Drex Files Update

Fans of Doug Drexler will be delighted to hear that he has updated his blog with plenty of goodies, including information about his work on an eagerly anticipated Trek DVD project.

Expect to spend some time at Drexler’s site today. Topics include: novel cover art, Ships of the Line, a six-foot model of the original series Enterprise, a VFX panel, designing props, Robert Lansing (Gary Seven of Assignment: Earth) and more.

First, Drexler shared the news that he will be working with Dan Curry, Mike and Denise Okuda and David Takemura on Star Trek: The Next Generation Remastered. “You heard right,” said Drexler, “this time around Paramount is bringing in a team that lived TNG as it happened. Dan, as I’m sure you know, was the visual effects supervisor on Next Gen. Unlike the remastering of TOS, this job will be 100% true to the original. Visual effects shots will not be reinvented, pulling you out of the show. What’s about to happen is truly extraordinary.

“The studio has saved all the original footage, and VFX elements from the good old days. We will be recompositing them, and then outputting them in high definition. Here and there, elements have been lost, and we will recreate only those missing pieces, and with this promise: aside from looking like you had your windshield cleaned, you won’t know the difference. Star Trek: The Next Generation is Gene Roddenberry‘s legacy, it is culturally significant, and we will rejuvenate the show with curatorial eyes only. Paramount Picture deserves a round of applause, and I can’t wait to dig in with my friends.”

Next up is a post on novel cover art, where Drexler explains how he approaches working on artwork for a book. “On a novel I go larger than life, and painterly,” he said. Two covers are shown, one for David Mack‘s Star Trek: Vanguard: Storming Heaven and one for Michael A. Martin‘s Enterprise: The Romulan Wars: To Brave the Storm.

Several other blog posts concern the Ships of the Line calendars. One blog entry features a fourteen-minute video with Craig Frey discussing creating the cover art for the new Ships of the Line calendar for next year.

Also, take time to watch a twenty-minute Drex-TV video, the topic of which is Ships of the Line, Active Duty.

In a post that is certain to inspire serious model envy in any original series fan, Drexler shares beautiful photos from a six foot original series Enterprise created by Steve Neil, who will answer any questions that viewers may have.

Another video features a visual effects panel Drexler attended, which was held in North Hollywood. Others on the panel included Ron Thornton, Chuck Comsky and Eric Hance.

Sketches from Drexler’s first day on the job at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are shown, including hand props.

Finally, Drexler shares his thoughts about an actor familiar to original series fans, Robert Lansing (Assignment: Earth‘s Gary Seven) but the topic is not Star Trek this time, but Lansing’s role in the Twelve O’clock High television series, where he played General Frank Savage.