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Observations in TNG: "Galaxy's Child"

A joint project with TrekCore, by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider

Here are some observations about sets, props and visual effects in TNG: "Galaxy's Child" without a specific theme, and a comparison of the original TV release (TNG) with the remastered "Galaxy's Child" (TNG-R).

"Galaxy's Child" HD Screencaps @ TrekCore

Description TNG		Other caps	Comparison TNG to TNG-R	Description TNG-R
This shot, which was originally created for "Encounter at Farpoint", is seen for the third time in this episode, after it also appeared in "Conspiracy". In both season 1 episodes, the shot didn't last as long as it does here, so the camera comes even closer to the bridge at the end of the shot.				The great shot in HD.


Picard's desktop monitor displays very similar data to the ones seen in "Suddenly Human" and "Legacy".		"Legacy"		The HD screen cap confirms it is the engineering duty roster that originally appeared in "Suddenly Human".
The PADD Leah Brahms is holding displays two graphics of the USS Enterprise-D. The PADD first appeared in "Legacy" on Picard's desk.		"Legacy"		An HD close-up of the PADD.
A good look at two of the three narrow workstations in the chief engineer's office. As can be seen, the consoles have not changed much since the first season, only the frame of the consoles was recolored.		"The Naked Now"		No changes
This is what main engineering looks like when the warp core is turned off and additional lights are turned on.				A look at the set in HD.
Alpha Omicron VII is seen on the main viewscreen on the bridge of the USS Enterprise-D.				A new planet was created for TNG-R.
The warp core was last seen opened in the season 1 episode "Skin of Evil". As can be seen, the dilithium articulation frame is still the same, while the dilithium crystal has changed.		"Skin of Evil"		A good look at the dilithium chamber in HD.
		"Skin of Evil"
The Enterprise-D in orbit of Alpha Omicron VII. The adult spaceborne lifeform, also in orbit of the planet, can be seen a little better in this shot. The footage of the USS Enterprise-D was newly recorded for this episode, using the 4-foot model of the ship.				The spaceborne lifeform is still the fiberglass model in this TNG-R scene, only the planet is the new one.

The spaceborne lifeform shoots energy beams at the USS Enterprise-D, as seen on the main viewscreen.				The light effect was redone for TNG-R.


The spaceborne lifeform is seen up close, as it fires more energy beams at the USS Enterprise-D, which soon fires back. Like in the previous scene, the footage of the ship is new.				The spaceborne lifeform is still the physical model, perhaps with additional digital texture.





The adult spaceborne lifeform dies, as evidenced by the change seen on the underside of its "belly".				These sequences too show the original model of the lifeform.

Another beautiful shot of the spaceborne lifeform and new footage of the USS Enterprise-D.
Geordi's quarters were seen in only two previous episodes, "Code of Honor" and "The Most Toys". Several pieces of set decoration, usually associated with Geordi's quarters, debut in this episode. Both the long black rectangular wall piece on the left, decorated with several geometric shapes, as well as the black square with a pearly circle behind Leah Brahms are seen in every future appearance of Geordi's quarters. Beginning in season 5, though, both pieces of art are also seen in Data's quarters. The central gray shelf, on the other hand, only appears in Geordi's quarters in future episodes. In "Code of Honor" and "The Most Toys", Geordi's bed is located here, though.		"Code of Honor"		No changes
		"The Most Toys"
		"The Quality of Life"
		"Force of Nature"
The small purple crystal sphere was also seen in Geordi's quarters in "Code of Honor".		"Code of Honor"		The sphere in HD.
The glass bowl in Geordi's quarters looks familiar. It appeared in Riker's quarters, under a glass dome, turned upside down, in "Up the Long Ladder". It will be seen again, exactly like this, in the commander's quarters in "The Quality of Life".	"Up the Long Ladder"	"The Quality of Life"		No changes
This is the first appearance of the computer generated version of the adult spaceborne lifeform. CGI in Star Trek				A first look at the new CG model, which replaces the original one in all close shots. The labels on the monitor were redone for TNG-R too.
A little more than in the earlier, similar screenshot can be seen of Alpha Omicron VII here.				Another look at the physical model in HD.
The large MSD in main engineering can be seen very well in several scenes in this episode. In this shot and in all later close-ups of the MSD, the in-jokes (a duck, a Porsche and a DC-3, amongst others) were not covered with black tape.				The in-jokes are still openly visible in TNG-R.
After much larger Jefferies tubes debuted in "The Hunted", the smaller familiar Jefferies tubes are first seen here. The Jefferies tube junction and the small doors were not built until season 5, so the entrance to the tubes appears rather simple here. Geordi and Leah Brahms are also seen crawling around a corner when entering the main tube. This is also only seen here and in "The Nth Degree". The floor consists of freezer spacers and will remain like that in later appearances of the set, until a new, somewhat smoother floor is introduced in season 6. Re-Uses of Freezer Spacers In some early episodes featuring the tubes ("Galaxy's Child", "The Nth Degree", "Cost of Living"), crew members are seen wearing special utility uniforms when working in the Jefferies tubes. In later episodes and series, the Starfleet officers wear their regular duty uniforms.		"The Hunted"		The Jefferies tube in HD.
		"The Nth Degree"
The USS Enterprise-D fires a low-power phaser beam at the "belly" of the spaceborne lifeform to help the infant lifeform, dubbed "Junior", to leave its mother's body. In the first shot, the physical fiberglass model was used to depict the dead adult. In the second shot, the CG model was used.				A look at the fiberglass model and the new CGI in HD.

