Editing to keep us up to date:

We can still take the Jo-Ann gift cards, but they are less of a priority now.  The current push is to get the computer rescue fund up so we can replace our 7 year old Mac.

For help with a new tripod, tapes and other tech items, you can order B&H Photo Video Gift Cards  B&H cards can be addressed to Rob Caves.

And as always we can take gift cards from Target for general consumables we use at shoots like snacks, sodas, paper products and some blank media.  These really come in handy!

ALL gift cards can be sent to the Hidden Frontier/Odyssey/HC P.O. Box:


  Hidden Frontier
  PO Box 60815
  Pasadena, California
  USA
  91116-0815

Thanks for your support!

Best,

Rob

Question:  Are generic gift cards (usable in multiple places) acceptable?

-Jonathan

If the above places will honor them, then I'd say yes!  :)

Rob

Cool!  I know AMEX does those kind of cards... ...I ended up getting a few as birthday gifts.

Also, if you work for a place that gives you employee discounts on stuff that Odyssey could use, I would suggest you let Rob know!  After all, a discount means we spend less money, and that helps too!

-Jonathan

VISA has gift cards as well, and are generally honored at anyplace that accepts VISA.

The only problem with AmEx and VISA gift cards is that if you don't use them right away, the companies start decreasing their value.  That's why I think it'd be better to get them gift cards from the particular places Rob mentioned.

Something tells me that if said gift cards are donated, they'd be put to immediate use.

-Jonathan

If that's the case, then there's no problem.  It's just that AmEx and VISA have something in the fine small print which says that "X" percentage or "X" amount will be deducted from the value of the card on a monthly basis if they're not used immediately.  There was a big story on the local news here about that.  That's the only reason that I said to get a card from the particular retailers that Rob mentioned. 

Just to not some retailers do that as well.  I know Target does not do that.  Target is the biggest seller of gift cards, heard that last Crhistmas. More an more retailers are being pressured to not taking awary percentages.  Some cards including VISA do have expiration dates, which is a little more doable.

OK Areakt folks, start checking the P.O. Box for JoAnn Fabric, Target, and B&H Camera Cards.   I am sure lots of people who enjoy all that Hidden Frontier has given them will want to make a gift card donation to your non-profit production..... kind of a little way for us fans to be a part of the Odyssey "team" and help you guys make Odyssey our next obsessive/compulsive treat.  A good thing is the gift cards can be for any amount that a person can afford --- from $5 to $5 million.   (:D mine will be closer to the $5 range, rather than the $5 million).

Here's the address I am using:

  Hidden Frontier
  P.O. Box 60815
  Pasadena, CA  91116-0815
  USA

Thanks again!

Rick


minor typo

I will be definately helping you guys out in anyway that i can!  :D

OK, well, what about AMEX gift certificates?  They don't have the same hiccoughs as the gift cards.  ;D

-Jonathan

I've never seen an AmEx gift certificate, so I can't intelligently answer you. 

And what's a hiccough?

The more formal name for "hiccup", at least as I remember being taught.  It could very well end up to be a Jonathanism ™ - like Awesomtastic.

-Jonathan

It's a valid word, I've seen it myself.

Tends not to be used so much these days, though. The older form does appear in literature as late as the mid twentieth century, but the "informal" form is probably more memorable for being onomatopoeic.

Yay!!  Thank you guys for your pledges! I want Odyssey's first episode to kick some royal butt! We are meeting with a costumer tomorrow to discuss costume concepts. So I would love to see those gift cards as soon as possible. See this is what I love about you all. Rising to the Challenge!!!! Maybe if Rob will allow it...he'll let some concept drawings slip by in the coming weeks. :o)

Keep them coming! We have lots of new characters!


xoxo

JayTee

Whoops... *slip, slip*  :D

Rob

Curious question: Will the officer's uniforms remain as we know them from HF (and basically since First Contact), or are they going to be changed too?

They will be the revised First Contact Uniforms Barbara made for our 6th and 7th season.  The main spotting features include a more distinct boarder around the shoulder quilting.  This is to show a gradual progression in uniform design, rather than a completely new re-design.

