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Post #655529

Author
spoRv
Parent topic
The Matrix [spoRv] *BD-25 RELEASED*
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/655529/action/topic#655529
Date created
19-Aug-2013, 9:01 PM

_,,,^..^,,,_ presents The Matrix [spoRv] project

The Matrix [special preserved or Restored version]

Project mission: restore The Matrix color grading using PAL DVD as color reference.

Video sources: luma from BD, chroma from PAL DVD.

Audio sources: from BD, plus the Cinema DTS soundtrack.

Subtitles sources: from BD.

 

The Matrix [spoRv]

 

Source Material

Video:

  • The Matrix (BD) - from Ultimate Matrix collection
  • The Matrix (PAL DVD) - first release

 

Audio:

  • The Matrix (BD) - from Ultimate Matrix collection
  • The Matrix - Cinema DTS soundtrack

 

Subtitles:

  • The Matrix (BD) - from Ultimate Matrix collection


Processing setup & info

Hardware:

  • Sony Vaio VGX-XL202 PC - CPU Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz, 3GB RAM, 250GB+320GB HDDs, BD-RE 
  • Western Digital Elements 1TB - external USB HD


Software:

  • VirtualDub and AviSynth for video editing
  • Foobar2000 for audio conversions
  • AVIdemux and tsMuxeR for demuxing/muxing


Project status: RELEASED - Final format: BD-25 


 

Video treatment:

BD VC-1 and DVD MPEG2 are converted using the Lagarith lossless compression (YV12); BD is used as frame reference; PAL DVD has the same frame numbers. ColourMatch avisynth script is used to match the DVD colors; where there are compression artefacts, or the cropping are different for the two sources, the upscaled and enhanced DVD will be used for those shots.

BD-25 video track:

  • the original video format is 1920x796@23.976 2.40:1, average bitrate around 17mbps, video codec VC-1; the final video will have the same features, as it's useless (IMHO) to use an higher bitrate; of course, I will use X.264 because it's the best AVC encoder around, and should compress better than the old VC-1 encoder used years ago for the original video.

 

Audio treatment:

All the BD soundtracks will be left untouched; I will use all of them, except the TrueHD english soundtrack, and the AC3 japanese one, which was hidden. Instead, I'll add the Cinema DTS soundtrack, taken from the original theatrical CDs, converted to 48KHz, 23.976fps.

BD-25 audio tracks:

  • English DTS Cinema, DTS 5.1 1510kbps, 48KHz, 24bit
  • English AC3 5.1 640kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
  • French AC3 5.1 640kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
  • Italian AC3 5.1 640kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
  • Spanish AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
  • Portuguese AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
  • English commentary (track 1) AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
  • English commentary (track 2) AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
  • English commentary (track 3) AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
  • English commentary (track 4) AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
  • English commentary (track 5) AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
 

 

Subtitles treatment:

the BD subtitles will be left untouched; will be used all the ones that reflects the soundtracks, plus the japanese and the dutch ones.

BD-25 subtitle tracks:

  • english
  • french
  • italian
  • spanish
  • portoguese
  • dutch
  • japanese
  • english for commentary track 1
  • french for commentary track 1
  • italian for commentary track 1
  • spanish for commentary track 1
  • portoguese for commentary track 1
  • dutch for commentary track 1

 

Special thanks to:

nirbateman for invaluable help to find out shots to fix, and further help. Without you, this project could not be the same! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Credits:

  • Jetrell Fo and DoomBot for the Cinema DTS soundtrack
  • all the forum members supporting this project from this and from the other thread


Self comment (originally posted on July 20, 2013):

It's time to save "The Matrix"... sadly, the Wachowski brothers (ehr... brother and sister now?) decided that their masterpiece should be *corrected* to be more in line with their sequels, so they were *forced* to color-grading the first episode "greener than green", to match the sequels... who likes the whole trilogy think that it's a good thing, while the rest of us that think that there is only one MATRIX (the others are simply *extras*) want its original colors back!

While I'm not totally sure that the DVD colors are the most close to the theatrical version, this is the best color reference available at the moment. And, because it's nearly impossible that "The Matrix" will be re-released without its new "green tint", I thought to take the BD luma, the DVD chroma, a kitchen mixer and... wait, no, actually the method I used is *a bit* different... (^^,)

First tests: just overlay the BD luma to the (upscaled) DVD chroma. It worked... well, sort of, because the upscaled DVD cannot match perfectly the BD, even when the cropping are the same, and worse, the cropping are often NOT the same... so, I decided to give it a try with the avisynth plugin ColourLike. It worked... well, sort of, because yes, resulting colors are better than BD, but not so close to the DVD... then, AntcuFaalb posted a modified version, called ColourLikeFBF (where FBF stands for Frame by Frame), so I tested it, and... yes, you know, it worked (sort of), as colors are more closer than the classic ColourLike, but still not there...

At the end, I tested my ColourMatch script (the version I have NOT used on "The Thing"), and... BINGO! It worked... almost perfectly!

But let's see the usual comparison shots, in order of appearance (reduced 50%) - ColourLikeFBF made a good job, but ColourMatch made it better!

The latest ColourMatch version produces very good results, but because the BD has clipping whites, it produces some artefacts too (but way less than the first version)... so, the shots with artefacts will be replaced with... (horror!) upscaled DVD! Well, the final result is not that bad, check the test clip!

TEST CLIP (78MB, 4000kbps, no audio: sendspace)

Comments are welcome, as usual!