Archived: Insiders Thread

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Too true

I'm sad Death at a Funeral won't be on Blu

Maybe the German verasion is region free

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Unfortunately their definition of noticable difference is pretty loose. There was definitely a noticable difference on Shoot 'em Up, but I don't think they are doing separate encodes.

They don't look at HT enthusiasts as the norm, so when people talk about 120" screens with front projectors it's not them that NL are catering for with these encodes. It is the 32" 720p Vizio crowd, which by and large are HD DVD owners .

Anyway, I am going to take my chances with Entertainment in Video for my NL releases.

That's an interesting statement. Do you know for sure EIV do their own encodes? Or is there a way to find out on per-release-basis?

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

It isn't the single disc approach that is causing the problem, it is the peak bandwidth in most cases. A movie like BB needs a high peak bandwidth for a lot of scenes, but with stilly things like IME to contend with PQ takes a back-seat.

Even if BB had been on 2 discs it would still have been terrible.

With 40Mb available for just PQ on Blu I think it is silly of WB not to be taking advantage of this.

I assume that the LOTR test encodes you have mentioned did not have to contend with wasted bandwidth on nonsense like IME? And thus for this reason as well did not represent a fair test of what an actual commercial disc release might look like?

[WickyWoo]

Maybe the German verasion is region free

Thanks for the link, but not $40+ after shipping sad

That's an interesting statement. Do you know for sure EIV do their own encodes? Or is there a way to find out on per-release-basis?

They do, but they don't always use the best masters on catalog titles (Crow is AWFUL from what I hear)

I assume that the LOTR test encodes you have mentioned did not have to contend with wasted bandwidth on nonsense like IME? And thus for this reason as well did not represent a fair test of what an actual commercial disc release might look like?

Here's the thing: Joe and Jane 6-pack will not notice is their criteria. The expense of doing 2 seperate encodes is massive, especially for the ROI HD media is generating right now.

New Line has said they'll follow Warner, if WB indeed were to go exclusive at CES, then we never need worry how LOTR turns out. That being said any Entertainment in Video release of LOTR would almost certainly be region locked, as their Uni and Miramax titles have been

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

New Line has said they'll follow Warner, if WB indeed were to go exclusive at CES, then we never need worry how LOTR turns out. That being said any Entertainment in Video release of LOTR would almost certainly be region locked, as their Uni and Miramax titles have been

I just hope Enterainment in Video give us the same quality as the New Line Release.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Thanks for the link, but not $40+ after shipping sad

Yeah, it's steep. But for us Swiss folks they deduct the tax (which is almost 20%) plus shipping is free. So it's more like 25$ for me (it's already pre-ordered).

They do, but they don't always use the best masters on catalog titles (Crow is AWFUL from what I hear)

I heard about the Crow too. But wouldn't it be wise for a studio to make sure that international distributors receive the right masters? New Line should be aware that a lot of videophiles will be watching closely when it comes to LOTR. Here's to hoping.

...
New Line has said they'll follow Warner, if WB indeed were to go exclusive at CES, then we never need worry how LOTR turns out. That being said any Entertainment in Video release of LOTR would almost certainly be region locked, as their Uni and Miramax titles have been

Here's to hoping part 2

[WickyWoo]

I heard about the Crow too. But wouldn't it be wise for a studio to make sure that international distributors receive the right masters? New Line should be aware that a lot of videophiles will be watching closely when it comes to LOTR. Here's to hoping.

International distributors are responsible for their own masters. They could buy the rights to use an existing master yes, but typically they don't because by the time all the paperwork is done it costs the same. They are not distributing on behalf of anyone, it's their film in that territory

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Here's the thing: Joe and Jane 6-pack will not notice is their criteria. The expense of doing 2 seperate encodes is massive, especially for the ROI HD media is generating right now.

New Line has said they'll follow Warner, if WB indeed were to go exclusive at CES, then we never need worry how LOTR turns out.

The problem with Warner is they are putting out releases that look far worse than they need to even given the constraints of the HD DVD spec. They wouldn't need to do two encodes to get better PQ. Universal has shown that it is possible to get excellent PQ within the HD DVD spec, but Warner does things like putting Troy DC on a single disc, and as Max points out wasting bandwidth on garbage like IME. Warner going blue exclusive would solve these problems and of course that is what all of us here hope and pray for.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

I'm sorry, but I thought we were competing. Did you see the earlier post on the ad from Best Buy? For $2k you can now buy a high quality HD display, Blu-ray player, plus free movies. Have you seen all of the television spots promoting Blu-ray? How about HD-DVD television advertising, not so much right? If your sense of competing is that we have to give away Blu-ray players and movies at prices equal to, or less than another company who is taking a scorched earth tact, that's just not going to happen. Yes, Blu-ray is in this to win, but there has to be some kind of business left, when the battle is won.

I want to say kudos on the new ads, the Blu ones and the PS3 ones.

I hope you guys have a massive Blu-ray push lined up for the SuperBowl - the first commercial spot would be the best one!

