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bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.



Sucks, but there's no good workaround without re-rendering. The live action is 24fps as live action is for pretty much everything is that's not a talk show or soap opera. The VFX were likely finished at 480i60 since that's what the video master was since they were inserted after the film was already telecined for broadcast. About the only thing I could think of that they could do is motion interpolation up to 120fps and then divide by 5 and take that result which would likely match the 24fps footage better. That would be a lot more work though and probably introduce its own artifacts.

Only real solution is re-rendering which I'm sure some fan is already furiously working on.

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Azhais
Feb 5, 2007
Switchblade Switcharoo
I better not be hearing any disparaging of the video toaster

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

drat is that an alien spaceship fight or am I just walking past a Sears TV display at the age of 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmE4IWPaULE

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993

zoux posted:

drat is that an alien spaceship fight or am I just walking past a Sears TV display at the age of 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmE4IWPaULE

don't know what you're talking about, that's what the world actually looked like back then

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

That's not to say, of course, that some older cgi stuff didn't hold up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA1NT4I0s34

FilthyImp
Sep 30, 2002

Anime Deviant

zoux posted:

drat is that an alien spaceship fight or am I just walking past a Sears TV display at the age of 10
I saw the fan render and got excited that, unlike the ToS remaster which ruined the vfx, a B5 remaster was done and made the ships *not* look like weird techno-organic gourds. :(

bull3964 posted:

On a 27" CRT, the Babylon 5 CG was pretty revolutionary for the time on a weekly TV show.
Yeah, on the other hand that's absolutely true and they were real pioneers in that respect. I read somewhere that the TNG warp shot of the enterprise at the end of the titles was something like $2M to make since it was all optical so they not only used it a ton but also didn't really have a variation of it -- much like the phaser and battle FX were costly so scripts had a pass per season to make sure they weren't over budget on Pew Pews.

I honestly don't give them enough credit for the use of CGI and I need to be more aware of that. :blush:

FilthyImp fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Jan 26, 2021

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


On a 27" CRT, the Babylon 5 CG was pretty revolutionary for the time on a weekly TV show. I'm sure it allowed them to give us much more space battle stuff at a much larger scale than they could have foreseeably done with models. DS9 wasn't doing things at that scale until later seasons (using the same VFX teams that cut their teeth on Babylon 5).

It's not just the scale of the battles. Think of the designs. Shadow, Vorolon, and Minbari vessels would have been very hard to produce with model work back then without 3d printing. I mean, not everyone had ILM producing their hero model for them and giving them a bank of FX shots to use before the pilot was even done.

bull3964 fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Jan 26, 2021

Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

Live, laugh, kupo!

The old CG that's stuck with me is from... I think it was V. The aliens had killed the president but had a virtual replacement. Just plug in a massive floppy disk and the computer would slowly create a polygon face that would make FF7 look realistic. "It's perfect, nobody will suspect a thing!"

Unlike Batman '66, as far as I can tell this wasn't intended to be the joke.

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


Keep in mind that the pilot of Babylon 5 was only separated by 9 years from "The Last Star Fighter" which needed a Cray to produce the VFX for the movie. Less than a decade to go from supercomputers for a feature film to doing a weekly TV show with dozens of unique shots.

Then less than 5 years later the effects matured enough to convincingly replace models in Voyager and Deep Space 9.

Now we us CG to make people look like they are smoking when they aren't on police procedurals.

Lurdiak
Feb 25, 2006

I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do.


I would fund a re-release The Last Star Fighter that redoes all the CGI spaceship stuff with modern tech in a heartbeat. It's all completely separated from live action stuff so it wouldn't take anything away from the original film.

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


It pretty much used the same approach as Babylon 5. Aside from a handful of composited shots, all of the space stuff on B5 are strict punchouts that can easily be replaced with newer footage.

Funny enough though, I think the most dated thing about Babylon 5 is the sound. The noise floor is pretty high and you get a lot of background noise. Hollow footsteps, clothes rustling, echoing; it all makes it sound like a stage production.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Probably the biggest CGI overreach of all time was Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within, a film I saw in theaters.

isaboo
Nov 10, 2002

Muay Buok
ขอให้โชคดี
I guess this would be a good time to finally watch B5

I've seen up to maybe half of S2

FilthyImp
Sep 30, 2002

Anime Deviant

zoux posted:

Probably the biggest CGI overreach of all time was Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within, a film I saw in theaters.
Most of that film looked good though.

