What is involved in making a film Blu?

[BStecke]

Hey guys, I've been wondering about the process for creating a Blu Ray. For many films, I don't understand how the process could really be THAT difficult, since they have already seen the remastering process for DVD. Star Wars and Indiana Jones, for example, were recently restored to the most pristine quality they will probably ever be for the DVD releases. So aside from redoing the audio for lossless, how much time and money does the studio REALLY need to put into releasing these? I wouldn't think much, but I'm not really "in the know."

[jorg]

i would be comferterable with says that a select few hd movies break even?

[Sylin]

Originally Posted by BStecke

Hey guys, I've been wondering about the process for creating a Blu Ray. For many films, I don't understand how the process could really be THAT difficult, since they have already seen the remastering process for DVD. Star Wars and Indiana Jones, for example, were recently restored to the most pristine quality they will probably ever be for the DVD releases. So aside from redoing the audio for lossless, how much time and money does the studio REALLY need to put into releasing these? I wouldn't think much, but I'm not really "in the know."

Was asking a friend this question the other day. He owns a CD and DVD duplication business (professional, retail-quality stuff... for the music and film industries). He said that from an authoring standpoint, it probably doesn't COST them any more than it does to author an actual DVD. You're paying your people on salary, and the software tools aren't that expensive. Plus, they've already got the masters for both picture and audio.

The cost is in the actual Blu-ray discs themselves, and the burners. Commercial duplication set-ups are expensive, and thus it is hard to justify the cost of putting a movie on a more expensive media type if you can't be sure it'll sell.

Quite frankly, I am surprised, after learning this, as to why studios are releasing so much CRAP on Blu-ray and HD-DVD. I mean, Gridiron Gang? Probably a reason why Wal-mart is giving that away for free. I would think there would be release strategies in place for the highest-grossing, Oscar-winning movies to go up for sale FIRST, and then all the dregs can come along after.

[WickyWoo]

It's that you're paying for people's time, and all the new hardware and software (new computers, lots of them, new boards, new HDCam machines). You're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars before you're through. Given also that last I checked the real-time AVC boards weren't ready (and will be VERY VERY expensive) they're going to charge you lots more for it to pay off their investment. That was the one boon of UMD. The software was dirt cheap, you could pay it off in 3-4 jobs.

A BD-50 costs around $2 to stamp off the line. A DVD-9 is around 70 cents right now. But taking into account that most titles are lucky to move 15K right now, economies of scale aren't there yet.

Quite frankly, I am surprised, after learning this, as to why studios are releasing so much CRAP on Blu-ray and HD-DVD. I mean, Gridiron Gang? Probably a reason why Wal-mart is giving that away for free. I would think there would be release strategies in place for the highest-grossing, Oscar-winning movies to go up for sale FIRST, and then all the dregs can come along after.

Because you release the "good" movies over time to keep your sales up, just like with DVD, and you release new releases when they're....new.

[Sylin]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Because you release the "good" movies over time to keep your sales up, just like with DVD, and you release new releases when they're....new.

Let me re-phrase. My question was why they're releasing older films on BD that are B-list, like Wild Things and Under Siege and Rising Sun and Purple Rain? Thus far, we haven't seen very many "hot property" releases. I also don't see the point in releasing X-Men 3 on BD and not the first two films. Or why Season Two of a TV show is on BD, but Season One is not.

As a consumer, I'd be hesitant to buy part 3 of a trilogy with no guarantee I'd be able to get the rest of it on BD anytime soon.