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Tomland Flash

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14-Feb-2006
Last activity
11-Nov-2021
Posts
68

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Post
#1376302
Topic
Info Wanted: Buck Rogers In The 25th Century - HD Widescreen Theatrical Cut?
Time

Monolith149 said:

4throck is correct - VHS Hi-Fi specs were good; 20-20KHz frequency response along with a SN ratio of 80dB, definitely exceeding what one heard from the SVA tracks in the theater. Analog LD sound topped out at 19KHz and the Discovision disc would have been made before CX noise reduction was used on analog LD audio tracks. I have made lossless captures from both the VHS Hi-Fi tracks and the Discovision disc using very good equipment and setting manual recording levels and later checking the recordings to make sure that I did not clip any peaks. (I even had a fan restoration project in mind) The crackling on my LD is continuous and gets worse at times. Looking at the waveform of the capture, at best I would say there is only 20dB of dynamic range due to the crackling. The VHS Hi-Fi fares much better, although it does not use the entire 80dB that the Hi-Fi format has. Noise from the source recording comes in as the program starts and goes away after it ends with Hi-Fi pilot indicator being lit all the while.

But get this! I just read at the digital bits that Kino Lorber is planning a new blu-ray release of Buck Rogers - including the theatrical cut of the pilot! No audio specs at the moment. I did e-mail Bill Hunt as well as Kino Lorber to ask about this. Maybe if a few more people do the same we can finally have the stereo track on blu-ray. If I get a response I will post the answer(s).

I messed around plenty with hi-fi vhs back in the day and always using my audio receiver vs the tv. Just assumed laserdiscs (and certainly sound from the film print) would have better frequency range than tape, especially low end. Then there’s the issue of tape hiss or transport imperfections which may be minor but again I assumed wouldn’t be present with ld’s. Of course if all ld’s of Awakening are as bad as yours then it doesn’t sound like a ld audio restoration would be practical. Glad to hear the tape releases were stereo!

The new blu set would be a welcome surprise if they get it right. FWIW I just found out about a uk set from 2018 & someone actually claims it’s stereo, though probably confused by the disc info (dual mono):
https://www.avforums.com/threads/buck-rogers-in-the-25th-century-the-complete-series-on-blu-ray-17-08-2016.2032178/page-5#post-26371646

Post
#1365982
Topic
Info Wanted: Buck Rogers In The 25th Century - HD Widescreen Theatrical Cut?
Time

Monolith149 said:
Unless someone can find a laserdisc without rot, this VHS Hi-Fi stereo may be the best audio available for the theatrical cut of Buck Rogers. This was also released on Beta back in the day as well, but those tapes are harder to find and I have never had any Beta decks.

Hey great post Monolith149, and thanks to everyone else for keeping this thread alive.
The Buck stereo audio has been on my media bucketlist for a while now, having read the same info from Disclord that Silverwook mentioned. I would be willing to pitch in if a decent capture can be made.

Just a thought, but has a bad print or mastering already been ruled out i.e. the noise isn’t identical on all discs, it’s definitely rot?
Does anyone have a section on their LD that is more or less noise-free, so it can be compared to the same section from VHS? I would love to hear samples just to get an idea of how much improvement the LD offers over the vhs.

Assuming noise on everyone’s LD copy is different, and the crackling isn’t continuous on every disc, a complete copy might be possible using the different discs, and possibly patching with the vhs if necessary.

Another approach could just be to go directly to the LD community and see if anyone has a clean disc to sell or at least capture the audio. I used to be in a facebook LD group but don’t have an account any longer.
-T

Post
#1140890
Topic
Mark's health
Time

SilverWook said:

Could you link to the clip so we can see and decide for ourselves? Please warn if there are possible TFA spoilers of course.

