Any news about Season 3 boxsets?

[ljenab]

I'm dreaming, I know, but my birthday is coming up . . . :rolleyes:

[Under A Dying Sun]

i know right. wtf. who cares about individual discs, just release box sets like every other tv show out there.

[Twich]

I would assume October/November 2004....? That would seem to run along with the pattern.

[ljenab]

Originally posted by Twich
I would assume October/November 2004....? That would seem to run along with the pattern.

Yikes. That's a long wait.

LJ

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by Under A Dying Sun
i know right. wtf. who cares about individual discs, just release box sets like every other tv show out there.

We could always start a (polite) mailing campiege to ADV to release a Season 3 boxset earlier this year.

[haesan]

I can't wait that long! AAARGH!!!!

[Jat]

The question for me is, how much?

[Under A Dying Sun]

adv is utterly ridiculous with these sets - with unbalanced worldwide dvd's to a nonsense release schedule. i wish henson picked someone else. doesn't make sense.

[ScapeFreak]

I know most of you are talking about the R1 box set but for those who care the R2 S3 Box Set will be out on the 22nd of March according to Play.com

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page=title&r=R2&title=146710&p=57&c=&g=72

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by Under A Dying Sun
adv is utterly ridiculous with these sets - with unbalanced worldwide dvd's to a nonsense release schedule. i wish henson picked someone else. doesn't make sense.

Although ADV sucks on release dates and prices for individual DVDs, they are fairly good in the quality department when it comes to the actual mastering transfer of the video/audio from the master tapes to DVD discs.

[Under A Dying Sun]

i agree, they are good. however, the menus suck and the incessant previews in front of each disc is EXTREMELY annoying. i am sure most if not all scapers will agree. i cannot think of another tv show that does this. i find it insulting actually. the price is another problem. i know buffy has a larger audience but damn, 50 bucks a season is great. i was just at costco and buffy s1-4 were 25 bucks each. !!!!!

i keep hearing the new 4.1 have video artifacts and problems as well.

[Farscape Forever]

I agree the previews are bad... at least you can skip them.. some dvds lock it so you can't.

ADV.. its not a hugely popular company that I have a heck of a time finding Farscape DVD'S in store where I live..

The price.. what can you do?... I mean its Farscape they know we'll dole out any amount of money for it :)

[PicassosLaughing]

So if the R2 sets are coming out in March, maybe the US versions will be out sooner than October/November...hope hope, otherwise I may have to buy the individual packages.

[PicassosLaughing]

By the way...buy online, it's cheaper, most states have no e-tax, and they deliver to your door.

I buy mine from deepdiscount dvd.com, and have had no problems.

[Gigadafud]

yeah ADV really is screwing us on the release of the farscape DVD's. they are releasing them first as single disc sets so they can make a TON of dough there with the people that cannot wait for a box set. they are milking farscape for all its worth.

i have to agree that the worst part about the whole thing is that you see EVERY other television show released in a box set and they are always alot cheaper also. minus a few here and there like star trek and xfiles are expensive also. but like others have mentioned as least you dont get all the stupid commercials and other stupid previews for other ADV crap they release. i think anyone would have been better than ADV.

release the damn box sets ADV!

[Under A Dying Sun]

Another
Dren
Video release

[Twich]

Okay. Listen everyone...before this gets too far (which, to be honest, it's probably too late) let me remind you ALL of how much ADV has done for us. They teamed with us to help support the US Navy. They DONATED more than half of the box sets to that project. They've also said they want to work with us on Scaping the rest of the military.

They've gone above and beyond the call of duty here and supported us incredibly. They've even done so in ways that you guys don't know or understand. They continue to support us and this campaign in bringing back Farscape and it's unacceptable for us to bash them. Besides that, it's not good form. This campaign has always been about positivity. It's never been about bashing or hurting people, so I think it's time for everyone to take a breather and remember the good things ADV has done for us.

[Under A Dying Sun]

that's fine and all. i realize all they have done, still doesn't mean they aren't doing poorly done boxsets, which this thread is about.

[JrMissToughChick]

Originally posted by Under A Dying Sun
that's fine and all. i realize all they have done, still doesn't mean they aren't doing poorly done boxsets, which this thread is about. I thought it was about Season three box sets?

~JrMTC~

[Under A Dying Sun]

i still have the same issues with s3 discs. i doubt adv will resolve them in a new s3 boxset.

i am emailed adv with my frustrations.

[Sjoko]

I hope you are aware that you can get Farscape season 3 from Australia ?

[blue]

I applaud ADV's donations to the military project and our campaign. I was a little disturbed by a comment about the DVD quality of the first disk of season 4 on the Amazon site, however. I hope it was just a bad disk, and not true of every disk. If anyone here has this first season 4 disk, I wonder if they could confirm or refute this complaint. Here's the comment I'm referring to:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000V8FBU/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/104-8848341-4767169?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846&vi=customer-reviews


Poor transfer to DVD, December 21, 2003
Reviewer: Thomas E. Dimock (see more about me) from Ventura, CA United States Others have reviewed the show; this is to review the DVD itself. The previous three seasons of Farscape on DVD have looked fantastic for the most part, but these discs suffer from severe compression artifacts. I don't know what ADV has done differently, but unfortunately it really shows. In some scenes the compression is so great that the entire frame "refreshes" only at half-second intervals, giving the whole picture a sort of stop-action appearance. Look at Disc 2, "Lava's a Many Splendored Thing", at disc time 34:58-35:01. The clouds in the background just jerk across the scene. And at 36:15-36:20, where Scorpy and John are talking, the entire frame just jerks forward at those same half-second steps. What puzzles me is that excerpts from these same shows in the Special Features (Behind the Scenes with Rebecca Riggs) appear with much greater clarity, color, and realism, and without compression artifacts. What's going on here, ADV? A disappointing set of discs.

