Here are some updated screencap comparisons for this Star Wars Semi-Specialised Edition V2.2 release:
Blu-ray 1:
Regraded 1:
Blu-ray 2:
Regraded 2:
Blu-ray 3:
Regraded 3:
Blu-ray 4:
Regraded 4:
Blu-ray 5:
Regraded 5:
kitt1987 said:
Thank you sir! Looking forward to watching as well as the others in the original trilogy as well! Keep us posted on the DTS soundtracks as well! I know you will and have other projects in the wings too but just wanted to throw that out there. :)
Have a great weekend and thanks again!
Thanks kitt1987!
I'll be moving onto The Empire Strikes Back Semi-Specialised Edition V2.2 next, then Return of the Jedi V2.15. Once I have all three done, i'll take a little break, then see about creating those cinema DTS tracks.
You have a great weekend as well! :)
The Star Wars Semi-Specialised Edition V2.2 16GB release is now up on myspleen :)
Ryan McAvoy said:
kk650 said:
Well if you want to crop that changing left sidebar you definately need to crop the top and bottom... each shot will be getting stretched by a different amount
No, you could crop the black on the left but still maintain the ratio. Some shots would be "taller" than others is all.
But, the best way to maintain visual information would be to colour-grade/fix the 2D blu-Ray (If possible), and just add the iMAX shots in where needed. Then the maximum ammount of the film shot would be on the screen. Plus this would of course be a billion times easier (Again, if it's possible to get the grade right).
btw: Anybody know why the black bar is on the left?
p.s. Can we all perhaps not re-re-re-quote large image posts? I sense a certain building and bunny rabit making an appearance if it doesn't stop. Thanks.
Yeah of course that would be the easiest thing to do but having the size of the top and bottom black bar changing from shot to shot would be a very bad idea, it would be far more distracting than the changing left sidebar IMHO because it covers the whole width of the frame, I just assumed you wouldn't want to do that.
As for regrading the 2D release, that was my original plan, it would have saved the majority of the cropping work. Unfortunately I was not able to regrade it to match the colours/image dynamics of the 3D release closely enough for the 2D scenes to fit in seamlessly with the colour scheme of the 3D footage, the difference between the 2D amd 3D release colourwise and in terms of image dynamics is not consistent throughout the film.
As for the left sidebar, I have no idea. Somebody in my imax release thread posted this explanation:
'I saw it explained that the bars are there to account for inherent parallax of the 3D. You don't see it when watching it in 3D, because you have both eyes to compensate for it....It's the result of us trying to get something that was never intended by the studio. They opted to release the shifting aspect ratio on a 3D disc only.'
Yeah, sorry about that, the thought did cross my mind as I was quoting the post but I just got lazy and didn't want to start having to edit his post.
DrCrowTStarwars said:
kk650 said:
Ryan McAvoy said:
kk650 said:
I recently created an IMAX version of Guardians of the Galaxy that has the changing left sidebar cropped on a shot by shot basis
How did you deal with the randomly shifting vertical aspect that that would create?
The top and bottom were cropped equally by the necessary amount shot by shot to maintain the height to width ratio of the shot, so no vertical/ horizontal stretching at any time.
You can see what I mean about the cropped top and bottom in these screencap comparisons (its easier to see when you view the screencaps in original size):
Blu-ray 1:
Regraded IMAX 1:
Blu-ray 2:
Regraded IMAX 2:
Blu-ray 3:
Regraded IMAX 3:
Blu-ray 4:
Regraded IMAX 4:
Blu-ray 5:
Regraded IMAX 5:If anybody is interested in me uploading this release to myspleen, let me know.
Please do, that looks so much better then the Bluray I got for Christmas.
Thanks! I think I will because it took a long time to create so it would be a waste for it not to be available to as many people as possible. I imagine others have thought about doing exactly the same thing so if they see that its already been done, they won't have to spend all those mindnumbing hours replicating exactly the same work.
Ryan McAvoy said:
^ Thanks, Awesome job... although a simple "I cropped them" would have sufficed ;-)
But I more meant the standard 2:35:1 shots (For the iMAX shots, cropping is the only option). You must have had to crop them quite a bit? Compared to the original uncropped 2:35:1 shots from the 2D transfer.
