Fan Film WIP: Star Trek: Retribution
 

Hi guys,

This is the first time I've really gotten involved with things around here. For anyone who doesn't know me, I very recently finished production of what I'm told is the Star Trek fan community's first complete CG fan film, Star Trek: Specter. In that project, feedback from my fellow 3D-ers proved invaluable in improving the story and visuals. If you haven't seen it, check out the Wiki for a synopsis and links to where you can see it.

Well, as the title of the thread implies, I'm starting work on the sequel, Star Trek: Retribution. So far, the primary discussion has been at another site whose name I won't mention, but I've been encouraged to seek fan involvement here as well, so I thought I'd offer up the project and see what the clientele around here might think.

Here are the first four scenes, as well as the fifth, all on YouTube.

The basic plot of Retribution is: the year 2388. It's been almost ten years since the events of Nemesis, since which the Romulans have plunged into a bloody civil war. Then, suddenly, about one year ago, the Romulan sun went supernova, with no warning and no explanation. Then, when allegations surface that a Starfleet vessel was sighted in the area just before the nova reaction began, the Romulans unite behind a call for revenge.

On the eve of a massive Romulan invasion, Starfleet learns of the rumors of their involvement, and dispatches the USS F. Scott Fitzgerald under the command of Captain Bradley Prentice to New Romulus to investigate the possibility.

But things take an unexpected turn when, while en route to New Romulus, the ghost of Dr. Braiyon Garr appears on the Fitzgerald, and warns Admiral Gaius Reyf that only death awaits him beyond the Neutral Zone, and that even if the Romulans don't kill him, Garr certainly will.

Facing an unstoppable Romulan foe on one side, and a superior officer on the other who he's certain is hiding something, it falls to Captain Prentice to prove the Federation's innocence and discern Reyf's dark secret--or everything will be lost.

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

Thanks for posting this here too tnpir. I know its a big deal posting such a involved project on more than one site. I hope our members here will be post ideas and feed back. I know its like a fuel for creative drive. at least for me..

there are many different elements in this and many great models and for someone working alone a incredible task, its a pleasure to have you posting it here too.

I will be watching this with great interest :)

Live long and prosper :)

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

Clip #6 is up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MpX4Tnl8qs

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

I watch the new clip and the clips before and its shaping up to be another great story.

I like the personal little quirks for the crew, and I am wondering if relationships between the Captain and Admiral will strain more over the course of this mission.

Carry on :)

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

Very interesting.... What software are you using?

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

This film brought to you by Bryce 7.1 (sets) and Poser 7.4 (characters).

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

Are there any tutorials around that we could host here.

or in the future if you can pass on any of your skills. (of course when if ever you have time, being the director, producer, grips and chief bottle washer is time consuming )

we have tut for other progs in the tutorial link above but nothing for Daz Bryce or poser sadly

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

I've never made any real tutorials so unfortunately I don't have anything like that to offer. The best advice I can give is to quote Tanis from the VOY episode "Cold Fire." He said, "Focus on the goal--not the task."

I'll give you an example. In Specter, by far the most elaborate set I built was the Voyager bridge. The wireframe on it would drive lesser beings mad because of how ridiculously cluttered it is (by necessity--Bryce's tools are primitive and practically everything on that set is a Boolean of one size or another). But, I approached that exactly the same way as I did the other sets: started off with the Paramount blueprints for the set (the layout from above anyway), and then just started building, one item at a time. The way I kept myself going was by focusing on one single item and just going at it until it was finished.

My advice to anyone else who wants to duplicate what I've done is to not let the overwhelming nature of the task daunt you. A lot of people seem to chase instant gratification, but if you want the quality I've achieved, it's not going to happen quickly. I put a lot of TLC into all of my sets, and I daresay it shows--I researched the evolution of each set as its respective series progressed (mostly through screencaps from TrekCore.com), and chose the color scheme and lighting setup I liked the best. Then I searched for LCARs--Adge's Site was and continues to be an incredible asset there--and once one set was finished, I'd simply move on to the next.

