Hello lads,

Using ESI Juli@ and Pioneer LD-4300D I ripped audio from Japanese Laserdisc of Jackie Chan's First Strike @ 32-bit/96kHz.

[Image: M4xzowm.jpg]

Now, I have no experience in working with audio, but I would want to get the best out of this. This is already an improvement to the DVD, but I was wondering if there is anything else that can be done here for this. As you can see it is a bit quiet, would using Normalize in Audacity do the job?

Hello again, I was curious if anyone has considered preserving the audio for Frankenstein (1931). For starters I am quite displeased with the audio mix on the BluRay since IMO it is a bit flat and muffled. Also theres portions of the sound track missing. This is also the mix used on every DVD release since 2004.

About two years ago I had sent someone the audio tracks from the VHS' of Dracula and Frankenstein which he was going to sync up to the BD. I messaged him a few times and he said he was working on it and finally said it would be ready by Halloween 2014. As far as I know the project wasnt completed and I havent heard from him since (if you the one Im speaking of are reading this, understand Im not calling you out since I know people get sidetracked with other projects). 

Which brings me to here. After doing some comparisons, I realized that my 1991 VHS copy while a bit hissy sounds crisper than the BD. However the VHS may not be the best source. The copy was only viewed once or twice by the time it was digitized so it still came out pretty good but some scenes may have some VHS crackle and there was one minor glitch in one scene which actually isnt all that noticeable but might stand out when trying to sync to the BD. I noticed that the VHS is actually going at a somewhat faster pace than the BD. The exact fps I do not know. I believe the guy who was working on this said he was having a bit difficulty with the syncing. Please keep in mind Im no expert when it comes to syncing audio tracks which is why I seek everyones help.

So perhaps another source is in order. Does anyone by any chance have the 1987 'restored' Laserdisc and might consider digitizing it? Since the 1987 'restored' VHS uses the same print as the 1991 VHS, maybe the Laserdisc would be the best source. A headsup though. This 'restored' print is missing the line 'Now I know what it feels like to be God', a line that was restored circa 1999 and hence on the BD. Whether to restore this line to the Laserdisc mix or just leave the line censored will have to be discussed.

Anyways below are two comparison videos I made some 2-3 years ago. The first I wanted to point out that I feel the VHS sounds crisper while the other points out the missing bits. Leave some comments and hopefully we can make something of this. Understand that I respect all opinions so lets be on the same page everyone.

https://vimeo.com/56206935

https://vimeo.com/57318682

This is my first real thread so bare with me. I was curious if anyone has considered preserving the mono mix for Jaws from the 1995 Laserdisc. Im asking cause I noticed some things are more audible on my 1995 VHS then in the mono mix that accompanies the current releases. This includes Cassidy burping at the end of the opening scene and Brody's scream when the rigging holding the shark cage comes apart. Now granted Ive never seen a movie on Laserdisc so I actually dont know how it sounds. Im just guessing based on the VHS. This is also another reason i suggested the 1995 Laserdisc since most pre1995 releases have a different song being played in the beach scene where the kid on the raft is killed. Anyways just a suggestion. A few things about the mono mix on the current releases. Im actually quite happy with the mono mix from the 2005 DVD. I dont have the BluRay but I do have the 2012 DVD. The mono mix on that DVD is mostly identical to the 2005 mix. However the 2005 mix I noticed is slightly crisper and the 2012 mix has a few 'flaws'. This includes some sound effects being about a split second out of sync in the scene where the tiger shark is cut open and also the sound of the engine exploding is in the wrong pitch.

Hello everyone. My name is Christopher and its a great privilege for me to be part of this forum. Im a huge supporter of preservation so Im intrigued by online communities like this and originaltrilogy.com, the latter of which Im also a member of. I hope to see some interesting projects and hopefully contribute to some as well. Any questions feel free to ask. Thank you everyone. 

