Why Does the Podracing Scene Still Look So Realistic After 20+ Years?

[@JihadiFemboy]

I love TPM and the podracing scene is great! Thanks for shining a light on how it was made because more people need to know how hard the scene was to pull off.

[@CGWHY]

Thank you for watching! - And for sure, this scene needs to get much more love than it gets!

[@JihadiFemboy]

@@CGWHY Your other videos are also really great too and I'll make sure to help spread them!

[@CGWHY]

@@JihadiFemboy Thank you very much! I checked out your video earlier - I very much enjoyed it 😁

[@JihadiFemboy]

@@CGWHY Thx! There's gonna be another for AOTC once I finish the analysis for it too. After that, there'll be one for each of the OG 6

[@CGWHY]

Fantastic, well I've subbed so I'll see it when its out 👍

[@Gramercy_Stiffs]

Mad props to the sound design in this scene too.

[@HecmarJayam]

this

[@Skrenja]

The prequels still have some of my favorite sound design of all time.

[@stefansmith]

Honestly Ben Burtt at his peak. And that's saying a LOT.

[@oskeewootwoot]

Sebulba's pod...such a cool sound.

[@b.c.2281]

The sound design of the entire prequel trilogy was incredible. Nothing in the SW universe since has come close in this aspect.

[@jackcurtis5901]

Sebulba's pod racer is up there with the seismic charges Jango Fett uses in episode II for me, it sounds so good

[@canobenitez]

you goddam right, star wars is a gem in terms of sound design even if some movies are crap

[@leeham6230]

I personally love the sound of Anakin's.

[@officialmonarchmusic]

I would say the same but I can't. NOTHING can compete with the seismic charges for me. Too good

[@FrackaLacka]

@@officialmonarchmusic Jango’s blaster is up there for me

[@officialmonarchmusic]

@@FrackaLacka You might be right. Basically everything in Jango’s arsenal has PERFECT sound design

[@leokimvideo]

It's a staggering scene, it never gets boring and maybe whats really interesting is how much of it if just motion blur, once the pod racers are on the move the illusion of any real detail is purely an illusion. Magical in many ways

[@TheSimsFocus]

The fact this scene is over 20 years old is absolutely insane

[@blakesby]

Not really. It's impressive, sure, but there's scenes from movies which are now closer to 50 years old and look just as good.

[@DarraghM1]

​@@blakesby both can be true my guy, this scene is still objectively incredible today

[@blakesby]

@@DarraghM1 okay, true. It holds up, but there's also movies double its age with half the tech advances in CG, and they stand up just as well. But credit where due, the podrace is still visually fantastic, and certainly something taken for granted with the best of 'em.

[@DarraghM1]

@@blakesby like I said, both things can be true. But the video is about this particular scene, so let us appreciate it for what it is.

[@blakesby]

@Lynol Hutts Blade Runner comes to mind. Also the original Star Wars trilogy. Aliens, I guess? 🙆🏻

[@Ziggerath]

you literally dont see anything else like this racing scene anywhere ever. Even as a kid I recognized how alien this whole thing was and how interesting it is. I would watch just this scene 100s of times.

[@samiamtheman7379]

A lot of people have no respect for how groundbreaking the cg was.

[@CGWHY]

Yea - it's a real shame 😢 - But thanks for watching!!

[@beardupbeerdown7355]

Because The Matrix came out the same year and actually revolutionized CGI and action movies

[@TonyFrusciante-gt1xj]

But it looks bad

[@gundarsmiks4889]

Groundbreaking was Terminator 2. This kind of stuff was already in so many 3d animated shorts. So no it was not new at all. Maybe on the scale of 2hour movie. One of first, but such fx and animations was realy not new. Also. Its not about Cg. But about the story. Wich is less good than first 3 films. And way too childish.

[@norgazmic]

Good vfx done bad is still bad imo

[@dumpsterjedi9323]

The visuals get a lot of attention, but can we also take some time to recognize that it's a auditory masterpiece?

[@zachary4670]

My dad built a custom home theater system and he loves to play the podrace scene to show off the sound system

[@dumpsterjedi9323]

@@zachary4670 lol that's exactly what I did when I built my dad's home sound system

[@spaceghostcqc2137]

Sound design in this movie is top notch but this scene especially showcases so much creativity while being very immersive.

[@jeremysmetana8583]

The sound is just about the best thing in an otherwise rotten movie.

[@brav3hearthalo189]

@@jeremysmetana8583 speak for yourself, those of us who were little kids when this came out grew up loving this movie

[@tint1122]

I love that they never used music. Straight-up sound design

[@eddeh0772]

I agree, the sound design is incredible. They do bring the music in for that last lap, but I think to your point, that’s just more emphasis of the INCREDIBLE sound design of that scene. Especially if you see the extended version of that race which was on the DVDs compared to the theatrical cut (and I’m assuming on the streamable versions of that film). The patience to NOT score it for the majority was a really smart choice. Not sure if that was John Williams or Lucas or whoever who made that decision, but it was very smart

[@leeham6230]

I think the music in the last lap makes it even better.

