New Promos for the upcoming movie.

Aww, aren't the Arlesdale Engines so cute looking?



You gotta love them carrying cherries in their tenders. I want that cake!!!


I'm not sure what to say about Thomas himself.

Overall, what do you think?

Whether you're a fan of the Search and Rescue Center or not, I will admit that I would use that scene at the beginning of the clip as a portrait to hang on my wall, it looks absolutely stunning.
I also like the scene with Harold saving a civilian from a flood, maybe not as climatic, but compared to what's happened S13-16, it's better than having him saving drifting party balloons. Also it seems like Belle/Flynn are staying in the show. However between Rosie or Belle, is it wrong to say I would rather see Belle over Rosie? At least she's not having 'What girls like' quota. 

Anyway, now the real thing
Other then Oliver's scaling, which I'm not to bothered much, though, I'm sure Arc will fix it in a season or two. It's great to see the Great Western duo having a story. I wonder if Donald/Douglas will appear.
The Little Western scenery is starting to look more coastal. I can't help but laugh at Toad's singing.    

I would consider the Small Railway Engines new characters, since this is their introductions into to TV Series, as if Duck, or Bill/Ben making debuts in S2.

The only RWS characters I could think of for CGI rendering would have to be Bear and The Culdee Full Engines. I'm not really sure what the writers can really do with Wilbert, he was named after the author, Rev W Awdry, but other then that, he doesn't really seem to be a strong character.

Bear does have strength of personality, and can contribute to the Big Diesels, along with Boco, and Daisy.

I'll be honest, 'Mountain Engines' is my favorite RWS book, because of its dark tone, and characterizations, and I would love to see them rendered in CGI.

Say does anyone want to see the Flying Scotsman fully rendered in CGI?  
The CGI Series seems to have it's own separate timeline, and they could say that Flying Scotsman and Gordon are brothers.

I think when it comes to new characters Bachmann is much better off doing a few CGI characters, then Rosie. I personally don't think she's bad as some say she is, just a missed opportunity, same with Stanley. Rosie's basis is fantastic, same with other S9-12 characters like Molly and Neville, but that doesn't save from being bland, generic, nonexistent characters. Bachmann should look into other characters. Granted, I actually rode on her at the Sacramento Railroad Museum years back.  
The specific member was I was on; Grante Rock Co. 10

Here is Rosie's class just without buffers.
Hornby/Rivarossi actually makes the S100 class (SR USA Class in UK) for the non-UK market.
Hope this helps.  

I feel that we're drifting a bit far off-topic here.

Yeah I guess the pricing is something to question. He's like the few, if not the only CGI character, I really want. There's really alot of potential for him. But I'm really happy to see everyone give positive responses over the character.  

But there's few characters I can really think of Boco, Daisy, Arthur, Paxton, and Hiro.
Rosie and Stanley are out.  

On the other hand, I really can't wait for Oliver.  

Moving on now, any other ideas, How about CGI NG characters, like Victor?

I've been for the classics, and I still am, and there are extremely few left.

See,"HOTR" didn't come out until I was in 8th/9th grade, Despite the movie having flaws, I thought the previous writing team was off to a decent start, until they gave up their smooth sailing, with lackluster stories, and annoying characters such as Charile and the Logging Locos.  
With Hiro, I've thought there was a lot of uniqueness to his character. I've developed a huge fondness with him.  Unlike Rosie and Stanley, He has depth to his personality, he's well developed, and is highly popular with fans, even to those outside of Japan.

I also guess my obsession with Hiro, has to be that I'm an avid fan of anime.

I've seen a few Twitter feeds about them. However I think Bachmann is much better off making the CGI characters we discussed in this thread. Though, the only ones I could think of are Hiro and Paxton. I personally wouldn't feel any different whether Rosie and Stanley leave the show, especially when looking at these characters in this thread.

Kato has discontinued their D51 model sadly. With Hiro as a character, his introduction struck me beyond words. I really can't get over this oriental character. Even though he might cost as much as Rosie and Stanley put together, he would be a far better value-for-money than those two.  

It's kinda perplexing that Rosie and Stanley have a high demand as the classic characters.

Even Winston has more potential for the Bachmann Range than Rosie and Stanley, considering that his roles recently have been either exciting or comical.

With all this talk about Rosie and Stanley, I hardly hear people bring up Whiff, personally I think he's an overlooked character. He had a one-off introduction in the model series, however in the CGI era, he became more fleshed out, especially in "MIR" when he was the best character in the movie, IMO. Plus he's at least given a purpose running a waste dump. He would make a great play-off character, give him an episode with James, Diesel, or maybe Samson. Whiff's character seems to the most appealing out of the S9-12, it's shown that there's more from him then what lies behind his glasses.  

