• The new B5TV.COM is here. We've replaced our 16 year old software with flashy new XenForo install. Registration is open again. Password resets will work again. More info here.

CGI....

1. It will be Maya.

2. I'm sure that Slade can answer this more fully, but I don't believe any major changes will be made. (Although they may have updated some of the textures - remember, many of them for the staation were made on Amigas way back in 92!

3. At least the Valen, probably more.

4. Unlikely, for the same reasons that Joe stated. (BTW, the nickname that Netter gave the Personal White Star was "duckbill" or "smurf" because of the shape of the nose section and it's bluish color.

5. I don't believe so... although I wish they would. AFAIK the program has been cancelled with Crusade.

6. My guess... really really big fast machines with lots of RAM.
smile.gif
Maya runs on either Windows NT/2K, IRIX, or Linux, with the Linux port being relatively new. Maya also eats RAM and CPU cycles like popcorn. (I'd also hope that GVFX would not use the internal Maya renderer, which is terrible. Most Maya shops also employ either RenderMan or Mental Ray as a standalone renderer for their scenes.)

------------------
WombatControl
http://www.flarn.com/wombatcontrol/
"Who let the spoo out? Sigh sigh sigh sigh sigh..."
 
5. Actually they probably will. Not for the tv movie. But jms said that if this goes into a series he hopes to be able to work with JPL again.
 
yeah, Bluestar is a Fan name, I think it started over at http://www.b5tech.com/

Personally, Bluestar is better than "Snub Nosed Whitestar" which is the only Canonical name for the ship (and even then, the name was never mentioned on the show, its from Tim Earls website http://warlock.isnnews.net/resources/sizecharts/ )

Other names are the Smurf or Dwarfstar...yechh.

------------------
“Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought and why we died. All that matters is that today, two stood against many. Valor pleases you, so grant me this one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, the HELL with you!”

Eat More Goat.


[This message has been edited by Cern (edited August 29, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Cern (edited August 29, 2001).]
 
In case nobody else has seen these...

http://warlock.isnnews.net/resources/sizecharts/Chart2.jpg

------------------
“Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought and why we died. All that matters is that today, two stood against many. Valor pleases you, so grant me this one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, the HELL with you!”

Eat More Goat.
 
Joe - Well there was the whitestar, Black star... so blue star seemed more fitting than the snub fighter others use.
smile.gif
That just reminds me of the character from Star Wars, snub snub.

Well with all the races now working together in common goals, things get done more quickly. Power sources is the main thing and since all the races are sharing their technology they can take theories from one race and apply them to another races power source. The vree for example I believe use matter and anti-matter for power generation while the Minbari has Fusion last I heard. So now they have a much more efficient power source to apply to their ships.

I enjoy the stories and characters of course the most, the effects don't really matter compared to that at the end of the day but it doesn't hurt having things better. I dabble in 3D art so it interests me, I think it's an oppertunity to learn more about the behind the scenes stuff which I haven't really seen talked about with B5.
smile.gif
Just made a hyperion actually - http://www.geocities.com/darkthoruk/Hyperion.html

WC -

1. Thanks.

2. Yeah I know, which is why I would like them updated.
smile.gif
I know they updated some of the models for ACTA, but the textures seemed about the same. And the texture is used for starfuries, shuttles, hyperions, Omega's, Nova's, breaching pod's, Vree saucer, maitenence bots, Vorchans, Sunhawk, Raiders, Icarus rover,... so it get's a little repetative.

3. I believe Doug mentions 3 new ships in the dreamweaver interview but I was curious if there would be more.
smile.gif


4. I know but as above, I prefer the name Bluestar.
tongue.gif


5. A shame, Crusade was given a lot more realism by JPL but hopefully JMS will remember the lessons taught and bring it over to LR without the aid of JPL.

6. Hehe, good guess.
laugh.gif


LightNZ - Then let's hope we get a series.
smile.gif


Cern - Seen em but thanks. I agree, bluestar is IMO better than Snub.




