Star Trek: A Final Unity - The Movie

A FINAL UNITY going HD

2012-01-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

It's been a long road from 2007 to 2012. It's been a constant process of learning an improving.

Here the next step: "A Final Unity" will be continued from now on as a true 1080p HD project.

To give you an impression:

That's how the Enterprise has looked like until now:

And this is how the Enterprise will look like from now on:

Stay tuned for more updates!

SFX Demo Reel

2011-10-05T14:29:00.000-07:00

Hey there...
After a long time of absence, finally some news.

Just uploaded this SFX demo reel on youtube. It shows some early attemps with Cinema 4D, and in the later half most recent animations I have completed in 2011. The later half of the 4 minute clip features some never seen before A FINAL UNITY footage!!! I hope you enjoy it!

See you around, and check back for news soon!

SFX Demo Reel

Lifesigns!

2011-03-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

Hey there...

The project is not dead, just on hold for the moment since I have other business to attend to. In the meanwhile, enjoy this latest WIP:

Deep Space Six

2011-01-02T04:56:00.000-08:00

Happy new year everyone!

I just finished this today: DS6, based on a low resolution picture of an exotic looking space station from the Enterprise liberary in the game:

The Enterprise will be ordered to DS6 shortly after the war with the Romulan Empire starts.
Since I am also currently working on a Star Wars based project, I borrowed some elements from the platforms used in the "X-Wing" and "Tie Fighter" series to enhance this model a bit!
Hope you like it!

Morassia Dawn

2010-12-31T06:08:00.000-08:00

2010 is ending, and there is no teaser... I am sorry, but last month was a rollercoaster ride. Much of the data from the project is lost and I will have to recreate it from scratch. That's not as bad as it may sound per se, since I was able to learn a lot in the last few years working on "A Final Unity". I am confident that the recreation of those scenes and models will be even more detailed and faithful to the original, than the old data was.

Have a happy new year everyone! Thanks for all your feedback and support! See you in 2011!

WIP: Recreation of the Morassia game cinematic

Riker's suggestion...

2010-12-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

Hey there. There were no posts for several weeks now. Sorry for that, but life has it's ups and downs and December was a very tiresome month for me. First one of my PCs crashed... unfortunately the one with the most up to date data, so I lost some material and had to recreate it from scratch... well it looks now better than ever. Second one of my playstations which is responsible for rendering crashed, too... and third... well personal matters.

Anyway. I am back on track. The gamers among you will remember the alternate cinematic scene, when the player followed Riker's suggestion to "use the phasers" on the Garidian Warbird, instead of Data's 'drive through the beam'. Well... I incorprated the sequence into the film, though it has a different content. See for yourself. It's not yet finished. You will notice I will have to work on the illumination, and the Warbird is supposed to cloak after it's performance... but I think I managed to catch the perspective from the game shot.

Free Fall...

2010-11-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hey there... Exciting news today. One of my favorite sequences came finally together and will be partially shown in the teaser trailer I am putting together. It's a scene at Horst III, and the audience will experience something, they never have seen in such detail. Starting with an Enterprise flyby the camera will fly down 20 miles to the planetary surface and focus on the beam down coordinates. Rendering of the scene is in progress and it looks fantastic. Here some pictures (which just don't do it justice - anyway...).

The Enterprise orbiting Horst III at an altitude of 21 miles

The camera moves towards the ground (18 miles above):

The camera will pass through a dense formation of cumulus clouds to an altitude of 200 meters, then alter it's angle and fly missle-like to the beam down coordinates which are designed based on the game shot.
The complete sequence plays 45 seconds.

Unity Device Flyby

2010-09-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

Here the game shot of the Enterprise closeup:

And here the movie counterpart:

You will notice the addition of the planetary rings in this shot. I tried to work without them, but they add dimension and fill the rather empty background. I played with the thought to include the Z'Tarniss nebula into the background (which surprisingly just seemed to have disappeared in the game), but felt it would change the scene too much and make the shot unrecognizable.

Orbiting the Unity Device...

2010-09-23T14:47:00.001-07:00

The following picture shows the finished illumination of the scene, I am currently working on the animation of this sequence:

Romulan Invasion continuing...

