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Wallace & Gromit in "The Wrong Trousers" - Original Audio Preservation (Released) — Page 4

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Dek Rollins said:

NewClear said:

If you want to slow it to 24fps, you can slow the audio down by encoding it like this:

ffmpeg -loglevel error -stats -n -i “The Wrong Trousers HD v2.mkv” -vn -sn -af asetrate=46080,aresample=48000 -c:a aac -b:a 192k -vbr 5 “The Wrong Trousers HD v2.mka”

And just remux it with the video in mkvtoolnix, de-selecting the original audio, and setting the video frame rate to 24fps.

I’m not well versed in ffmpeg, does this operation keep the correct audio pitch? I assume you’re posting this for the benefit of those who want to keep their file BD-compliant.

Pitch is lower.
I think the slowed down audio pitch sounds closer to what I remember from the VHS I used to watch.

The main part of it is this:

-af asetrate=46080,aresample=48000

It slows it down to 46080Hz rate, and then resamples it to 48000Hz.

This encodes to aac 192k:

-c:a aac -b:a 192k -vbr 5

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If you’re from the US, your VHS would have been pitched lower of course. I didn’t know I was watching it with the wrong pitch until I made this thread and the correct speed became a point of discussion.

Army of Darkness: The Medieval Deadit | The Terminator - Color Regrade | The Wrong Trousers - Audio Preservation
SONIC RACES THROUGH THE GREEN FIELDS.
THE SUN RACES THROUGH A BLUE SKY FILLED WITH WHITE CLOUDS.
THE WAYS OF HIS HEART ARE MUCH LIKE THE SUN. SONIC RUNS AND RESTS; THE SUN RISES AND SETS.
DON’T GIVE UP ON THE SUN. DON’T MAKE THE SUN LAUGH AT YOU.

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 (Edited)

If you’re doing 23.976fps (24000/1001) instead of 24fps, the rate would be 48000*960/1001

-af asetrate=48000*960/1001,aresample=48000

which works out to 46033.966, instead of 46080

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The 1995 CBS/FOX VHS releases have the correct pitch audio, as well as the 2001 Warner/BBC DVD (don’t know if that release has the altered audio since it was released after 2000; we actually rented that DVD from Netflix in 2006 back when they were doing DVDs by mail). I’m not sure why the CBS/FOX DVD version has AGDO and TWT running at 24 and ACS at 25, why couldn’t they do pulldown on AGDO and TWT like ACS?

After ripping my 1999 DVD, AGDO and TWT run at 23.976, but ACS plays at the original 25 fps (even though it’s an NTSC release, 720x480, NOT 720x576). Luckily I grew up with the 2001 Warner DVD back then and remembered the pitch it was. After trying to watch W&G years later, the audio didn’t sound right until more than a year ago I found out that Aardman shot the films and did post at 25fps instead of the standard 24fps.

Honestly, if they really wanted to go 24fps, at least keep the audio the same. It’s just like 24fps get sped up for PAL regions at 25fps and the film audio is sped up, except it’s the reverse. We’re watching the film at an incorrect speed!

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 (Edited)

Interesting that the '95 VHS has the correct pitch. I wonder why more care wasn’t taken in later releases.

By the way, I’m working on A Grand Day Out now.

Army of Darkness: The Medieval Deadit | The Terminator - Color Regrade | The Wrong Trousers - Audio Preservation
SONIC RACES THROUGH THE GREEN FIELDS.
THE SUN RACES THROUGH A BLUE SKY FILLED WITH WHITE CLOUDS.
THE WAYS OF HIS HEART ARE MUCH LIKE THE SUN. SONIC RUNS AND RESTS; THE SUN RISES AND SETS.
DON’T GIVE UP ON THE SUN. DON’T MAKE THE SUN LAUGH AT YOU.

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 (Edited)

d00mb0yz96 said:

The 1995 CBS/FOX VHS releases have the correct pitch audio, as well as the 2001 Warner/BBC DVD (don’t know if that release has the altered audio since it was released after 2000; we actually rented that DVD from Netflix in 2006 back when they were doing DVDs by mail). I’m not sure why the CBS/FOX DVD version has AGDO and TWT running at 24 and ACS at 25, why couldn’t they do pulldown on AGDO and TWT like ACS?

After ripping my 1999 DVD, AGDO and TWT run at 23.976, but ACS plays at the original 25 fps (even though it’s an NTSC release, 720x480, NOT 720x576). Luckily I grew up with the 2001 Warner DVD back then and remembered the pitch it was. After trying to watch W&G years later, the audio didn’t sound right until more than a year ago I found out that Aardman shot the films and did post at 25fps instead of the standard 24fps.

Honestly, if they really wanted to go 24fps, at least keep the audio the same. It’s just like 24fps get sped up for PAL regions at 25fps and the film audio is sped up, except it’s the reverse. We’re watching the film at an incorrect speed!

