Hello to everyone on the board!

I'm a big fan of Andrea's work from the OT so looking forward to keeping up on his and all the other projects on here...

The Italian DVD has the DTS 96/24 6.1 track in the same language; I'm aware the German HD-DVD and some non-US BDs have DTS-HD or PCM English track.

One of the most talented project creator could use these tracks to build a new, superior track; plus, as US video is a simple BD-25 encoded in MPEG-2, it's also possible to use some other edition for video part... last thing: I think BDs have a slightly pink blanket, not present on DVd.

List of...

U.S. BDs Missing Extras & Different Cuts
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=218200

International BDs with Better PQ, AQ, and/or More Extras
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=252156

Titles with Alternate Cuts
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=245359

BDs with 6.1/7.1 Audio
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=159814

BDs with Altered Aspect Ratios
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=180163

RATED/UNRATED only versions on Blu-Ray
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=229414

Best Buy Exclusives
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=245686

Target Exclusives
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=245689

Walmart Exclusives
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=245690

I thought to remove the Archived subforum in the Complete projects forum, as there will (probably) be not many posts here... now, you should put an [archived] in front of the project thread title, in the Released subforum.

I added Restorations, preservations, edits etc. subforum in the General discussions forum - link: http://fanres.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=34

I added the Audio projects forum - hope you will appreciate it!

My daughter wants a new computer, my goal is to purchase something economical yet able to play back HD movies that I can put on her hard drive. She can use KODI (XBMC) for file playback and she can use my external Blu-ray drive for discs. What do you guys think?


http://us.gateway.com/gw/en/US/content/m....GEGAA.011

Maybe I watched it 10 times, maybe 20... can't remember... but it makes me laugh every time!

A masterpiece! But... it has a very little "flaw"... the shot just before the "heart" fade, near the end, is left-right inverted - or, at least it's like that in my PAL DVD, don't know if the Blu-ray is the same...

Setting the standards: cover and disc label


It will be a great thing to have all the projects posted here - assumed they are released on Blu-ray or other disc-based formats - with a proper custom cover, and if they share some similar elements, they will seems "published" by the same "studio"...

Well, here I use my latest cover as example:

[Image: test_cover.jpg]

1. front cover - it should be as much different as possible in comparison to BD, DVD, HD-DVD, but could be similar to LD, VHS etc. if they are different from BD and DVD; theatrical posters are welcome
   
2. spine icon - put here the face of one of the movie protagonist, better a bad guy... edge color in according to background
   
3. spine title - put here with the title beginning from top, to let possible read it when the disc is placed horizontally, with top cover up
   
4. spine logo - I used the stilized light bulb with a disc under it, without fanres reference; I like it, it's kind and gives you the impression of an interesting idea, isn't true?
   
5. spine disc logo - Blu-ray disc logo; it will be replaced by Ultra HD Blu-ray logo or other
   
6. spine catalog number - top project maker, bottom progressive number (B stands for Blu-ray) - if you all agree, this could be shared by all the projects posted here; color in according to background
   
7. back title - should be the same (apart size) of the spine title
   
8. project maker text logo - to let the viewer know who made the project
   
9. back text - here I write first a small sinopsys of the movie, preferably taken from the studio website, then the project title and type, and at the end project description about used sources, processing, filters, final video, audio and subtitles tracks
   
10. screenshots - I usually put comparisons here, but it's always possible to post movie frames
    
11. credits - taken from movie posters or home video covers
    
12. project maker mini logo - your "trademark" logo
    
13. various logo - disc, video and audio codecs used for the project
    
14. info box - video, audio, subtitles and notes info; back color in according to background
    
15. various info - a disclaimer, plus an advice about the fact that the disc should be played using a proper player
    

Film grain addition has been discussed around these parts a few times, as a useful tool to obscure digital artifacts and such. I've been using such methods - both subtly and grossly - in various projects of my own, film trailer reconstructions in particular. Initially I played with DigiEffects Aged Film:

http://www.digieffects.com/products/damage

which is more a digital simulation of film damage than an authentic recreation, so it can only achieve so much. These days I'm using HolyGrain's grain plates:

http://holygrain.com/products/

which are far more convincing, having been scanned from actual film stock. Still, I think there may be more progress to make here, especially in the area of convincing gate weave and damage. So what are other folks using? Please share your own thoughts and tips here!