[Under A Dying Sun]

Originally posted by Sjoko
I hope you are aware that you can get Farscape season 3 from Australia ?


i don't know of this place you call 'australia.' :kitty:

[haesan]

WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, HOLD ON! (I can't believe no one else was even a little intruiged by this.)

Twich, what do you mean by,
"They've gone above and beyond the call of duty here and supported us incredibly.
They've even DONE SO IN WAYS THAT YOU GUYS DON'T KNOW OR UNDERSTAND." (Caps added.)

Are you implying that ADV Films is helping to finance the Farscape mini-series? *my mind starts working overtime* That could imply a direct-to-video release of the mini-series...

We must know. Is there more to this comment of yours? Come, phone goddess, answer our prayers! :D

[AyuRocks]

Sorry, I would rather get mine as they come out. Chances are I wouldn't have the money to buy a 100+ set of the season, but I easily have a 23 bucks to buy myself the individual sets. I'd rather they be released as they're finished too, than having to wait for 5 sets to be done. It just makes sense they'd want a return on the money put into them as well.

Just because something isn't good for a few people, doesn't mean it shouldn't be done that way. I wouldn't have 11 of the released DVD sets if they didn't release them the way they do. I'm sure the same is true for other people. Good sales = good for Farscape.

It's one to say something shouldn't be done the way they are, and another thing to insult the company in general, which, as Twich has pointed out, has done a whole hell of a lot for the campaign.

Ashley

[haesan]

I don't understand people saying that they don't have the money for the season box sets. The box sets are actually CHEAPER, overall, than the individual DVD's. Everybody realizes this, right?

If people simply mean that it fits into their budget better to spend 25 dollars five times than it does to spend 100 dollars once, that's just silly. If you need to spend money in small increments due to budgetary constraints, you can just save up for four-fifths of the time it would take to buy all five separately and buy the boxed set. OR, in the worst-case scenario, if you're one of those people who try to delude themselves by spending money in small bits to make it seem like less, you should realize that a lump-sum purchase can be less than smaller individual purchases in the long run.

Now as far as having them as they're released and not having to wait....... THAT I identify with. If not for already having the first two boxed sets, I would have bought up through 4.1 already, but I just can't stand having the first two seasons as boxed sets and the third and fourth seasons as separate DVD's. It would ruin the whole symmetry.

[AyuRocks]

Being 17 and not having a job, it's easier for me to have 25 dollars laying around than 100. Since I'd have to take it out of the money I have for gas and food, even if it were set aside it would eventually get used for it's original intent. It also helps when saving money to know you're actually going to be saving it for something that is going to be realized.

Yes, and know 25x5 is greater than 90. This, however, isn't my point.

Ashley

[JrMissToughChick]

I have 25$ right now I am tring to figure out if I want to start geting season three or four? When I read threads like this I get so confused *fahrbot* I mean should I wait for S3BS? or just start geting them????

~JrMTC~

[Sjoko]

Originally posted by Under A Dying Sun
i don't know of this place you call 'australia.' :kitty:

Australia is where the Farscape series has been shot. At least that's as far as I know.

http://www.planetdvd.com.au/dvdinf.asp?i=5164&cs=22599RIEYJVKBXPTI

That's where I bought season 3 box set, maybe not the best place to shop, but at least these had this in stock.

[Twich]

Originally posted by haesan
WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, HOLD ON! (I can't believe no one else was even a little intruiged by this.)

Twich, what do you mean by,
"They've gone above and beyond the call of duty here and supported us incredibly.
They've even DONE SO IN WAYS THAT YOU GUYS DON'T KNOW OR UNDERSTAND." (Caps added.)

Are you implying that ADV Films is helping to finance the Farscape mini-series? *my mind starts working overtime* That could imply a direct-to-video release of the mini-series...

We must know. Is there more to this comment of yours? Come, phone goddess, answer our prayers! :D

Don't jump to conclusions. ADV has nothing to do with the mini-series as far as I am aware...except that they will probably be putting it out on DVD after it airs. There are just things they've said and done for the campaign that aren't public (and I don't know if they ever will be) and we need to respect them.

I understand the problems with waiting for a box set. I also understand that people are bothered by this. But when it starts turning into an ADV bashing thread, that becomes inappropriate. And it did turn into that. Rather quickly. Rather than expressing disappointment or frustration in waiting for the box sets, people started turning it into bashing the company. We just don't do that around here. It's one of the things that we've maintained a professional status about in this campaign. We remain professional in all levels of the campaign.

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by blue
I applaud ADV's donations to the military project and our campaign. I was a little disturbed by a comment about the DVD quality of the first disk of season 4 on the Amazon site, however. I hope it was just a bad disk, and not true of every disk. If anyone here has this first season 4 disk, I wonder if they could confirm or refute this complaint. Here's the comment I'm referring to:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000V8FBU/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/104-8848341-4767169?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846&vi=customer-reviews


Poor transfer to DVD, December 21, 2003
Reviewer: Thomas E. Dimock (see more about me) from Ventura, CA United States Others have reviewed the show; this is to review the DVD itself. The previous three seasons of Farscape on DVD have looked fantastic for the most part, but these discs suffer from severe compression artifacts. I don't know what ADV has done differently, but unfortunately it really shows. In some scenes the compression is so great that the entire frame "refreshes" only at half-second intervals, giving the whole picture a sort of stop-action appearance. Look at Disc 2, "Lava's a Many Splendored Thing", at disc time 34:58-35:01. The clouds in the background just jerk across the scene. And at 36:15-36:20, where Scorpy and John are talking, the entire frame just jerks forward at those same half-second steps. What puzzles me is that excerpts from these same shows in the Special Features (Behind the Scenes with Rebecca Riggs) appear with much greater clarity, color, and realism, and without compression artifacts. What's going on here, ADV? A disappointing set of discs.

