The Matrix Restored Theatrical Colors Edition 1999 720p BDRip MULTIAUDIO x264 DTS AC3 [spoRv] by _,,,^..^,,,_ Shadoe mkv

All rite... This is something that a lot of people will appreciate, a version of "The Matrix" that doesn't look like sh*t. Let's face it, the releases now are all either too green or too green/blue. Been looking for a long time for a proper color version and after searching for a long time, I stumbled on a BD-25 copy of something that I wanted to share with other fans of the FIRST Matrix movie. Info here will contain specs for all three of my encodes of this BD-25 into 480p/720p/1080p, as well as some of the notes from the source video encoder.

I was asked by original source encoder to include the original release info, so here it is:

Description:

_,,,^..^,,,_ presents The Matrix [spoRv] project

The Matrix [special preserved or Restored version]


Project mission: restore The Matrix color grading using PAL DVD as color reference.

Video sources: luma from BD, chroma from PAL DVD.

Audio sources: from BD, plus the Cinema DTS soundtrack.

Subtitles sources: from BD.


The Matrix [spoRv]


Source Material

Video:

The Matrix (BD) - from Ultimate Matrix collection
The Matrix (PAL DVD) - first release

Audio:

The Matrix (BD) - from Ultimate Matrix collection
The Matrix - Cinema DTS soundtrack

Subtitles:

The Matrix (BD) - from Ultimate Matrix collection

Processing setup & info

Hardware:

Sony Vaio VGX-XL202 PC - CPU Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz, 3GB RAM, 250GB+320GB HDDs, BD-RE
Western Digital Elements 1TB - external USB HD

Software:

VirtualDub and AviSynth for video editing
Foobar2000 for audio conversions
AVIdemux and tsMuxeR for demuxing/muxing


Project status: RELEASED - Final format: BD-25


Video treatment:

BD VC-1 and DVD MPEG2 are converted using the Lagarith lossless compression (YV12); BD is used as frame reference; PAL DVD has the same frame numbers. ColourMatch avisynth script is used to match the DVD colors; where there are compression artefacts, or the cropping are different for the two sources, the upscaled and enhanced DVD will be used for those shots.

BD-25 video track:

the original video format is 1920x796@23.976 2.40:1, average bitrate around 17mbps, video codec VC-1; the final video will have the same features, as it's useless (IMHO) to use an higher bitrate; of course, I will use X.264 because it's the best AVC encoder around, and should compress better than the old VC-1 encoder used years ago for the original video.


Audio treatment:

All the BD soundtracks will be left untouched; I will use all of them, except the TrueHD english soundtrack, and the AC3 japanese one, which was hidden. Instead, I'll add the Cinema DTS soundtrack, taken from the original theatrical CDs, converted to 48KHz, 23.976fps.

BD-25 audio tracks:

English DTS Cinema, DTS 5.1 1510kbps, 48KHz, 24bit
English AC3 5.1 640kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
French AC3 5.1 640kbps, 48KHz, 16bit (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
Italian AC3 5.1 640kbps, 48KHz, 16bit (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
Spanish AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
Portuguese AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
English commentary (track 1) AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
English commentary (track 2) AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
English commentary (track 3) AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
English commentary (track 4) AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit
English commentary (track 5) AC3 2.0 192kbps, 48KHz, 16bit (listed as Music ONLY track in Shadoe re-encodes)


Subtitles treatment:

the BD subtitles will be left untouched; will be used all the ones that reflects the soundtracks, plus the japanese and the dutch ones.

BD-25 subtitle tracks:

english
french (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
italian (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
spanish (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
portoguese (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
dutch (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
japanese (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
english for commentary track 1
french for commentary track 1 (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
italian for commentary track 1 (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
spanish for commentary track 1 (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
portoguese for commentary track 1 (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)
dutch for commentary track 1 (EXCLUDED from Shadoe re-encodes)

Credits:

Jetrell Fo and DoomBot for the Cinema DTS soundtrack
nirbateman for invaluable help to find out shots to fix
all the forum members supporting this project from this and from the other thread

Self comment (originally posted on July 20, 2013):

It's time to save "The Matrix"... sadly, the Wachowski brothers (ehr... brother and sister now?) decided that their masterpiece should be *corrected* to be more in line with their sequels, so they were *forced* to color-grading the first episode "greener than green", to match the sequels... who likes the whole trilogy think that it's a good thing, while the rest of us that think that there is only one MATRIX (the others are simply *extras*) want its original colors back!