[@eddeh0772]

@@leeham6230 oh for sure

[@shinigamimiroku3723]

Makes it easier to overlay "Gas Gas Gas" for that authentic racing feel... XD

[@ForTiorIJohnny]

i wish the pod racing game would get a remake. still one of my favorite racing games. amazing tracks, amazing environments, hi speed, hi adrenaline. pure gold.

[@adreanmarantz2103]

Absolutely! I forget the name of it, but I had this weird handheld steering wheel controller with a 'throttle/brake trigger' and buttons on top. This thing was invented to Podrace. because the travel between locks on the wheel was so short, you could pull off amazing maneuvers not possible on any normal control scheme. Executing movie-quality close calls through the arches are some of my best gaming memories.

[@wetteryan]

In all seriousness when it comes to the arcade style racing genre of videogames it's one of the ALL TIME greats. It played so well. Incredible track design. So amazingly addictive and replay value off the charts. I would include it on my arcade racer Mount Rushmore right next to Burn Out Paradise F-Zero X and Hydro Thunder.

[@SpikedCollar666]

It did it’s on Nintendo switch.

[@upublic]

@@wetteryan for me it's SW racer, Rollcage and Collin McRae 2 :)

[@VestedUTuber]

@@SpikedCollar666 That's a rerelease, not a remake It also got a rerelease on Steam, based on the original PC version, with the only changes being the removal of SecuROM and a fix for a fatal error the original PC version had on modern systems. There was also one and a half sequels: One for PS2 (Racer Revenge) and a Podracing subgame in Kinect Star Wars. Unfortunately I don't think we'll get a proper _official_ remake any time soon. Not until Disney gets their heads out of their asses in regards to the prequels. But there is someone making a fan remake of the game in UE4.

[@chrisburns514]

I was 4 when Phantom Menace came out. I had the OT on vhs, so I already loved Star Wars. Phantom Menace is my favorite, always will be. This scene rules.

[@richarddecredico6098]

Condolences

[@canobenitez]

George said it was a moovie for kids, no shame on liking it

[@FrackaLacka]

@@canobenitez Meesa Jar Jar Binks!

[@SpaghettiEnterprises]

@@FrackaLacka Rip

[@5PYZ3R]

it's in theaters again now, watched it last night

[@ReaperStarcraft]

I never knew they did the environment digitally by capturing miniatures using photogrammetry! That's awesome, and a really smart way to conserve computing power at the time. It reminds me of how in early video games they'd often pre-render the shadows of static objects into scenes so they could reduce the amount of real time lighting they had to render. It's ironic how the discussion around TPM is all about how it was wrong to replace practical effects with CGI when they built so many models, sets, props, and costumes for the movie as well. A lot of the movie simply wouldn't be possible without the help of computers, but at the same time they built more miniatures for TPM than for the entire original trilogy!

[@CGWHY]

Yea it's genuinely crazy! I'm glad people appreciate the Prequels more nowadays. Also what's even cooler (in regards to video games) is that they are nowadays made using photogrammetry too. - just look a Geonosis from Battlefront 2. That entire map is pretty much completely photoscanned. Super weird circle to see the tech from a 1999 movie into modern day video games.

[@ashishhembrom3905]

Its called a light map for games. Ahh, ancient methods of cgi. Also, for as much J.J.Abrams wanted to get rid of the Prequels by emulating the orignal trilogy as much as possible-from the retro camera itself to casting relative unkowns; his movie had far more greater vfx shots than the prequels. Almost by a thousand more. While the prequels did use revolutionary technology, most were the classic compositing of live action plates (and also entire 3d scenes) while J.J.Abrams team would start from sratch digitally with a clean plate.

[@tbotalpha8133]

Pre-rendering shadows of static objects is still done quite regularly in many games.

[@mangelo1901]

prerendering shadows (known as baking) is still the norm in video games, there are rarely games that dont use this feature at least partially, since it is a great optimisation tool and is fairly easy to implement in most game engines. also the non static objects dont usually have path traced shadows like you would see in visual effects (so they dont have real life shadows), they use close approximations, since path tracing is very expensive on computing power even lumen (new unreal engine 5 lighting technique) which comes pretty close to real lighting simulation is still not able to do what rendering engines today can do (they obviously have way longer to render a single frame) also it is still quite heavy

[@xmasinpacific]

ILM and George Lucas literally pioneered this stuff - and sound editing too. They might be flawed films, but they are technically proficient.

[@janclardey2405]

The podrace is one of those moments when the sound of my TV is going to max, the engine and race sounds mixed with the action packed race is just brilliant! Always gives me goosebumps

[@Nightweaver1]

I was in college when Episode 1 came out, and it sure looked like the future was here when I watched it. It had everything I expected out of a movie made in what I thought of as "the future," including that amazing podracing scene. I even made a mock video game magazine cover for a graphics class featuring a scene from it.

