Thanks for the hints.

I solved problems like Tank scene, but the sky artifacts in the last scene is present also in ColourLikeFBF... if you watch carefully, the DVD is the cause - I'll try to solve it too.

I am really looking forward to this project, i love The Matrix, the sequels not so much, i try to pretend they never existed XD

Nice, definitely looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I love The Matrix also and just wasn't as impressed when watching my Blu-ray set recently.

ColourMatch lossless version is ready; it will be used to spot the scenes with artifacts and replace them using other kind of color match scripts.

But I could not work on it now, as it's late, and I should work tomorrow all day, then I'll go out for vacation for a week, so hold on! until I'll be back in the first days of September; then, I'll be back to "The Matrix" project (and not only on this one...)

Good night to everyone!

If someone was worried about this project, I'm here to say that is still alive, just... spleeping a bit... (^^,) vacation went quite OK, not perfect, but at least I had some rest... it's a pity I was 1000 miles away from home, and I spent no time on my beloved projects...

Well, today I've checked the scenes with artifacts, and, as the BD has (a lot of) blooming whites, whenever there is a light in the scene, there is at least a frame with artifacts... this means that I should use another kind of technique not only for the frame, but for the whole scene...

For now, I'm only checking the scenes, and I'm slowly progressing - I'm around 20%, I know, I'm slow, but I'm working on other projects too, I have a life, a family, a job, and a lot of cats to cuddle and care all the time (think of them like a feline version of "The Wild Bunch" and you got the idea...)

Probably I'll finish the job next week, but please don't rely on this at 100%... really probably, not sure... stay tuned nevertheless!

Thanks for the encouragement - MM2 should wait, but not too long... (^^,)

Instead of checking the ColourMatch artifacts (shame on me), I continued to test the new script, to replace the scenes with artifacts... well, here you are the screenshots:

An example of mild artifacts on lights - on DVD, you could see the bulb, on CM the white light is, ehr, not white and full of strange speckles? At least on CMnew speckles are gone, and is whiter than CM...

***   ***   ***

Here the artifacts on light are really noticeable on CM, while CMnew are "bearable" (at least, seen in motion are not evident), but colors are not perfect as CM.

***   ***   ***

This is one of the few scenes where CM is really ugly; CMnew is bad, but still watchable. I think this could be fixed only using the DVD "as is", or simply using the BD luma and DVD chroma - further tests are needed...

***   ***   ***

"The Matrix" is really HARD to regrading... there will be hundred scenes to check, and I spent (and I should spend more in the near future) hours testing to find the best solutions to fix the scenes with artifacts...

Conclusion: I should make a decision, between these solutions;

Solution 1) Use ColourMatchNew for the whole movie - it *should* prevent any bad artifacts, leaving only some "minor" ones, but colors will not be so close to DVD, let's say it will have 80% of the scene with 90% color accuracy, and 20% from 95% to 99%.

Solution 2) Use ColourMatch for the whole movie (that leads color accuracy to 98%/99% for almost all the scenes) AND fix the scenes with artifacts using ColourMatchNew - or DVD (needed for at least a scene, two/three seconds long, maybe others), or using BD luma + DVD chroma (like in the last screenshot), or other method still not tested or discovered...

Obviously, solution 1 is the fastest - if I'll start the conversion right now, it will be ready in two/three days (just the time my poor old PC convert it); is the fastest dirty job, and will be more than good, in comparison with the BD.

...and the wrong one, to me... solution 2 IS the only acceptable one, if I want to reach the best result in reasonable time... I mean, the BEST solution is to take the BD and correct it frame by frame (or scene by scene) by hand, but it will take literally years, and I'm not sure if the final result will be better than solution 2...

So, where is the problem? Just check the whole movie treated with ColourMatch, spot the scenes where there are artifacts, test which technique is better to avoid them, then replace those scenes... well, the process is right, but I have few time now, and testing each scene with different techniques take a looong time... so, here I am to ask for your help!

