After the opening teaser scene in this summer's Star Trek: Into Darkness, the film bursts into a batshit outer space title credit sequence, which sets the blood-boiling tone for the rest of the adventure. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how those rad 3D graphics were made.




The video above, made by special effects company Video Copilot, takes a fascinating look at the After Effects tricks the company used to create everything from the 3D-asteroid flyovers to the hazy atmospherics of the film's fast-paced titles. In particular, it's interesting to see the screenshots of the computer graphics in progress before they're rendered and exported for the big screen.

The video is partially a plug for Video Copilot's AE plugin, Element 3D, which who can blame them for the self-promotion, but I wish they'd cut some of the cheese-ball antics and stick to the goodness. Luckily, the CG specialists are better at VFX than they are at comedy: The last five minutes of this video are well worth your time. [Video Copilot]