------------------
'The brighter the light, the darker the shadow... symmetrys a bitch' - Me

'Remember, light travels faster than sound. That's why some people seem bright until they speak.' - Me
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Well with all the races now working together in common goals, things get done more quickly. Power sources is the main thing and since all the races are sharing their technology they can take theories from one race and apply them to another races power source.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You're assuming that power's the main thing. What if it is the equipment that generates the jump-point? If that can't be reduced in size for one reason or another (the field it generates needs to be of a given size as far as anyone knows, or reducing component size would require some esoteric breakthrough in materials science) then the size of the jump-point generator determines the size of the ship that carries it.

As for sharing technologies - the Minbari are, by common agreement, the oldest and most advanced spacefaring people among the Younger Races. What are the odds that anyone else is going to have technology that exceeds theirs? This isn't to say that a Drazi scientist trained in Minbari technology can't advance it, just the the odds of his doing so are no greater because he's Drazi than those of a Minbari. He'd merely be one more guy using Minbari tools to advance what amounted to Minbari technology, in much the same way that many Third World scientists and physicians are currently advancing the state of the art in their fields - by using the largely Western scientific method.

But simply pooling the relative ignorance of the other races is unlikely to produce anything the Minbari don't already have, anymore than gathering tribal medicine men from many aboriginal cultures, with no knowledge of internal anatomy, is likely to do any good for a man with a ruptured appendix. If you train them all in modern medicine - well, they're not tribal medicine men, anymore are they? They are indistinguishable from any other modern physician.

And if the Minbari depend on fusion reactors you can be certain that the Vree either don't have matter/anti-matter engines or that the Minbari had good reason for rejecting the technology. (Again, the assertion about the Vree strikes me as a bit of fan-fun, not something ever stated on the show.)

So I still think that the development time for the "Bluestar" is probably closer to 20 years than to 5.

Regards,

Joe

------------------
Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division

joseph-demartino@att.net
 
One thing, my memory of the scenes with Sheridan's personal runabout is that he used the Jumpgates.

So, if so, the ship may not Have jump engines.

Since even the Shdows were surprized at a ship as small as the White Star having jump engines, there is the possibility that the Vorlon enhancements that allowed this pushed jump technology to its limits.

After all, the Shadows have had jump tech for a million years. They have a pretty good idea just what is Possible.


Oh, as far as the JPL getting involved:

Probably, if the series happens.
A. JPL has a lot of Babylon 5 FANS.

B. A lot of the stuff B5 got from JPL was Hubble telescope shots.
The PTB at JPL like to see people using them because it helps keep Funding coming in when Congress is looking to cut the budget. Publicity is always good for Science programs.




------------------
Yes, I like cats too.
Shall we exchange Recipes?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>You're assuming that power's the main thing. What if it is the equipment that generates the jump-point? If that can't be reduced in size for one reason or another (the field it generates needs to be of a given size as far as anyone knows, or reducing component size would require some esoteric breakthrough in materials science) then the size of the jump-point generator determines the size of the ship that carries it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well the engine itself can't be very large considering the size of quarters, hallways and the general thin shape of the whitestar. Seem's really tight enough as it is, with the hanger, weapons, bridge etc. The problem was always power generation I thought, that jump points require HUGE amounts of power. As explained by G'kar that the ship is out of commincation for a short time because of this when the Shadow ship blew up a Narn ship.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>As for sharing technologies - the Minbari are, by common agreement, the oldest and most advanced spacefaring people among the Younger Races. What are the odds that anyone else is going to have technology that exceeds theirs? This isn't to say that a Drazi scientist trained in Minbari technology can't advance it, just the the odds of his doing so are no greater because he's Drazi than those of a Minbari. He'd merely be one more guy using Minbari tools to advance what amounted to Minbari technology, in much the same way that many Third World scientists and physicians are currently advancing the state of the art in their fields - by using the largely Western scientific method.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oldest and generally the most advanced doesn't mean they're superior in all aspects though. For example the abbai have more advanced shielding technology than the Minbari. Just like the Vree having a more efficient power source than the Minbari. Even the EA beat the Minbari in design, with the starfury.