I think I just went squee

The official trailer for the movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dso4ddpL07I&feature=youtu.be&a=

Not just the Arlesdale Engines in the show. But Donald/Douglas are back. Now that fills the gap between No.8 and 11. Plus Ryan looks awesome, and he's voiced by Eddie Redmayne who played Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.  

Please discuss your thoughts. I'm very excited.

To be honest, I actually prefer the CGI Skarloey over the model one, personally because of the little details that could be added, with was a restriction with the S4 models. But yeah, like Sparks, I really never liked the S5-12 models much either.

With Oliver, the CGI face is fine since in my view it hardy looks different from his model one. I wouldn't mind the black footplate either, since that could be a simple optional repaint. I wouldn't mind the CGI detailing at all, but the thing that's something that comes into question, is his scaling, which I'm sure they would do his TV model scale, with the CGI details.

Can people stop double posting, not to clog up this thread?

Anyway, With Old-Shape Henry, my exceptions are next-to-never. CGI rendering isn't like modeling Hornby/Bachmann. Adding an accessory like a lamp is a simple outside detail, but if you were to convert Henry into his Old-Shape, you can't just simply cut-out the firebox in CGI as you could with a solid object. See Henry's firebox is a part the entire render that makes up whole piece. Changing the livery is a simple modification in color coding, like we've seen with Black James, or Blue Bill/Ben. However, with Henry's Old-Shape in CGI, you would have to start over from an entire new render.

I studied Digital Arts and Animation for a semester.
CGI and Live-Action Models are completely different aspects.

I think Arc's Animation Budget is better spent rendering a completely different character whether it's a classic or new.

Personally, I think that Henry's Old Shape is a big deal, but then again "Why didn't Henry get a Black 5 tender with his New-Shape?"

Humorously, though I couldn't tell the difference between Old-Shape Henry, until I've seen a Bachmann conversion.

Quote from: Chaz on April 03, 2015, 09:10:05 PM
I feel like the show is better off without Rosie, as with other characters in the show they've been using a lot less.  I think the show is focusing more on characters that allow them to have more potential for unique and interesting stories, which is why we've been seeing Toad get more attention than Oliver, or even Duncan being the only narrow gauge engine to get episodes in the 18th season.   With characters like Rosie or Molly, there really isn't that much you can do with them.  

The same could be said about Stanley, too me, he feels like a bland Thomas clone. It's not that Rosie and Stanley are bad characters, but they've seem to have been relegated into cameos. The Shunting Yard in the show is kinda like a dumping ground, nowadays.  You would see Rosie, Stanley, Charlie, and Stafford there. Pretty clever way to utilize them. You have the S17-present characters that are developed/or developing that have strong personalities. Look at characters like Marion. Though the S13-16 characters did get a second chance.  However I think Hiro was the gem worth salvaging. He has been my favorite CGI character, now tied to Marion. It's good to see that Hiro's character was done justice. He's had great roles ever since. It shows that the old can mix well with the new.
I completely doubt that the S17-18 characters replaced the classic characters.
They seem to fill the shoes of the 'missed opportunities with lost potential' especially the ones from S9-12

Derek, Thumper, Bertrem, Neville, Dennis, Mighty Mac, Billy, Hank, etc.

As for Classic Returnees.
(Donald/Douglas are off the list, since they've been confirmed.)

Boco-This character has never had a starring role, however he would make a contribution to the character formula.

Daisy-Despite having few roles, she's a well-developed character, there's so much story arc that you could do with her. However I hope that the sexist accusations don't get in the way of her making a comeback.

Terrance-Well this character can make a potential contribution with the road characters.

Stepney-Well given that the general opinion over Stepney is divided. I would say go for it with a comeback. It would be fun if we got to see him interact with Stephen, bantering off one another.

Murdoch-I think this character has potential for a comeback, S7 has introduced fantastic characters and they each served a purpose. With Murdoch, imagine how epic of a duo he and Hiro would make being powerful goods engines.

Arthur- Like Murdoch, I think he deserves a comeback, I think that there's alot that the writers can do with them, say one of the current writers wrote starring episodes for Arthur. Plus what's the Fishing Village without Arthur?            

It seems obvious that Percy and James are next in line.

I think Marion would have potential for LS Range.

Seeing how Rosie and Stanley are now relegated into cameos. It's seems that they're just leftovers from the S9-12 era, there's some characters here that we discussed that have much more potential than Rosie and Stanley. That is, if Rosie and Stanley happen to have bigger roles again, but now I'm kinda doubtful that's gonna happen.

Oh well, there's characters on this thread with strong personalities.