[@maxsanchez764]

I wanna seee

[@GrosvnerMcaffrey]

In college I ate another guy's barf to join a fraternity

[@Mofi25]

I think the reason why I was able to really enjoy the Phantom menace was because I focused on the good parts and they are good, Liam Neeson is a great Jedi, Even McGregor was superb as Obi-Wan. I got immersed into the world that was created very quickly and saw the Jedi for first time doing the things I always imagined the Jedi was capable off. The Podracing was awesome, I had never seen such a thing before and the music is still great to this day. Just, if only the Jar Jar silliness had been toned down by a lot, then the TPM would have been so much more enjoyable.

[@yopyopboumboum9505]

Agree on everything you said!

[@kc3reo]

Ive always thought that the criticisms towards TPM were unfair, particularly it being "boring". Within the first 15 minutes, you have a ship exploding, lightsabers out, and a planetary invasion. By the end of the first act, you have essentially a coup de tat, underwater monsters, and the introduction of darth maul. The second act has POD RACING. It has all sorts of other things too, but, like, cmon, space nascar. And then the third act is an explosive finish through three separate fighting fronts. Space battle, infiltration, and Jedi vs Sith. Boring? Come the fuck on. And the plot was good! Economics and politics are how wars start and republics turn into dictatorships!! Boomers always talk about millenials having low attention spans, but imo the complaints about tpm tells me that they were no better.

[@kapasian9009]

Same. I watched The Phantom Menace for the first time about 2 years ago, and hearing all the bad comments about the film, was very fearful of disliking it. But instead I found a fun action movie, with good pacing and very uplifting atmosphere.

[@patrikhelis8235]

This is one of the best comments about episode 1 that I've seen in a while. I'm getting tired of the Phantom Menace hate. The hatred seems to me to be just a trend and stupid sheep without an opinion, they repeat this because it is said everywhere. I personally consider episode 1 to be the best film of the entire trilogy. Much more intelligent than both subsequent episodes. First of all, there are much better effects here. Mainly also because there are a lot of practical effects used here and for example droids that look better and more natural than those in episode 2 which had bad effects just like the clone army. I remember when I saw episode 2 in the cinema and I was disappointed. The best scenes were the ones with Jango. that was the end of it. I was absolutely disappointed with the final fight. Darth maul set the bar very high and this is the best fight in the Star Wars universe. The Episode 3 fight was just a precombined dance where they didn't even try to kill each other. They were just competing to see who could put on a better show with a lightsaber. Episode 1 builds the atmosphere brilliantly. Darth sidious here is the coolest in all Star Wars movies. Just say wipe them out, all of them and we know right away that he is not playing. Jake Lloyd plays Anakin brilliantly and is very natural. I don't understand what the fans were expecting. Will it be some kind of brutal maniac? He is a normal boy who tries to help and that is why his rebirth is so tragic. That's why Episode 3 disappointed me so much. I have never seen a more awkward and faster rebirth. I was expecting something more sophisticated and not that Anakin kisses Padme, says how everything will be fine. And in a few hours he will kill the young padawans like nothing. Only because the dark side suddenly engulfed him. Done. Sidious kills two Jedi masters in the most embarrassing fight. Most scenes in ep. 3 are so poorly and amateurishly filmed. Then in ep. 1 is all very cool. The race, the final fight, it's enough only when Darth Maul arrives on Tatooine and we all know that this is a big threat. I like the political background that gives it a touch of realism. The last 2 episodes seem like fairy tales to me, but episode 1 seems more mature

[@saricubra2867]

The problem with the phantom menace are the characters being very underdeveloped. What made the original trilogy special is the character development, fortunately, Lucas realized it's mistake and Revenge of The Sith is good, and Attack of The Clones was destroyed on the editing room because of Hollywood nonsense.

[@frogfarmer3551]

Not to mention the incredible soundtrack!

[@trekkiejunk]

Excitement doesn't come from action scenes. If lightsabers and explosions are all that qualify as exciting to you, then i don't know what to tell you. The end lightsaber duel in TPM was boring. Little heart, little feeling of strife. It was all over-choreographed, and just looked like a very repetitive dance. Excitement comes from the stakes of the characters, and the feeling of struggle (not to mention an appreciation of actual stunt work, as done in pre-CGI based movies.). It's not about how much shit you throw on the screen, and how fast it moves. Conversely, the lightsaber duel in Empire Strikes Back was far less kinetic and "actiony" but was WAY more exciting, because there were stakes. You FELT each lightsaber blow. You FELT Vader's power. You FELT Luke's fear and anguish at the end of the fight. There was meaning to it, and it was delivered on film so well. Phantom Menace was just fancy footwork, with a really stupid end to Darth Maul, a villain with ZERO character and personality. Why would i care about three completely wooden and underdeveloped characters? The movie did nothing to make me like any of them.

[@bbloomfield6497]

For me, the few glimpses of heat distortion and distant mirage effects really set the atmosphere (literally?) and grounded the race as feeling like a real place.

[@kylehagertybanana]

I love how incredibly well they made the models

[@saintmanuel]

I totally agree. Once again it shows the greatness of ILM. Jar Jar was a great piece of CG and performance capture as well, especially in 1997/98 when TPM was shot. What obviously needed a bit more time was the final battle between the gungans and the droids outside on naboo. that looked very limited and simple, compared to the rest of the finale.

