Vfx supervisor Gary Hutzel (left) jumped at the chance to work on Battlestar Galactica as soon as he heard about it. On the right, Zoic took the bluescreen element of the CAG pilot, rotoscoped him out of his ship and placed him in a CGI Viper. After color corrections, reflections and details were added to make the final shot showing him before the entire Viper fleet is destroyed by the Cylons. All images from Battlestar Galactica courtesy of USA Cable Entertainment LLC. © 2003 USA Cable Entertainment LLC. All rights reserved.

The television series Battlestar Galactica first thrilled sci-fi fans 25 years ago. An edgier, racier version of the cult classic returns on Dec. 8 and 9 as a two-part, four-hour mini-series on Sci Fi Channel. Dynamically directed by Michael Rymer (Queen of the Damned) and penned by veteran sci-fi scribe, Ronald D. Moore (Star Trek: The Next Generation), the series has a number of twists: ace fighter pilot “Starbuck” is a brawling, cigar-smoking woman, the villainous Cylon robots look human and the Galactica is now a museum. Also featured is a new generation of vfx designed to compete with big budget film effects.

When vfx supervisor Gary Hutzel heard Battlestar Galactica was being revived, he wanted to be involved. “It’s probably the only sci-fi series that I can think of that would have the… staying power of Star Trek… It has all the elements of a classic sci-fi.” Too often in visual effects design the action happens, then the actors look and the editor cuts to the visual effect. Things are not smoothly integrated. Rymer wanted a documentary style. That was something Hutzel had wanted to do for a long time with vfx — to carry the story and create real environments that didn’t detract from a natural style. The success of Battlestar Galactica is largely due to the organic vfx created through the collaboration between Hutzel and the artists at Zoic Studios, guided by cg supervisor Lee Stringer and digital effects supervisor Emile Smith. Zoic wasn’t just a company that was hired. According to Hutzel, “Zoic came onto this project with an unbelievable amount of vigor. No matter what we asked for, they kept it coming.”

Digital effects supervisor Emile Smith (left) and CG supervisor Lee Stringer, both of Zoic, became committed and indefatigable partners with Hutzel in creating the vfx. On the right is a full CGI shot of the nuclear bombs going off from the Cylon attack.

From approximately 138 hours of select dailies — a mountain of material for a four-hour series — only 360 vfx shots were created — not an enormous amount. What is striking about the vfx is the duration of the shots. Generally speaking, a CG house will storyboard for 3-1/2 to 5-second shots. Hutzel and Zoic took a courageous chance. Many establishing shots run more than 30 seconds. The visual effects are right for the show. They don’t jump out. The length is based on the pace of the scene that they’re in, not artificially short or long. Extraordinary at the time, the original series had nearly as many visual effects as the current reincarnation. Hutzel watched several episodes. Back then, there wasn’t any money for visual effects. In a 20-second sequence, the same shots would be shamelessly repeated. The editor made sequences work by flopping, reversing and repositioning shots. Hutzel realized that wasn’t done anymore. Instead, editorial calls for more visual effects.