This is a color/contrast correction project that aims to recreate the closest approximation yet (within reason) of the original theatrical color timing of The Terminator (1984). This started as a personal project that didn’t have any aim other than making the film look nicer, and I posted it here for feedback/interest. After having some more faith in the 35mm reference photos available and extra tweaking, I ended up deciding to try and go all the way.
Again, this is meant to be accurate within reason. There are few proper references available for the color timing found on a 1984 film print projected in theaters, so this is undoubtedly off a little bit.
Special thanks to:
kaosjm for info on a 35mm screening.
DragoonClawNZ for 35mm frame scans.
UPDATE: 23 APRIL 2018
The new regrade is now available as a 29.2 GB MKV on MEGA. Included with it is the original mono in 2.1 DTS-HD MA and the Blu-ray 5.1 DTS.
Screenshots: http://imgbox.com/g/bf69eEDm1K
The single pass LUT for this regrade can be found here. (NOTE: the new regrade uses selective color adjustments in some scenes, and this LUT of course does not give you those adjustments)
UPDATE: 21 JANUARY 2018
This regrade is now available as an MKV file on MEGA.
Media Info:
General
Unique ID : 153243642727010944622028257911482240771 (0x7349A6EB89323CCEB8396552FCF64F03)
Complete name : J:\The Terminator\The Terminator Regrade.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 4 / Version 2
File size : 29.3 GiB
Duration : 1 h 47 min
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 39.2 Mb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2018-02-18 16:22:28
Writing application : mkvmerge v20.0.0 (‘I Am The Sun’) 64-bit
Writing library : libebml v1.3.5 + libmatroska v1.4.8Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings : CABAC / 3 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1 h 47 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 36.0 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate : 40.0 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.724
Stream size : 26.8 GiB (92%)
Writing library : x264 core 152 r2851 ba24899
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1👎-1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / slices=4 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=1 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=1 / weightp=1 / keyint=24 / keyint_min=1 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=24 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=36000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=40000 / vbv_bufsize=30000 / nal_hrd=vbr / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : NoAudio #1
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Format profile : MA / Core
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1 h 47 min
Bit rate mode : Variable / Constant
Bit rate : 1 754 kb/s / 1 509 kb/s
Channel(s) : 3 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossless / Lossy
Stream size : 1.31 GiB (4%)
Title : 2.1 Mono DTS-HD MA
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : NoAudio #2
ID : 3
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1 h 47 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 509 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 1.13 GiB (4%)
Title : 5.1 Surround DTS
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
UPDATE: 2 JANUARY 2018
Once again I’ve changed the grade to something I feel is improved over the last incarnation. This time I’ve reintroduced the rich natural reds that my previous grades lacked, as well as some smaller tweaks.
The current LUT for the BD can be found here.
A gallery with 42 frames with the current regrade applied can be found here
UPDATE: 20 JULY 2017
I tweaked a few things from the previous update. I think the majority of the film looks slightly better now, though I still can’t figure out how to get the skin tones perfect without flames becoming just slightly too yellow. It’s not too bad, but it still bothers me just a little. Anyway, check out this version if you’d like.
The current LUT for the BD can be found here.
A gallery with 41 frames with the current regrade applied can be found here.
UPDATE: 14 JULY 2017
After a couple months of trying to figure out a good way to improve upon this regrade, I’ve finally gotten to a point I’m happy with, though there will always be room for improvement as long as we don’t have a 35mm print scan available to watch. Again, I now think this is may be even closer to the theatrical look, though I really can’t be certain if/how much it’s more accurate than my previous attempt.
For anyone who is still interested in this regrade project, especially anyone who has already used the previous version, please check out this updated version and see if you like it. Feedback is always appreciated!
The current LUT for the BD can be found here.
A gallery of 41 frames with the current regrade applied can be found here.
UPDATE: 2 MAY 2017
The LUT for the BD is here.
At this point I consider the project complete until new info or sources appear, and I believe it to be the closest we have ever gotten to the theatrical color timing. It will be uploaded for release within the next week (hopefully).
Special thanks to kaosjm for info on a 35mm screening.
Gallery of 40 frames with the current regrade applied:
https://goo.gl/photos/3tCn8MqNob9kFDiR7
Original First Post
I’ve been working on a personal single pass color and contrast correction of The Terminator, and I think I’ve just about finalized it. I thought I’d like some feedback from people on here and maybe even share my LUTs with the community if people like it, so I decided to make a thread.
I used the screenshots off of blu-ray.com and kk650’s release for my tests:
BD compared to My Regrade:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/203346
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/203347
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/203349
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/203350
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/203351Now, this isn’t meant to be theatrically accurate, but it should have contrast somewhat accurate to a film print scan (I used the available releases of Raiders and Jurassic Park prints as contrast references). Regarding color, I just went off of what I thought looked right for the most part, but I did use some references to determine some things that could be true about the original color timing.
I believe these images show a good approximation of what the original colors consisted of. Skin tones are generally more golden hued or naturally neutral, rather than the nearly sunburnt-red skin tones found in many home video releases of films. Cyan and blue is very abundant.
In my correction, you may notice that most blues are more blue than in the 35mm frames, where most blues are very cyan, pushing on teal. I just liked having more full blues, not to mention that everything still looks rather cyan all around with mostly less teal push. I may have done this originally just because I wanted to try and eliminate the overall yellow/teal push on the BD, because I’m almost certain that it wouldn’t have existed to that extent in the original timing. I do think I might re-adjust it to bring back a little more cyan into the blues.
EDIT: I updated the screenshot comparison links.
