For a 2 minute film with no dialogue had more texture emotion and depth than the whole of discovery and strange new worlds and seasons 1 and 2 of picard.
Wait a minute. I was under the impression that three California class starships entered orbit and they used their tractor beams to pull the saucer section of the enterprise d from the planet and take it back to the museum.... I know that's probably not Canon, but that's what I heard. Interesting
I legit almost teared up seeing Spock's face at the end, his reaction and facial expressions are perfect. This 2 minute short made me feel more emotion for Trek than anything Kurtzman has done. RIP Leonard Nimoy
@@ClanBez Oh god, I was thinking the same when I watched it. All these respectful and well done scenes of Spock emoting and than he opens his mouth and says how he changed his pronouns now. It is a sad world for old Trek fans where producers care more about promoting ideology than doing a product fans crave.
@@TheVileOne he is right its funny how a short concept video can pack more punch than a enire seasons of Disco Trek😂 for the record im not a fan DoomQuack aka Doomcock😂
@@TheVileOne Doomcock doesn't speak for everyone that has issues with fandoms being wrecked by modern studios. And you don't speak for Doomcock. Stop it with the childish tribalism. Take your issues directly to the speaker without dragging in third party bullshit dismissals. If you don't want to take the time to respectfully get to the bottom of a disagreement through conversation, then save that last bit of time in dropping those inane hit-and-run discredit grenades.
What do you think is going to happen when such technology is used to make people that give the state trouble look like they've said something they didn't, or that they've committed a terrible crime? 🙃
When I first saw Regeneration, I thought perhaps it was an added deleted scene at the end credits of the 4k Star Trek Generations. Very impressed with what this company has done. Look forward to what else they put out.
From what I understood they 3D scanned the actors in a scene and could then change the camera angles digitally on the recorded footage. A marriage of motion capture and filming.
If they are able the recreate the actors and even do it in realtime, like they plan for the Animated Series, in combination with AI, they might be even able to recreate the fictional Star Trek characters as realtime interactive characters. Meaning: The AI is trained with the mannerisms of Kirk or Spock over all series and movies, and then you can talk to them and they respond as the characters actually would, but specifically to you. Much like the characters in the Holodeck episodes of TNG, VOY and DS9.
@@Scripture-Man More like the spacers from Isaac Asimov, me thinks. Star Trek Holodeck technology would efectively enable you to live like a king with an army of "robotic" servants doing all the work for you. You wouldn't have JUST a holodeck, you would also have a house with holoemitters everywhere. Heck, why even have a physical house? Just lay down holoemitters into the ground, and then you live inside the solid hologram, which you can redesign and refurbish at the press of a button. Best of both worlds.
John DeLancie narrating CGI Enterprise bridges on the OTOY channel was fantastic. I would love to see the Deep Space Nine interior as well as the Voyager, Protostar, the shuttle crafts and the other actors/characters.
@@Scripture-Man fair enough . I get it . I don't like change either . But season 3 actually felt like I was watching trek again , and I think a lot of others agree.
Dave is the reason I gave S3 a chance, and it blew my MIND! Positively the best Star Trek in 20 years! I was amazed at the care and love Matalas has for the lore. It was the love-letter ending I never thought I would get. Cannot praise it enough.
Technically it's a great example of how far computer animation has come. I do have qualms about using the exact visage, voice, etc of deceased actors who have no contemporary ability to opt in (beyond pre-mortem contracts, the decision of the estate/immediate family [which itself may differ widely from that actors wishes]). Yes I know this has already happened with Star Wars and some other instances.
I agree about the consent of deceased actors. HOWEVER, I think it's perfectly acceptable to recreate them in roles and situations they were already in - stuff like just updating the video quality of old productions, filling in a few blanks, or providing visuals for an audio performance he already gave (the Animated Series). We know Nimoy wouldn't mind this kind of thing as he's always been happy to come back and play Spock again for new productions. But if someone made a brand new show, with new characters and performances, and wanted to use Nimoy's face - THAT would definitely be wrong!
OTOY makes the 3D rendering engine caled OCTANE - its been around for about 10 years, and runs on the GPU. So it competes with the likes of Redshift, Unreal Engine in terms of technology. Lawernce Seleck actually looks a lot like a young nimoy IRL. The likeness is really striking even without the makeup. The prosthetics just close the deal. The guy could literally cash in on his genetics if he stay n doing star trek projects ...
Its not a direct competitor to Unreal as its not a 'gaming' render engine, rather Its simply one of several top tier cgi film Renderers such as Arnold Vray and Redshift. It was the first major GPU based renderer. Relying upon nvidia cuda cores. It does have a rtr version of itself called Brigade, But even it is not truly intended for gaming purposes per say but rather holographic spectral rendering on mobile media devices.
Can you settle an argument re Seleck please? Is this footage definitely no more than just the actor with prosthetics, or is there still a deepfake or CGI element to ‘finish it off’? Beautiful as the saucer section footage is, it’s not groundbreaking, so it would seem odd that such an industry leading CGI company as OTOY would then use half the video to showcase purely prosthetics work. It may help that Spock is inherently covered in make-up but the older version at least seems to be absolutely perfect so it’s hard to believe that there isn’t some, even if it’s just a little, computer magic that takes it beyond that.
@@xevious2501 Yes youre right, and thanks for the additional info. I shoulda left out UE :) UE5 has been such game changer for visualization that its gaining a lot of traction in virtual production and even actual vfx shots in certain cases. But its power has some limitations that the others dont.
@@fraxis2007 well unless we get a more in-depth breakdown on the shots, its anybody's guess re the older spock. Because Lawrence looks more like Nimoy from the 60s ie very young. The older spock might have leveraged deepfake tech, but the younger spock I believe is Lawrence with makeup no CGI. He was involved in a few trek fan productions, and I had heard of him before a few years ago. But now when I search his name I cant find any of the old pictures that were floating around - everything is OTOYs clips...
@@JasonAdank Thanks for the info. I guess the main thing is that it exists and it looks incredible. If it is only make-up though, then that makes me slightly less enthusiastic as it’s less reusable for other cast members and very lookalike dependent.