Assume you mean TLJ spoilers. If I hear anyone I think might be revealing a spoiler of any kind I avoid or skip forward in video, etc…, so I honestly don’t know, and I didn’t even listen to the whole interview, but here’s link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRo2OO-Kt9k

Post
#1140884
Topic
Mark's health
Time

adywan said:

Yes, he does have breathing problems. its been evident in many interviews. What was also worrying is how much his hand shake. He was on Jamie Oliver’s show here in the uk recently and that was quite noticeable. But it is none of our business if he smokes or not. No one has the right to think they someone should intervene. I know people who are younger than him who have breathing problems and other health issues and have never smoked. Sadly old age creeps up on all of us. But Mark still looks in better shape now than he did prior to filming TFA.

Yes of course he looks well - it underscores how unfortunate it is IF he smokes. Not that it should make a difference, but I smoked on and off for years. I’m not interested in attacking him. I’m not saying anyone has the right to tell him stop, but I think it’s too bad that there hasn’t been some sort of collective effort to ask him to quit if he is in rough shape and that is the cause. If he’s going to live, he’s going to have to quit eventually. If this is smoking related, maybe he quit already and just has COPD. His health issues might not even be smoking-related. My whole point is I hate for the guy to die for nothing. Yes, I’m aware old age occurs. If it wasn’t already clear, I have noticed the problem for some time but the video I saw was alarming - to me, anyway.

Post
#1140852
Topic
Mark's health
Time

Of course I’m not the only one that’s noticed Mark Hamill’s breathing, It’s been “labored” for a while. However, I watched an Ellen clip on youtube recently and couldn’t even finish it. Someone commented he was a smoker. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised but I was. In fact, I admit I was surprised Carrie still smoked. I guess I’d hoped that when it’s that noticeable, friends, family, fans, etc… would take to the internet, “enough’s enough” or whatever. Yes of course I understand individuals’ rights, etc, etc…but when you can’t even gather enough air?
Thoughts?

Post
#942877
Topic
OT Special Editions to have USA Roadshow Summer '16
Time

dahmage said:

Tomland Flash said:

dahmage said:

I emailed my local (well, most local) Alamo and this was the response i got:

[…]
It has definitely NOT been cancelled. Our corporate offices are currently preparing web posts with updated information about the show. […] Due to slightly bizarre screening legalities, the STAR WARS films cannot be played at primary movie-screening venues like the Alamo so that’s why we are forced to think a bit outside the box on this one.

Tickets will go on sale sometime on May 4; we don’t have an exact time pinned down for that quite yet.

When we know more specifics, we’ll be sure to let everyone know. But it’s still moving forward, so fear not! For that is the path to the Dark Side. 😉

Did I miss a post this was responding to, saying the screenings are cancelled?
Because that is what I found out today.

I was going to post in this thread earlier because I work for a (non-Alamo) theater, and we were set to screen all of the films.
The story is Lucasfilm said no when they heard Fox has ok’d these screenings (apparently without consent from Lucasfilm).
How it is even possible to make a “mistake” at that level, no one knows.
Again, my theater isn’t part of Alamo. However, we absolutely obtained the right to screen the films through the appropriate channels (the only channel). Only they didn’t check first with Lucasfilm??

Sorry to be bearer of bad news, but I doubt anyone - including Alamo chain - is going to be screening the films.

Well i think there is way too much “i think” type of commenting going on, thats why i contacted Alamo directly. (I guess you may have a better insight than some as you work at a movie theater, but you are still just reporting hearsay) Until i hear otherwise, i am going to assume that they are still trying to find a way to screen this. That is why they are picking non-movie theater locations.

I’m reporting hearsay, and you’re thinking the Alamo Drafthouse CINEMA chain represents a “non-movie theater location”?
When a theater is denied permission to screen a film - having used the ONLY LEGITIMATE avenue to secure the rights - it’s hardly hearsay, it’s the official answer. There’s a lot more “hearsay” involved in a rumor that there is some sort of loophole for non-theaters, like the Alamo Drafthouse CINEMA chain. For the record, the theater I work for has more non-film events than the Alamo Drafthouse CINEMA chain.

What you’re correct about: 1. way too much “I think” type of commenting - on your part, because you want to see the films; 2. Assuming Alamo is still trying to find a way to screen them. Like the other theaters that were denied the chance. Big refund hassle + loss of revenue + wasted time/money in promotion.

Countdown until Alamo refunds: well underway.