I was contemplating something similar on a GOTG project I'm working on. I couldn't decide if I should just leave the frames at the aspect-ratio they are presented at (But enlarged to 1920 or 1280 width), or enlarge and then crop them for uniformitty like you have.
haha some things are just easier to explain by showing I think. :)
Yes the standard 2:35:1 shots have been cropped as well in exactly the same way on the top and bottom by the exact amount required on a shot by shot basis to maintain the 2:35:1 aspect ratio. Like the imax screencaps above its only a minimal amount on the top and bottom that needs to be cropped to maintain the correct ratio, what's more important IMHO is that the top and bottom are cropped equally to maintain composition element positions as much as possible.
Well if you want to crop that changing left sidebar you definately need to crop the top and bottom as well to maintain the ratio of the frame IMHO, otherwise with each different shot requiring a different amount of cropping on the left side, each shot will be getting stretched by a different amount, which I imagine could be pretty jarring watching the shots in quick succession, body/face proportions will be changing all the time.
If you do decide to crop it yourself I should warn you that it'll be a hell of a lot of work. Creating this IMAX release took me many many hours last month, looking back with hindsight, I wonder whether i'd have done it at all if I had known how much work it was going to take, how many hours of my free time it was going to use up. I recommend you just watch my release and save yourself the crazy hours of work required to put this together.
Ryan McAvoy said:
kk650 said:
I recently created an IMAX version of Guardians of the Galaxy that has the changing left sidebar cropped on a shot by shot basis
How did you deal with the randomly shifting vertical aspect that that would create?
The top and bottom were cropped equally by the necessary amount shot by shot to maintain the height to width ratio of the shot, so no vertical/ horizontal stretching at any time.
You can see what I mean about the cropped top and bottom in these screencap comparisons (its easier to see when you view the screencaps in original size):
Blu-ray 1:
Regraded IMAX 1:
Blu-ray 2:
Regraded IMAX 2:
Blu-ray 3:
Regraded IMAX 3:
Blu-ray 4:
Regraded IMAX 4:
Blu-ray 5:
Regraded IMAX 5:
If anybody is interested in me uploading this release to myspleen, let me know.
Just finishing up the Star Wars Semi-Specialised Edition V2.2.
kitt1987 and nightstalkerpoet, i've just added you to the thanks credits at the end. :)
Just letting you guys know that I recently created an IMAX version of Guardians of the Galaxy that has the changing left sidebar cropped on a shot by shot basis and also the brightness has been reduced slightly to take into account the boosted brightness of the 3D release to compensate for the 3D glasses. Those interested can find it on tehparadox.
Anybody interested in this release being put up on myspleen?
Funcha said:
Hi kk650, did you ever do another version of the regrained Phantom Menace? Wasn't there a 25 gig version you planned to do or am I confused?
Hey Funcha I don't know about ever having had a plan to do a 25gb release. I do currently have plans to reencode it with improved settings and rerelease it though. 20-22GB including DTS-HD audio was what I had planned so it fits on a bd-25.
dclarkg said:
I can't seem to find the regraded versions of the PT on myspleen, are those there?
As far as i'm aware no.
Actually only Revenge of the Sith has been regraded to remove the green tint.
The 17gb Attack of the Clones is taken pretty much 99% without reencoding from the high quality german hdtv transport stream which doesn't have the blanket teal tint or DNR from the blu-ray, only the english subtitled parts I encoded from an english hdtv transport stream to replace the german subtitles whenever necessary.
The Phantom Menace hasn't been regraded either, all I did was add grain to the blu-ray transfer to remove the awful waxy DNRed look and add more of a filmic feel to the film. It also brings out a lot of details partially hidden by the DNR on the blu-ray to the surface, giving a sense of perceived extra detail, at least to my eyes.
ComputerGeek said:
@kk650 If possible, can you fix the uploaded.net links for TPM, AotC, and RotS? They're all showing 404 Errors
Are you refering to the 8gb releases or the 16gb releases?
kitt1987 said:
sounds awesome, this is a great time to be a SW fan, with your project, team -1s project, Harmy's, Adywan's, and then the Force Awakens by year end! :-)
I agree! :)
What would really make my year as a SW fan would be a blu-ray release of both the Unaltered Original Trilogy and the latest Special Editions (with no more changes please, except maybe to fix matte boxes and lightsaber colour consistency), preferably both remastered in 4k with all the lovely film grain intact and decent colours. If that were to happen, you can bet that i'd get to work asap on Semi-Specialised Edition V3 releases! Please Lucasfilm/Disney, make it happen!
