I've been a member for a while now and it seems like the Thank You button finally works for me. So I've been going through threads and thanking people because at the time for some reason I couldn't hit that little button of appreciation.

So I thought I'd make a thread to thank everyone properly who have welcomed me, helped me with things and advised over the last couple of years. This place reignited my love for Laserdisc and now I have my player again and a modest selection of essential titles to enjoy. I dabbled in muxing audio and video from different sources thanks to the people on here. I don't feel I'm anywhere near your level guys to bash out projects. But I want you to know I'm an avid fan and will watch your projects with gratitude and provide feedback should you want it.

Going forward I'd like to see if I can rip the audio from any of the laserdiscs I have to help people out on here who may need something.

So that's it! Thanks and keep being awesome

Just a heads up guys; I just viewed the Alien: Covenant blu-ray, and can confirm the colour grading differs from the theatrical release; the blu-ray has that blanket green tint that Fox loves so much.. it wasn't too obvious at first until the night scenes, which (as I'm sure others here who saw it in cinemas recall) should be a really dark blue with deep blacks, but now is noticeably green. Also, the scenes in David's layer used to have very vibrant flames, but they are more muted on blu-ray (the scene now look more like the Alien 3 blu-ray, a sort of soft brown) i think applying the same fix as the done in the Aliens and Alien 3 fundamental regrades would put it where it needs to be :-) Beyond that the picture is nice - and the CGI doesn't seem to leap out at you and slap you in face like it did on the big screen/is much more forgivable and enjoyable :-) **update** A friend over at one of our video groups also noticed the issues I've listed above and has confirmed the blanket green and muted tones in the UHD 4K release as well.

I came across this a couple of times. Either clicking on the "Smilies" sometimes only produces and text equivalent text ... at least, on this system. So I thought to go through all of them (methodically) to root out possible candidates for correction. The "TEXT" ones have spaces between each character so they don't auto-convert. Also, the images jump back to text as I edit here. It generally clears up on preview or post. Sometimes (It happened) here, auto-convert throws in an extra colon and then the smiley doesn't show (or the wrong smiley). Also,  I put "??" for non-standard smiley text, which I don't know. Others I'm grabbing from Cool Smileys: List of Text Emoticons – The Ultimate Resource .

NAME          IMAGE          TEXT entry (auto-converted) & TEXT shown (with spaces)
-------          --------          ------                                          -------

"Smile"                                              : )
"Wink"                                             ; )
"Big Grin"                   :                    : D
"Tongue"                   :                     : P
"Rolleyes"                   8|                       8 |
"Angry"                       X                   X (
"Sad"                          :                      : (
"Undecided"                :                      : \
"OK"                            ??
"Sick"                           :                    : S
"Blush"                         ??
"Confused"                  ??
"Dodgy"                       ??
"Heart"                                            < 3
"Sleepy"                      #)                        # )
"Cry"                           :                      : ' (
"Happy"                      :                         : )
"Money"                      ??
"NothingToSay"          :X                        : X
"Shocked"                   :                      : O
"Kiss"                          :*                        : *
"Eek"                           :                      : O
"Scorn"                        >:X                      > : X
"Thrilled"                       :                     : D
"Eyedrop"                   ??
"Woo"                         ??
"Devil"                          >                      > : (
"Huh"                          ??
"Shy"                          ??
"Cool"                  8)           B )                         B)

Hi There,

Been asked to share this here and hope you enjoy the journey. I am not too fast with this stuff and it's a bit of a learning curve.

Basically the main focus of this project is to restore the deleted footage numbering approx 50 shots if not more.
Get the film looking like how it used to look or what it should look like.
Change a few things but nothing major either enhancement or general fan edit but with a view to getting scenes in the correct order of sequence rather than being shuffled up and continuity issues fixed using the deleted scenes restoring shots to their proper locations in the timeline.
Restoring music cues as necessary and adding deleted audio also.


Here is an updated clip of a sequence I have been working on and will give you a good idea about what I am trying to do.

https://vimeo.com/228478227


Comparison Clip from current release
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTebNVZEvT4

Wondering if you remember the old VHS for this film and how it used to look? Hopefully the clip will jog your memory. I am using old documentaries and clips and stills for references.