@@CptApplestrudlaged or not that is Canon history. Star Trek TOS will not be replaced too much cultural zeitgeist and Canon history. As much as Nu Trekkers want it will never happen. Trekkies and Thankfully Star Trek OTOY will remind younger generations where it all started. If you want to keep Star Trek fresh keep it in the future not try to reboot it with prequels.
My guess is they use makeup and prosthetics to get the actors looking as close as they can, then use deep fake tech to finish the job. That's why it looks so convincing.
Why would they bother with prosthetics and make up? Just makes it harder for the computer to do deep fake... Mostly needs a similar face structure for muscle and skin movement, doesn't need to look anything a like other than base level. Have you ever watched Instagram or deep-fakes in general?
@@CommDante The closer the original face looks, the better the final result. There's no way in hell it's not a deepfake or some related cg enhancement because the face is 100% perfect. Prosthetics just can't do that.
This level of technological advancement in film is both a blessing and a curse. I marvel at how Spock seems to magically be back to life, but I worry about the ethics of such a move. I can't speak for Leonard Nimoy nor his family, but I certainly don't feel 100% at ease with someone else just picking up with his life where he left off. There are much larger moral questions to be discussed here, but I'm not sure humanity is ready to have that discussion.
@@ImmortalThanos Ok, I accept that your argument has logic - I don't want to see any more of Spock. Anyway, the Spock in this video is just a copy of a copy - the real Spock died in Wrath of Khan. When he passed his "katra" on to McCoy, that was just a copy because fully-functional Spock then left McCoy and went on to save the ship. The last we saw of our real beloved Spock was when he died of radiation in front of Kirk.
*Slight* canonical misstep: the vision of the Enterprise crashing down on Genesis...Spock is in TMP-era uniform there. It's a small thing, and it kind of confused me. But, other than that, it was freaking brilliant.
It's a crossover reference from when a future alternate reality Spock mindmelds with Mia Colt. Then many years later, TMP era Spock mindmelds with her and gets a 'data dump' from that version of himself. Spock is left with the knowledge of several possible fates for Pike, Kirk, himself... and has to choose.
I was thinking the same thing. Like tmp Spock seeing the 1701 crashing on Genesis planet, and being in tmp uniform doesn't make sense, but yeah maybe it's a vision🤷🏻♂️
I thought the idea was just that Spock was recalling when the ship was destroyed. His young appearance is just a way of telling us he's thinking back to "those days"
@@UA-camcanbitemyhairybanger Not judging by the uniform he's wearing. That is a TMP era uniform, which were replaced by the time of Wrath of Khan. Also, the blue uniform in TMP is because he was a reinstated Science Officer in that movie. Spock is a Captain from Wrath of Khan onwards.
I had no idea this was happening... very emotional for me. I was one of those teens that was heart broken when Star Trek was taken off the air after only 3 yrs. It is wonderful to see this happening. Just amazing. Never thought computers would advance this quickly.
So Gene Roddenberry's estate is responsible for this. What about Leonard Nimoy's estate? Do they get a say in how a character he embodied get's portrayed? They are not using a different actor to play Spock, they are re-creating Leonard Nimoy's version.
I am loving that they have put so much TMP era stuff into this virtual recreation project. i honestly loved the aesthetic of that movie, and the Enterprise never looked better than it did on that outing.
I can definitely see where this is going, in particular the Hologram aspect. With every prop, set-piece, actor, prosthetic and line of dialog and music archived and digitized to digital assets it is technically possible to re-create holographic or neural-link'd, immersive experiences of the TV shows and movies. For example, you will be able to experience the movies and the shows from a observer perspective in realtime unraveling in front of you but from your own subjective perspective. Walking around the ship as a crewmember so to speak. It might as well be basically the first step to bring Star Trek to the future Holodeck Technology. I just hope the digital assets are futureproof.
@@caveatlector2671 people don’t understand that the current ”opionions and teachings” will soon be seen as ”old and backwards” and in ”dire need of improvement” 😂
This is got to be the most Trekian thing I ever seen! Nothing is said but so much yet is so! And themes were there! The scene that showed the bushes and the stream was an awesome callback to time travel sequence from ST:The voyage Home, great Job to those who made it.
They could put this in a remastered copy of Generations at the end in a cut scene and it would probably enhance that movie and then be the perfect connective tissue to Picard Season 3.
I don't want to blow out of proportion the significance of this presentation (Regeneration), but I cannot explain the wonderful feeling I experienced watching this. It was wonderful!
This also preserving the work of Gene L Coon, Matt Jefferies and others that made Star Trek what it was, I (rightly or wrongly) feel they get airbrushed from history a little. Klingons, Khan, Starfleet command and Zefram Cochrane to name a few were Coon's creations and of course Matt Jefferies designed the Enterprise.
Coon also improved the tone of the show. Watch "The Cage" again and pay attention to how much like TNG season 1 it is. That's what Roddenberry wanted the whole show to be like.
As a kid we watched Star Trek every night for years on local broadcast TV in Los Angeles. We new lines by heart and every episode. What you revealed in this video is spectacular. I would gladly travel to Las Vegas to experience this and watch the content created so far online. Thanks, Dave, for sharing the work by OTOY!
I'm not even into Star Trek, but I would love to see the animated series reimagined as live action. Then you would have authentic voice performance of the original actors with new visuals. That would be unreal. I wonder if they are putting a deep fake over the prosthetics? Or deep fake over CG models? It would be an honor to be remembered and celebrated 100 years after your birth. Shows the impact Gene's stories had on people.
The clip is essentially the opening pages of "The Return" novel. If I remember correctly, Picard is overseeing the removal of the Enterprise-D wreckage and then the scene shifts to Spock on top of the mountain where Kirk is buried. He is just standing there in reflection and doesnt do anything, like pick up his Starfleet pin.
Thanks for sharing this Dave, so many fans would have never have known this existed if it hadnt been for your video. We need this kind of work highlighted and celebrated, its made by a fan for the fans.
My first thought when experimenting with AI was to recreate the original cartoons as live action. Voices are already there. It would be like having another season.