2010-09-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

Hey there... just wanted to share this one with you. IMHO it turned out so much better than I intended it to be ;)
It's all thanks to an illuminating mistake. I made a mistake and a light that was assigned to the asteroids only also illuminated the Warbird giving it some slight shadows which then again added some depth to it. I will leave it like that, although it's slightly different compared to the game.

Outpost Gamme One Five

2010-09-11T07:00:00.001-07:00

Here the WIP of the sequence mentioned yesterday, the first picture shows the shot from the game cinematic, while the second shows the WIP movie version of this scene. Slight updates have been made to the structures of the outpost. Foremost the frequence of the flor's texture has been increased to give it a lightly bigger scale. The asteroid and the illumination are still a work in progress.

Let's play a quiz...

2010-09-10T15:07:00.001-07:00

... tell me what this is supposed to be:

You probably guessed right. It's Federation Outpost "Gamma One Five" which will fall victim to the Romulan Invasion.

Updated:

Here is the final version of the mesh. Ramps have been widened, and pits have been added to the dome structures surrounding the central building. The complete mesh consists of about 500.000 polygons.

Arrival at Frigis

2010-09-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

Here the movie to game comparison of the arrival at Frigis:

Invasion!

2010-09-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Here a take on another very popular sequence from the game: Romulan Warbirds crossing the Neutral Zone and starting the short war between the Empire and the Federation!

Another game and movie comparison...

2010-09-03T11:57:00.001-07:00

Enjoy!

Horst III surface stablishing shot

2010-09-03T11:17:00.001-07:00

Shortly before the cut to the beam down scene, I included an establishing shot of the planetary surface.
Enjoy:

Unity Device Update...

2010-08-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

Some new scenery to look at. This shot features one of the last stages of the Unity Device, prior to the three captains entering the center sphere (pictures above).
I have to tell you... It is a nightmare to place the grids, like they were in the game. I am working for days on them now...

Game and Movie comparison videos!

2010-08-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some comparison videos of the project. The first sequence is the scene from the game, followed by the updated version as seen in the film.

Allanor Arrival:

Horst III:

Reworking some older shots...

2010-07-25T03:14:00.000-07:00

"It's been a long road..." literally. The work on the project started way back in 2007 and it has been a constant learning process ever since. That's why I just recently returned to some of the older shots and updated them with better meshes, illumination and animation.

Stay tuned for new HD videos soon!

New perspectives...

2010-07-25T03:04:00.000-07:00

The Enterprise-D is probably the most famous and most frequently filmed starship in movie and TV history. Throughout the seven year television run of the series and STAR TREK - GENERATIONS, the ship was shown from all possible angles. The Galaxy-Class itself was even more featured in the TNG spinoff shows DEEP SPACE NINE, VOYAGER and ENTERPRISE.
So it is quite a challange to present something new. A fresh take on this famous design.
In A FINAL UNITY you will see the Enterprise, like you haven't seen her before, and just to give you an impression, here is a not typical warpout picture:

Smaller update(s)

2010-06-08T15:38:00.001-07:00

Hi there... it's been a while, but I have been very busy with studies, dissertation and some life-essential stuff.

AFU has to wait, but it is still alive. I just recently updated some of the "older" footage with a new high-res Enterprise (as used in the Horst III establishing shot) and new other ship meshes and most prominently new illumination. This way it feels and looks less CGI and more like a physical model. You probably won't notice much of a difference (though my computers do... rendering takes much longer) but the mest is much better for close up shots, which will be required in the battle scenes. Here a shot to show you how it looks like:

Complete render series with motion, scene and object motion blur (actual movie shot)

Unity Device Center Sphere WIP

2010-04-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hey there. Another WIP I wanted to share with you. You all remember one of the last screens from the game right? If you don't here it is:

A great shot representing the incredible power of imagination the designers of the game had to create the alien locations. All the game shots have something special, something that -I guess- won't only me feel nostalgic and slightly sad, that such awesome games with love to detail and design are not made anymore, today.

