Image G Image G , Inc . ( also credited as Image " G " ) , founded in 1984 , is a motion picture . The company was specialized in , initially of physical studio model s , before branching out to live - action as well . Brought in immediately after the production of , their services in this field were utilized on all other televised " Star Trek " productions , where motion control photography was used , comprising , , , as well as the feature movie . Image G started its association with the " Star Trek " franchise through a happy coincidence . At the time of production of , newly appointed Visual Effects Supervisor Robert Legato , was looking for an additional supplier for motion control photography . Legato decided to come calling on his former employer Image G . " " One day Rob came in the back door with this ! He literally comes knocking on the door and says , " Hey look , you guys shoot stuff and you got spare time in your schedule . Shoot me this thing . " I ' m not exactly the most aggressive executive producer around , and we didn ' t have anything else going on that day , so we shot it . " " , Image G ' s executive and founder Tom Barron recalled . In the days following that incident , Barron ' s company shot footage of the two - foot and the studio model s as well for eventual use in , as a courtesy to his former employee . Image G was from that episode onward the regular supplier of motion control photography for the remainder of the television franchise , until the technique became obsolete . ( ) At first it was by no means a certainty that Image G was to be retained as a regular supplier , but as time went on , Legato found the library of stock - footage insufficient to fulfill the producer ' s need and continued to make use of Image G ' s services . Quite early on , due to the by then , close working relationship with Paramount Television , Image G unofficially doubled as a repository of all the physical studio models of the " Star Trek " television franchise , saving VFX supervisors like Legato and Gary Hutzel the time and effort of shuttling the models back and forth between the Paramount warehouse and Image G . At the time still relatively small and yet without a formal contract , Barron , worrying about liability if something was to happen to the models recalled , " " We had an unsecure location in Hollywood " [ remark : then Ventura Blvd , Studio City , CA ] " that could be robbed . A guy walked in once , grabbed a TV , and walked up the alley with it . ( . . . ) Rob finally had to bring Peter Lauritson by to meet us and certify that this was the real deal . I remember vividly the day he came by ; we had a folding table about 12 feet long , we put fresh brown paper on it , and we took all of the ships they had left behind . So I had all these ships lined up on this folding table ; no cases , no letters saying that we would be OK if somebody stole them . I had this agenda with Peter . " So look , Peter , we ' re going to make this real , right ? " " " ( ) Barron got his formal commitment during the run of season two . The company has earned three Emmy Awards for its work on the " Star Trek " series . With the demise of the physical studio model , the company has struggled to find a new direction , resulting in that almost all employees had to be let go between 2001 and 2003 , among others long time employee Dennis Hoerter ( though he has since then returned ) . Actually , the departure of staff had already started a few years earlier , as their main client " Star Trek " was rapidly and increasingly introducing and applying the new technique of computer generated imagery ( CGI ) , which was not lost on staffers who were seeing the writing on the wall . As Visual Effects Supervisor Mitch Suskin noted at the start of " Voyager " s third season , " " Fortunately for me , or I guess coincidentally , we had a problem where the vendor that we were using for motion - control had a mass exodus of their personnel , and we were unable to do motion - control at the beginning of the season " [ note : Image G ' s remaining capacity entirely taken up with " Deep Space Nine " ] " . It worked fine for me because I prefer to do computer graphics . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol 29 # 6 / 7 , pp . 103 - 104 ) This circumstance in turn actually accelerated the introduction of , and full transition to , CGI in " Voyager " , whereas " Deep Space Nine " followed suit one year later . However , the company did eventually make the successful transition to adopting CGI and computer techniques in motion control photography , and is still in operation . Currently located in Valencia , CA , Image G has also worked on such films as " The Addams Family " , " Stargate " , and " Waterworld " and the TV series " Lois & Clark : The New Adventures of Superman " . Staff . Staff members who worked at one time or another during the " Star Trek " years were , among others :