It seems the Starfleet operations graphic, listing several starships and their missions, which is seen behind Data here, is slightly warped, as if the translight is not fully attached to the plexiglass covering the console. The LCARS display was first seen up close in "Brothers".		"Brothers"		No changes
Junior leaves his mother's belly. Both the adult and infant spaceborne lifeform were created using CG models.				The use of the new CG model is most obvious in the birth scene. While the old model was rather blunt, the new one has some sort of "plastic" gloss.




Geordi has removed two smaller levels from the large 3-D chess game usually seen in Ten Forward in this shot. The metal chess pieces are seen up close as well, the glass pieces used by the other player, still seen in "Legacy", do not appear, though.		"Suddenly Human"		A close-up of the chess pieces in HD.


Junior stays close to his dead mother. Both were created using computer generated imagery.				The same shot with the new CG model of Junior's mother.

Junior follows the USS Enterprise-D as it is about to leave the spaceborne lifeform behind. The footage of the ship was newly created for this episode.				For this sequence, the new CG model of Junior was used.



Junior has attached itself to the hull of the USS Enterprise-D, partially covering the large shuttlebay 3 doors. The footage of the USS Enterprise-D seems to be a frame from the sequence seen in the opening credits, slightly before the ship goes to warp. The shot is lit differently, though, and appears very stable for a freeze-frame (the position lights above the bridge are also flashing), so maybe this is footage originally filmed for the pilot and not just a simple freeze-frame. The model used definitely is the 6-foot model, as evidenced by the unlit arboretum windows and the lighting patterns of the windows in the "neck" of the ship.		Opening credits		Once again we can see the new CG model of Junior. In HD, the shot of the USS Enterprise-D appears even more like a blurry freeze frame from the aforementioned scene. The lighting is slightly different as well.
This shot of the 4-foot model (evidenced by the different pattern of lit windows in the neck-section) originally appeared at the end of "The Loss". Here, the computer created Junior was inserted into the footage.		"The Loss"


Dr. Leah Brahms looks at engineering logs on a wall monitor in main engineering. In the original episode, the text on the first page is very hard to decipher, while the second page lists an in-joke ("Tonight on HBO") at the bottom.				The whole text was reconstructed for HD and is completely legible. Most notably the last screen now shows everything in the small standard font instead of the obtrusive large letters in the original episode. The in-joke was removed. A label in the LCARS bar above the text field was not included in the HD version. The new graphic contains numerous references to the first season chief engineers aboard the USS Enterprise-D. MacDougal ("The Naked Now"), Lynch ("Skin of Evil") and Argyle ("Where No One Has Gone Before", "Datalore") are referenced.




