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44rh1n's "The Fellowship of the Ring" Extended Edition Color Restoration (Released) — Page 7

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If anyone here would be willing to burn me a disc, please PM me. I don’t generally have use for the facility to burn BD, but I really want this on disc.

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Harmy said:

https://www.redfox.bz/en/anystream.html
Maybe this could be used to get the Netflix theatrical version?
I got the trial version but can’t log into Netflix with it - perhaps it would work for someone in another region?

I don’t know for certain, but this kind of looks like another frontend to the same code used in FlixGrab (there are a few of them out there). We tried FlixGrab before, and while it did actually download the film, it wasn’t in its full bitrate for some reason. It had much more compression artifacting than when streamed directly from Netflix. So I decided it wasn’t really any better than the Blu-ray, due to compression.

If someone wants to try this and send me the file though, I’d be down to check it out! 😃

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Looks like we’re getting 4k versions this December 😃

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=27541

According to someone on the blu-ray forum they’re remastered from new scans of the original camera negatives, and new scans of the special effects as well. Here’s hoping they leave out the green tint this time 😄

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Im casting doubt on them doing 4K re-renders. At best it will be 4K recompositing for shots that are simple composites. I doubt they will be re-rendering any complex CGI.

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Does anybody really expect them to re-render 20 year old digital effects in 4K, though? Literally no other 4K re-release has done that.

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Aside from being an incredible film, They Shall Never Grow Old established that Peter Jackson and Weta are very capable of finding ways to make old material shine. I imagine he’s invested in his work looking the best it can. Really looking forward to seeing examples of the new treatment.

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I’m just waiting for the Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, and Dead Alive/Brain Dead restorations. Jackson’s edgelord phase produced some fantastic films.

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Chewielewis said:

Im casting doubt on them doing 4K re-renders. At best it will be 4K recompositing for shots that are simple composites. I doubt they will be re-rendering any complex CGI.

All non-CGI shots have been scanned in 4K from the original negatives, and all CGI shots have been scanned in 4K from the original VFX film-outs. So yes, the CGI remains 2K (although scanned in 4K), but I believe it’s at least been re-composited with the newly-scanned 4K footage. So overall, it should be a nice uptick in quality!

That is, as long as they didn’t majorly eff up the color grading again! IMO, this NEEDS to have an HDR grade that’s very much in the spirit of the original theatrical/DVD look (although with higher dynamic range and a wider color gamut, of course). If it has a new revisionist grade – or if it has a stupid, dark green grade again – then I’m going to be pissed.

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44rh1n said:

Chewielewis said:

Im casting doubt on them doing 4K re-renders. At best it will be 4K recompositing for shots that are simple composites. I doubt they will be re-rendering any complex CGI.

All non-CGI shots have been scanned in 4K from the original negatives, and all CGI shots have been scanned in 4K from the original VFX film-outs. So yes, the CGI remains 2K (although scanned in 4K), but I believe it’s at least been re-composited with the newly-scanned 4K footage. So overall, it should be a nice uptick in quality!

That is, as long as they didn’t majorly eff up the color grading again! IMO, this NEEDS to have an HDR grade that’s very much in the spirit of the original theatrical/DVD look (although with higher dynamic range and a wider color gamut, of course). If it has a new revisionist grade – or if it has a stupid, dark green grade again – then I’m going to be pissed.

If you want to integrate the scenes from the 4K version (if it turns out good) into the regrade, you have to use Media Player Classic Home Cinema with MadVR to obtain tonemapped PNG screen grabs of the individual frames for the scenes and splice them into the project on DaVinci Resolve.

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KokoNigel said:

44rh1n said:

Chewielewis said:

Im casting doubt on them doing 4K re-renders. At best it will be 4K recompositing for shots that are simple composites. I doubt they will be re-rendering any complex CGI.

