1996 Sonic OVA/Sonic the Movie 4K HDR Upscale Project

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.)

 

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).

 

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.

 

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.

 

I'll keep that in mind, thanks.