Well EA did VERY well by converting Minbari technology for their own use, hell they managed to do it with a race a BILLION years more advanced than them to create the hybrid. Obviously it isn't 'that' difficult to convert technologies. I mean look at Narn/Centauri weaponary being intergrated into EA use. Now every ship has their weapons.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>But simply pooling the relative ignorance of the other races is unlikely to produce anything the Minbari don't already have, anymore than gathering tribal medicine men from many aboriginal cultures, with no knowledge of internal anatomy, is likely to do any good for a man with a ruptured appendix. If you train them all in modern medicine - well, they're not tribal medicine men, anymore are they? They are indistinguishable from any other modern physician.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Abbai have force fields, Pak'Ma'Ra have plasma shielding, Vree have anti-matter weapons (thus an anti-matter power source), EA have better designs, EA have cloak and there's probably a lot more. These things exceed the Minbari in those aspects. They can add these technologies to the Minbari, since EA have shown relative ease in converting technologies for their use, the more advanced Minbari should have an easier time of it. With the help of the Vorlons they made the whitestar pretty quickly, so with the help of the other races, why can't they intergrate the new technoligies to their own?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>And if the Minbari depend on fusion reactors you can be certain that the Vree either don't have matter/anti-matter engines or that the Minbari had good reason for rejecting the technology. (Again, the assertion about the Vree strikes me as a bit of fan-fun, not something ever stated on the show.)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Minbari fusion reactors were stated by Ivanova in ref. to the Trigati and the anti-matter weapon source comes from AOG. Stated by JMS to be canonical on a supplment review from JMS given with an AOG book. The Vree's weapon is anti-matter, that amount of anti-matter means they can make mass quantities of anti-matter. If we could do that today we'd use it as a power source but it's to expensive and pointless since we get so little today.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>So I still think that the development time for the "Bluestar" is probably closer to 20 years than to 5.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Generally military technologies today were in the prototype stage a few decades ago, could be built then but were tested thoroughly and the design updated and made cheaper over time.


------------------
'The brighter the light, the darker the shadow... symmetrys a bitch' - Me

'Remember, light travels faster than sound. That's why some people seem bright until they speak.' - Me
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bakana:
One thing, my memory of the scenes with Sheridan's personal runabout is that he used the Jumpgates.

So, if so, the ship may not Have jump engines.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Remember he went to Corriana 6, he asks the computer to make the jump to normal space. The computer was bugging him about it since Sheriden was almost passed out at the time.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Since even the Shdows were surprized at a ship as small as the White Star having jump engines, there is the possibility that the Vorlon enhancements that allowed this pushed jump technology to its limits.

After all, the Shadows have had jump tech for a million years. They have a pretty good idea just what is Possible.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The shadows weren't surprised per say I don't think. Since the Technomages shuttle sized ships are able to jump to and from hyperspace.

Their fighters can phase to hyperspace so it shouldn't be a big deal to them. They simply assumed the YR ship was limited like the rest of them by power/size.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Oh, as far as the JPL getting involved:

Probably, if the series happens.
A. JPL has a lot of Babylon 5 FANS.

B. A lot of the stuff B5 got from JPL was Hubble telescope shots.
The PTB at JPL like to see people using them because it helps keep Funding coming in when Congress is looking to cut the budget. Publicity is always good for Science programs.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, the background nebulaes/space shots were much better than others shows simply because they're real.
laugh.gif


I remember JMS's view on funding. 'Why not act like you don't know what that face on mars was, that you need the money to go check it out rather than prove it wrong?' was something like he said.
smile.gif



------------------
'The brighter the light, the darker the shadow... symmetrys a bitch' - Me

'Remember, light travels faster than sound. That's why some people seem bright until they speak.' - Me
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dark Lord:
3. I believe Doug mentions 3 new ships in the dreamweaver interview<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Hmmm... Probably the Liandra, the Valen and the new villains' ship.


