CG Explosions in Knight Rider 2008

[lunchmeat]

This again, has been very informative.

I want to reiterate, just to make sure that the CG crew at Knight Rider and the people on this forum both know, that I think the effects crew is doing a great job. I want you guys to know that I asked these questions not to detract from the show itself - I really loved the new episode - but I wanted a deeper understanding of why certain things looked certain ways, and what the real constraints are, and I feel that I've gotten that out of this thread. I now understand that miniatures cost more than CGI, and I really didn't know that it was difficult to film - that's my naivete and inexperience with the world of film. I didn't realize that the shot that you did of KI3T's transformation was completely from scratch (until I thought about it as I was replying), and I will agree that it really does look damn brilliant - I loved the way that you guys tracked the camera around KI3T as he was transforming, which I should have mentioned earlier. I asked the question about specular lighting because I was curious about the way the CG was produced, and I'd seen a video that piqued my interest.

So again....I want to state that I asked these questions out of curiosity and not out of intent to bash the show. Honestly, I love this show...well, the later episodes...it's one of the best things on TV for me right now (seriously, there's nothing else to watch that I'm interested in) and I only want to see it live up to its full potential, which is why I asked these questions. (That and I'm a geek about information like this - I'm about to head to Wikipedia to look up HDRI, because I think that it is SO cool that you can actually pull lighting information from a scene like that.)

So once more, I'd like to thank you, Stephan, for answering my queries, and I have high hopes for the Driving Comp team after seeing some of the driving in the latest episode. If I sounded a little hostile, or sounded as if I was trying to bash anyone's work, I apologize - it was not what I intended.

[Sue]

It all looked amazing to me. I'm gonna get a stone thrown at me, but the explosion that has always bugged me is in TOS KITT v KARR. Couldn't they find a larger explosion to overlay over that so that we couldn't tell KITT didn't make it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YeKY0wUH88 As a kid that was up there with finding out there's no Santa Claus.
Hummm...He He.. maybe Universal still has some of those stock explosions lying around from TOS. The kind that are really film grainy and take up the entire frame.

amen Phoenix, and yes, they would almost certainly invest in a jump car I think.

*Rubs hands together in anticipation for season two.*

[weeezl]

It all looked amazing to me. I'm gonna get a stone thrown at me, but the explosion that has always bugged me is in TOS KITT v KARR. Couldn't they find a larger explosion to overlay over that so that we couldn't tell KITT didn't make it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YeKY0wUH88 As a kid that was up there with finding out there's no Santa Claus.
Hummm...He He.. maybe Universal still has some of those stock explosions lying around from TOS. The kind that are really film grainy and take up the entire frame.

amen Phoenix, and yes, they would almost certainly invest in a jump car I think.

*Rubs hands together in anticipation for season two.*

Lol, I hear that, I never noticed it when I saw the original run on TV, only after seeing it on dvd could I really pick it out, looks so silly seeing Kitt fall down. That said, I dunno what bugged me more, the explosion or the models?

[PHOENIXZERO]

amen Phoenix, and yes, they would almost certainly invest in a jump car I think.

Admittedly I don't know nor could I go into the technical details but just from thinking about it and all the variables that are there that I can think of and I'm sure there's a lot more than I haven't.




Don't forget the stock footage from The Car for the scene where KARR went over the cliff in Trust Doesn't Rust. I was fairly young when I saw TDR (first season so I saw it in syndication since I was just over a year old when it first aired) but if I was older I would have immediately noticed it was stock footage. But I dunno how it would have impacted my enjoyment of the episode as a whole. I think I still would have enjoyed it but had a bit of a laugh from it. There's a lot of those little goofs and mistakes in TOS, we even have topics dedicated to it. But I think while we can point those out and have fun with them, it's maybe a bit harder with TV now since we expect so much more than what could be done 20+ years ago or whenever we were younger.

[weeezl]

Don't forget the stock footage from The Car for the scene where KARR went over the cliff in Trust Doesn't Rust. I was fairly young when I saw TDR (first season so I saw it in syndication since I was just over a year old when it first aired) but if I was older I would have immediately noticed it was stock footage. But I dunno how it would have impacted my enjoyment of the episode as a whole. I think I still would have enjoyed it but had a bit of a laugh from it.

Oh hell, now that did look bad, even on TV you could see it was'nt the same car.

Funny how watching it now I dont even take any notice of Kr's many "goofs" for me it justs adds to "the magic"

[My_Friend_KITT]

Hello all CG Effects People!!!

I wanted to let you know that I truly appreciate ALL the hardwork you wonderful people provide for us every week!

After getting such an up close and personal interview by Sue, I appreciate your work even more.

Absolutely everyone, I have shared the MasterKey Video on your website with, has exclaimed praise about it with me.

Everything I see on KR looks very realistic to me. I would have to do a slow watch maybe like 6 times to even see part of the blunders others have caught.

The screen shots of the HUD are sooo detailed. It's amazing!

Thank You and Much Appreciation from me!!!!

[Drifty]

Don't forget the stock footage from The Car for the scene where KARR went over the cliff in Trust Doesn't Rust. I was fairly young when I saw TDR (first season so I saw it in syndication since I was just over a year old when it first aired) but if I was older I would have immediately noticed it was stock footage. But I dunno how it would have impacted my enjoyment of the episode as a whole. I think I still would have enjoyed it but had a bit of a laugh from it.

Oh hell, now that did look bad, even on TV you could see it was'nt the same car.

Funny how watching it now I dont even take any notice of Kr's many "goofs" for me it justs adds to "the magic"

LOL! I just remembered that in KotP, after Michael is shot in Comtron and bleeding in Ki2t.....his bullet wound keeps moving shoulders! So funny!!!