10 Reasons Why What You Leave Behind Is The Best Star Trek Finale
3. THAT Last Shot
While Deep Space Nine would move to CGI to cover the expansive shots required for the Dominion War, the station itself had not been rendered in CGI for the show's run.
The Sacrifice of Angels was the first big test of CGI for DS9, so much so that two different digital houses were tasked with bringing the battle to life. It would be the largest undertaking in Star Trek's history, with many ships having to be built from scratch, along with using ships from Star Trek Generations and Star Trek First Contact.
By the time the seventh season was closing, large CGI shots had become commonplace in the series (as they had on Voyager as well). For the final shot of the show, an entirely CG version of the station was built so that shot of the camera pulling back farther and farther could be created, revealing the station to be a lonely home once more.
The shot was a huge success, created by Canadian artist Aristomenis Tsirbas. He remembered the shot as being a particular highlight to him, as he felt that it properly displayed just how successful CGI could be. The shot zooms out through the window and pulls back to show a large nebula, adding a detail that he felt couldn't be created with motion control. Whichever side of the motion control/CGI argument you come down on, that last shot is beautiful.