@_,,,^..^,,,_: A Happy New year to you too Andrea! I'm looking forward to all your new projects this year as well. :)
@DoomBot: I'll upload the audio tracks seperately as well of course but I want to keep things as simple as possible as well for all those less tech savvy than us by providing a version that includes the cinema DTS track.
@towne32: True enough. Really though I just want to keep things simple and not have people confused about which version to get. With just one release there should be no confusion whatsoever.
@dclarkg: Its not there on myspleen because I haven't created the ROTJ V2.2 release yet. As soon as I release Star Wars V2.2 and modify the ESB V2.1 colours a bit and release that as Empire Strikes Back V2.2, Return of the Jedi V2.2 is next on my to do list.
@towne32: No no they are definately different, I wouldn't do a test like that to make people feel foolish when you're all helping me out.
I admit that they look quite similar though I can definately see a difference between the two. Of course I know exactly what to look for which makes all the difference. I suppose what i'm asking is which one 'feels' better to you on a gut level or is more comfortable to your eyes and i'm very glad you said clip 2.
Clip 1 is actually the same settings as the latest Star Wars Semi-Specialised Retro V2.1 release. Looking at those settings with fresh eyes, I feel theres slightly too much red in those settings and that the saturation is a little too high so I reduced the red slightly and reduced the saturation a bit for clip 2, giving the film more of a natural matte feel. I think Clip 2 looks just right and i'm very glad that you agree with me there, even if its just a gut feeling. I'm planning to rerelease Star Wars using the settings for clip 2. Thank you for checking them both out. :)
DoomBot: Thanks for checking these out! With such subtle changes its more about how the film 'feels' on a gut level, how comfortable on the eyes it is. Clip 2 is more comfortable on the eyes for me so that's what i'll go with.
I think to avoid confusion i'm going to ditch the whole Retro, Classic and Technicolor labels as well, this release is going to be called just the Star Wars Semi-Specialised Edition V2.2. I will also go ahead and straight away create a 16GB release as well as an 8GB release, no waiting for the new cinema DTS audio tracks to be done. When they're finally finished, i'll release another 16GB release that includes them as well. Sound like a good plan to you guys?
PDB said:
(Unrelated and not trying to thread crap I did do an update in the Alien regrade thread about it's current status. Kk650, Id like to send you a copy sometime in the future to get your opinion since you have done a ton of regrades and done a regrade of Alien in particular if I recall)
If you upload it someplace where I can download it fairly easily i'd be very happy to watch it and give you my thoughts. Very much looking forward to it. :)
Thanks guys! Can you please check out these two clips from Star Wars and let me know which one you prefer the look of:
Clip 1:
https://mega.co.nz/#!ClRlHLTA!3smGNx5LP02u1oW6hQhyxP4b7zGk0wCZ3jLVMcXNWbA
Clip 2:
https://mega.co.nz/#!3kRxXKLB!elZxrPt19T_MlYUX6gT0Q4P3PB7MqeUDJN255fuRqyw
Okay guys, would I be right in saying that everybody is happy with how latest Star Wars Semi-Specialised Edition looks? Can I lock the settings on that one or does anybody have any issues with the overall colours or colours of the lightsabers? Here are the screencap comparisons between the latest Star Wars Semi-Specialised Edition and the official blu-ray below:
Blu-ray 1:
Regraded 1:
Blu-ray 2:
Regraded 2:
Blu-ray 3:
Regraded 3:
Blu-ray 4:
Regraded 4:
Blu-ray 5:
Regraded 5:
I think i'm definately going to have to adjust the settings for Empire Strikes Back to reduce the yellows and rerelease it though. I'll see about possibly boosting the contrast as well.
Handman said:
Team Negative1's scan of a Raider's rerelease trailer leans more to the colors of the wowwow I think. Would this be accurate to how the actual film looked?
From previous experience i've found the colour grading of trailers to be very unreliable in terms of knowing how the film will end up looking in the cinema.
For example i've got all the trailers of Fellowship of the Ring and they look very different in terms of colour to both the theatrical and extended blu-ray releases of Fellowship of the Ring, so trailers can't really be used as a reliable guide for what the films looked like in the cinema IMHO. Which is kind of a shame because a lot of the time I find myself prefering the colour grading of the trailers compared to the official blu-rays.
litemakr said:
kk650 said:
PDB said:
Hey kk650 I'd love to look at your regrade. You have any comparison pics?
