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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) Mango Edition V4 AVAILABLE NOW VIA PM

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VERSION 4 IN PROGRESS.

Version 4 features a nearly shot by shot picture correction based on original trailers, tv spots, and promo photos, just like Version 3. After examing clips from “Terror In The Aisles” and thee original TV spots, it has been determined that the film originally had a reddish/pinkish tone.

A/V Source: UK 40th Anniversary Blu-ray
Donated by Turisu.

Screenshots:

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Now this is interesting 😃.

The first time I ever saw TTCM was on late night TV eons ago. It had this warm orange cast to it which was particularly noticeable in the outdoor daytime shots. It really created a dry and arid feeling which (for me) greatly enhanced the atmosphere. When the movie came out on DVD, I snapped it up but was massively disappointed to discover that the orange cast was missing and everything now looked bright and colourful, a look that I’ve seen carried over to every home video release since. I was beginning to wonder if the “orange” version I first saw was some error on the part of the TV network. But if this is the original theatrical colouring then I’m stoked and can’t wait to watch this again the way I saw it the first time.

Many thanks Mangowolf. Can I ask though; would you consider producing a 4K version using the German UHD Bluray as a source? This 4K release is SDR only so it wouldn’t require any dodgy HDR/SDR conversion and the look of the grain in full 2160p is wonderful. See here:
https://www.caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=11095&d2=5083&c=319

There are some issues with raised blacks in this version but I would imagine this could be easily corrected.

George creates Star Wars.
Star Wars creates fans.
George destroys Star Wars.
Fans destroy George.
Fans create Star Wars.

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The newest UK edition has original mono audio; what we got in the states is a fold-down of the 5.1 remix. If you’d like I can rip that track for ya if you’d like that instead.

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SpookyDollhouse said:

The newest UK edition has original mono audio; what we got in the states is a fold-down of the 5.1 remix. If you’d like I can rip that track for ya if you’d like that instead.

No thanks. The original pioneer DVD has the REAL original mono mix. The 40th Anniversary and UK bluray were ripped from the 35mm version which had edits to the audio as mentioned in the first post.

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Mango said:

SpookyDollhouse said:

The newest UK edition has original mono audio; what we got in the states is a fold-down of the 5.1 remix. If you’d like I can rip that track for ya if you’d like that instead.

No thanks. The original pioneer DVD has the REAL original mono mix. The 40th Anniversary and UK bluray were ripped from the 35mm version which had edits to the audio as mentioned in the first post.

That’s the first I’ve heard mention of this anywhere. Details? I’m not sure you’re following what I’m trying to explain: the U.S. Bluray from Dark Sky has a newly mixed 7.1 audio mix with messed-up sound effects, and the mono audio on said disc has the same problem because it’s simply a downmix from the 7.1. Second Sight’s UK release’s mono track does not have any soundtrack problems because it’s the actual mono track and not a downmix from an altered source. They’ve been compared and discussed online. If there are truly two different mono tracks out there that’s a first for me. lol

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Correct. From what I’ve heard, the UK release from Second Sight has the original, untouched mono track. Plus the benefit of being lossless, unlike the DVD.

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Oldfan said:

Correct. From what I’ve heard, the UK release from Second Sight has the original, untouched mono track. Plus the benefit of being lossless, unlike the DVD.

The original Dark Sky blu ray has it too. The one from around 2008. Perhaps I should’ve taken it from that. It’s too late to use it now because I don’t have the original project file and I idiotically forgot to save the settings I had. If I were to add it in, the video would suffer because it would be an export of an export. UGH. Sorry guys, guess I wasn’t thinking straight.

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Lost cause without a very available lossless mono track imo. Surely there’s a way to add an audio track without re-encoding?

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He can just remux it with MKVToolnix or tsmuxer or something. If the audio needs to be edited to sync, that should be just as easy. Edit the audio with a throwaway video reference, export only the audio, and mux it. I don’t know all the circumstances though.