Cheers,

Rob

:sick:  I didn't notice this when I bought these before.  I did know they charge a service fee.  I had no idea these things expire or begin to lose value.  That seems a fraudulent practice to me.  Thanks for the head's up.  I'll buy gift cards with a more careful eye in the future.

PAYPAL anyone????

Strange you should mention PayPal. My credit card company doesn't like authorising non-Sterling transactions that aren't being delivered to me, but is quite fine with PayPal, so I suggested to Rob that I send some money to, say, whoever's in need of funds for costume material that way. He said not to worry about it, but I'd still love to contribute something. (If I was rich enough, I'd send Rob a couple of prop phaser kits from Roddenberry.com)

Yeah, I can donate via paypal to a nominated account. Then you guys can spend it on what you want(and I don't mean beers!! :D)

*modified for spelling*

Why not beers? Rob & co., like any other studio, have a craft table. The cast need to be kept fed and watered just like the professionals (hey, there's an idea - if I make it to the Odyssey series finale shoot and someone can hijack me a kitchen for the day, I can lay on a pretty decent spread).
Of course, Dr Pepper might be more conducive to a coherent performance... unless the script calls for Ro to be slouched in the captain's chair with a bottle of Dos Equis (wedge of lime in the neck, care of the detail-obsessed props guy), telling all and sundry that he's the CO and there will be a dance in the bowling alley tonight...

;D

All cast members required to walk a straight white line prior to filming then? :lol:

I'm guessing Ro-v.1, Rawlins, and young Barrett didn't get that memo during the early years.  LOL.  But I digress.

Was there ever a descision on whether Rob wanted to accept a PayPal account -- I thought I heard (perhaps from the Excelsior Ball team) that creating a receiving account for money would be something they didn't want to do, but that donations of gift cards was deemed acceptable.  Perhaps Rob or his producers could let us know about this.

Rick

Oh, so you've seen the infamous Ro-Rawlins "Dude" bloopers from "The Great Starship Robbery", then..? ;)

Another thought - although there is a fee attached to it, I could order a banker's draft (I'm only allowed to write cheques, or checks, in Sterling - but I can ask my bank to supply one in US dollars, which comes in the form of a banker's draft... a pre-paid check that can't bounce) and send one of those made payable to a crew member.
I realise that Rob wants to stay firmly above the line where he might be accused of profiting from HF (which might be where a no-PayPal rule comes in), so I'm thinking hard to try and come up with ways of being supportive that don't cross that line. That said, if money was sent that way with the message "$50 donation for Odyssey costume materials", the receipts could be printed and kept in the event of any query from copyright holders...

Still, I'll wait for Rob's verdict (since he did tell me not to worry about it) - I am, after all, just a fan, albeit an eager and supportive one. :)

Watch out for some very stiff fees to get one in US$.  May cost you almost as much as a donation.

Rick

I looked into that when trying to pay for the ball dinner and it was about £15 or approx $30 which I thought was a rip off.  I also would prefer paypal but realise what the problems might be.

I did purchase a gift card and I had a couple of hoops to jump through.  One credit card company simply would not go through for purchases from a different country, the other worked ok.  The company (B&H) wanted LOTS of details about where it was going (and would not accept a PO box) and a photograph of my credit card.  It can be done however and I managed it in the end.

However, it does make me feel good about my CC company as everytime I buy something abroad they phone me up to make sure it was me.

Really? My bank's always been very reasonable; before I had a PayPal account, I used to use them on eBay all the time, and the fees were... well, about the equivalent of ten bucks. A bit steeper than PayPal, but more convenient than, say, getting a money order (there's no AmEx or similar office around here, though there was one where I used to live), and it's honestly no skin off my nose.
That said, it's been a few years and they may have increased in price. To be honest I'm simply spitballing here, trying to find a workable solution, because I definitely want to do something to support Odyssey.

Oh well. The other option is, I plan to visit, and when I do I can take people shopping, or buy the gift cards when I'm there. (Or if I can sort out my bank, maybe clear sending a couple of prop kits or gift cards from various stores. Come to think of it, if I can persuade an eBay seller that a particularly desirable item the production may need is a gift, I could have it shipped direct rather than having it sent to me and sending it on. But I'm digressing...)

