SpongeBob SquarePants - 1997 Pilot Debut Reconstruction (* unfinished project *) — Page 2

Swazzy said:

Quick preview of some preliminary color correction:

iTunes

'99 Broadcast

Correction

Would you look at the appearance of this beautiful handiwork.

The question is:
What if you worked at Paramount Pictures so that you can author a DVD of this hard work you’re doing?

I’d love to see it.

Sorry to ask too many questions, Swazzy, but what if you reframe it to 16:9 so that we can enjoy the beautifully complete widescreen experience?

But cropping it to 16:9 will zoom in the image and it will look horrible, FX did it with The Simpsons and they did it with Seinfeld, it crops of the information on the side and you lose detail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_II-FZXekPQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFIrsitJW5M will explain a bit better

JonathanArthur19 said:

But cropping it to 16:9 will zoom in the image and it will look horrible, FX did it with The Simpsons and they did it with Seinfeld, it crops of the information on the side and you lose detail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_II-FZXekPQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFIrsitJW5M will explain a bit better

No, but by reframing it to 16:9, I do not necessarily mean cropping it. However, I literally mean adding missing elements that do not exist because the episode is presented in 4:3. Okay?

oh, I must have read it wrong as I was very tired, that would be cool though

Like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gXFNJszaCc

JonathanArthur19 said:

oh, I must have read it wrong as I was very tired, that would be cool though

Like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gXFNJszaCc

Excuse me? Don’t worry. I’ll watch the video if downloaded only.

zxthehedgehog said:

To anyone who wanted to see this in HD:

I put some footage together & cut a version of the Spongebob pilot from the official master (no CC) & matched it to the VHS here (pass sboyahoy):

https://vimeo.com/179285642

It’s not final, or pretty by any means, but (once I correct a few things) it will probably be the best this can look and sound while being accurate to the sources given.

Do any of you have the password to this video link?

Kind regards,
Stephen

StephensFilmWork2K said:

zxthehedgehog said:

To anyone who wanted to see this in HD:

I put some footage together & cut a version of the Spongebob pilot from the official master (no CC) & matched it to the VHS here (pass sboyahoy):

https://vimeo.com/179285642

It’s not final, or pretty by any means, but (once I correct a few things) it will probably be the best this can look and sound while being accurate to the sources given.

Do any of you have the password to this video link?

Kind regards,
Stephen

sboyahoy 😃

I have a 90% complete edition almost ready. It uses a higher-quality source for the edited version, features some fine-tuned cleanup, and utilizes the new title card sources.

While the colors of the pilot are more desaturated than much of Spongebob’s original broadcast, cross-referencing with the original frame paintings uploaded to Twitter tells me that the faded look is accurate to the original elements.

That, on top of the issues inherent with this transfer, tells me that the bright colors of the VHS are likely inaccurate. Therefore, this current version will be corrected to the Season 1 HD master.

If color correction is to be done in the future, it will also be easier to have a master which matches in color over the entire transfer. Since the majority of this restoration is sourced from the edited HD version, it is easier to correct the VHS footage to that version rather than the other way around.

paja said:

Any updates so far?

i dont think so

A ProRes master copy for the pilot is floating around in private circles. The only public file for it is a Topaz 1080 upscale.