That would simply be incredible! Makes you wish that the Animated Series had twice the number of episodes, so that TOS could have a full 5-year run. I don't know quite how TAS ended, but one way or another they could ensure that the final episode gave the series a proper ending, instead of the terrible ending it got.
@@Scripture-Man With AI voices becoming better and better and if they have the "live action" assets in place they could also make new material in the same vein as the old episodes.
Yep. before I even watch your video i'm just gunna say that little 2 minute clip touched my very freakin soul. I got to see the correct scale of the Enterprise D saucer section next to trees in a landscape where it was being prepared for towing, and when I saw the cloaked guy at the grave site I knew who it had to be. Was shocked to see him again, so realistic looking, and that hint of emotion in his face said SO much. Made my eyeball leak.
Actually believed it was Nimoy it was like a Mission Impossible mask. All they need now is the voice changer to make an actor sound like the people they are portraying.
William Shatner's novel "Ashes of Eden" (1995) ends with Spock at Kirk's grave during the salvage of D's saucer section, There is a particular event that takes place at this time that synchs up with an event in Picard S3 E8 "The Bounty". Maybe The Roddenberry Archive knows what "Project Phoenix" is...😉
I saw it and simply made me cry.. my dad was a Trekkie and he always wondered if Spock went to Kirk grave.. he passed away and I thought of him seein this when I saw it.
Good morning from Dubai! Just past midnight here.....loved Picard Season 3 but....one brief shining moment can not undo the past 15 years or so....post Enterprise...
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I’ve spent the last hour over at OTOY’s channel in awe of what they’re doing. Their production quality rivals anything done by Paramount’s latest work. In fact, I prefer OTOY’s aesthetic. PS- And HOW COOL is the 1701 bridge from The Cage?!? Before color TV, all those muted colors with different filtered light gives the Enterprise a much more iconic look versus the overly colorized bridge we have come to know from TOS. I can definitely see the inspiration for color pallet on ST Enterprise.
'Regeneration' was stunning & really got me. But it's weird because it ties in almost like hand in glove with ST:Ps3. The salvaging of the Enterprise D, the little floating tugs about to lift her. All so carefully positioned, showing our girl such respect & care. One can almost see Geordi off camera somewhere keeping an eye on everything & going, "easy girl, easy...we'll get you home to where no one can harm you." But then the reveal of Spock finding Kirk's badge. That so ties in with the biocabinet where you could see Kirk's remains were and he was alive. Spock brought his body from Veridian III, and then used another Genesis device (also stored & on screen) to bring Kirk back. Maybe there wasn't enough energy to bring him back fully, but enough to bring him back until the day that process could be completed. I just got chills.
Wow, just WOW... I'm so glad you shared this as it wasn't on my radar (UA-cam feed). As a kid of the 60's, I've a fondness for Star Trek having eagerly awaited every episodes release during its run. Watching the OTOY videos was actually emotional. I'm so happy to see this work is being done to preserve its legacy...
I'd love to see some new old Trek as much as the next legitimate fan, but this stuff brings up some ethical questions: Is it ethical to basically make Leonard Nimoy (or whomever) live forever? Would he (or whomever) want their likeness to be used in perpetuity? I can see a time in the very near future where acting contracts have clauses for such things, granting or denying these permissions to the studios. We live in interesting times.
I will say, seeing this brought back the days of love for the Star Trek franchise. I would be 100% for this if I didn't think this, same technology, would be use to eventually destroy people, alter and concoct false visual evidence, and rewrite classic stories to a more "modern Audience."
I was very happy to find out they have some of the people who had made the cease and desisted explorable Enterprise-D project ("Stage 9") working on this. Apparently this is wholly separate from CBS/Paramount which has me wondering how they're getting away with peoducing new material like this.
I'm glad you finally got around to viewing these! They have been out there for some time. Memory Wall is the video that sparked the most conversation between peoples. Just a few days ago I watched it again as well as regeneration and some of the other mini-episodes? They are, fantastic and fascinating? We need to invent some new words to describe these videos. Thank you for posting about this, and the beginning of the novel Star Trek the Ashes of Eden is what the beginning of the video is depicting🖖
I think anything that keep old Roddenberry Trek alive is a good thing. But at the same time the limited amount of TOS stuff is what makes it so special.
I did see the Regeneration video and I agree its awesome. I am a big fan of The Cage and all its characters esp. Colt, so thanks for the tip on those videos as well. I have to say, this work seems to be more tasteful and quality than I expected, and I agree somewhat this short 2-minute video is better than a lot of the new series despite no dialogue. Some execs should be taking notes.
If OTOY follows through with the intent of redoing TAS via CGI, they're going to wind up reediting the whole thing. TAS scripts tended to run around 45 pages, which in a live action show, translates to around 45 minutes of screen time; the faster pacing of cartoons is why they clock in at around 22 minutes.
Wow.. Thank you for drawing attention to this for all us fans who have been distraught about how they treated Star Trek in recent years. This is amazing.
I watched this last night and assumed the same thing you did - that Nimoy was a deep fake. I'm shocked that was makeup and prosthetics. And yeah, recreating the animated series as love action would be awesome. So awesome that Paramount would likely never sign off on it. I also signed up for the free tier of that rendering software. Haven't had a chance to mess with it yet, but am looking forward to doing so.
Interesting that the Spock face is a practical prosthetic/makeup effect. I felt the real emotion Spock was feeling on Veridian III and the TMP scenes. But it is kinda creepy in a sense that they're plastering actual "Nimoy" prosthetics on an actor. That being said doing it digitally is effectively the same thing. IRL though it seems kind of ghoulish. Forget 3D animating TAS, I'd like them to redo the CGI effects for the BluRays. I know the time/money constraints the CG team had back then, but a lot of the shots just don't hold up well at all. And sometimes the art direction of the shots were just horrible. I'd rather not see starships zooming around like jet fighters as they did in The Ultimate Computer. I got enough of that when I played Starfleet Academy before the slow-down patch.
Imagine the universe of failure this opens up for someone like JJ Abrams! And I'm sure the material will be respected like it has with Tolkein and Roald Dahl.
I question if companies should be digitally re-creating the faces of actors who already died. This feel like it's crossing some line. . . . . . . . Especially if their face is used to promote a company and used in commercials.
