[Proposal] Alien (1979) UHD regrade

[spoRv]

I like very much the Umatic regrade: https://fanrestore.com/thread-2648.html

Sadly, it's only 720p... there is a 2160p UHD-BD version, but its grading is not that great - at the contrary, IMHO - so I thought to regrade it (plus D-Theater) using the Umatic colors, to get a closer cinematic experience about colors and contrast, and a bigger frame size (most of the times).

So, there are basically three situations:

• D-Theater has a bigger horizontal frame size than UHD-BD - so the UHD-BD will be "slapped" onto the D-Theater - around 80%
  
  
  http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/135553
   
  
• Blu-ray has a bigger vertical frame size than D-Theater (and UHD-BD) - so the UHD-BD will be "slapped" onto the Blu-ray - around 20%
  
  
  http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparis.../picture:2
   
  
• D-Theater has a bigger horizontal frame size than UHD-BD AND more details - so the D-Theater will be "slapped" onto the UHD-BD - remaining few shots
  
  
  http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparis.../picture:1
  

Any interest in this?

[applesandrice]

Absolutely! Who doesn't need another copy of "Alien"?

[Stamper]

I was thinking the same. Tough the UMatic has blown out whites in points which I'm sure you can fix.

So basically you would redo a composite of the UHD master, fixing parts with the Blu & D-Theater?

Beware that some of the shots with stars on behind the spaceship are digital fixes made for the SE cut.

Those shots missed stars originaly.

Personaly I don't mind I think it's good to aim for the best looking version of each shot.

U-Matic is the right colors except the washed out look.

[X5gb]

Definitely interested, thought you were already working on a UAR version a while back before you had the problem with your previous computer. Is this a continuation of that project.

[spoRv]

@Stamper:
Umatic: contrast is part of that look, so if I'll "fix" the blown out whites, the look will not be the same anymore (by the way, you wanted blown out whites on Mad Max! )
Thanks for the info about missing star fields, now I undestand why those shots were present on the D-Theater (that is the Director's Cut)...

@X5gb:
there is no point to continue with the old UAR version (BD+D-Theater) where now there is a much better source (UHD-BD) - so yes, this is a continuation of that project, more, an upgrade.

Update - moviefingerprint UHD-BD HDR2SDR top, regrade test2 bottom:




http://www.framecompare.com/image-compar...n/E00JNNNU

P.S. HDR2SDR made using DGHable "as is"; raising exposure setting surely increases brightness, yet I don't know which may be the "correct" setting - if there is any, where should I look for?

[Stamper]

Yes lol but there is a point when blown out starts to look botched, which is the look on the 720p regrade in some places.

All this can be reversed, preserving the colors, but toning down the clipped whites in Resolve.

[spoRv]

So, there should be

1. UHD-BD HDR bt2020 3840x2160 - theatrical cut, new master
   
2. UHD WEB SDR bt709 3840x2160 - theatrical cut, BD master
   
3. UHD-BD HDR bt2020 3840x2160 - extended cut, *may* use D-Theater master for the extended shots
   
4. 4K WEB SDR bt709 4096x2304 - theatrical cut, should be the same of #2, probably the source
   

while the new UHD-BD master should be the best, it isn't always the case - sometimes it has less details than WEB version:

http://www.framecompare.com/screenshotco...n/GWWWNNNX

(of course frame size considerations remain the same of what I posted before)

So IMHO the best thing to do should be the following:

• use the UHD-BD as main source for all the shots except the following one
  
• use the UHD WEB as main source for selected shots
  
• use the D-Theater as main source for the very few selected "fixed" shots
  

[Stamper]

Yes I think a patch up all regrade to U-Matic would make a definitive Alien to me.

[Marko2000]

ETA on this, if available at the moment?

[negspec13]

Beautiful. You've definitely got a deft touch there spoRv.