PDB's Color Regrade Experiments (Matrix, Aliens, etc)

[dvdmike]

Had to use a VPN to see the pics (bloody Imgur) but looks amazing

Odd you are the second person from the UK to say Imgur is not working. I wonder if that is on the UK's ISP side or Imgur's side.

I'm not married to Imgur, it was just easy to embedded the images. If someone has a good alternative, I'd love to hear it.

Didn't the HDTV already have the look of the Quadrilogy DVD?

It sure did (well 80% the same) and I did a release of the HDTV a few years ago. This is the color from the DVD/HDTV just with the better scan/detail of the BD. The BD is a much better scan even with its host of issues.

I'm trying a few tests color regrades and I still have a giant Aliens project folder full of video and audio, so it makes a good test subject.

They blocked the UK last year

[nirbateman]

Other than a couple of shots that are a tad washed out (Noticeable because the black bars are overbright, an easy enough fix I suppose), fantastic work!

[PDB]

Thanks! I will fix the black bars for the final mkv.

The “washed out” look on some shots is intentional on my part because that’s what the DVD looks like. It’s much brighter than the BD with less contrast. Trying to get this regrade as close to the DVD as humanly possible, warts and all.

[PDB]

I was think maybe Where Eagles Dare after finishing Aliens (maybe before finishing Matrix). Not sure if its accurate but I always liked the bluer look of the DVD over the BD. So tried a test:



Where.Eagles.Dare.1968.DVD.Regrade.and.Upscale.2160p.SDR.HEVC.LD.PCM.2.0.v1.0 (Color Experiment #4)

This is also an experimental regrade similar to the other regrades in this thread. Just more testing which might result in some errors.

Orig BD/DVD/BD regraded to DVD
https://imgur.com/1rKE5Av
https://imgur.com/Yay3CEn

Regraded BD/Original BD


Video:
The BD regraded to the DVD (with a slight contrast adjustment) and then upscaled to 2160p resolution.

Audio:
PCM 2.0 Dolby Surround (from the WS LD 2.0)
FLAC 5.1 (upmix of the WS LD 2.0)
Dolby Digital 5.1 (from the DVD)
DTS-HD MA 5.1 (from the BD)

Sync and Size:
Synced to the original BD

Pics:

[PDB]

Also finished the color work for Aliens, need to do renders and audio now.

Warning: A lot of pics of the final in 1080p. Please view on a computer screen and not a phone.

Original BD/Regraded to the Quad DVD (1080p)

[Stamper]

This look awesome. I never could adopt the BD colors. It looked to me JC tried to match the look of the Blade Runner BR (which itself morphed when the UHD came along).

[PDB]

Another update for those who still care. 

I finished the video for Aliens. I am rather happy with this one. Not because it is perfect but because I think I got pretty close to nailing the DVD's look (with a little contrast) through a bunch of different methods. While the DVD's look isn't perfect, I do enjoy it compared to the regular BD's color.

One problem I had was for the "fixes" I did, I reinterested the needed frames from a HDTV broadcast. In the end, when reviewing the video, I thought it didn't blend too well. So I decided to do the hard parts and matte back the bits taken out. I had already done that with the "Bishop's Hole" in a previous project

BD/BD Regraded, Upscaled and Fixed



But now I did the work to put the "knife marks' back in (test images),



the "fingerprints" (test images),


and the "window scratches" (test images).


Funny side note, I found a few instances of the removal work being pretty crappy. In this pic, if you look closely at where the scratch was removed at Ripley's hairline, you can see they removed part of her hair


 
And at one point Newt is missing her thumb thanks to the same work.

I also finished the video regrade for Where Eagles Dare. I need to watch it again to make sure I fixed all the issues. I then have to sync the LD's PCM and the DD from the DVD. So if the video checks out, hopefully in a week or so it will be done.

The Matrix I am going to re-visit to see if I can up the standard to these projects.