Cool News
Foundation & Flat Earth = "Starship Troopers" animated (CGI) series for Sony !!!
Glen here...
...with a follow-up to HREF="http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=3039">Coaxial's previous report
regarding a proposed all-CGI series based on Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers.
My previous post
contained vast amounts of story & concept information about this limited-run series (40 episodes
with an arcing storyline) - too much to repeat herein. Since my initial report, I have been able to
ascertain that all the conceptual / structural information previously conveyed was accurate save one
element - my statement that Netter Digital Entertainment (NDE) would be responsible for animating
the series was erroneous.
NDE will not be animating the CGI Starship Troopers series for Sony. As had
been rumored across the Internet for the last few weeks, HREF="http://www.foundation-i.com">Foundation Imaging (who brought us the FX
for the first three seasons of Babylon 5, is currently working on Star Trek: Voyager,
whose dark comedy The Universe & Harry Morgann has been previously referenced on
Coaxial) will be animating the CGI Troopers series.
To accomplish the monumental task which lies before them, Foundation has
partnered with Flat Earth, the effects house bringing us the whizbangery of the current
Hercules and Xena television series.
The Executive Producer of Starship Troopers is Richard Raynis (Dilbert,
King of the Hill, The Simpsons, The Critic). Raynis is said to be asking for
an amazing level of "detail and complexity". Despite Raynis' comedic background, the storytelling
on Starship Troopers will often be skewed towards adult action, with some of the series'
humor being described as "very adult".
Foundation Imaging will be animating 25 of the SI episodes, the remaining 15 falling to
Flat Earth. The only design being kept from the Verhoven film of the same concept & name is a
Warrior Bug, and even its appearance will be slightly altered. Other than that? Suits, armor,
vehicles, ships, and new kinds of bugs will all be rendered from new designs by Foundation / Flat
Earth.
The series is described as being action intensive, with lots and lots of bug squashing. To get a
sense of what Starship Troopers will actually look like, HREF="http://www.foundation-i.com/Home/Gallery/Vortex/vortex.html">CLICK HERE to
jump to the Foundation Imaging web site, where you can see images from another Foundation project called Vortex - which
will serve as something of a template for the design of the Starship Troopers CGI
series.
CLICK HERE to access
Coaxial's previous report on the Starship Troopers animated series (includes many details)!
Glen
Or call:
(512) 347-1992
Mail can be sent to:
Glen Oliver
P.O. BOX 160812
Austin, TX 78716-0812
USA
P.O. BOX 160812
Austin, TX 78716-0812
USA
Austin, TX 78716-0812
USA
USA
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I just saw the pics of the new show and they look great. My only complaint is that the faces of the humans look to polyganal. Other than that I am really looking forward to this show.
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It could be better than the movie, of course, merely by nature of being truer to the book. And even though the actors will be CG, they'll still probably end up being better actors than the cardboard ones used in the movie (which is, frankly, something of a Verhoeven trademark, right along with envelope-pushing violence and language). The CG from "Vortex" is pretty flashy, while at the same time being not quite as impressive as the WIP shots from Final Fantasy. Perfect for a TV series. To think I was already envisioning the series bearing a close resemblance to Beast Wars... *shudder*.
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Ever since that brief scene in Antz where Z and Bar-whatever (Danny Glover) fight the termites I've wanted something like this! They could even make this for teens and adults maybe...(not)
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well the show is certainly in capable hands, I was just at the site, pretty impressive gallery wooohooo...I'll keep my eyes peeled. While I was at the site, I noticed the the CGI human actors on "VORTEX" looked an awful lot like the "Thunderbirds" wooden puppets. They also have some effects shots from Mystic Knights, and Voyager, and their Babylon 5 effects gallery is unfinished. Great site!! :O) McK.
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Well, I NEVER thought this movie would spring into a series, and certainly not animated. But hey, great stuff. I'm not going to get too excited though as a comet will strike the earth before we ever see this in Australia. I know you are all hanging out for my opinion on how the show should look so: Manga. Anime. These two words should focus the show altogether. Plot was never an issue with Starship the movie, which is fine I guess. The idea in general is gory and turning it into a 'child ready' cartoon (even CG) will just break it. Also, you need a large dose for Denise Richards to keep the Starship feel about it. They could cast Lara Croft for the part in the series. It could be sooooo good. But it will suck sooooo hard...