------------------
You are not entitled to your own opinion. You are only entitled to your own informed opinion.
-- Harlan Ellison qouting Gustave Flaubert
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by drakh:
Hmmm... Probably the Liandra, the Valen and the new villains' ship.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm a little confused about the Valen's role, I would imagine such a name would go to the flag ship of the Minbari and not be available to the Rangers. A strictly Minbari crew, with humans not having a chance would seem pretty normal. Yet it read's like David had a shot at getting the ship? Seems strange to me.
smile.gif


And the way Doug puts it, the three ships each have their own set designs built from scratch, so there could be more ships just without set's built.



------------------
'The brighter the light, the darker the shadow... symmetrys a bitch' - Me

'Remember, light travels faster than sound. That's why some people seem bright until they speak.' - Me
 
I don't believe that calling the new flagship "Valen" is a problem at all--after all, Valen did start the Rangers, and, as Jeffrey Sinclair, got them back up and fully prepped for the upcoming Shadow War. It's only fitting that the Ranger flagship be named after its founder.

------------------
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DaFrenchman:
I don't believe that calling the new flagship "Valen" is a problem at all--after all, Valen did start the Rangers, and, as Jeffrey Sinclair, got them back up and fully prepped for the upcoming Shadow War. It's only fitting that the Ranger flagship be named after its founder.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Altough Valen was a human himself, he is largely a Minbari icon and not given a second look by humans. Valen was a part of Minbari culture not Human culture, that was Sinclair so Valen being a Minbari name and Minbari himself I would think stick to the Minbari. The Rangers kinda died after Valen left though, but what he taught reigned in Minbari history, being passed onto one another. Yes Valen created the Rangers but he practically created the Minbari as well with just about every tradition they have a thousand years later. So like I said, It would seem more fitting IMO for that to be the name of the Minbari flagship not the Rangers. As I would argue he has done more for the Minbari than he did the Rangers.


------------------
'The brighter the light, the darker the shadow... symmetrys a bitch' - Me

'Remember, light travels faster than sound. That's why some people seem bright until they speak.' - Me
 
There's also the problem that our crew is in rather low standing with the Rangers, and not really "worthy" of a ship named after Valen.

------------------
You are not entitled to your own opinion. You are only entitled to your own informed opinion.
-- Harlan Ellison qouting Gustave Flaubert

[This message has been edited by drakh (edited August 29, 2001).]
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bakana:
B. A lot of the stuff B5 got from JPL was Hubble telescope shots.
The PTB at JPL like to see people using them because it helps keep Funding coming in when Congress is looking to cut the budget. Publicity is always good for Science programs.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually, not true. The HST shots were used on B5, before JPL was involved. I would imagine that they came from the Space Telescope Science Institute, not JPL. JPL was involved with Crusade....
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/98/crusade2.html

....and you never saw any HST images in the background on Crusade because it isn't realistic. In real life, you wouldn't see a nebula in the background in every corner of the galaxy, like you get on Babylon 5. Space as seen on Crusade actually looks a lot like real space, including the presence of the galactic plane. I'm really impressed that they show the galactic plane in Crusade, because I've never seen it in any other SF TV or movie project. I hope they have the same kind of realism in Rangers.


------------------
 
Mmmm, teacher, what IS the galactic plane, please?

Ro

------------------
A ship in a port is safe, but that's not what ships are for.

Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
 
I know there's a thread for the visual effects but it'd off topic to talk about what I want.
smile.gif
Opinions and best-guesses welcome.

1. What software is being used for the effects? I believe it's maya but just wanted to make sure.

2. Will the B5 models be re-textured or maybe more nurnies added to the models? I always thought EA textures were a little plain and needed more surface detail. And the whitestar's nose where the gun is could do with more nurnies IMO.

3. Apart from the Liandra, will we see more new models? The Minbari always seemed a little lacking in diversified ships. For example they don't appear to have any bombers, only fighters. The Sharlin is a multi-purpose warship, but like today... we have ships made for specific purposes. Fuel supply for another example, I imagine the Minbari still need fuel. Carriers, fuel supply ships, scouts, planetary assault ships (Warlock/Nova's opposite) etc. could all be made. They're probably very busy with the animation side of things but I thought it was worth looking at, maybe make some of the AOG ships all ready out there.

