Scott Atwell Star Trek Discussion thread (Series and Films) (3 Viewers)

[BobO'Link]

The only audio issue I ever noticed on the BR set was the missing open monologue on one (I think it was only 1) episode. It also helps that I'd not had the opportunity to watch the series dozens and dozens of times since the original airings - it just didn't get syndicated much where I live.

I have a full set of the VHS releases in storage (and I have no idea if they're still playable as it's been ~15 years since they were "put away"). Those are the ones with 1 episode per tape (the black case version). I also still own 2 functional (well... were when I removed them from service ~5 years ago) VHS machines and a 32" CRT that's still in operation (my wife uses it as I just can't seem to find a HDTV she's happy with).

 

[Nelson Au]

Where No Man Has Gone Before never had the Shatner monologue.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Where No Man Has Gone Before never had the Shatner monologue.

And it has the electric violin takes of the Main and End Title recorded at "The Man Trap" sessions.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks, I’ll listen for that the next time I watch it, Neil.

 

[Museum Pieces]

Where No Man Has Gone Before never had the Shatner monologue.

I remember the first time I heard it without narration I waited patiently for it to air again so I could record it from the TV speaker onto my cassette recorder. I considered it the jewel of my nascent soundtrack collection at the time.

 

[KPmusmag]

I came across this curiosity online this morning: "Breakfast with Spock". Anyone know if this is real? Photoshop and such tools make anything possible these days. Still, if fake, very well done and it seems like the kind of contests run back in the day. I am sure Leonard loved every minute LOL

 

[TravisR]

I came across this curiosity online this morning: "Breakfast with Spock". Anyone know if this is real? Photoshop and such tools make anything possible these days. Still, if fake, very well done and it seems like the kind of contests run back in the day. I am sure Leonard loved every minute LOL

View attachment 77814

I can't speak to it being authentic but the details give it the ring of truth to me. Rather the lack of specific details like saying "the 3 Crowns Restaurant at the Hilton Hotel" instead of "Los Angeles, California!" makes it seem like it was a regional promotion and that makes me think it's authentic. That being said, someone could have changed the picture and relevant text from, say, Martin Milner to Nimoy.


If Nimoy & the winners had gone to Musso & Frank's a week later, they might have run into these guys.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I would guess that it’s legit. In his memoirs, Nimoy talked about having been such a transient actor never knowing where the next check was coming from when he started out that when Trek came along, he took every paid appearance that was offered because he had no expectation that the show and his fame from it would be lasting.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

This month's Star Trek ebooks sale: https://www.simonandschuster.com/c/ebookpromoseptember2020

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I came across this curiosity online this morning: "Breakfast with Spock". Anyone know if this is real? Photoshop and such tools make anything possible these days. Still, if fake, very well done and it seems like the kind of contests run back in the day. I am sure Leonard loved every minute LOL

View attachment 77814

What they didn't mention was that five unlucky runners up would be forced to appear in

 

[Museum Pieces]

I have a new personal STAR TREK project: editing out the quarter-second gaps in the original series Blu-rays that unfortunately use so-called seamless branching to enable switching between original or enhanced visual effects. The intersection points are not seamless. They consistently create jarring edits in every episode. For example, tonight I removed eight quarter-second completely silent gaps from one of my favorites, THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE. This episode is effects heavy and only took me about 70 minutes to correct. Most don’t figure to have as many gaps. I should be able to easily do an episode a night.

If these presentation flaws were on a set that didn't use "seamless" branching, fans never would have sat still for them. I'm not going to sit still for them anymore.

I transferred at original quality my entire disc collection, about 7000 DVDs, Blu-rays and 4Ks to four 10TB hard drives. Now I am going to fix contemporary presentation flaws that the creators of these shows never intended. I just can't stomach them anymore.

 

[bmasters9]

I have a new personal STAR TREK project: editing out the quarter-second gaps in the original series Blu-rays that unfortunately use so-called seamless branching to enable switching between original or enhanced visual effects. The intersection points are not seamless. They consistently create jarring edits in every episode. For example, tonight I removed eight quarter-second completely silent gaps from one of my favorites, THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE. This episode is effects heavy and only took me about 70 minutes to correct. Most don’t figure to have as many gaps. I should be able to easily do an episode a night.

If these presentation flaws were on a set that didn't use "seamless" branching, fans never would have sat still for them. I'm not going to sit still for them anymore.

