Info: The Dark Knight - EE Reduction and Original Color Timing — Page 3

There is some dark blue noise in the bluray jpg. I’m not sure if this is, because of compression, or if it’s part of the source? If it’s just in the jpg, the black levels can be raised, without introducing artifacts.

I’ve further improved the color matching algorithm, such that any artifacts in the resulting image are further reduced. Here is a regrade, based on this upgraded algorithm.

Bluray:

Screener:

Bluray matched to screener:

Bluray matched to screener with corrected black levels:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/180141

The comparison shows, that the regrade has significantly more shadow detail, when compared to the bluray, even with the corrected black levels.

This also looks like it’s giving better colors too. Look at Lau’s face vs. the last grade. It’s definitely closer to the screener now.

Fantastic work!

I’ve been playing around with V1.1 over the weekend and found some shots that are hard to match. Either they don’t match the colors perfectly or if they do there is too much noise. So it’s great that you tackled this problem with the new version. I also found that with some shots you only need just a few rotations

For the prolouge, I think when possible I’ll composite the BB shots over the corrected Blu-Ray shots. ColorMatch works well enough that there’s no distracting seams in the image after a little feathering is applied.

I’ve tested this on the first few shots and it’s worked rather well. The differences are slight, but it gives the best color and dynamic range.

I’m still running into some problems when using LUTs exported from ColorMatch. It appears to only happen in scenes with blown out highlights

The reason I’m using LUTs is that my only machine is (sigh) a Mac. I have a small Windows partition to run the ColorMatch program, but I can’t do much editing on there though due to the size of the partition.

If you use the prologue from “Batman Begins” bonus, you’ll have a different aspect ratio than the one on the actual Blu-ray.

I am aware of the different aspect ratios. I am correcting TDK shots and using them as reference for framing. Then I align the BB shot with the Blu-Ray and feather out the edges for where the BB disk has been cropped. The result is the same framing of TDK Blu-Ray, but the colors and dynamic range are mostly from the BB disk. Notice the greens and yellows in the shot especially.

Dark Knight Color Matched

Dark Knight with BB Composited on top

Note that this technique will also be used for the Full IMAX shots, I plan to release a version for both aspect ratios. Right now I’m tackling 16:9 as that is the most accessible since most have 16:9 monitors and sets. It won’t be long after that the full IMAX scenes will be ready.

You don’t plan to make a full 2.40:1 version, do you? That would be cool, also.

I don’t see why not!

For the Full IMAX (2.40/1.44) version, you’ll need to use the prologue from the 1.44:1 BD source, not the BB source which is cropped to about 1.66:1.

TheDarkestKnight said:

I’m still running into some problems when using LUTs exported from ColorMatch. It appears to only happen in scenes with blown out highlights

The reason I’m using LUTs is that my only machine is (sigh) a Mac. I have a small Windows partition to run the ColorMatch program, but I can’t do much editing on there though due to the size of the partition.

Could you send me the original frame, and the reference? I will see if I can fix it.

Papai2013 said:

For the Full IMAX (2.40/1.44) version, you’ll need to use the prologue from the 1.44:1 BD source, not the BB source which is cropped to about 1.66:1.

I’m compositing both sources together. This will not change the 1.44:1 aspect or framing of the special edition scenes. Here is a quick and dirty demonstration. Of course, for the actual IMAX project, the frame size will be 1.44:1 and not 16:9. This is just a proof of concept.

First, I color correct the Special Edition scene

Then, the BB scene is aligned with the special edition. The edges are then feathered so it blends into the picture better.

The two frames are composited together to keep the colors of the BB disk where possible, and where it has been cropped the corrected Special Edition frame is used.

Now this example is a bit sloppy, but I think it illustrates the point. Notice the yellow newspaper bin and the green signs especially. Both are a touch too bright in corrected frame. This way, the true colors are preserved where possible. This also rids the image of any slight haloing that has been caused due to contrast adjustments (Especially noticeable in scenes with the zipline, and the banker’s tie).

Looking good.

I’ve tested the LUT’s created by the color matching tool v1.2, using DaVinci Resolve at a number of different settings, and I don’t have the problems with the blown out highlights that were reported. The LUTs are created in exactly the same way as the regraded frames within the GUI itself, which is why I thought it was very odd, that the LUT itself would have issues. The LUT itself also looks right. Here’s my result using the example that I was given:

Source:

Reference:

Regrade:

The only explanation I have, is that the program used to interpret the LUT uses a flawed method of interpolation, leading to the reported artifacts.

Odd, I tried the LUT in DaVinci and the same thing still happened. I’ll try to see if I can install Premiere on my Windows partition and see if all works there.

TheDarkestKnight said:

Odd, I tried the LUT in DaVinci and the same thing still happened. I’ll try to see if I can install Premiere on my Windows partition and see if all works there.

Could you send me the LUT file?

Yes. All shots are being corrected to the screener, except for maybe the prologue which could use the BB Prologue’s colors. There will be a version with all the full, un-cropped, IMAX shots taken from the special edition and full-screen DVD.

I’ve debugged the color matching tool, such that it should no longer give problems with some of the LUTs, that are created by the tool. The debugged version can be found here:

http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Color-matching-and-prediction-color-correction-tool-v13-released/id/18128/page/30#980676

Just tried the debugged version. Looks like the artifacts are gone. Thanks DrDre, this tool is quite possibly the greatest thing since microwavable bacon.

Great news! Congratulations to DrDre and The Darkest Knight. This project shows a lot of promise in fixing a fairly underwhelming BD transfer.

TheDarkestKnight said:

Just tried the debugged version. Looks like the artifacts are gone. Thanks DrDre, this tool is quite possibly the greatest thing since microwavable bacon.

Hahaha, excellent! Thanks!