This is probably why they were pulled off the shelf in stores and the release date was set back.

Remember ADV is an anime company and they know a screw on this level needs to be fixed asap to keep costumers happy.

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by haesan
I don't understand people saying that they don't have the money for the season box sets. The box sets are actually CHEAPER, overall, than the individual DVD's. Everybody realizes this, right?

Probably because most of them don't shop around.

I just bought the Season 1 Boxset of Farscape last week from Amazon.com for around a $100 dollars (retail is a $150 dollars).

Not the best deal, but close enough (the other stores with cheaper prices were already sold out of the S1 Boxset).

[Mickie]

Guys, please keep in mind that ADV isn't Fox Video. And Farscape doesn't have the consumer base that Buffy or XFiles do. That means that the price is going to be higher and the releases are going to be more spread out. ADV is doing what it has to do in order to make a profit.

I for one am just grateful that the DVDs are in fact, available for purchase. This campaign would be in deep dren otherwise.

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by Mickie
Guys, please keep in mind that ADV isn't Fox Video. And Farscape doesn't have the consumer base that Buffy or XFiles do. That means that the price is going to be higher and the releases are going to be more spread out. ADV is doing what it has to do in order to make a profit.

I for one am just grateful that the DVDs are in fact, available for purchase. This campaign would be in deep dren otherwise.

I agree. And I for one can wait for the Boxsets.

Also, look on the brightside, when ADV finally does release the Season 4 Boxset of Farscape, maybe they will include the four part mini-series with it.

[Under A Dying Sun]

grateful? i am positive if adv wasn't in charge of the boxsets, there would be another company handling the dvds. the farscape fandom is fairly large and wants to buy merchandise.

i am going to look into the uk discs. anyone have any info on the r2 s3 boxsets?

[General]

Seasons 3 and 4 are availiable in singles right?..like 4.1. 4.2, 4.3

General.

[RescueFarscape]

ODE TO ADV



O ADV! You have given we Scapers
The best TV we’ve seen in years.
You’ve helped us in our military capers
And aided library project volunteers!

You’ve responded to all our complaints,
Answering emails from months ago.
With the composure of saints
You finally did season two bestow.

So if one day you should decide
To release the season three box set
You can be sure I‘ll not deride
The long and dreary wait.

PS- ADV, please do not mind
The harsh words of some Scapers here.
They just need to unwind
With the latest Farscape and a cold beer.


:)

[BillFrugge]

Originally posted by Under A Dying Sun
grateful? i am positive if adv wasn't in charge of the boxsets, there would be another company handling the dvds. the farscape fandom is fairly large and wants to buy merchandise.

Really? I don't think another company would have touched it with a ten foot pole back in 2001. Why do you suppose that a company that did nothing but anime suddenly started doing a live action series? ADV took a gamble in doing them when no one else would. It was a gamble that paid off, and the sales picked up after the cancellation. (Let's face it: before the cancellation, how many people did you tell about Farscape?) The market was not visible back then. We made ADV, and they know it.

Consider that people like myself didn't get involved in Farscape until the first DVD hit the shelves. Buying one disc every now and then was more acceptable to me rather than spending $150 on a box set of a show I never cared to watch before. When you tell someone about the show, do you tell them to go out and spend $100 on a box set? Or do you hand them disc 1.1 or the 'best of' package?

Sorry, it's easy to look back with hindsight and make these comments, but it's really annoying to hear them. I've bought every disc so far, and like them the way they are. Every company has had problems with DVDs: The Prisoner had audio problems, Back to the Future had framing troubles, James Bond had missing scenes, Monty Python had subtititle problems... These things happen.

[ScapeFreak]

Originally posted by Under A Dying Sun
i am going to look into the uk discs. anyone have any info on the r2 s3 boxsets?

Well so far there's only an unconfirmed release date (March 22nd) as its available for preorder at Play.com.

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page=title&r=R2&title=146710&p=57&c=&g=72

However there's no mention of it yet on Contenders website which dosen't have to mean anything.

Other then that S1-2 are out in R2 as both complete season sets (£75) or as 5 MiniBoxes (1Box=2DVDs=4-5eps) along with S3-4.

Not wanting to bash ADV but having seen and heard from other people about the quallity of the R1 releases i can only recommend the R2 versions to those who have a multiregion dvd player. Appart from a a few minor differances in the extras they are the best from all the 3 regions (R1, R2, R4).

[Under A Dying Sun]

thanks scapefreak!:aok:

maybe when i go back to work at scifi i can let them know about the miniseries and to put the damn thing on dvd themselves. :D

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by ScapeFreak
Well so far there's only an unconfirmed release date (March 22nd) as its available for preorder at Play.com.

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page=title&r=R2&title=146710&p=57&c=&g=72

However there's no mention of it yet on Contenders website which dosen't have to mean anything.

Other then that S1-2 are out in R2 as both complete season sets (£75) or as 5 MiniBoxes (1Box=2DVDs=4-5eps) along with S3-4.

Not wanting to bash ADV but having seen and heard from other people about the quallity of the R1 releases i can only recommend the R2 versions to those who have a multiregion dvd player. Appart from a a few minor differances in the extras they are the best from all the 3 regions (R1, R2, R4).

The only thing I heard about the ADV version of Farscape that fans complained about is that they took out the 'eye catch' that showed Moya passing by right before they went to commercial. And frankly I like that change because it made the show so much smoother to watch because now it faded out from one scene and faded back into another. Each episode now, without question, feels like I am watching a one hour (50 minute really) movie.