4. Will the bluestar make an appearence? We know by the time of sleeping in light the Rangers have bluestars but we don't know when they begun production. I would of thought there may be a few prototypes around ACTA time.

5. Is JPL playing an active role with the science part of the science-fiction like they did in Crusade? I enjoyed their help with Crusade, seemed to make the show better.

6. Any specifications on the hardware being used to render the animation?

Thanks for any answers.

------------------
'The brighter the light, the darker the shadow... symmetrys a bitch' - Me

'Remember, light travels faster than sound. That's why some people seem bright until they speak.' - Me
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Will the bluestar make an appearence? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not likely. (And I'd still like to know where the name "bluestars", which sounds silly to me, came from. I'm pretty sure it is not canon.)

When the Whitestars debut in 2260 they are state-of-the art ships, more advanced than anything any of the Younger Races have thanks to the Vorlon's assistance. One of the things that amazes people is that a ship so small can form its own jump-points. I rather doubt that they go from the Whitestars to a jump-point capable ship the size of Sheridan's personal craft in "SiL" in only five years (2265, which is when the Rangers movie is set.)

As for your other questions - I don't know. I have to say that I'm pretty indifferent to all the space hardware and ships, I'm more interested in the people and the stories. That's why I could never join in the frequent complaints about cutting away from space battles to character moments, or doing "Into the Fire" as a single episode instead of a two-parter - because most of what was left out would have just been more "shoot-'em-up" action in space, and I thought the series had plenty of that. Just my 2 credits.
smile.gif


Regards,

Joe

------------------
Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division

joseph-demartino@att.net
 
Actrually both NASA & JPL were both involved unoficially long before that press person got wind of it.

During the first run, there was a regular Babylon 5 group at NASA in Florida which got together at Lunch time to watch tapes of the episodes.
The group even included several astronauts.
cool.gif


These people (both the NASA & JPL fans) were sending Babylon 5 stuff long before the Publicity people found out.

One of my friends (who was part of the NASA viewing group) had Michael O'Hare as a Houseguest when he visited the Cape.

Oh, if you should see Jerry (Garibaldi) Doyle at a convention, ask him about HIS tour of Kennedy Space Center and getting autographs from the Astronauts.
It's a good story.
His eyes light up when he tells it.



------------------
Yes, I like cats too.
Shall we exchange Recipes?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Mmmm, teacher, what IS the galactic plane, please?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Most of our galaxy (not counting the dark matter) is confined to a giant pancake-shaped disk that's something like 90,000 light-years across and 1000 light-years thick (not sure how precise those numbers are, but I could look it up). The disk is like a 2-dimensional sheet in space, so the plane that it defines is called the galactic plane. Because we're inside the disk, it looks like a line of stars that cuts across the sky, sort of like this:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980523.html

This is what's commonly referred to as the Milky Way (although that gets confusing, because it's both the name of our galaxy and the band in the sky which is sort of our view of the galaxy--that's why I referred to it as the galactic plane). If you live close to a remote area with little light pollution, go there on a clear night and look up at the sky. You should be able to see that band of stars--commonly referred to as the Milky Way, but I called it the galactic plane--that looks something like the picture that I provided the link to.

Now pull out a tape of a Crusade episode (or wait until the marathon on Columbus Day if you live here in the USA), and look at the background in the space shots. In several of those shots, you'll see this strip of stars across the sky. Because it wraps around the entire sky, this should be the most prominent feature on the sky. Yet I'd never seen it in any SF TV or film project--not until Crusade. (I specifically remember seeing this in "Visitors From Down the Street" and maybe "Path of Sorrows" if that helps.)

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Actrually both NASA & JPL were both involved unoficially long before that press person got wind of it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The involvement that you cite really isn't the same sort of thing that they did on Crusade. On B5, they were not serving as consultants and assessing the scientific plausibility of every aspect of the show. On Crusade, they were.


------------------
 

Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.
Back
Top