Danfun128

Hold on. No, just no.

...that isn't funny.

Perhaps he still is Cthulhu

nothing of his recursive dreams...

Good Morning TV's Frink...again...

the recursive dream monster...and

...and Frink woke up again...

and Frink woke up again.

and Frink woke up again.

I admit that sometimes I can be a bit too blunt. I also admit that I have trouble explaining things.

Do you have any suggestions on what I should write instead? Something that gets the point across without being rude and condescending, or blunt?

What should I send? Nothing? My original idea for a reply? Something kinder and softer?

Mario then kills him here.

The question stands. Should I send that reply to Mr Black or no?

What a poor name for a website. At first I thought you were linking me to a shock site. It's a good thing the site is genuine.

I noticed that the websites states that the script "is not intended to be used on footage for archival purposes". What do you make of that?

I still haven't sent a response to him yet. Since you mentioned retracing and other types of cleanup which I haven't considered, I decided to change the message. Can you guys tell me if there is anything else I should do before I send?

Hello Mr. Black.

Some of what you said in your email troubled me. First of all, what do you mean by stretching into 16:9? Did you really mean "stretch", or did you mean cropping to 16:9, or pillarboxing the 4:3 footage? Second, and more importantly, are you really going to just upscale the old footage instead of going straight to the 35mm source? If so, what exactly would you do with that footage? Would you just do minor cleanups, or would you use a program to retrace the drawings, or would you use something like what is available at http://www.l33tmeatwad.com/anime-upscale ? No, it's not a shock site, and it isn't my script. Assuming the best, you might get the footage to look a little better than the original SD transfer, but you wouldn't get any more real detail out of the footage. Only by going through the 35mm raw footage and creating a new 1080p or even 4k transfer from scratch would a Blu-Ray release be worth it.

Imagine that you have a blu-ray and a vhs of the same movie. Assume that both are the best that they can look and sound. Now imagine you digitize the vhs recording. You upscale the vhs. Note that no matter what you do, the vhs would never look as good as the movie's DVD, let along a high definition blu-ray. I also want you to consider the fact that some reviewers of recent Magic School Bus dvd sets state that they think the video and audio quality isn't that good to begin with, I don't think upscaling the show and putting those upscales on blu-ray would be wise.

Basically, if you can't make a new remaster from the raw footage, you shouldn't release the series on blu-ray. I'm not trying to be mean, and if I come off that way I apologize. I also understand that you might not have the money to make a new master, and there is nothing wrong with that, but if all you are going to do is upscale the footage or use scripts to make it look marginally better, releasing the series on blu-ray wouldn't be worth it. If someone wanted to, he or she could take the dvd footage and clean it up themselves. Only you guys have the raw 35mm footage, so if possible, I suggest that you make use of it.

*insert closing greeting here*

Regards,

*insert variation of my first name or my username here*

What do you think I should use for a closing greeting, or my name? Should I use Danny (My IRL nickname), Daniel (My real first name), Dan (what he referred to me as), or Danfun*** (that is, the variation of numbers that appears on my email address)?

Face to face with Cthulhu.

Ahh, retracing. Haven't thought of that. Are you allowed to name this script?

Then again, isn't retracing one of the reasons the recommended animated disney thread exists, to avoid it?

The best method for detail is a ST TNG bluray style remaster. However, if, like TNG, some clips are missing from the film footage, retracing may or may not be preferable to upscaling those parts.

What's the difference?

Don't both phrases mean the same thing?

,Old Ones ate Sherlock Holmes

"'reassembling' hd versions from the film" is what Star Trek: The Next Generation did with its blu-ray release, and it looks all the better for it.

Here is the reply I will give to him. I haven't emailed it yet, but I doubt he looks at this website. Besides, I would like you guys to review the message for content. In the message, do I come off as rude or condescending?

Hello Mr. Black.

Some of what you said in your email troubled me. First of all, what do you mean by stretching into 16:9? Did you really mean "stretch", or did you mean cropping to 16:9, or pillarboxing the 4:3 footage? Second, and more importantly, are you really going to just upscale the old footage instead of going straight to the 35mm source? I hope not. Assuming the best, all you would get from the unconversion is less video compression, as the size and codec of a Blu-Ray disc allow more detail to be retained than a DVD transfer. Even then, you wouldn't get any more detail out of the footage, all you would do is make it bigger. Only by going through the 35mm raw footage and creating a new 1080p or even 4k transfer from scratch would a Blu-Ray release be worth it.

Imagine that you have a blu-ray and a vhs of the same movie. Assume that both are the best that they can look and sound. Now imagine you digitize the vhs recording. You upscale the vhs. Note that no matter what you do, the vhs would never look as good as the movies DVD, let along a high definition blu-ray. I also want you to consider the fact that some reviewers of recent Magic School Bus dvd sets state that they think the quality isn't that good to begin with, I don't think upscaling the show and putting those upscales on blu-ray would be wise. You may point to the first four seasons of the new version of Doctor Who, but they have the excuse of being recorded in standard definition to begin with. As you say that the raw footage for The Magic School Bus is from 35mm film, and didn't originate from tape, that excuse doesn't work.

Basically, if you can't make a new remaster from the raw footage, you shouldn't release the series on blu-ray. I'm not trying to be mean, and if I come off that way I apologize. I also understand that you might not have the money to make a new master, and there is nothing wrong with that, but if all you are going to do is upscale the footage, releasing the series on blu-ray is not worth it.

I bet you never expected this thread to come back :P

I have received a response from Scholastic

from:	Black, Eric <EBlack@scholastic.com>
to:	"danfun***@*****.com" <danfun***@*****.com>
date:	Wed, Jan 7, 2015 at 12:54 PM
subject:	FW: The Production of Magic School Bus [Email: 141218-000278] [<AX3816841>]
mailed-by:	scholastic.com

Hi Dan,

I"m assuming Dan is your name from your email address. Sorry if that is inaccurate!  My name is Eric Black. I am the Director of Production and Technical Operations for Scholastic Media, so your question has been forwarded on to me.

Thanks for your questions! It's great to see people excited about our shows and curious about the production and post production process. Some of your questions are tricky to answer, because the show originated in 1994, few of the people involved in the production are available and the paperwork (literally on paper) is either gone or in deep storage.  But I'll do my best!

The show originated on 35MM film, but from what I can gather, the film was then transferred to video and the editing all happened with video. I assume that video was mastered as NTSC, since the production was North American. The PAL versions would then have been conversions from the NTSC masters.

I have actually been investigating the possibility of full HD remastering from the source film, but it would be a very expensive process, and I'm not sure it would pay for itself, let alone make a profit. Past up converts to HD that we made from the SD video masters actually look decent and the stretch to 16:9 isn't horrible with animation, but I've had samples made with newer technology makes a really nice 16:9. We could potentially use that technology and color correction and other enhancements to digitally remaster without going back to the original film. 

Thanks again for your interest! Feel free to ask any follow up questions you may have.

Best,

Eric

---------------------------------------------------------------

Eric Black
Director, Production & Technical Operations
Scholastic Media
524 Broadway, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10012

phone: 212-389-3868

I'm not sure what to make of this response. What do you think?

absolutely nobody except a madman

everything to God, who cares

the Declaration of Independence...WHAT?

Actors don't become fictional characters...

and ******* ***** **** ********.

[offstory] I am not in the mood to hear about gory violence involving lightsabers. Let's just say Samuel Jackson died and forget about the whole thing. [/offstory]