All non-CGI shots have been scanned in 4K from the original negatives, and all CGI shots have been scanned in 4K from the original VFX film-outs. So yes, the CGI remains 2K (although scanned in 4K), but I believe it’s at least been re-composited with the newly-scanned 4K footage. So overall, it should be a nice uptick in quality!

That is, as long as they didn’t majorly eff up the color grading again! IMO, this NEEDS to have an HDR grade that’s very much in the spirit of the original theatrical/DVD look (although with higher dynamic range and a wider color gamut, of course). If it has a new revisionist grade – or if it has a stupid, dark green grade again – then I’m going to be pissed.

If you want to integrate the scenes from the 4K version (if it turns out good) into the regrade, you have to use Media Player Classic Home Cinema with MadVR to obtain tonemapped PNG screen grabs of the individual frames for the scenes and splice them into the project on DaVinci Resolve.

Nah, that’s the wrong way to go about it, IMO. I’d do a ProRes transcode of the whole film, without tone-mapping. That way I’d have the entire dynamic range and gamut of the footage at my disposal. Using footage that’s already been automatically tonemapped would be very restricting.

It probably won’t come to that though, at least not anytime soon. I don’t have as much free time as I used to when I made this restoration. (Plus, I have faith that this new 4K version will be good! If it ends up sucking though, I may change my mind and decide to do it, haha).

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44rh1n said:

(Plus, I have faith that this new 4K version will be good! If it ends up sucking though, I may change my mind and decide to do it, haha).

Your faith sounds about as steady as mine 😉

Project Threepio (Star Wars OOT subtitles)

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CatBus said:

44rh1n said:

(Plus, I have faith that this new 4K version will be good! If it ends up sucking though, I may change my mind and decide to do it, haha).

Your faith sounds about as steady as mine 😉

Haha yeah. Maybe “hope” is a better word for me to use! I’m definitely excited, but I’m also worried for sure. Cautiously optimistic, I suppose.

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44rh1n said:

KokoNigel said:

44rh1n said:

Chewielewis said:

Im casting doubt on them doing 4K re-renders. At best it will be 4K recompositing for shots that are simple composites. I doubt they will be re-rendering any complex CGI.

All non-CGI shots have been scanned in 4K from the original negatives, and all CGI shots have been scanned in 4K from the original VFX film-outs. So yes, the CGI remains 2K (although scanned in 4K), but I believe it’s at least been re-composited with the newly-scanned 4K footage. So overall, it should be a nice uptick in quality!

That is, as long as they didn’t majorly eff up the color grading again! IMO, this NEEDS to have an HDR grade that’s very much in the spirit of the original theatrical/DVD look (although with higher dynamic range and a wider color gamut, of course). If it has a new revisionist grade – or if it has a stupid, dark green grade again – then I’m going to be pissed.

If you want to integrate the scenes from the 4K version (if it turns out good) into the regrade, you have to use Media Player Classic Home Cinema with MadVR to obtain tonemapped PNG screen grabs of the individual frames for the scenes and splice them into the project on DaVinci Resolve.

Nah, that’s the wrong way to go about it, IMO. I’d do a ProRes transcode of the whole film, without tone-mapping. That way I’d have the entire dynamic range and gamut of the footage at my disposal. Using footage that’s already been automatically tonemapped would be very restricting.

It probably won’t come to that though, at least not anytime soon. I don’t have as much free time as I used to when I made this restoration. (Plus, I have faith that this new 4K version will be good! If it ends up sucking though, I may change my mind and decide to do it, haha).

I believe that according to some website, DaVinci Resolve tonemapping has the correct luma but not the right chroma. However, I’ve seen that MadVR gives out both the correct chroma and luma, as seen in some 4K screenshots of modern films giving a similar result to the Blu-ray using MadVR.

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KokoNigel said:

44rh1n said:

KokoNigel said:

44rh1n said:

Chewielewis said:

Im casting doubt on them doing 4K re-renders. At best it will be 4K recompositing for shots that are simple composites. I doubt they will be re-rendering any complex CGI.

