waffle

little-endian said:

Update after checking the differences on the TV:

Interestingly, the color shift is way less apparent than on the PC with VLC. As for banding, I still have some in the V2 (especially in the underwater sequence at the beginning), but I suppose that this is already embedded in the 3D source.

I recommend using MPC-BE (aka MPC Black Edition) instead for superior playback. MPV is considered the gold standard but it’s not as user friendly.

MJBenito said:

waffle said:

Pretty good work here… the DNR and sharpening is VERY apparent in some scenes from the retail 4k release. On the last comparison screenshot, I noticed your upscale has a strange horizontal band that runs across Kong’s forehead. Is that an artifact from the 1080p source?

Thanks, it is in its final stage. Now we’ll have a pretty decent master to watch this masterpiece. Talking about the last screenshot, I don’t see what you’re talking about. Can you zoom in and share the example, please ? What I’m seeing near his forehead is the line of his shoulder. The bluray encode was indeed a great encode and shouldn’t have many artifacts.

I’m referring to the screenshot above the words “I’m also looking forward to a clean open matte version of the theatrical cut or the extended cut to create a hybrid open matte / scope release. If someone here has it, just let me know. The only “good” open matte I found is ripped from Starz and is watermarked with their logo on several scenes.”

There’s a little band that runs horizontally across the top of the frame. You can also see it somewhat running along the left side of the frame as well and a tiny bit on the right.

Pretty good work here… the DNR and sharpening is VERY apparent in some scenes from the retail 4k release. On the last comparison screenshot, I noticed your upscale has a strange horizontal band that runs across Kong’s forehead. Is that an artifact from the 1080p source?

jakeandelwooduk said:

Finally got round to watching this and it is now my goto version of this movie, i think the colour grading is soooooo much better. I do think that the saturation could be just a fraction more but i have a TV setting for that, some scenes seem a touch duller due to the tint revision but that is me being super nitpicky. I actually like the slightly over sharpened look of the 4k version and some of the hair strands are not visable on this version probably due to the 3D Bluray source being one half side but the more accurate colour balance makes up for that in this, I can absolutely live with it and this is the best version of this movie i’ve seen since 1997, the audio is stellar too, great job MJBento many thanks!

I agree, the color grading is A+ work. Overall really nice presentation and solid 4k upscale. Great work all around!

Has anyone actually downloaded this yet? I got a bunch of random files by mistake.

Very interested in a link! The color grading is a BIG improvement! I cannot stand the weird green tint color grading that’s prominent in modern releases. Absolutely flabbergasts me.

What’s the source? Can you provide information on the tech process?

ConstipatedSpidey said:

So TTT and ROTK EE are 2025 releases at best.

I wouldn’t mind if the color grading was kept more in line with the 4k retail release… not so much a fan of the greenish tints in the og releases for TTT & ROTK.

Indyguy71 said:

Could I get a link to the download?

PM sent.

MJBenito said:

UPDATE 02.10.24

Hello there.

Cool project! If these are the upscaled images, it looks like a lot of DNR is baked in.

TheTofu said:
Eagerly awaiting the rest of the releases and if anyone has a link to the first part they could send me I would greatly appreciate it.

PM sent.

DrDre said:

The official 4K release of TTT has some of the worst DNR in the trilogy. Here’s an example:

Here’s how the same shot looks for 4K Dremastered, where the colors have been matched to the official release for this comparison:

The color grading of the official 4K release is also very different from the original. Here’s the same shot of 4K Dremastered with the original colors:

Gotta be honest dawg, your 4k upscale with the revised color grading looks better. Not a fan of the theatrical piss filter.

mikcen177 said:

Hey this is awesome, how can I download this?

Wraths said:

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

faelgrim said:

Would love a download link please!

Sent you all a PM.

Alealealelle said:

Hello, can i please have the link to download it?

Sent you a PM

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

Depending on the type of tv you have, you may be able to convert the file format if that’s the issue. I assume you want the color correction. I have to believe that DrDre has the pre upscaled files ready.

jakeandelwooduk said:

This is insane, i would love to see these movies like i did back in the day, can someone please pm me the link if at all possible, would be super appreciative.

Sent.

Prodrummer1603 said:

waffle said:

Boobafett2 said:

Absolutely breathtaking work Dre! Any chance for an early Christmas present this year? 😛

He’s probably busy with family and other things considering it’s the holiday season. I’ll wait however long it takes for him to finish rendering the second half because the first half looks amazing.

Asked DrDre myself. His response:
“I’ve made some progress, but sadly I will be going abroad for work until the end of the year, so all projects will be on hold until January.”

Guess we have to wait a little longer.

Damn, well thanks for the update. Hope all goes well with the Doc.

Boobafett2 said:

Absolutely breathtaking work Dre! Any chance for an early Christmas present this year? 😛

He’s probably busy with family and other things considering it’s the holiday season. I’ll wait however long it takes for him to finish rendering the second half because the first half looks amazing.

The Griff said:

djsmokingjam said:

Having not had any luck finding it on Usenet, just checking again if anyone here has the first disc of the TeamBlu edition and would be willing to share the files?

I’m specifically after the audio tracks (in particular the LD rip audio and the isolated scores!) to sync and remux with the Amazon rip of the theatrical cut that’s done the rounds recently, so if it’s easier for anyone to share those separately rather than the whole BD50, that would be a huge help. Please don’t let TeamBlu’s hard work fall into obscurity!

PM Sent.

I’m also looking for this. Would you mind sharing?

sidshady12 said:

Pmed all.

Also, as of this past month:

• Edit has been updated (Digital & new ISOs both up)
• A few minor tweaks in the 2nd half, essentially reducing unnecessary final battle action/smoothing out Bilbo’s retreat & Ravenhill, and now putting back in some character moments. Runtime is unchanged. Full changelist is in the drive.
• ISO has 2 new special features, one with Dol Guldur and a new Thorin deleted scene.

Do you foresee yourself ever remastering this edit in 4k?

Sharpseeker4k said:

Just out of curiosity i was wondering as I want to show my family members the extended editions ideally, what is the best 4k HDR version put there? And if there is a better non extended set of the trilogy what would you all recommend? Sorry to jump on the thread but it seems a minefield and disappointing that we don’t live in a world where the best of the best just exists anyway without there either being colour issues, digital noise reduction, inferior soundtrack in the best version and best soundtrack in an inferior version etc.

If I had to settle on the best version being the theatrical , what is the go to with HDR and if a non HDR version really does look the best then I will honour that.

Just thought I would say that the samples posted by Dre for his dremaster are sublime 👌🏻

There’s only 2 HDR graded versions of LOTR which were created relatively recently for the EE and theatrical. It’s my understanding that the new standard blurays use the same master “restored” for the 4k release however it suffers from much less DNR compared to the 4k release. Someone with skill and time could in theory use DaVinci Resolve to create HDR grades. Many people already use it to generate superior DV & HDR10+ metadata (ie replacing static or “fake” DV) that they then inject back into the file.

DrDre said:

For those interested please send me a PM.

Considering the time it took to finish the first part, the second part will likely take weeks if not months. It also depends on some of my other activities.

DrDre, thank you for the work you’ve done. Really beautiful upscale. I’m looking forward to the completion of the second half however long that takes! What’s your opinion on the color grading of TTT and ROTK? They lean much more greenish/bluish at times not unlike color grading for many other modern releases.

Yagami said:

This is incredible work. Can I have a link please?

Seconding this request.

Would someone be able to provide the v3 edition as well? I have the extended blu-ray set and also bought the 4k edition digitally, but the DNR is a bit much.