Vancouver and Toronto F/X company GVFX added more than 300 shots to the imaginary world of Babylon 5 when it took on the role of sole visual effects creator on the forthcoming 90-minute TV movie Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers. The SCI FI Channel/Warner Bros. International production, a spin-off of the series Babylon 5, was shot in Vancouver in May and June 2001.

GVFX has endeavored to provide feature-film-quality F/X to the TV project, including a crystalline city and explosive mines that propel through space.

The movie has more F/X shots than any other Babylon 5 installment to date. Approximately 80 shots make up battle sequences, and 11 portray the tail of a comet. An emitter, volume shaders and the Alias|Wavefront Maya Paint Effects tool were all put to work by GVFX animators to create the effect of flying in the comet’s tail.

Low-resolution models were built to map out geography and assist the GVFX team with timing and movement of 3D elements within the galaxy. A new effect called the Holotable, a holographic communications system, is also introduced in the movie.

Babylon 5 will have its first airing on the SCI FI Channel on Jan. 19. A trailer for the movie premiered with the feature film The Lord of the Rings.

-www.gvfx.com

-www.b5lr.com (official movie site)