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

[LCT1000]

I got bored and decided to do a little editing. I thought I would touch-up the HD image from the Pivot broadcast to how 'it should be'. I fixed the colour and added a layer of grain. It's not perfect but I think it's better than Pivot's.

Original version:


Pivot version:


My edit:

[Nico Darko]

Here, look how much much better the colors are in The Harvest, compared to the 1st episode. They still forgot to apply the blue filter at the bronze, but it looks really good overall.
Maybe that's because the episode didn't go through as much post-production in 97 as an episode like "Angel". In any case, I wish all episodes could look as good in terms of color balance.

[Veronica Mars]

You guys have no idea how difficult it is to deal with this thread on top of the X-Files thread.

These are tied for my number 1 show of all-time and nothing can come around and change that now.

I can't take all the screenshots and teases and stories of the people getting to watch this on their HDTVs for now and the constant discussion about blu-ray releases when neither show has ever been announced for a future release.

I just want to wake up and have them both available for sale already. Complete seasons. Probably together combined, the most expensive blu-ray purchases of my life, and I'm ready to hand over my money right now.

Can someone please just make that happen? I'm not getting any younger.

[Drewbee87]

I've just been going through the first episode in both 4:3 & 16:9 just to see how much is opened up, got a lot of captures that I'll be posting comparisons for later. There are a ton that are opened up on the sides, but still cropped.

[Nico Darko]

If they love widescreen so much, I really wished they would zoom-in on shots like this one. Some people might never notice it but I do, and it bugs me.

Originally Posted by theprestige85

Also, we're almost close to 1000 posts, guys. Keep up the momentum. Nico and Buffdale, our French residents, your contributions have been wonderful and I feel could potentially make a difference. Keep up the good work, guys. I've still yet to sign up to Facebook to sign but will do so asap. So happy that there are those who are passionate about the show.

My pleasure I'm enjoying analyzing the show this way, and I find the process of restoration in general quite fascinating.

Even though the remaster has been a big disappointment so far, it gave me a chance to look at season 1 from a new angle, to see what made it great and special. Even if the 1st season is the weakest of the show, it was still a very complex season from a filmmaking point of view. Which is why it's a lot easier to mess-up the Buffy remaster, than messing up a show like "Friends".

[Drewbee87]

For those wondering just how much is re-framed/opened up rather than just plain cropped(sorry if I have some that have already been compared, it's hard to keep up with what has already been posted):

[Nico Darko]

Thanks Drewbee ! Those screenshots confirm that the cropping doesn't seem to make any sense.

[Drewbee87]

No problem! It looks like someone who just started doing HD Remasters done this. Like they were learning as they go. lol Some of the 16:9 caps look like all they need is to be moved up or down, and the top and bottom of the frame would match the OAR.

[Buffdale]

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.

So we were right from the beginning. It's a massacre. I am not surprised. For the "little grain", I think it is more the compression artifacts achieved by television transmission. No ? I hope the episodes will be different on Blu-Rays. Otherwise, that would be the ultimate shame for Fox. I thought this studio took care of his works...

Originally Posted by Nico Darko

Here, look how much much better the colors are in The Harvest, compared to the 1st episode. They still forgot to apply the blue filter at the bronze, but it looks really good overall.
Maybe that's because the episode didn't go through as much post-production in 97 as an episode like "Angel". In any case, I wish all episodes could look as good in terms of color balance.

It's crazy. I really don't understand this lack of blue. Regarding the yellow hue in the Master's lair, perhaps it was filmed that way. Unlike the later episodes. This is probably the only possibility...

Originally Posted by Drewbee87

For those wondering just how much is re-framed/opened up rather than just plain cropped(sorry if I have some that have already been compared, it's hard to keep up with what has already been posted):

Thanks ! When you see the episode, I find the pink hue more subtle. But when it's compared to DVD... Oh my God ! The best time seems to be the second scene in the library. The one that was shot at the end of the season ? Nico Darko ?

I like the Bangel scene in the streets. But black seems to be bluer (ha ha !) than black...

The whole cropping story is a mess !

[Drewbee87]

It was strange watching the scene between Cordelia, Buffy & Willow. When Cordelia and Buffy walked up to Willow, it was opened up, then cut to Willow and it was cropped, cut to Cordelia and Buffy opened up, cut back to Willow cropped. Then after Willow walks away from the water fountain Cordelia and Buffy are cropped for the rest of their scene.

[slainery]

Originally Posted by LCT1000

I got bored and decided to do a little editing. I thought I would touch-up the HD image from the Pivot broadcast to how 'it should be'. I fixed the colour and added a layer of grain. It's not perfect but I think it's better than Pivot's.

