Tikka to Ride: Remastered News Posted by Mr Flibble on 22nd July 2005, 12:59 Oooh! I’ll let G&T’s Newsround later on provide the commentary.
So, is TTR : Remastered going to be on the disc in place of the Xtended version, or in addition to it? Because if it’s the latter, you have to say that – as utterly beautiful as this CGI looks, and I can’t wait to see it – having THREE versions of the episode on the DVD seems a little like overkill…
If you open your eyes and read the article (ahem) it says it will use the “Angle” feature on the DVD, and the effects will appear both in the normal and Xtended versions.
It certainly looks a lot better than the original CGI but, from the look of those photos, it still can’t hold a candle to the model shots. Andrew’s remark that this is what the effects would have been like had time allowed is interesting. Surely these sort of effects are just a lot easier to produce nine years later because of advances in CGI? Tikka to Ride is an interesting episode to rejig. Presumably this was because there’s a lack of CGI in the second half so it’s not a huge strain on the GNP budget. It would have been interesting for them to have a go at the Ouroborus chase seqeunce.
> THREE versions of the episode on the DVD seems a little like overkill… Actually it’s five, because you’ll get Tikka in boradcast, Xtended, and remastered of both, plus the cast commentary (on Xtended). Which, I agree, is kind of a lot. But Tikka is one of the more inconic eps of the series and seemed the best story to showcase the new FX. > from the look of those photos, it still can’t hold a candle to the model shots Wait and see them moving. Believe me – and I do adore good model work – these have some candle-holding ability. > Surely these sort of effects are just a lot easier to produce nine years later because of advances in CGI? That’s true, too, obviously – but it doesn’t change the fact that the CGI for VII was done in a couple of weeks, with 0.3% of the original FX budget. The improved technology, to my mind, makes less difference than time, money and resources. (Something I’m sure the model guys would agree with. You can have the slickest rig in history, but if you only get a day with it…)
Looking forward to the documentary and hoping that the CGI/Model aspect is covered in depth. Will there be a featurette that covers the new remastering of Tikka?
No featurette, sadly. (Though to be fair it would have been Chris working at a computer, Doug and I sat in the edit, and a couple of mumbled statements about how it shoulda been like this all along.) But the docco has a HEAVY section on the CG/model that gets everyone’s POV across. It’s one of my favourite bits of the doccos this time around…though not the most laughter-filled, as you can imagine!
Well, we know from Series V you’re prepared to be honest in the documentaries, so I look forward to it. JOOI – surely the Starbug is the wrong one – with the larger windscreen?
> But the docco has a HEAVY section on the CG/model that gets everyone’s POV across. It’s one of my favourite bits of the doccos this time around…though not the most laughter-filled, as you can imagine! Remember, everyone – Shepperton, tonight, 01:00 hours. Operation Offline. You know what to do.
Yes, it’s the Bug with the windscreen from III-VI instead of the one which was smaller to explain why the ship was suddenly so huge inside. Frankly, this is a continuity screw that I can live with, especially considering GNP have gone out of their way to do this. I’m glad that it wasn’t just fans that were pissed off with the VII effects. I still can’t wait to see the model footage. And now I’m confused about something. Andrew just said ‘cast commentary (on Xtended)’. Does this mean there’s no commentary on the normal episodes? Forgive me if I’ve missed something.
I *imagine* there are on the episodes that don’t have Xtended’s. Having Xtended commentaries is good, to be honest. And I’ve always considered the III-VI Starbug the proper one anyhow, I was just intrigued :)
Cast commentaries are on Xtended where available. I think this was in the commentary article on rd.co.uk. And I think it IS the VII/VIII Bug, cos the viewscreen is still augmented: http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck01/show_pic.html?imgN=dvd_second_chance_220705_9l.jpg&winX=720&winY=576 Don’t think Chris even HAS a version of the other Bug in his computer!
From that pic, it doesn’t look like the windscreen from III-VI or VII, sort of somewhere in between. Anyway, it’s such a minor thing. I think I’m still just bitter over the fact that it was changed in the first place….. *forces self to stem VII rant*
