Panoramas of Star Trek Sets | Hacker News Reader

Panoramas of Star Trek Sets

mijofr.github.io

179 pointsjfil25 comments

Reminded of a classic Star Trek TNG Technical Manual CD-ROM.... And sure enough this guy extracted QuickTime VR panoramas for the TNG portions of this. Pretty well done. Note the little dots on the floorplans take you to viewpoints.

From a random Reddit thread about the site in 2020 (tho it's been an ongoing project for many years earlier)

> _Back in the 90s, 360° panoramas were the new hot thing, and Star Trek was there!_

> I've pulled out a bunch of the old QTVR so we can explore them again.

The 90s plans are from the TNG Technical Manual CD and Captain's Chair, all from set photography except for the 3D renders of the TOS bridge. There's also the Star Trek 2009 bridge photo that was on their old site - they had a few other interior set ones too, but sadly I haven't been able to find a copy of that. I have a feeling there was a higher quality copy of the bridge ones, too, but again.

There are mirrors in Picard and Troi's quarters (click the viewpoints near the beds), and I think you can catch a glimpse of the camera they used to make the panoramas. It's blurry, and kind of looks like a droid from Star Wars.

I suppose it's also possible they photoshopped in something that looked sci-fi, to cover up whatever mundane camera they were actually using.

If I remember correctly, the VR setups of the time required fisheye lenses attached to DSLRs and multiple shots. The thing visible in the mirrors are probably edited in.

Sometimes it was a half sphere mirror rather than a lens

That works, too. However I wonder how good the resolution would be in that case.

Yep, I also immediately remembered the Technical Manual CD-ROM. What a marvel that was.

I don't have anything intelligent to say other than this is extremely cool. Don't miss the "behind the scenes" shot.

And don't miss the ISS shot either! That's a real, manned space station flying right now. It's the last shot to the right.

I was hoping to see the Enterprise from Brave New Worlds. The show isn't that great, but the interior design of the ship was taken to another level.

https://filmandfurniture.com/2022/08/exclusive-the-star-trek...

*Strange New Worlds

Also, agreed. The writing on that show is lousy, but the sets are some of the most beautiful work in the franchise, particularly the Captain's Quarters and Sick Bay.

The sets are far too big, though. It's roomier than even the Enterprise D. Had they scaled down the size of the interior of the ship, then suspending disbelief would have been far easier.

> *Strange New Worlds

I told myself I wasn't going to make that mistake again when I posted this, but I did anyway.

From the Roddenberry archive:

https://roddenberry.x.io/2271-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-major-...

In the panoramas for the USS Enterprise (Kelvin) you can see the barcode scanners they used.

https://www.barcodesinc.com/news/price-check-on-the-bridge-b...

https://www.barcodesinc.com/news/barcode-scanners-back-for-a...

Upper left corner of the Enterprise-D bridge, you can see the door to the bathroom.

To boldly go where no one has gone before.

It's very interesting to look through. My brain somehow gives me the impression that I've been there - especially on the Enterprise-D.

Forever my childhood's second home.

I managed to go to the Star Trek Experience when it was in Vegas, and be transported in, walk through the corridors, and emerge onto the bridge.

It was utterly glorious, and a good day to die.

Opened this out of curiosity. Lost 20 minutes. No regrets.

These are better than typical panoramas. These are full 360 photos. These could be easily adapted for VR.

I never noticed that the floor of the BoP appears to be mounted on a shock-absorbing suspension

There were panoramas of the NX-01 sets at some point as well.

Feels odd without characters.

How on earth are these made?

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