10 Best CGI Effects In Star Trek

One of the most difficult CGI effects to achieve on Deep Space Nine was the goo that appeared whenever Changelings like Odo shapeshifted or reverted to their liquid state.

This effect needed to be particularly versatile as the goo had to bend and contort into all kinds of different shapes depending on what form the Changeling was assuming, from a dog, to a computer, a set of shimmering lights, or anything else.

The process typically used a mixture of bluescreen photography, a specialised CGI model of the goo, and a number of other techniques to make the transitions as seamless as possible. Depending on the specific details of the morph, the team commissioned different effects companies, but most of these "goo" sequences, including those from the pilot episode Emissary, were created by VisionArt Design & Animation.

The effect is not the prettiest nowadays, but was super impressive at the time, and its shininess and sticky texture does a great job of showing an intermediate stage in between the Changelings' solid and liquid states.