Army of Darkness: The Medieval Deadit | The Terminator - Color Regrade | The Wrong Trousers - Audio Preservation
SONIC RACES THROUGH THE GREEN FIELDS.
THE SUN RACES THROUGH A BLUE SKY FILLED WITH WHITE CLOUDS.
THE WAYS OF HIS HEART ARE MUCH LIKE THE SUN. SONIC RUNS AND RESTS; THE SUN RISES AND SETS.
DON’T GIVE UP ON THE SUN. DON’T MAKE THE SUN LAUGH AT YOU.

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Yeah, if it’s just the audio that needs replacing, there’s absolutely no need to reencoding the video, just remux.

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First I’d like to thank you for this Mangowolf. I love the regraded colours.

I was sincerely hoping that the UK 40th anniversary Bluray was used as the source for this. Sadly it appears that the source was the US 40th anniversary Bluray which contains an editing error at the beginning of the movie. At 01:46 there is a close-up of a boot which is supposed to fade out to black as all the other shots in this sequence do. In the US release (and this regrade) the fade is replaced by a hard cut to black. This error is not present on the UK disc and the shot fades out as it should.

EDIT: Also may be worth a mention that the German 4K UHD release is also fixed and has the correct fade.

George creates Star Wars.
Star Wars creates fans.
George destroys Star Wars.
Fans destroy George.
Fans create Star Wars.

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Look, I made this project because it interests me. I’m sorry I didn’t do it with the sources I was apparently supposed to use, I just used what was available to me. I’m not going to buy another copy of the movie just so this project can be completed by the standards that were apparently expected from me. If it truly is a “lost cause”, then I’m just done with it. If you guys really need it to be in 4K with lossless audio, you are free to try the project yourselves.

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Mango said:

Look, I made this project because it interests me. I’m sorry I didn’t do it with the sources I was apparently supposed to use, I just used what was available to me. I’m not going to buy another copy of the movie just so this project can be completed by the standards that were apparently expected from me. If it truly is a “lost cause”, then I’m just done with it. If you guys really need it to be in 4K with lossless audio, you are free to try the project yourselves.

I personally have the lossless audio you need and others do too, I’m sure. Nobody is hating on the project. I think it’s great. We were just saying if the lossless audio is available then use it… I would be happy to donate it from a rip of my BD. I can understand us coming off as rude but that wasn’t the intent. Speaking for myself, I was trying to use constructive criticism to improve what was already great. The colors you came up with look very good to me.

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Hey, I wasn’t suggesting for a moment that you buy another copy of the movie. If you’re interested in improving your project with the 4K or fixed UK video then I’ll happily do my best to obtain a source for you. If you’re not interested then you only need say so and your regrade is no less appreciated.

It’s common on these forums for a project to receive suggestions as to how it could be improved. Harmy has a thread devoted to solely this purpose. It simply serves to show how much interest and enthusiasm there is in what you’re doing. Surely this is better than releasing your hard work and receiving no feedback at all.

George creates Star Wars.
Star Wars creates fans.
George destroys Star Wars.
Fans destroy George.
Fans create Star Wars.

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Ok. In the spirit of putting my money where my mouth is, I just purchased the UK BD. This contains a higher bitrate transfer of the movie with none of the compression artefacts of the US disc, the restored boot shot and the original mono audio.

If you’re interested, I will gladly rip the disc when I receive it and upload the source files for you to use. Alternatively I’d be equally happy to donate the disc to your project if you would prefer.

If however you’re not interested in working on this any further then would you consider kindly sharing the project files that I could use to apply your excellent regrade to the UK source?

As I’ve stated in every post, I’m truly grateful for your work on this project and it has me really excited for what this can become. I’d like to help in any way that I can. Thanks again.

George creates Star Wars.
Star Wars creates fans.
George destroys Star Wars.
Fans destroy George.
Fans create Star Wars.

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Mango said:

Look, I made this project because it interests me. I’m sorry I didn’t do it with the sources I was apparently supposed to use, I just used what was available to me. I’m not going to buy another copy of the movie just so this project can be completed by the standards that were apparently expected from me. If it truly is a “lost cause”, then I’m just done with it. If you guys really need it to be in 4K with lossless audio, you are free to try the project yourselves.

Dude no one said they wanted it in 4k, they were giving an example of sources without video and audio errors. The 4k disc happens to be a valid source for this along with the new UK BD.

