2020-06-14, 10:08 AM
Back in November, Umbrella released this obscure horror comedy on BD in Australia from a 4k scan of the IP. Prior to Umbrellas release it never even got a DVD release in it's native country, not to mention the US release was regulated to a straight to DVD barebones effort by Trimark\Lionsgate, and a EE'd magentia tinged Lionsgate HD Master on US streaming outlets. PQ on the Umbrella blu is quite nice considering it's source, even if its a bit bright and dirty in some spots.
The biggest issue with the Umbrella release is the audio. Cut was natively recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1, and Umbrella used the optical stereo track which sounds OK, aside from being moderately crackly and brief sections switching to a mono source. This suggests that since they used an IP instead of the OCN, it's assumed Beyond Productions (production company Umbrella liecenced from) dosen't have the OCN or 5.1 elements, or they were in unusable shape and decided utilizing an IP with the optical track was easier in the long run (Australians aren't known for properly preserving film and audio elements well, espically the smaller independent producers, so I wouldn't be surprised if it were the case even for a 20 yr old film).
Heck, even the Trimark DVD and Lionsgate streaming HD master all have DD 2.0, but lacks the crackle Umbrellas audio has. This may suggest Beyond gave Lionsgate all their elements including the 5.1 element and Trimark mastered it as 2.0 with zero shits given, or Beyond gave them an IP or and Interneg with the Dolby Surround LRCS mix that Beyond also probably lost nowadays.
However, according to Rewind there are Scandinavian and German DVDs that claim to have English 5.1 tracks. I'm not sure if they're proper 5.1 mixes or some janky upmix from a 2.0 element, but would be worth looking into if anyone else has more info about them.
Even if I do find the proper 5.1 tracks, they're most likely in PAL 25fps format and require speeding down to 24fps as the Umbrella Blu is, which isn't that big of a job. I imagine both lack the Beyond and Mushroon Pictures logos (which the Umbrella Blu has) if its like the Trimark/Lionsgate master, but that could also be easily fixed by patching in 5.1 sources for those from somewhere.
But the biggest possible issue is theres a chance at least the German DVD might have content cuts, or both have longer/shorter frames in shots, which will be a problem if it is the case.
This is my first audio syncing project for a main feature. I do have Audacity experience under my belt and i imagine the sync by waveform method would work if theres no mixing disperences or extended/shortened frames between each source. Theres probably gonna be some new things or obsticles I'd have to get the hang of, so bear with me here.
The biggest issue with the Umbrella release is the audio. Cut was natively recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1, and Umbrella used the optical stereo track which sounds OK, aside from being moderately crackly and brief sections switching to a mono source. This suggests that since they used an IP instead of the OCN, it's assumed Beyond Productions (production company Umbrella liecenced from) dosen't have the OCN or 5.1 elements, or they were in unusable shape and decided utilizing an IP with the optical track was easier in the long run (Australians aren't known for properly preserving film and audio elements well, espically the smaller independent producers, so I wouldn't be surprised if it were the case even for a 20 yr old film).
Heck, even the Trimark DVD and Lionsgate streaming HD master all have DD 2.0, but lacks the crackle Umbrellas audio has. This may suggest Beyond gave Lionsgate all their elements including the 5.1 element and Trimark mastered it as 2.0 with zero shits given, or Beyond gave them an IP or and Interneg with the Dolby Surround LRCS mix that Beyond also probably lost nowadays.
However, according to Rewind there are Scandinavian and German DVDs that claim to have English 5.1 tracks. I'm not sure if they're proper 5.1 mixes or some janky upmix from a 2.0 element, but would be worth looking into if anyone else has more info about them.
Even if I do find the proper 5.1 tracks, they're most likely in PAL 25fps format and require speeding down to 24fps as the Umbrella Blu is, which isn't that big of a job. I imagine both lack the Beyond and Mushroon Pictures logos (which the Umbrella Blu has) if its like the Trimark/Lionsgate master, but that could also be easily fixed by patching in 5.1 sources for those from somewhere.
But the biggest possible issue is theres a chance at least the German DVD might have content cuts, or both have longer/shorter frames in shots, which will be a problem if it is the case.
This is my first audio syncing project for a main feature. I do have Audacity experience under my belt and i imagine the sync by waveform method would work if theres no mixing disperences or extended/shortened frames between each source. Theres probably gonna be some new things or obsticles I'd have to get the hang of, so bear with me here.
