Hey all,
I'm not sure how many people still check this forum, but I wanted to post here as some of my initial research was done here.
Some of you may have already seen this on another forum, but a couple of years ago I set about creating the best English language video of Star Fleet currently available. I took the video from the French DVDs, the audio from the English DVDs, and nicked a few bits from the Japanese release, pieced it all together and upscaled it using Topaz Video Enhance AI to produce a 720P 25FPS version of the series. Feedback has been really positive, and even if I do say so myself, it looks pretty sweet!
I would have posted here as I was doing it, but for some reason I couldn't seem to get registered properly. Anyway, I'm here now, the project is finished and has been shared with a (fairly large) handful of people. I'm not sure what the site rules are regarding posting links, so I've not included one here, but if you're interested in seeing the results, please get in touch.
Star Fleet Upscaled
Re: Star Fleet Upscaled
Hi dym2005!
Thanks for trying again to register!
The problem was that we had to demand email verification due to huge volumes of spam sign-ups.
But there was a problem with the forum's mailserver config, which seems to have deterred a lot of sign-ups around that time.
I have a copy of the upscaled version of the show and I was hoping to be able to thank and congratulate you on your initiative and great results.
I wasn't sure who had created the upscale until a commenter on the news pages: Luis, let me know recently that it had been made available on the Original Trilogy forums.
Coincidentally enough, I added the link to the forum only yesterday.
The link to a megadownload of the upscale has been on there for some time:
https://xbomber.co.uk/?a=90
Thanks for trying again to register!
The problem was that we had to demand email verification due to huge volumes of spam sign-ups.
But there was a problem with the forum's mailserver config, which seems to have deterred a lot of sign-ups around that time.
I have a copy of the upscaled version of the show and I was hoping to be able to thank and congratulate you on your initiative and great results.
I wasn't sure who had created the upscale until a commenter on the news pages: Luis, let me know recently that it had been made available on the Original Trilogy forums.
Coincidentally enough, I added the link to the forum only yesterday.
The link to a megadownload of the upscale has been on there for some time:
https://xbomber.co.uk/?a=90
Dream big and bold and daring.
Re: Star Fleet Upscaled
Great, I'm glad that you've linked to the OT forum and my download - a lot of time and effort went in to the project so it's nice that it's being shared here too 
If only one day we could get a proper HD release.
If only one day we could get a proper HD release.
Re: Star Fleet Upscaled
I can absolutely imagine that it would've taken an awful lot of work.
I know from BladeZ, who has done a lot of work on remastering Star Fleet, what the complications are, just in syncing up the video from the French DVDs with the audio from an English-language release, which, I gather is what's been achieved here.
I look forward to showing my daughter Star Fleet in this format, rather than using the bleary, albeit lovingly-produced UK DVDs.
I know as well that Gary Cass found this release vital for seeing the details of the various ships and vehicles that he's reconstructed in 3D.
The DVD footage just wasn't good enough.
I was able to notice all kinds of details about the machines and vehicles and installations in the show, which is one of my interests, when I watched this version, that I hadn't picked out from the UK DVD.
We've had quite a bit of feedback on the news comments of people having enjoyed this, which will only be a tiny sample of the people that have enjoyed the product of your hard work.
It would be nice if they could do similar to what's been done with Space Precinct recently, where they take the master footage and do a pure HD release, or apply some AI to improve the picture further.
I find it surprising how well Star Fleet and supermarionation shows like Stingray hold up in HD.
My worry with Thunderbirds etc was that blu-ray would expose problems with the puppets, models and sets, but it just makes everything bigger and better and brighter.
These programmes were shot in 35mm in many cases, and the models were made and the shots set up in such a way that would look good at that level of detail.
I know from BladeZ, who has done a lot of work on remastering Star Fleet, what the complications are, just in syncing up the video from the French DVDs with the audio from an English-language release, which, I gather is what's been achieved here.
I look forward to showing my daughter Star Fleet in this format, rather than using the bleary, albeit lovingly-produced UK DVDs.
I know as well that Gary Cass found this release vital for seeing the details of the various ships and vehicles that he's reconstructed in 3D.
The DVD footage just wasn't good enough.
I was able to notice all kinds of details about the machines and vehicles and installations in the show, which is one of my interests, when I watched this version, that I hadn't picked out from the UK DVD.
We've had quite a bit of feedback on the news comments of people having enjoyed this, which will only be a tiny sample of the people that have enjoyed the product of your hard work.
It would be nice if they could do similar to what's been done with Space Precinct recently, where they take the master footage and do a pure HD release, or apply some AI to improve the picture further.
I find it surprising how well Star Fleet and supermarionation shows like Stingray hold up in HD.
My worry with Thunderbirds etc was that blu-ray would expose problems with the puppets, models and sets, but it just makes everything bigger and better and brighter.
These programmes were shot in 35mm in many cases, and the models were made and the shots set up in such a way that would look good at that level of detail.
Dream big and bold and daring.
Re: Star Fleet Upscaled
A few links for you in case you missed them before YouTube took them down
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kl9eI9 ... drive_link
My first attempt at the end credits, compared with the original UK DVD.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uY-eLf ... drive_link
The intro at 50FPS, standard PAL DVD resolution (no audio).
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_DjMhk ... drive_link
A very short (but sweet) 100FPS 720P test clip.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kl9eI9 ... drive_link
My first attempt at the end credits, compared with the original UK DVD.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uY-eLf ... drive_link
The intro at 50FPS, standard PAL DVD resolution (no audio).
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_DjMhk ... drive_link
A very short (but sweet) 100FPS 720P test clip.
Re: Star Fleet Upscaled
These are great.
This is no video streaming site, but I've added these onto here because they're really good.
https://xbomber.co.uk/?dir=Star%20Fleet ... -M/dym2005
youtube is a great way of getting videos seen by a lot of people for a short time.
We've noticed here in the past that the rights-holders for Star Fleet are aggressive about takedowns despite the Japanese origins and the age of the show.
I will sort out the page description when I'm hard at work tomorrow.
I was interested and happy to hear that you'd been in touch with BladeZ.
A 1080p version of Star Fleet would be a fantastic outcome, after all the years of ropey DVDs that are not much better than VHS in the non-French/Japanese-language versions.
This is no video streaming site, but I've added these onto here because they're really good.
https://xbomber.co.uk/?dir=Star%20Fleet ... -M/dym2005
youtube is a great way of getting videos seen by a lot of people for a short time.
We've noticed here in the past that the rights-holders for Star Fleet are aggressive about takedowns despite the Japanese origins and the age of the show.
I will sort out the page description when I'm hard at work tomorrow.
I was interested and happy to hear that you'd been in touch with BladeZ.
A 1080p version of Star Fleet would be a fantastic outcome, after all the years of ropey DVDs that are not much better than VHS in the non-French/Japanese-language versions.
Dream big and bold and daring.
Re: Star Fleet Upscaled
I've not been in touch with BladeZ yet, but obviously will before I start work. I'll also make an addition to the end credits accordingly.
When I do make a start I'll post progress on here and share some samples.
As a starting point I'll have to see how well the different AI algorithms handle the upscale. It may be that the results aren't good enough to make it worthwhile, in which case perhaps I'll just switch the audio of the existing 720P version.
I've just started another binge-watch while I'm working from home - I love how good this 720P version looks
When I do make a start I'll post progress on here and share some samples.
As a starting point I'll have to see how well the different AI algorithms handle the upscale. It may be that the results aren't good enough to make it worthwhile, in which case perhaps I'll just switch the audio of the existing 720P version.
I've just started another binge-watch while I'm working from home - I love how good this 720P version looks