Well, here the WIP creation of the center sphere, in which the three commanders face the final challange:

WIP: Allanor Repair Drone

2010-03-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hey there... today, a WIP of the "big" drone found on Allanor. Although it does not look like one, it is going to become a high poly model, currently consisting of 150.000 polys.

Horst III Arrival: Game and Movie comparison

2010-03-13T16:21:00.000-08:00

Here the direct comparison between game cinematic and movie shot. You will notice the illumination of the scene has changed completely. The Enterprise is orbiting the planet above the night side, since the awayteam mission takes place at night.
I added the sun since the background in the game shot appeared too empty for my taste.
Do you think I should keep those changes or stay as close as possible to the original?

The scene as seen in the game:

The scene as seen in the movie:

Horst III Arrival Illumination Test Shot

2010-03-13T15:08:00.000-08:00

Hey there... Another update, this time it's one of my favorite cinematic sequences in the game, the Horst III establishing shot from space, with Picard's Captain's Log in the background. This clip features an illumination study. The shot will mirror the camera perspective that was shown in the game but will add depth to the planet and the scene itself... stay tuned... and check out the clip in HD on http://www.youtube.com/user/XavierStorma?feature=mhw4

Horst III Establishing Shot

2010-02-27T14:26:00.001-08:00

Hey there. Here is the render-study of the Horst III establishing shot. Yeah I know, it's daytime although the away team mission happens at night. The final shots will of course be corresponding to the game, but I thought you would like to see how the planet looks at day time.

2010-02-19T11:09:00.000-08:00

Here an update on the interior of the Unity Device Solar System:
The Gate is featured in a cutscene. The three captains travel via Shuttlepod to the center of the Unity Device.

The gate, as it appears in the game:

The movie counterpart (the opening is not yet finished):

Animatic: Shuttle Launch

2010-02-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

Happy new year everyone. Updates have been slow lately due to studies and some private issues that had to be settled. Here is the animatic of the previously mentioned shuttle start sequence. Rendering takes forever ;) Enjoy:

Arrival at Allanor (Video)

2009-12-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

Check out the latest render sequence:

If you compare it to the sequence used in the game, you will notice the "movie" Allanor has clouds and even a storm on the dark side of the planet. Since the backstory of Allanor was only hinted at in the game, and since it help developing areas "knowing" their backstory, I imagined that the Chodak polluted their homeworld and eventually had to leave it. The heavy industry on the planet's surface could hint into that direction.

Anyway, I am quite satisfied how this one turned out (positioning the camera to mirror the game sequence was a nightmare). Enjoy!!!

Enterprise launches a Shuttle

2009-12-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

Hey there...

I am really excited today, since a sequence I was working on very hard for a few month finally came together. Here is a screenshot of the rendering process:

You all remember the Shuttlebays 2 and 3 from TNG, right... the hangar doors from the inside looked totally different from the ones outside. The set artists reused a TMP door for the set, the studiomodel of the Enterprise had a totally different looking hangar bay door.
We never actually saw a launch of a shuttle in one take, due to SFX restrictions it was not possible to actually show us in one take how a shuttle left the bays.
Well... today, more than 20 years later it IS possible. I really worked hard to figure out how to make the inner and outer doors fit together in order to establish a shot of the shuttle launch, in which the camera would leave the bay along the ship.
I came up with a solution which slightly contradicts what has been established on screen, by creating an interconnecting part between the inner and the outer doors, so that the launch bay now has two doors. That allowed me to create a fluent shot without cutting the shuttle launch.
I will post more pictures soon just to get you an idea of how it will look like. Rendering will probably take forever... so don't expect a video soon ;)

Another Space Sequence...

2009-12-07T11:53:00.001-08:00

The following pictures show you the "Arrival at Allanor" render from the game (first picture) and the movie (second picture).
I changed the illumination and the texture of the planet slightly to give it the sense of scale.
Not on the picture: The dark side of the planet will feature a lightening storm... I love adding such fine details ;)

Unity Device Interior

2009-10-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

Hey there... Today, again it is time for a premiere. I started recreating the fascinating sets of the Unity Device and wanted to share a WIP with you.