But I happen to know that some of the HF actors etc have paypal, so couldn't we pay into that account with minimal charge and they can pass on the funds.  It's easier than a gift card and I have no problem donating to someone who is nominated by the crew.  Just let me know.

Well that was my original idea, but since Rob said to sit it out for now, I'm just batting ideas around. It's one of my many lovable quirks, I can't leave a problem alone ;D

Just to weight in real quick, we are planning on continuing to accept gift cards to cover some of the things we need.  We haven't accepted Paypal mainly because direct money transfers were a no-no in the original memo given to New Voyages by Paramount.  I don't know the original wording, so there is some speculation there as well.

I know some Fanfilms have used Paypal, and in Exeter's case, they've gotten away with it for 4-5 years.  (unless that's why their final episode has stopped post-production... oooh conspiracy theories abound... ;)...  but I digress.)  I think the gift cards will help a lot, but we'll continue to play it by ear. 

Private transactions between cast members have never caused any problems in the past, probably because they are behind closed doors.  (Not that we've had many, though department heads like John have gone and purchased stuff he needed for example.  I've also given him money for stuff, and I'm probably forgetting other situations where money has changed hands between cast/crew members.)  So I guess the point is there are ways to contribute, but for most people, the easiest way to do that is going to be via gift card.  And with the AMEX and VISA gift cards, it's almost as good as cash, but it's clearly a gift, not payment for the show which I imagine is Paramount's big beef. 

Further along the fudging scale is making Paypal contributors crewmembers of the show, but to facilitate that you have to have a webpage sending people to your Paypal, and at that point, you're no safer than Exeter in my book.

So why has Paramount chosen to let Exeter and some others accept Paypal donations for *free* DVD's of the show?  I'm not entirely sure, but I imagine it's borderline enough, or Paramount estimates the money taken in is still significantly less than the lawyer's fees it would cost them to sue for that money.  You're guess is as good as mine, but I'm not much in favor of taking the chance when we can be fairly well supported with the gift cards. 

Sorry for the rambling, hope it makes sense!

Best,

Rob

Thanks for the insight, Rob, and I hope our little speculation was relatively harmless. It's helpful that you continue to indulge this kind of idle, semi-productive speculative thinking.
For my part, I'll keep working to find a way to get gift cards to you, even if it means coming out there myself :) and come Monday I think I'll speak to my bank to check their policy on card use in non-UK stores. It seems vaguely ridiculous that I couldn't pre-authorise a transaction for buying a gift for a friend in the US from, say, Amazon, purely because it's going to a different address to my own - I'm grateful that my bank is trying to prevent cardholder-not-present fraud, but there are situations where using a store in the recipient's country is cheaper and easier. So I'll pursue it. :)
That said, if you were to mention to me in private that, say, you needed two Nemesis phaser kits from the Roddenberry store for an upcoming episode, in theory I could arrange to pay for those and donate them as a gift, right? (Again, just spitballing... I bet it'd be easier and cheaper to arrange that than to start buying, receiving and re-mailing items, not to mention quicker.)

Just FYI, gang.  AMEX Gift Cheques are just like traveller's checks.  Those can be bought with a card in your home country (if you're not in the US) without any big international hassles for those that are hampered by currency differences, or are unable to purchase US-based gift cards.

At least, I think they are.  I'll have to call to be sure - so don't go rushing to that AMEX office just yet. :-P

-Jonathan

Thanks, Jonathan... I don't think there's an AMEX office anywhere near me, but it occurs that I can probably get them online from the UK AMEX website. Why the frak didn't I think of trying that? *facepalm*
(Well, other than that I'd never really heard of Gift Cheques, and that buying gift vouchers for a UK store seems to be a bit different than the gift cards that the HF/ODY crew use... damn cultural differences!!) ;D

I will definitely help when I move back to California. Rob, let's hope you'll have need for some more guest cast.

Terry can do script supervision and doggie wrangling.

Ariel

You guys still looking for production staff for the series?

I haven't gotten any notices to post regarding that, but Rob would be the best person to answer this question.