Plus I love the unedited footage they weaved back into the episodes and the interviews, concept designs and images, which give fans a deeper insight to the show and those who made it.

ADV may cause more, but you are actually getting more for your money, but I still suggest you wait for ADV to release the boxsets to get the best over all deal.

[Under A Dying Sun]

yeah best bang for the buck paul i agree. hard to wait though. i remember when it was a huge issue to actually get a r1 s2 boxset. i wrote emails often begging adv. i hope i don't have to do the same again. ;)

i mean, i see the original incredible hulk tv series on dvd box sets! anything and everything is out now. i don't believe farscape would have a hard time finding a home. even if it did, they are other region box sets out. which is why i think threads like this are good, to let the consumer know what fans think of the different box sets and buy accordingly. i've been contemplating and i think i'll just pick up the uk discs. :)

[auroraSun]

I wanted to quickly add, that I do not mind ADV and their slow putting out with the boxsets. yes, it may be more money reason (scapers can't wait and buy the more expensive singles). But like Twich said, they have helped a lot in the campaign.

Anyways, every October, I buy myself a nice "little" present, can't wait till Oct. 2004, Season three boxset (this is based on the pattern, no inside info.)
Bashing makes us feels good but doesn't accomplish much else :)

[Under A Dying Sun]

not so much bashing as it was criticizing a somewhat flawed product. what is wrong with that? based on that i have considering buying something else.

all in all it is still farscape. :)

[RescueFarscape]

Originally posted by Under A Dying Sun
not so much bashing as it was criticizing a somewhat flawed product. what is wrong with that?



A flawed product? I thought you were complaining about the timing.

[Under A Dying Sun]

if you read through past posts, we were complaining about issues other than release schedule.

[AyuRocks]

Consider that people like myself didn't get involved in Farscape until the first DVD hit the shelves. Buying one disc every now and then was more acceptable to me rather than spending $150 on a box set of a show I never cared to watch before. When you tell someone about the show, do you tell them to go out and spend $100 on a box set? Or do you hand them disc 1.1 or the 'best of' package?

Exactly. I started watching last december, and the reason I got into it was that, after watching BOS1, I drove over to media play and got 2.1 for 25 bucks. If my only option was to buy all of season 2 for 140 (retail) then I wouldn't have done it.

I think it's especially important that people have the option since Skiffy's rerun schedule is totally frelled and buying an individual det may be the only way people can get into it. I can recommend Farscape all that I want to people, but if they had to buy an entire boxset to see it, it definately wouldn't happen.

ADV has done very well with Farscape. They've done some bad Anime releases with messed up tranlations, and poor quality. I had my doubts when I first found out they made the DVDs. They've done a good job, though. It's obvious that they've been improving the product as they continue to release more. They now have booklets and better menus, etc. I'd hardly call the product flawed. If there was a printing problem with the 4.1 DVDs, that would explain the release date being pushed back, and stores not getting the shipments in. At least they did something about it after the fact. I really don't think they've done anything that warrants calling their releases dren.

Ashley

[RescueFarscape]

if you read through past posts, we were complaining about issues other than release schedule.



I did read the other posts. :) The original point of the thread was to ask about news on season three box sets. As for the other issues, previews do not a flawed product make. Nor do menus, or price.

And you seem to forget that the region two Contender DVDs were being released a full year before ADV could begin releasing the R1 DVDs. ADV can release Farscape only so quickly, unless you really do want a 'flawed' product.

[Under A Dying Sun]

i like white chocolate reese's pieces and silk egg nogg.

i think nogg has two "g's.":grr:


a vampire a brooklyn is a really terrible movie.

i swear.

[grapeshot]

Here's an interesting article I came across some time ago regarding how hard it is to transfer film to DVD format. It's from the NY Times. (I'd include a link, but the one I have no longer works.

When Bad DVD’s Happen to Great Films

November 9, 2003
By FRED KAPLAN





IF you paid $40 for the DVD of "Lawrence of Arabia" when Columbia released it with great fanfare in April 2001, you probably felt hoodwinked when, this autumn, the studio brought out a new, improved version for two-thirds the price and (sorry) no factory trade-in for your not-so-old but flawed copy.

It turns out the original discs had problems with color accuracy. Look at that first desert battle scene: in each shot the sky is a different color - magenta, green, reddish-blue. Those grand, gorgeous desert expanses look pale tan instead of the golden brown of the real sand. Occasionally, Peter O'Toole looks either out of focus or artificially sharpened, as if someone had traced his body with a felt-tipped pen.

All these problems have been fixed on the new DVD, but you'll have to spend $27 more to add it to your collection.

The video market these days is flush with fabulous-looking DVD's, for great and lousy movies alike. But bad-looking ones keep trickling out, too. So what goes wrong when bad DVD's happen to great films?

The tale is not a new one. In June 1999, Warner Home Video issued "The Stanley Kubrick Collection," a seven-disc boxed set of the director's films, for $149. Two years later, Warner came out with a remastered edition for $199. The new box had much better picture quality (and two extra discs, for "Eyes Wide Shut" and a documentary about Kubrick), but, again, no refund for the earlier, shoddier goods.

The first Warner DVD of Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven," released in 1997, had blurry images, skewed colors and a woozy choppiness whenever the characters or camera moved. It took five and a half years before a good version hit the video bins.

At least these films were sent through rehab. Many other great films were turned into substandard DVD's - and, so far, have been left that way.