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



Finally I get to tell the Amiga nerds they can shove it for never shutting up about how B5 was done in Lightwave. ST Rules, baby.

Ramrod Hotshot
May 30, 2003

is The Plot Against America any good?

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

I liked it a lot. It's a little weird alt history situation though where jews are discriminated more than blacks in 1940s America.

Zoe Kazan's character starts out so meek but she quietly puts in one of the best performances in years with a phone call scene.

The Klowner
Apr 20, 2019

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Ramrod Hotshot posted:

is The Plot Against America any good?

I hope so, this dog poo poo country has got to go

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


I actually found it very hard to watch at the time because it seemed way too relevant. It may go down a bit easier now.

IRQ
Sep 9, 2001

SUCK A DICK, DUMBSHITS!

bull3964 posted:

I actually found it very hard to watch at the time because it seemed way too relevant. It may go down a bit easier now.

Yes I can think of no time plots against America were less relevant.

Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

Live, laugh, kupo!

Mu Zeta posted:

I liked it a lot. It's a little weird alt history situation though where jews are discriminated more than blacks in 1940s America.

The plot is specifically about an anti-semite becoming president and allying with Nazi propaganda policies, seen through the lens of jews who would be more focused on anti-jewish policies. Was there something in particular that stood out?

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

Yeah I thought it was noticeable that most of the show takes place in a multicultural neighborhood and you hardly see any black people or see any experiences of black people, especially when there's the KKK roaming around.

Cael
Feb 2, 2004

I get this funky high on the yellow sun.

As someone who hasn’t watched any Babylon 5, is there a certain amount of episodes I should give it before deciding it’s not for me? Obviously the BEST parts are going to be a ways into the show, but just wondering if it’s like a “get through the first 4 eps of Expanse before quitting” situation.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 9 years!

Cael posted:

As someone who hasn’t watched any Babylon 5, is there a certain amount of episodes I should give it before deciding it’s not for me? Obviously the BEST parts are going to be a ways into the show, but just wondering if it’s like a “get through the first 4 eps of Expanse before quitting” situation.

Just get through the first three seasons.

Khanstant
Apr 5, 2007
I stuck with 12 Monkeys, liking it overall but this one episode is really wiggin me out so close to the end. Why do these time shows always try to write themselves into a place of helping horrible poo poo happen? We gotta do a 9/11 we gotta save hitler we gotta make sure rosa parks is discriminated against gotta rewind to be crushed by frozen peepee gotta go back and do Original Sin in the garden of eden.

Also contriving a circumstance where main character must get into nazi lingerie? They did save another weird contrivance they chose to do by having a character Grey's Anatomy himself to alter swastika carving.

edit: okay they didnt save hitler. good. fuss rescinded, but the nazi lingerie is still just a weird choice

Khanstant fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Jan 27, 2021

Looten Plunder
Jul 11, 2006
Grimey Drawer

Escobarbarian posted:

Very few people watched it until it hit HBO Max, and there was a gap of almost 3 years between seasons 2 and 3. It was definitely one of the many shows I mentioned in these threads over the years where the discussions never really gained any traction because nobody was watching it haha

I definitely remember all your comments and recommendations for it but I always thought you were talking about that comedy show that was was a parody of LOST with a plane crash and survivors.

Toxic Fart Syndrome
Jul 2, 2006

*hits A-THREAD-5*

Only 3.6 Roentgoons per hour ... not great, not terrible.




...the meter only goes to 3.6...

Pork Pro

bull3964 posted:

One other thing I've noticed about the CGI in Babylon 5 after this remaster is that it was clearly rendered at something other than 24fps that the live action footage was filmed at. If I were to guess, I would say it's probably some multiple of 30 with the way it hitches in motion. A small nit to pick to be sure.