Here is a picture taken from the game:

And this is the WIP result of the movie:

To prove that it's not just a recoloration, here a different perspective on the scene:

As you can see the illumination does not match, and some bits and pieces of the right and left wall structures are yet to be completed.
It turns out, converting those pictures into 3D is much harder than I anticipated, and you really have to draw some kind of flor plan, to recreate them in 3 dimensions.

Stay tuned for further updates!

Unity Jump Gate

2009-10-06T09:18:00.001-07:00

Here is the finished mesh for the Unity Device Jump Gate, which allows faster than light travel within the Unity Device. Captain Picard, Commander Pentara and Admiral Brodnack will enter a Shuttle and proceed to one of those gates, to reach the core of the Unity Device.

A frequently asked question...

2009-10-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

... is how the actual "live-action" shots will look like:

The film will feature three kinds of "live-action" takes:
- Takes from onboard the Enterprise (reuse from TNG season 5, 6 and 7)
- Real live-action (shooting next summer if everything works out as planned) with actors for the characters which were seen in the game exclusively)
- Awayteam missions (composing both above with newly created CGI enviroments - the most challanging and tiring of the three)

Today, let's start with the first point:
Scenes on the ship are very easy to make. You just have to spot every TNG episode for let's say bridge scenes, cut them down to takes and voila... here we go:

This shot has been taken from the series finale "All Good Things":

In order to alienate it, so that later you won't be able to recognize it that easily, that shot (like all of them) is recolored slightly. I am also using a program to upscale the image, add contrast and sharpen it.
Since the movie will be presented in 16:9 Widescreen, the frame has to be cut slightly to fit.
And voila: The finished actual A FINAL UNITY picture in its original DVD resolution:

Surface studies: Frigis

2009-10-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hey there... I took a pause from the project for the last weeks, but have now returned to it. Here are some surface studies for Frigis, the planet where the Enterprise crew will discover the Garidian Fifth Scroll.

The pictures you see are of the background landscape created for the shots. I have played with the sky, light and cloud settings to see what looks best, but hey... decide for yourself:

Aftermath...

2009-09-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

Fresh out of rendering comes this picture, which shows a scene shortly after the big space battle, where the Enterprise and the Klingon Vor'Cha-Class Cruiser Bortas rendezvous.

Another Battle WIP

2009-08-26T03:21:00.000-07:00

Continuing the battle: Change in illumination, textures and first smoke animatics.

Space Battle: Romulan Crash

2009-08-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

After its main impulse engine has been destroyed by a direct hit, a Romulan Warbird is about to crashland on one of the bigger asteroids in the dense field:

WIP picture:

And here an animatic of the sequence:

Frigis Development Shot

2009-08-24T15:28:00.001-07:00

Establishing Shot of Frigis' Surface, where the crew of the Enterprise will discover the Fifth Scroll, which was written by an ancient Garidian called the Lawgiver.

Early WIP:

Chodak Bridge Update

2009-08-24T05:57:00.000-07:00

First Textures applied to the projector:

Chodak Rocket Launch

2009-08-21T03:22:00.001-07:00

An update on the Chodak Rocket Launch shot. After researching the game for shots of Alanor I realised that Alanor had one moon, that looked like a Class M planet. Hence I changed the whole atmospheric setup to fit with the game. The illumination of the scene had to be changed in order to fit the light of the planet's moon.
I added a layer of Cumulus clouds to give the shot a little depth and size.
Here the updated version:

Set update

2009-08-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Today a first look at the design of the Chodak bridge. The aim was to make it feel alien. Over the years we have seen many different bridge designs in TREK. Many shared common elements like the center seat, consoles and the basic outline.
The Chodak bridge looks completely different. Again, official sources did never show the design of the bridge. The closest shot we got was in a cut scene from the game "A Final Unity" where Chodak Admiral Brodnack starts from the former Chodak homeworld Alanor, but again, this was just a 2D shot.
For the film I created a bridge inspired by a bridge design used in the STAR WARS KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC comic series. Two wide windows on the sides and a window at the bottom of the bridge, showing a fantastic view into space.
The Chodak do not have viewscreens, but rather use holgraphic emitters to project ship status, sensor data etc.
These shots show you the central emitter in the center of the bridge resembling the main viewscreen on the Enterprise.

