Prodrummer1603

Sanphet27 said:

Hello! I am new to this site, but have been researching on this topic and found this thread super interesting so far.

I am not fortunate enough to have seen the original 35mm screening of the Lord of the Rings so I do not know how the film looked like as they originally intended, but I do love the extended edition of the film. The images of the visuals shown appeared far superior than any of the digital releases that I have watched, and combined with the contents added in the extended edition of the film would definitely redefine the film for me.

I am really looking forward to this project, and if possible, the other two sequels as well!

Although, I am curious about the progress of this project and if there are any releases to date. I would appreciate if anyone can update me on this.

Thank you for your hard work and hope for a smooth success!

So far only the first half of the first movie (Fellowship of the Ring) has been released. DrDre is currently working on the 2nd half but he also plans to make some adjustments to the first half as well since he developed a new color matching algorithm/process.

It might take a few years until all movies are regraded and upscaled. But my hope is that the process for the 2nd and 3rd movie is much shorter since both movies didn’t suffer from any obvious color tints.

Spunjeroo said:

Has anyone managed to get the links for the remastered trilogy? Would love a share if possible

Do you mean the Theatrical or Extended ?

Hydra Spectre said:

Does Dremastered use AI or no?

Also, if the 4K versions are AI-upscaled, are the 1080p versions AI-free?

There are no Native-4k-Versions of these movies out there unless you count the 4k-Scans of the cinema prints made by fans (which have a lot of grain and artifacts).

WB/Peter Jackson created a 2k-DI back in the days and even the official 4k-Bluray is based on that 2k-DI, meaning they had to upscale to 4k.

DrDre’s version is based on the Extended Bluray (1080p). He regrades the movies, uses digital effects to remove the edge enhancement present on the bluray and upscales the footage to 4k.

neohanime said:

I am not sure if this is intentional, but here’s the difference between Dremastered extended vs. theatrical for those curious: https://imgur.com/a/Vhr46oG

Its intentional because the process for both version was different:

Theatrical DreMastered:
Source Material: Old Theatrical Bluray
Regrade: NONE
Processing: Upscale to 4k

Extended DreMastered:
Source Material: Extended Bluray from 2011
Regrade: Removing the green tint => regrade with 35mm negative scan as reference
Processing: Using AI to remove edge enhancement, Upscale to 4k

I prefer the new color grading for the Extended Cut. Much more nuanced than the old theatrical color grade. But that’s personal preference.

blakninja said:

Why is everyone talking about 35mm negatives scan?

I think DrDre uses a 35mm print (or a scan of a 35mm print) for color reference. He’s not using 35mm negatives nor a scan of the 35mm negatives.

Not me 😄 You are right ofc. Base line for the upscale is the Extended Bluray and not any 35mm scans.

diegolondrina said:

Prodrummer1603 said:

Wraths said:

Could somebody explain what all of this technology is doing to the film?

To get rid of the green tint DrDre decided to regrade the whole movie using reference camera negatives (35mm) which were delivered to cinemas back in the day.

Do you have some more info. on the negatives (straight up negatives or scans?) he is using? I mean, you say they are ones delivered to cinemas back in the day, so why use the HD EE BluRay as source and not the negative (in terms of detail)? From reading other replies I assume that the issue is that the Bluray sourced from the original camera negative, and not some copy-of-a-copy type negative:

illuvatar said:

Well, these are sourced from the Extended blurays, with a custom colorgrade based on the 35mm. The colors should be similar, but the 35mm ones will probably have a bit more grain or scratches maybe, or just general lower quality since the bluray source here used uses the original camera negative and not some copy-of-a-copy 35mm print. Just a guess though, I haven’t seen the 35mm ones yet.

So, what is Dre using? If he is using a degraded copy, does that mean that a 1080p compressed Bluray (as far as Bluray is compressed compared to full scans) sourced from original camera negatives (what about the vfx?) still looks better than 4k scans of cinema negatives like the one Dre has?

*Sorry for being an id–ot and not knowing what I’m talking about at all, but would be nice to get some explanation if anyone has the time 😛.

The only 35mm-scans I know of (and have actually downloaded and seen) are those on this platform (which I think were made by a private entity and not by a high budget Hollywood studio). These LOTR-35mm-4k-Scans are quite noisy and have a lot of imperfections (scratches, brightness fluctuations, …). Cleaning them up would be a painful job and I don’t think it would give you a better source material then the Extended Bluray. The 35mm-scans are still good enough for matching color grading though.

