With everything the late Michael Jackson’s been in the news for in recent years, it’s highly doubtful that Captain EO will ever get an official home media release, let alone in 3D. So, it’s been left to the wealthy among us to take up the challenge of preserving this picture in all its original 3D glory.
OK, how does v1.0.2 look compared to the 4K UHD? Any honest opinions?
If Kino doesn’t fix the way the Theatrical Cut was cut this time around, too, I shall be very put off.
Nobody’s satisfied with the official colors of at least one release of all three? Fine. I’ll compile an 8K Ultimate Edition myself using the latest non-revisionist releases, as soon as I can find the time and resources to make such a compilation.
Based on the linked-to posts JonathanArthur19 showed me, I decided to scrap the coloring and try another one that looked more like the images in said posts. This will form the basis of v1.0.2, which I’m uploading as I type this. Those who got v1.0.1 will get v1.0.2 shortly, via DM; everyone else, please send requests via DM.
And those who watch v1.0.2, please give me your full honest opinion on how the new color correction looks, and what, if anything, I can do to fix any flaws you might detect; I strive to please the customer as much and as quickly as I can, because the customer is always right.
I wish I could. As it is, I could use some help on that front. At any rate, are the Viewmaster slides still up for reference on another thread?
I’ll work on the Gaussian Blur settings first, maybe tone that down to multiples of 3 instead of 5 as a starting point, so that the softening won’t look as intense. Again, my goal with the Gaussian Blur is to make it so the blues and reds are just slightly softer than the greens, as the green layer of 3-strip Technicolor was always the sharpest of the three color layers, historically speaking.
Thanks! I was trying to replicate the 3-strip Technicolor look, and so I intended for the blues and reds to look slightly less sharp than the greens (but just slightly). Also, in accordance with the modern technique, I wasn’t going to add the key layer (basically 50% of the green strip on black and white film), but it would’ve looked a quite bit blurrier without the key layer. So, I composited the key layer over the other three layers with a soft light blend (the green and blue layers both use the add blend) and reduced multiplication to 0.500.
As for the red layer, I gave it a hue of 0 and a saturation of 0.905; for the green layer, the hue was 0.333 and the saturation was 0.263; and the blue layer had a hue of 0.667 and a saturation of 0.482. All were in accordance with the values seen on page 6 of this paper, under the heading “A Spectrally Based Method for the Emulation of the Technicolor Process on Digital Images”.
Regarding the blurriness, I applied a Gaussian blur of 15 to the red layer, a Gaussian blur of 5 to the green layer, and a Gaussian blur of 10 to the blue layer, while leaving the key layer unblurred. If anyone has any better values for me to use for each layer, feel free to let me know.
Those who received v1.0.1: how did you like it? I want your full, honest opinions, so that I may take them into account in v1.1 (or v1.0.2 if necessary).
I’ve put this project on hold for the time being, while I do some accuracy research in light of a tape of Jules and Jim I’d received this past spring and some info I’d more recently in old newspapers about the subtitles being created specifically for the broadcasts. From what I’m aware thus far, only the 1984 Embassy release of Seven Samurai has the original broadcast subtitles, so that’s where I’m starting my investigation into how to create as accurate an experience as possible without access to any extraneous materials at all, let alone the best, from the original broadcasts (i.e. the original Film Odyssey titles, the Champlin host segments, and the featured Frame of Reference interviews).
v1.0.1 is ready now, and being split as applicable and uploaded as I type this. This, like I said earlier, features a lingual correction to the 2D version and an attempt to color correct to a three-strip Technicolor look. If you’re satisfied with the colors, fine; I’ll worry about fixing any artifacting in a later revision. If not, please let me know via DM of any trouble spots, and I’ll work on them for either v1.0.2 or v1.1.
And, as always, I’d like any requests for this version to be made via DM.
Fair enough for me. I’ll start work on the individual slides soon, and then combine them into an MOV file, if that’s the format you prefer.
Oh. Well, at any rate, I’d like to recreate the original three-slide prologue in high definition, so you can give us the option to watch it with or without.
If anyone has the Japanese Blu-ray, could they send me an MKV file of the original Japanese closing credits special feature?
If you want, I could make some foreign-language titles and credits to go with any foreign-language audio tracks.
With the blessing of rthomas2, I’m now the official keeper of the DJMasturbeats version on this site. I will upload it to Zippyshare tomorrow afternoon. As with my own ongoing Toy Story 1.5K restoration project, DM me if you want the links.
I’d like to. DM me the link.
v1.0.1 should be ready early next month, and I’ll send links to those who’d asked for v1.0 once I’ve got it uploaded.
I’ve just discovered while preparing the red, green, and blue separation masters for color correction that I’d accidentally used a version with Dutch titles for the 2D version. This, too, will be fixed come v1.0.1, so stay tuned.
I hope my DVDs were a useful source!
JEDIT: If you don’t credit my sources if you use them, I will be VERY unimpressed.
I intend to use them in a future update. Again, thanks!
The 3D version is now available.
I’d like the complete brace of ISOs, at the very least.
For those wanting this project, I’m currently uploading the 2D version as we speak; I will upload the 3D (red/cyan anaglyph) version after I’ve finished running the left and right eyes through FFMPEG, combined them in Blender, and run the result through FFMPEG.
Please specify in your PMs whether you want the 2D version or the 3D version, or both. Otherwise, I will just send the 3D version. Once v1.0.1, with color correction, is complete, I recommend you replace your copies of the project with that version, 2D and/or 3D.
Those who receive the project via PM, let me know how it looks and how I could improve on it in future revisions.
If anyone has any links, could they send them to me via Gmail?
Then I’d settle for a private message, if that’s kosher.