Scene Deconstruction: Chodak History Video

2009-08-10T23:32:00.000-07:00

Here the meshes from the WIP picture:
You will notice, those are not very complex, but the camera in this shot is far away from them, so that you can only guess the details. It really works on screen (even on the big one). Since the source video did not give much away, I had to use my imagination to set this scene up.

The Rocket:

The Control-Tower:

First WIP planet shot:

2009-08-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

A premiere today. I aquired Ozone 4.0 a plugin for Cinema 4D which enables a lot easier work with atmospheric effects, includes a cloud simulator etc.

The first shot I am reworking is part of the "Chodak History Lesson" our heroes will watch on Allanor.

To give you an impression of how it will look like (this is a WIP shot, the final shot will be much more detailed of course):

UPDATED:

Although it was not included in the original shot of the game, I added the tower to make this shot feel more real:

Lights have been added to the tower, also (not visible) textures:

Texture has been added to the ground, bumping it up to create the look of rocks (saves RAM and looks decent):

Check out for updates soon!

The Core

2009-08-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

This shot features the triple solar system located in the center of the Unity Device:

Unity Escape Pod

2009-08-02T09:51:00.000-07:00

Used by Chodak Admiral Brodnack to save Captain Picard and Commander Pentara:
Texture to be completed:

Lifesigns...

2009-07-08T04:27:00.001-07:00

It's been a little quiet for the last few weeks, but the semester is coming to an end, and since TREK is a hobby, and studies the one-day-to-be profession, I had to cut AFU short in the last days...

Nevertheless this one should serve as a "lifesign" of the project, which I am eager to continue after the exams in a few weeks.

Enjoy...

TNG crew goes digital

2009-06-07T00:47:00.000-07:00

The movie will have quite a few big establishing shots, in which we will need CGI characters to replace the actors. Work on the TNG crew has begun, here an early version Captain Picard:

Position Lights!

2009-05-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

One can forget even the obvious details when there is so much work to do.

Thanks to the various feedbacks about this issue... you were all right of course.

Now it took some time, but I reworked all possible (and impossible) scenes to add those; and guess what, they look so much better now.

Take this as an example:

Unity Device Shuttle

2009-05-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

Here the complete from scratch designed Unity Device Shuttle, which will be used by Captain Picard, Captain Pentara and Admiral Brodnack to reach the center of the Unity Device to challange their final tasks.

An in-game-cut-scene shot:

The CGI mesh designed for the movie:

First Teaser Poster...

2009-05-08T09:54:00.001-07:00

Well a rather small update.

The very first teaser poster for STAR TREK - A FINAL UNITY is aviable for download now.
The poster follows the tradition of the TNG films (especially GENERATION's).

Romulans on pursuit

2009-03-25T04:24:00.000-07:00

Further SFX shots of the Asteriod Battle. The Enterprise flies into the dense area of the asteroid field, while the Romulans are gaining on her.

The Enterprise escapes

2009-03-24T02:38:00.000-07:00

Continuing "The Battle":

Outguned two to one, there is no other choice but to escape destruction.

In a desperate manoeuver, Captain Picard orders the Enterprise to enter an asteroid belt, which will provide additional cover, but also contains the risk of destroying the ship.

You will see the Enterprise performing stunts like you have never seen before! I always wanted to have a battle scene in the middle of a dense asteroid field. Image the sequence from STAR WARS EPISODE II in which Obi-Wan chases Jango Fett combined with the awesome close-up shots of the GENERATIONS space battle, and the dynamic of the battle from NEMESIS and you will get an idea how the sequence will look like!

New "The Battle" Shot

2009-03-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

Another effects shot from the battle scene, showing the Asteroid Field in which the battle will take place. Stay tuned for further pictures and videos!

Arrival

2009-03-14T13:46:00.000-07:00

Final shot of the Enterprise's arrival at the Unity Device.