[Show spoiler]Original version:


Pivot version:


My edit:

Meh.

I do appreciate the grain but, on a chromatic level, the Pivot version of that shot seems closer to the original one.

[NileQT87]

I've now got my hands on the jumbo .ts file of WttH (I hate .ts files... seriously, why? VLC player hates them).

Just as we all suspected... It's been DNR'd like crazy. If they had left the grain, IMO, it would look a lot sharper in 1080.

However, I did just notice that you can see ASH's ear piercing!

And agreed with the above about the colors in that recolor of The Harvest zoom-in shot. The blue-green levels are much stronger than even the DVD version (no green there). The light behind her head should be yellowish, not green... And her shirt is even whiter in the DVD version than Pivot's, but much less smooth and fabric-like. You've tinted it far too blue. That contrast is even more extreme than the DVD version and we know the contrast, crushed blacks (really bad) and flattened colors are very likely a case of bad DVD authoring instead of the original state of the film (which is very likely to be much closer to Pivot's version, though I suspect they have given it a pinker tint, which is a recent fad in film restoration--see the travesty that is the very pink Star Wars OT complete with pink lightsabers, besides the alteration nightmare). Some scenes definitely were intended to be graded in post-production (the day-for-night in Angel and the clown scene in Nightmares being very obvious examples), but there is quite a lot of blue already in that scene, unlike the other ones mentioned.

The pink tint has also resulted in making Torrance High School's beige stucco pink. The DVD version was just as off, though, as they seemingly tried to make the shrubbery look greener by tinting the whole thing green (and the pink makes it look dead even by Southern California drought standards). And of course, that pink paint on the curb should be a true primary color red.

The Angel cross-burning scene desperately needs blue put back into the picture to tint the burn mark back to garnet, instead of flesh tone, and to put the blue back on his jacket. The red has also rendered his shirt pink instead of slightly yellowed white. The DNR in that scene has also removed a lot of the stitches you could see on his shirt.

Different scenes call for different tints or a little darkening on occasion. The glowing blood pool in the Master's lair was definitely intended to be lit more like in the DVD version. Kill the light red tone (add yellow) and try to make it look like there is a glowing pool of blood lit from below surrounded by the dark (also, that blood pool is too intentionally the focus of that shot to be cropped out that much). Similar to the burn mark, you need to get some dark contrast into the mix to make it stand out.

De-pinking and a bit of grain (the image is *so* soft, even in HD):

[Buffdale]

Originally Posted by NileQT87

I've now got my hands on the jumbo .ts file of WttH (I hate .ts files... seriously, why? VLC player hates them).

Just as we all suspected... It's been DNR'd like crazy. If they had left the grain, IMO, it would look a lot sharper in 1080.

I don't download it. It useless. Really hope there will be no DNR on the Blu-Rays...
What did you think about the cropping (Xander beheaded...) ?

Almost 600 Likes on Facebook ! This is madness !
https://www.facebook.com/BuffyHD

[LCT1000]

Originally Posted by Buffdale

So we were right from the beginning. It's a massacre. I am not surprised. For the "little grain", I think it is more the compression artifacts achieved by television transmission. No ? I hope the episodes will be different on Blu-Rays. Otherwise, that would be the ultimate shame for Fox. I thought this studio took care of his works...

Yeah I think your right! It looks like the little (very little) grain only appears I every now and again. I'll try and take a few caps from the file later. t's a bit of a disaster. The only benefit from this transfer is that it may introduce a new audience to Buffy, because I know a few people who would be put off by 4:3 and the 90's look that it naturally has. In terms of television broadcast in the 21st Century I guess it's okay but other than that, this HD master is a disaster. It's extremely blurry and ridiculously smooth. I've seen Blurays that only have a 3 star quality rating on this very website that looks better than this. There is no way FOX could get away with releasing this on Blu. Especially with a show as popular as BUFFY. They would get savaged if this was put on the market. The only thing that doesn't bother me is the 16:9.

I'm sorry guys I didn't see how bad it was before! I was wrong.

[Buffdale]

Originally Posted by LCT1000

Yeah I think your right! It looks like the little (very little) grain only appears I every now and again. I'll try and take a few caps from the file later. t's a bit of a disaster. The only benefit from this transfer is that it may introduce a new audience to Buffy, because I know a few people who would be put off by 4:3 and the 90's look that it naturally has. In terms of television broadcast in the 21st Century I guess it's okay but other than that, this HD master is a disaster. It's extremely blurry and ridiculously smooth. I've seen Blurays that only have a 3 star quality rating on this very website that looks better than this. There is no way FOX could get away with releasing this on Blu. Especially with a show as popular as BUFFY. They would get savaged if this was put on the market. The only thing that doesn't bother me is the 16:9.

