Thomas the Tank Engine: Heritage Edition (* unfinished project *) — Page 2

Brilliant project it's good to see the classic series 1 to 4 getting the, "modern" treatment they deserve, the rest... meh.

  Are you planning to include any of the fan audio narrations?

Mm, I'm doubtful a lot of the fandubs would sync up, since a lot recut the episodes as well. I've mulled over the possibility of including Michael Angelis' "Railway Stories", but it presents a similar problem, not to mention needing to add SFX.

One thing puzzling me is that there are "restored" versions of the first 3 or 4 series, but they only appear intermittently on compilation DVDs (except for the first, which is included on the only full series box released here in the US). These show slightly crisper images and often less screwy colors, but they're harder to track down. They also occasionally use alternate takes, some with odd goofs, which could mean more editing...

This is me starting from the ground up and doing some tests.

I tried taking some of the yellow out of Series 5, as well as upping the brightness and increasing the "Chroma U" contrast so the reds don't look (as) orange. The source video is the PAL Series 5 DVD. I'm still not sure if the differences between computer and TV coloring are very different in terms of LCD displays, so I could use an answer on that to avoid crushing/bleeding the detail with contrast edits.

I'm trying to go easier on the noise reduction this time. I got a little too excited on my first go, but it led to some unsightly artifacts. I am experimenting with applying the "Soften" filter at 1080p and scaling it back down to 720p, hoping to take away only the harshest of the grain, but I'm still waiting on the export to see it in action.

EDIT: Another sample, this time from Series 2. Very noisy, constantly changing color (usually between pink and yellow).

I can give some pointers that there are remastered Season 1-3 episodes floating out there, but a good lot have logos (but some are clean). Remastered, but with many errors/alternative scenes, one that comes to mind is in "Coal" where Henry backs into the siding at Wellsworth and just goes forward again from a blooper real, instead of the final master with Edward moving out as the sound effects sure as hell imply.

I myself have been converting the unreleased Thomas tapes for DVD. These being mainly the third, fourth and fifth VHS Volumes all with Ringo's re-narrations - "Tenders & Turntables & Other Stories", "Thomas Breaks the Rules & Other Stories" and "Better Late than Never & Other Stories". I've also done the compilation "Thomas' Christmas Party" tape with narrations by George Carlin. I've only "Thomas Meets the Queen" left to do. A bit off topic on what you're doing.

I look forward to the final results on your project. What the US gets is a sham, but we screwed Thomas up all together, so do we deserve much else? Of the original series, yeah....

EDIT: I noticed that you touched base on the remastered editions before. I foolishly posted before looking, so nevermind about me... :P

Yeah, no biggie. I figure if the quality jump isn't too bad, I could cut between them. I noticed on one DVD they have the remastered "Edward, Trevor & the Really Useful Party" from S3. The Henry goof from "Coal" I planned to fix, as well as the missing stop-motion from "Trouble in the Shed." I've read that some the UK/Aus on-demand have the older episodes in HD and/or widescreen, but I've yet to see any real evidence (and I imagine there'd be tons of matting problems, like the US Series 1 set).

Most of Carlin's Series 1 is on DVD, but I've found a few varying-quality rips from Shining Time Station. I have everything of Ringo's ripped from VHS. There's a few more of Series 2 from STS, but mostly deteriorated. Though the actual complete audio from "Percy Takes the Plunge" is on a read-along CD.