[Canceled] Die Hard 2 35mm Regrade (The 35 Project)

[PDB]

Noted, thanks spoRv. After some tweaks I think the 50% is probably my starting point.

I'm hopeful to get this "experimental" grading sorted out since I have a few other films I got trailers for and want to do the same thing.

[zoidberg]

I'm always open to a bit of contrast boosting so long as it doesn't introduce artifacts. It can add something, especially when watching on a projector, it improves the perceived black levels.

'Pumped' contrasted gets a lot of stick on blu ray forum. Interestingly a lot of titles which are claimed to have pumped contrast are incorrectly encoded with illegal white levels over 235. So in some cases some of the detail can be pulled back. Now with HDR all anyone cares about is how much detail is in the clouds. Who watches clouds?

Generally 35mm film prints are very high contrast with crushed whites/blacks but at the proper projected light level (16 fL through the gate, 11-12fL through clear film) it looks fine. Modern displays are a lot brighter and can (and do) bring out artifacts which would otherwise go unnoticed: compression artifacts, grain, etc.

I'm curious to know what other trailers you have in mind PDB? Going back to DVD days I've often noticed that the trailer will look better, more theatrical than the actual feature on the same disc. Now I know it's down to the feature being sourced from IN/IP and trailers from prints. Should I ever dabble with regrading it's something I would be interested in pursuing.

[IcePrick]

I'm looking forward to your regrade, even though I never cared much for Die Hard 2 (I think it quite badly misses the spirit of the original). But I will watch it again for this regrade.

[Farstarbuck]

50% looks good to me and I think it's the right choice. I just can't stand the BD!!!!!!!!

[PDB]

I'm looking forward to your regrade, even though I never cared much for Die Hard 2 (I think it quite badly misses the spirit of the original). But I will watch it again for this regrade.

Cool, thanks Iceprick. I do think I appreciate DH2 a bit more myself after watching it 20 times in a row

50% looks good to me and I think it's the right choice. I just can't stand the BD!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the advice Farstarbuck. 50 it is for the first version.

I'm always open to a bit of contrast boosting so long as it doesn't introduce artifacts. It can add something, especially when watching on a projector, it improves the perceived black levels.

'Pumped' contrasted gets a lot of stick on blu ray forum. Interestingly a lot of titles which are claimed to have pumped contrast are incorrectly encoded with illegal white levels over 235. So in some cases some of the detail can be pulled back. Now with HDR all anyone cares about is how much detail is in the clouds. Who watches clouds?

Generally 35mm film prints are very high contrast with crushed whites/blacks but at the proper projected light level (16 fL through the gate, 11-12fL through clear film) it looks fine. Modern displays are a lot brighter and can (and do) bring out artifacts which would otherwise go unnoticed: compression artifacts, grain, etc.

I'm curious to know what other trailers you have in mind PDB? Going back to DVD days I've often noticed that the trailer will look better, more theatrical than the actual feature on the same disc. Now I know it's down to the feature being sourced from IN/IP and trailers from prints. Should I ever dabble with regrading it's something I would be interested in pursuing.

All very good points Zoidberg. It's a trade off; more details vs contrast. You always want more detail but contrast give video footage a more dimensional, film-like look. So even though this started out as a try to find the colors of DH2, it's evolved to colors and a film look (hence me changing the title). I just like the look too much now.

As for other projects like this I have about 3 or 4 trailers from smaller/cult 90s films (since they were cheap buys) and one or so blockbuster films (still want to get DH3). I don't want announce anything until I can see if they will actually work but the one I'm very excited to work on is Sleepy Hollow. I'm a bug fan of it's Hammer aesthetic. The movie itself was released in limited numbers as a bleach bypass and that desaturated look seems to be captured pretty well in the current US/DE BD. However all the prints I have seen for sale and now this trailer have ridiculously vibrant color. It seems most people would have seen the film in theaters with color since the BB prints were much fewer in numbers. So I have been taking the JPN BD and testing it to see if I can recover the colors to form an alternative colorful look to SH. Here are some rough tests that will definitely change in the final.

BD/Regrade to 35mm Trailer
[Image: DZkVbaM.jpg]

[spoRv]

Few years passed since I watched it last time (I got the DVD, can't find it out now), but, as I watched it several time, I ***recall*** it colorful as the second screenshots; maybe the JP BD retain those colors?

http://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a=0&d...65&i=1&l=0

[PDB]

So I have been taking the JPN BD and testing it

The top pics are the Japanese BD. I used that since it had some color left.

[spoRv]

Ooops, jumped the JPN part...

In that screenshot it seemed quite more colorful than US, then in others the contrary is true...

[PDB]

No worries

[spoRv]

To tell the truth, it's all mosquito's fault...