I agree. It feels real iffy to have someone’s likeness being owned by a corporation and having no ability to give consent. This is the digital equivalent of a corpse with marionette strings being paraded in front of us because studios don’t want to take chances on new things.
I've always felt that doing so is quite disrespectful. I don't care if the estate has given permission, it's really skeevy and shouldn't be done. On top of that, I worry that keeping these actors 'alive' in perpetuity enforces the idea of a frozen culture; unable to move on, unable to change, simply limping along on tired old bones.
The tech and make-up techniques are amazing, and if the writing and direction is good, the sky could be the limit for this sort of thing. However, I do think it's a sad state of affairs that we're having to 'resurrect' old characters and even now actors from the dead to return to our screens. It highlights the creative bankruptcy of modern mass media. I also think there's an ethical issue around utilising deceased actors' likeness when they aren't around to speak for themselves, and are not the ones actually performing. The whole thing feels very simulacra-esque.
It’s going to a weird show when they resurrect it - pictures 60’s/70’s Trek aesthetic paired with modern profanity, modern scriptwriting, and of course plenty of wokeness! It’s going to be amazing and infuriating at the same time.
Yeah; it's the same with people asking for 'faithful' 1960's origins Fantastic Four and X-Men movies... They seem to forget who it is that will be producing these 1960's-set productions..... They will just be F4 / Ex-men versions of the Dr Who Rosa Parks episode... Star Trek recreated would just BE the communist utopia they misinterpret TOS as being based in.
It's quite good to know that real Star Trek fans care enough about what they put out and put some love into their work. Better keep them out of the hands of Bezos or Disney.
I have been playing this video over and over and over... and in my head... The first time I seen it I had tears rolling down my face... As though it was me standing there... I recognized (at the end of the video) when I was looking directly into Spock's eyes I could see my own inner pain from lost love ones, and the time that I have lost with my children due to divorce... There is nothing I can do to fix it or to fix these problems, but only to cherish them.. and the time I had with them... Have a good day everyone...
The Roddenberry Archive popped up on YT yesterday for me, and I have to say, it looked very impressive what they are doing. Amazing what can be done by a bunch of people with talent who are passionate about source material.
For a 2 minute film with no dialogue had more texture emotion and depth than the whole of discovery and strange new worlds and seasons 1 and 2 of picard.
That's not fair, Picard show definitely felt cringe af
Couldn't agree more
@Jimmy Fakename Kurtzman Trek should be banished to another universe separate from real Star Trek and that included Picard Season 3.
Kept hearing Spock's voice "I have been and always shall be your friend!"
Wait a minute. I was under the impression that three California class starships entered orbit and they used their tractor beams to pull the saucer section of the enterprise d from the planet and take it back to the museum.... I know that's probably not Canon, but that's what I heard. Interesting
Having Nimoy emotionally react without words, struggling with his half-human self is just stellar. This was done correctly in every way.
I legit almost teared up seeing Spock's face at the end, his reaction and facial expressions are perfect. This 2 minute short made me feel more emotion for Trek than anything Kurtzman has done. RIP Leonard Nimoy
The best part is when Spock said "It's Morbin' time!"
Bring less emotion to mass media entertainment. It is the mechanism for the downfall of western society.
@@Scripture-ManHur Dur such an totaly not overused Joke 😑
6:23
This is phenomenal, the respect to Gene's legacy is quite evident
yes thanks for pointing me there
@@ClanBez Oh god, I was thinking the same when I watched it. All these respectful and well done scenes of Spock emoting and than he opens his mouth and says how he changed his pronouns now. It is a sad world for old Trek fans where producers care more about promoting ideology than doing a product fans crave.
Imagine respecting a legacy like that. It's just lovely.
This is how _TRUE FANS_ treat Roddenberry's legacy. With *respect.*
You can always cry about it more to Doomcock.
@@TheVileOne Why would I want to do that?
@@TheVileOne he is right its funny how a short concept video can pack more punch than a enire seasons of Disco Trek😂 for the record im not a fan DoomQuack aka Doomcock😂
@@TheVileOne
@@TheVileOne Doomcock doesn't speak for everyone that has issues with fandoms being wrecked by modern studios. And you don't speak for Doomcock. Stop it with the childish tribalism.
Take your issues directly to the speaker without dragging in third party bullshit dismissals. If you don't want to take the time to respectfully get to the bottom of a disagreement through conversation, then save that last bit of time in dropping those inane hit-and-run discredit grenades.
What do you think is going to happen when such technology is used to make people that give the state trouble look like they've said something they didn't, or that they've committed a terrible crime? 🙃
Blake’s 7
Then we all use AI to make us look like Ben Richards. Do you like game shows?
@@wwiiinplastic4712I choose.. Ben Richards.
We'll have to invent the Bene Gesserit Gom Jabbar to test for true Humans.
...a civil war would do, but no culture in the west has that in their blood anymore
THIS! This is what an expanded universe should look like!
It's amazing how so many planets in the galaxy resemble southern California 🧐
Right?! It's the damndest thing, 🤔.
Lol
Or planets will look like the forests outside Vancouver or a British rock quarry.
And they all have oxygen-nitrogen mixtures in acceptable levels!
@@pcmacintyre stargate sg-1 comes to mind, the universe is all the canadian forests.
When I first saw Regeneration, I thought perhaps it was an added deleted scene at the end credits of the 4k Star Trek Generations. Very impressed with what this company has done. Look forward to what else they put out.
From what I understood they 3D scanned the actors in a scene and could then change the camera angles digitally on the recorded footage. A marriage of motion capture and filming.
These are the people you call to remaster DS9 and Voyager.
If they are able the recreate the actors and even do it in realtime, like they plan for the Animated Series, in combination with AI, they might be even able to recreate the fictional Star Trek characters as realtime interactive characters. Meaning: The AI is trained with the mannerisms of Kirk or Spock over all series and movies, and then you can talk to them and they respond as the characters actually would, but specifically to you. Much like the characters in the Holodeck episodes of TNG, VOY and DS9.
It would have to be used in porn first. That’s how these techs always work lol. They start with porn.