What I love is now though that the original film was scanned at 4k and is now archived. The show is preserved. 5 years, 10 years, 20 years down the line someone could re-render all of the CGI elements and it would be a simple edit insert. Future AI upscale tech could potentially clean up some of the film stock of the masters. There's possibility now. It's such a massive improvement over the DVDs.

CBS/Viacom needs to take note. Even if all they did for DS9 and (sigh) Voyager (I guess) is scan the live action footage and upscaled the effects shots, that would leave HOPE for the future. If Time Warner thinks they can they can recoup this investment on this cult but niche property, then it has to be worthwhile for CBS/Viacom to do so for Paramount+ which has Star Trek as a tentpole franchise.

I'm hoping this means that whatever curmudgeon over at the studio is gone and B5 might get some more love, again. Someone posted it upthread, but the original CGI is all still around, waiting to be upgraded/remastered.

zoux posted:

Probably the biggest CGI overreach of all time was Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within, a film I saw in theaters.

Wow rude: Beowulf would like a word...

Cael posted:

As someone who hasn’t watched any Babylon 5, is there a certain amount of episodes I should give it before deciding it’s not for me? Obviously the BEST parts are going to be a ways into the show, but just wondering if it’s like a “get through the first 4 eps of Expanse before quitting” situation.

It's from a very different era of television (oh God, I'm old enough to sound like those guys talking about 60s/70s Doctor Who 25 years ago...), so everything is very differently paced, compared to modern shows. Babylon 5 was also an early adopter of the serial narrative, so much of it will seem cliche, even though it was mostly original and new at the time.

Don't tell the B5 thread, but I would recommend starting with the movie In the Beginning, which acts as a sort of prequel. If you enjoy that (it's only ~2 hours), you will enjoy the series as a whole, even if some is a slog. It does spoil some later reveals, as it was originally aired between season 4 and 5, but for me, in 1998, it made things easier to digest because I had a hint of where it was all heading!

Oasx
Oct 11, 2006

Freshly Squeezed

FilthyImp posted:

Most of that film looked good though.

The movie looked great for its time, the only problem was the plot.

bagrada
Aug 4, 2007

The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering!

Cael posted:

As someone who hasn’t watched any Babylon 5, is there a certain amount of episodes I should give it before deciding it’s not for me? Obviously the BEST parts are going to be a ways into the show, but just wondering if it’s like a “get through the first 4 eps of Expanse before quitting” situation.

Season 1 is a bit odd with some different cast members. I'd still try to power through it since there will be a lot of callbacks but if an episode isn't doing it for you skip to the next one. Seasons 2 through 4 are the good stuff. Season 5 still has some great episodes but suffered a lot because they thought they were cancelled and had to cram everything into 4. The showrunner started writing every single episode in season 3 and didn't stop until he let Harlan Ellison and Neil Gaiman dip their toes into season 5 briefly. They also started doing movies that set up spinoffs that never happened or didn't get far.

Glancing at wikipedia, episodes 13, 18-20 and 22 are maybe the most important in season 1, just going by memory. But in general if you don't like season 1, Sinclair, etc, then try jumping to season 2 and reading the wiki or watch a youtube recap or something. Your mileage with the series overall will probably depend on if you like Bruce Boxleitner or not, though Claudia Christian and the three main aliens easily carry the show on their backs.

I started with season 2 and read scripts or transcriptions of season 1 off the internet, then went back to reruns or the dvds for season 1 later. I need to rewatch it again since my first full rewatch a decade or so ago was in the background while I autopiloted through mmos.

Open Source Idiom
Jan 4, 2013
I was won over by Babylon 5 by the end of the first season, but it was touch and go for ages in the middle. I felt like it lost a lot of momentum, and spent a lot of time on uninspired, generic plots that didn't capitalise on the interesting qualities of the setting.

The show's not Star Trek, but it spends an awful lot of time contemplating that idea. It becomes less anodyne later on, and becomes a bit more weighty as it bumps up its serialisation.

sad question
May 30, 2020

Oddly enough when I watched Babylon 5 the CGI did not bother me but the lovely looking sets did.

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012
Babylon 5 was genre defying at the time because no one though a long running serial series would find an audience in the days before DVR. The conventional wisdom was any 22 so season show needed to have mostly self contained episodes, maybe 2 parter mid season finales.

