Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies Blu-ray Pre-order - Blu-ray Forum

HDTV1080P · 07-28-2013, 03:47 PM

Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies Blu-ray

Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies Blu-ray

Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies was released on the Blu-ray format on July 6th 2011. This is ILLUSTRA MEDIA’S very first Blu-ray release. This is a documentary that shows in detail the scientific evidence for the intelligent design of butterflies. Perhaps if I have time in the future I might write a brief user review regarding this Blu-ray disc title that I am awaiting to arrive. This Blu-ray has a list price of $19.95.

Quote

"Throughout history, butterflies have fascinated artists and philosophers, scientists and schoolchildren with their profound mystery and beauty. In Metamorphosis you will explore their remarkable world as few ever have before.

Spectacular photography, computer animation and magnetic resonance imaging open once hidden doors to every stage of a butterfly's life-cycle. From an egg the size of a pinhead to a magnificent flying insect. It is a transformation so incredible biologists have called it "butterfly magic."

The butterfly's superbly engineered body is magnified hundreds of times to reveal compound eyes made of thousands of individual lenses, wings covered with microscopic solar panels, and navigational systems that unerringly guide Monarch butterflies on their annual migration from Canada to Mexico.

How did these extraordinary creatures come into being? Are they the products of a blind, undirected process? Or were they designed by an intelligent cause?

Filmed in North, Central, and South America, Metamorphosis is an unforgettable documentary filled with the joys of discovery and wonder

HDTV1080P · 07-28-2013, 06:49 PM

A 4 minute and 22 second 720P HD YouTube trailer is available to watch for the Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies Blu-ray science documentary. To view at 720P HD quality one needs to click on the change quality option in the YouTube interface and change the resolution to 720P.

HDTV1080P · 08-15-2013, 09:21 PM

Brief user review of Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies Blu-ray

Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies on Blu-ray was very interesting to watch. This science documentary on butterflies shows the strong scientific evidence that butterflies were designed. Intelligent design videos are not Christian or religious videos since they never once mention God. In fact, some people in the intelligent design movement believe that some alien life form created life on earth instead of God. Therefore, my point is that intelligent design videos like Metamorphosis are popular among some atheists that choose not to believe in evolution and they are also popular for many of the different world religious that believe in gods or a God. Intelligent design videos are also viewed at some secular schools if the school has a policy to allow videos that show evidence for intelligent design. Many secular schools only allow the theory of evolution to be taught and discussed in the classroom with no room for intelligent design or creation discussions.

While watching Metamorphosis I enjoyed learning about the awesome engineered body of Butterflies while following the life cycle of a butterfly. Toward the end of the video, evidence is presented that explains why the theory of evolution is not possible scientifically.

*** Video comments ***

The Metamorphosis Blu-ray disc was professionally stamped in a Blu-ray factory. This Blu-ray disc is a single layer with a total of 22.3GB used out of 25GB. Metamorphosis uses the MPEG-4/AVC codec with a bit range of around 10Mbps-38Mbps depending on the scene being shown in the documentary. Instead of being 1080P quality, this documentary is 1080i HD quality. Metamorphosis has a beautiful 1080i MPEG-4/AVC encode with video bit rates around the high 28Mbps range and peaks into the 38Mbps range for some scenes. This 1080i Metamorphosis documentary video looks better when compared to the 1080i documentaries that I have seen on some HD cable and HD satellite channels. The level of detail of the butterflies in 1080i HD is amazing. The documentary is also encoded with English subtitle option for those that like or need subtitles.

*** Audio comments ***

This Metamorphosis Blu-ray has both a lossy English 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack at 448kbps and a lossy 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo soundtrack at 192kbps (Same audio quality as the 480i DVD release). The big disappointment is that there is no 5.1 PCM or 5.1 lossless soundtracks. PCM and lossless audio tracks are bit for bit exactly the same as the studio master soundtrack. This is Illustra Medias first Blu-ray release from back on July 6th 2011, perhaps their future new release Blu-ray titles hopefully will offer lossless audio soundtracks.

Overall the 5.1 lossy Dolby Digital surround sound mix sounded very good for a documentary video. I have seen some low budget movies that are mixed with worse quality. Metamorphosis had a good music mix for some scenes and I was very impressed with the subwoofer deep bass that occurred during the opening waterfall scene. The only complaint I have with the soundtrack is that there is no lossless audio quality offered.

