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I completed this restoration almost a year ago but due to popular demand I have decided to make this post.
Original post can be found on Reddit here.
Purpose
The purpose of this restoration is to recreate the theatrical IMAX 1.43:1 version of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises by combining the widescreen 2.39:1 footage from the Blu-ray and the IMAX 1.43:1 sequences from the Special Features of The Dark Knight Trilogy Blu-ray (Special Edition), as well as the Fullscreen DVD for 1 of the 2 versions.
Contrary to the way the Remastered 4K Blu-ray Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition dealt with the aspect ratio (AR) switch, this restoration maintains constant-width of the picture. The widescreen sequences are letterboxed inside a 1.43:1 frame and the AR opens up top and bottom to fill in the 1.43:1 frame.
This restoration is best suited for 1.43:1 (or close aspect ratio) screens such as MacBooks, iPads, as well as VR, and projectors with good masking options or screens close to the 1.43:1 AR.
Process and restoration quality
All footage was sourced from ripped copies of my physical discs.
The footage was then transcoded to DNxHR HQ using Shutter Encoder.
Using DaVinci Resolve, the regular Blu-ray widescreen footage was combined with the Special Edition Blu-ray IMAX 1.43:1 footage. Then the final product was exported to DNxHR HQ from DaVinci Resolve and encoded in Handbrake with the bitrate of the Blu-ray disc. All audio and subtitle tracks were kept the same as on the disc. The workflow of this restoration is meant to preserve as much quality as possible at every step and the result is a virtually lossless re-encode of the source footage.
Output file
For compatibility reasons, the restoration is made available as a 1920 x 1080 (1.78:1) video file even though the active picture has a resolution of 1550 x 1080 (size of the IMAX 1.43:1 footage).
For both TDK and TDKR, there is one main version of each which I call 3AR. And there is an extra one for TDK which I call 2AR. The following explains their differences:
Specific changes between 2AR and 3AR
For both films, there are a few IMAX shots which are missing from the Special Edition Disc: 32 shots (from 12 sequences) for TDK and maybe around 20 shots for TDKR. Those are mainly aerial and establishing shots. For this reason, I have decided to use the 1.78:1 version of these shots from the Blu-ray film for version 3AR of TDK and TDKR. There are therefore 3 aspect ratios for version 3AR: 1.43:1, 1.78:1 and 2.39:1. This is the version with no personal interference on the image. Here is what it looks like for the 32 missing shots:
THIS IS ONLY FOR 32 SHOTS, THE REST OF THE IMAX SHOTS WILL BE 1.43:1 IN VERSION 3AR. Here you can see the 3 different aspect ratios:
Fortunately for TDK, there is another version thanks to the Fullscreen DVD. That DVD (480p) has those 32 shots in 1.33:1, so still slightly horizontally cropped and a bit skewed (closer to 1.35:1 destretched). The 1.33:1 frames have been manually adjusted for each shot with the 1.78:1 overlaid on top for a perceived higher resolution. The result is quite satisfying. Therefore version 2AR features 2 aspect ratios: 1.43:1 and 2.39:1.
My 2 previous Reddit posts explain the different choices I made:
Looking for advice on cropping of image to fit consistent aspect ratio for TDK IMAX Restoration
Should I superpose two frames of different resolution? TDK IMAX Restoration
Disclaimer: Please note, I do not condone piracy of any kind, and in order to download a fanedit you must own the source material. Also, fanedits are free and done as a hobby. I make no profit from these edits, nor should they be sold anywhere.
TDK & TDKR IMAX 1.43:1 versions:
Feel free to ask any questions about my restorations which isn't clear from my posts.
Original post can be found on Reddit here.
Purpose
The purpose of this restoration is to recreate the theatrical IMAX 1.43:1 version of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises by combining the widescreen 2.39:1 footage from the Blu-ray and the IMAX 1.43:1 sequences from the Special Features of The Dark Knight Trilogy Blu-ray (Special Edition), as well as the Fullscreen DVD for 1 of the 2 versions.
Contrary to the way the Remastered 4K Blu-ray Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition dealt with the aspect ratio (AR) switch, this restoration maintains constant-width of the picture. The widescreen sequences are letterboxed inside a 1.43:1 frame and the AR opens up top and bottom to fill in the 1.43:1 frame.
This restoration is best suited for 1.43:1 (or close aspect ratio) screens such as MacBooks, iPads, as well as VR, and projectors with good masking options or screens close to the 1.43:1 AR.
Process and restoration quality
All footage was sourced from ripped copies of my physical discs.
The footage was then transcoded to DNxHR HQ using Shutter Encoder.
Using DaVinci Resolve, the regular Blu-ray widescreen footage was combined with the Special Edition Blu-ray IMAX 1.43:1 footage. Then the final product was exported to DNxHR HQ from DaVinci Resolve and encoded in Handbrake with the bitrate of the Blu-ray disc. All audio and subtitle tracks were kept the same as on the disc. The workflow of this restoration is meant to preserve as much quality as possible at every step and the result is a virtually lossless re-encode of the source footage.
Output file
For compatibility reasons, the restoration is made available as a 1920 x 1080 (1.78:1) video file even though the active picture has a resolution of 1550 x 1080 (size of the IMAX 1.43:1 footage).
For both TDK and TDKR, there is one main version of each which I call 3AR. And there is an extra one for TDK which I call 2AR. The following explains their differences:
Specific changes between 2AR and 3AR
For both films, there are a few IMAX shots which are missing from the Special Edition Disc: 32 shots (from 12 sequences) for TDK and maybe around 20 shots for TDKR. Those are mainly aerial and establishing shots. For this reason, I have decided to use the 1.78:1 version of these shots from the Blu-ray film for version 3AR of TDK and TDKR. There are therefore 3 aspect ratios for version 3AR: 1.43:1, 1.78:1 and 2.39:1. This is the version with no personal interference on the image. Here is what it looks like for the 32 missing shots:
THIS IS ONLY FOR 32 SHOTS, THE REST OF THE IMAX SHOTS WILL BE 1.43:1 IN VERSION 3AR. Here you can see the 3 different aspect ratios:
Fortunately for TDK, there is another version thanks to the Fullscreen DVD. That DVD (480p) has those 32 shots in 1.33:1, so still slightly horizontally cropped and a bit skewed (closer to 1.35:1 destretched). The 1.33:1 frames have been manually adjusted for each shot with the 1.78:1 overlaid on top for a perceived higher resolution. The result is quite satisfying. Therefore version 2AR features 2 aspect ratios: 1.43:1 and 2.39:1.
My 2 previous Reddit posts explain the different choices I made:
Looking for advice on cropping of image to fit consistent aspect ratio for TDK IMAX Restoration
Should I superpose two frames of different resolution? TDK IMAX Restoration
Disclaimer: Please note, I do not condone piracy of any kind, and in order to download a fanedit you must own the source material. Also, fanedits are free and done as a hobby. I make no profit from these edits, nor should they be sold anywhere.
TDK & TDKR IMAX 1.43:1 versions:
- The Dark Knight - 2AR v2 (38 GB)
v2: fixed the 48 black frames at 2:13:18 thanks to u/Everan_Shepard
- The Dark Knight - 3AR v2 (38 GB)
v2: fixed the 48 black frames at 2:13:18 thanks to u/Everan_Shepard
- The Dark Knight Rises - 3AR (45 GB)
Feel free to ask any questions about my restorations which isn't clear from my posts.
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