Any rumors about Buffy the Vampire Slayer show coming out on Blu-ray?

[jpegfilms]

Wow. WttH and TH both look WAAAAY better. Much less pink! Still some DNR but, I'll take it. It looks like it's still cropped sadly.

[NileQT87]

Wow. The Master looks like he's back in his yellows! He's not bright white anymore! (Can we compare? Or was it just my DVR where he looked really white? I don't have the 1x02 first airing from FilmOn.) I don't see any differences with WttH. *edit* Ah, no changes. I guess my DVR/TV actually was making the footage even brighter than these versions after all. Yes, even the tunnel looked even brighter on my TV than this, though even this isn't exactly dark. Okay, I'm definitely going to refer to the rips more than the TV versions now. Strange. And yeah, Cordy still looks sunburnt.

We need to get them to open up the sides we *know* they have, seeing as extra width to the sides randomly shows up (including The Harvest zoom-in in the credits, the Joyce scene and even the shirtless Angel scene), not even the entire 4:3 image is used in some cases (somebody was rather obviously trying to minimize the female gaze of the WB's famous shirtless male agenda and zoom way in on Buffy in that scene--and were even cropping out nearly a fourth of the 4:3 image to do it!).

Saying that 1-7 don't have extra width is clearly wrong (nor is it just the theory of Super 16mm reshot scenes from episodes 1-2, because even 7 has the frame scooted over out of the 4:3 frame), because we know they do from several scenes. It's like the original restoration attempt didn't realize that was how the other widescreen versions were made and they only figured it out when they got to 8+.

By the way, I, Robot... You, Jane has like the ultimate fourth-wall breaking moment on the computer screen, and I'm not talking about Buffy's many birth dates and GPAs... LOL... You can actually read the computer files on the computer in that scene, and one of them reads: "Buffy - I, Robot". It is clicked on and that's when you get all those images flashing of Buffy. Also, the Apple logo accidentally appears briefly until it is replaced by the triangle they've replaced it with after they've clicked the "Buffy - I, Robot" file.

[Buffdale]

No, sorry. The newspaper is still pink !
Nothing has changed.

In fact, the scene where Cordelia is on the computer ... they do not use the entire width of the 4:3 image, but they opened on the right side !


The scenes in the tunnels, as expected, are extremely bright. No need flashlight.

[NileQT87]

The third link allows you to download GB-size files for free. Don't bother with the first two filelockers.

I can't wait to see the real HD version, as flawed as it is. I hope this person bothers with the rest of the episodes.

I have no idea what's going on with their cropping... There are just endless examples now of opening up one side, but hacking away at what was on the other in the 4:3 image. It looks like all of it was done in Super 16mm, but they only figured out they're supposed to open up *both* sides to make a 16:9 version starting with episode 8. It's just weird. It just seems now like whoever was doing the cropping thought they were just supposed to get as many extreme close-ups as possible (explains why Angel was being hacked out of the image so they could get close-ups of Buffy that are absurdly zoomed in from the 4:3 version), didn't refer at all to the 4:3 version, somebody let them know how seasons 4-7 were opened up to the full image and so they started doing it right with episodes 8-10+.

[Nico Darko]

Wow, the color balance in "The Harvest" looks so much better ! They clearly realized something was wrong, glad they fixed it. It's encouraging, although the cropping still hurts me deeply.

@Buffdale : So "Welcome to the hellmouth" still had the pink look ?

[Buffdale]

Originally Posted by Nico Darko

@Buffdale : So "Welcome to the hellmouth" still had the pink look ?

Yes. It's exactly the same. Unfortunately. However, I have noticed that many whites are ... white. So it's really strange. I feel that it's random. The worst time is Darla's close up.

Originally Posted by NileQT87

The third link allows you to download GB-size files for free. Don't bother with the first two filelockers.

I can't wait to see the real HD version, as flawed as it is. I hope this person bothers with the rest of the episodes.

I have no idea what's going on with their cropping... There are just endless examples now of opening up one side, but hacking away at what was on the other in the 4:3 image. It looks like all of it was done in Super 16mm, but they only figured out they're supposed to open up *both* sides to make a 16:9 version starting with episode 8. It's just weird. It just seems now like whoever was doing the cropping thought they were just supposed to get as many extreme close-ups as possible (explains why Angel was being hacked out of the image so they could get extreme closeups of Buffy that are absurdly zoomed in from the 4:3 version), didn't refer at all to the 4:3 version and somebody let them know how seasons 4-7 were opened up to the full image and so they started doing it right with episodes 8-10+.