*** Extras ***

This Metamorphosis Blu-ray includes over 1 hour of bonus features. 100% of the extra features are 1080i HD MPEG-4/AVC quality with a 2.0 Dolby Digital soundtrack. There is a question and answer section which has 17 short questions and answers. There is a Butterfly resource section which has short video clips on “Butterfly Exhibits” and a list of “Books about Butterflies”. Music from Metamorphosis contains 35 minutes and 31 seconds of 2.0 Dolby Digital 192kbps stereo music. Another section of the Blu-ray contains 4 video trailers for other Intelligent design videos that are offered by Illustra Media.

*** Conclusion ***

Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies on Blu-ray is an excellent science documentary that shows the life cycle and the intelligence of the butterfly species. The 1080i HD MPEG-4/AVC encode has good picture quality and the 5.1 lossy Dolby Digital soundtrack is enjoyable to listen too (However a lossless audio track would have been ideal). There is over 1 hour of extra features to watch, which I found interesting. Those that are interested in learning about the intelligence design of butterflies will most likely enjoy this documentary.

mar3o · 08-16-2013, 02:06 PM

Why does this entire thread fell like a giant advertisement to me? has anybody actually seen this and can comment?

HDTV1080P · 08-16-2013, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mar3o

Why does this entire thread fell like a giant advertisement to me? has anybody actually seen this and can comment?

I just watched the Blu-ray recently with all extra features and made a brief comment. The video documentary goes into great detail about the butterfly species.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=7984745&postcount=3

MasterChief3624 · 08-17-2013, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mar3o

Why does this entire thread fell like a giant advertisement to me? has anybody actually seen this and can comment?

I thought the same thing, too, until I realized that the OP seems to be quite a respected and high-ranking forum member on this board. Just very enthusiastic about this product.

And without that enthusiasm, I would not have seen this post and be so interested in it as I am now. I think I'll put this on my birthday list for October. Thank you HD1080P, for the wonderful review and enthusiasm for what looks to be a gorgeous film about butterflies

Strange that they opted for 1080i instead of 1080p, but given that both audio tracks are lossy, I'm guessing the budget on this one wasn't quite as large as something like DisneyNature or BBC Earth (though I think I heard DisneyNature takes its footage from the Earth series of television minidocumentaries... meh).

Is this pretty safe for sensitive people? Like, with DisneyNature African Cats I have avoided it because it supposedly shows the lions taking down their prey, and also the story does not end well for some of these lions... and DisneyNature Oceans I heard has sharks and seals, sometimes sharks eating seals.

Etc. etc.

Is this documentary safe for someone worried about seeing a living creature in pain or death? I keep seeing stuff about this showing the cycle of life for a butterfly, so I'm assuming it would show the death of one, but I'm also hoping that isn't the case?

EricJ · 08-17-2013, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterChief3624

I'm guessing the budget on this one wasn't quite as large as something like DisneyNature or BBC Earth (though I think I heard DisneyNature takes its footage from the Earth series of television minidocumentaries... meh).

(Well, that's pretty much why they invented DisneyNature to begin with...
Ask somebody who was around at the birth of Blu-ray, they'll tell you why.)

Quote:

Is this pretty safe for sensitive people? Like, with DisneyNature African Cats I have avoided it because it supposedly shows the lions taking down their prey, and also the story does not end well for some of these lions... and DisneyNature Oceans I heard has sharks and seals, sometimes sharks eating seals.

Etc. etc.

Although we also have the DisneyNature "Wings of Life", if that's too much of a problem.
(I kept thinking, "Wait, this can't be the DN film, can it, that already came out!")

MasterChief3624 · 08-17-2013, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricJ

(Well, that's pretty much why they invented DisneyNature to begin with...
Ask somebody who was around at the birth of Blu-ray, they'll tell you why.)

Although we also have the DisneyNature "Wings of Life", if that's too much of a problem.
(I kept thinking, "Wait, this can't be the DN film, can it, that already came out!")

I feel like you should be asking me to ask people that were around for the birth of something else, not just Blu-ray... because I was here at the birth of Blu-ray! I was knee-deep in HD DVD glory, but I was still here!

Have you seen Wings of Life? I pretty much avoid anything and everything from DisneyNature, so I even skipped out on that one.

HDTV1080P · 08-17-2013, 04:15 AM

MasterChief3624,

I also was hoping for a 1080P release of both Metamorphosis and Birds. There are two possible reasons why Illustra Media might be releasing their Blu-ray titles at 1080i quality instead of 1080P.

1. In theory these documentaries might have been recorded on 1080i HD videotape instead of native 1080P videotape. Hopefully future documentaries will be 1080P/24.