It took 3 days to make this shot. Recreating the perspective was difficult, as there has been no high resolution texture of the surface of the Unity Device.
The idea was that it would be a giant spherical machine, with accesspoints all over its surface.
Even in the original game shot you will notice the vast cities build on the surface.
The closest thing to it is the planet-wide city of Coruscant as seen in the STAR WARS movies.
I took it as a basic shape, looked at all possible screenshots and made a texture based on the circular cities as seen in the films.
You will also notice that the blue and green mountain-formations from the game are missing.
I tried adding them in some test-versions but it never looked right. It downsized the whole scene... the Device would look much smaller.

When the Enterprise now passes by, you get an impression of how huge this thing is.

Unity Device rises

2009-03-13T02:16:00.000-07:00

The SFX team is currently working on the Unity Device. All the locations from the game are being recreated in 3D.
We want to stay true to the game, so that the audience will recognize all locations and fans who played the game will feel "at home" watching the movie.

Shot of the Unity Device Surface, as seen in the 1995 PC game:

Recreation of the same shot from the movie project (note: Image not final version):

2009-01-23T15:06:00.000-08:00

Comparison pictures (first image: game version, second image: movie version).
The Enterprise penetrates the Z'Tarniss Nebula and discovers the Unity Device.

This sequence is the 3rd in an extended scene, which contains 3 SFX shots (as opposed to the game's single shot).

The Unity Device

2009-01-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

It has arrived. The first image of the Unity Device is here.

Check it out:

The Z'Tarniss Nebula

2009-01-16T06:44:00.000-08:00

Check out the latest pictures of the Enterprise's arrival at the Z'Tarniss Nebula, the hideout for the Chodak Unity Device.

The Battle - Opening shot

2009-01-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

The final render of the opening shot has arrived. Check out the video:

Cymkoe IV

2009-01-01T09:31:00.000-08:00

The modeling process of the Mertens Orbital Station is finished.

Check out the following pictures:

Arrival at Frigis

2008-12-25T12:40:00.000-08:00

A few month have passed, the semester is almost over. And at least some progress.

Check out soon... The Enterprise arrives at Frigis:

To set things straight...

2008-09-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

... the SFX are all completely new.

Here are some comparison shots of the in-game-cutscenes and the newly-for-the-movie created shots (the first image showing the game video, the second the movie version):

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

The Battle

2008-09-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

Most of the TREK movies feature a breathtaking space battle sequence. From the classic Enterprise vs. Reliant dog-fight in THE WRATH OF KHAN, to the dynamic fire-exchange between the Enterprise and the Scimitar in NEMESIS, those sequences have been a special moment in most of the TREK movies.

A FINAL UNITY will follow this tradition and feature a spacebattle between (for the first time ever on screen) the Galaxy-Class Enterprise-D and a Romulan Warbird.

Those of you, who played the game, will remember that a short outburst of war between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire changes the action of the game completely, and reveals the true storyline.

The film will do likewise. Here are some Animatics and finished shots from the around 6 minute long sequence.

The style of the battle is a mix between closeup shots like featured in GENERATIONS and flyby shots as seen in NEMESIS.

Expect some animated footage soon!

Animatic (using "Armada - Low poly meshes"):

Here some finished shots, as they will be seen in the movie:

New and older pictures

2008-09-07T03:29:00.000-07:00

Here some pictures of the work-in-progress Mertens Oribital Research Station, which will play an important role in the first contact with Chodak technology.

(Old) news: Videos on YouTube

2008-09-07T03:16:00.000-07:00

Hello folks...

Just to give you an impression what this whole thing will look like, check out the videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/XavierStorma.

Here are some highlights:

The effects are all done completely from scratch. The crew footage will be used from seasons 6 and 7. And there will also be new scenes filmed including the game characters like the Garidians, the captain of the Bortas and one or two admirals.

Star Trek - A Final Unity Blog goes online

2008-09-07T02:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the official "Star Trek - A Final Unity" Blog.

In the future here you will be able to find updates on the project, new CGI-pictures and soon new set pictures.

News about the project will be post here, regulary.

Thanks for your interest and support!

The AFU-Team