Hey all

[Mark Savela]

Hello all. I know it's been a while. I have seen/heard the thoughts/views about the VFX about B5:LOTR for a while. I would like to know since enough time has passed, if there are any B5:LOTR Questions that need to be adressed. Priority going to Channe of courese.

Mark Savela
Visual Effects Supervisor
Babylon 5: The Legend Of The Rangers

 

[A_M_Swallow]

Have we discussed the difference between aerodynamics and symmetry?

Aerodynamics - everything comes to a point at the front.

Symmetry - the left is a mirror reflection of the right.

Full symmetry - the top and bottom reflect each other.

Fully symmetrical spaceships cannot land on planets, otherwise half the people and objects would end up hanging upside down.

 

[gangster]

Okay. I'll jump in with an escape pod question: When the escape pod with the remote-controlled device inside was launched, it sat there and the "dirty snowflake" came and picked it up while the Liandra continued on its way. The escape pods launched by the Valen did the same - sat in space until retrieved. When the escape pod with Minister Kafta (and the grenades) in it launched, it immediately fired thrusters and headed for the "dirty snowflake" guarding the jump gate, with a rocket burn showing until it was grabbed. Given the small size of an escape pod, and the need for life support, this made me wonder if escape pods could normally maneuver in space, only follow their launch trajectory, or if Kafta's pod was a modified version from the norm?

 

[channe]

Hallo, Mark!

Hmm. Priority. I can deal with that. Sounds good to me. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

It tickles me pink to see that the cast and crew still have an interest in Rangers and what we thought about it - even after a number of months and the demise of the series. That's fantastic.

I'm going to sound obsessive-compulsive, but that's the writer's life, especially if they're attempting to reconstruct a series on precisely one hour and forty-five minutes of material. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

Hmm... what kind of things could you perhaps have the answers to?

1. Holographic systems are used in the weapons pod to give the gunner a 3-D view of surrounding space. While I thought the way the pod appeared in the movie was exceedingly nifty, I heard that having Myriam in the harness wasn't the optimal way of doing those sequences - could you expand on what you *would* have done if the budget had been larger? Would there still have been eye-targeting, or would there have been more button-pushing?

2. What was the philosophy behind the bridge design? Putting all the characters, in essence, to chat around the dinner table was something I haven't seen done on similar shows, where the characters often have to turn around or swivel their heads to really look at one another. Why was this done?

3. I loved the way the controls were designed, but something still escapes me. This is going to sound incredibly picky, but how is the interface really supposed to work? We had a few shots of Dulann actually touching his console, while Kitaro ran his hands *over* his. Is there a particular way the characters were supposed to interact with the console, or was it basically "anything goes" in that manner?

4. I've always wanted to know if the Minbari did for fun on a Friday night... but I doubt that kind of thing was under your aegis.

I definitely have more questions (give me an inch and I'll take a mile /forums/images/icons/wink.gif ), but I need to do the decidedly un-scifi chores of mopping the kitchen floor and weeding the garden. (Unless, of course, the garden is... sentient... that would be quite sci-fi...)

Thanks!

 

[GShans]

I can't think of any off hand that would be good, but someone made a comment about bathrooms a few days ago. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[Demonn]

Do you know who put those backward flying Minbari fighters in the movie? /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

 

[B5_Obsessed]

Replying to Channe:

Originally, the Weapons Pod was to have a seat in it with a multi-directional spin. I'm thinking it would've looked a lot like the weapons control in "The Last Starfighter" (recall the Death Blossom?).

As for hand controls, even the Whitestars had a combination of touch (firing) and hand-wave (sensors)

 

[channe]

Thanks. "The Last Starfighter" is a movie I've always meant to see, and now I have a reason to...

I thought that I had read somewhere that someone involved with the production had claimed that the Sarah character, in the original script and concept, was never meant to be suspended without a chair or other supports in the weapons pod. Those darned budget constraints... what made filming it that way so expensive?

I have to reference back to the movie, but I can blearily recall Kitaro doing some combination of hand-waves, signals, and touch-whatevers. Good to know I'm not just having delusions. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

 

[Loadhan]

Of course I don't know what I'm talking about ... but I'd guess the systems of the Minbari are more effescient than most we've seen. Touching does one thing, waving does another, waving a different way does even another, touchign with different angle or pressure, etc. Same button (chrystal) many functions. Sounds like it would be adapt for mistakes except we know that both Minbari and Rangers (of whatever race) go through instense training and mind focusing activities so that concept really does fit with their culture.

 

[B5_Obsessed]

Re: Last Starfighter

Don't get carried away. It's a funny, silly, cute movie. I liked it back in 1986 or whenever it came out. I believe it featured the very first use of CGI space battles, and featured a character named Centauri.

But it ain't 2001.

 

[channe]

Re: Last Starfighter

Renting movies is on my "whenever I get around to it" list, which means I do it whenever I don't have anything else to do, which is, while I'm employed, close to never, and this is a really, really long sentence that I'm not sure is gramatically correct...

As for the hand movements, I'm not getting so carried away with them that I'm having certain combinations mean certain things (then, I'd truly be beyond help). They're going to be an upcoming plot point sometime in the distant future, so it's good to know that I was right about them in the first place.