Star Trek: Picard in Times Square

Former Big Machine Studios alum, Aaron Beaucher reached out to us when his current company NeoPangea partnered with Paramount+ to create a special event in NYC for the series finale of Star Trek: Picard. Their vision was to take over Time Square by flying the Enterprise D into a branded docking bay and have it hover in place for all to behold as a celebration of the series coming to an end. Big Machine Studios animated and composited the 3D billboard experience.

Working from assets and data supplied by paramount+ and the Star Trek team, we assembled a dimensionally accurate recreation of the Silvercast Megazilla as it exists in Times Square. NeoPangea previsualized the experience from the ideal viewers angle

Working from assets and data supplied by paramount+ and the Star Trek team, we assembled a dimensionally accurate recreation of the Silvercast Megazilla as it exists in Times Square. NeoPangea previsualized the experience from the ideal viewers angle and the Big Machine Studios adapted that into 3D space.

Using the Times Square template scene, the model of the docking bay was created.

Using the Times Square template scene, the model of the docking bay was created.

The raw 3D rendered output. Vray was used for the rendering.

The raw 3D rendered output. Vray was used for the rendering.

Lighting and other tweaks applied to the image foreground.

Lighting and other tweaks applied to the image foreground.

To help hide the fact that the ships hover sequence looped, NeoPangea asked us to create a non-looping composite background made up of a mysterious orange planet, twinkling stars and shooting meteorite assets that were creatively animated to give the

To help hide the fact that the ships hover sequence looped, NeoPangea asked us to create a non-looping composite background made up of a mysterious orange planet, twinkling stars and shooting meteorite assets that were creatively animated to give the docking bay a sense of rotation in space to keep the scene feeling alive.

The composite of the foreground and background combined.

The composite of the foreground and background combined.

The finished compostited output was put through a meticulously created warp transform that mapped the image to the screen coordinates of the Megazilla display panels.

The finished compostited output was put through a meticulously created warp transform that mapped the image to the screen coordinates of the Megazilla display panels.

Since we didn't have the luxury of verifying our output on the actual Megazilla, instead we mapped it onto our template Megazilla scene and viewed it from the chosen camera location.

Since we didn't have the luxury of verifying our output on the actual Megazilla, instead we mapped it onto our template Megazilla scene and viewed it from the chosen camera location.

This is the camera view of the projected warped image. It should visually match the composited output image above.

This is the camera view of the projected warped image. It should visually match the composited output image above.

A view of the ship protruding from the docking bay.

A view of the ship protruding from the docking bay.

This is the location from which the camera was placed in the scene. It also represents the optimal location to view the 3D effect on the Megazilla screen. As you move away from this optimal location, the image will begin to distort. Where the distort

This is the location from which the camera was placed in the scene. It also represents the optimal location to view the 3D effect on the Megazilla screen. As you move away from this optimal location, the image will begin to distort. Where the distortion is most obvious is the overhead rectangular ceiling lights, which will begin to bend.

This is a simulated 3D billboard projection of the Times Square takeover the Big Machine Studios partnered with NeoPangea on to celebrate the series finale of Star Trek: Picard on Paramount+. The actual footage of it projected onto the Silvercast Megazilla can be seen in another video. The full length run time is 2.5min so I sped up the middle part where the ship just hovers as the background planet moves across the screen.

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