Harry Potter Saga in 4K Hybrid Open Matte/Scope - Theatrical Cuts

Hello there!

I wanted to share with you details of an upcoming project I’ve been working on those past few days : hybrid releases of Harry Potter movies using mixes of 2.39 scope image and the expanded 1.78 image from MAX (when it is not pan&scan).

Every single shot is being compared to preserve the biggest frame possible for an ultimate movie experience.

The goal is to use every single shot expanding the original 2.39 scope ratio to 1.78 open matte, put them back in the movies, but get rid of the pan & scan shots. I want them to feel like a Christopher Nolan IMAX movie experience, except it is not IMAX but open matte.

Considering :

• the color grading has been changed in HDR for the 4K releases
• the 4K SDR counterpart doesn’t quite match the color grading of the 1.78 release
• the 1.78 release is available in 1080p only
• the 1.78 release color grading is matching the original 2.39 bluray color grading

These releases will combine the untouched 2.39 bluray image with the 1.78 MAX image and untouched audios from the 4K releases in DTS:X (English) and DTS-HDMA (Truefrench). I’ve also transcoded audio in Dolby Digital AC-3 640 kbps for those who are unable to decode DTS. The rendered images will then be upscaled in 4K using my best Topaz Video settings.

Sorcerer’s Stone (Released)

Completely Open Matte
A few shots were zoomed in but offered more image on top and bottom, so I decided to keep them in
Bluray image is used for Warner logos and credits.
Note: there is still macroblocking and banding during selected sequences.
It is part of the open matte image master and has been altered as much as possible. But it might still be visible, especially on the opening scene (which was also horrible on the original bluray master)

Chamber of Secrets (Released)

Completely Open Matte
A few shots were zoomed in but offered more image on top and bottom, so I decided to keep them in
Bluray image is used for Warner logos and credits.
Note: It is part of the open matte image master and has been altered as much as possible. But it might still be visible.

Prisoner of Azkaban (Released)

• Completely in Scope. The new 4K Filmized remaster is using the same process for consistency with my Hybrid Open Matte / Scope releases.

Goblet of Fire (Released)

• Completely Open Matte
• A few shots were zoomed in but offered more image on top and bottom, so I decided to keep them in
• Bluray image is used for Warner logos and credits.

Order of the Phoenix (Released)

• Completely Open Matte
• A few shots were zoomed in but offered more image on top and bottom, so I decided to keep them in
• Bluray image is used for Warner logos and credits.

Half-Blood Prince (In progress)

• Hybrid of Open Matte & Scope
• Most of the shots are zoomed in and don’t offer any additional info on top and bottom. Those shots aren’t used.
• A few shots are zoomed in but offer more info on top and bottom, so these are used in the Hybrid release.
• Only few shots are in open matte and most of these full shots are part of sequences using zoomed in shots with more image on top and bottom. Those open matte and zoomed in sequences offering more image on top and bottom are used in the hybrid release
• Bluray image is used for Warner logos and credits. The animated credits are in Open Matte.

Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Released)

• Hybrid of Open Matte & Scope
• A few shots are zoomed in but offer more info on top and bottom, so these are used in the Hybrid release.
• Only few shots are in open matte and most of these full shots are part of sequences using zoomed in shots with more image on top and bottom. Those open matte and zoomed in sequences offering more image on top and bottom are used in the hybrid release
• Bluray image is used for credits in scope format.

Deathly Hallows Part 2 (In progress)

• Hybrid of Open Matte & Scope
• Almost half of the film is open matte.
• Rest of the movie is zoomed in and don’t offer any additional info on top and bottom. Those shots aren’t used.
• Bluray image is used for credits in scope format.

UPDATE 02.28.24

“Sorcerer’s Stone”, “Chamber of Secrets”, “Goblet of Fire” and “Order of the Phoenix” are now available in 4K Open Matte. “Half-blood Prince” and “Deathly Hallows - Part 1” are also available in 4K Hybrid Open Matte / Scope. Check my last comments in this thread for screenshots.

“Deathly Hallows part 2” 4K Hybrid Open Matte / Scope is coming soon.

Wow sounds amazing! I remember the project for the hybrid first film which was amazing to watch the largest picture and longest version possible, so really looking forward to this.

