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The Three Stooges (Columbia Shorts) [1934-1959] HD Upscale - WIP

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 (Edited)

When I was in elementary school, I spent many weekdays watching “The Stooges Slap Happy Hour” on SpikeTV. Still remember the catchy bumper all these years later. Of course nowadays, most people just watch Stooges on MeTV., So after wanting it for years, I decided to buy the complete DVD box set of all the Columbia Pictures “Stooge” shorts, only to learn that they were just released in HD for free on multiple platforms.
“I’m a victim of coycumstance! Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk…”

However, there’s only one place to watch them in 1080p (LocalNow), but the 720p versions on Tubi are slightly better quality. So utilizing the Tubi versions, I’m in the process of “upscaling” all the shorts from 1934 to 1959 in 4K. I don’t need to use AI for this project, as the sources are already pretty good, so just a little denoising, contrast correction, sharpening and regrain should work just fine, all mastered in 4K. I should note that I’m using real 4K film grain, with just a hint of digital to make it really look good. This project is much easier then the others I’ve done, so hopefully I’ll actually be able to get it done.

Release will be 4K MKV files separated in folders by year of release.

Here’s the famous title card from the first four shorts in glorious 4K.

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UPDATE: Decided to dial it back a bit to just HD upscales. 4K is kinda worthless without HDR. They’re still look better than the official versions.

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How is the progress going on these. Tubi versions are definitely better.