Inserting 1:85:1 footage into 1:78:1

[alleycat]

Hi All,

I'm starting work on a project where there is an official blu ray release of a shorter export version - which is 1:78:1. 

I also have a webrip of the original longer version - which is 1:85:1.

According to the imdb technical specifications the original aspect ratio was 1:85:1.

So when inserting the alternate footage from the webrip into the blu ray I guess I have two options a) leave it as it is so the aspect ratio changes throughout the movie b) matte the blu ray footage to 1:85:1 which will lose a bit of picture from the top and bottom but it maintains the same aspect ratio throughout. I guess a third option would be to slightly stretch the 1:85:1 footage to 1:78:1.

Anyone got any thoughts or suggestions as to what they would do? 

Thanks

[TomArrow]

I'd say cropping is probably the way to go. Changing aspect ratio can be okay for Open Matte projects I think but that's not what this is anyway.

[pipefan413]

I'd say cropping is probably the way to go. Changing aspect ratio can be okay for Open Matte projects I think but that's not what this is anyway.

Agreed. Definitely don't stretch it, that'd be terrible, and it's much more likely that 1.85:1 is correct than 1.78:1 so chances are the 1.78:1 is probably slightly opened up from the theatrical presentation anyway and you're not "losing" anything that was meant to be seen in the cinema in the first place, although it is of course possible that the 1.78:1 has cropped sides from the 1.85:1 (I find that to be extremely unlikely though).

I'd only leave it as a mix of 1.78:1 and 1.85:1 if it was something like a film with some IMAX sequences where the non-IMAX was 1.85:1 but I don't know if that's really a thing so far (they tend to be 2.39:1 for the non-IMAX bits).

Sorry, that sounded quite forceful. I have strong opinions about aspect ratios! Please understand! Hahah.

[alleycat]

I'd say cropping is probably the way to go. Changing aspect ratio can be okay for Open Matte projects I think but that's not what this is anyway.

Agreed. Definitely don't stretch it, that'd be terrible, and it's much more likely that 1.85:1 is correct than 1.78:1 so chances are the 1.78:1 is probably slightly opened up from the theatrical presentation anyway and you're not "losing" anything that was meant to be seen in the cinema in the first place, although it is of course possible that the 1.78:1 has cropped sides from the 1.85:1 (I find that to be extremely unlikely though).

I'd only leave it as a mix of 1.78:1 and 1.85:1 if it was something like a film with some IMAX sequences where the non-IMAX was 1.85:1 but I don't know if that's really a thing so far (they tend to be 2.39:1 for the non-IMAX bits).

Thanks both much appreciated - no nothing like IMAX this is a 1976 Spanish horror called The People Who Own The Dark  I'll go with a constant 1:85:1.

Agreed, crop everything to 1.85

Cropping for sure. The difference between 1.78 and 1.85 is so small, it will be practically invisible.

[spoRv]

Or, add a YAO forced subtitle - that will overlay top and bottom black bars; nobody will notice it, still if someone is curious enough to switch subs off, the small portions of top and bottom would be visible; added bonus, no need to re-encode the 1.78:1 parts, if you would like to avoid it of course!

[alleycat]

Or, add a YAO forced subtitle - that will overlay top and bottom black bars; nobody will notice it, still if someone is curious enough to switch subs off, the small portions of top and bottom would be visible; added bonus, no need to re-encode the 1.78:1 parts, if you would like to avoid it of course!

That's a thought - however there is a lot of cleanup and color correction involved in this so re-encoding is inevitable.

[spoRv]

Still, even with re-encoding, personally I prefer to have the option of getting the more image as possible, while preserving the constant aspect ratio display!