Sailor Moon Color Correction

[Zeruel84]

.

 

[sapphire91]

Hi, this is my first time posting on this site so hopefully this post is ok. I've started work on a Sailor Moon project that involves upscaling the Italian DVDs, (with software superior to what Toei used) manually cleaning up dirt/damaged frames and adding film grain to replicate how a proper scan would look.

I'm curious as to what people think about this, especially the color correction process that I've based off the cels/properly remastered movies. I've made an album to showcase the colors for episode 1 here: imgur.com/a/R1jlGP9 I'm just curious if I'm on the right track before I waste my time.

A tad bit yellowish. Otherwise looks great. Can you post a video sample?

 

[ChibiBoi]

I love it! I love the cel colors. I think you might have to selectively adjust some colors in specific scenes more than others, to prevent the look of a blue/green overcast, but for the most part I think it looks great!

 

[sapphire91]

I love it! I love the cel colors. I think you might have to selectively adjust some colors in specific scenes more than others, to prevent the look of a blue/green overcast, but for the most part I think it looks great!

Аs someone that dedicated ages on this I can tell Sailor Moon is absolute hell to color correct - you literary have to cut every 30 seconds. Rei scenes are the hardest - it is so easy to make her purple highlights blue.

 

[Starlight]

You're doing the Lord's work! Keep it up!

 

[Rika-Chicchi]

I'd be happy to link the first episode, but even after reading the rules section I'm not quite sure if that's allowed here.

Just link it if that's your own work on the original material - for safety's sake, you may link a 5-min. sample.

 

[Rika-Chicchi]

Ah, I'm not sure if 5 minutes is enough to make an accurate judgement...

Never mind, then.

aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWdhLm56L2ZpbGUvemhNQW1MZ1kjdTNFNHpTeUVoVmpqMWdWbnRHMXJJTk1fQV9OVW1EMW9oTlZCMlkydnozUQ==
Hopefully this works, since it's not a direct link but rather one encoded with base64.

Doesn't work for me - a url link is just fine here.

 

[XciteMatz]

Zeruel84, I think the video looks amazing! Some scenes (mostly outdoor) seem a bit bright at first, but I think that's because my brain is so used to what I've seen before (and I have the Japanese blu-rays as well -- no comment on some of the quality there...). I was able to notice this time nuances to Morga's black dress, I only remember it as a flat black before, this time I actually noticed variations to it. The overall cleaned-up/film quality looks great too!

 

[Seira Hazuki]

I just watched it and you did a phenomenal job. I've seen Episode 1 so many times like countless other fans, and it felt like seeing it so crisp and clear gave it a new life.

 

[sapphire91]

Yes, you did a wonderful job with it. Hope to see more episodes in the future. What did you use to remove the grain

 

[sapphire91]

Topaz Video Ai has adjustable settings for removing grain. As a side note, the re-added grain has been ripped from another show shot on 16mm, to be as accurate as possible. As for more episodes, I'd like to do all 200 episodes and release them in seasons, I just don't know how long that will take.

It looks way way closer to a proper blu ray than Toei's lousy job. Great work. How did it take you to do the whole episode 1?

 

[sapphire91]

I remember episode 3 was the furst of many nightmares when it comes to color.

 

[sapphire91]

Topaz Video Ai has adjustable settings for removing grain. As a side note, the re-added grain has been ripped from another show shot on 16mm, to be as accurate as possible. As for more episodes, I'd like to do all 200 episodes and release them in seasons, I just don't know how long that will take.

I checked the trial and oh god, this program is phenomenal. With a few clicks you can make a great looking hd upscale from a dvd that looks way better than the actual ones available done from uncompressed masters.

 

[saintfighteraqua]

It looks really good! It's a shame the official releases didn't do this instead of whatever they did to butcher the colors. The grain makes it feel more alive.

 

[ChibiBoi]

Thanks everyone. Your feedback is much appreciated!

Does anyone know if proper de-interlaced versions of the 4:3 open matte movies exist online? I wanted to see how they upscale but I can't seem to remove the heavy frame blending.

I don't believe so, because I think the 4:3 movie masters were transferred from the laserdiscs which all had heavy frame blending.

 

[sapphire91]

Damn, that sucks. I tried posting in a video restoration forum too and it seems that nothing can be done. While I'm here I might as well post this Bluray vs CC image for ep 3, it's really just so embarrassing that the left side is an official product.

Yeah, it sure is... Sometimes this stock footage is so bad on the remaster, red and dull. It gets worse and affects a lot more stuff later on. I mean on the dvds, same with the Usagi introduction parts. But from what I remember S and Supers are the hardest when it comes to cc. The best restaurated season overall in the dvds is R. Working on it would be a blast.

 

[snowgeisha]

Damn, that sucks. I tried posting in a video restoration forum too and it seems that nothing can be done. While I'm here I might as well post this Bluray vs CC image for ep 3, it's really just so embarrassing that the left side is an official product.

Jeez.. what were they thinking with that pink hue? It can’t be a case of trying to correct their vision because even the guide books and cards released at the time didn’t have any of that in the color scheme. I wonder what made them suddenly decide Sailor Moon should be pinker.. such an odd decision.

 

[sapphire91]

Jeez.. what were they thinking with that pink hue? It can’t be a case of trying to correct their vision because even the guide books and cards released at the time didn’t have any of that in the color scheme. I wonder what made them suddenly decide Sailor Moon should be pinker.. such an odd decision.

It is not sudden decision, it has been like that ever since it got remastered. As far as I remember, it has been the case even on the laserdiscs., from what I have seen, although less obvious. Even the movies on blu ray now, in full hd from the film masters are kind of yellowish/greenish. It is hella hard to coolor correct Sailor Moon, if you mess up a tad bid Rei hair got from purple to blue, Usagi's hair gets greenish. There are some scenes/ whole episodes you cannot get it right no matter what you try.

 

[snowgeisha]

It is not sudden decision, it has been like that ever since it got remastered. As far as I remember, it has been the case even on the laserdiscs., from what I have seen, although less obvious. Even the movies on blu ray now, in full hd from the film masters are kind of yellowish/greenish. It is hella hard to coolor correct Sailor Moon, if you mess up a tad bid Rei hair got from purple to blue, Usagi's hair gets greenish. There are some scenes/ whole episodes you cannot get it right no matter what you try.

Yeah, I meant back then when they remastered it. Wonder what came over them.

I actually have the laserdiscs and while not perfect, they don’t have that pink hue like the DVDs.

 

[sapphire91]

Yeah, I meant back then when they remastered it. Wonder what came over them.

I actually have the laserdiscs and while not perfect, they don’t have that pink hue like the DVDs.

I think this is was some easy way out to make most colors appear correct without much effort. The amount of grain is also weird in the remaster on DVD, sure grain is nothing bad, but I have seen plenty of remaster on dvd with a lot less of it from way older shows