Any Thoughts / Questions / Suggestions / Ideas / Criticism / Feedback / Help are Welcome 

It's a fan edit with some considerable restoration in mind.

Hi All,

nice to see some good projects happening here!

I will chip in if I have something to offer from opinion to help.

I will be posting a project of my own here and I hope you can enjoy that and I may also need your advice help and opinions in return.

Thanks

This project has been replaced with this one:

https://fanrestore.com/thread-3983.html

[Image: QkCeQqc.jpg]

Die Hard 2 35mm Trailer Regrade (35 Project #3 v1.0)

This is part of my 35 Project:

https://fanrestore.com/thread-1741.html

Trying to regrade films to look more like their theatrical prints

Project Info
I'm peeling this off from Bigrob's  Die Hard 2 thread but you can read the backstory here:

https://fanrestore.com/thread-1581.html?...t=die+hard

but a quick summary.

DH2 has a slightly odd look on BD (and THX LD/DVD). It's very warm and has a sickly red/orange haze which is odd for a movie that takes place at winter. The CE DVD on the other hand has a cool, blue look that not only fits the mood/story but also is similar to the look of Die Hard. To go a little deeper to confirm this color timing I bought this original trailer:



And scanned as many shots as I could. Here are a few examples:

[Image: l2JfydL.jpg]

It's often said that a trailer might not be fully color timed but that doesn't mean that they are wrong all the time. In fact most of the 35mm trailer scans I have seen match 35mm prints pretty well. And in this case it is similar to the CE DVD except more blue and the higher contrast of a release print. I created a LUT(s) that reflects 35mm trailer shots and then reclaimed some of the luma from the BD to tame the regrade's heavy contrast look but still keep it 35mm looking.

Update: Since writing this opening I was given a ton of video from a lot of people, LDs, HDTV broadcast and even some 35mm example. So basically I took all the information I was given, kind of put it all together in a blender (I'm exaggerating a bit, if you can't tell) and pulled out a new final grade. There are still a ton of blue but a lot more greens and oranges now.

Additional: I will replace the CGI 20th Century logo with a period correct logo and distorted like the dh one.

Video:
The BD image color corrected using a LUT to match the 35mm trailer scans with partial luma reclaimed from the BD. Additional color correction for several shots matched from the CE DVD.

Audio:
1. PCM 2.0 from the Japanese P&S LD

2. PCM 2.0 from the THX LD

3. DD 2.0 from the US BD

4. DD 5.1 from the THX DVD

5. DTS 5.1 from the US BD

Pics:

BD/Regrade (Updated 5/23/18)


http://i.imgur.com/Iswpktb.jpg

Collaborators (in order of help):
Bigrob: for the idea
ilovewaterslides: for the French LD cap
Zoidberg: for capping the JPN P&S LD and PCM 2.0
CSchmidlapp: for previewing the video
Farstarbuck: for previewing the video
Beber: for previewing the videoCancel

Amazing WAC release from a 2K scan. Presents both matted and 1.33 open framings.

Here's my mini-review from bluray.com:

Just finally got to run the new WAC transfer after it arrived.
Wow.
I also did some comparisons for those like me who are insanely curious about our favorite films.

My personal history with the film: Grew up with the animated series as a very young child and begged to see MOTP on theatrical release simply because it was the show I watched weekly on the big screen. Ever since then I have owned every version and have been a loyal defender of it. This is one of those big: "You mean you haven't seen.." titles I feel I HAVE to show people.
The best Batman feature there is, and where the TAS crew really goes for broke outside the normal TV constraints. Still the best comic adaptation to date, with Batman Returns as the best live action adaptation.