If we ever get holodecks, mankind is screwed because no one's ever going to want to come out and we'll all become Lieutenant Barclays!
@@Scripture-Man More like the spacers from Isaac Asimov, me thinks. Star Trek Holodeck technology would efectively enable you to live like a king with an army of "robotic" servants doing all the work for you. You wouldn't have JUST a holodeck, you would also have a house with holoemitters everywhere.
Heck, why even have a physical house? Just lay down holoemitters into the ground, and then you live inside the solid hologram, which you can redesign and refurbish at the press of a button. Best of both worlds.
@@Alexander_Kale Yeah until you get your Electric bill.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@robertkelly469 T_T
John DeLancie narrating CGI Enterprise bridges on the OTOY channel was fantastic. I would love to see the Deep Space Nine interior as well as the Voyager, Protostar, the shuttle crafts and the other actors/characters.
cool ...he is just so awesome as Q in TNG
Great show I really enjoy your Picard reviews. Your the reason I gave Picard season 3 a chance . I would have missed it if it wasn't for u
Same here. I've been burned too many times.
Dave is the reason I gave S3 a chance, and I was so disappointed. STILL no new Trek since 2001.
@@Scripture-Man fair enough . I get it . I don't like change either . But season 3 actually felt like I was watching trek again , and I think a lot of others agree.
Dave is the reason I gave S3 a chance, and it blew my MIND! Positively the best Star Trek in 20 years! I was amazed at the care and love Matalas has for the lore. It was the love-letter ending I never thought I would get. Cannot praise it enough.
I'd love to see a "live action" version of the animated series.
heh - including the Kzinti? (Larry Niven inserted them)
Technically it's a great example of how far computer animation has come. I do have qualms about using the exact visage, voice, etc of deceased actors who have no contemporary ability to opt in (beyond pre-mortem contracts, the decision of the estate/immediate family [which itself may differ widely from that actors wishes]). Yes I know this has already happened with Star Wars and some other instances.
I agree about the consent of deceased actors. HOWEVER, I think it's perfectly acceptable to recreate them in roles and situations they were already in - stuff like just updating the video quality of old productions, filling in a few blanks, or providing visuals for an audio performance he already gave (the Animated Series). We know Nimoy wouldn't mind this kind of thing as he's always been happy to come back and play Spock again for new productions.
But if someone made a brand new show, with new characters and performances, and wanted to use Nimoy's face - THAT would definitely be wrong!
Indeed. The only valid use I see is scenario from "The Crow" - to complete the movie and not allow effort goes to waste.
OTOY makes the 3D rendering engine caled OCTANE - its been around for about 10 years, and runs on the GPU. So it competes with the likes of Redshift, Unreal Engine in terms of technology. Lawernce Seleck actually looks a lot like a young nimoy IRL. The likeness is really striking even without the makeup. The prosthetics just close the deal. The guy could literally cash in on his genetics if he stay n doing star trek projects ...
Its not a direct competitor to Unreal as its not a 'gaming' render engine, rather Its simply one of several top tier cgi film Renderers such as Arnold Vray and Redshift. It was the first major GPU based renderer. Relying upon nvidia cuda cores. It does have a rtr version of itself called Brigade, But even it is not truly intended for gaming purposes per say but rather holographic spectral rendering on mobile media devices.
Can you settle an argument re Seleck please? Is this footage definitely no more than just the actor with prosthetics, or is there still a deepfake or CGI element to ‘finish it off’? Beautiful as the saucer section footage is, it’s not groundbreaking, so it would seem odd that such an industry leading CGI company as OTOY would then use half the video to showcase purely prosthetics work. It may help that Spock is inherently covered in make-up but the older version at least seems to be absolutely perfect so it’s hard to believe that there isn’t some, even if it’s just a little, computer magic that takes it beyond that.
@@xevious2501 Yes youre right, and thanks for the additional info. I shoulda left out UE :) UE5 has been such game changer for visualization that its gaining a lot of traction in virtual production and even actual vfx shots in certain cases. But its power has some limitations that the others dont.
@@fraxis2007 well unless we get a more in-depth breakdown on the shots, its anybody's guess re the older spock. Because Lawrence looks more like Nimoy from the 60s ie very young. The older spock might have leveraged deepfake tech, but the younger spock I believe is Lawrence with makeup no CGI. He was involved in a few trek fan productions, and I had heard of him before a few years ago. But now when I search his name I cant find any of the old pictures that were floating around - everything is OTOYs clips...
@@JasonAdank Thanks for the info. I guess the main thing is that it exists and it looks incredible. If it is only make-up though, then that makes me slightly less enthusiastic as it’s less reusable for other cast members and very lookalike dependent.
its almost like you could really represent TOS aesthetics in a graceful way without rebooting
To be fair, TOS optics are pretty aged by now.
@@CptApplestrudl No, they're not. Just give those old sets some new texturing so they look made of metal, and more natural lighting, and we're golden.
@@CptApplestrudlaged or not that is Canon history. Star Trek TOS will not be replaced too much cultural zeitgeist and Canon history. As much as Nu Trekkers want it will never happen. Trekkies and Thankfully Star Trek OTOY will remind younger generations where it all started. If you want to keep Star Trek fresh keep it in the future not try to reboot it with prequels.
My guess is they use makeup and prosthetics to get the actors looking as close as they can, then use deep fake tech to finish the job. That's why it looks so convincing.
Well he also doesn't move much or say a word. Still a good short.
Why would they bother with prosthetics and make up? Just makes it harder for the computer to do deep fake... Mostly needs a similar face structure for muscle and skin movement, doesn't need to look anything a like other than base level.
Have you ever watched Instagram or deep-fakes in general?
Yes, if you check out the behind the scenes, they used prosthetics and make up. As for Deepfake, I think it is more powerful software than that.
@@CommDante The closer the original face looks, the better the final result. There's no way in hell it's not a deepfake or some related cg enhancement because the face is 100% perfect. Prosthetics just can't do that.
What I don't understand, is TMP uniforms were not in play when NCC-1701 died over the Genesis Planet.
That was great. Hard to believe Nimoy is gone when they can bring him back so well. R.I.P Rodenberry. May your legacy live on.