2. The other possibility is that Illustra Media used either native 1080P/30 videotape or a film stock at 30fps (Hz) instead of the more common 24fps (24Hz). If this is the case then the native documentary would be 1080P at 30fps, however the problem is the Blu-ray format specs has a limitation and will only do 1080P at 24Hz. Therefore, if these documentaries were native 1080P at 30fps then when it is released on Blu-ray they would have to be down converted to 1080i at 30fps quality because of the limitation of the Blu-ray format. While Blu-ray has 50GB capacity, the funny thing is the discontinued HD-DVD format with 30GB capacity, offered support for 1080P at both 24Hz and 30Hz. With 50GB capacity of Blu-ray discs, the format specs should have offered 1080P at 30Hz support so that some concert videos and some documentaries could be released in that format.

I think the option number 1 theory is most likely the case for the reason why both Metamorphosis and Flight is 1080i HD quality. There really is no excuse for the lossy audio tracks unless it was for budget reasons they decided to use the DVD soundtracks. All studios should create PCM or lossless audio tracks from their PCM masters for all future Blu-ray releases. The Blu-ray soundtracks should be used to create lossy DVD soundtracks instead of lossy DVD soundtracks being ported over to the Blu-ray releases.

As far as I can remember both Metamorphosis and Flight did not show any dead or dying butterflies or birds. They just talked about the end of the species life span without showing the dead creature. I enjoyed Metamorphosis more than flight. I found the Butterflies more interesting to me and I enjoyed the many extra features located on the Metamorphosis Blu-ray.

07-28-2013, 03:47 PM	#1
HDTV1080P Blu-ray Champion Top contributor Member since:Jan 2007 Blu-ray reviews: 205	Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies Blu-ray Pre-order Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies Blu-ray Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies Blu-ray Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies was released on the Blu-ray format on July 6th 2011. This is ILLUSTRA MEDIA’S very first Blu-ray release. This is a documentary that shows in detail the scientific evidence for the intelligent design of butterflies. Perhaps if I have time in the future I might write a brief user review regarding this Blu-ray disc title that I am awaiting to arrive. This Blu-ray has a list price of $19.95. Quote "Throughout history, butterflies have fascinated artists and philosophers, scientists and schoolchildren with their profound mystery and beauty. In *Metamorphosis* you will explore their remarkable world as few ever have before. Spectacular photography, computer animation and magnetic resonance imaging open once hidden doors to every stage of a butterfly's life-cycle. From an egg the size of a pinhead to a magnificent flying insect. It is a transformation so incredible biologists have called it "butterfly magic." The butterfly's superbly engineered body is magnified hundreds of times to reveal compound eyes made of thousands of individual lenses, wings covered with microscopic solar panels, and navigational systems that unerringly guide Monarch butterflies on their annual migration from Canada to Mexico. How did these extraordinary creatures come into being? Are they the products of a blind, undirected process? Or were they designed by an intelligent cause? Filmed in North, Central, and South America, *Metamorphosis* is an unforgettable documentary filled with the joys of discovery and wonder Last edited by HDTV1080P; 07-29-2013 at 05:45 PM.