=D

[The Big Blue]

Sir Terrance,

I was seeing The Incredibles advertised last night for a Thanksgiving night airing on NBC. Can we read anything into that?

[WickyWoo]

I was seeing The Incredibles advertised last night for a Thanksgiving night airing on NBC. Can we read anything into that?

No. Incredibles will be at least 2009 and probably 2010. Finding Nemo is the catalog title for next year, and Toy Story 1/2 are 2010

[Azumi]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

International distributors are responsible for their own masters. They could buy the rights to use an existing master yes, but typically they don't because by the time all the paperwork is done it costs the same. They are not distributing on behalf of anyone, it's their film in that territory

Wicky,

In order to provide an enhancement, I also wish to add that there are cooperations between foreign distribs on very specific occasions:

Ministudios like NL, Lionsgate or Miramax typically sign exclusive territorial deals that span a number of years (for instance, Seven 7 has the NL rights in France). When day-and-date titles are coming to Europe, it's not uncommon for instance for the French, German and Italian companies to "collaborate" on some DLT elements -- like the video encode, or the English DD and DTS audio track -- provided they all get to release the same master (ie, no censorship issues). We have also seen cooperation on the infrastructure of the menus and interactivity layers.

On the other hand, I wish to stress that it doesn't happen on every occasion, and you don't have to see a pattern here. It mostly depends whether those companies *know each other well* and have established collaborative channels that allow them to split costs.

At least, that's the case with DVD. I don't know for hi-def media.

This workflow may also generate some revenues. Take for instance Wild Side, who have just finished an ultimate version of Suspiria and have a restored video master that was supervised by both Dario Argento and the cinematographer Luciano Tovoli -- and is rumored to blow away everything that has been made before. If you were Wild Side, wouldn't you try to sell your super pristine master to other foreign companies?

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

No. Incredibles will be at least 2009 and probably 2010. Finding Nemo is the catalog title for next year, and Toy Story 1/2 are 2010

Why is there such a big gap in releases?

[Braktastic]

Blu-ray Insiders:

Home Media Magazine posted an article today entitled: "Blu-ray Attacks HD DVD on Web", which refers to the two viral advertisements: “The Coaster,” and “The Junk Closet” that began showing up last week. The article clearly infers that the BDA is behind these ads. Is that the case? I had not seen confirmation of that anywhere else, and it seems a bit presumptuous on their part.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/new...ticle_ID=11591

[WarCraft]

Seriously, the Insiders Thread has become a comment thread


Insiders -- for studio's using VC-1 encodes do they pay royalty to MS?
And for Disney using the VC-1 encode meant to build bridges with MS -- perhaps winning them over to BD's side?

And what usually is the basis for selecting the encoding to use? My assumption would be that they do a sample for each type of encoding before deciding. Is the disc size a factor? ( Assuming that a studio says it has to fit in BD25 coz that's all I can afford )

Thanks

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by WarCraft

Insiders --
And for Disney using the VC-1 encode meant to build bridges with MS ?.....

Thanks

Hardly, Chapek and Dunn are on the same page……………….
http://www.movieweb.com/dvd/news/53/24053.php

P.S.
In fact, I would say that Disney’s use of high bitrate VC-1 on Santa Claus The Escape Clause was detrimental to the ongoing MS campaign to champion the notion that bitrates don’t matter with VC-1.
http://www.hometheaterspot.com/fusio...hp?tid/139444/

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by WarCraft

with MS -- perhaps winning them over to BD's side?
Thanks

That would be quite a feat because despite pro-packaged media rhetoric from lowly MS spokespersons that frequent internet forums and drive 18 wheelers on occasion, Bill Gates and other high ranking MS officials have in the past publicly commented that the age of physical media is over.

Their support of HD DVD is a means to that end.

[assur191]

paid - every day on my way to work, I pass the West Hollywood Gateway Galleria on Santa Monica and La Brea. They have a big screen that can be seen from both streets. Lately they've been showing ads for Transformers and Shrek the Third on HD-DVD. Maybe a blu-ray ad might be a good idea. Food for thought, at least. Thanks.

[HK-48]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

No. Incredibles will be at least 2009 and probably 2010. Finding Nemo is the catalog title for next year, and Toy Story 1/2 are 2010

What about Monsters Inc. and A Bugs Life?

[WickyWoo]

Azumi thanks for the expansion on my statement

Why is there such a big gap in releases? (Pixar)

Pixar titles are evergreens, it's something you release around the holidays, preferably tied in with this year's new Pixar movie (just like they did with Cars)
They already said Nemo is next year. Toy Story 3 is 2009 so that's obviously going to be the year for 1 and 2. I imagine Incredibles will hit with whatever Brad Bird does next

Well a small distributor here in Denmark is releasing Children of Men etc. So they can't literally be forced to keep them region locked?

Brokeback Mountain and The Crow are both region locked from EIV. I believe so is The Departed (check the list in the import thread)