Post
#932342
Topic
OT Special Editions to have USA Roadshow Summer '16
Time

dahmage said:

I emailed my local (well, most local) Alamo and this was the response i got:

[…]
It has definitely NOT been cancelled. Our corporate offices are currently preparing web posts with updated information about the show. […] Due to slightly bizarre screening legalities, the STAR WARS films cannot be played at primary movie-screening venues like the Alamo so that’s why we are forced to think a bit outside the box on this one.

Tickets will go on sale sometime on May 4; we don’t have an exact time pinned down for that quite yet.

When we know more specifics, we’ll be sure to let everyone know. But it’s still moving forward, so fear not! For that is the path to the Dark Side. 😉

Did I miss a post this was responding to, saying the screenings are cancelled?
Because that is what I found out today.

I was going to post in this thread earlier because I work for a (non-Alamo) theater, and we were set to screen all of the films.
The story is Lucasfilm said no when they heard Fox has ok’d these screenings (apparently without consent from Lucasfilm).
How it is even possible to make a “mistake” at that level, no one knows.
Again, my theater isn’t part of Alamo. However, we absolutely obtained the right to screen the films through the appropriate channels (the only channel). Only they didn’t check first with Lucasfilm??

Sorry to be bearer of bad news, but I doubt anyone - including Alamo chain - is going to be screening the films.

Post
#604058
Topic
Disney Acquires LucasFilm for $4.05 billion, Episode 7 in 2015, 8 and 9 to Follow, New Film Every 2-3 Years
Time

I think there's even less chance for the original versions of the films, given George's use of the word "protect".  I have a hard time believing he's really that concerned about copyright infringement given his wealth, but I can see him making specific provisions to prevent the originals from resurfacing.  Hope I'm wrong.

Although I agree that the legacy has already been tainted with the prequels, it's nonetheless sad to see Disney own the films as they did the Muppets.  Detest the company, and in the unlikely event the originals are ever rereleased in unaltered form, I will feel dirty for giving Disney any money. 

I still like George & always will, but wish he actually understood what is worth protecting.

Post
#428284
Topic
digital out from laserdisc players
Time

Moth3r said:

1. No - only LDs that have "digital sound" (i.e. a PCM track) will output auido through the digital out.

2. Check what's available on ebay then check the specs at laserdiscarchive.co.uk.

 

Thank Moth3r that's very helpful.  I find out the discs do have digital sound...will be nice to have but process is going to be tedious and costly.

"3. I did once write a very rough guide, but it's only applicable if you also captured a video reference with your audio. "

If you mean capture the video at the same time you are capturing digital audio, that wouldn't be a problem (haven't done anything yet).  If you don't mind sending your guide it would be great to have.  Actually any recommended guides for capturing laser for 1st time would probably have something I can use.

Another thing I've been wondering about is what I to expect re: playback reliability of used machines?  Mainly consistent playback speed, since I'll likely be combining video & audio from two different units.  Do I have to consider calibration (assuming I can find someone that will even do it) or are things likely to be "close enough"?

thanks again,

TF

Post
#428174
Topic
digital out from laserdisc players
Time

Some questions for any laserdisc gurus still out there:

1. If a player has digital out, is it able to digitally transfer the main audio (not commentary or extra audio track) from *any* laserdisc? In other words, will the earlier titles with only 1 (analogue) track still transfer audio through the digital out somehow, or will I be forced to use rca's on those early discs?

2. Any lists of players that have digital out? Recommendations for cheap ones? I only need a machine for the digital audio out (video unimportant).

3. Is there a how-to anywhere for syncing audio to video (video and audio extracted from different machines)?

thanks,

-TF

Post
#384510
Topic
Idea: "Hollywood - A Celebration of the American Silent Film" documentary preservation
Time

Hi all,

I just picked up a laserdisc set of this series and am putting out feelers to see if anyone with LD transfer experience (and nicer equipment) would like to help transferring the discs.   The series has never been on DVD, and when asked in an interview about a future release, one of the series creators said “don’t hold your breath”…apparently some stubborn copyright hurdles (many clips, and many persons interviewed).

I got a great deal on the discs, but being a student, it was still very expensive for me.  It would take several years before I could justify the purchase of one of the nicer LD players, and then there would be the capture card.  At this point, I am toying with the idea of uncompressed captures stored on HDD’s, and this series is about 13 hours total…so clearly some significant cost for disc storage alone if I go to that extreme.  Further, I’m not even sure my computer is powerful enough to handle uncompressed video.

I won’t try to convince anyone as to the importance of this series, and the love people have for it has been conveyed often enough on imdb, amazon, etc… beauty is in the eye of the beholder of course.  Like everything else, the entire thing is on youtube if you’d like to watch a bit for yourself.  I think one channel with all episodes (divided into 10 minute chunks) is here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/qualigin

Like I said, putting out feelers.  I could do an “ok” transfer myself, but I’d love to to max out the quality since I’m going through the trouble.  By the way, the LD machines I’d prefer to use - based on what I’ve read - are Pioneer models (in decending order) X0, X9, LD-S2, V-800.  The last two machines iirc don’t have optical audio output, so there’s a question of whether or not to have audio ripped in a separate pass on different machine and then combine later.  Getting way ahead of myself I know, but that’s some of what I’ve been pondering.

SO, if anyone is even interested - or has advice - please let me know.

thanks for reading,

TF

Post
#333436
Topic
Disney's The Black Hole (Complete Score Project) - Any Interest?
Time
Oldfan said:

I also have a very nice rip of the LP in 320kbps mp3, which was cleaned up by somebody very nicely. I don't know if it would be better to get the officially released tracks from the LP or from Itunes. I realize that the Itunes release is compressed, but if the LP doesn't sound so great, which is worse?

Hi there,

Interesting project. I remembered a couple of the musical cues from a book & record a friend had as a kid, and when I found a copy of the LP sealed (for a buck iirc) I picked it up.

That's a shame about the original recordings (4 bit, etc). Almost as bad is the Itunes source being the analog masters, and then releasing as 128k, which is ridiculous.

As for your question above, can you buy a single track from the Itunes release? If so, you could then compare to the LP rip you have.

My guess is that a recording from the LP would sound better than the Itunes, but highly dependent on the equipment used for the transfer. You'd think that the Mask company should have decent gear if they do regular releases, but what extent a bootleg company would go to for quality, I have no clue.

Post
#328338
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
Erikstormtrooper said:

Once again, I humbly request that the XO team release the raw XO captures. (We were shown pictures of the discs at one point.) If this project is dead, then the raw captures ensure that it accomplished something. If the project is not dead, the XO team can continue to improve the quality of the captures and release subsequent versions. Either way, the community wins, and the XO team is to thank for it.

 

Agree. If a restoration completed by the team ever materializes, so much the better, that would be very nice. In the past I defended the X0 team for taking their time, but all things are relative and we are now in the HD era.

I am with ChainsawAsh and others who still see the relevance of X0, because I have never wanted anything to do with repair or erase jobs that involve the 2004 releases.

Post
#314086
Topic
New forum software - please read!
Time
C3PX said:

I wish everyone's old avatars carried over (and stretched to fill the whole avatar box, or at least didn't have a blue boarder around them


ok someone else said it first hehe. Is it possible to make the avatar "canvas" the same dark blue as the background? So there's no need for stretching, etc to avoid seeing the light blue background with smaller images. Don't want to sound picky, but if it's an easy fix honestly I think it would look much better than seeing slivers of light blue around people's avatars. Transparent gifs would look really nice too if the canvas were same color as background.
Congratulations on the software btw, nice job! It may be my imagination but site navigation has been feeling "snappier" too.
Post
#295495
Topic
Idea & Info Wanted: Kiss Meets the Phantom Edit???
Time
Originally posted by: marioxb
And I thought this would be something about Kiss meets Star Wars..


Ironically that is supposedly how the idea for the film was pitched to the band. P. Stanley: "it was supposed to be a cross between A Hard Days Night and Star Wars".