Blood In Blood Out: Bound By Honor (1993). Here's another movie I've yet to see any mention of even having an HD version in existence. Anyone know if it exists in HD format? This was a favorite of mine growing up, but seems to be forgotten more and more every year that passes.

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Setting the standards: codecs and delivery formats

I must admit I LOVE to take a DVD, a BD, a Laserdisc into my hands, read the back cover, and the inner sleeve or booklet, admire the image in the front of the cover and the disc label, and finally take the disc, put it into the player, press "play" on the remote... it's a guilty pleasure nowadays, where every audio and video content seems that should be delivered in non physical form... but I'm pretty sure I'm not alone here, right?

Even if it's pretty easy today for the tech savvy to take any audio video file, which is encoded using a given codec, and remux or convert it to another one, I still think it's a good idea to release our project using an established standard, both for audio video codecs, and for the delivery format, to give our friends, parents, grandparents a disc, and say them "put it in the player, and press play"...

Here you are my thoughts:

DELIVERY FORMATS

today, everyone has a DVD player at home; it could be a stand alone player, a videogame console, a PC recorder... so, a project, in standard definition, should be available at least on DVD, but... this is not my first option... because DVD is rather limited today - just one video and few audio codecs, not high-definition etc... plus, many time there is a DVD version of a movie, but not a BD...

So, to me, we should set the Blu-ray disc (BD-25 or BD-50) as the default delivery format. Granted, there are a lot less BD player around, in comparison to DVD, but any movie lover has one... it has all we need; several video and audio codecs, high-definition, a lot of space... plus, a menu is a welcome addition!

Personally, I release my projects on BD-25 because they are a lot cheaper and available than BD-50, but not only for that reason... the fact is, the only Blu-ray disc, recorded at home, which will last for a very long time, is made by Milleniata; the M-Disc seems to last for centuries, and they are available as BD-25 only (for the moment), so...

The next format, that probably will be the last physical audio video delivery format, will be Ultra HD Blu-ray... we'll talk more about it when the standard will be finalized, but it promises UHD, new codecs, higher frame rates and color gamuts...

Anyone who would like to obtain a file-only version of a project, could just take the .m2ts file and use it as is, or remux it in whichever other container, like .mkv, .mp4 or others... but, of course, it will lack the menus!

VIDEO CODECS

AVC (or H264, or MPEG-4 Part 10): I think anybody agrees that it's the only codec to use today, not only for high-definition or for Blu-ray authoring, but for any high quality file; the free x264 encoder is considered one of the best ones around, and best thing of all, is free... some retail BDs are encoded with it, too!

VC-1 quality is almost on par with AVC, but it's not that easy to encode, and not all standalone file players are compatible, so I think there is no reason to use it instead of AVC.

MPEG-2 is the third option; used on BD, HD-DVD and DVD, to reach the same quality of AVC it should use about twice its bitrate, so I think it's better to avoid it, unless you have some content encoded with it, which should be used "as is"; for example, it's possible to put DVD content on BD, just without re-encoding it.

HEVC (or H265) is the new codec, perfect for UHD... it will be used in the next Blu-ray format, and it seems to work really well; I'd wait to use it, until the Ultra HD Blu-ray will be ready, or if the "classic" Blu-ray will change its standard...

AUDIO CODECS

PCM is the older and simpler audio codec, yet its quality is very good; audio CDs and Laserdisc with digital audio has it; easy to edit, the big downside is its size.

Dolby Digital (or AC-3)  is the most known lossy codec; it's perfect for good quality multichannel audio tracks, but today there are many better codecs around. Remember that is possible to capture AC-3 from a laserdisc, and use it without conversions for a BD or DVD project.

DTS once was the best lossy codec; many laserdiscs are available with full bitrate DTS tracks, as some D-Theater tapes, while many DVD use the half bitrate; plus, even if it uses a different codec, we have also the Cinema DTS for some movie!

Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA: lossless codecs, the best quality available today; to me, they should be used only when an original audio track is avaible, because there is no reason to use them when the original source use a lower quality lossy codec...

SUBTITLES

Last, but not least, subtitles... I always try to add them to my project, one for each language used for audio tracks; I think it's useful for hearing impaired persons, as well as foreigner like me, who may want to listen to the original audio and use the subtitles to not lose any word.