This level of technological advancement in film is both a blessing and a curse. I marvel at how Spock seems to magically be back to life, but I worry about the ethics of such a move. I can't speak for Leonard Nimoy nor his family, but I certainly don't feel 100% at ease with someone else just picking up with his life where he left off. There are much larger moral questions to be discussed here, but I'm not sure humanity is ready to have that discussion.
I want more Spock - the needs of the many (us) outweigh the needs of the few (his family) 😀
@@alfinpogform4774 A 'want' is not a 'need'. You're confusing the two.
@@ImmortalThanos Ok, I accept that your argument has logic - I don't want to see any more of Spock. Anyway, the Spock in this video is just a copy of a copy - the real Spock died in Wrath of Khan. When he passed his "katra" on to McCoy, that was just a copy because fully-functional Spock then left McCoy and went on to save the ship. The last we saw of our real beloved Spock was when he died of radiation in front of Kirk.
If the day is upon us, it doesn't matter if we're ready for that discussion.
Things like this are *already* part of the current SAG-AFTRA strike...
*Slight* canonical misstep: the vision of the Enterprise crashing down on Genesis...Spock is in TMP-era uniform there. It's a small thing, and it kind of confused me. But, other than that, it was freaking brilliant.
Time travel, perhaps?
It seemed to be a flashback to a memory of him reminiscing on McCoy's memory of the crash. But that is merely speculation..
it was intentional - non-linear memory
I think it wasn't TMP era Spock. I think it was supposed to be Spock in the Kelvin timeline, remembering his Jim Kirk and when he visited the grave.
It's a crossover reference from when a future alternate reality Spock mindmelds with Mia Colt. Then many years later, TMP era Spock mindmelds with her and gets a 'data dump' from that version of himself. Spock is left with the knowledge of several possible fates for Pike, Kirk, himself... and has to choose.
Interesting that TMP Spock had a vision of the 1701 burning up in the atmosphere of Genesis. It was a premonition I suppose.
"Around the time of the motion picture" as in after the events of the series
I was thinking the same thing. Like tmp Spock seeing the 1701 crashing on Genesis planet, and being in tmp uniform doesn't make sense, but yeah maybe it's a vision🤷🏻♂️
Indeed, showing Spock in TMP uniform while envisioning the 1701 breaking apart in ST3 is an odd choice but it works because it leaves me wanting more.
I thought the idea was just that Spock was recalling when the ship was destroyed. His young appearance is just a way of telling us he's thinking back to "those days"
@@UA-camcanbitemyhairybanger Not judging by the uniform he's wearing. That is a TMP era uniform, which were replaced by the time of Wrath of Khan. Also, the blue uniform in TMP is because he was a reinstated Science Officer in that movie. Spock is a Captain from Wrath of Khan onwards.
Ah! Good news! I am genuinely excited by this, I was bummed when Axanar got axed, I miss real Star Trek..I do.
I had no idea this was happening... very emotional for me. I was one of those teens that was heart broken when Star Trek was taken off the air after only 3 yrs. It is wonderful to see this happening. Just amazing. Never thought computers would advance this quickly.
So Gene Roddenberry's estate is responsible for this. What about Leonard Nimoy's estate? Do they get a say in how a character he embodied get's portrayed? They are not using a different actor to play Spock, they are re-creating Leonard Nimoy's version.
I Found it both beautiful and unsettling. I was in awe, and at first thought it was a demo for the Unreal engine, believe it or not.
I am loving that they have put so much TMP era stuff into this virtual recreation project. i honestly loved the aesthetic of that movie, and the Enterprise never looked better than it did on that outing.
It's beautiful and had It been an actual post credit scene for ST Generations there would not have been a Dry eye in the theater.
I can definitely see where this is going, in particular the Hologram aspect. With every prop, set-piece, actor, prosthetic and line of dialog and music archived and digitized to digital assets it is technically possible to re-create holographic or neural-link'd, immersive experiences of the TV shows and movies. For example, you will be able to experience the movies and the shows from a observer perspective in realtime unraveling in front of you but from your own subjective perspective. Walking around the ship as a crewmember so to speak. It might as well be basically the first step to bring Star Trek to the future Holodeck Technology. I just hope the digital assets are futureproof.
The only issue was the close up of Spock's hand because it looks nothing like Leonard Nimoy's hand
Good to see you back Dave...you pop up so much more now....fun to geek out again with u on sci fi..we need the distractions...lol
With AI, prosthetics and good will, we could make any kind of tributes to the great movies and tv series ftom the past. Or even improve them!
@@caveatlector2671 people don’t understand that the current ”opionions and teachings” will soon be seen as ”old and backwards” and in ”dire need of improvement” 😂
This is got to be the most Trekian thing I ever seen! Nothing is said but so much yet is so! And themes were there! The scene that showed the bushes and the stream was an awesome callback to time travel sequence from ST:The voyage Home, great Job to those who made it.
This 2 min video had more SOUL than the entire Discovery series
Amen! Well said! Galactic Mushroom Networks? Giant Tardigrades? WTF came up with and WTF signed on that sh*t schlock?
They could put this in a remastered copy of Generations at the end in a cut scene and it would probably enhance that movie and then be the perfect connective tissue to Picard Season 3.
It's absolutely beautiful. 2 mins better than all the hours of nuTrek combined.
I'd like them to use this kind of technology on Star Trek Continues.
It's so sick, and it's pretty much cannon in my head.
Makes sense for the D saucer and for Kirk's body being retrieved and ending up at Daystrom.
I don't want to blow out of proportion the significance of this presentation (Regeneration), but I cannot explain the wonderful feeling I experienced watching this. It was wonderful!
This also preserving the work of Gene L Coon, Matt Jefferies and others that made Star Trek what it was, I (rightly or wrongly) feel they get airbrushed from history a little. Klingons, Khan, Starfleet command and Zefram Cochrane to name a few were Coon's creations and of course Matt Jefferies designed the Enterprise.
Coon also improved the tone of the show. Watch "The Cage" again and pay attention to how much like TNG season 1 it is. That's what Roddenberry wanted the whole show to be like.
