Babylon 5

[bionicbob]

Man, I really hope this sells well enough that WB takes serious notice.
It would be a wonderful way to continue the series.

Imagine! They could do the Telepath War. Wrap up Crusade and Legend. So much potential!

 

[FrameSniffer]

Is the BD remaster basically a HD rescan of the film footage and upscaled SD CGI?

 

[bionicbob]

Is the BD remaster basically a HD rescan of the film footage and upscaled SD CGI?

Yes. But the most important factor is the Blu Ray release will maintain the original broadcast aspect ratio of 4x3, so the CGI shots will look significantly better -- not zoomed in and cropped like the old DVD release.

 

[FrameSniffer]

Yes. But the most important factor is the Blu Ray release will maintain the original broadcast aspect ratio of 4x3, so the CGI shots will look significantly better -- not zoomed in and cropped like the old DVD release.

I have the DVD boxset but haven’t watched it yet. The plan was to do that in the near future but it sounds like the BD boxset is the one to watch then

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

I'd assume the BD is sourced from the new remastered sources that the digital remastersl release uses but at a higher bitrate to fit BD discs.

 

[TM2YC]

I'd assume the BD is sourced from the new remastered sources that the digital remastersl release uses but at a higher bitrate to fit BD discs.

Almost certainty and the new digital 4:3 masters are the best B5 has ever looked. I'm not saying it couldn't have looked better but it's far better than I had hope for. That plus a higher bitrate will hopefully be even better. I believe JMS has had no involvement with the set, so I wouldn't expect WB to put any effort into it bonus features wise. They haven't even bothered to make new artwork, it's the same as the old NTSC B5 DVD boxset.

I have the DVD boxset but haven’t watched it yet. The plan was to do that in the near future but it sounds like the BD boxset is the one to watch then

I've got both the PAL DVD and NTSC DVD sets (plus the PAL VHS tapes) and I'd say avoid them like the plague, now you can get the remastered show in digital, or on blu-ray for Xmas.

Is the BD remaster basically a HD rescan of the film footage and upscaled SD CGI?

Exactly. They scanned the negative in 4K and "downscaled" it to 1080p, then upscaled the CGI to 1080p (full CG shots & composite shots) so they more or less meet in the middle. Occasionally the composite shots can stand out, when you're fast cutting between a full HD shot and almost the same shot but upscaled (because they added a CG effect on it). It's not perfect but it's pretty damned good.

 

[FrameSniffer]

Almost certainty and the new digital 4:3 masters are the best B5 has ever looked. I'm not saying it couldn't have looked better but it's far better than I had hope for. That plus a higher bitrate will hopefully be even better. I believe JMS has had no involvement with the set, so I wouldn't expect WB to put any effort into it bonus features wise. They haven't even bothered to make new artwork, it's the same as the old NTSC B5 DVD boxset.

I've got both the PAL DVD and NTSC DVD sets (plus the PAL VHS tapes) and I'd say avoid them like the plague, now you can get the remastered show in digital, or on blu-ray for Xmas.



Exactly. They scanned the negative in 4K and "downscaled" it to 1080p, then upscaled the CGI to 1080p (full CG shots & composite shots) so they more or less meet in the middle. Occasionally the composite shots can stand out, when you're fast cutting between a full HD shot and almost the same shot but upscaled (because they added a CG effect on it). It's not perfect but it's pretty damned good.

Interesting they now have a 4K scan. If the stars align one day and the CGI is recreated, they are already halfway there

 

[Sunflight]

I watched again with the blu-ray commentary with JMS & Boxleitner. Really lovely, lots of talking about their missing friends and and how the animation and new voice actors did them proud. Plus them laughing along with all the Sheridan jokes was great fun.

I really liked it! I hadn't thought about B5 in ages, so this was a lovely bit of nostalgia. And I'm excited for the blu ray (which I hadn't heard about)

 

[Wraith]

Did anyone else notice that The Road Home featured a combination of traditional lookin Anime and cgi ships… and many of the ships looked excellent…

I think that they are building the cgi assets for a future Trek TOS remaster of the vfx… why else would you scan all 35mm elements in 4K…?

Expect a 4K release in a few years time to include the full vfx remaster. How else will they get us to pay out again?

 

[FrameSniffer]

Did anyone else notice that The Road Home featured a combination of traditional lookin Anime and cgi ships… and many of the ships looked excellent…

I think that they are building the cgi assets for a future Trek TOS remaster of the vfx… why else would you scan all 35mm elements in 4K…?

Expect a 4K release in a few years time to include the full vfx remaster. How else will they get us to pay out again?

I’d happily pay out again for a true 4K version of B5

 

[Wraith]

Which begs the Q, do they have the 35mm vfx Trek TOS elements to digitally composite the original VFX?