08-15-2013, 09:21 PM	#3
HDTV1080P Blu-ray Champion Top contributor Member since:Jan 2007 Blu-ray reviews: 205	Brief user review of Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies Blu-ray Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies on Blu-ray was very interesting to watch. This science documentary on butterflies shows the strong scientific evidence that butterflies were designed. Intelligent design videos are not Christian or religious videos since they never once mention God. In fact, some people in the intelligent design movement believe that some alien life form created life on earth instead of God. Therefore, my point is that intelligent design videos like Metamorphosis are popular among some atheists that choose not to believe in evolution and they are also popular for many of the different world religious that believe in gods or a God. Intelligent design videos are also viewed at some secular schools if the school has a policy to allow videos that show evidence for intelligent design. Many secular schools only allow the theory of evolution to be taught and discussed in the classroom with no room for intelligent design or creation discussions. While watching Metamorphosis I enjoyed learning about the awesome engineered body of Butterflies while following the life cycle of a butterfly. Toward the end of the video, evidence is presented that explains why the theory of evolution is not possible scientifically. * Video comments * The Metamorphosis Blu-ray disc was professionally stamped in a Blu-ray factory. This Blu-ray disc is a single layer with a total of 22.3GB used out of 25GB. Metamorphosis uses the MPEG-4/AVC codec with a bit range of around 10Mbps-38Mbps depending on the scene being shown in the documentary. Instead of being 1080P quality, this documentary is 1080i HD quality. Metamorphosis has a beautiful 1080i MPEG-4/AVC encode with video bit rates around the high 28Mbps range and peaks into the 38Mbps range for some scenes. This 1080i Metamorphosis documentary video looks better when compared to the 1080i documentaries that I have seen on some HD cable and HD satellite channels. The level of detail of the butterflies in 1080i HD is amazing. The documentary is also encoded with English subtitle option for those that like or need subtitles. * Audio comments * This Metamorphosis Blu-ray has both a lossy English 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack at 448kbps and a lossy 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo soundtrack at 192kbps (Same audio quality as the 480i DVD release). The big disappointment is that there is no 5.1 PCM or 5.1 lossless soundtracks. PCM and lossless audio tracks are bit for bit exactly the same as the studio master soundtrack. This is Illustra Medias first Blu-ray release from back on July 6th 2011, perhaps their future new release Blu-ray titles hopefully will offer lossless audio soundtracks. Overall the 5.1 lossy Dolby Digital surround sound mix sounded very good for a documentary video. I have seen some low budget movies that are mixed with worse quality. Metamorphosis had a good music mix for some scenes and I was very impressed with the subwoofer deep bass that occurred during the opening waterfall scene. The only complaint I have with the soundtrack is that there is no lossless audio quality offered. * Extras * This Metamorphosis Blu-ray includes over 1 hour of bonus features. 100% of the extra features are 1080i HD MPEG-4/AVC quality with a 2.0 Dolby Digital soundtrack. There is a question and answer section which has 17 short questions and answers. There is a Butterfly resource section which has short video clips on “Butterfly Exhibits” and a list of “Books about Butterflies”. Music from Metamorphosis contains 35 minutes and 31 seconds of 2.0 Dolby Digital 192kbps stereo music. Another section of the Blu-ray contains 4 video trailers for other Intelligent design videos that are offered by Illustra Media. * Conclusion * Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies on Blu-ray is an excellent science documentary that shows the life cycle and the intelligence of the butterfly species. The 1080i HD MPEG-4/AVC encode has good picture quality and the 5.1 lossy Dolby Digital soundtrack is enjoyable to listen too (However a lossless audio track would have been ideal). There is over 1 hour of extra features to watch, which I found interesting. Those that are interested in learning about the intelligence design of butterflies will most likely enjoy this documentary. Last edited by HDTV1080P; 08-15-2013 at 09:33 PM.

08-17-2013, 04:15 AM	#9
HDTV1080P Blu-ray Champion Top contributor Member since:Jan 2007 Blu-ray reviews: 205	MasterChief3624, I also was hoping for a 1080P release of both Metamorphosis and Birds. There are two possible reasons why Illustra Media might be releasing their Blu-ray titles at 1080i quality instead of 1080P. 1. In theory these documentaries might have been recorded on 1080i HD videotape instead of native 1080P videotape. Hopefully future documentaries will be 1080P/24. 2. The other possibility is that Illustra Media used either native 1080P/30 videotape or a film stock at 30fps (Hz) instead of the more common 24fps (24Hz). If this is the case then the native documentary would be 1080P at 30fps, however the problem is the Blu-ray format specs has a limitation and will only do 1080P at 24Hz. Therefore, if these documentaries were native 1080P at 30fps then when it is released on Blu-ray they would have to be down converted to 1080i at 30fps quality because of the limitation of the Blu-ray format. While Blu-ray has 50GB capacity, the funny thing is the discontinued HD-DVD format with 30GB capacity, offered support for 1080P at both 24Hz and 30Hz. With 50GB capacity of Blu-ray discs, the format specs should have offered 1080P at 30Hz support so that some concert videos and some documentaries could be released in that format. I think the option number 1 theory is most likely the case for the reason why both Metamorphosis and Flight is 1080i HD quality. There really is no excuse for the lossy audio tracks unless it was for budget reasons they decided to use the DVD soundtracks. All studios should create PCM or lossless audio tracks from their PCM masters for all future Blu-ray releases. The Blu-ray soundtracks should be used to create lossy DVD soundtracks instead of lossy DVD soundtracks being ported over to the Blu-ray releases. As far as I can remember both Metamorphosis and Flight did not show any dead or dying butterflies or birds. They just talked about the end of the species life span without showing the dead creature. I enjoyed Metamorphosis more than flight. I found the Butterflies more interesting to me and I enjoyed the many extra features located on the Metamorphosis Blu-ray. Last edited by HDTV1080P; 08-17-2013 at 04:20 AM.

08-16-2013, 02:06 PM	#4
mar3o Banned Member since:Dec 2011 Blu-ray reviews: 1 Trading Score:2	Why does this entire thread fell like a giant advertisement to me? has anybody actually seen this and can comment?

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