Before we had the karaoke files, we just fetch the RAW file and mux it with the subtitle file. But, since we have karaoke files now, I had to hardsub the file into the video ( yeah, which mean I had to re-encode the RAW file ). No big deal since I can do this while Ashlynne working on the translations. Since I’m re-encoding the RAW file, might as well I play around with the Avisynth settings.
My friend at ‘The Subbers Has No Name’ (TSHNN), showed me images where they manipulated their color saturation which makes the anime looks considerably nicer than the original. Since they can do it, why not I just do the same thing?
So, I decided to play around with Avisynth filters to change the color saturation a bit. First, I slightly changed the “Levels” and here’s what I got.
The image turns out to be slightly more saturated but the overall “dull” color is still there. So, I changed the settings a bit stronger, and this is what I get:
It looks more anime-like and the colors are no longer dull. I personally liked it. Just in case, to make sure that it doesn’t look nice on my monitor only, I asked around for opinions. All of the 3 people I asked said the 3rd image looks better.
So, we are thinking of implementing this for future episodes of Toshokan Sensou. So, any opinions?
More samples after the jump.
This post is tagged *Ocha!Subs
This post filed in *Ocha!Subs, Toshokan Sensou
19 Comments
i like it~ it looks so much better XD this is one of my favorite animes!! thank you so much for your hard work
personally i think the touched up sections are a lot better ..
Yes to all high saturations XD
I’m a sucker for saturated colours…
I dunno… The toughest thing is trying to guess what the creators intended, and I guess I’d air on the side of assuming what was originally captured is closest to what the creators designed it to be.
Edo: The creators intended it for TV, not computer screen. The anime showed on TV doesn’t come out with dull color.
I love the outcome, makes it look hi-def :)
P.S. Any chance of a forum being formed?
Ashlynne: Not sure, you have to ask the creator(s) of Ocha! =P
We’re actually a bunch of animebloggers and bloggers don’t usually create forums…
forums sucks. GIVE ME IRC OR GIVE ME DEATH
Well, since its originally for TV and not computer screens I vote yes for saturations!
Yeah, go with the touched-up ones. I’m guessing the HD releases of other animes by other groups also went through this process. No way Real Drive can look that crisp on the PC screen without any modification to the colour.
I think touch up 1 definitely looks better than the original but, while I can see why you would like it at first glance, the 3rd one looks too saturated… The difference between the 2nd and 3rd image is like the difference between watercolour and felt tip pens IMHO.
Actually, looking at the other samples (which I didn’t notice before), the touched up one looks better every time – is it touch up 1 or 2 that has been used here? I think it’s 2 – the one I didn’t like originally. For some reason touch up 2 looks great on all pics apart from the first one; it seems to work better on clothes and other objects better than it works on skin and hair tones (which are meant to be more subtle, of course).
Check the last screenshot. Detail is lost in the touch up.
TSHNN is doing more than just manipulating it.
Unlike using Tweak(), for satisfactory results (Touch Up 2), there is no one-size-fits-all, and saturating the image via Tweak() simply does not look as good as modifying the Levels.
May I please see the code you used?
Edo: O_O, we don’t use Tweak(). I use “Levels(30,1,230,0,255)” filter to restore it supposed to be like on TV by approximately limiting the tonal range. Depends on the raw, I change the value of the shadow and highlights. The current setting is for Alex-Kpek’s raw.
For episode 5, the values will be 30,1,240.
May i know what kind of detail’s lost in the last picture? Image quality ( caused by JPEG compression ) or is it too dark?
If you can’t tell, there’s no helping you. Enjoy your destroyed detail.
Edo: Oh wow.That’s a REALLY helpful remark, thanks. Try to be a bit more “constructive” next time.
Definitely liked the 3rd image. The harder image was clearer and very anime-like. It would be awesome if that was done to the hole episode.
the touched up last image is very dark.
Edo: We’ll try to fix that. XD
@Edo: It’s really, really obvious. Do you want me to make large red arrows pointing at it?
Edo: If you’re willing to help, stating the weak point is a really good thing to do so that we can work on it. Saying “it’s there! can’t you see? zomg! there!” is not really helpful. If it’s too dark, just say it’s too dark.
I know it’s dark, but I can’t assume it’s too dark for you too. That’s where we crave for feedbacks. Sigh. We will work on that ^_^
I think touch up 1 is okay but i still prefer the original. Touch up 2 is way too bright which is kind of unsettling to the eyes…not to mention pixelated and losing the smoothness.
I agree wat chonners had said.
The 1st touch up look better and anime like.
The 2nd touch is too bright and i can’t see the softness of the anime.
And the last picture that u touch up is kinda dark. I can’t even see da soldier.
Edo, u did a great job, but i prefer the 1st touch up.
everyone shut up, you don’t know what ur talking about. the 2nd touch up is the best easily. how can you people not see that?
KEEP WITH THE 2ND TOUCH UP FOR ALL FUTURE SUBS OF LIBRARY WAR PLZ, THESE MOFOS DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE ON ABOUT.
*ahem, so yeah, anyway, im sure most ppl like the 2nd touch up… its good, keep doing it like that, etc and so forth, RAR DEEE DARrrrr
p.s. don’t go too crazy on the saturation though, but the 2nd touch up definitely rocks,
If I want to crank up the saturation, I’ll modify my monitor settings or the player’s. There’s no difference between computer monitors and TV screens nowadays. Neither ever had a fixed saturation setting (unless you lost the remote control or it was extremely cheap and crappy). Why would you mess with a digitally captured video in this way? Pale colours are used to give a more serious tone. Bold colours are for comedies and kids’ stuff.
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