From a writing and story telling perspective it was/is pretty unmatched by any contemporary shows and even today a lot of new sci fi/fantasy shows can't pull it off as well as they did either from cancellation dangling over their head or assuming spending a ton of $$$ on sfx makes up for nonsense plot.

B5 benefited immensely from JMS having to stretch the budget as much as he could, and many of the main cast are the kinds of people who'd get minor recurring roles or where difficult to employ but still phenomenally hard working actors. Going by the standards of the time then and even now few if any of then are "leading cast" material on paper.

Ex. Richard Briggs (90% deaf had to read lips to follow other actors) basically memorized entire scenes he was in so he'd be able to hit his queue perfectly. That level of insane dedication to the job was apparent in everything he brought to the show.

Mira Furlan (rip) was coming straight over from the war in Bosnia and was basically learning English at the same time she was doing the show.

Andreas Katsulas could effortlessly hold his own against Patrick Stewart during his Star Trek guest roles and brought the same intense Shakespeare energy to B5.

SimonChris
Apr 24, 2008

The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.
Grimey Drawer

isaboo posted:

I guess this would be a good time to finally watch B5

I've seen up to maybe half of S2

That's pretty much the worst possible place to stop watching. It becomes amazing in the second half of S2.

Open Source Idiom
Jan 4, 2013

pentyne posted:

From a writing and story telling perspective it was/is pretty unmatched by any contemporary shows and even today a lot of new sci fi/fantasy shows can't pull it off as well as they did either from cancellation dangling over their head or assuming spending a ton of $$$ on sfx makes up for nonsense plot.

Side bar: but I think this is why I tend to gravitate towards cheaper sci-fi shows, even though a lot of them can tend towards crap. A smaller budget generally forces a show to become more inventive, particularly one that could otherwise rely on spectacle. So you end up with weird, interesting things, like Van Helsing's meat hook episode.

Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

Live, laugh, kupo!

SimonChris posted:

That's pretty much the worst possible place to stop watching. It becomes amazing in the second half of S2.

That said, just because I've been on the wrong end of fan hype before, if you're not into it once things clearly start rolling feel free to stop. There's a lot of things we love about the show but no show's for everybody and that's fine.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 9 years!
B5 really made me love sci-fi with cheap as gently caress looking sets. It's probably what drew me into Farscape.

Neddy Seagoon
Oct 12, 2012

"Hi Everybody!"

Toxic Fart Syndrome posted:

Don't tell the B5 thread, but I would recommend starting with the movie In the Beginning, which acts as a sort of prequel. If you enjoy that (it's only ~2 hours), you will enjoy the series as a whole, even if some is a slog. It does spoil some later reveals, as it was originally aired between season 4 and 5, but for me, in 1998, it made things easier to digest because I had a hint of where it was all heading!

Don't do this, because it spoils a lot of buildup and will gently caress the pacing for you. You're getting a condensed reflection on the show, from the perspective of assuming someone's seen all of what happens already and getting a fresh perspective on those events.

Just start at the beginning with Midnight on the Firing Line, it's a great intro to the show. Don't bother with the original pilot (The Gathering) except out of curiosity after you've seen a few episodes, because most of it got revamped anyway and its pacing is practically glacial.

Umbra
Jul 9, 2003
Sweet Sassy Molassy.

Looten Plunder posted:

I definitely remember all your comments and recommendations for it but I always thought you were talking about that comedy show that was was a parody of LOST with a plane crash and survivors.


That was the show Wrecked, which actually was pretty good. Rhys Darby was great in it. If you are running out of covid-19 tv stockpiles, it's not a bad half hour sitcom.

Open Source Idiom
Jan 4, 2013

Umbra posted:

That was the show Wrecked, which actually was pretty good. Rhys Darby was great in it. If you are running out of covid-19 tv stockpiles, it's not a bad half hour sitcom.

A lot of the TBS comedies from that period were pretty fun. I didn't love how Wrecked started, but it got a lot better as it went along. The Detour and People of Earth were both pretty good too.

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GreenNight
Feb 19, 2006
Turning the light on the darkest places, you and I know we got to face this now. We got to face this now.

B5 has the best episode titles of all shows though too.

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