I’m actually amazed on how much detail DrDre was able to extract from those Blurays. And how much cleaner and consistent the grain looks.

As far as I understand this is the process DrDre uses:

Source-Material: REMUX of the Extended Blurays
Reference for Colorgrading: 4k-scans of 35mm negatives

Steps:

1. Regrade the movies based on the 4k-scans (35mm)
2. Using AI to get rid of the edge enhancement to make the movie look more organic
3. Using AI to upscale the final result to 4K

Trust me: You won’t be disappointed by the resolution or encoding. Its top-notch.

wesslan said:

Got another of those waffle? 😃 Based on what DrDre said about the quality of the theatrical blu-rays vs the extended (EE, shadows) and those who have seen both projects, is there a visual difference in quality or is extended just as good now for the first movie?

The only problem with the Extended Bluray (2011) of the first movie (Fellowship of the Ring) was the color grading (green tint, slight black crush) which got fixed for the most part by DrDre in THIS release. There is simply no better way to watch the movies imo. Sharpness and detail is better than the official 4k Bluray. And I actually like the Fixed Extended Color Grading over the old Theatrical Color Grading and the new color grading present on the official 4k Disc. It still has the dreamy look with strong color tints while being more nuanced than the old theatrical grading.

The Theatrical Edition - 4k Dremastered is fine given the bad condition of the source material (DNR, softness) but it does not come close to the image quality of this Extended Release.

Daxtreme said:

I read the whole thread but no one answered that yet: anyone knows if you can just remux the audio from the 4K releases (Atmos) into those?

Because the audio is just… better in those releases.

However the image is NOT. This is godly. But yeah, it needs better audio. Some parts in the extended blu-ray are so bad, even in the DTS mix, that they go out of audio bounds (the sound distorts). Listen to Galadriel intro in audio software, you’ll see. Bad mix.

Thanks so much for doing this and I will be eagerly waiting more releases.

I see no reason why you can’t. Simply use MKVToolnix. Extract the audio file from whatever release you want and remux it with this mkv. DrDre did not alter anything that could result in a sync problem between video and audio.
I applied some subtitles from other releases and didn’t spot any issues

Prodrummer1603 said:

ConstipatedSpidey said:

Prodrummer1603 said:

snotovitz said:

Hello,
May I please ask for a link to download DrDre’s theatrical editions? I sent him a pm, but haven’t got a response.
Thanks very much

No one has heard from DrDre since October 2023. Seems like he is busy with other stuff. So no wonder you got no response.
I would recommend writing in the dedicated thread (for the theatrical cut) because I imagine there are more people with the download-link then here.

he replied in another thread just a few days ago

Yeah, I saw it. Wrote him a PM regarding Part 2 of FOTR 😃 But seems like he is really busy.

Got some update.

Yes, DrDre is back and currently works on the color grade for Part 2 and also Part 1 (to improve some scenes). But it can take a little bit longer than expected since he has a lot to do at work.

ConstipatedSpidey said:

Prodrummer1603 said:

snotovitz said:

Hello,
May I please ask for a link to download DrDre’s theatrical editions? I sent him a pm, but haven’t got a response.
Thanks very much

No one has heard from DrDre since October 2023. Seems like he is busy with other stuff. So no wonder you got no response.
I would recommend writing in the dedicated thread (for the theatrical cut) because I imagine there are more people with the download-link then here.

he replied in another thread just a few days ago

Yeah, I saw it. Wrote him a PM regarding Part 2 of FOTR 😃 But seems like he is really busy.

snotovitz said:

Hello,
May I please ask for a link to download DrDre’s theatrical editions? I sent him a pm, but haven’t got a response.
Thanks very much

No one has heard from DrDre since October 2023. Seems like he is busy with other stuff. So no wonder you got no response.
I would recommend writing in the dedicated thread (for the theatrical cut) because I imagine there are more people with the download-link then here.

TrickySwixy said:

This looks fantastic. I would love a link as well!

PM Sent 😃

evestorm said:

I would like a link also when you have time please. Thanks!

Send you a PM.

samxero said:

Could I have a link to the first part of the Extended? Thank you.

Send you a Link via PM.

deific said:

Prodrummer1603 said:

deific said:

Prodrummer1603 said:

ConstipatedSpidey said:

Does anyone have the link to part 2, and a corrected part 1?

1. Part II is not finished yet. Have to wait for DrDre.
2. What do you mean with “Corrected Part 1” ?

Back when I PMd DrDre for part 1 he said there would be a corrected part 1 when part 2 comes out. He didnt say what that meant though. I assume that’s what ConstipatedSpidey is asking about.