Bernardo Bertolucci's "Last Emperor" is a gorgeous film. It won nine Oscars, including the 1987 Academy Awards for best picture, best director and best cinematography. And the DVD, from Artisan Home Entertainment, is one of the most dreadful ever made. Colors are faded, images blurry; if a shot is filled with lines (say, the slats of a roof), they shimmer like hula hoops. It is tragically, agonizingly unwatchable.

Francis Ford Coppola's "Godfather" and "Godfather, Part II," which take up three DVD's in a five-disc boxed set, don't look quite that bad, but - given that they're among the greatest, most beautifully photographed films of all time - the results are dismaying. Images are faded in some scenes, way too dark in others and often speckled with weird distortions. For instance, in the opening shot of "Part II," the close-up of Al Pacino against a dark backdrop, it looks as if mosquitoes are swarming down his face. The movie looks better when it's televised on HBO.

Paramount is making new digital masters of the "Godfather" films for reissue, as single-film discs, late next year. Steve Beeks, Artisan's president, says a new version of "The Last Emperor," mastered from Bertolucci's personal print, will come out next year as well. Neither re-do is likely to carry a banner boasting vast improvement. That would be tantamount to admitting that something was wrong with the lavishly promoted originals.

Digital technology seems, on the face of it, a preposterously inadequate medium for storing movies, and we should gape in wonder that DVD's yield coherent pictures at all, much less the gloriously sharp, detailed images they churn out under the best of conditions. Consider: A DVD stores only 17 gigabytes of data. A two-hour film, transferred to digital data and otherwise untreated, would take up more than 150 gigabytes.

So the data must first be massively compressed, mainly by digitally sampling a frame, then sampling only the information that changes in subsequent frames. This is no big deal for a scene of someone standing still against a blank wall. But it's a major challenge for a scene of someone running through traffic surrounded by dozens of flashing lights and moving objects. If a film is old and damaged, the compression machine will "read" random dirt and scratches in the same way it reads motion. If the machine's operator doesn't pay attention and make adjustments, or if the machine is sub-par, the digitized image will be full of waves, zigzags and other distracting distortions.

Similar problems can plague color or, if it's a black-and-white film, the gradations of gray. When transferring film from a negative to a print, someone has to practice the fine art of "color timing." The same thing has to be done, though electronically, when transferring it to DVD. The job can be done well or it can be done badly.

"The main reason a lot of DVD's are so bad," says Robert A. Harris, president of the Film Preserve, one of the top film-restoring companies, "is that the people making them don't know what they're doing and don't care what they're doing."

Several years ago, when Mr. Harris restored the film of "My Fair Lady" - which had faded badly - he tracked down many of the original costumes, so that he could replicate their precise shades of pink or white. When he restored Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo," he asked Jaguar to send him a paint chip from a 1957 car - like the one Kim Novak drove in the film - so he could match the shade of green.

Mr. Harris also restored the 1989 theatrical rerelease of "Lawrence of Arabia," and one problem with the first DVD of
that film is that the technicians who made it did not consult with him. One virtue of the new version is that they did. Grover Crisp, Sony Pictures' vice president for film restoration, who supervised the new "Lawrence" transfer, admits that the original discs had problems. "The people doing our DVD's back then," he says, "may not have paid as close attention as they should have."

Doing a DVD right takes time and money. A good Telecine machine, which transfers film to an image suited for television, costs about $2 million. Use of an outside lab's Telecine facilities can cost up to $1,000 an hour.

The Criterion Collection, which produces some of the finest DVD's of classic films, routinely takes months to make a digital transfer. Lee Klein, Criterion's chief technician, says: "If there's a scratch, we draw it out frame by frame. When there's 12 pieces of debris on each frame, it takes a long time."

Most studios don't bother. Some simply take the master that was made for laser disc, or even for VHS videotape, and transfer it to DVD. This was an especially common practice in the infancy of DVD, four to six years ago. It explains the problems with the first Kubrick set. Kubrick had just died. Years earlier, he had approved masters of his films for VHS and laser disc. Warner executives knew these masters had much less detail than DVD's could reveal, but felt nervous about selecting new masters on their own. Not until the company was pelted with complaints from
home-theater enthusiasts did they bring in Leon Vitali, Kubrick's assistant, to authorize better masters for new DVD's.

"The Godfather" is a sadder case. The negative and all existing prints were, and still are, in horrible condition. When a film is a big hit, studios put the negative through the wringer, churning out print after print after print. With each new churning, the negative deteriorates. (Now that awareness of film preservation has grown, studios usually make a back-up negative.)

One independent film archivist says that Paramount "horribly mishandled" the negatives for the first two "Godfather" films, not just by making so many prints but also by moving the job among several printing labs, some of which were "grossly careless." An executive at Paramount blames American Zoetrope, Mr. Coppola's company, which made the digital transfers, for the quality of the DVD's. Kim Aubry of American Zoetrope - which, for what it's worth, has made several excellent DVD's - blames Paramount for providing him with poor film materials.

"We spent more time in the compression lab on `Godfather' One than on anything we've done," said Mr. Aubry, who doesn't think the resulting DVD's are so bad anyway. "But at the end of the day, you can do only so much."

In any case, according to a Paramount executive, who asked not to be named, the studio has hired an outsider, John Lowry, to re-do the "Godfather" discs. Mr. Lowry has worked on such brilliant DVD's as "North by Northwest," "Sunset Boulevard" and the new double-disc "Casablanca" - all of which were made from prints or negatives in dreadful condition. He holds patents on film noise-reduction techniques. Decades ago, he cleaned up moon photos for NASA's Apollo project. A few years ago, he devised a program that harnesses the computational power of 400 Macintosh G5 computers to clean up the damage that's been done to film by age, wear and handling. This program detects flaws like scratches or dirt, erases them, and - by comparing flawed frames with those in better shape - "draws" in a facsimile of what an unflawed version of the image should look like.

