effects is about the best we can hope for.
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 1:05 pm
by kostmayer
Given that all the effects were CGI, how much work would be involved in digging out the old files they used to create the scenes (if they still exist), and simply updating the models?
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 1:53 pm
by Sionnach Glic
Tsukiyumi wrote:IDK, I always liked Garibaldi, Sheridan, Delenn, Londo, G'kar, and Lenier.
Some of them weren't too bad. But let's face it; none of them were really spectacular.
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 2:33 pm
by Reliant121
Sheridan always annoyed me. most fo the others were good, Lennier was a little annoying but he was meant to be. Londo, G'Kar, Ivanova, Sinclair and Delenn were all played incredibly well, as was Vir.
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 7:53 pm
by Monroe
kostmayer wrote:Given that all the effects were CGI, how much work would be involved in digging out the old files they used to create the scenes (if they still exist), and simply updating the models?
It would be easier to start over I think.
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:50 am
by Coalition
Reliant121 wrote:Sheridan always annoyed me.
One sunt that would have been good for Sheridan is that he takes his 'blessing' from Lorienn, and actually believes he is the best thing to happen to the galaxy. Garibaldi was influenced to be paranoid, but he had a point. Sheridan disappears, comes back with Lorien, and everyone hails him and follows him. Garibaldi comes back, and everyone stays suspicious.
Make it where the shades of grey still exist, where you see a good person turn into a fanatic, and where the 'bad guy' is right. Remember Jack the Inquisitor, who questioned Delenn? He learned the costs of excess fanaticism. Remember Morden, who looked so clean and well-dressed and groomed, but represented the Shadows?
Don't turn Sheridan into a perfect leader.
Re: Could Babylon 5's Special Effects have been better with both
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:09 pm
by Reliant121
That is a good idea.