I do. With the V2 release I really adjusted fleshtones more than anything, I felt they were far too red on the blu-ray, making everybody look sunburned. The overall warm feel remains similar to the blu-ray though. Here are four screencap comparisons:
http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/85227
http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/85228
http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/85229
http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/85230
Very much looking forward to your Alien, Aliens and Blade Runner projects BTW, they're what i'm looking forward to most on this site :)
The problem with regrading the blu ray is that some shots are so washed out or over exposed that is it impossible to recover the detail. In some spots the skin is so orange that details such as cuts and wounds are muted beyond recovery. You would be better off regrading the wowow because it doesn't have that problem for the most part.
The wowow release has numerous problems of its own. Both releases have their issues. It really comes down to preferences, balancing the pros and cons of each and accepting the compromises that come with that choice. I tried regrading both releases and found that I prefered the blu-ray as the base from which to start from. In all honesty I can't remember exactly why I decided against using the wowow release, I think it had something to do with it looking too digital compared to the blu-ray and the fleshtones that felt really off, too purpleish if I remember correctly.
The blu-ray just felt more accurate somehow, like there was a specific intention on the filmmakers part that the film look this way, while the wowow release almost felt ungraded and too like what what the scenes actually looked like on set when they were originally shot on film in many places, rather than being part of a consistant colour scheme that was added later. This was of course before i'd seen any 35mm frames which seem to lean towards the blu-ray's colour scheme rather than the more natural ungraded look of the wowow release.
So yeah, of course the blu-ray's far from perfect, I wish they'd been a lot more subtle adding that reddish yellow blanket tint so a lot more of the original colours were intact, but in this case with a bit of help fixing the fleshtones so they're more healthy looking, its the lesser of two evils, at least for me. I respect everybody that prefers the wowow release though, it has enough positives compared to the blu-ray that I can see why many would prefer it.
PDB said:
Hey kk650 I'd love to look at your regrade. You have any comparison pics?
I do. With the V2 release I really adjusted fleshtones more than anything, I felt they were far too red on the blu-ray, making everybody look sunburned. The overall warm feel remains similar to the blu-ray though. Here are four screencap comparisons:
http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/85227
http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/85228
http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/85229
http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/85230
Very much looking forward to your Alien, Aliens and Blade Runner projects BTW, they're what i'm looking forward to most on this site :)
Hmm, I see what you mean Baronlando. Perhaps Synapse may have been involved in some way or taken over the task of remastering the Original Trilogy from Reliance Media, who knows? And here i'd gotten my hopes up again haha
I agree with SilverWook, I think we'll be finding out one way or another in April or maybe even on the 4th of May. Not too long to wait now. I think it'd be a nobrainer for Disney to release the 4k remastered Original Trilogy just before the release of Episode VII, when the hype for everything Star Wars is really starting to kick in, they'll make loads of money, bring Star Wars to the forefront and win back many of the older fans all in one go.
The CEO of Disney in that interview certainly seemed to think it was a good idea so here's hoping :)
In all honesty I had a great deal of trouble running the 1080p release myself. Didn't work on my mpc-hc player, had to use vlc and even then it was incredibly slow jumping from place to place in the film. First time i've experienced such issues with an encode.
As for the film itself, the extra details in the shadows and highlights is very nice, really puts the blu-ray to shame in that regard, but the red fade is very noticable, a lot of work is going to have to be done to try to retrieve the original colours and bring them into balance. I don't envy team_negative1 all that work, that's for sure.
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=10151108&postcount=1132
Is it possible that the super secret title that they haven't announced yet refered to in this post is actually the 4k remasters of the Star Wars Original Trilogy? Reliance Mediaworks are the guys that are meant to have created 4K remasters of the original trilogy so it could very well be what they are refering to.
Which begs the question of course of what they are waiting for to announce it, perhaps until the release date of Episode VII is closer so they can generate maximum buzz for that film?
If that was the case it would be truely fantastic news! :)
TheHutt said:
Well, I guess that makes my audio rather redundant. :)
I think ultimately every release becomes redundant at one point or another. Doesn't take away the fun of the process of actually creating them though. That's how I choose to see it anyway. :)
I've received the new US single blu-ray release of TGTBATU with the new mono track, it'll be interesting to see whether it can be used to fix some of the audio issues that remain of the PCM mono track you created.