Cleaning a film, though, poses its own problems. Mr. Lowry's otherwise wondrous DVD of "Citizen Kane" (for which no negative exists; it was destroyed in a fire decades ago) has been criticized for being too clean, for wiping away the natural film grain along with the scratches, for looking more like video than film. "I'd agree with that," Mr. Lowry says. "We were just getting our feet wet in the business when we did `Kane.' It was our third or fourth film. We've done 70 films now. Even that's not enough to raise the bar for the entire industry. You have to remember, this is still a very new art."

Fred Kaplan is a columnist for Slate.com and a film critic for The Perfect Vision.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/09/movies/09KAPL.html?ex=1069743910&ei=1&en=2f43f2d07c7d9ae1



I don't know how ADV works, but it seems to me that they're probably only transferring the episodes to DVD format one (or possible two) episodes at a time. If the use of the transfer equipment is as expensive as this article describes, I can't imagine that they have the resources to do many episodes simultaneously. I have had little to complain about regarding the image and sound quality on the DVDs. From where I sit on the couch, even on my widescreen 52" TV, the image seems to have all the brilliance that the original film must have had. (It would be instructive if someone somewhere were to describe what it takes to put a Farscape episode onto DVD, wouldn't it?) Personally, I'm greatful that we even HAVE the DVDs!!

[Under A Dying Sun]

is that a progessive tv/dvd combo you have there grapeshot? i want to buy a set but i don't know about the quality compared to regular 480i.


btw: what version of LOA are they talking about the special 2 disc edition?! damn....i guess so. WTF.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00003CXB2/qid=1073246973//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl74/104-7333615-4289509?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846

[Under A Dying Sun]

http://www.apple.com/pro/film/lowry/

good little article about restoration.

[Paul Cousins]

The transfer equipment is NOT that expense because my home-built computer can handle encoding just fine, takes a while though.

But mass-production of DVDs is a touch pricy.

By the way, I can tell you exactly went wrong with Lawrence of Arabia desert scene, someone screw up the RGB filter during the transfer.

Personally, I think the new YUV standard is a bit better.

[Under A Dying Sun]

does it warrant a new 30 dollar purchase? i would prolly just rent it though b/c i would never buy another one just b/c the studio screwed up.

[grapeshot]

sorry, my DVD player is 5 years old, and I bought it LONG before HD TVs were affordable. A progressive DVD player is next on my list of things to buy. (Ideally, it would be a progressive scan, multi-disk, all-region DVD player!!) I would like to hear from someone who knows if a progressive DVD player really makes enough of a difference to warrant a purchase!

[BillFrugge]

If you're going to get R2 discs, you ought to make sure it handles PAL format...

[Under A Dying Sun]

grape, so is your tv progressive 480p or 1080i compatible? otherwise a progressive dvd will do nothing for you.

im looking into gettng a widescreen or 32 fullscreen tv. hard b/c i want it for movies and gamecube. widescreen is cool but not sure how it handles 4:3 ratio and what it looks like.

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by Under A Dying Sun
grape, so is your tv progressive 480p or 1080i compatible? otherwise a progressive dvd will do nothing for you.

im looking into gettng a widescreen or 32 fullscreen tv. hard b/c i want it for movies and gamecube. widescreen is cool but not sure how it handles 4:3 ratio and what it looks like.

If you do get a HDTV. Get a LCD TV. Plasma TV CANNOT be repaired.

[Under A Dying Sun]

cool thanks. yeah i was thinking of getting a samsung or phillips digital tv with progressive and hd. i hear the new DLP is better than everything out there though.

what happens to plasma that they can't repair it?

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by Under A Dying Sun
cool thanks. yeah i was thinking of getting a samsung or phillips digital tv with progressive and hd. i hear the new DLP is better than everything out there though.

what happens to plasma that they can't repair it?

I am not sure, but I talking to the manager with the local Sears outlet and he sells both HDTV, LCD and Plasma TVs (Plasma costing the most by far). And he told be that because of the way Plasma TVs are made, that they cannot be repaired.

[grapeshot]

Aargh, I don't know those specs on my TV, and my manual is under a large pile of magazines and newspapers.

However, I CAN talk about viewing regular television on HD-widescreen. Since I have a rear-projection TV, I was told to not watch a lot of programs on it in 4:3 format, as it will burn in bands on the two sides of my screen. However, my TV has a wide-zoom option, which slightly widens the image, and slightly zooms in. (With a normal zoom, which would also serve to fill the screen, the top and bottom of the picture gets cropped off. Things like football game scores, or the crawl at the bottom of the newschannels is completely gone. In "Wide" mode, all the images are stretched sideways, and get badly distorted. Wide-zoom cleverly combines both; distortion is minimal, and you can still mostly read the football scores and the crawl. I've grown to rather like seeing skinny-minnie actresses look slightly more "healthy". And don't worry, Audrey Hepburn still looks GREAT!) If for some reason Wide-Zoom mode doesn't work for me, I still have the old TV hooked up, and can watch shows on it, too. (Batchelorette living is really GREAT!)

What's more disturbing, though, is how bad the regular TV image is. It's decidedly blurry. And home-made videotapes are even worse. Digital cable images are visibly better than analog cable images, unlike on regular television sets, where digital images seem no better than the old analog images. I don't regret my widescreen tv purchase at all because Farscape and movies look SOOOPER on it, and I can live with a lousy regular TV show picture since most television shows are lousy anyway. The HD shows all look great, and I finally saw a Packers game in HD, and I felt like I was right there on the field. However I wouldn't altogether get rid of the old set either. If you can't make up your mind, then maybe you should just wait a little longer. Unless you have room for both. Or see if the store can show you how a game would look on the screen.