The “gaia” upscaler in Topaz AI is the way to go if you end up doing a 4K upscale. It does a very good job with 1080p-to-4K (although it is quite slow). And then afterward maybe add back a very light grain to the image in Resolve.

mvortex said:

Wow sounds amazing! I remember the project for the hybrid first film which was amazing to watch the largest picture and longest version possible, so really looking forward to this.

I don’t think I’ll go the extended editions path but I might keep it in mind for a near future. HP 8 is almost finished and the amount of expanded aspect radio shots is quite impressive.

CamSMurph said:

Sounds exciting! Since you’re releasing them in 1080p, they should play fine on my PC. 😃

How different is the colour grading between the 4K SDR and 1.78:1 releases?

For example, HP1 in 4K is a new master and color correction has been applied on scenes. The open matte version has the same color grading as sthe old HD master so it makes sense to merge them for shots that are not open matte (if there are any, cause the film seems to be completely open matte).

Another solution might be to tone map the 4K master to SDR, upscale the open matte to 4K, merge the 4K resolution of HP 1 back in the open matte version shot by shit and color match the expanded portions of the image with the 4K SDR. But it surely would take too much time, so I’m going the easy way at the moment, starting with HP 8.

rwzmjl said:

The “gaia” upscaler in Topaz AI is the way to go if you end up doing a 4K upscale. It does a very good job with 1080p-to-4K (although it is quite slow). And then afterward maybe add back a very light grain to the image in Resolve.

Interesting, I’ve been testing the new IRIS upscaler on Topaz Video 4 and it seems to give even better results than Gaia. I might do some tests before choosing the right settings. What parameters are you using in manual mode ?

Really really interested in these results

Edit

Check original post

MJBenito said:

UPDATE 02.10.24

Hello there.

Cool project! If these are the upscaled images, it looks like a lot of DNR is baked in.

waffle said:

MJBenito said:

UPDATE 02.10.24

Hello there.

Cool project! If these are the upscaled images, it looks like a lot of DNR is baked in.

Those were preview images of the 1080p version. I removed them all since I finished the whole rendering in 4K for the Sorcerer’s stone movie in open matte.

Is it possible to contribute to this project?

blinky8 said:

Is it possible to contribute to this project?

No crowdfunding is necessary for this project. You only must legally own copies of each film and not make money off of these remasters when available. I’m only doing this because I love Harry Potter movies and they deserve to be preserved in each aspect ratio.

blinky8 said:

Is it possible to contribute to this project?

No crowdfunding is necessary for this project. You only must legally own copies of each film and not make money off of these remasters when available. I’m only doing this because I love Harry Potter movies and they deserve to be preserved in each aspect ratio.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” are now available in 4K Open Matte. Here are some screenshots :

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”

“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”

“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” is now available in 4K Open Matte.

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is now available in 4K Open Matte.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1” is now available in 4K Hybrid Open Matte / Scope.

“Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince” is now available in 4K Hybrid Open Matte / Scope

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2” is now available in 4K Hybrid Open Matte / Scope.

Extended Cuts are being released in 4K Hybrid Open Matte / Scope as well : https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Harry-Potter-1-2-in-4K-Hybrid-Open-MatteScope-Extended-Cuts/id/115580

Due to high demand of download requests, I’m looking for a better tool than Resilio to host my Harry Potter remasters projects. I’ll get back to everyone when it’s available. If you have any encrypted solution, feel free to send me a PM. Thanks for the patience. In the meantime, “Sorcerer’s Stone” extended cut is done in 4K Hybrid Open Matte / Scope and I’ll start working on “Chamber of Secrets” extended cut in 4K Hybrid Open Matte / Scope really soon.

“Prisoner of Azkaban” is now available in 4K Scope using the same remastering process as my 4K Hybrid Open Matte / Scope remasters.

Thanks to nightstalkerpoet, a new version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 4K Filmized Open Matte is in the works. The main goal is to get rid of the macroblocking and banding (especially on night scenes), using a much better 1080p encode of the open matte version. Both THEATRICAL and EXTENDED cuts will get a V2 in the upcoming days.

On the side of the latter films, I’ve watched the whole saga in that format and I have some export issues with HP 7-8 that need to be fixed before it gets available. It is mainly frame drops between the Scope and the Open Matte switch, so it won’t take much time. Thanks for your patience.