I'm sorry guys I didn't see how bad it was before! I was wrong.

It's never too late ! Except... Maybe... "Life is short, tomorrow you might be dead" but.. Oh well ! I love this philosophy !

I'm curious to see some screenshots, thank you very much . I can't download it on this kind of site. And, well... Given the size of the file... For what it is...

If it comes out on Blu-Ray, the fans, the experts, (...), will be extremely critical. I hope Fox will not take that risk, and that the quality will be much higher. I'm curious for any new audio mix too.

[theprestige85]

Originally Posted by Nico Darko

My pleasure I'm enjoying analyzing the show this way, and I find the process of restoration in general quite fascinating.

Even though the remaster has been a big disappointment so far, it gave me a chance to look at season 1 from a new angle, to see what made it great and special. Even if the 1st season is the weakest of the show, it was still a very complex season from a filmmaking point of view. Which is why it's a lot easier to mess-up the Buffy remaster, than messing up a show like "Friends".

Yeah, I too have to admit that all this talk of remasters and the like has gotten me interested in the process too. It's only a good thing as the more we learn about it the more we can appreciate what a lot of companies go through for catalogue titles and older television shows.

The first season is indeed the weakest of the show, but after seeing the 'HD' clips of it, I realised how much the feel of the show and the lighting really appealed to me. Hopefully they'll fix it for the inevitable blu ray.

[theprestige85]

Originally Posted by Buffdale

It's never too late ! Except... Maybe... "Life is short, tomorrow you might be dead" but.. Oh well ! I love this philosophy !

I'm curious to see some screenshots, thank you very much . I can't download it on this kind of site. And, well... Given the size of the file... For what it is...

If it comes out on Blu-Ray, the fans, the experts, (...), will be extremely critical. I hope Fox will not take that risk, and that the quality will be much higher. I'm curious for any new audio mix too.

a 5.1 mix would be welcome. I'm a bit more lenient with what they do with the sound as long as it's faithful to the original sound design and clear. A lossless 2.0 would be the most ideal, however.

[Buffdale]

Originally Posted by theprestige85

a 5.1 mix would be welcome. I'm a bit more lenient with what they do with the sound as long as it's faithful to the original sound design and clear. A lossless 2.0 would be the most ideal, however.

You know, I don't have sound equipment. But I also find an update on this issue would be very welcome. The series has a sublime soundtrack ! "Restless", "Hush" and "Once More with Feeling" for exemple ! This could be amazing !

Besides... I can't wait to see "Passion" in HD !

[LCT1000]

Originally Posted by Buffdale

It's never too late ! Except... Maybe... "Life is short, tomorrow you might be dead" but.. Oh well ! I love this philosophy !

I'm curious to see some screenshots, thank you very much . I can't download it on this kind of site. And, well... Given the size of the file... For what it is...

If it comes out on Blu-Ray, the fans, the experts, (...), will be extremely critical. I hope Fox will not take that risk, and that the quality will be much higher. I'm curious for any new audio mix too.

Haha yeah that line is one of the best in TV history!

No problemo my friend! Here are some screencaps from the HD .ts file as promised. Upon first glance it looks pretty good, but you'll probably notice that Buffy's hair looks like plastic. The problems with little grain and heavy DNR is more evident when its playing. I tried to capture a few scenes were the little grain is evident. If you have any requests of any scenes you would like me to cap, be sure to let me know!

[Buffdale]

Originally Posted by LCT1000

No problemo my friend! Here are some screencaps from the HD .ts file as promised. Upon first glance it looks pretty good, but you'll probably notice that Buffy's hair looks like plastic. The problems with little grain and heavy DNR is more evident when its playing. I tried to capture a few scenes were the little grain is evident. If you have any requests of any scenes you would like me to cap, be sure to let me know!

Thank you so much! Yes, this plastic look is horrible. It ruins everything. Whether visually or for the sharpness. I am sure that without the DNR (and without cropping), this could be great ! If Fox reworked a bit the colors, the brightness and the special effects... It would be an incredible remastering ! This may seem like a lot to do, but aside from the special effects, this can be done "easily".

I'd love to have a screenshot of the scene where all the Scooby Gang (and Cordelia) are outside. To see the pink tint. And Darla close-up in the crypt. If it does not bother you. (And why not the scene of the fight between Buffy and Giles in the library ? You want to kill me ! Confess ! Ha ha ! :P)