As for Poser, the bulk of my time goes into working in Poser on the characters. Advocates for motion capture will tell you that it's a much easier way to go--easier maybe, but it doesn't give you the kind of control over the motions of your characters that I prefer to have.

My approach when animating in Poser is to start off with the lip synch--which is done with DAZ's Mimic Pro--and then synchronize the motions of the characters with whatever dialogue is being said. Most of the shots will be a character against a black screen, with the background plate matted in later, but some shots will involve a character moving, and the camera moving to follow. For those shots, what I'll do is render a super-sized background plate, add a touch of blur to it, then import it onto a large wall plate (what you might call a "billboard") that will be fully visible at all times during the animation.

This has the net effect of a character walking around in front of a matte painting. As they move and the camera moves, the "scenery" behind them appears to move accordingly. This approach does have its drawbacks, it's quick and efficient and, in the right hands, can make for some good scenes. An animator who knows what they're doing can completely disguise the fact that this is taking place.

As for the character motions themselves, all I can say is that for best results, perform the dialogue yourself before you animate it, and it'll give you a better feel for how your characters will move and look. Then the animating process becomes easy--trying to animate motions and expressions you don't understand results in the CG equivalent of "wooden" performances.

That's just some quick and dirty thoughts :) I'll see what else I can offer as I make the next clip.

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

That´s great and very informative. as you post any hints or trick over time. I well see that they are compiled together and added to a PDF or loaded to the site tutorials area...
we can review it first and edit it too.

if that sounds good to you.

at the moment I am working on a classic Enterprise tutorial

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

Next clip is up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d97V06aQyx8

Be warned, this one's a doozy, especially if you haven't seen Specter. Enjoy!

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Next one's up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=024WI2Pd8ik

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

great going to have a look now

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looks good... I like the lighting .. its really setting well

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

That's some really nice animation work. I haven't watched all of the clips yet but I will later. Do you have a link to Star Trek: Spectre? I tried Google but didn't find it.

Have you seen this one? http://www.auroratrek.com/index.html It's not complete but it's another totally CG Trek film. (the final act is due out in the spring)

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

@evil_genius_180: links to several different versions of Specter are available at The Wiki, my recommendation would be to view The Ultimate Edition, which is all on Vimeo and in much larger chunks than The Director's Edition, which aside from being older is in 15-minute blocks on YouTube.

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

I looked at that page and somehow I missed those. :eek:

Thanks, I'll take a look later. I love fan films. :D

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

@evil_genius_180: please do let me know how you like Specter when you watch it :) Just be warned of the runtime, it's three hours nine minutes in length. Make sure you have plenty of popcorn!

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

worth the watching and the time..

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

I liked it, nicely done on the story, animation and everything else. How long did it take to put that together? It seems to me like a lot of time spent animating and rendering. Also, I noticed an extensive voice cast and yet a lot of the voices sounded the same. Is there another audio track?

I also watched the scenes from Retribution that you have done. It looks like it's shaping up to be a great sequel. I'm looking forward to seeing more. :D

Re: Star Trek: Retribution
 

@evil_genius: Specter was a WIP for almost four and a half years, it was started in August 2006 and it was finished right after New Year's 2011. As for the voice cast, the names that appear in the credits are people who auditioned and were cast for various parts, however there were complications and I decided not to move forward. (Long story short, I let myself get pressured into doing a casting call before I was ready, and then when the time came for my voice actors to do their part, many of them didn't; and rather than go through the whole process again, I decided to simply chalk it up as a learning experience and move on. I won't make that same mistake again--some of the folks I cast in Specter have been nagging me to send them scripts, but based on the number of rewrites I did in Specter before it was finished, that's not going to happen until a full cut of Retribution is complete)

And I'm just curious...there's one scene in Specter that split the fan base right down the middle, and that's Scene 38, "The Holodeck," right after Reyf visits Garr's old office, in which the good captain finally cracks the case. How did you like that part?