Thursday, October 25, 2007

Meet the Robinsons in High Def

Monday, when I was over at Disney, one of the staffers held up the new high-rez DVD for Meet the Robinsons given to him by the studio and enthused:

"You know, this looks amazing. The guys upstairs said this is the first time that the film we made is all here on the disk. Not compressed, not altered or rejiggered. Exactly the way we configured it. The Blu-Ray DVD is the same files and format as the theatrical release..."

I guess that means you could put the high def version into a theatrical projection system and get the same sparkling image you would get with a new 35 mm print, probably better...

...Presented in 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec, 'Meet the Robinsons' is another gorgeous high-def CGI transfer. Colors are bold, black levels are inky, and an abundance of texture details are a real visual treat. Jump to any scene with the tyrannosaurus rex -- take note of the crisp scales, the nicks on its claws, the imperfections in the grass beneath its feet, and the fabric in the bowler hat on its head. In fact, throughout the film, clothing textures not only showcase the filmmakers' extraordinary eyes for detail, but they reveal the proficiency of this transfer. The Bowler Hat Guy makes for an excellent demo reel of every texture the film throws at the screen, from his pants legs and cloak, to his oily eyebrows and mustache.

So the Disney artist is correct; the film does look terrific on Blu-Ray. Sadly, this means nothing for me and my 24-inch Philco.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The guys upstairs said this is the first time that the film we made is all here on the disk. Not compressed, not altered or rejiggered. Exactly the way we configured it."

I'm sure it looks beautiful on Blu-ray but I highly doubt this statement is true. Most, if not all, theatrical digital projection is 2k. 1080p while beautiful on even the largest of home televisions and projectors is not 2k.

Anonymous said...

well i kind of wished they actualy changed the film, maybe it would have ended up more entertaining than the original version.

Floyd Norman said...

24-inch Philco?! You are joking, right?

I think we had one of those in Pixar's "Toy Story2."

Anonymous said...

well, i read somewhere that pixar renders its final film res at 1920x804 or something near that (for Ratatouille).

Since HD is 1920x1080, there is no loss due to resolution.

Anonymous said...

"well, i read somewhere that pixar renders its final film res at 1920x804 or something near that (for Ratatouille).

Since HD is 1920x1080, there is no loss due to resolution."

Regardless of what you have heard I can guarantee you that no film released on Home Video (HD-DVD or Blu-ray) contains the same uncompressed source from a theatrical release.

Plus if you want to get technical... 1920x1080 is 2,073,600 pixels. 2k which is 1998x1080 (for 1.85:1) is 2,157,840 pixels. Thats a difference of 84,240 pixels. Some films are even being done in 4k now. Trust me when I say that what you are getting at home is not the same as the theatrical Film or Digital projection. Don't get me wrong, Blu-ray looks beautiful but it's a lie to consumers to try to say that its the same as what was up on the big screen.

Anonymous said...

you arent paying attention to my post. I compared what Pixar rendered Ratatouille at compared to HD.

If they indeed rendered at 1920x804 as I heard, then the HD version on BluRay contains the same amount of pixels.

Your argument is concerning a 2k (or 4k or whatever) res that is downrezzed to HD. Supposedly pixar isn't doing any down rezzing cause the high res film outs were 1920x804..

Anonymous said...

also... im not talking about compression. i.e. my comment specifying pixels

Steve Hulett said...

24-inch Philco?! You are joking, right?

Only a little. Out teevees aren't real new. I have an RCA (25-inch) that we purchased in 1983.

No LCDs at the Hulett house.

Anonymous said...

"If they indeed rendered at 1920x804 as I heard, then the HD version on BluRay contains the same amount of pixels.

Your argument is concerning a 2k (or 4k or whatever) res that is downrezzed to HD. Supposedly pixar isn't doing any down rezzing cause the high res film outs were 1920x804.."

Noooo what I am saying is who ever told you that is incorrect and misinformed.

Do me a favor. Open up Photoshop on your computer there... now create a new document with those dimensions (1920x804). Now take a look at the size on your monitor. You really think that Pixar, let alone any major studio, is producing a feature length film at that rez?

The answer is no. And studios aren't in the habit of rendering 2 versions of a film, 2k & HD?! That costs time AND money. Films are made at 2k or 4k for theatrical distribution then downrezed AND compressed to fit onto a Blu-ray disc.

Anonymous said...

> (1920x804) You really think that Pixar, let alone any major studio,
> is producing a feature length film at that rez?

Pixar's vertical resolution is actually 803.

Believe it... or not! :-)

Anonymous said...

The anonymous guy claiming that Pixar or any major studio DOES NOT render at 1920x804 is wrong.

Check your facts. Ratatouille was rendered at 1920x804 (or maybe 803 as the other anonymous guy said).

Anonymous said...

So you're saying that Pixar creates their films at a vertical resolution that is even less than HD (1080)?

There is no way to prove this short of Disney or Pixar publicly saying "we produce our films at this resolution."

The moral of the article I think is that MTR looks great on Blu-ray. It does indeed... regardless of source rez.

Thanks for the tidbit Steve. I actually really liked MTR's story and will be picking it up on Blu-ray shortly.

Anonymous said...

um yeah, cause 804 is the vertical number associated with 1920 when the format is a 2.38 aspect ratio.

I know its hard to believe for you film elitists, but Pixar has done a ton of tests (film out, and digital projection) to see what resolution looks the best or good enough from an all CG source while remaining the lowest number possible. 1920x804 happens to be their latest thought process when using a 2.38 aspect ratio.

Wait for public proof if you want if it is that important for you to hold a glimmer of hope that you were right. So sorry.

Anonymous said...

Clearly everyone involved in this argument needs to get laid.

Anonymous said...

Is that one of the union benefits?

Anonymous said...

>>So you're saying that Pixar creates their films at a vertical resolution that is even less than HD (1080)?
<<

No, that's not what he's saying. It's exactly the same.

Pixar movies are 2.36:1. Which, if you're going with 1920 pixels wide, comes out to 804 pixels high (give or take a few). On a BluRay disc, the rest of the pixels would be used for the black bars at top and bottom.

What would be interesting would be to find out what bitrate and codec the theatrical projections use. If it's within the BluRay standards, then the BluRay disc very well could contain the exact same movie, or something close enough to it to make no nevermind.

By the way, PIXAR happily rerenders movies for home video release, as indicated by the special versions for their 4:3 DVDs.

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