[@saricubra2867]

Everytime that Jar Jar showed up on the Naboo battle is like the Ewoks on Return of The Jedi ruining the climax between Vader and Luke.

[@VestedUTuber]

I will say that of all of the effects from TPM, Jar-Jar and the other Gungans are the ones that aged the worst _especially_ during the Battle for Naboo due to the bright lighting. That being said, they're still not bad compared to other examples of poorly aged CGI in the movie industry.

[@DevonReclaimed]

It's incredible. Even without context watching the scene is sensational. I go back and watch it at least once a year

[@JRS06]

I'm glad more people are appreciating the prequels and the many, many, many things it did well. The podrace is one of those many highlights and deserves more respect for just how much it took to pull it off.

[@R3troZone]

When the Phantom Menace came out I was 22. My grandfather had passed away about a year earlier and I knew my grandmother hadn't been to a movie theater in probably 30 or 40 years. So I took her to go see it. She never spoke at all through the entire movie and after it was over we got up to leave so I asked her what she thought. This 70 year old woman that had never really showed any interest in science fiction looked at me and said "I want one of those laser swords." I know gramma, we all do.

[@jamieknight326]

This video made me smile as an example of the adage ‘what’s old is new again’. This exact technique is still used in other performance constrained situations like when we create VR environments for games and virtual studio spaces. I led a VR related research project for the BBC back in 2019. We used this technique for the rocks and statues in a garden. It allowed us create a believable space filled with details, while getting 120fps from a GTX 1080 mobile GPU :) We also did similar tricks with trees. Rather than having loads of uniquely shaped trees, we had two tree models and would rotate them in different directions so the player wouldn’t notice. I’m glad I found your channel. I look forward to seeing your future videos.

[@VectorAero]

Aesthetically, Episode 1 had a gritty film look that I loved. Everything from Episode 2 onwards was sterile and digital.

[@rgerber]

because TPM was filmed on real film and Ep2/3 was shot purely digitally

[@lordwaluigi8535]

2 and 3 also took place in sterile and smooth environments, but I get what you mean

[@Kanglar]

Gritty. Coarse. Kind of like sand....

[@IceSpoon]

@@Kanglar I don't like sand. It's gritty, and coarse, and it's all digital.

[@Valiantes_]

Episode 2 and 3 had gritty too, 🤨

[@X2yt]

People in 2000s: "Star Wars Prequels suck balls!". The New Saga in 2010's: "Hold my alien milk!".

[@Ryanstuff]

The sound design is also amazing. I tell anyone with a great sound system to use this scene to show it off.

[@billsfilmsinc]

The late 90s and early 2000s was the sweet spot in terms of the marriage between practical and digital effects. This blend in TPM is the perfect example. REAL textures projected onto simple 3D geometry. Projection mapping was used extensively in LotR as well. And it still holds up.

[@Princeofwinners]

If only the naboo fighters were more practical they were always too shiny for me.

[@btn237]

I’m confused about what you’re saying? Photogrammetry is used absolutely everywhere in modern CG. If anything, technological advancements in regards to cameras and drones etc has made photogrammetry process easier and more ubiquitous than ever before.

[@Demetrius900000]

Interesting! Also funny how the real problem with the PT is expectations, not movies themselves. In Russia we saw both PT and OT almost at the same time (because of everything West being banned in USSR), and many people really liked PT. When I first heard of how people bashed the story and CGI I thought it was a joke, some sort of meme.

[@CGWHY]

Wow - that's actually crazy to hear! I had no idea that happened, but it makes perfect sense tbh

[@ImVeryOriginal]

It has nothing to do with expectations, the prequels are just worse movies in almost every aspect. I loved The Phantom Menace as a kid, but saw how bad it is when I grew up. I never fell out of love with the originals, even though I also realized their flaws. I watched Attack of the Clones at age 12 and was already bored out of my mind. Perhaps Russians simply have no taste.

[@Demetrius900000]

@@ImVeryOriginal or we have better voices =) Rewatched both trilogies not long ago - yup, same, PT is amazingly good and OT is too old today, but okayish. I don't disagree about flaws, but I enjoy the worldbuilding and the overall story in PT way more. Maybe hits close to home, if you know what I mean.

[@CaptainPilipinas]

​@@CGWHY '-cene Still look So Realistic After 20+ Yea-'. meanwhile, elsewhere. (03. some example) '2035+/2048-2207+ era Humankind, from the wipeout universe and world/franchise: ". . . ." [Shrugs]'.

[@CaptainPilipinas]

​@@ImVeryOriginal (anyways, back to this setting's here....). '-though I also realized their flaws.-'. huh. some wise choice of words there by the way.

[@doughboi007]

Sebulba pod sounds amazing- like a rattling washer with some bass added.

[@unseenphantomamvsytp2186]

Anakin fixes his pod as he's racing!😎 [Ep1] Lightspeed Skiping...🤢 🤮 [Ep9]

[@CGWHY]

Oh man 😆 - Dont get me started on Lightspeed skipping 😅😅

[@zombies010]

I've always loved that aspect of the race it's just soo cool watching anakin keep his cool and repair his pod during an intense race and still win despite all his disadvantages.