[Under A Dying Sun]

cool thanks for the info.:aok:

so if you had a choice which one would you get then?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1051826211246&skuId=5421377&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03005

or

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1051806313900&skuId=5362305&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03005

that burning only occurs with rear projection correct? the same thing happens if you play videogames on them as well.

[grapeshot]

For me, the most important thing has always been getting the widescreen aspect ratio. I'm willing to make sacrifices in my regular TV picture in order to have the best aspect ratio for movies. But then, I absolutely don't play any games. I can't give you advice about which would work better for what you need.

One last thought, though, is that without the HD tuner, or an HD cable (or satellite) signal, you won't be able to take advantage of any potential HD capabilities of this set.

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by grapeshot
For me, the most important thing has always been getting the widescreen aspect ratio. I'm willing to make sacrifices in my regular TV picture in order to have the best aspect ratio for movies. But then, I absolutely don't play any games. I can't give you advice about which would work better for what you need.

One last thought, though, is that without the HD tuner, or an HD cable (or satellite) signal, you won't be able to take advantage of any potential HD capabilities of this set.

Be aware that the MPAA has constantly been changing the standards for HDTV broadcast, causing problems for HDTV owners.

By the way, the best resolution on a screen that you can get, besides LCD and Plasma is on a computer screen hooked to a good video card and computer.

[grapeshot]

By the way, the best resolution on a screen that you can get, besides LCD and Plasma is on a computer screen hooked to a good video card and computer.

I have no doubt that this is so, but it's hard to lay on your couch and eat buttered popcorn when you're watching a movie on your computer!

[Under A Dying Sun]

yeah i have no intention of getting hdtv signal. this tv is strictly for movies and games in progressive form. do you know what the 4:3 dimensions would be on a widescreen set? i assume the black bars on vertical on the side?

i have some stuff that is full screen, ie; x-files, farscape s1-3, gamecube games. but most movies are widescreen, except for some kubrick flicks.

the best buy website says they have demos in store for progressive, but when i went home to long island for the holidays, the dumb kids didn't know what i was talking about. i will try out here in cali.

i have a 21" trintron monitor. probably gonna get a ATI AIW 9800. but yeah i would rather watch movies with a progressive tv/dvd player.

[ljenab]

Geez, look what I started . . .

[grapeshot]

do you know what the 4:3 dimensions would be on a widescreen set? i assume the black bars on vertical on the side?


I don't know exactly. You'd have to measure the top and side dimensions of your screen, and then do some math. HD widescreen looks to be 1.88 to 1 ratio, whereas regular television is 1.33 to 1 -- which is also known as 4:3. So, yes, the black bars will be on the two sides. (Since the early 60's, lots of movies were also filmed using a 2.33:1 aspect ratio -- panavision or cinemascope, which will still leave thin black bands along the top and bottom of your widescreen HD TV.)

For a really super explanation of the different aspect ratios, check this out:
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/aspectratios/widescreenorama.html
This is one of the best sites I've seen showing the difference between all the different aspect ratios. The most surprising thing to me was finding out that older films were all made using a 4:3 aspect ratio, and that's why the television industry adopted that as their standard.

And, if you poke around a little at that website, you'll get to this page:
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/anamorphic235demo.html
This page also gives an example of the bars on the side of a widescreen TV, which are actually SILVER, not black. You have to use ZOOM mode or WIDE-ZOOM mode to get rid of those. And because they're silver, that's why they'll burn themselves in on my rear-projection screen. (I can't speak to whether there's a burn-in issue with the flat-screen type TVs.) As I said before, WIDE-ZOOM mode works pretty well for me.

[MournsZhaan]

Originally posted by grapeshot
I don't know exactly. You'd have to measure the top and side dimensions of your screen, and then do some math. HD widescreen looks to be 1.88 to 1 ratio, ....

Wide screen TVs have an aspect ratio of 16:9 which works out to be about 1.78 to 1.

Chris
Resident Nit Picker

[grapeshot]

Aaargh. sorry about that, chief.

[Under A Dying Sun]

dude. you rule. thanks grape for all those links. i am at work now so i will check them later.


you rule! :)

[grapeshot]

Actually, I've been thinking. Don't those XBox and Gamecube games have stuff that's always on the top and bottom corners of the screen?? Stuff like scores, and other pertinent info? I don't think either ZOOM or WIDE-ZOOM would work for that.

[Dv8]

First off, a couple of Months(5 or 6) ago me and the GF bought a 54"(i thinnk that was it) HD Mitsubishi Platinum plus(which is a rear projection CRT). This TV has a HD tuner built in. We have Digital Cable hooked up to it. Now because of the Size of the screen it is easy to pick out the compression artifacts in the signal, but It still looks great. The downside is that some channels look Much better that others(this is the cable technologies fault). Now what is cool, cuz I don't want to pay any more than I currently am to the cable company for the HD cable channels, is that alot of the national networks broadcast at least some of their shows in HD. So I just went and bought a HD antenna that sits on top of the TV(sorta like the rabbit ears of the past) and now we get to take advantage of the HD capabilities of the tv. The antenna cost less than 50 bucks.

As for people with Xboxes and such. The Xbox(for example) has settings for Widescreen TV's and all the HD resolutions. You just set those options up so they cover all the capabilities of your TV, and you should see no stretching. Not one of the games we play getts stretched.

Forget trying to base any decisions on TV's based on what you see in the store. Most stores use one signal(be it a DVD or Cable) and split it to all of their TV's. This causes massive degredation in signal quality. If you can see a TV demonstrated with its very own signal then you will have a more accurate example of its quality.

