Thank you for your detailed response.Lightningexpose wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 4:23 pmNo worries, it's not a difficult to just say ideals.Jhanzie wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 3:26 pm Lightningexpose:
What is your opinion of what an ideal HD home video presentation of DBZ should be? How do you think it should be scanned, restored, and processed... to go from looking like a jacked up grindhouse film to a pristine HD anime? Sorry to put you on the spot, but I would like to hear your opinion.
If it's Toei:
-Go back to the negatives
-4K scan (HDR/log scan if it's dark and contrasty) (not by Qtec, ideally an American scanning company--this is normal for many anime)
-Clean up dust/dirt/stains/scratches/tapemarks and stabilise+deflicker (they did all this for DBox so it's not as crazy as it sounds)
--------Though I'm not saying they need to absolutely clean it up to perfection, some jitter and dirt doesn't hurt imo
-Colour correct by first balancing all tinting and then dynamic range and vibrancy similar to Kai/Cels, but should be more consistent than Kai. Kai had lots of inconsistency. People who still question this colour correction and think it's an attempt to modernise should probably take a look at some original broadcast Fuji TV VHS/betamax caps:Obviously that's old deteriorated LQ videotape footage with issues like too low saturation and a bit of overexposure but if you mentally compensate for it you should be able to tell you end up with something that looks a lot closer to Kai than it does to level sets.Spoiler:
-Since it's from the negatives noise reduction might not be needed but if dynamic range restoration has led to amplified grain then some reduction might be in order. This isn't saying create a grainless product, but trust me post-CC grain can get kind of ugly. There are ways to CC that doesn't affect grain at all but I wouldn't expect this level from them.
-Crop to 4:3 similar to level sets, maintaining as much footage as possible in the framing
-Keep 4K master to stay future proof for when 4K tv series releases becomes normal, but for now downsize it to 2K for Blu-ray and hire the best Blu-ray compressionist in Japan
If it's funimation:
-Everything like above except HDR/log scanning should be essential just because their multigen prints are way darker and so it's better to lift as much as you can from the crushed blacks of the saiyan arc prints
Though colour correction can come before the film cleanup step, from my experience with really old and damaged film, it's easier to CC once flickering and coloured stains etc have been removed, as well as chroma noise/grain. The Pink Panther Blu-rays did a nice job keeping grain but removing all the chroma noise.
DBZ in 4K... now that will be the day! I wonder if Toei or FUNi has any interest? My gut says “no” with FUNi because they don’t even want to invest their resources on a regular HD restoration, and maybe no with Toei too. They have already done the Dragon Box and the Kai remastering, and now FUNi has got their version in the US, Canada, and UK. Maybe another 10 years from now? A new generation in the market for a home video release, and the collectors ready to shell out money again.
I do think it would be smart to release the Dragon Boxes in SD BD. The work is already done and there is a market for it!