Is it possible, though? If I remember correctly, whenever a PAL (25p or 25i) source is converted to NTSC (24p with pulldown to 30p or 30i), most companies opt to convert the 25 frame/field-per-second source to an interlaced format (the aforementioned 30i), even if it was shot progressive (i.e. on film). In most instances of this method, the pitch of the original source is kept intact; could converting a progressive PAL (25p) source to progressive NTSC (23.976/24p) bring similar (if not completely identical) results? Many of the posts on this thread suggest that most U.S. home video releases of the “Wallace & Gromit” shorts present each short converted incorrectly.

(Oh, and one more thing: don’t you actually mean 640x480? The video of an NTSC DVD is indeed stored at 720x480, but is scaled to either 640x480 (4:3) or 853x480 (16:9))

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A Grand Day Out is now up, speed corrected to 25fps, with speed/pitch corrected DVD audio and Blu-ray commentary. 3.27GB MKV.

I may do A Close Shave as well, but if I do I’ve decided to leave it in SD because of the cropped Blu-ray.

Army of Darkness: The Medieval Deadit | The Terminator - Color Regrade | The Wrong Trousers - Audio Preservation
SONIC RACES THROUGH THE GREEN FIELDS.
THE SUN RACES THROUGH A BLUE SKY FILLED WITH WHITE CLOUDS.
THE WAYS OF HIS HEART ARE MUCH LIKE THE SUN. SONIC RUNS AND RESTS; THE SUN RISES AND SETS.
DON’T GIVE UP ON THE SUN. DON’T MAKE THE SUN LAUGH AT YOU.

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In my opinion, the 1.66:1 framing feels way too tight in many scenes. The crop isn’t even applied consistently, leading me to believe it may not have been intended to be masked.

http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/9B2BMNNU

Army of Darkness: The Medieval Deadit | The Terminator - Color Regrade | The Wrong Trousers - Audio Preservation
SONIC RACES THROUGH THE GREEN FIELDS.
THE SUN RACES THROUGH A BLUE SKY FILLED WITH WHITE CLOUDS.
THE WAYS OF HIS HEART ARE MUCH LIKE THE SUN. SONIC RUNS AND RESTS; THE SUN RISES AND SETS.
DON’T GIVE UP ON THE SUN. DON’T MAKE THE SUN LAUGH AT YOU.

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It’s definitively quite tight. I had always assumed it was one of those deals where it’s framed for academy ratio and protected for 1.66:1, but the fact that you say the crop changes throughout challenges that idea. If that’s the case, why release the other two in their original ratio and crop this one? Very strange.

I’m totally up for the a 4:3 version at PAL speed. Maybe you could use ColorMatch to make it closer resemble the bluray (which has better colors).

Star Trek: The Motion Picture DE - The Anti-DNR Fanedit
Duel (1971) - The Hybrid Cut
The Phantom of the Opera - 1925 Version Reconstruction - Rare Scores Collection - Roy Budd Score

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 (Edited)

WaltWiz1901 said:

Dek Rollins said:

In my opinion, the 1.66:1 framing feels way too tight in many scenes. The crop isn’t even applied consistently, leading me to believe it may not have been intended to be masked.

http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/9B2BMNNU

Really? Those matted screenshots sure do show more horizontal picture info than the open matte screenshots…

Their point is that the opening title and subsequent crop are different, which would not be the case if the film was intended to be matted to 1.66:1. The 2nd crop has that off center crop reminiscent of how they screwed up Seinfeld and some other shows shot originally for 4:3. The extra image on the left would be matted out when adding the soundtrack to the final print.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture DE - The Anti-DNR Fanedit
Duel (1971) - The Hybrid Cut
The Phantom of the Opera - 1925 Version Reconstruction - Rare Scores Collection - Roy Budd Score

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Can, I ask what was different in the DVD Audio of “A Grand Day Out?” compared to the Bluray Audio?

Dek Rollins said:

A Grand Day Out is now up, speed corrected to 25fps, with speed/pitch corrected DVD audio and Blu-ray commentary. 3.27GB MKV.

I may do A Close Shave as well, but if I do I’ve decided to leave it in SD because of the cropped Blu-ray.

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The BD audio doesn’t have major changes like The Wrong Trousers, but it sounds like it might be a different mix. For example, when Wallace is drawing the ship with him and Gromit inside, Wallace is mumbling to himself in the BD track, but he isn’t making any sounds on the DVD that I can hear.

Army of Darkness: The Medieval Deadit | The Terminator - Color Regrade | The Wrong Trousers - Audio Preservation
SONIC RACES THROUGH THE GREEN FIELDS.
THE SUN RACES THROUGH A BLUE SKY FILLED WITH WHITE CLOUDS.
THE WAYS OF HIS HEART ARE MUCH LIKE THE SUN. SONIC RUNS AND RESTS; THE SUN RISES AND SETS.
DON’T GIVE UP ON THE SUN. DON’T MAKE THE SUN LAUGH AT YOU.

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Interesting!

Thanks for explaining.

