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Dave Moritz
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
Has there been any announcement about the Jack Ryan Collection and when we might see it on Blu-ray?
1080p High Definition SupporterLossless Audio Supporter Current Library: 221 DVD's / 70 HD-DVD's / 181 Blu-ray's (251 HD Titles)
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Douglas Monce
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
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Originally Posted by Michael Reuben
That's nonsense. It is an oft-repeated but inaccurate claim that Super35 films are automatically grainier than films shot with anamorphic. Many factors influence grain. Shoot anamorphically with fast film in low light, then "push" the film in processing, and you'll get plenty of grain. (And if you don't believe me, I'll cite you to posts in the archive from a professional cameraman.)
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Actually its not nonsense at all, it's basic geometry. An anamorphic film is using the complete academy aperture frame. A super 35 shot for 2.35:1 is using just a little over half of that real estate. There for the frame of a super 35 films is being enlarge almost twice as much to fill the same screen size and as a result the film grain is also being enlarged almost twice as much. (think of an anamorphic DVD filling a 16x9 screen as apposed to blowing up a non anamorphic DVD to fill the same screen)
Yes there are other factors such as ISO rating and method of processing that can effect the visible grain structure, however all things being equal, grain will appear to be much finer in an scope photographed film than in a super 35 film projected on the same size screen. Of course a super 35 film can appear to be sharper than an anamorphic film because spherical lenses are typically sharper than anamorphic, and also tend to be faster, meaning you could potentially shoot with slower film stock. But if you can afford the best anamorphic lenses from Panavision then those factors are really not much of an issue.
By the way I am a professional cameraman and I've been shooting film for 25 years.
Doug
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Douglas Monce
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
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Originally Posted by Goko
The explanation is not readily apparent to me and I would hazard a guess that it's not apparent to 99% of CE consumers outside this forum.
I must confess I don't know much about "DNR" nor do I want to know and I see nothing wrong with remaining blissfully ignorant of the subject. Like, perhaps, most viewers that simply trust their eyesight and experience, the main focus for me is enjoying the movie experience in my home theater and yes - it's enjoyment of the story that counts the most, as it should.
I do, to some extent, trust professional film reviewers, and if they describe the PQ as first rate than, certainly, I'm not going to worry about DNR since its affects are, at most - subtle.
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The problem is that most average viewers are used to watching a movie at home in standard definition which tends to hide the film grain. When they see a film in HD suddenly there is all this grain they aren't used to seeing, even though it is supposed to be there.
It's really a matter of educating people about what they are supposed to and not supposed to be seeing in a movie that was shot on film. Ignorance is fine until you understand what you are missing out on. Grain in a natural part of movies shot on film and you see it every time you go to the movie theater. You should also expect to see it at home. When you start to use DNR just to remove film grain, you also start removing details in the actual image.
Doug
"I'm in great shape, for the shape I'm in."
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Douglas Monce
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
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Originally Posted by Michael Reuben
That's a key qualifier, Doug. And most people who make the Super35/anamorphic comparison don't understand the importance of including it.
And, really, in your experience as a cameraman, how often are all things really equal? 
I'm no doubt overly sensitive on this issue, having had to explain it numerous times to people who would never be able to respond with phrases such as "ISO rating". It's a classic example of a little learning being a dangerous thing.
Now back to the topic at hand . . .
M.
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Well lets put it this way, if I were the DP on a particular film, and the Director said to me that he didn't like to see grain, or he wanted a paricularly clean look to the film, and he wasn't concerned about depth of field, there would be no question about it. I would shoot anamorphic.
Now this might mean that the gaffer's budget is going to have to go up because I'm going to need more lights in order to get the levels I need for proper exposure. Or it might mean that I would rent the fastest anamorphic lenses available, although I would rather shoot at a T stop where the lenses are sharpest, typically around t5.6.
Yes it would be possible to get a clean low grain look in super 35, I've seen many films that look like "cotton candy" bright clean low grain, (Enchanted comes to mind) but starting out with more negative real estate would clearly make getting this look easier.
Both formats have their advantages and disadvantages and the needs of the film would dictate which to use. Of course these days most distributors would probably prefer that if a film is going to be shot 2.35:1 that it be shot super 35 to make broadcast in 4x3 easier.
Doug
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
One thing to keep in mind with this discussion is that film grain uses more space when it comes time to run the image through compression for mastering. What I mean is the more film grain, the more the compression algorithms must work. What this means if you have a film with film grain, you will not be able to compress it well as the same film with less grain (after dnr). So either you will start to get compression artifacts, or you will need more space on the disc.