As a kid we watched Star Trek every night for years on local broadcast TV in Los Angeles. We new lines by heart and every episode. What you revealed in this video is spectacular. I would gladly travel to Las Vegas to experience this and watch the content created so far online. Thanks, Dave, for sharing the work by OTOY!
I'm not even into Star Trek, but I would love to see the animated series reimagined as live action. Then you would have authentic voice performance of the original actors with new visuals. That would be unreal. I wonder if they are putting a deep fake over the prosthetics? Or deep fake over CG models? It would be an honor to be remembered and celebrated 100 years after your birth. Shows the impact Gene's stories had on people.
The audio would still need to be remastered to make it sound right, but modern AI audio technology will definitely make it sound much more realistic.
The clip is essentially the opening pages of "The Return" novel. If I remember correctly, Picard is overseeing the removal of the Enterprise-D wreckage and then the scene shifts to Spock on top of the mountain where Kirk is buried. He is just standing there in reflection and doesnt do anything, like pick up his Starfleet pin.
Shatner isn’t getting any younger, if they’re gonna bring him back they better do it soon
Now with AI training, voices can be de aged. Shatner should do an audio read just like animated films.
@@RoodeMenon Do you even need to de-age his voice though? He doesn’t exactly sound all that different lol
Thanks for sharing this Dave, so many fans would have never have known this existed if it hadnt been for your video. We need this kind of work highlighted and celebrated, its made by a fan for the fans.
My first thought when experimenting with AI was to recreate the original cartoons as live action. Voices are already there. It would be like having another season.
That would simply be incredible! Makes you wish that the Animated Series had twice the number of episodes, so that TOS could have a full 5-year run. I don't know quite how TAS ended, but one way or another they could ensure that the final episode gave the series a proper ending, instead of the terrible ending it got.
@@Scripture-Man With AI voices becoming better and better and if they have the "live action" assets in place they could also make new material in the same vein as the old episodes.
Yep. before I even watch your video i'm just gunna say that little 2 minute clip touched my very freakin soul. I got to see the correct scale of the Enterprise D saucer section next to trees in a landscape where it was being prepared for towing, and when I saw the cloaked guy at the grave site I knew who it had to be. Was shocked to see him again, so realistic looking, and that hint of emotion in his face said SO much. Made my eyeball leak.
Actually believed it was Nimoy it was like a Mission Impossible mask. All they need now is the voice changer to make an actor sound like the people they are portraying.
William Shatner's novel "Ashes of Eden" (1995) ends with Spock at Kirk's grave during the salvage of D's saucer section, There is a particular event that takes place at this time that synchs up with an event in Picard S3 E8 "The Bounty". Maybe The Roddenberry Archive knows what "Project Phoenix" is...😉
I vaguely remember watching TAS when first broadcast. However that would be fantastic if the converted that to live action.
I saw it and simply made me cry.. my dad was a Trekkie and he always wondered if Spock went to Kirk grave.. he passed away and I thought of him seein this when I saw it.
Thank you Dave for your research and reviews. If someone creates an AI named "VGER" us carbon units are doomed.
When I read The Return back in the day. This is what pictured in my minds eye
Good morning from Dubai! Just past midnight here.....loved Picard Season 3 but....one brief shining moment can not undo the past 15 years or so....post Enterprise...
Which is why we need more shining moments dogammit. Bring back Archer!
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I’ve spent the last hour over at OTOY’s channel in awe of what they’re doing.
Their production quality rivals anything done by Paramount’s latest work. In fact, I prefer OTOY’s aesthetic.
PS- And HOW COOL is the 1701 bridge from The Cage?!? Before color TV, all those muted colors with different filtered light gives the Enterprise a much more iconic look versus the overly colorized bridge we have come to know from TOS. I can definitely see the inspiration for color pallet on ST Enterprise.
Simply brilliant work they're doing.
'Regeneration' was stunning & really got me. But it's weird because it ties in almost like hand in glove with ST:Ps3. The salvaging of the Enterprise D, the little floating tugs about to lift her. All so carefully positioned, showing our girl such respect & care. One can almost see Geordi off camera somewhere keeping an eye on everything & going, "easy girl, easy...we'll get you home to where no one can harm you." But then the reveal of Spock finding Kirk's badge. That so ties in with the biocabinet where you could see Kirk's remains were and he was alive. Spock brought his body from Veridian III, and then used another Genesis device (also stored & on screen) to bring Kirk back. Maybe there wasn't enough energy to bring him back fully, but enough to bring him back until the day that process could be completed. I just got chills.
This video straight up melted my brain.
Wow, just WOW... I'm so glad you shared this as it wasn't on my radar (UA-cam feed). As a kid of the 60's, I've a fondness for Star Trek having eagerly awaited every episodes release during its run. Watching the OTOY videos was actually emotional. I'm so happy to see this work is being done to preserve its legacy...
I'd love to see some new old Trek as much as the next legitimate fan, but this stuff brings up some ethical questions: Is it ethical to basically make Leonard Nimoy (or whomever) live forever? Would he (or whomever) want their likeness to be used in perpetuity?
I can see a time in the very near future where acting contracts have clauses for such things, granting or denying these permissions to the studios.
We live in interesting times.
I will say, seeing this brought back the days of love for the Star Trek franchise. I would be 100% for this if I didn't think this, same technology, would be use to eventually destroy people, alter and concoct false visual evidence, and rewrite classic stories to a more "modern Audience."
this upcoming technology is frightening but can also be wonderfull, and moments like these are ones that make me be hopefull for the future
Holy crap this looks amazing! Thanks for bringing this to our attention Dave!
Roddenberry is about to be resurrected as our AI overlord.
When he sees ST Discovery, his wrath will transform him into V'ger and he will purge all of the carbon units that infest the Earth.
I welcome our new AI overlord.
Simply Stunning work, thanks ever so much for bringing this one up mate!!!
I was very happy to find out they have some of the people who had made the cease and desisted explorable Enterprise-D project ("Stage 9") working on this. Apparently this is wholly separate from CBS/Paramount which has me wondering how they're getting away with peoducing new material like this.
if its sponsored by the Roddenberry estate, I would guess they have the rights to do it.