I transferred at original quality my entire disc collection, about 7000 DVDs, Blu-rays and 4Ks to four 10TB hard drives. Now I am going to fix contemporary presentation flaws that the creators of these shows never intended. I just can't stomach them anymore.

View attachment 77907

That's something I never heard of-- I thought that when the Blu was billed as having the choice of NBC original or modern remastered, I never thought it would be so difficult to go from one to the other within any episode.

 

[Museum Pieces]

That's something I never heard of-- I thought that when the Blu was billed as having the choice of NBC original or modern remastered, I never thought it would be so difficult to go from one to the other within any episode.

It's not difficult to switch from one to the other at all. But whatever version I watch, when visual effects shots are cut against live-action, there's occasionally a gap because the transition points are not all seamless. That's what I'm editing out--the silent gaps in the transition points that take me out of the experience of the show.

 

[bmasters9]

It's not difficult to switch from one to the other at all. But whatever version I watch, when effects butt up against live-action, there's often a gap because the switch point is not seamless. That's what I'm editing out--the silent gaps that take me out of the experience of the show.

Great point-- the silent gaps are, actually, what I was referring to when I spoke of that difficulty.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I would recommend checking your player’s settings, firmware, or possibly getting a new player. I have never experienced any sort of gap or glitch in playback. It’s not inherent in the disc. It’s a playback error.

 

[Harry-N]

When it comes to STAR TREK, there's always something to complain about, apparently.

 

[Museum Pieces]

would recommend checking your player’s settings, firmware, or possibly getting a new player. I have never experienced any sort of gap or glitch in playback. It’s not inherent in the disc. It’s a playback error.

I know I'm not the only one who experiences this error. All my friends experience it. It happens on any machine or drive I play the discs on. When the disc was ripped, the gaps are there.

The gaps are there. In any mode of playback I have ever experienced. I circled it in read on the video timeline.

When it comes to STAR TREK, there's always something to complain about, apparently.

I'd say multiple sound drop outs per episode are something to complain about. Or maybe a lack of empathy.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

With respect, the gaps are not there. That’s entirely a function of the hardware/software choking on the disc. The disc itself has a complex authoring structure using a combination of the seamless branching and multi-angle functions, and that has resulted in some players (particularly older ones) getting flummoxed by that complexity. Ripping is a whole other kettle of fish because, again, the ripping software encounters that complex file and it appears in your case is attempting to make sense of it in a way that inserts a gap that is not inherent in the source files.

I don’t mean to be argumentative for the sake of it but I’ve watched and rewatched these discs countless times since 2009, and ripped them for my own home theater PC and viewed those tips multiple times as well. No gaps or playback anomalies whatsoever.

 

[Museum Pieces]

Watching a show requires a system. I cannot watch the disc with my naked eye. I'm delighted your system produces no gaps. When I watch the shows, as I said, the gaps are there on my system. I've bought and updated two brand new players (and the 50th anniversary set of discs) to try and get them to go away. Nothing I have tried makes them go away. So whatever technical explanation you espouse may well be true. But it doesn't really matter for me where the breakdown in the system occurs because the final product on my screen has gaps. And I'm doing the only thing I can to take them out.

I think my time is best spent eliminating the gaps and enjoying the show; not sharing my project. LLAP.

 

[Harry-N]

I'd say multiple sound drop outs per episode are something to complain about. Or maybe a lack of empathy.

My post did come off a bit snarky in the text-based world of a message board. It was not my intention. It's just that for as long as I've been around the online community, if the subjects of both STAR TREK and STAR WARS comes up, there's always a controversy and no matter what is released, the community will always find something to complain about.

I don't doubt that on your system, with your equipment that you're experiencing gaps in audio playback at the branching points. I think that's probably the MAIN reason why that "seamless branching" as a technique of disc authoring has mostly been shunned by the manufacturers. The home video field is not a one-size-fits-all place as many of us use different equipment to play the discs and screens on which to display them, not to mention the whole sound circuitry.

Just as an FYI, I had a lot of trouble with my very first DVD player, a Pioneer; whenever it hit a "seamless branch" there'd be a little movie camera icon appear on the screen. And it was even triggered by some other kind of authoring, and it took me forever to figure out how to turn the thing off.

Since purchasing Sony products - both DVD and Blu-ray players, I've not had a problem with seamless branching. On a very few occasions, I'll see a slight pause during a layer change, but those are acceptable to me, coming from the days of flipping and switching out LaserDisc sides.

To date, I've not "ripped" any DVDs or Blu-rays and still use disc-based viewing for all of these formats.