Dek Rollins said:

The BD audio doesn’t have major changes like The Wrong Trousers, but it sounds like it might be a different mix. For example, when Wallace is drawing the ship with him and Gromit inside, Wallace is mumbling to himself in the BD track, but he isn’t making any sounds on the DVD that I can hear.

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According to the very next post, Prime does not. I hope someone can confirm itunes though.

Army of Darkness: The Medieval Deadit | The Terminator - Color Regrade | The Wrong Trousers - Audio Preservation
SONIC RACES THROUGH THE GREEN FIELDS.
THE SUN RACES THROUGH A BLUE SKY FILLED WITH WHITE CLOUDS.
THE WAYS OF HIS HEART ARE MUCH LIKE THE SUN. SONIC RUNS AND RESTS; THE SUN RISES AND SETS.
DON’T GIVE UP ON THE SUN. DON’T MAKE THE SUN LAUGH AT YOU.

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Dek Rollins said:

According to the very next post, Prime does not. I hope someone can confirm itunes though.

My bad, sorry for not reading the whole thing.

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Is there any verification that the 25 FPS is correct?. Stop motion is generally shot at 12 FPS, since it’s too much work to animate any faster, and then doubled to film speed. That’s how they made Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The only reason for them to be 25 FPS would be if they sped up the video and produced the audio at 25 FPS for PAL broadcast purposes

Pitch is really only half of what you need to figure it out as well, you also need to check the timings. Pitch is easily fixed, by adjusting the tempo, which keeps the same pitch, but changes the length (most likely how they fixed it on the VHS).

The best way to figure out the proper framerate is to compare to the soundtrack/score, if it exists officially anywhere. You would check the pitch and length against the video audio. One might be the same pitch, but longer or shorter

Alternatively, surely someone at ‎Aardman might know. It might be worth reaching out via e-mail or social media

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EGOvoruhk said:

The best way to figure out the proper framerate is to compare to the soundtrack/score, if it exists officially anywhere. You would check the pitch and length against the video audio. One might be the same pitch, but longer or shorter

I don’t think the soundtrack was ever officially released on CD or digital for the TV specials. Only “The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” had an official release.

All I can find on YouTube are Blu Ray rips.

There is this, which is apparently a rare promo CD but I can’t find any more info anywhere else;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VimZfYsDHkc&list=PLCE33B3B271AF3544

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 (Edited)

EGOvoruhk said:

Is there any verification that the 25 FPS is correct?. Stop motion is generally shot at 12 FPS, since it’s too much work to animate any faster, and then doubled to film speed. That’s how they made Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The only reason for them to be 25 FPS would be if they sped up the video and produced the audio at 25 FPS for PAL broadcast purposes

Pitch is really only half of what you need to figure it out as well, you also need to check the timings. Pitch is easily fixed, by adjusting the tempo, which keeps the same pitch, but changes the length (most likely how they fixed it on the VHS).

The best way to figure out the proper framerate is to compare to the soundtrack/score, if it exists officially anywhere. You would check the pitch and length against the video audio. One might be the same pitch, but longer or shorter

Alternatively, surely someone at ‎Aardman might know. It might be worth reaching out via e-mail or social media

[Emphasis mine] I think that’s exactly what was done. It was shot in twos, and was presumably sped up to 25fps for audio sync. I’m willing to trust the UK broadcasts of The Wrong Trousers over video releases with the wrong pitch, that happen to have the exact same pitch difference you get from a PAL-NTSC slow-down.

Army of Darkness: The Medieval Deadit | The Terminator - Color Regrade | The Wrong Trousers - Audio Preservation
SONIC RACES THROUGH THE GREEN FIELDS.
THE SUN RACES THROUGH A BLUE SKY FILLED WITH WHITE CLOUDS.
THE WAYS OF HIS HEART ARE MUCH LIKE THE SUN. SONIC RUNS AND RESTS; THE SUN RISES AND SETS.
DON’T GIVE UP ON THE SUN. DON’T MAKE THE SUN LAUGH AT YOU.

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 (Edited)

Dek Rollins said:

I may do A Close Shave as well, but if I do I’ve decided to leave it in SD because of the cropped Blu-ray.

For “A Close Shave”, would it be worth capturing an HDTV broadcast from BBC One or Two?

I’m not sure what aspect ratio it’s broadcast in these days as I’ve not seen any recent broadcasts myself.

It get gets repeated quite a lot throughout the year, mainly on CBBC Channel but that will most likely have a logo.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q0k5b

Although if it is broadcast in 4:3 then hopefully logo’s won’t be an issue if it’s within the black bars on the side.

“The Wrong Trousers” has the altered music on BBC iPlayer so I’m guessing that’s the version they broadcast nowadays. Not that it matters now.

Update - “A Close Shave” aired on BBC One on Saturday 29th May, 2021 and it was the cropped widescreen version. It’s also airing on the 5th and 6th June on CBBC so we’ll see.

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Really cool stuff. I have always owned the original VHS release since I was a kid which was passed down from my parents. Cool to see people preserving the original mono audio!

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Hi, I don’t suppose anyone has a copy they’d mind sharing?