I'm glad you finally got around to viewing these! They have been out there for some time. Memory Wall is the video that sparked the most conversation between peoples. Just a few days ago I watched it again as well as regeneration and some of the other mini-episodes? They are, fantastic and fascinating? We need to invent some new words to describe these videos. Thank you for posting about this, and the beginning of the novel Star Trek the Ashes of Eden is what the beginning of the video is depicting🖖
Not having Kurtzman involved makes Star Trek...... odd that......💥.... that was mine Star Trek mind!
I think anything that keep old Roddenberry Trek alive is a good thing. But at the same time the limited amount of TOS stuff is what makes it so special.
Imagine full cinematic movies in this style. A live 1960s star trek movie or even a sean connery Bond movie.
I wonder if the talk about virtual actors, which was around during the Final Fantasy movie, resurfaces with advancements for CGI as well as AI voices.
I did see the Regeneration video and I agree its awesome. I am a big fan of The Cage and all its characters esp. Colt, so thanks for the tip on those videos as well. I have to say, this work seems to be more tasteful and quality than I expected, and I agree somewhat this short 2-minute video is better than a lot of the new series despite no dialogue. Some execs should be taking notes.
More this, less Kurtzman Trek please.
Beautiful, just simply beautifully done!!!
If OTOY follows through with the intent of redoing TAS via CGI, they're going to wind up reediting the whole thing. TAS scripts tended to run around 45 pages, which in a live action show, translates to around 45 minutes of screen time; the faster pacing of cartoons is why they clock in at around 22 minutes.
This BLEW. MY. MIND. It took me about 20 minutes to watch because I kept rewinding and replaying, and jeeeez is it good. holly cow man.
Good thing OTOY already won that Academy Award huh... wouldn't be getting one now!!
Wow.. Thank you for drawing attention to this for all us fans who have been distraught about how they treated Star Trek in recent years. This is amazing.
I would have never guessed it was prosthetics and makeup I thought it was archive footage that they upscaled and 'placed' over the actor's face.
I watched this last night and assumed the same thing you did - that Nimoy was a deep fake. I'm shocked that was makeup and prosthetics. And yeah, recreating the animated series as love action would be awesome. So awesome that Paramount would likely never sign off on it.
I also signed up for the free tier of that rendering software. Haven't had a chance to mess with it yet, but am looking forward to doing so.
Interesting that the Spock face is a practical prosthetic/makeup effect. I felt the real emotion Spock was feeling on Veridian III and the TMP scenes. But it is kinda creepy in a sense that they're plastering actual "Nimoy" prosthetics on an actor. That being said doing it digitally is effectively the same thing. IRL though it seems kind of ghoulish.
Forget 3D animating TAS, I'd like them to redo the CGI effects for the BluRays. I know the time/money constraints the CG team had back then, but a lot of the shots just don't hold up well at all. And sometimes the art direction of the shots were just horrible. I'd rather not see starships zooming around like jet fighters as they did in The Ultimate Computer. I got enough of that when I played Starfleet Academy before the slow-down patch.
This is amazing. This needs to be preserved!
Imagine the universe of failure this opens up for someone like JJ Abrams!
And I'm sure the material will be respected like it has with Tolkein and Roald Dahl.
I remember watching this and was completely blown away it is beautiful in every way❤
How could a 2 min clip be better than the last 5 movies, and 3 series???!
It’s not?
I question if companies should be digitally re-creating the faces of actors who already died. This feel like it's crossing some line.
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Especially if their face is used to promote a company and used in commercials.
They are dead. they have no rights
I agree. It feels real iffy to have someone’s likeness being owned by a corporation and having no ability to give consent. This is the digital equivalent of a corpse with marionette strings being paraded in front of us because studios don’t want to take chances on new things.
I've always felt that doing so is quite disrespectful. I don't care if the estate has given permission, it's really skeevy and shouldn't be done.
On top of that, I worry that keeping these actors 'alive' in perpetuity enforces the idea of a frozen culture; unable to move on, unable to change, simply limping along on tired old bones.
Yet Paramount can't make CGI updates to DS9
Literally bought tears to my eyes. Amazing.
The tech and make-up techniques are amazing, and if the writing and direction is good, the sky could be the limit for this sort of thing. However, I do think it's a sad state of affairs that we're having to 'resurrect' old characters and even now actors from the dead to return to our screens. It highlights the creative bankruptcy of modern mass media. I also think there's an ethical issue around utilising deceased actors' likeness when they aren't around to speak for themselves, and are not the ones actually performing. The whole thing feels very simulacra-esque.
1981 movie, Looker, with Susan Dey and Albert Finney.
Worth a look considering today's technology.
It’s going to a weird show when they resurrect it - pictures 60’s/70’s Trek aesthetic paired with modern profanity, modern scriptwriting, and of course plenty of wokeness! It’s going to be amazing and infuriating at the same time.
The new writing kills me. They don't feel like they're in a disciplined organisation at all
Yeah; it's the same with people asking for 'faithful' 1960's origins Fantastic Four and X-Men movies...
They seem to forget who it is that will be producing these 1960's-set productions..... They will just be F4 / Ex-men versions of the Dr Who Rosa Parks episode...
Star Trek recreated would just BE the communist utopia they misinterpret TOS as being based in.
It's quite good to know that real Star Trek fans care enough about what they put out and put some love into their work. Better keep them out of the hands of Bezos or Disney.
I have been playing this video over and over and over... and in my head... The first time I seen it I had tears rolling down my face... As though it was me standing there... I recognized (at the end of the video) when I was looking directly into Spock's eyes I could see my own inner pain from lost love ones, and the time that I have lost with my children due to divorce... There is nothing I can do to fix it or to fix these problems, but only to cherish them.. and the time I had with them...
Have a good day everyone...
you can live forever if you sell yourself to a studio
The Roddenberry Archive popped up on YT yesterday for me, and I have to say, it looked very impressive what they are doing. Amazing what can be done by a bunch of people with talent who are passionate about source material.
Yeah, like bring back kirk
It almost got me teared up. That's how important actual Star Trek and Spock in particular apparently is to me. Man.... it's just brilliant.
Oh I have watched everything they uploaded! All of it nocked my socks off!!!