Apologies if this was posted somewhere already, pretty awesome pics

http://imgur.com/a/mv8qf#24

How lucky to have that as your job!

I can't paint worth a damn so it would be a short lived sucky job

I love the detail that went into those things. I really, really wish models would come back into favor over CGI. When the ships from Star Wars in 1977 look 100 times more realistic than the computer generated crap we have in 2015 somewhere someone made a poor decision.

CGI can and does look great when done well. Just look at Battlestar Galactica. The space battles there looked every bit a real as the space battles in the original SW trilogy.

When done well is a huge key there, and while I agree that BSG did great that's an exception rather than a rule. Even then, between the original SW and something like BSG or even Ep 6 you can still see the difference, although much of that may be up to the actual filming rather than the models.

Models in Alien, SW, etc just always have a great weathered realistic feel, and it comes across as artistic dedication on the director's part. IMO CGI still isn't to the point it needs to be, or at least it's used improperly all too often

I know what you mean Peally and agree completely. CGI can look great, but somehow it still doesn't look as "real", that 3D, "built" look you get from good models, where perspective is done just right as the camera moves, since it's real.

Yeah, it's usually very tough to get that worn, weathered look on spaceships when you're using CGI exclusively. No doubt that physical models have an advantage there.

I read the A.V. Club, too! Isn't this a cool article. love the edward james olmos and harrison ford polaroids! Could the "harrison ford" in that polaroid be the stuntman or really Ford? it doesn't look like Ford, but it could be the poor image quality.


http://www.avclub.com/article/these-blade-runner-behind-scenes-photos-are-model--216689

It's all about the amount of time spent. With a model, you spend all that time up front making it, first determining how close the camera will ever get, because you can't change it once it's done. After that it's just weathering/damage and lighting, so if you use it for 30 seconds or two hours the cost is almost the same.
With a 3D model, you can alter it at any time, but the push is there to make it as low poly and simply textured as you can so it doesn't cost a lot. If it's not enough, though, you can alter it later. You're not stuck. However, the length of the shots now affects the cost because of the rendering done per frame. So while the asset creation cost is also fixed to an extent, having 30 mins of shots costs a lot more than 15, leading to cost/time tradeoffs.

The main reason for the cost issue is that few films are done in house, there are companies that do this and they charge over and above the salaries of the workers. Shows like BSG and Stargate did their effects in-house, so the only constraint was getting it done before air time.

The fallacy was the thinking that just anyone could do 3D. Back when it was models, how many places really did it? You had ILM, you had a couple of second-tier shops, and then pretty much nothing. That meant the talent was concentrated. Just because there are a dozen first-tier 3D places doesn't mean there are that many more talented artists.

They're just spread out over dozens of companies world-wide, which means the product isn't as good.


Don't say "CG isn't as good" when what you should be saying is "these companies' overall talent isn't as good." ILM's 3D work is still top-tier because they pay and charge top dollar, they have great talent across the board. Yet ILM doesn't do but a fraction of the work anymore.

Watch any blockbuster film commentary or extras and ILM is always referred to as the ones assigned "the difficult shots". Run-of-the-mill stuff is done by lower-quality places and it shows.



The Jedi Master

WETA is another top tier SFX studio and they've done a ton of films besides the Peter Jackson ones.

They're new, only being a presence in the last decade or so, and they were like ILM created almost solely by the funding behind a blockbuster trilogy led by the same man. They are the exception, not the rule.



The Jedi Master

Fnerg

The only problem with working in the movie industry in anyway shape or form....
you need to either be sleeping with someone already in the industry or know someone who is.
Very very cliquey.

Great find, thank you !