From Kirk's Enterprise, to the U.S.S Voyager, the Star Trek ships seen on television all begun life as models. But Enterprise will herald a new era of special effects for the franchise.

"I think we'll find that most, if not all, of the ships seen in Enterprise will be [Computer Generated]," said John Gross, one of the owners of Eden FX, a company working on special effects for the series. His comments came as part of a question and answer session at the LCARS Computer Network.

"Foundation [Voyager visual effects house Foundation Imaging] is actually building the ship, but what they'll receive is drawings from all different angles in order to create in the computer what John [Eaves] has created on paper," he said.

Gross hinted at something new and special for the series opening titles. "From what I've heard, the intro for Enterprise is going to be a bit different. I can't really say anything about it, but it is not being done by us or Foundation."

The visual effects on the new show will not be limited to the ships in outer space. "The entire main cast has been scanned so we can create 3D models of them," Gross revealed. "This will give us the ability to do all sorts of fun things with them and create really great shots. I can't say what you'll be seeing, but expect some great shots over the run of Enterprise!"

The challenges involved in the special effects for Enterprise focus on one particular area. "The challenge is to make it cool and new, yet something that could be a predecessor for what we know will be coming down the road, he said. "We also have to take advantage of the fact that we have the means of creating things that couldn't be done at the time of the other shows, yet keep it all within the Star Trek world."

You can read more from Gross, including an explanation of what CG work involves and how long the processes take can be found in the full interview at the LCARS Computer Network.

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