I'll wait a torrent :/.

Just like you, I absolutely do not understand this story. What are they doing? This is a disaster...

[Nico Darko]

Why did they fix the colors in episode 2 but not episode 1 ? that's very odd.

What's even more odd is the way they chose to loose picture when they obviously could gain some on the sides. I really don't get it, but that makes more confident about an un-cropped version of the first 7 eps on Blu-Ray.

[Buffdale]

Originally Posted by Nico Darko

Why did they fix the color in episode 2 but not episode 1 ? that's very odd.

What's even more odd is the way they chose to loose picture when they obviously could gain some on the sides. I really don't get it, but that makes more confident about an un-cropped version of the first 7 eps on Blu-Ray.

We haven't seen a picture of the episode before today. In the trailer, I feel that Pivot had put a pink hue to match with its logo. (Just a theory).

They need to start again from scratch for a non-cropped version. No ? Because if they had scanned this version, they would have realized sooner that they have the possibility to do it ? I'm lost.

[Nico Darko]

So you think only episode 1 had the pink look last week ? I know you didn't record eps 2-5, but do you remember noticing the pink problem ?

EDIT : I just compared the opening of episode 2 from last week with today's broadcast and it looks exactly the same. So it would seem ONLY episode 1 suffered from the pinkish look ?

[Buffdale]

Originally Posted by Nico Darko

So you think only episode 1 had the pink look last week ? I know you didn't record eps 2-5, but do you remember noticing the pink problem ?

Sincerely, I don't remember... My first viewing was focused on the cropping and the DNR... I believe the other three are rebroadcasted (?) next Friday.

LOVE this screencap !

[Nico Darko]

I can also confirm that the vampire dusting of Luke and Jessie were redone for HD, just like Darla's in episode 7 (as well as the one at the end of episode 1). That's all of them I think ? (from what I've seen).

I think the effect looks nicer on the dvd, they tried to match what it looked like in season 1, but it stills doesn't look the same. I think it's fine though, it will definitely look better re-rendered in HD than upscalled from SD. The question is, will they remake every dusting effects of the series ? Because the effect in later seasons looks much nicer, and is probably more difficult to re-render.

Upscalling those effects would also look better starting season 3, maybe they'll think it's enough and only re-render the dustings of S1-2 ?

In any case, I'm glad they're taking the time (and spending the money) to remake some of the special effects in HD. That makes me think this remaster is not completely botched

[Buffdale]

Originally Posted by Nico Darko

I can also confirm that the vampire dusting of Luke and Jessie were redone for HD, just like Darla's in episode 7 (as well as the one at the end of episode 1). That's all of them I think ? (from what I've seen).

I think the effect looks nicer on the dvd, they tried to match what it looked like in season 1, but it stills doesn't look the same. I think it's fine though, it will definitely look better re-rendered in HD than upscalled from SD. The question is, will they remake every dusting effects of the series ? Because the effect in later seasons looks much nicer, and is probably more difficult to re-render.

Upscalling those effects would also look better starting season 3, maybe they'll think it's enough and only re-render the dustings of S1-2 ?

In any case, I'm glad they're taking the time (and spending the money) to remake some of the special effects in HD. That makes me think this remaster is not completely botched

I'm not a fan either... It's almost more smoke than dust for me. Before there were dust particles. Now everything disappears. But I'll get used to it. At least Fox makes an effort for that.

I don't know for S3-7, but I guess they will remake every dusting effects. If that's the case, I hope it will be more accurate.

[NileQT87]

Also, they need the dust particles to remain after the effect explodes. Darla's, in particular, had a pile of dust left on the floor. Vampires don't dissipate into smoke, they end up in dust piles.

Otherwise, Cordy wouldn't be mistaking a pile of dust she forgot to sweep for Angel in IWRY.

We might be in for some nasty surprises if this is how uninterested they are in *matching* the new special effects (should be copied frame-by-frame) to the old ones. The Mayor snake, Turok-Han and the later skeleton dustings might have a lot less effort put into them, despite the better CGI technology available. Just imagine them having to copy Lurconis the sewer snake, which was a piss-poor attempt at a CGI snake to see if CGI-ing the Mayor was even feasible on BtVS' budget back in the day! Each of those vamp dustings used to cost $5,000.

