Jupiter Jazz

On 4/3/2024 at 8:02 AM, JB0 said:

I mean, remastering isn't reshooting. They're stuck using the original footage, warts and all.

I'd personally argue "exactly as it was in theaters" is a reasonable target most of the time, and that editing to eliminate imperfections that have always existed is the first step towards the dark side of Special Edition reworks.

That's the rub though: I'd argue that the 2007 HD remaster is not even up to the standard of "exactly as it was in theaters," as far as the viewing experience goes.  If the 2007 HD remaster was shown in a modern theatre as is, (as in seeing the level of grain and inconsistencies that one sees when viewing the DVD) I would assume something was wrong with the film/projector/etc., and possibly even demand my money back.  There's something messed up about being better off watching a film on VHS on an old low resolution CRT television, rather than on a digital disk on a high resolution flatscreen TV.

On 3/25/2024 at 11:20 AM, TMBounty_Hunter said:

You'll notice that the extra grainy and soft scenes are almost always the ones with the Japanese subtitles for the Zentradi speakers. That's because those were optically composited the same way OP/ED credits would be back in the day. You're taking the animation film (yes the film, not the cels), stacking it with the text film and then photographing that to get the final image. This is inherently a lossy process and if done quickly can look sloppy.

For a truly great DYRL remaster they would have to dig out the original negatives for just the animation for all those scenes, but given how quickly the production went and that we've never actually seen those scenes unsubbed I'm not sure those negatives are still around. That and it's just easier to run a complete reel or two of the "final" thing instead of digging out potentially hundreds of individual scenes and then having to re-edit the whole thing together again.

Thanks for the reply, and sorry it took me so long to get back to you.  I'll have to watch DYRL again when I get the chance, to see this first hand.  That's a shame that a truly great remaster is held back by such a process.

On 3/18/2024 at 6:36 PM, Jupiter Jazz said:

Anyone know why the 2007 Macross DYRL HD Remaster DVD is so grainy?  It's supposed to be an HD Remaster, but at times I feel like I might as well be watching a low resolution video on YouTube.

Okay, perhaps I need to elaborate.

I understand that a certain degree of grain on older, non-digital celluloid film based movies is expected when remastering/upscaling/etc.  What I don't understand is why the level of grain is so all over the place, in terms of consistency, on the 2007 DYRL remaster DVD.

Some scenes I don't even notice the grain at all.  Some scenes, the grain is a pleasant accent.  But in some scenes the grain is this obnoxious, overpowering, fuzzy static haze that is absolutely deleterious to the image quality and viewing experience. (This is especially prominent in scenes with a lot of pitch black darks.)

It's to the point where even though the HD Remaster is an official licensed product, I find myself pining for literal bootlegs that I used to own.  I'm just curious how or why they dropped the ball this bad? Did they at least get things right on the Blu-ray releases?

Anyone know why the 2007 Macross DYRL HD Remaster DVD is so grainy?  It's supposed to be an HD Remaster, but at times I feel like I might as well be watching a low resolution video on YouTube.