[@ironcladnomad5639]

The pod race is quintessential Star Wars. It's a great piece of worldbuilding with a critical, if barebones, plot progression, but it also demonstrates what I think is the best version of how Star Wars creates something "new" that also feels familiar. It's the Ben-Hur chariot race dialed up to 12 with futuristic sci-fi trappings by way of a grounded, nuts-and-bolts 1950s imagination.

[@legateelizabeth]

Your mention of using photgrammetry reminded me of the original Doom games. The first two made in the early 90's used very, very rudimentary model grabs, but Doom 64 (released in 1997, before TPM) used a method similar to this one, where they digitised the models because trying to create them in CG would've been way too intense for the system. It's so cool to think about how media like movies and games can have that kind of convergent evolution for solving issues.

[@aleckermit]

Remains one of my favorite scene in movie history. The sound design is also chill-giving.

[@gasparayakos8215]

Podracing scene is fantastic. So much talent from everyone involved!!

[@nikoc8968]

the Pod Racing scene and the dual between Darth Maul, Gui Gon, and Obi Wan are the two scenes that put TPM well over AOTC for me.

[@Fujtajblus]

From time to time, I go back to watch the podrace. I was about 8 yeras old when the movie came out. I think I saw it a year later, but still, I was just a kid. To me, the podrace was aweome, I liked to play the game after on different planets. Technically, it is amazing and remarkable, espectially the sound design. All those pepsi commercials and "trust your instincts", it was a great time, my nostalgia is strong with this one. If I saw it as an adult, I think I may have a different perspective. Perhaps the OG fans expected another hit (from the movie I mean) and they got TPM with Jar Jar, and the Tatooine with the podrace may have seemingly appear as just a filler. I sometimes wonder if people felt similarly as I felt when watching The Last Jedi when the asian girl and Finn went to the casino planet. They did not achieve anything. Simply because once Qui-Gon goes all in and bets on Anakin winning, from the movie goer perspective, you know Anakin will win. The suspense is gone. If they'd lose their ship, it is game over for the rest of the story. So you can easily predict the outcome. Even tho you do not know how it happens of course. Not to mention that he bet the boy's freedom as a price as well. But overall, it runs deep in my heart and I hoped I would see pod-race somewhere again. The only thing we got after those 20 years was in a recent Bad Batch episode in season 2, episode 4

[@patrikisgod]

everyone says that everyone hated episode 1. many of us loved it, but we went in with zero expectations, just happy for another star wars story. its a lovely film throughout

[@mrock828]

Scenes of the spectacular pod crashes in the previews is the main reason I wanted to see this film, and cuz it was Star Wars.

[@CGWHY]

Aw man I was only a baby when this came out (which is crazy to think about!) - but yea the crashes in this film look incredible, I should have put a bit about them in the video because I imagine the tech they used to calculate them was very new at that time!

[@mrock828]

@@CGWHY Those crashes were like seeing the dinosaurs walking in Jurassic Park the first time, just amazing to see.

[@stanradanov428]

Actually for the pod crashes they used Formula 1 crash test software

[@Wallyworld30]

I was 22 years old when Phantom Menace came out and growing up in the 80's I was able to see Empire and Return of the Jedi in the theater. I eagerly went to see Phantom Menace in the theater and I left disappointed but that Podracer scene blew me away and I couldn't stop thinking about how amazing it was! I clearly wasn't the only one as They made Arcade game for it and a game on N64 and later Dreamcast that were also great games. In Return of the Jedi George Lucas also captured that extreme element of speed in the Speeder Bikes with Luke and Leia. When I found out George Lucas used a special effect technique first used in (1968) 2001: A space odyssey I was blown away! George took an effect that looked weak in the 1968 film and made it look incredible in 1983.

[@nickkarpin545]

The pod racing in episode 1 is my favorite moment in the whole of star wars 😊😊😊

[@Ringdingsandmilk]

I saw TPM 3 times in the theater and the pod race is one of my favorite scenes in all of Star Wars. The Darth Maul duel is up there too.

[@BOABModels]

As a model builder myself, I'd absolutely love to see the models used in these films.

[@svenssko]

Nobody ever talks about the CGI of the podrace sequence because it's so well done that you don't question it's not shot practically. That's great VFX

[@SpinningSandwich]

It's been decades since I've watched the original cut of this (The Phantom Edit has a shorter podrace) but it definitely stands out as a highlight of the prequel trilogy. Only the Duel of the Fates stands above it in that trilogy as action sequences go. Very cool to see how much of this was CG, especially with a blend of practical effects. The Mandalorian has carried that torch with its blend of practical & CG objects in the Volume.

[@tennisjiujitsu]

I never gave a shit what other people thought about this movie. I was 9 when it came out and I loved every minute of this movie and all the prequels! I watched the pod race over 50 times, not only is it visually pleasing but the sound effects are some of the best in movie history. Sebulba's pod was so intimidating and sounded the best.

[@FxnWaySheGoes]

Always thought this scene was really great, even watching it with modern eyes its fantastic, great sound, visuals, tempo, everything.

