DS9 on blu ray?

[Robert Comsol]

I really don't think that the VFX in space are a big issue.

It's the amount of little offenders in the live action footage, ranging from removing the seams in Odo's makeup in Season One to panel reflections and eliminating overhead microphones and all that kind of stuff.

All these corrections were done in SD and would have to be redone in HD. How much work would be involved I couldn't possibly tell, but I'm certain it's more than what they did in "The X-Files" post-production in comparison.

Bob

 

[benjaminh]

....There's also this fan made hd restoration/upscaling? of the WWLB battle, it looks great....

Wow. That does look great. If a fan can do that, perhaps there's hope CBS can find a way to make it work.

Hire that guy?

 

[MacLeod]

^That might be true, but the question is will people buy what they percieve to be a sub-standard product. Of course Blu-Ray isn't the only revenue stream for a remastered DSN or VOY, another key one might be TV sales.

TV sales might be what doom DS9/VOY to begin with. It doesn't seem like American broadcasters are lining up to purchase strip syndication rights to TNG-HD. Then you factor in that DS9/VOY struggled in syndication to begin with.

That may be what is giving CBS cold feet?

The question is would CBS want to distribute those shows to a rival network in the US?

Second question what about TV stations in Canada, UK, Germany, Australia, France etc....?

TNG-HD is already broadcast in SyFy UK.

 

[BillJ]

Season One: 95,435 units / $5,730,000
Season Two: no available data
Season Three: 15,921 units / $955,101*
Best of Both Worlds: 15,608 units / $233,964*
Season Four: 10,441 units / $626,356*
Redemption: 7,212 units / $108,108*
Season Five: no available data
Unification: no available data

Is CBS actually seeing $60 a unit though? Most of the sets I've bought have been for less than $60. They're probably realizing somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 a unit. Plus, is the total quoted ($9,000,000) just the cost of the remastering? If so, then we need to added in the cost of pressing the discs, packaging and marketing.

We also don't know how much the flubbed audio issue from season one ended up costing the project.

So I don't know if one could say whether the project is profitable yet or not?

EDIT: I'm not up on various union rules. But wouldn't the actors, writers and directors also see a piece of each unit sold?

 

[trekker670]

Season One: 95,435 units / $5,730,000
Season Two: no available data
Season Three: 15,921 units / $955,101*
Best of Both Worlds: 15,608 units / $233,964*
Season Four: 10,441 units / $626,356*
Redemption: 7,212 units / $108,108*
Season Five: no available data
Unification: no available data

Is CBS actually seeing $60 a unit though? Most of the sets I've bought have been for less than $60. They're probably realizing somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 a unit. Plus, is the total quoted ($9,000,000) just the cost of the remastering? If so, then we need to added in the cost of pressing the discs, packaging and marketing.

We also don't know how much the flubbed audio issue from season one ended up costing the project.

So I don't know if one could say whether the project is profitable yet or not?

He's already addressed this.

 

[TheSeeker]

....There's also this fan made hd restoration/upscaling? of the WWLB battle, it looks great....

Wow. That does look great. If a fan can do that, perhaps there's hope CBS can find a way to make it work.

Hire that guy?

Frontier Trek can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the source of that video is a former employee of one of the visual effects houses that worked on DS9. I believe he still had copies of the digital assets and the scene files and he simply re-rendered a shot in HD.

 

[BillJ]

Season One: 95,435 units / $5,730,000
Season Two: no available data
Season Three: 15,921 units / $955,101*
Best of Both Worlds: 15,608 units / $233,964*
Season Four: 10,441 units / $626,356*
Redemption: 7,212 units / $108,108*
Season Five: no available data
Unification: no available data

Is CBS actually seeing $60 a unit though? Most of the sets I've bought have been for less than $60. They're probably realizing somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 a unit. Plus, is the total quoted ($9,000,000) just the cost of the remastering? If so, then we need to added in the cost of pressing the discs, packaging and marketing.

We also don't know how much the flubbed audio issue from season one ended up costing the project.

So I don't know if one could say whether the project is profitable yet or not?

He's already addressed this.

I missed that post! Though I did a good job guessing the amount CBS was making per unit!

 

[trekker670]

....There's also this fan made hd restoration/upscaling? of the WWLB battle, it looks great....

Wow. That does look great. If a fan can do that, perhaps there's hope CBS can find a way to make it work.

Hire that guy?

Frontier Trek can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the source of that video is a former employee of one of the visual effects houses that worked on DS9. I believe he still had copies of the digital assets and the scene files and he simply re-rendered a shot in HD.

TrekCore did an article where they showed pictures and discussed using the existing files, which I believe is what you're referring to.

The video in question is from another source, although it's been floating around that the person who created the video did use the original files as a starting point, which he acquired through a friend that worked at one of the companies.

 

[benjaminh]

[.... I still think an HD upgrade with the live-action film rescanned at a minimum is all but guaranteed.

This "all but guaranteed" phrase is still puzzling to me. The arguments you present seem to lead me in the other direction. And in any case FrontierTrek said nothing was guaranteed, and that things look uncertain at best right now.

