Also, dub fans, don't worry, I have not forgotten this project. I'm just occupied with several other 4K projects which take an immense amount of CPU power to render. I can output a version of the dub in the coming days/weeks and get that up and available for those who want it. I'll share more details when I get to it. As a side project, I've also noticed that 720p Sonic X raws exist, but have never been timed to subtitles. I may be willing to mux these as a side project (up-scaling them further doesn't have as much benefit in my view, though it would technically be possible, even easy to do). Does anyone know the source of these or any other info about them? I'd link to the torrent, but I'm not sure if that's forbidden here or not. Edit: I will confess though, that a project to upscale, say, SATAM might actually be worth it since that was released on film and animated by one of DiC's top production crews.
So I've successfully muxed Mr Kingalicious' 2 fandub tracks (original OST Remixed and New Soundtrack) into an MKV file along with the old 1999 ADV dub. I tried to contact him, but all his social media accounts have been dead for 3-4 years, so it is what it is. Any place I distribute it directly I'll link to his profile so people know where credit is due, but I knew some fans of his dub would want this. This makes the native file now a 6.41 GB file with 4 total audio tracks. I'll figure out distribution methods in the coming days, but for now, hang tight. Also, please realize that if you watch a true 4K HDR video on a screen that doesn't support HDR, the colors will 'not' display correctly. That's why I uploaded the youtube video first since youtube can offset this problem by instantly converting HDR to an approximate SDR equivilant (though it looks a bit more dim and over-saturated than the real thing). However, on a non-HDR display, half the colors just won't show up at all. This video file is meant for native play on a 4K TV, tablet, smartphone, or other such device that supports real HDR tech. I could create a downscaled 1080P SDR version later too and release that separately (no need to do that on YT). We'll see.
Okay, the file is in the wild. 4 Audio Tracks (Japanese and English Stereo, And 2 Fandub 5.1 Audio tracks, one with the Reconstructed OST, one with original music), and subs included in one 6.4GB MKV file. I'll see about getting a lower res SDR 1080P version up later and may also upload the 4K ADV dub to youtube as a separate link as well. Torrent File https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_XvUKHVVnO8auXofKmtpf4fPLAcFdaYz/view?usp=sharing Google Drive Video File https://drive.google.com/file/d/15YsIQBJLmBgvw61Re90qzpRwiWF_JVoU/view?usp=sharing (Mods, if you don't want this, that's fine, just remove it and people can PM me for links.)
This is fucking fantastic. Thanks for putting in the effort on this! Also adds the bonus of there being a JP Audio version to watch on Youtube now which is always harder to find. I feel like this upscale is just right. Not so clean that it kills the detail, and retains just enough of the old source artifacts to date it. Thanks again. Combined with this and the recent discovery of the full Main Theme, I can see September being a month for giving this a few rewatches
Thank you. I do my editing up-scaling on a 43" ACER monitor during production then test each edit on a 65" Samsung 4K HDR display, Microsoft Surface, and other mobile devices to find the best balance between all settings. It's been a very effective system for a one man remastering job. Again, I'm very pleased with it. I did a few test samples before I proceeded and the results exceeded my expectations so I made the full thing. Glad people are getting as much enjoyment out of this as I am (and the video is getting more hits by the day, so clearly people are starting to find/share it).
Could you possibly offer a version with the Japanese mid-credits from the first half cut out? For the obvious reasons that go without saying?
Maybe. Hosting multiple versions (beyond resolution) can be problematic at times. I'll look into that when I can get around to converting a 1080p version. I'm in the middle of working on some other, very elaborate projects ATM and I'm also trying to spread the word on this release still.
First off - I appreciate the work you put into this. Really happy to see the film preserved in a proper modern format. I'm not sure I understand the point of trying to convert it to HDR, though. The original source material isn't really made for HDR, so it seems to me like all that's really accomplishing is making playback more difficult for most people and making colors inaccurate on many displays. Even YouTube's SDR encode has notably dull/dark colors from the conversion process. I think a proper SDR encode with the original color grading would be much more useful for most. HDR displays typically handle SDR playback much better than vice versa.
Tried watching on my non HDR laptop for kicks; Tails was BRIGHT orange against otherwise pale colors. It was very amusing. Then I tried watching on my HDR-enabled phone. I found some nitpicky things I'd love to hear the process about: - I noticed the odd flickering of a letter E or some-such in the opening credits (clearly due to the upscaling and comes with the territory, I imagine), - One thing that jumped out at me was how intense the color red was on things like Knuckles or Eggman's clothes. Like, everything else comes off with a very nice, even-leveled, vibrant palette, but then that red feels like it's burning a hole into my eyes for some reason. - The first episode fading out with a clear hiccup of the music during the jump from DVD footage to Episode 2's restored VHS opening shot. Having said that... Metal Sonic. WOW, whatever you've done makes his metallic nature jump out now more than ever! Overall, MAJOR props for doing this. It really does give the OVA some great quality-of-life improvements that you wouldn't think were needed!
Red as a color was oversaturated from the original source, so I could only do so much enhancement on the rest without already pumping it up more. I tried to find the best balance that I could where it was still strong, but not bleeding into other sources too much. This was a common problem in other transfers I've seen. Compared to other takes/versions out there, the red is actually far milder. I will be releasing a 1080P SDR release for this. I chose HDR because it's a home media standard for 4K and will ultimately be much better upon viewing in future tech. I understand that it's frustratingly difficult to watch this right now, but with time that will change. If you're able to see the transfer on the right device, I think you'll understand better. Modern software can actually pick up on various color palettes that enhance the given ranges to HDR fairly easily. Things like bright energy around Metal Sonic will pop in a way that looks like a modern HDR made item would. 90s anime is often full of glowing energy that lends itself well to this type of effect. Of course, you have to play with the source quite a bit to get the right effect. Again, it's not going to be perfect, but the HDR screens I've played the sources on showed me something that was worth doing, else I wouldn't bother.
Out of curiosity, I double checked my DVD copy. I've got the 1st US release, alt cover (DVDHH/001), so 1999, and it's uncensored. If anyone has the 2004 US release (DHH/010), I'd love to see this settled.
I had the US VHS release years ago and generally I don't recall any of the "edits". I've still got the US 2004 release, and that shot looks identical. The DVD itself even seems to be the same as the original 1999 disc! Same trailers (Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water, etc.) and so-so presentation that was acceptable in '99 when DVDs were still new, but comes off a bit goofy by '04.
Don't know if this helps, but I remember a year or two ago, Windii had mentioned getting a hold of the original VHS tapes from Japan and having them converted to digital. I remember downloading them from her Google Drive at one time, but I don't seem to have the files anymore so I can't say what resolution they were. But, long story short, if one is looking for certain scenes from the OVA Japanese version at higher resolution, she may be able to provide them. @SPEEPSHighway on Twitter.
I have a 480p .avi source of both OVA vol 1 and 2 ripped straight from Nico Nico Douga, if that would help improve the 360p quality of the credits. Here are the links: Vol 1. https://mega.nz/file/nQNDmY5S#5cx7nsg1T0MJZdkIncR8qZ0WbM7m-Pqw5_UTo22G5R8 Vol2. https://mega.nz/file/rUMTVI5Q#wSLlP-CFb_tOR-ACZ5wj44J4dG5WN5DOmk05JieLX1k