YouTube Tuesday: Ring Around the Globey

What if the Earth had rings like Saturn's? This video starts out a little dull, but it gets down to business at around the one-minute mark, showing how the rings would appear from various cities around the globe.

And here's something I'm really looking forward to, from Star Trek: Phase II's senior executive producer James Cawley: Buck Rogers. Judging from this little effects trailer, it's going to have that same mix of modern effects and retro style that makes Phase II so entertaining.

I think Buck Rogers will be an interesting test for the independent online production model. Unlike Phase II, this is a fully-licensed production, and therefore can be done as a for-profit venture. Can it make a profit? Can it have the same value-for-budget as Phase II without the power of those magic words, Star Trek, to get dozens of people, fans and professionals, to work for free? I'm hoping the answers are yes and yes, because a production and distribution model that could support professional-quality work for an audience of real SF enthusiasts-- that is, without needing to water it down for a mass audience --would be about the best thing ever to happen to the genre in the audiovisual realm.