DragonBall Kai - Where Is That Light Coming From?

[Tanooki Kuribo]

I've seen all of DragonBall Kai by now, and I've always noticed this but never really bothered to ask. What the hell is that light that appears on random shots through out the series? I mean I can only assume it was an unwanted side effect to the way the film was being restored. But, what actually causes this?

Also, I know these DVD screen shots might not be the best example. It's A LOT more obvious when watching the blu-ray. But, if you've watched DBK you probably know what I mean...

[DHM211]

>

It's much more noticable on the blu-rays.

[VegettoEX]

Perhaps the photography of the original cel drawings (now more visible courtesy of the higher resolution of the Blu-rays)? That's my best guess, but someone with a more thorough knowledge of the process can probably give a better answer .

[dbboxkaifan]

I think I noticed but then I customized the settings of the HDTV to make Kai look more watchable and then that didn't bother me much whatsoever (that is, before it reached the Cell saga the PQ just got worse for me..).

Kei17 might know about it. If he does, it should be interesting to read.

[DHM211]

I think I noticed but then I customized the settings of the HDTV to make Kai look more watchable and then that didn't bother me much whatsoever (that is, before it reached the Cell saga the PQ just got worse for me..).

Kei17 might know about it. If he does, it should be interesting to read.

I didn't notice the PQ get worse, but like you said I customized the setting's on my tv to make kai look better.

[BluezaBladeNZ]

It definitely seems to be from the source material. I checked the Dragon Box version and they have it too, but it doesn't seem to be as apparent, probably since Kai had a brightness boost:

[DHM211]

It definitely seems to be from the source material. I checked the Dragon Box version and they have it too, but it doesn't seem to be as apparent, probably since Kai had a brightness boost:

I wonder what funimation's version looks like.

[BluezaBladeNZ]

I wonder what funimation's version looks like.

Here's the same shots from the Level sets. It doesn't look to be as apparent on this too, then again it's not as bright here either:

[Tanooki Kuribo]

I wonder what funimation's version looks like.

Here's the same shots from the Level sets. It doesn't look to be as apparent on this too, then again it's not as bright here either:

Hey, would you be able to take a screen shot from the FUNi DBZK Blu-ray?

[DHM211]

I wonder what funimation's version looks like.

Here's the same shots from the Level sets. It doesn't look to be as apparent on this too, then again it's not as bright here either:

[/quote]
I guess he has a blu-ray drive on his computer, cool.

[BluezaBladeNZ]

Yes I do have one.

From Kai Vol. 1? I can do that.

EDIT: Here they are. It's more frustrating to take screenshots from Blu-ray material as I have to rip the chapter first and play it there since it doesn't seem to function properly on MPC and print screen is disabled for some reason under PowerDVD:

[dbboxkaifan]

The last one with Raditz is extremely noticeable. Erm, Toei, explanation?

[CaBrPi]

Huh. I always thought it was my TV.

[kei17]

This kind of reflection of light occasionally happens in cel animations. Especially, rushed TV series tend to have such errors left as-is.

[funrush]

Glad I wasn't the only one to notice it. I thought my TV was messed up when I first saw that.

[samuraix123]

Wow! thanks for posting this tanooki! I noticed this awhile back when I was watching my Blu-rays. I sit close to my television. but where I have bad eyes I just thought it was my eyes messing with me there was another part too I noticed. the fight between Goku and Vegeta. I'll haft to wait to I get home to find it.

[dragondyle]

I've always saw those "lights" on Kai and the Dragon Box and always wondered "what the heck is that?" I just assumed the film was old. It totally throws me off every time!

[Metalwario64]

Season set versions (why the heck do I still have these sets?):





The light patches are almost nonexistent due to the crushed black levels.

[DBZAOTA482]

Season set versions (why the heck do I still have these sets?)

You secretly love them.

[Ketchup_Revenge]

Perhaps the photography of the original cel drawings (now more visible courtesy of the higher resolution of the Blu-rays)? That's my best guess, but someone with a more thorough knowledge of the process can probably give a better answer .

You've got the right idea.

The light is probably from the photography of the individual cels when the series was originally animated.

The animation cels they use are made of glass, this allows them to use paint on them and essentially layer them to create a shot. For example, they have the background cels (the scenery), then the characters, and then anything that moves on the character (e.g eyes and mouth) are separate cels. This allows them to have the characters mouths move without reanimating the whole character for every frame.

Unfortunately with the glass cels, they are reflective, and any light source can be caught if they don't use the proper equipment during photography. Also another example, sometimes if you look closely at a character or something for a series done in cel animation, you can see the the paint for the character casting a shadow on the background cel behind it.