We all know that a static image compresses much more easily than a rapidly changing image. If there is a lot of visible film grain, the compression algorithm sees this as a rapidly changing image and the engine cant compress the image as easily.
I wonder if that is another reason for the use of some noise reduction during the mastering process? It helps save disc space.
Just a thought.
By the way, I work with an engineer that has spent his whole career working on video compression hardware. I am getting this info from our many discussions about the subject, not from first hand experience.
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Scott
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Douglas Monce
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
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Originally Posted by Scott-S
One thing to keep in mind with this discussion is that film grain wastes space when it comes time to run the image through compression for mastering. What I mean is the more film grain, the more the compression algorithms must work. What this means if you have a film with film grain, you will not be able to compress it well as the same film with less grain (after dnr). So either you will start to get compression artifacts, or you will need more space on the disc.
We all know that a static image compresses much more easily than a rapidly changing image. If there is a lot of visible film grain, the compression algorithm sees this as a rapidly changing image and the engine cant compress the image as easily.
I wonder if that is another reason for the use of some noise reduction during the mastering process? It helps save disc space.
Just a thought.
By the way, I work with an engineer that has spent his whole career working on video compression hardware. I am getting this info from our many discussions about the subject, not from first hand experience.
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This is very true, but in the case of blu-ray, there is more than enough bandwidth and storage space to handle just about any situation with regard to film grain.
Now this requires more skill on the part of the compression artist, and that he or she be more diligent about their job, but I can't see any situation with 35mm film that could not be handled with a modern codec such as AVC or VC1 on blu-ray. I mean if The Sting can fit on an HD DVD, and it is a nicely naturally looking grainy film, then where is the problem?
Doug
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
Sorry Michael. I edited my post. "Wasted space" is perhaps not the best terminology.
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Scott
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Douglas Monce
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
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Originally Posted by Michael Reuben
That's an interesting choice of phrase: "wastes space".
So tell me, does it "waste space" to have a big battle scene with lots of extras, maybe multiplied many times with CGI? Because all that extra motion "wastes space" by making the image less compressible. Should we require the filmmaker to have fewer figures in the frame so that less space is wasted? Maybe we should redo the scene for video to remove, say, half the combatants so that less space is "wasted".
This may seem like a specious comparison, but it isn't. Grain is an inherent part of film. A director and a DP choose a look for a film, and that decision is just as important as choosing the framing. Most people here would be up in arms if the film's OAR were compromised so as not to "waste space" on the disc. Why shouldn't the same standard apply to preserving the grain structure that accompanies the lighting and texture of the film?
It's not "wasting space". It's using the available space for exactly the reason it's there.
M.
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This is a great point. And now Directors and DPs have the option to shoot digitally and have no grain at all, so it's not like the old days where the film stock choices were limited to 2 or 3 types.
Ironically I'm working on a project now that is being shot digitally, but is emulating the look and feel of a film from the late 1940s. So I'm doing all kinds of tests to add realistic looking film grain to a b&w image, and even adding minor film damage such as dust specks and reel change markers.
Doug
"I'm in great shape, for the shape I'm in."
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
I looked at some comparison shots from Pans Labyrinth that showed screen caps with DNR and ones without, to be honest I could not see a difference between them. Guess it's a good thing, ignorance is bliss when it comes to this kind of stuff.
I learned my lesson when opening up a thread on EE many years ago, wish I never did.
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
Good then, I don't want to see what DNR looks like so I won't be distracted by it. I like watching a movie and enjoying it, not nit-picking the image quality and being distracted by issues like these.
Sometime's you reach what's real by making believe.
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
If you see it as farting, not much I can do about that, I don't see it as that, just stating my opinion on what I've seen from the images people have posted about it. If the images don't accurately represent what DNR is, people shouldn't post the images. If they do, expect comments about them.
Sorry if I offended, that was not my intention.
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
This DNR-debate is starting to spread in too many threads, if you ask me. Then again, nobody asked me.
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Re: Paramount Makes Official Blu-Ray announcement! Read the press release here.
And, high prices = niche.
They MUST come down. It's to my benefit that they are so high, however, because I cannot tell you how many titles I have held in my hand that would have come home from the store with me if it wasn't for the price I perceived as too high. So while my wallet thanks me, the studios/distributors are going to really need to re-think their pricing schemes if they want to mainstream their product.
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