I'm going to split the movie in four parts, and produce for each a split screen version (DVD with frame number and ColourMatch), compressed with X.264 to stay around 500MB for each part. I need a volunteer (or more than one) that will check the split version, and note the frame numbers of the first and last frame of the scene with artifacts. It will take few hours for each part, and those hours spared will help me to concentrate into testing the best technique to use.

OK, any volunteer that want to spend some hours playing a part of the split screen version of "The Matrix", pause it, go back for few (or many) frames until the beginning of a scene, note the frame number, press play again, and repeat this action a hundred (or more) times? Anyone? (^^,)

Obviously if nobody could help me, I understad, we all have a life anyway... nevertheless, I'll do it anyway by myself, but it will take some days (well, weeks) more... but I'm pretty sure someone will be helpful, so I'm going to upload part 1 right now - I trust the members of this forum!

Thanks in advance for your cooperation!

Hi Andrea... thanks for your efforts on The Matrix.  It looks like you're doing a fine job and I would like to second Stamper's request for Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior) as well, but I wanted to bring one last thing to your attention because it is just coming to light with a new release.  The film I speak of is the 1978 original Halloween from director John Carpenter.  I don't know if you've read any feedback regarding the new 35th anniversary Blu-ray disc that is already shipping but is officially being release next week.  Anyway, years ago cinematographer Dean Cundey approved a THX transfer of the film for the Limited Edition DVD 2-disc set.  It had color-timing supervised by Adam Adams and featured beautiful amber and blue hues that put new life into the film as we know it.  It was somewhat revisionist, but based on what the original intentions might have been with better technology at the time.  That THX DVD transfer has been celebrated by fans since its release in 1999.  In 2007, the first Blu-ray disc for Halloween 1978 was released to mixed reviews.  The clarity and detail were praised, but the colors were way different than the '99 THX DVD.  The strong blue cast of the night-time shots were washed away to a starry white and the amber/orange warmth of Autumn were nowhere to be found.  Not as much anyway.  Amber became more green and the glow lost its luster.  The creepy blue night vanished and it just wasn't the moody horror film we knew from the THX DVD version in '99.  I know you have projects piled up, but please consider one day taking a look at the process of creating a high definition version of Halloween with the THX '99 DVD colors restored.  That would be a miracle.  From what I've read, the new 35th anniversary Blu-ray has washed away even more color than the 2007 Blu-ray release.  Based on what you did with Carpenter's "The Thing" I know you're the man to see about this.  Thanks for thinkin' about it though.

@Flexicon9: I answered your question (quoted) in this other thread, that is more appropriated, to not derail too much this very thread - I saw you answered there, so I assume I made the right thing.

@Chewtobacca: I agree with you that results will never be absolutely perfect, even if I and/or many other people will take years and correct it by hand, scene by scene, frame by frame.

What I'd like to achieve is not perfection (well, at the end is what everyone would like, but know that often is not possible), but the best compromise that could be accomplished by a human being in a human time - some spare hours stolen from family/other hobbies/sleep/felines - so, as I declared and you agreeded, the best solution is number 2.

About the techniques to use, I am "agnostic"... RGBMatch could be a good color matching script, but even if it solves the light artifacts present in some scenes using CM, its color matching is far from perfection; ColourLikeFBF is a very good choice in a lot of instances, but has its own problems. too. A mix of them could indeed solve a lot (if not all) of those problems, but at the end the testing is consisting in how much (by eye) colors are closer or not to the DVD, as, in this project, the DVD is the color reference. I would add that "The Matrix" is really difficult to match not only because colors are totally different, but also contrast and brightness...

Yes, the difference from a setting and another (or a different technique) could seems subtle, but I assure you that this is not the case, at least in a lot of scenes, and people will note it - not all, but a good fraction here in this forum - look at what thay said about "The Thing", and I'm afraid they were right, so it is why I'm so *picky* with this project...

So, a little help from some users here will be very welcome, and speed up a lot this project; and think a lot more are waiting "in the closet" - indeed, they are waiting that I delete the temp files used by this project, because they need that HDD space... (^^,)

OK, time to sleep (a bit) now, it's 1:37 a.m. here and an oldie like me should have been in the bed three hours ago...