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I'm just wondering how this is going to be aired? Who's gonna have it and how are they going to air it. If it's syndicated it's probably goinng to get some crappy time slot. But who else can get it. It sound like it will be adult oriented. Plus the fact that it's forty episodes long, five a week for eight weeks, I'm not sure if most program directors are going to go for that. And one more Question 30 or 60 minutes long, anyone know?
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The dew is off the rose, kids. Sure cgi was a really cool thing several years ago, and we all went ooh and aah when we saw the dinos stomp across the big screen for the first time, but since then we have been subject to an endless progression of poorly done work on the small screen. The crap on Hercules for instance.That mystic knights stuff. Voltron - MAN I hate that one. That shape-changer dude on Deep space nine...uh,Odo. When I follwed the link to the animator's site, I was greeted with what I consider an unpleasant suprise. The character design for Vortex. AAUGH! An earlier post mentioned the similarity to Thunderbirds - That was right on the mark, but I don't see it as a positive thing. Why go to the trouble of creating characters in CGI, with it's infinite flexibility, when they end up looking like wooden finger puppets from a show made in the 60's? No disrespect intended for the Thunderbirds,by the way. It was a cool show for it's day. Still, when I look at the character shots from Vortex, they tell me instantly that whoever did the work to create them is not an artist. A programmer perhaps, but not someone who came from a pencil and paper analog artist background. This is the kind of talent that is needed in the industry today, not just someone who understands the software, but someone who understands the endless variabilty of the human face and form, and the well established rules of proportion that have been handed down by artists and sculptors since the time of ancient Greece. Look at the Vortex pictures. You will see that the mouths of ALL of the characters shown are unnatural, stiff, and set in an ugly expression that anyone would be hard-put to duplicate in the real world without the liberal application of alcohol. A discerning artist would never consent to have such designs shown in public, much less be used in an animated feature. Having re-read this a few times, I realise it is nothing more than an over the top skreed bashing on some poor guy or girl who did a lot of hard work, but I still feel that more attention could be paid to details like this. If they could also combine the incredible texture effects that have been used in Mainframe's War Planets with the life-like motion capture used on Voltron, they might be half way to making a good show. If they don't do something about the visuals, we are going to be subjected to another benchmark of mediocrity in this trendy field. I don't even want to think about the writing...
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Let me assure all the nay-sayers that after seeing the new models, the concept sketches for the different suits (like in the book!), even the demo that won the account, that Troopers will be totally awesome and crush the current standards for TV CG in an animated series.
It will look like nothing you've seen before, except perhaps, for the movie. Realism is the goal.
Shadows? Motion blur? Yes. And more.
Foundation Imaging and Flat Earth are full of very talented and determined people who want only to craft the best CG on the screen for you guys.
It will be worth the wait. -
These images look great,the power suits are excellent.The faces are excellent too. certainly makes me want to see more. Lightwave however is'nt the best animation package, space ships flying across screen is one thing but character animation is another ball game. Even a hyper talented animator would struggle with this software.If Foundation Imaging are going to tackle more demanding projects they really should seriously consider going over to a more sophisticated animation package.Easyer said than done however. But enough of my premature critisism,it looks as though the have worked hard on this & it has paid off. I can't wait to see it.
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Someone said that they should get actual artists to work on ST...
well I can tell you that at least
one of the guys on there *is* a
great pencil and paper artist!
he's a close friend and has done
superb pictures of werewolves.
to be honest I don't like [fake]
3D cartoons, i'm more of a "cow and chicken"/"dexters' lab" fan.
I'd like to see my bud have his
artistic freedom, perhaps someday
he will... and we'll have a really
great cartoon :) -
Why Do people who use SoftImage or Alias always feel they have to point out Lightwave is NOT a character animation package? No, it's a 3D Animation package, which means it encompasses all aspects of animation and does a damn good job of it for under $2000, and that just seems to piss off people who wasted thousands on a software package and an expensive training course. And undertaking like ST requires cost cutting measures at every turn and Lightwave is the best tool for the money, you can put more artists on the project. We're not talking about a 2 hour movie here, we're talking about 40, 30 min episodes, that's about 2 1/2 hours a week! Using a package that costs $10,000 or $6000 a seat, makes NO sense for a television show. Lightwave is quite good at character animation since 5.0 and 5.6 is even better, the finest IK on the market. 6.0 will blow everybody away later this year.
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so it becomes.....flat.
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