[@samjordan32]

Fascinating. Using the photogrammetry technique is genius, love your appreciation of it!

[@Z__K217]

My sentiments also.

[@Onezy05]

"You're goddamn right"

[@chiaroscuroamore]

Photogrammetry is absolutely fascinating! Thanks for making this video!

[@nak3dxsnake]

They need to do an Episode 1 Pod racer remake with battle damage and power management features that affect vehicle performance. Could even add dual analog controls for thrust controls.

[@Majima_Nowhere]

The world needs more anti-grav racers, yeah.

[@eias3d]

ILM used EIAS (Electricimage Animation System) for the Pod Race sequence, they used Camera Maps (CMaps) projecting the miniature's photographs on the geometry, EIAS was the first 3d application able to do Camera Maps with a wonderful motion blur, the guy working in the computer using EIAS in the video and also using one of the first builds of After Effects named (CoSa) is David Dozoretz.

[@George_M_]

I was in that opening night crowd and believe me, we didn't mind the stupid gungans as much since we hadn't had the Internet reinforcing our hate. Anyway, the big droid and gungan battle is the only bad looking sequence in the film. They needed more interesting terrain and the cgi battle technology that Lord of the Rings invented.

[@christiandebney1989]

Good video. My first job in the film industry was making props on TPM. I made lightsabers and guns and helped fit some of the Anakins pod cockpit. Whatever people thought of the film Nothing would take away the joy everybody felt walking on to the sound stages and watching GL direct.

[@TheKenji2221]

Amazing movie and one of the best scene of the saga. Change my mind

[@Cassp0nk]

It isn’t really possible to convince someone to develop better taste!

[@thedailyremedy968]

This was the first film I ever walked out on. Have never regretted it. Change my mind.

[@robvegas9354]

That is an absolutely amazing sequence, the VFX and sound are stunning, Great stuff!!!

[@zachary4670]

Twenty years later and I still forget that podracers aren’t real because of just how good it looks.

[@MiguelMeanGreen]

There's something I appreciate so much about film, writing, art, video games, ect. that's made within limitations. When you have skilled and creative people working within limitations and boundaries with what can be done, it actually forces each aspect of the project to be the best it can be, and it often leads to ground-breaking use of current technologies and sometimes new technologies altogether. Conversely, with modern filmaking, although not always the case, more often than not simply paying VFX studios to make something in CGI is the go-to option, and even with that, so little foresight and thought goes into the proper way to shoot things so that digital assets will even properly fit into what's around them. Also, GREAT video all around :)

[@Skarfar90]

You know, the real inspiration behind the Pod Race came from a Norwegian stop-motion film called "Pinchville Grand Prix" Many elements seen in the podrace is an exact copy, or close to the original in many ways. Everything from the lenghty starting grid commentary, to the sabotage, the race itself, and the unlikely victory is eerily similar. Anakin's pod has a lot in common with "Il Tempo Gigante"

[@Ytrearneindre]

i never thought about that, but you're absolutely right! sincerely, a norwegian

[@espenss]

Pinchcliffe Grand Prix (1975)

[@jonathanj.3695]

To this day, the pod race scene is still my most favorite out of all the Star Wars movies. I, honestly, f*cking LOVE racing and any time I watch this scene, it makes me smile. I loved this scene so much that I bought models of both Anikin's and Sebulba's pod racers (which I still have sitting gloriously on my shelf).

[@psyberdelicxp6042]

i was in the minority , liked the prequels. they were quirky, and each had thier own distinct look and identity. i never thought they were perfect, and the stories had some serious problems. after seeing what disney has done to it...i adore the genuine Lucas era stuff.

[@sandykemp7562]

Saw TPM in the cinema in 1999 when it was first released. I loved it then, I still love it now. However, the pod race BLEW MY MIND! The visuals and the sound design are a masterclass in how to have your audience on the edge of their seat 🙌🏻

[@franklinnash]

I never really understood the issues some fans had with the prequels. If you watched how kids during that time were reacting to the movies it was exactly how we reacted back in 1977.

[@ImVeryOriginal]

Kids like almost anything. The issues were evident to the adult fans and to many viewers who grew up and realized the films are pretty bad. I watched Episode I at age 9 and loved it at the time, but my perception of it changed just a couple years later. Episode II came out when I was 12 and it bored and annoyed me. I only went to see Episode III at 16 out of a begrudging sense of obligation. I grew up watching all those movies and absolutely think the originals were much better films.

[@feedthesnake3394]

i worked at the theatre opening day. there was not a single person disappointed walking out of any showing that first day, or that whole week.

[@rade-blunner7824]

I've always felt the visual effects of The Phantom Menace held up the best, possibly due in part to something that often gets overlooked... Unlike the next two films where Lucas was experimenting with going fully digital way before everybody else (and way too early, the resolution is laughably low by today's standards and there's not much that can be done about it), TPM was still shot on film. Obviously cgi effects are still "shot" in a computer so that shouldn't make a difference... except it's still composited and mastered on film using an optical printer, which has a subtle effect on the colours and the tones of everything, which I would argue helps give all the effects are more cohersive, unifying look.