All non-CGI shots have been scanned in 4K from the original negatives, and all CGI shots have been scanned in 4K from the original VFX film-outs. So yes, the CGI remains 2K (although scanned in 4K), but I believe it’s at least been re-composited with the newly-scanned 4K footage. So overall, it should be a nice uptick in quality!

That is, as long as they didn’t majorly eff up the color grading again! IMO, this NEEDS to have an HDR grade that’s very much in the spirit of the original theatrical/DVD look (although with higher dynamic range and a wider color gamut, of course). If it has a new revisionist grade – or if it has a stupid, dark green grade again – then I’m going to be pissed.

If you want to integrate the scenes from the 4K version (if it turns out good) into the regrade, you have to use Media Player Classic Home Cinema with MadVR to obtain tonemapped PNG screen grabs of the individual frames for the scenes and splice them into the project on DaVinci Resolve.

Nah, that’s the wrong way to go about it, IMO. I’d do a ProRes transcode of the whole film, without tone-mapping. That way I’d have the entire dynamic range and gamut of the footage at my disposal. Using footage that’s already been automatically tonemapped would be very restricting.

It probably won’t come to that though, at least not anytime soon. I don’t have as much free time as I used to when I made this restoration. (Plus, I have faith that this new 4K version will be good! If it ends up sucking though, I may change my mind and decide to do it, haha).

I believe that according to some website, DaVinci Resolve tonemapping has the correct luma but not the right chroma. However, I’ve seen that MadVR gives out both the correct chroma and luma, as seen in some 4K screenshots of modern films giving a similar result to the Blu-ray using MadVR.

Never heard or experienced that before. Plus, there are hundreds of ways to do tonemapping in Resolve. All tonemapping is, is converting a log space into a gamma space. It can be done with CSTs, with LUTs, with custom curves, with L/G/G wheels, or many other methods. That’s what’s so great about Resolve — you have the toolset to do whatever you want. 🙂

But more than anything, It’s just not a great idea to do tonemapping before additional color work. Color should be done in the wide gamut, before any tonemapping. You get much cleaner and flexible results that way. 🙂

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44rh1n said:

CatBus said:

44rh1n said:

(Plus, I have faith that this new 4K version will be good! If it ends up sucking though, I may change my mind and decide to do it, haha).

Your faith sounds about as steady as mine 😉

Haha yeah. Maybe “hope” is a better word for me to use! I’m definitely excited, but I’m also worried for sure. Cautiously optimistic, I suppose.

Me too 😁 I wonder what will be integrated as bonus feature, maybe (if we’re lucky) deleted scenes from the trilogy. I’ll get the collectors edition in summer 21

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44rh1n said:

Nah, that’s the wrong way to go about it, IMO. I’d do a ProRes transcode of the whole film, without tone-mapping. That way I’d have the entire dynamic range and gamut of the footage at my disposal. Using footage that’s already been automatically tonemapped would be very restricting.

It probably won’t come to that though, at least not anytime soon. I don’t have as much free time as I used to when I made this restoration. (Plus, I have faith that this new 4K version will be good! If it ends up sucking though, I may change my mind and decide to do it, haha).

Not a huge fan of HDR, especially all the regrading that comes with these older films (nor the Atmos audio upmixing that seems to come with them), and I fully expect the new SDR Blu-rays to just be a tonemapped version of their UHD counterpart

Would love to see what you could do

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The new master of FOTR has already hit iTunes in both 4K HDR and 1080p. Not to purchase, but if you already own the HD versions and stream them it’s the new version that plays. Looks as if someone just may have put them up early.

In any event, the green tint is GONE!

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Nick66 said:

The new master of FOTR has already hit iTunes in both 4K HDR and 1080p. Not to purchase, but if you already own the HD versions and stream them it’s the new version that plays. Looks as if someone just may have put them up early.

In any event, the green tint is GONE!

