DaboGirl 7 Posted July 11, 2008 “The remastered version of the original Star Trek episode, "The Cloud Minders," airs the weekend of July 12, 2008 in nationwide syndication. The remastered episode features all-new visual effects of the cloud city, Stratos, created by CBS Digital. In the episode, Stratos is literally a castle in the sky, a glittering paradise where the planet's ruling class lives. Unfortunately, the workers responsible for creating the floating city live in primitive conditions in caves on the planet, far below. The image [above] is a matte painting of Stratos by Max Gabl, based on a digital model by visual effects supervisor Niel Wray, which in turn is based on the original design of the cloud city by series art director Walter M. Jefferies. The image of the planetscape below is based on the same photograph used by Cinema Research Corp in creating the episode's original visual effects in 1969. That photograph was taken by astronauts on the Gemini IV orbital mission in 1965 and shows the Hadramawt Plateau dry river basin in southern Saudi Arabia. For the remastered effect, Dwayne A. Day of the National Research Council and John Hargenreder of the NASA History Office combed through NASA archives at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. to find the original photograph for the remastered visual effects team. (The distant mountains on the horizon are based on a different photo, taken by astronauts on the International Space Station.) (If you look REALLY closely, you might notice a tiny light blue smudge, above and to the left of the center of the image. That's the beautiful Droxine, standing on her balcony. She's just a couple of pixels high in this photo.)” Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TransporterMalfunction 1 Posted July 24, 2008 I saw this episode when I was in the US. I really approve of the work being done on these episodes as it helps it relate to new and younger viewers who may be put off by shoddy effects. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites