This reminded me I did a Macross: DYRL? custom cover for a client last year. I guess it was for a similar "custom" Blu-ray which included both English dubs and subtitles. If there is interest I can enquire about further info on the disc, and if he would agree to sharing the cover.
point5 said:
Video Collector said:
P5, I am really not okay with this. As a custom cover designer I generally frown upon people cannibalizing my work.
Feel free to make such modifications for yourself, but please refrain from distributing them.
Not much I can really do about it if you persist, but I just wanted to let my feelings on the matter be known.
I generally frown upon people cannibalizing my work.
*smiling at the irony* Haha!! ;-) I thought this whole forum operated on the premise that fan art is intended as a compliment to the original artists. We always assume of course that the original artists will see it that way and not as a stolen and cannibalized manipulation.
please refrain from distributing them.
*sigh* No intention whatsoever and now I know your feelings, not at all. I guess I was just trying to show others what I was talking about re the front cover and need for a clearer image, which is why I posted up a HIGHLY reduced image which was useless to anyone who may have downloaded it. And "far be it for me" to distribute something that isn't mine. Heaven forbid! ;-)
Not much I can really do about it if you persist.
I'm taking that gem with me all the way to the summit of Mt Everest and back. :-)
P5, the more I read your post the more condescending and spiteful it seems.
However, irony of ironies I actually have a copy of the cover you asked about, and have made a high-rez scan of it which I have PM-ed you a link to. Now, please refrain from ever speaking to me again, as I find you most unpleasant.
MattMahdi said:
It is a neat image. Is there a place where your originals are displayed?
Actually, the intended question is this: do you mind if people use your custom covers unmodified? Because if you're willing then I'd love to see some of your work. I'll be doing my own conversion of the episodes to DVD just because it feels somehow more real.
Naturally I am okay with the covers being used in their original state. I made them and distributed them with the Droids PAL preservation set for that very purpose. What point5 fails to see is that it doesn't naturally follow that I should be okay with them being changed and used for other things.
I recognize the irony in claiming ownership of a copy of someone else's design, but they represent a huge amount of work on my part and I would rather not have anyone piggy-backing on my efforts.
And in case it wasn't clear, I have no problem with people modifying them to their personal requirements for their personal use. I only ask that they don't proliferate such modified versions, which I thought point5 had the intention of doing.
As to p5's unwarranted snarky remarks alluding to me not being in tune with the open sharing mentality of this forum, I find them very hurtful. I have contributed a number of projects to the community: One vintage camcorded bootleg of the original theatrical screening of Return of the Jedi, one unique telecined bootleg of the original Empire Strikes Back (Both under the "Theater Preservation" moniker.) I also provided the raw captures for Pittrek's Ewoks animated series preservation, as well as sharing a complete set of Droids episodes that I captured from my UK tapes. And there are also several sets of Star Wars covers that I share freely. I feel I have contributed in no small way to this community.
I've been doing custom covers for the last three years, and Star Wars covers represent just a tiny fraction of my portfolio. I don't have a central depository of all my work, but I have several Star Wars-related covers available to share in the HD Custom Cover art thread on this very forum. For the rest of my output I refer to the custom cover art thread on the Blu-ray forum, posted under the name of "Nissen".
Since the matter crept into another thread I thought I should make note of it here too.
The covers I make and post here are available freely through the PM system, and I am more than happy to share.
I see some examples of people doing after-the-fact modifications to my work, big and small, before printing for themselves.
This is okay as long as the resulting variants are not distributed, but I am not okay with people disseminating work based on my originals. Feel free to display such efforts, but I ask that you keep those files to yourself.
point5 said:
Here is a reduced version of what I've done so far. Basically just a reworking of Video Collector's artwork for Droids 1, so all credits go to VC really.
P5, I am really not okay with this. As a custom cover designer I generally frown upon people cannibalizing my work.
Feel free to make such modifications for yourself, but please refrain from distributing them.
Not much I can really do about it if you persist, but I just wanted to let my feelings on the matter be known.
Me too!
To those of you who PM me for copies of the Star Wars covers. I've done several sets, so unless you start specifying which set you want, I won't answer. Just saving myself the continual back and forth.
... and no, "all of them" is not specific.
Here's another set of custom Star Wars Blu-ray covers I can share. Please specify "the white set" in your PM, so I know which ones you mean.
johnlocke2342 said:
Hi. Anyone made a cover for the 3 bonus discs? I found several good looking covers, but they're either too small or I only found their presentation.
Thanks in advance.
I made this one a few years ago. It's a little sparse, but if you want it just PM me.
poita said:
Hahaha!
I think I own more legit retail versions of Star Wars than anyone on the planet.
Sorry, couldn't pass this up. I'm throwing down the gauntlet. See my sig. :-)
It's great that you're taking on this project, and that you are giving it the love and care it deserves.
I am very much looking forward to seeing the results.
Thanks for making the fixes to the file, Andrea. I DL'ed the first version and am doing the same for the fixed one.
Oh yes! I am finally getting some use for my BD burner. Thank you, Andrea!
What Andrea has done with this release is simply amazing!
I burned the files yesterday and watched the entire movie on my projection system, and it was superior to the Fox release in every way.
The disc loads much faster than the Fox release, with a simple and effective setup menu which loads immediately. (And since it doesn't use any flashy authoring, the playback resumes at the point you stopped it... Bliss!)
The brightness issues with the original disc are gone! Andrea's version has a lot more visible detail in the shadows, while maintaining excellent black levels. (The original release's blacks actually look washed out in comparison.) The brightening does make the original digital colour grading look weird in the daylight scenes, but that is not Andrea's fault.
Much to my surprise, Andrea's disc was much sharper than the original. (Again, the original looked blurry in comparison.) Andrea, did you boost the sharpness or add a grain plate, or both? The results are outstanding either way, and when I put on the original release to compare it was almost unwatchable.
The restoration of the Unrated scenes was perfect, and only when I paused the film could I see the difference between the HD and SD footage. If I didn't know where to look I would have never found it.
The DTS-HD MA track remained identical to the retail release, and stayed in perfect synch the whole time, so no issues with the audio either.
While the film itself may not be the greatest, Andrea has rescued it from its blurry, murky Fox release. Truly an excellent job, my friend. I'll never put in the official release again!
Kexikus said:
@Video Collector:
I tried to send you a PM, but your inbox is full ;)
Ah, so it is. Fixed now.
A recently finished commission for Harmy's Star Wars Despecialized Edition trilogy.
These custom Blu-ray covers reflect the specs of the AVCHD versions.
My client has generously asked that these be made available to forum members, so I'll be accepting PMs for them.
Thank you for tackling this film, Andrea.
I have been waiting for years for someone to do this. People keep saying it looks just fine on a calibrated setup, but no matter how you spin it this release is too dark.
..and fixing the Unrated omissions is an unexpected bonus.
Hi Malin.
You're talking about the recent Blu-ray release of Pinchcliffe Grand Prix in Scandinavia, right?
The extra version they included was sourced from Standard Def video and will never look like proper HD material, scratches removed or not.
What the Caprino studio did was to take an ancient VHS copy and port it over to Blu as a second video track in order to make their HD remaster look even better by comparison. Not exactly a fair comparison.
In fact, you'd be better off upscaling the first 2001 DVD release from Sandrew Metronome which was also in 4x3 but looks miles better than that "before" travesty they included on the Blu.
Laserschwert said:
The content sounds intriguing, though the cover looks terrible.
In your opinion.
What I would really like to see TeamBlu tackle are the numerous Godzilla movies.
Don't know about HD broadcasts, but there are different Blu-rays released in different parts of the world, and most of them lack English subs. Team Blu excels in collecting the best sources from around the world and combining them in ultimate releases.
There are about 15 Japanese Godzilla High-def releases which could use a good fan-subbing (or just the regular DVD subs), as they all lack English subs. Probably some dubs around that could be included as well.
There are also several upcoming Blus released exclusively in Germany which also lack English subs.
On this very forum there have been two recent SD "restorations" of the unedited Godzilla Raids Again and King Kong Vs. Godzilla. Both are expertly done and could perhaps be included as extras in the project if the original restorers agree?
Anyway, I'd love to see TB have a go at all of these, and I know there are many with me.
Space Hunter M said:
Extraless .mkv version now available for download on MySpleen!
Watched this today and my congratulations on a seamless edit. If it wasn't for the little station bug, I wouldn't have known different sources were used. This was my first time seeing this particular film, and I'm glad I got such a good version for it.
The subtitles had some character errors when geographical coordinates were listed, otherwise everything was perfect.
Many thanks, and keep 'em coming.
msycamore said:
Thanks for confirming! Just to make sure you guys know exactly what "crosstalk" I'm referring to:
See the sky. Apparently a mastering defect which causes the laser pickup to read a signal from the adjacent pit track that interferes with the signal from the main track as I've seen it described. Was able to get rid of it with the multi-cap median script. But I'm still not ruling out a faulty player until I'm sure you guys see the same thing. Thanks.
Yeah, we used to call this the "Herringbone Pattern" back in the day. You'd get it on some discs. It's a manufacturing fault in the actual disc, and was always grounds for an exchange. Sometimes you'd have to go through a couple of exchanges before you got a good copy.
That being said, a Laserdisc player with a misaligned laser would display this fault even on good discs...
There was a compilation sold on eBay many years ago, VCD only.
There's more info on it over on my Star Wars Video collection page, under the VideoCD section.
Mavimao said:
Video Collector said:
coltonlolz said:
Video Collector said:
Just finished DL-ing V2, and I am very impressed with the quality.
As I was watching, it hit me that this version could be interesting with a few tweaks. First off, a conversion to 23.97 fps would take out the "video" look (Like they did with the Zion Hybrid).
I have tried it before, and it loses fields in the video, thus I kept it at 29.97fps.
Obviously going from 30 to 24 frames means something has to be discarded. It's what gives film its look, the jerkiness of motion.
Again, this is not something I am terribly knowledgable about, but going from interlaced to progressive 30 fps before doing the conversion would be the natural first step, no? Meaning you drop frames, not fields, which is what I am after.
What is the "proper" procedure for downsampling from 30i to 24p fps?
It's a bit obvious you're not terrible knowledgeable about these things. It seems you're confused about IVTC - reverse telecine - and how it is used.
Film is 24 fps. American video is 30 fps (or 60 fields a second). In order to show a movie filmed on a TV back in the old days, it had to go through a telecine process, converting 24 frames into 60 odd and even fields. Now you can reverse that process and get the original progressive 24 frames from a telecined video master - which is necessary for a lot of laserdisc projects that originated on film and were telecined to video.
The Holiday Special was filmed at 30 fps interlaced video (what news shows and sports games are filmed on) - NOT 24 fps film. There was no telecine process involved and any conversion from 30 to 24 would be idiotic. What you're asking is akin to converting Star Wars to 18fps because it gives it that silent era look.
Yes, I know all that, I am familiar with frame rates and the NTSC nature of the original shooting of the Holiday Special, thank you.
Nevertheless, idiotic as it may be to you, people are converting video-based projects to a 24 fps cadence to achieve a more filmic look. I believe it is a common enough feature in off-the-shelf editing software, though I'm not familiar with how it's achieved. If you have access to the Zion Hybrid version of the Holiday Special, you'll see that they've done it for that version and I find it very pleasing to the eye.
You don't believe the idea has merit, fine. I am not advocating this as an improvement on, nor replacement for the version that we have on hand. I was just thinking that with a superior source like the WHIO recording, the results could be interesting. Please accept my humblest apologies for even suggesting it.
coltonlolz said:
Video Collector said:
Just finished DL-ing V2, and I am very impressed with the quality.
As I was watching, it hit me that this version could be interesting with a few tweaks. First off, a conversion to 23.97 fps would take out the "video" look (Like they did with the Zion Hybrid).
I have tried it before, and it loses fields in the video, thus I kept it at 29.97fps.
Obviously going from 30 to 24 frames means something has to be discarded. It's what gives film its look, the jerkiness of motion.
Again, this is not something I am terribly knowledgable about, but going from interlaced to progressive 30 fps before doing the conversion would be the natural first step, no? Meaning you drop frames, not fields, which is what I am after.
What is the "proper" procedure for downsampling from 30i to 24p fps?