The film is pure camp and you really have to be a fan of camp to enjoy it, too, it's so awful. The dialogue is as tedious as you can imagine, the acting is worse. As for the story, the band members have super powers. A mad scientist makes an evil robot twin for each band member in a plot to destroy the band, have the bots assume their identities, and presumably conquer the world.
P. Criss's lines were completely overdubbed because he was so trashed. A. Frehley substituted his lines for bird sounds (really)...eventually he got pissed and quit before all his scenes were filmed, so at least one scene has a black guy in makeup filling in.
Concert footage has to be less than 5 minutes total (presumably a last-ditch effort to prevent the film from appealing to fans), but it does include the evil robots doing a Kiss song with new evil lyrics.

So yeah, don't think the Holiday Special can just claim the worst ever title unchallenged.


Post
#295494
Topic
The CIA, lightsabers, Wikipedia, and you
Time
There is an online search engine that has recently appeared for tracing IP's of persons editing wikipedia articles:
wikiscanner

Lots of hilarious stuff to browse and links to articles, although unfortunately the ability to search by wiki article title is currently disabled due to high traffic.
Here's the link to edit of lightsaber article by someone at a CIA address:
simply won't allow an article of this importance to be compromised by bad grammar
Post
#258118
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
Originally posted by: Laserman

I've thought about that before and if it had a pink glow under it in every shot it would make sense, but it is only there in those few shots and not there in others.


good point, I guess I'm not that familiar with the film since I didn't recall any other shots that would reveal the underside of the speeder.

Good ole vasoline. you can always count on it to give you a pink glow <--- there wasn't a "smiling, winking & pink" emoticon
Post
#258112
Topic
Idea: La Planète Sauvage (aka Fantastic Planet) project?
Time

Putting out my feelers to see if there’s anyone else as obsessive about this film as I am.

I won’t bore anyone with a fan’s stories of Fantastic Planet vhs releases in EP speed, with fluctuating sound levels, and one with a painfully obvious film splice. I was the Fantastic Planet king when I found my splice-free VHS copy in SP speed and in HiFi!
Moving into the DVD era, fans were treated to a release with non-removable subtitles.

Two of the most recent releases are finally presented anamorphically & with the correct aspect ratio (and with <span class=“Italics”>optional</span> subtitles). One PAL R2 by Arte Vidéo (France), one NTSC R0 by Eureka! Masters of Cinema (UK):
dvdfreak technical comparision w/ screen shots

Note the MOC release is in fact NTSC despite having been released in UK.

<span class=“Bold”>The project proposal</span>, then, is primarily to find the best sources for both the original (French) audio, and the dubbed English version. That probably (but not necessarily) means the least compressed, and again it will likely come from the AV & MOC releases unless someone unexpectedly discovers a better source.

Here are all the DVD releases with any known sound information (FO = French original audio, ED = English dubbed). This is mostly unverified & incomplete:

  • Arte Vidéo (France 2006): FO = Dolby Digital 2.0 mono / 384 kbps; ED = n/a
  • Eureka! Masters of Cinema (UK 2006): FO = Dolby Digital 2.0 mono / 224 kbps; ED = Dolby Digital 2.0 mono / 192 kbps
  • Force Entertainment (Australia): ? Can’t find anything about this release…anyone?
  • Gaumont/Columbia Tristar (France 2001): FO = Dolby Digital 2.0 mono; ED = n/a
  • Anchor Bay (USA 1999): FO = Dolby Digital 1.0 mono; ED = Dolby Digital 1.0

There was also a laserdisc release before the first DVD release, but I have never been able to find out any details. Before the recent DVD releases, I was still very interested since it might have been the best available version of the film without engrained subtitles. The video is no longer an issue, but is it possible that the laserdisc has uncompressed sound that might be better than any DVD release?

A secondary goal for this film could be to determine (if even possible) which of the two releases (AV & MOC) offers the truest representation visually, since there is a discrepancy in the overall image quality, mostly in regards to color it seems. Again see the images in the first link.

Finally I would like to have the best elements together on one DVD, removing any extras if necessary to preserve quality of image/audio.

SO…any FP freaks out there?

dvdbeaver review of MOC release
dvdtimes review of MOC release