The new disc is a must own. Period. End of story-even for those who have never seen it before or who are mildly interested. All of the things from the old transfer we've lived with for years are gone. Thankfully there are no big color shifts or changes-mainly just being able to better experience the original artistry as it was intended due to the 2K scan and enhanced range of...well everything. The old letterbox master dated back to the LD and was put to DVD hastily and early thus it's not even the best DVD it could be. The 1.33 open DVD master seemed to have been done later and fared better but was still very outdated.
The big news is the overall pink/pale cast that was over the whole film is gone and replaced by many greater nuances of color and shadow. All aliasing is gone as is the compression noise and many of the dirty frames have been rectified. I saw the briefest of specks and dirt specks but this is inherent to the actual animation cels. It's staggering to see the animation truly move with a fluidity to it in HD. I would say this is certainly a taster of what TAS episodes could look like in HD properly scanned and non-altered.
And they even had the decency to do it right and provide both matted and open framings of the new HD master!!
I viewed the matted framing as I'm most used to it from my LD viewings over the years and the few brief recollections of the theatrical screening all those years ago. The new widescreen does have a bit extra breathing room here and there compared to the old one so it is better in that regard, but still plainly obvious that it is far too tight and was designed for 1.33:1.

I did notice the handful of soft shots people have mentioned. They are almost all closeups and very infrequent but it is noticeable that they go hazy for a second. Almost in a way like gauze filters for actress's closeups in the studio era if you think about it.

http://caps-a-holic.com/c_list.php?c=4240

This shows the color cast of the old 1.78 DVD Laserdisc port and how it is gone, the slight bit of headroom on the new BD 1.78 framing, and the 1.33 comparisons.

Now...here's where it gets interesting. The film is a Dolby Stereo release and decodes properly into ProLogic IIx. All of the slight sound panning moments ares till there so thankfully nothing was altered and the lossless mix is near perfect...except that it comes across as maybe too perfect.

I think they used master materials that when played back makes the recorded dialogue and effects more crisp and clear. Much of the dialogue has a greater clarity that wasn't quite there before along with finer detail on all effects. The Laserdisc PCM by comparison isn't quite as detailed but seems to have a warmer tone to it that-and this may be because I am so used to this-seems slightly preferable to my ears. I think the LD would have been from the Dolby Stereo printmaster and the BD is likely drawn from the original mix master itself before it was sent for the 35mm print preparation.
(The LD is full CAV by the way and before this new WAC release was the preferred way to view the film as it was without the DVD's downsides and had far superior audio encoding.)

Ultimately: this is the best we could have hoped for. WAC has done what should be done for this film in presenting a maxed out fresh transfer of both framings with audio that is clearly from the original source. And to top it off they included a nice little disclaimer before the 1.33:1 version explaining the difference and why it is important to preserve both. Now I know how badly I would have wanted to see extras, but do you even see the studio doing a regular release with even an iota of attention to detail that this has gotten?

Fantastic. I never thought I'd see the day this was on BD-let alone from a new scan of both framings.

My only real complaint is that the iconic artwork on the new disc has gone teal. It's quite blatant when placed alongside my older copies above. Thankfully this is nowhere in the transfer but it did admittedly give me some trepidation when pulling the new disc out of the mail.



Post your thoughts here, and if at all interested get this disc ASAP. It's that good. And especially tell me if it's just me hearing the audio difference.

Made a regrade using HDTV as source; why? Because, even if it has lower quality than BD, it has bigger frame size in most shots (particularly in the first part of the movie); it could also be used just where the frame size is bigger, though…

Comparison: HDTV (DVD colors), BD 2009, regrade


Comparison of the whole movie:

https://diff.pics/kaa5w6EoYgZd/1

Comparisons between DVD 1999, 2005, BD 2009, 2014, regrade:
https://diff.pics/kxPnQW0PKalt/6
https://diff.pics/paTcryjaGp7J/5
https://diff.pics/FDaVXiogt6oz/1
(original DVD/BD images found here: http://www.theraffon.net/~spookcentral/gb1_homevid_compare.htm)

I'm actually thinking of doing 5.1 upmixes from available audio sources for certain of my projects, which in my opinion would be better than simply upmixing from a 2-channel source if possible. Among the first projects on which I'll be doing this is Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose. It helps that the Sailor Moon Memorial Music Box collection was released in a nature that allows for easy reconstruction of the music track–and not just that, they also included original sound effects from the franchise in that collection! I just wish other franchises, live-action or animated, would treat their audio elements in a similar manner...

In any case, if these 5.1 upmixes sound good enough, I might take it to the next level and do 7.1 upmixes using the exact same method.