Also, if you want to use anything with Progressive output(like DVD's or Games) you MUST use Component Cables. The place we bought our TV from sold us on Monster Cables. So I bought all monster cables. One was defective so I returned to the store for an exchange. When I got there I did some looking around, and found that GE makes cables too, I compared the specs(all the same) and then the Price. Let me tell you, DO NOT BUY MONSTER CABLES unless you have money to throw away. The Monster component cables were like 50 or 60 dollars per and the GE ones were like 20 bucks. Turns out the GE cables were 100% as good as the Monster ones.

Almost done....

Last but not least ALL CRT rear projection and Plasma screen burn in! Period. Some are much better than others but I have noticed that Plasma screen tend to burn in faster IMHO. Rear projection LCD and DLP TV do not burn in(these are also the only TV's that I know of that do 720p). Now, this sucks but honestly I think you really have to try to do it. Like leave a static image on the screen for days, or only watch 4:3 ratio stuff with the bars(not stretched or zoomed). My family plays alot of videogames and I can't see this being a problem, unless you were to leave a game paused for days.

All that being said.. I LOVE my TV. And I did ALOT of research before Purchasing, cuz no 1 source seems to tell you everything you may want to know, only what they want you to know.

hope that helps someone

l8r

[Paul Cousins]

Dv8, go to Radio Shaq and buy yourself an S-Video cable and a three (colored) plug RCA TV cable.

Plug the Red and White RCA cables to the red and white plugs on the back of DVD Player and HDTV to0 get audio. Leave the Yellow video plug alone. Then plug the S-Video cable into the S-Video plugs.

S-video actually uses two signals to send video to your HDTV, one signal is the video itself, while the second is an overlay that takes care of most the artifacts you see on your HDTV.

This should solve most of your problems.

[Under A Dying Sun]

dv8. thanks for the info. :) yeah i never trust the tv picture in the store because of that splitter. my friend works at best buy and always tells everyone not to buy those pOS monster cables.

so, have you seen a movie on a digital progessive tv with a progressive player? is it all that and a bag of chips? what tv looks better to you with those links i posted?

i am trying to find a site that reviews tv's but i can't find one! ARRRGG

[Dv8]

Paul -
Thanks for the info, but, I don't have any problems. The only gripe I have is that (at least on a 54" tv) the Digital cable signal is not as nice as I would have expected, and there is quite an inconsistency between the different channels and their quality, which wasn't noticeable on my old non-HD 27 inch TV. Ya see, to upgrade to the HD channels, COX Cable wants me to purchase their decoder box, and it aint cheap.

Also, S-Video cables are not capable of sending a Progressive Signal but can send interlaced HD signals. Component cables are capable, and achieve this by sending 3 signals to the TV. The other advantages are better color accuracy and a sharper image.


Under A Dying Sun -
In answer to your question, Yes. I have both my DVD(which is an Onkyo Progressive 6-disc), and my Xbox set up to deliver progressive to the TV through component cables. I gotta say, that I noticed a big difference in the quality. I suppose it will depend on the TV (and the person) but, the XBOX(at least with games that are 480p capable) showed a marked reduction in "Jaggies" and much better color saturation than I was getting with the S-Video cable I was using. The DVDs have a sharper picture as well as improved color saturation. Let me tell you, I WILL NEVER WATCH A MOVIE ON VHS AGAIN. PERIOD. Progressive DVD is the only way to go. Now I don't want to misslead you, this isn't the same BIG difference as B&W to COLOR but, for me(a guy who REALLY likes to watch movies and play games) Progressive looks really good. IN fact I have to say the best looking DVD's (to me) are the Pixar movies, as they were transferred not from film, but direct from the digital source.

To some people the difference in the quality of DVDs in progressive vs. interlaced isn't that big of a deal, but if you are planning on getting a HDTV and either have or are buying a DVD player, I really don't see any advantage to not go progressive. Alot of the DVD players out there now are Progressive, and the cables(Component) aren't that much more expensive than S-Video or Composite.

Looking at the Choices you posted for TV's, I think it depends on you. Personally I like the Samsung for quality, but I personally prefer to have a Widescreen(I mostly have the TV for Movies and Games, both of which are better in widescreen IMHO). Something to note though is that not all widescreen movies are created equal. Some fit the screen perfectly while other still have black bars at the top and bottom because the film they used to make the movie has an even wider aspect ratio that the widescreen TV. A good example of this is the LOTR series. I must say though that it really doesn't bother me, cuz they are very small bars. In other words, the advantages out-weigh the disadvantages by far.

I had the same problem looking for TV comparisons. I did however stumble accross a site that was invaluable for this kind of info. AVFORUMS.com is a HUGE message board for of all things AV enthusiasts. I found a TON of help there.

Good Luck! let me know what you end up with.

l8r

[Under A Dying Sun]

thanks a ton dv8! :)

http://8thwood.com/images/blkwidow.jpg

here is an evil spider for all your hard work!:)

[Paul Cousins]

Dv8, you could always route you HDTV through a mid-level computer with a decent video/tuner-card, I recommend ATI All-in-Wonder 8500 DV or higher video card. You can get a adapter that will let you hook your HDTV to the monitor port on your video card and you can watch TV that way. It is a touch pricy, but it will solve your progressive/interlace signal problem. Also, the video card will fliter out a lot of the noise in the tv signal itself, giving you a better picture.

[Under A Dying Sun]

ok, well back on topic. ;)

Hello,

There are no plans at this time for a Farscape season 3 box set. However, with the popularity of the season 1 and season 2 box sets I would not be surprised to see a season 3 box set some time in the future. Please continue to check www.advfilms.com periodically as new information will be posted there first.

Thank you,

ADV Customer Service


i hope its soon.