[@saricubra2867]

But the Phantom Menace looks very washed out with a lot of magenta for some reason.

[@CallousCoder]

The pod race alone was the reason my brother and I went to see it 3 or 4 times the first week. And not mentioned here, is the sound. The sound really sells the imagery.

[@ataricom]

Did anybody else have the chance to see it re-released in 3D? I don't think I had the stomach to sit through all of PM after seeing it in 1999 and went along with some friends to watch what I thought would be 2 more hours of cringe with gimmicky 3D processing. Nope. My jaw was on the freaking floor for nearly the entire thing, ESPECIALLY during the podracing scene. That was one of the best cinema experiences of my entire freaking life, and I really wish they had done the rest of the franchise, but the Recession and Disney had other plans.

[@awesomeferret]

Thank you for the recommendation! I'm always looking for niche 3D experiences, and that sure sounds like a good one. I hope there's a 3D Bluray somewhere in the world. 😂

[@johnjay370]

This is my new favorite channel. At least in the top 10.

[@CGWHY]

Wow. Thank you so much 😅 - I'm really glad you enjoyed it!!

[@BlaneNostalgia]

This scene will go down through the ages as 1 of the greatest VFX action scenes of all time. Mad respect to Industrial Light & Magic

[@isaacfortner]

I’m not one for ASMR, but the podracer sound design sends chills up and down my spine and nearly bring tears to my eyes. It’s so visceral and each engine sound is believable to the podracer making it. I still use the podrace to tune my speakers.

[@Skrenja]

I'll take Phantom Menace over any of the Disney garbage.

[@johnjohn55555]

Still remember how it felt seeing the movie at five years old in 1999.

[@jocastadidntknew5980]

It’s amazing how this sequence mostly holds up after 20 years while 90% of Attack of the Clones’s VFX do not despite being the later film.

[@B463L]

My girlfriend and I have been rewatching all six movies & we were both saying the exact same thing -- that TPM's visuals hold up better. AOTC really was the weakest of the six Star Wars movies imo... but TPM is by far the most underrated

[@skateurself]

I never actually thought about it.. but I should have thought to my self wow.. how does everything look so real at certain parts for 99? Lol..

[@threegreencharms]

The first few scenes of episode 3 are the crown jewel to me. The insane space battle, and jumping out of their fighters all badass at the end just to destroy a bunch of battle droids. Great stuff in the first few movies. Stuff like.. Flying car chase through coruscant, blade runner style. The gladiator stadium stuff at geonosis. The battle droid factory too. Episodes 1 2 and 3 are great...I know I'll get hate for it. But I think they are excellent. Especially since jar jar was probably secretly a sith.

[@abnorth2276]

Am I the only one who first now noticed that there is a rock that pops in at 4:17. Maybe there are more example of this in the movies, but I have never noticed any before.

[@CGWHY]

Lol really? i can't spot it 😅 - where does it happen?

[@abnorth2276]

@@CGWHY A little above the middle of the scene. A much brighter rock compared to the environment pops in. Or the lighting of it suddenly gets way brighter.

[@abnorth2276]

@@CGWHYHave you spotted it?

[@thehighhnotes]

Amazing find ! took me a while but I found it, definitely a pop in

[@danknstein6504]

@@abnorth2276 really funny observation, good eyes. it's like ps2 GTA lol

[@DarthWinterMadness]

I was strolling through your videos, and realized you were the person who made me aware Nerdstalgic were plagiarists. And I also realized I didn't subscribe to your channel, so here you go! Your videos are really interesting, and you need more recognition. I rewatched your District 9 video, after which I was reminded of what happened. Sorry for the late sub and cheers from France! 🍻 *Edit* What I like about your videos is you're not just doing a VFX breakdown like the guys at Corridor, you talk about all the work that went into creating these ground breaking VFX before it was even possible to do. How the artists had to find work around or create new programs to acheive the results we got on screen. Like how they came up with the Iron Man HUD display in the first place. It's amazing!

[@greyareaRK1]

NOBODY said the CG was bad; quite the opposite. It made up for the acting, dialogue, and characters.

[@zachary4670]

Everyone says it’s bad lol. It’s not

[@saricubra2867]

acting is good. I get it for the dialogue, since A New Hope, always has been a problem, lackluster character development as well.

[@DookSilvur]

I recently rewatched this movie just to get to the pod racing scene that I loved when I first saw it in the theater as a 13 year old. Seeing that profile shot from a distance where you see the pods screaming through and the heat waves coming off the ground and just saying "holy fuck look at that shot" still in 2024 is amazing!

[@davidfrancis6727]

I don't care if the pod racing was visually good. It was still a clear copy of the chariot scene in Ben Hur. It went on for too long and added nothing to the plot.

[@plasmophage]

Most Star Wars sequences throughout the franchise are sourced from other films. A lot of the X-Wing stuff was based off old war movie fighter pilot angles. Creativity is being able to take in old elements and turn them into something new. I believe the podracing scene absolutely did that. It made for an exciting and memorable sequence. The Phantom Menace was the first Star Wars movie I saw in the theater and so many aspects of this film really captured my imagination.