Oh. He didn’t mention this to me 😃 Interesting. But kind of makes sense to release one final version where both parts are matched.
Well, sadly I haven’t heard from DrDre since end of September 2023 😦

Yeah, same. Hopefully he’s just working hard on it.

There was a comment a few pages back saying he had to take time off the project for work but would start again in January so hopefully we’ll get an update soonish

That was my comment 😃 Its the last message I received from him.

deific said:

Prodrummer1603 said:

ConstipatedSpidey said:

Does anyone have the link to part 2, and a corrected part 1?

1. Part II is not finished yet. Have to wait for DrDre.
2. What do you mean with “Corrected Part 1” ?

Back when I PMd DrDre for part 1 he said there would be a corrected part 1 when part 2 comes out. He didnt say what that meant though. I assume that’s what ConstipatedSpidey is asking about.

Oh. He didn’t mention this to me 😃 Interesting. But kind of makes sense to release one final version where both parts are matched.
Well, sadly I haven’t heard from DrDre since end of September 2023 😦

ConstipatedSpidey said:

Does anyone have the link to part 2, and a corrected part 1?

1. Part II is not finished yet. Have to wait for DrDre.
2. What do you mean with “Corrected Part 1” ?

Wraths said:

Could somebody explain what all of this technology is doing to the film?

Each official home release of LOTR (Theatrical/Extended Cut) had issues and was far from perfect. The DVD was just soft, the Theatrical Bluray and 4k-Bluray/Remastered Bluray suffered from DNR. The Extended Bluray from 2011 had black crush and a green tint (especially the first movie). This new 4k Dremaster is based on the Extended Bluray because it is the most detailed and sharpest of them all. To get rid of the green tint DrDre decided to regrade the whole movie using reference camera negatives (35mm) which were delivered to cinemas back in the day.

Here are the main features of the “Extended Edition - 4k Dremaster”:

1. New Color-Grading (you have never seen this before on any home release)

• no green tint
• more nuanced and neutral than the DVD/Theatrical Bluray
• more exiting than the 4k-Bluray/Remastered Bluray

2. No DNR => Grain is still intact, which gives the movie a nice cinematic look
3. No Edge Enhancement => looks more natural
4. 4k-Upscale to make the movie more detailed and sharper

You really have to see and compare it to the other releases. I can say that this 4k Dremastered is the best this movie has ever looked.

The Theatrical 4k Dremastered is basically just a 4k-Upscale without any regrading. There was nothing wrong with the color grading of the Theatrical Bluray.

The Extended 4k Dremastered on the other hand has a different color grading. One, you have not seen on any official home release.
Its somewhere in between the Theatrical Bluray and the Extended Bluray. More nuanced than the theatrical but without the Green tint.

illuvatar said:

Thanks for your work on this, very excited after watching the 4K blurays and being slightly disappointed.
Could some PM me a link for the first part?
And does this version differ in some way from the Dremastered theatrical 4k ones ? Besides it being the extended version of course.

And a side question; when it’s finished, could a TrueHD audio track from the 4Ks be added? That’s in my opinion the only real upgrade in those discs.

Its based on the Extended Bluray from 2011 which had much better Picture quality than the theatrical Bluray, at least it Had better encoding, was sharper and more detailed. This results in a much better looking 4k Upscale, even beating the original 4k Bluray. The Colorgrading should also be different compared to the theatrical 4k Dremastered.

Connormm said:

Does anyone have a link to the 1080p version if this is something that even exists? I only have a link to the 4K version which I cannot play on my TV

As far as I know, a 1080p-Version does not exist. Your only option is to convert the video file. Maybe try to convert to different codec (H264)? The 4k-Version uses HVEC/H265 which not all TVs/Players support.

ConstipatedSpidey said:

Prodrummer1603 said:

drepic said:

Would love a link as well, these look wonderful.

PS made an account just so I could follow this thread…such amazing work.

Sent you the link via PM.

For everyone else who wants the download-link: just contact me via PM.

I thought Part 2 wasn’t out yet.

Yes, Part 2 isn’t out yet. We were talking about Part 1.

drepic said:

Would love a link as well, these look wonderful.

PS made an account just so I could follow this thread…such amazing work.

Sent you the link via PM.

For everyone else who wants the download-link: just contact me via PM.

drepic said:

Would love a link as well, these look wonderful.

PS made an account just so I could follow this thread…such amazing work.

Sent you the link via PM.

FungalFright said:

I’m super excited to watch these, can anyone DM me the deets?

Send you the Link.