"All but guaranteed" seems kinda like a faith-based initiative to me. Do you have some blood of the Prophets in your veins? lol....

 

[TheSeeker]

Wow. That does look great. If a fan can do that, perhaps there's hope CBS can find a way to make it work.

Hire that guy?

Frontier Trek can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the source of that video is a former employee of one of the visual effects houses that worked on DS9. I believe he still had copies of the digital assets and the scene files and he simply re-rendered a shot in HD.

TrekCore did an article where they showed pictures and discussed using the existing files, which I believe is what you're referring to.

The video in question is from another source, although it's been floating around that the person who created the video did use the original files as a starting point, which he acquired through a friend that worked at one of the companies.

Right you are. Here's the article. I could have sworn the video came from him too.

 

[BillJ]

This "all but guaranteed" phrase is still puzzling to me.

As someone who has no direct knowledge of the process beyond what I read on various websites, my faith in DS9 making to Blu-ray with the same remastering TNG got is shaky at best.

 

[benjaminh]

....
Right you are. Here's the article. I could have sworn the video came from him too.

That was a good article. My hopes definitely rose after I read it a year ago. Sigh.

 

[TheSeeker]

Mine too. I am still choosing to remain optimistic though. Just about everyone on the BBS was pessimistic about TNG's chances at a proper remastering and look at how that turned out.

 

[80ninjas]

....TV sales might be what doom DS9/VOY to begin with. It doesn't seem like American broadcasters are lining up to purchase strip syndication rights to TNG-HD. Then you factor in that DS9/VOY struggled in syndication to begin with.

That may be what is giving CBS cold feet?

Good point.

But I think Amazon Prime paid a pretty penny to get TNG in HD.

Seems like what CBS needs is another Trek "sugar daddy."

Iirc, they had one for TOS from Toshiba/HD DVD during the high definition format wars. I think that essentially paid for the redo of TOS, the blu-ray of which is even today riding high on the amazon charts when it's on sale

And, iirc, CBS signed a rich deal with Netflix c. 3 years ago to stream Trek, and that helped launch the rebuilding of TNG.

And now, perhaps they need someone similar to cut them a big check for DS9. Since apparently that hasn't happened, perhaps that's part of the problem?

Just guessing.

I was just discussing that with a friend this morning. That Netflix deal was for the SD Trek material and hasn't been updated since TNG went HD, and actually never included TOS in HD. So it looks like Amazon was the only one to cough up the cash to get the upgrade. I'd love to see Amazon or Netflix step up and help fund the remaining series, even if it means they'll get the exclusive rights to stream it ("Exclusive Home for all Star Trek in HD" has a nice right to it from a marketing standpoint ).

I still think that they're some merit for getting a new SKU in stores. There will always be Trek fans getting new people into the franchise and I know a lot of people still like having something physical in their hands (not to mention, these sets generally have some pretty sweet special features plus lossless audio). But perhaps you're right, maybe they're trying to find someone to help make it happen. I know I see all the various ST series in the "Popular" section on both streaming sites, so I guess they bring decent views in for both Amazon and Netflix?

 

[drmick]

Are Blu Ray sales the biggest source of income for HD remasters? (For any show, not just Trek).

I would have thought that it would have been syndication deals (globally)?

We get TNG HD effectively free here in the UK on syfy UK! I don't have the HD upgrade that allows me access to the HD channels here, but I'll tell you one thing TNGHD broadcast in SD is so much better than original SD master!

 

[MakeshiftPython]

I'm pretty sure Netflix has TOS available in HD. It's been that way since they got all the shows back in 2011.

 

[BillJ]

I wonder, in hindsight, if it was a mistake not to release TNG remastered on DVD as well?

 

[80ninjas]

Are Blu Ray sales the biggest source of income for HD remasters? (For any show, not just Trek).

I would have thought that it would have been syndication deals (globally)?

We get TNG HD effectively free here in the UK on syfy UK! I don't have the HD upgrade that allows me access to the HD channels here, but I'll tell you one thing TNGHD broadcast in SD is so much better than original SD master!

You're probably right, but if they've got the material in HD why not put it out in physical media? I can't see the pressing and distribution of disk media adding a whole lot to the total cost (Considering the volume they'd be doing, and the fact that they've done it for years, I don't see why CBS wouldn't have a pretty efficient process for that at this point).

DS9 and Voyage may not be huge syndication draws (unlike TOS and TNG) but nobody has ever had access to them in HD. Perhaps that would cause an increase in syndication interest? I'm sure SyFy UK would love to say they're the channel for Trek in HD.

 

[BillJ]

I'm sure SyFy UK would love to say they're the channel for Trek in HD.

I wonder what a syndication deal would look like for a smallish country like the UK?

 

[MakeshiftPython]

I wonder, in hindsight, if it was a mistake not to release TNG remastered on DVD as well?

That might have helped plenty. I thought it was dubious that they actually reissued those old DVDs when the blu-rays were being released at the same time. I wonder how many were suckered into buying those sets believing they might be the remastered seasons that had been hyped about.