There are some small differences between the holographic recreation of drafting room 5, as seen in "Booby Trap" and this episode. While the large central console is still the same, the consoles in the back wall have been changed. There are only large flat wall consoles now and no protruding horizontal consoles. The recesses with the ribbed ceiling lights appear differently as well. The console in the foreground was also changed. The triangular monitor on the left was removed and the small monitor on the right is covered with a black material. The upper graphic of the central monitor is still the same, while the lower graphic was changed. It no longer displays a topographic map (originally created for "Who Watches the Watchers") but a dorsal view of the USS Enterprise-D. This is no change to the actual drafting room, but the corridor wall behind the holodeck door is different. In "Galaxy's Child", the wall with the characteristic orange double door, often seen behind the brig entrance, is used, while in "Booby Trap", a much simpler wall, also used in the first two seasons at the end of the corridor set, appears. The triangular Galaxy Class Development Project logo is still in place next to the door, but the LCARS display of a Galaxy class ship is missing. A second version of this display is seen at the other end of the set in both episodes, though the coloring of some of the LCARS buttons has changed. The console to the left of Dr. Brahms was not seen in "Booby Trap", it previously appeared in the brig in "The Hunted". As previously mentioned, the displays on the back wall of the set are much larger now. In "Booby Trap", there was only enough space to display one side view of the Enterprise-D, here, a side view and a cross-section are displayed. The triangular logo is the same, but the LCARS display of the Enterprise-D is missing.	"Booby Trap"	"Booby Trap"		HD close-ups of the set.
	"The Hunted"	"Booby Trap"
	"Pen Pals"	"Booby Trap"
	"The Hunted"	"Booby Trap"
		"Booby Trap"
		"Booby Trap"
The footage of Junior on the hull of the Enterprise-D now features an LCARS overlay. Junior is clearly still covering shuttlebay 3, the right of the two smaller shuttlebays.				Another good look at the new Junior. The labeling on the viewscreen was newly created too.
Now Junior is covering the smaller shuttlebay 2 door, as evidenced by the number on the floor.				The set and Junior in HD.

This footage of the shuttlebay also appeared in "Transfigurations", where a shuttlepod was added in post-production. The footage was originally filmed in the second season, most likely for "Time Squared", but does not appear in that season.	"Time Squared"	"Transfigurations"		Junior is a new CG effect in this shot too.
The Alpha Omicron asteroid belt is seen on the main viewscreen of the USS Enterprise-D. The same footage will be used for the Pelloris asteroid field in "Cost of Living" and the Devolin asteroid field in "The Pegasus". In both later re-used, the belt is higher than it is here, so it is likely that it was compressed horizontally for "Galaxy's Child" to make it appear further away.	"Cost of Living"	"The Pegasus"		The asteroid field is still the same in TNG-R.
The adult members of the spaceborne lifeform approach the USS Enterprise-D in the Alpha Omicron asteroid field. This footage (sans the aliens) was turned upside down and re-used for the Pelloris asteroid field in "Cost of Living".		"Cost of Living"		These shots are composed of the same elements as in the original episode.
The adult lifeforms approach the USS Enterprise-D. The adults' movements are much more limited than those of Junior, as the adults are depicted using the rigid fiberglass model seen earlier in the episode.
Leah Brahms enters main engineering through a turbolift door located close to the "pool table". This door would be turned into a Jefferies tube access point between seasons 5 and 6.		"The Quality of Life"		No changes
As mentioned earlier, the in-jokes in the MSD were not covered in this episode, so the mouse, Porsche, duck, Nomad and DC-3 plane are plainly visible.				We can recognize the in-jokes even better in HD.

The spaceborne lifeforms come ever closer to the Enterprise-D.				We can still see the fiberglass model in HD.
Junior approaches the grown-up members of its species. Again, the adults are depicted using the same fiberglass model, while Junior is entirely a CG creation.				The shot is still composed of the same elements as in the original episode.

A shot of the USS Enterprise-D flying away from the camera.				The shot had to be replaced with a CG shot of the ship for the remastered episode.
Leah Brahms and Geordi La Forge have one final conversation in Ten Forward while the stars streak by in the background.				No changes

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