I was an advocate of "make up your mind"
Paul and I pushed really hard for realistic physics as we both loved 2001
I wanted it to look like they were transiting through Hell |
Nobody else had anything like this, it was years ahead of it's time.
the Aggie had over a quarter of a million polygons
the fanboys have got to get over is this concept of 'ripping off.'
THEY were the geniuses who figured out how to do it.
Don’t go making up your own conspiracy theories.
Due diligence? Wassat?
It could record up to an amazing THREE MINUTES of video.
This gag dates back to the 30's
Actually the White Star gets that look from being luminous mapped |
I was often the guy to call for the wacky stuff
the lower fin simply got in the way of camera
That's a very good way to stop the work coming in
There are hundreds of little clues as to what make a space believable.
Some people think alien just means incomprehensible or style only |
That is the reason there was hardly any merchandising for years.
Well, they aren't the kind of details that we deal with in making the show.
I think that folks should just let Crusade go.
We never had a plan to re-render the VFX footage
There is no one place on a production where good ideas come from.
I'd like to know who wrote that bit in Wikipedia - it's total bullshit.
This really allowed us to stretch our dollars and get the most on screen.
We were trying to be limited by only our imaginations and that was it. |
just scanning it all in would take a full 9 hours
Web, what web! There was really no web to speak of. |
How the hell do you draw a nebula??
Naturally, this was never explained in the show
Nothing in Hollywood is technically accurate
When you're making a TV show or movie you do what more or less looks right.
I still think it's the show's finest hour. |
But film and television design was always my first love.
That was a major issue with the White Star because all the sets were huge
I still like handling actual pens and markers but the digital realm is calling me.
The Badger was never built (but I'm thinking of doing that myself).
in most cases it’s difficult to tell where our practical sets ended and the VFX began
I love little in-jokes or salutes like that. |
I was really excited about the early 3D animations
Drawings and cels were everywhere, lying around in adjacent offices
This usually annoys a 2D story-boarder no end to hear, but it’s true.
I deliberately borrowed from a Kubrick style of camera, a ‘confrontation’ style shot.
There were a few 'rules' for good B5 shots
The coolest thing was at the wrap parties, seeing the actors and talking with them.
Although under the umbrella title of ‘animator’, we did model, texture & light ships.
Lightwave did not save objects within the scene file
99% of the time, it just wasn’t' the right version that got saved.
Breaking up the storyboard into "live action takes" was logical to me
One would have to have been an animator type to really 'get it'.
that was a new science for me and it was awesome to watch and learn. |
It was a pretty fast start-up
It meant a lot of make-up tests and a lot of tears from Mira.
None of us slept for 4 weeks getting that show ready on time.
he loved his kids, he loved Ren and Stimpy and he loved the part of G'Kar. |
A large majority of the B5 team were already pretty much friends
What we were aiming for would be a non-linear storyline with multiple outcomes.
Well, there was a demo that was supposed to go to the magazines
11th Hour cancellations were more about Corporate wheeling and dealing
On the other side of my cubical were the guys working on Star Trek Voyager. |
I started moonlighting on B5 after getting home from my day job
By the time I was working on B5 everything I was doing was digital
I added the lens flare, even though I hate using them.
I generally did the shots at 720 x 540 |
what's his face's technomage shuttle
the design process was very collaborative
It made sense to reuse model bits due to our production schedule.
we rarely composited the work in Lightwave.
That is how the Minbari ship was built. |
Ron and Foundation were definitely lone wolves |
I did really pick over the station in order to get the look right
These days most of my modeling involves blowing stuff up
we were just coming off our eventual Emmy winning episode of Battlestar
Quantum space was described as "Hyperspace, but blue"
It was mostly the large, thick, solid wings that were the problem
Star Trek is tops in my world, especially The Next Generation |
I remember it all being a little crazy, but in a fun sort of way
the gun pod concept was also an extremely difficult sell at the time
Joe's attitude is to aim incredibly high, and then see what can really be done |
A big part of my job is listening to what people want.
Yes, I will work for food… but in general, I don’t do spec work.
BTW The “head bone” was actually meant to be an ornament.
A guy with big feathery wings on his back wouldn’t have that effect.
The Starfury design came together pretty quickly, actually.
Ideal for the "Star Wars" universe but not what we were going for on "Babylon 5".
In general, vector driven systems don’t mix well with trilateral symmetry.
I find that on a fundamental level, the problems of visual design are really timeless.
Ron liked it, I liked it. I think we were the only ones.
Believe it or not, it was actually a more difficult ship to work out than the original!
I think of this component as the "hook".
So the transports were C-130s, and the gunships were AH-64s. |
