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Post #1319455

Author
Williarob
Parent topic
4K77 - Released
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1319455/action/topic#1319455
Date created
13-Jan-2020, 8:19 AM

bkev said:

Hi all,

Just wondering if a 1.4 with DNR was ever released. I’ve searched through some of the usual channels and had no luck. The restoration work regardless is a triumph, but I would prefer one with that color grading and a slightly smoother picture.

It’s possible I’ve never said it before, so congrats to Team -1 and Williarob. You have absolutely achieved commercial-grade work and we are all beyond grateful.

v1.0 No DNR used a single color correction per reel, which was just a white balance to the soundtrack or the sprocket holes. Sanjuro used that as the basis for his grade, so applying his grade to the original master was therefore very easy - my starting point was more or less the same as his.

However, when I did the DNR version, I started with a shot by shot color grade, this time trying to color balance each shot based on it’s content. So almost every single shot was given a new grade. After that I applied the DNR on a scene by scene (sometimes shot by shot) basis which took weeks. After that was done, it became obvious that the removal of all that noise made the remaing dust, dirt and scratches really stand out. So I spent another month cleaning the whole film frame by frame. Finally, I replaced about a dozen shots using a scan of the '97 SE print, or the alternate Tech, or the LPP instead of just the Bluray. These new inserts were color matched to the new grade, and DNR’d immediately, so they don’t currently exist in an original No DNR 1.o format.

So, given all of those changes, there is simply no way to just drop the DNR master file into Sanjuro’s project file and apply his grade - it just wouldn’t work - the input colors would be totally different, so the output colors would also be totally different.

So the only way to apply the Sanjuro grade to the DNR version is to do it shot by shot with Dre’s color matching tool OR go back to the original No DNR version 1.0 and start again with the months of work I already did. Neither of which appealed to me after 5 years of working on Star Wars. If you want to generate the 2000 LUTs required and a project that applies them to the DNR version, I’m happy to render it out for you using the original master file, but I just don’t have the time or the enthusiasm to do that myself.

Oohteedee has done some work on a new DNR version, starting with the original NoDNR 1.0, but really we have both been waiting for @DrDre to complete his own regrade of 4K77 so that we can apply that grade instead; and for some more sources to be available: e.g. the new official 4K blurays coming in March and our own rescan of the '97 SE print. Since DNR 1.0 was released, we also now have a 4K scan of the LPP, and some elements from another foreign print, all of which can be used to make improvements.

So. Eventually, there will be an updated DNR version with some new shots and a more consistent color grade, but it’s really not a priority at the moment, especially since we haven’t even finished a v1.0 of 4K80.