Now that would be worth doing, and it would be cheap since so many shots were recycled… but imagine if they were all clean with no matte lines!!!!

 

[FrameSniffer]

Which begs the Q, do they have the 35mm vfx Trek TOS elements to digitally composite the original VFX?

Now that would be worth doing, and it would be cheap since so many shots were recycled… but imagine if they were all clean with no matte lines!!!!

That would be nice! It’s a shame that DS9 and Voyager’s CGI was SD.., I doubt they will do a HD release of either of those.

 

[Wraith]

That would be nice! It’s a shame that DS9 and Voyager’s CGI was SD.., I doubt they will do a HD release of either of those.

They will simply because an SD asset onstreaming just won't was in time...It wont be cheap, but they will...Probably Voyager first since its less demanding, and the first few seasons (up to 4) were model com posite NOT CGI...so they could recomposite the original elements.

I just can't see how they dont rescue such valuable assets.

 

[lapis molari]

My B5 blu-ray box arrived today.

First findings:
- The packaging is minimal. The text on the cover doesn't even say whether the picture is 4:3 or 16:9 (it's 4:3). No booklet.
- File size per episode is ~8GB, of which ~2GB is for the audio track (once in DTS-HD, once in DTS).
- No commentary tracks.
- Episode runtime is slightly different from other sources. Tested by lining up the audio tracks in Audacity. In the two episodes in Season 1 that previously came with audio commentaries, runtime is about 10 seconds longer than the online HD version (caused by slightly longer black fades at the commercial breaks). The Gathering runtime differs 0.1 seconds from the NTSC dvd.

 

[TM2YC]

I rewatched episode 1 and it looks great on the blu-ray set. So happy to finally have the whole show in 4:3 in okay quality. This is going to be a great excuse to rewatch it all yet again.

The packaging is so bad, it's beyond bare bones, to the point where it's like WB have deliberately made it as sh*tty as humanely possible to say "f**k you!" to the fans. A black and white photocopied fact sheet screwed up inside the case would've been preferable. The only info is just a list of the episode names, printed on the inside of the jacket, so it cannot be read unless you take the set apart. The discs are doubled up on top of each other to save space and easily fall out (20 discs in a box for 10 discs). Plus they've reused all the artwork assets from the old DVD boxset to further save on effort.

The Gathering runtime differs 0.1 seconds from the NTSC dvd.

Where is it on the set? The awful packaging gives no clue.

 

[Wraith]

I re organised the discs so The Gathering is seen first rather than underneath the last disc…

I shall be placing the DVDs in this hateful box and moving the blu rays to the DVD packs. I shall be scanning the DVDs artwork and reformatting to put the correct episodes on them and re printing…

At least it is not is worse than the paper Mission Impossible TV series box, which throws discs out at you and tears like toilet paper…

The new title captions have not even had some grain added and do jar a touch…

Anyhoo, let us be greatful… another B5 product... “born in pain”

 

[lapis molari]

@TM2YC , the first 20 discs say "season 1 disc 1", etc. Disc 21 says "The Gathering". It also has the only extra in the box: a trailer for this year's animated adventure. I'm in the US, I don't know if the UK box is identical.

@Wraith , if you do make new labels, please share when done. With team effort we can improve this set more easily!

I'm tempted to match the timing of all commentaries over the coming months and share the 192kbps AC3 files.

 

[Wraith]

@TM2YC , the first 20 discs say "season 1 disc 1", etc. Disc 21 says "The Gathering". It also has the only extra in the box: a trailer for this year's animated adventure. I'm in the US, I don't know if the UK box is identical.

@Wraith , if you do make new labels, please share when done. With team effort we can improve this set more easily!

I'm tempted to match the timing of all commentaries over the coming months and share the 192kbps AC3 files.

….and then there are the extras…
Does someone have topaz?

 

[lapis molari]

I just rendered s1e01 with the opening credits zoomed-in to 1920 pixels wide (and without DTS-HD track because I don't hear a difference on my 2-channel set up). It's blocky but I prefer it over the zoomed-out way they put it on the blu-ray.
If anyone will improve the opening credits through Topaz, that would indeed be great. And after that Wraith has discs full of Extras that will benefit too.

@Wraith , I'm not trying to jump queue on your idea (really I'm not ). Improving the opening credits just yields a bigger improvement faster.

 

[Wraith]

I just rendered s1e01 with the opening credits zoomed-in to 1920 pixels wide (and without DTS-HD track because I don't hear a difference on my 2-channel set up). It's blocky but I prefer it over the zoomed-out way they put it on the blu-ray.
If anyone will improve the opening credits through Topaz, that would indeed be great. And after that Wraith has discs full of Extras that will benefit too.

@Wraith , I'm not trying to jump queue on your idea (really I'm not ). Improving the opening credits just yields a bigger improvement faster.

Go for it…!