The Good, the Bad and The Ugly (International Cut v1.0)

Project Info:

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (TGTBATU) is my favorite film of all time and over the weekend I had a desire to watch the old International Cut/US Theatrical Cut. So, I popped in the 98 DVD and as I was watching, I lamented the fact it wasn't in HD.

So I decided to assemble the IC/TC so I could watch it in HD. I pulled out my old work, re-cutting the 4K to the IC/TC while re-grading to the Mondo's (the Italian Blu-ray restoration) colors. I wanted to use the 4K since it had the best detail and grain but in getting out the old files, I remember why I abandoned it. The 4K's picture is bad all around. Its not just the colors but the contrast, gamma, shadows, highlights....basically everything. So I went back to the Mondo and decided to use that as the main source. Although it has less detail then the 4K, the colors are vastly superior. The hard part, the audio, was already taken care by thehutt on the OT. He took his 4K mono soundtrack and synced it to the Mondo. That gave me an audio base to work with.

There is one problem. What cut represents the IC/TC? The 98 DVD/LD is itself a restoration of the film. Lil Brutto (Fanres' TGTBATU expert) found out in fact the 93 LD cut is in fact the truest version of the IC/TC.  Its shorter then the 98 version (itself a restoration), missing shots here and there. For example, close-ups of the bandits in the beginning, shots of Angel Eyes eating, shots from Tuco's gang sneaking up the stairs, shots from the Blondie hanging scene, shots from Tuco's bath, etc.

(I'll follow up this post with a cut list)

So the goal it to quickly throw together the 93 IC/TC using the Mondo, 4K and old Extended Edition BD and have it be a stop gap till the better TGTBATU project is released.

Video:
The Italian transfer from the Mondo BD cut down to sync with the 1993 laserdisc of the International/US Theatrical cut. Additional parts from the US 4K and older Extended Edition BD.

Audio:
The mono soundtrack from the 1993 laserdisc in PCM 2.0 format.

Pics:
MKV Pics (Final)


Thanks
Lil Brutto: for information on the various cuts and additional soundtracks
thehutt: for his original English audio sync to the Mondo.
Chewtobacco: for advice and additional video

I'm trying to think, where was that one site where you could buy Blu-ray discs separate from their bigger box-set releases? I think it was called iDisc or something, but that can't be right...

So there are now two BD releases of these films: the UK Arrow edition and the US Criterion edition.

The Arrow edition was unfortunately mastered in RGB colour space, resulting in grey black levels and a washed-out look.

Criterion have reportedly done their own scan but it looks horribly contrast-boosted with over-saturated colours.

You can observe a comparison between the two releases here.

I'm proposing that a capable party might like to take the Arrow edition and either simply tweak it for BD compliant colour levels or perhaps do a more discretionary adjustment.

If they had access to the Criterion release as well, they might prefer to use their slightly higher quality audio (assuming it matches). From the looks of things, the subtitles on both releases are identical but I do like that Criterion have them within the picture, making them compatible for people with 21:9 displays (*cough*).

I can assist in providing the source materials for either/both releases if necessary.

Seems to me like a simple job for someone with a bit of experience and a half decent PC. Unfortunately, I have neither!

Any takers?

I was away from OT since a long time, due to the fact I forgot my credentials...   Thanks to Silverwook and Jay, I was able to be back to my OT account! 

But... everything is different now!

First of all, in my android phone, visualization is a complete mess... then, I can't see my preferred threads anymore... is this somewhere and I can't simply find it?

What do you guys (and gals?) think about this? Do you like the new forum software best, or the old one? I vote for the old one ("if ain't broke, don't fix it!"   )

Just two words: CGI CHILD
WTF... you can see it even if watched in lowres, on a 5in display, from another room... was it necessary? Absolutely NOT! Why they did it? Dunno...

Finally I had few time to finish the last season....well, the final episode seemed done in a rush ("c'mon.guys, let's finish this ASAP, because...") but, apart that, I liked the whole series; I must admit it has its flaws, but which hasn't any?

All in all, a great way to spend my time, between The Walking Dead, Z Nation and... Face Off!