-Jonathan

Just a small question:
It´s not the help you´re asking for but will Odyssey accept submitted CG artwork for guest ships and similar stuff, in turn including the makers of the material in the credits of the episode where it´s used? IIRC something like that happened on HF a couple of times.
Some examples of finished and lots of halted projects: link

I can't speak for Rob, but that's nice work you've showcased. :)

That's some really great work there.  I'm especially interested in your interior work. How long did it take you to model those?

Thanks.
I´m using 3DMax (which makes it necessary to convert models), have a job that doesn´t allow for much 3D time at the moment and I´m too jumpy to finish all of my projects (often they´re halted in favor of something more interesting and then will be continued off and on). That pretty much rules me out as a supporter on a regular basis but I´d still like to support your project where I can. Hidden Frontier has given us more than 7 years of great entertainment and it´s only fair to support you where possible.

For the time invested in those interiors it´s probably best to give the approximate amount of work hours until they reached the state in those renders:
-TNG Defiant Pathfinder Bridge: 26 hours
-TNG Oberth Class Bridge: 14 hours
-ENT Antares Class Sickbay: 30 hours (was started for a german ENT era fanfic called Antares but the quality of the series went downhill and made it not worth continuing)
-TNG Starfleet Academy cadet quarters: 6 hours
-TMP Proto-Refit Bridge: 28 hours (Doesn´t need much more except for lighting and some additional textures;for the ship model labened USS Cheron)
-TNG Era Crew Lounge: 14 hours
-TMP Heavy Cruiser Bridge: 8 hours

Oh, and I almost forgot to include two of my favorite toys:
-Proto-TMP Bridge: http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/6529/pr...idgeupd1si4.jpg (8 hours)
-TNG Saber Class Sickbay: http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/3361/sa...kbayupd2gl8.jpg http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/6792/tn...sickbay1vy2.jpg (40 hours)

PS: Whom do I have to talk about the forum software? Seems like somebody sent me private messages but the board software won´t show any:
Screenshots

Frak me, that bridge is a thing o'beauty. And that sickbay...
I really hope Rob and Philip take you onto the team.

(If I ever get to be a tenth as good as this in Blender, I'll be very surprised)

He Lennir.  We should definitely talk about what time you do have to help out with our 3-D Interior team.  Please drop me an e-mail at rob at hiddenfrontier.com, would love to chat!

The reason you can't send PM's yet is because there is a 5 post minimum before the PM system unlocks.  But go ahead and send me an e-mail and we can get the ball rolling.  :)

Rob

@Glenn: Thanks but they´re actually not that good. I can hold my own at modelling and texturing but I suck at interior lighting (I get to make it look decent but then it´ll take ages to render). Most of the credit goes to Sean Robertson´s advice over the years and his generosity when it comes to letting people study WIP shots of his models in different stages to learn the techniques needed.

@Rob: Thanks for the help and the offer. I´m definitely interested in actively supporting your projects but right now I have to get going or I´ll be late to work (it´s around 9 AM over here right now). In the meantime if you want to do an enquiry into my other work just take a look at my WIP threads over at scifi-meshes.com.
Have a nice day and I´m definitely looking forward to talking to you more about supporting your CG department.

Michael

I had some long and interesting chats with Sean back in the day (I used to hang around Scifi-Art, so that's what... six, seven years ago?) so I know how tricky the lighting can be. I just suck at modelling ;) though to be honest I never learned much, and it's been a while since I installed any software to try. (I'm sorely tempted to put Blender on my new laptop when it arrives, but I've got a lot of other commitments and know it'd be very bad for me and my other work to start playing with CGI again. It just eats up time...)
Good luck for talking to Rob - and I hope we'll be seeing your name on the set design credits very soon. :)

Do you need episode writers?  I may live in Northeast Ohio, but I am willing to become a credited writer with the new series. 

I really want to contribute but I make jack shit at where I work, and I want to contribute with my writing skills if I can, even though I am more a novel writer than a script-writer.  If someome could help me, I can come up with some good ideas. 

Wildthing121675

We need an experienced makeup artist to become Head of Makeup for the new show.