Star Trek: The Original Series
On "Star Trek: The Original Series", the transporter was portrayed as a platform on which characters stand before being engulfed by a beam of light and transported to their destination. The transporter special effect was originally created by turning a slow-motion camera upside down and photographing some backlit shiny grains of aluminium powder that were dropped between the camera and a black background; later series would eventually use computer animation for the effect. On "The Original Series", the transporter operator would activate the device by moving three sliders on a console. On the sequel series ', the sliders were replaced with three touch-sensitive light-up bars, which according to the ' were designed as a homage to the original sliders.