Atlantis Fans Choice Quality

[Connor]

Hi, I recently bought the Atlantis Fans Choice Blu Ray and was a little surprised by the quality of the cgi effects in the pilot episode. I read somewhere that the effects on Stargate were always shot on 35MM, so shouldn't the effects be at the resolution of 35mm film. The effects on the pilot looked really blurry at 1080p and clearly not at the same quality as the live action shots. Does anyone know the reasoning behind creating low rez cgi shots on a Sci Fi show?

[ryoohki]

Originally Posted by Connor

Hi, I recently bought the Atlantis Fans Choice Blu Ray and was a little surprised by the quality of the cgi effects in the pilot episode. I read somewhere that the effects on Stargate were always shot on 35MM, so shouldn't the effects be at the resolution of 35mm film. The effects on the pilot looked really blurry at 1080p and clearly not at the same quality as the live action shots. Does anyone know the reasoning behind creating low rez cgi shots on a Sci Fi show?

SFX in that show were done in 720x480. Reason : Cost and Speed...

[Ugly Pig]

Originally Posted by Connor

Hi, I recently bought the Atlantis Fans Choice Blu Ray and was a little surprised by the quality of the cgi effects in the pilot episode. I read somewhere that the effects on Stargate were always shot on 35MM, so shouldn't the effects be at the resolution of 35mm film.

Well first off, Stargate Atlantis was always shot using HD cameras, not film. As for the vis effects, I believe they were rendered at a lower resolution in the earlier years. I know they mentioned on a commentary on some episode in season 5 that they had to re-render some shots they were re-using because the shows were now airing in HD which had not been the case when it first started.