WOW, you’re right! I just checked my iTunes copy, and it looks REALLY good! It’s still only HD for me (hopefully it upgrades to 4K for me eventually – iTunes usually does!), but it’s definitely the new master. It looks WAY better than the old green extended Blu-ray master!

It’s still quite different from the original DVD/theatrical release, but it looks amazing nonetheless. In fact, it’s actually an improvement in many ways (unlike the ugly green extended Blu-ray) to that original version. For example, it no longer has the fairly prominent magenta shift that the original DVD/theatrical release had in the highlights. So it now looks closer to The Two Towers and The Return of the King. And the green tint IS TOTALLY GONE!!

In other areas, I think it’s still a tiny bit worse than the original grade, though. I think it’s a tad undersaturated in some scenes. And some of the more warm, tungsteny scenes (such as Bilbo writing in his office) are a tad too warm to my taste. I liked the original version that was a bit more balanced and had some more color separation. And the scene in Bilbo’s house when he has a panic attack because he can’t find the ring, is still fairly dark as well. But at least you can actually see the colors in that scene again! His vest is actually red again! (In the old extended Blu-ray, that scene was much darker and his vest was black).

And the Rivendell scene is much less saturated than the original DVD/theatrical release. But I’m actually ok with it. It’s still warm, unlike the green version. I might even like this scene a tad more than the original version, because that scene was always very saturated in the original. But I don’t know. I’m kind of conflicted. I’m still married to the original look, I suppose.

Overall, most of the daylight exteriors look VERY close to the original release, though! It looks SO GOOD! I can’t verify this, but I would almost bet money that Peter Doyle returned to do this new color grade. It definitely looks like his handiwork!

I can’t wait to see this in HDR! I bet some of my saturation complaints won’t be quite as relevant with the HDR version, due to the wider gamut of the grade. I’m SO EXCITED!

I’m seriously SO HAPPY that it looks this good! It’s not perfect IMO, but it’s a thousand times better than the old green Blu-ray. It’s definitely at an acceptable state now, and I’m excited to watch it once I can get it in HDR. 😃

Also, for what it’s worth, I just scrubbed through The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as well, and it also has a new grade. It’s a bit more analogue/film-print-like, and looks a tiny bit closer to the style of The Lord of the Rings trilogy! It’s less saturated than the original Blu-ray, which is great because I always thought the Hobbit films were a bit oversaturated compared to LOTR! I haven’t watched the Hobbit films since the third one was in theaters, so this might give me an excuse to rewatch those!

Thanks for letting me know, Nick66! This is FANTASTIC NEWS!

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44rh1n said:
Thanks for letting me know, Nick66! This is FANTASTIC NEWS!

Agree that it looks fantastic. Love your enthusiasm and your incredibly knowledgable comments. All I’ve ever wanted is something that closely matches the colours on the theatrical, but against all hope I almost think this in some ways looks…better.

Thanks for providing us with the light of your version during the dark (i.e. green) times. It was my go-to for a long time.

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That’s great news! And if one wanted a closer to the theatrical version, it sounds like this new one would be much easier to regrade 😊

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Harmy said:

That’s great news! And if one wanted a closer to the theatrical version, it sounds like this new one would be much easier to regrade 😊

Yes, it would be easier to grade indeed! 🙂

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Since I’ve only been able to look at the iTunes version so far though, I’m not 100% certain about the texture. (Because the iTunes version is so compressed). However, it looks like there aren’t DNR issues, and there’s some nice grain. Which is good. But I’ll be analyzing the texture a lot more in-depth once I can my hands on the actual 4K Blu-ray.

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Out of curiosity, what’s the verdict on how they handled the original digital negatives for effects?

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dranore said:

Out of curiosity, what’s the verdict on how they handled the original digital negatives for effects?

All non-VFX shots were scanned in 4K from the original negative, and all VFX shots were scanned in 4K from the original VFX film-outs. So the CGI is technically upscaled 2K (scanned from film though), and everything else is true 4K. It’s a very thorough remaster, from what I’ve read.