While I'm not totally sure that the DVD colors are the most close to the theatrical version, this is the best color reference available at the moment. And, because it's nearly impossible that "The Matrix" will be re-released without its new "green tint", I thought to take the BD luma, the DVD chroma, a kitchen mixer and... wait, no, actually the method I used is *a bit* different... (^^,)

First tests: just overlay the BD luma to the (upscaled) DVD chroma. It worked... well, sort of, because the upscaled DVD cannot match perfectly the BD, even when the cropping are the same, and worse, the cropping are often NOT the same... so, I decided to give it a try with the avisynth plugin ColourLike. It worked... well, sort of, because yes, resulting colors are better than BD, but not so close to the DVD... then, AntcuFaalb posted a modified version, called ColourLikeFBF (where FBF stands for Frame by Frame), so I tested it, and... yes, you know, it worked (sort of), as colors are more closer than the classic ColourLike, but still not there...

At the end, I tested my ColourMatch script (the version I have NOT used on "The Thing"), and... BINGO! It worked... almost perfectly!

The latest ColourMatch version produces very good results, but because the BD has clipping whites, it produces some artefacts too (but way less than the first version)... so, the shots with artefacts will be replaced with... (horror!) upscaled DVD! Well, the final result is not that bad, check the test clip!

TEST CLIP - 78MB, 4000kbps, no audio: http://www.sendspace.com/file/658lds

Also, muxed into all releases is something that didn't come with that source BD-25, which is the English Studio WORKPRINT Audio. I synced it to this release and decided to include it because it's a different way of watching the movie and some people might appreciate the share. Don't ask where I got it, all I'll say is "Thank you" to a special friend and leave it at that :)

Now for some tech specs for the three different releases here:

The source video was encoded 1920x1080 (with black bars top and bottom -
I keep this intact and did NO crop) @23.976fps @~17000kbps

Release names:

480p: The.Matrix.Restored.Theatrical.Colors.Edition.1999.480p.BDRip.MULTIAUDIO.x264.aac.Shadoe
720p: The.Matrix.Restored.Theatrical.Colors.Edition.1999.720p.BDRip.MULTIAUDIO.x264.DTS.AC3.Shadoe
1080p: The.Matrix.Restored.Theatrical.Colors.Edition.1999.1080p.BDRip.MULTIAUDIO.x264.DTS.AC3.Shadoe

VIDEO:

480p: 848x480 @23.976fps @~1000kbps in MP4 file
720p: 1280x720 @23.976fps @~3150kbps in MKV file
1080: 1920x1080 @23.9767 @~5678kbps in MKV file

AUDIO:

English Cinema DTS, DTS 5.1 1510kbps, 48KHz, 24bit (ONLY included in 720p/1080p releases)
English AC3 5.1 640kbps (1080p) AC3 5.1 384kbps (720p) AAC 5.1 ~384kbps (480p)
English commentary track 1, AC3 2.0 192kbps (1080p) AC3 2.0 96kbps (720p) AAC 2.0 ~96kbps (480p)
English commentary track 2, AC3 2.0 192kbps (1080p) AC3 2.0 96kbps (720p) AAC 2.0 ~96kbps (480p)
English commentary track 3, AC3 2.0 192kbps (1080p) AC3 2.0 96kbps (720p) AAC 2.0 ~96kbps (480p)
English commentary track 4, AC3 2.0 192kbps (1080p) AC3 2.0 96kbps (720p) AAC 2.0 ~96kbps (480p)
Music Only Track, AC3 2.0 192kbps (1080p) AC3 2.0 96kbps (720p) AAC 2.0 ~96kbps (480p)
English Studio Workprint Audio, AC3 2.0 192kbps (1080p) AC3 2.0 96kbps (720p) AAC 2.0 ~96kbps (480p)

SUBTITLES:

English SDH srt - muxed into all releases (external srt file included with 480p release
because not all players read subtitles from mp4 files)
English BluRay PGS - muxed ONLY into 720p/1080p releases
English Commentary Track 1 PGS - muxed ONLY into 720p/1080p releases



So, I hope everyone enjoys this, regardless of which resolution release you choose. If you do download this and enjoy it, PLEASE help me seed this for others :) Thanx, peace