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I’ve since learned that the 4K UHD has issues with macroblocking in fast moving scenes. Hence I’m putting forward (and offering) the UK 40th anniversary BD as the best available source.

George creates Star Wars.
Star Wars creates fans.
George destroys Star Wars.
Fans destroy George.
Fans create Star Wars.

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Turisu said:

I’ve since learned that the 4K UHD has issues with macroblocking in fast moving scenes. Hence I’m putting forward (and offering) the UK 40th anniversary BD as the best available source.

If you’re willing to send rips of the UK blu-ray my way, I will attempt another restoration.

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No problem, Mango. As soon as the disc arrives I’ll drop you a PM. So glad to hear. The UK BD video is exactly the same master as the US BD except for the higher bitrate and restored fade so it should just be a case of dropping the new source into your existing project.

Could I possibly make two further suggestions for the new version? Firstly, the current MOV is encoded to run at 60fps rather than the source 23.976fps. I assume that this is just an error. Secondly, would you consider encoding at a much higher bitrate? TTCM is extremely grainy and if you look at the caps (https://www.caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a=0&d1=4769&d2=5083&s1=44383&s2=47376&i=0&l=0) you’ll see that even the US BD’s bitrate is unable to retain the grain without artefacts whereas the UK BD’s higher bitrate does far better. It would be a shame to lose this.

A thousand thanks. 😃

George creates Star Wars.
Star Wars creates fans.
George destroys Star Wars.
Fans destroy George.
Fans create Star Wars.

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This is a terrific project idea – thank you for taking it on, and for all of your hard work! I really enjoyed your American Werewolf project (though I haven’t had a chance to check out v2), and am sure this will be absolutely worthwhile. Thanks to the other folks offering the best sources, too! It’s always a bit frustrating when a favorite movie gets a problematic release in my home region, only to find later that a better version has been released somewhere else. Glad for this community!

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V2 is available now. Contact me via PM for the link.

Huge thanks to Turisu for providing the UK BD source! 😃

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Thanks so much for this Mango and glad I could help. V2 is looking and sounding great.

If I may make an observation; as with V1, it’s still running at 60fps as opposed to the source (theatrical) framerate of 24fps meaning that the encoder has altered the source by adding duplicate frames. I can’t see any reason why this would be done deliberately so I’m guessing it’s an error in the encoding settings. Would it be a simple matter to re-encode with the original source framerate?

George creates Star Wars.
Star Wars creates fans.
George destroys Star Wars.
Fans destroy George.
Fans create Star Wars.

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Turisu said:

Thanks so much for this Mango and glad I could help. V2 is looking and sounding great.

If I may make an observation; as with V1, it’s still running at 60fps as opposed to the source (theatrical) framerate of 24fps meaning that the encoder has altered the source by adding duplicate frames. I can’t see any reason why this would be done deliberately so I’m guessing it’s an error in the encoding settings. Would it be a simple matter to re-encode with the original source framerate?

Well, I tried encoding at 24fps, but for some reason that caused it to drop frames and become choppy. I’ve had this problem with other projects in the past. It doesn’t add frames when I do this somehow, but it does keep it from becoming choppy. My guess is that Blu-ray rips of older movies especially are running at a high framerate to retain things like grain, where as the motion remains 24 fps. It’s something I’ve found with every project I do, and I don’t quite know the reason. I can tell you that it is non interpolated and doesn’t fill in frames unless I tell it to.

I don’t know, Final Cut Pro is weird. I could attempt a re encode, but it might cause some quality loss.

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I see. That’s odd. I’m not at home right now so I can’t confirm the framerate of the BD but I’m sure that (as with the vast majority of BDs) it will be either 24fps or 23.976fps. Perhaps, if it’s the latter, that maybe why you’re getting some choppiness encoding at 24fps?

There is certainly a problem somewhere as having your project framerate set to the same framerate as the source should not cause choppiness. I wish I understood FCP better to be able to identify where the problem might be. I’ll check the BD framerate tomorrow and report back.

George creates Star Wars.
Star Wars creates fans.
George destroys Star Wars.
Fans destroy George.
Fans create Star Wars.