The day-to-night portal in Nightmares needs a lot more visible thick red smoke wispies around it... Also, it doesn't really match the original with where the benches and hedges are. They unsquished that school grounds footage (see the difference in palm trees--weirdly, the 4:3 seems to be a squashed 16:9 image!), but then changed where the effect starts.

I hope they really try to copy the special effects more than just create entirely different-looking ones. If they're not going to bother matching them, just start adding skeletons to the early effects, since they're not even aiming for the true originals anyway.

[Nico Darko]

Originally Posted by NileQT87

Also, they need the dust particles to remain after the effect explodes. Darla's, in particular, had a pile of dust left on the floor. Vampires don't dissipate into smoke, they end up in dust piles.

Otherwise, Cordy wouldn't be mistaking a pile of dust she forgot to sweep for Angel in IWRY.

Yeah ! So I really appreciate that they're re-rendering the effects in HD, but the vampire dusting is a big part of the show, it needs to look right, or it won't make any sense when the characters mention the vamps turning to dust ! (not smoke)

One more thing to add to the list of things in need of fixing !

[Buffdale]

To illustrate :





1000 ! :O

[Drewbee87]

They need to hire this guy to re-do the VFX:

Vampire Dusting Buffy/Angel Season 3 - 4 2008 - YouTube

[Nico Darko]

Originally Posted by NileQT87

Also, they need the dust particles to remain after the effect explodes. Darla's, in particular, had a pile of dust left on the floor. Vampires don't dissipate into smoke, they end up in dust piles.

Otherwise, Cordy wouldn't be mistaking a pile of dust she forgot to sweep for Angel in IWRY.

You could already see the dusting problem in the video comparisons.

At 36s and 4min20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moIb...youtu.be&t=36s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC7OA...utu.be&t=4m21s

[LCT1000]

Thanks for the HD file.

After viewing the first episode in HD I can say that I finally see all the problems. The aspect ratio doesnt annoy me at all but everything else is baaaad. There is no way this quality would be match up to Blu-ray standard. The colours are all wrong but the thing I noticed the most is the DNR. It's like they just smoothed over the grain with a soft brush. To me, grain makes shows look so much better. There is a little grain left but not much. In this day and age (not just a popular show like Buffy, but in general) HD should be much better than this.

[Nico Darko]

Originally Posted by NileQT87

We might be in for some nasty surprises if this is how uninterested they are in *matching* the new special effects (should be copied frame-by-frame) to the old ones. The Mayor snake, Turok-Han and the later skeleton dustings might have a lot less effort put into them, despite the better CGI technology available. Just imagine them having to copy Lurconis the sewer snake, which was a piss-poor attempt at a CGI snake to see if CGI-ing the Mayor was even feasible on BtVS' budget back in the day! Each of those vamp dustings used to cost $5,000.

The day-to-night portal in Nightmares needs a lot more visible thick red smoke wispies around it... Also, it doesn't really match the original with where the benches and hedges are. They unsquished that school grounds footage (see the difference in palm trees--weirdly, the 4:3 seems to be a squashed 16:9 image!), but then changed where the effect starts.

I hope they really try to copy the special effects more than just create entirely different-looking ones. If they're not going to bother matching them, just start adding skeletons to the early effects, since they're not even aiming for the true originals anyway.

I didn't expect them to re-render most of the special effects in HD, so that's a pleasant surprise. But seeing how different the dusting effect looks is very worrying. I'm not familiar with Star Trek TNG, but did the re-rendered effects match the original ?

Those S1 dusting effects are probably some of the easier to remake, and they can't even get them right. How are they gonna deal with the upcoming seasons ? If they won't bother to match the original effect, they might as well try to make the upscale look good ! which could work for the 35mm seasons, it worked okay for Firefly.

[Nico Darko]

Originally Posted by LCT1000

Thanks for the HD file.

After viewing the first episode in HD I can say that I finally see all the problems. The aspect ratio doesnt annoy me at all but everything else is baaaad. There is no way this quality would be match up to Blu-ray standard. The colours are all wrong but the thing I noticed the most is the DNR. It's like they just smoothed over the grain with a soft brush. To me, grain makes shows look so much better. There is a little grain left but not much. In this day and age (not just a popular show like Buffy, but in general) HD should be much better than this.

The 1st episode is obviously the worst-looking one of the HD remaster. I hope the following episodes will also be available for download in HD. Although I'm pretty sure the DNR will look just as bad.