Arrival at Allanor (Video)

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

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...

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

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

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...

... 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

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...

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

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

Space Battle: Romulan Crash

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: