We were amazed by them in Jurassic Park, and we're still wowed by them when we see that film.
But these days, they don't do anything for me in anything else. We've seen them all thousands of times (and this show is doing nothing new. We've seen it all before and we're learning everything we learnt in Walking With Dinosaurs)
I can't believe TV execs agreed to this idea!
Nope. I'm actually looking forward to seeing Prehistoric Park where I live. I've seen some clips and the CGI isn't as good as Walking With Dinosaurs's, but still looks good. I've already read about the creatures featured here, and am happy to see that they include many animals not seen before in CG documentaries.
Dutch90, the ninth wonder of the world
According to these boards, I'm not missing anything, but I will probably watch it when it comes to my country. Just because I like dinosaurs, I like prehistoric-looking locations and - as mentioned above - this features never-before-animated creatures.
And, BTW, CGI dinos are getting a bit boring, but what other ways are there to make lifelike dinosaurs appear on screen. Claymation? Naah... You can't really use anything other that computer animation.
I just think, if you're gonna do it, it needs an original spark to it. Cus just seeing them (in CG) doesn't excite me anymore :(
shareWell I'm satisfied as long as I can see the technology used for some variety, something different, new or bizarre. I mean, I'd never heared of a microraptor (let alone seen a realistically re-constructed one), until I saw Prehistoric Park.
I think they could have been a bit more imaginative with the big carnivore of series, in this case T-Rex- we've all seen this guy a lot, so we could have seen something different like a Ceratosaurus, or Carcharadontasaurus (woah! I don't think we've milked this genre that much just yet!)
J. Ord
United Kingdom
Don't pay attention to these boards. I don't, as they're just full of people complaining. In my opinion it's better to give it a go and make your own mind up, rather than have a pre-conveived notion put in your head by a bunch of joyless whingers.
shareAlthough I like to think I have more of a point than those "WAT IS THIS CARP??///!111 IF U WATCH IT UR GAY!!1111" type people :)
shareObjectively speaking it would be strange for people to get bored of CGI dinosaur documentaries when the 1000th documentary about polar bears on Animal Planet still attracts a lot of interest.
Dutch90, the ninth wonder of the world
No, not at all. CG is here to improve the story and make what's impossible possible. I'm always surprised on how they get the dinosaurs to look better and better in these series. Great eye candy in my case.
shareI'm always surprised on how they get the dinosaurs to look better and better in these series
I actually think they have alot of inhancements both in intregration, lightning and animation. However I thing the dinosaurs' designs aren't as great and some of the compositing could be better.
shareI agree! I never get tired of watching CG prehistoric animals. Look at how badly they appeared in the older movies. Effects are expensive and very difficult, and I appreciate the effort that goes into producing lifelike, extinct animals. Not an easy task.
Not every show has the budget that Jurassic Park had!
I have no problem with the basic concept of CGI dinosaurs. There is no better way to do them in movies and films, and for me it's not only about being wowed by new effects. But it is kind of sad that a film from 1993 still has some of the best dinosaurs ever put on screen. I'm waiting for some real genius CGI effects artists to finally give us some dinosaurs that look absolutely real. Nothing, including Jurassic Park has looked 100% photo realistic. Mostly it has to do with the animation more than the actual CGI models used. Most CGI animators still haven't gotten over the fact that just because they can make everything move so smoothly and fluidly they don't have to. perfectly smooth and fluid movements do not look realistic. They look artificial. You don't have to show every little bit of flesh shudder at every opportunity. Also the use of lighting and texture has to improve an awful lot in most CGI. The skin textures on the dinos in this show are very flat (except in a few closeups) and depend on the coloration for detail, instead of modern CGI techniques that would add actual texture to the skin that would be picked up by the lighting. It makes them look very unrealistic and doesn't allow them to blend into the real world surroundings very well.
So I can't wait for the time that I see a film with dinosaurs in it that are so realistic that the only way I know for sure they aren't real is that I know they no longer exist and it would have been impossible to film real dinosaurs.
well said
sharein jurassic park they used many animatronics for the dinos. just about every cgi dinosaur had a robotic counterpart which made it seemed real. they used cgi dinosaurs for things the animatronics could not do (in this case walking and running). in this time we have only 3 choices: robotic cgi and the real thing.
share"Most CGI animators still haven't gotten over the fact that just because they can make everything move so smoothly and fluidly they don't have to."
Actually, animating smooth movements is far easier than animating motion that isn't perfectly smooth, since you just have to specify begin and end points of the motion and the computer simply calculates the trajectory by means of interpolation. So it's not the animator's choice, it's simply a matter of lack of refinement and detail in the movement specification. Creating natural looking motion effects is probably the most difficult job in CGI animation.
Imagine the following scenario:
You turn on Animal Planet or some other such channel, and you watch a documentary about lions and zebras. At the end of the show, an announcer informs the viewing audience that all of the lions and zebras in the show are actually CGI. You are astonished; you thought they were all real.
How long do you think it will be before that could happen? Well, now you know how long it's going to be until you have your utterly photorealistic dinos.
Actually, what I just described would be the second hardest thing to do with CGI. The very hardest thing to do with CGI would be to have half of the lions and half of the zebras be CGI, and you still don't notice.
And when that happens, IMDb will still be full of psuedo-hipsters saying "what complete rubbish!" because they think it makes them seem cool.
I disagree with you, but I'm pretty sure you're not Hitler.
- Jon Stewart