[@mandoalessonsbackup]

added nothing? so you would have fully accepted anakin flying a starfighter later in the movie without him ever sitting in a cockpit before?

[@letzrock1675]

Stupidest comment on this video is right here ladies and gents. Because we all know how similar the Ben Hur chariot race is to the TPM pod race…them both being races and all.

[@markoradinkovic665]

Back in 2004, I watched a recording from SIGGRAPH, from 2000 I believe, where ILM was presenting how they did this pod racing sequence. They were showing tests they were doing while developing the sequence. One of the tests they've done had way more dust being blasted by those engines. One shot looking backward from the pod had these huge dust plumes, and it looked so much better and exciting. The problem was that the audience couldn't see other pods behind and have a clear understanding of what was happening, so they ended up playing it down substantially. I still think those earlier tests looked better, there was no need, in my opinion, to show at every moment where every pod was.

[@subzerostorm]

Pure space fantasy, it is a great scene. The shot over Anakins shoulder as he heads towards the caves and rock out crops is excellent.

[@rjkral]

Great video and run down. Didn't know this!! But I gotta say, when Ep 1 was in theaters NOBODY I know was saying the Pod Race was bad CGI. EVERYONE regardless of how you felt about the film overall, was wowed and floored by it.

[@alexgarza4513]

I remember reading somewhere that they caulculated all the lighting and lighting direction when scanning the objects for photogrammatry so they could just plop them in however they pleased and didnt have to worry about the lighting looking different

[@dun0790]

Never understood the people saying the CGI was terrible its like they were expecting Jurassic park or terminator 2 and slayed it just for not being realistic as possible but its a phantasy world and the CGI made it feel more real then ever before rewatching the first few films its kind of amazing there's only a few times it stands out actors or on a green screen and nothing is there for like 70-90% of the film the pull of the trick and your eyes allow it to get by

[@guerrinlove69]

I still wake up to the sound of Sebulba's engine noise pounding in my mind. Now THATS good sound design man

[@chrisleggat4668]

I was OBSESSED with Pod racing when I was a kid. I'd try make them out of Lego everytime I played. I Now am involved in filmmaking and it's crazy that this is basically how they make all the assets for Quixel Megascans in Unreal now. Great video!

[@stormveil]

There were proper podracing lego sets. Anakin, Sebulba, another guy?

[@chrisleggat4668]

@@stormveil There were official ones but they were expensive so we just made them from the parts we had!

[@heathcliffflowen4134]

It's a real credit to the scene that I never even thought about the CGI.

[@zanfear]

Without watching this video, if I recall correctly, a lot of miniature dioramas were used in the pod racing sequence.

[@Majima_Nowhere]

I was 4 when the movie came out. I remember I would watch the whole podrace scene, then rewind the tape and watch it again. To this day, I can play all of the sounds in order in my head. It doesn't get old.

[@ruk2023--]

TPM was like finally getting to sleep with your high school crush in you're 30's for a lot of people. Built up so much in their imagination that it was never going to be anything more than a disappointment.

[@Shamnolya]

As a kid, this scene didn't do anything to me when i watch it in the theatre. But as an adult, i watch the first 6 movies in blu-ray on my tv and this scene blow my mind away. I don't know how much the blue ray add or if they improve / change this scene but i really felt the speed. The sound is also very good

[@monkeySkulls]

I seem to remember 1999 a little bit differently than many people. I remember when The phantom menace first came out, everybody loved it. people did end up turning, and disliked jar jar, disliked the pod racing, etc... but when the movie first came out, people definitely liked it.

[@thecatsinthekitchen1309]

I believe that FX from any era can still look realistic and even when not totally realistic, can still look cool. Of course some look like trash too but it just makes the better stuff stand out more

[@ithinkigotworms]

Dude this was so badass!! I miss deep explanation of the process in films!!

[@ieradossantos]

0:28 I didn't know anything about the lore or that there even was such a thing as lore. I was like 13 when I saw this movie and I absolutely loved it. To this day! Whenever I get a new television this podrace is my personal benchmark

[@dustinyager11]

this video was lovingly crafted

[@horatiohuffnagel7978]

Listen to it loud as heck on 4 analog speakers. No digital 9.1 bs. Old school and it sounds so good. Those are old formula one engines reving at 18,000 and it's a beautiful sound!

[@3AMREVIEWS]

Awesome video! My favorite scene in this film is the pod race. The whole prequel trilogy is awesome. Jar Jar was supposed to be the big baddie reveal and I wish George Lucas stuck with his original story.

[@NikoBellicDigital]

By far my favorite scene in the movie, and has awe-inspiring sound design too!

[@KuKoKaNuKo]

This movie came out during my senior year in HS and I ditched a day to see this movie. No regrets. Best movie I've seen in theatres.... ever.

[@shogun2215]

Regardless of how 'bad' people thought these films were, they had a cohesive story that was crafted with love, and the whole film oozed quality and ingenuity. The Disney Star Wars films are cynical cash grabs written by directors that really don't give a shit about the franchise.