| Chief Mouse 22.03.2018 19:46 |
So first of all, I have to say I'm sorry. Last year in October I was in the middle of working on this concert when my monitor died and since I was largely out of money at that time our friend Brianswig suggested a crowd funding. I can't thank this community enough for the generosity! :) Anyway, I promised Earls Court as a reward. Unfortunately it has taken *way* longer than I originally intended due to some mishaps with the audio (let's just say I am not an audio guy, if I was this wouldn't have taken nearly as long) but I won't get into that so to not waste the precious white space on this thread. After many tests, re-renders, more tests and more re-renders, here it finally is! Things to note. This perhaps may be an upgrade *but* it is by no means perfect. It feels more like a compromise since nothing will come close to the official material. Why compromise? Well. This was a new tape transfer done specially for improvement purposes. Thanks to these certain people. They wanted to remain anonymous for their own reasons so I'll respect that and won't reveal any details. The transfer was made by Brianswig and here's his comment on the lineage - "SVHS source, played back from a Phillips VR1000 via an external TBC and captured digitally on a matrox RT2500 as DV AVI." So the tape, it is the best one we've had yet but it had big problems. Firstly, a huge ass timecode, very similar to that of Antiden's version if anyone remembers it. Secondly, two horizontal lines of shifted pixels that randomly appear and disappear throughout the concert. Once you see them you can't unsee them. Just shifting the pixels won't work because as I said it appears randomly, but thankfully in the same place. For the timecode the raw VHS transfer shared by CMI a few years ago due to my request was very fitting. Back then I didn't find it just good enough but for a patch job it's perfect. It was shared here - link . It had some dropped frames throughout the concert so every now and then the sync needed to be adjusted so that the masked timecode part of the image doesn't drift out of sync with the rest of the image. For those who don't know, this was the original that was remastered by Sniville and then improved and packaged further by Pittrek thus making what we considered the definitive version for years. My goal was to top that at least as far as image quality. The problem with this source was that it cut off for a few seconds at a few points during the concert, which means that the timecode would be left visible for a few seconds about 3 or so times at certain parts of the show. I dug out some extremely old, crappy and dark looking NTSC version that I had lying around for some reason and used it to patch up these bits of timecode. It was a nightmare making it blend so that it's not very noticeable. I won't tell exactly where this was cos it wouldn't be fun huh? Feel free to notice if you can! :-) Another problem with the raw VHS version I used for main timecode masking was that the frame position would ever so slightly change angle by angle. Meaning if I aligned it perfectly to a certain shot, it might be a bit off in the next shot. I didn't go through this shot by shot because it would be a nightmare. So if you notice that John has a hint of double legs in a wide shot or whatever - that's just how it is. Now, about those shifted pixels. TBC was performed so they must have been burned in the tape. Those lines can't be masked with the other source because it would be very noticeable since the area is small. I wasn't quite sure how to tackle that. I'm not that smart in Avisynth as some of you may think. Luckily I have a certain genius friend from another community who kindly helped me out with a solution to this! For the most part the fix works really damn well. You can notice some faint lines if diagonal looking objects in the frame are beneath these masks. So again, not perfect but as good as it gets. Way better than shifted pixels anyway. The main image was cleaned up as per my usual process, nothing much to say. The audio was sent to me by our friend Real Wizard. It comes from the Miracle Express VHS. Nitroboy helped out at the end big time when he took it upon himself to EQ, sync and prepare the audio for muxing to the video. He also made the chapters. So special thanks to my friend Nitroboy (Simon Christensen)! Thanks to Chinwonder for ever being willing to help and proof-watching the work in progress video and the final video for me. As some of you may know, I have previously shared some buggy versions which I later on had to figure out how to fix and reupload and rename the thread title and all that awful hassle! The videos would just stop playing at a certain point unless you skip past it. Still not quite sure why that happened. Anyway, this one should have no playback problems. https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/632c/q5ey1x1xw2dk4627g.jpg" border="0" alt="Simple, Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire" /> https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/afb1/w4p53vwfkgpnyzy7g.jpg" border="0" alt="Simple, Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire" /> And here's a comparison of Pittrek's version vs this one - https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/52c1/typ705t4rjx607n7g.jpg" border="0" alt="Simple, Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire" /> https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/6926/5i5if3o6p5mm13q7g.jpg" border="0" alt="Simple, Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire" /> https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/8844/azftzcrime26wi37g.jpg" border="0" alt="Simple, Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire" /> https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/0d53/8kt12dj09ve33qd7g.jpg" border="0" alt="Simple, Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire" /> https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/aa8f/t2d4duuzlp1dj627g.jpg" border="0" alt="Simple, Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire" /> https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/c76f/g9u12xopw4u0oiv7g.jpg" border="0" alt="Simple, Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire" /> https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/f18c/ljjcimt3zrt84vm7g.jpg" border="0" alt="Simple, Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire" /> https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/3fa8/1ph7b46r1mh6kaj7g.jpg" border="0" alt="Simple, Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire" /> P.S. we finally see texture of Freddie's face & skin :D link . |
| Chinwonder2 22.03.2018 20:04 |
Awesome work as always! :D -Chin |
| NickESB 22.03.2018 20:14 |
Wow, this looks great! Thanks to everybody for their efforts. |
| cmi 22.03.2018 20:21 |
GREAT!!! I know what I will watch tomorrow evening :) Thanks a lot to all participants. The image is much more natural and crisper than Sniville's version (respect to him for all these years). Chief, was there a decision not to use official snippets from this show? The saddest thing that we all know that both these shows' masters gather dust on the shelves and no one knows when they finally be officially released... |
| Cruella de Vil 22.03.2018 20:21 |
Thank you! Sorry to hear about your mum, maybe she's up there with the best "having champagne for breakfast". |
| onedunpark 22.03.2018 20:30 |
Huge, huge thanks to all involved in bringing this new definitive version to us. |
| Golden Salmon 22.03.2018 20:32 |
Great work! Your dedication is priceless. Thank you kindly! |
| Chief Mouse 22.03.2018 20:34 |
Cruella de Vil wrote: Thank you! Sorry to hear about your mum, maybe she's up there with the best "having champagne for breakfast".No probs, it was my monitor that broke (died) though. |
| Chief Mouse 22.03.2018 20:38 |
cmi wrote: Chief, was there a decision not to use official snippets from this show? The saddest thing that we all know that both these shows' masters gather dust on the shelves and no one knows when they finally be officially released...Well, I rather get accustomed to a certain image and go through with. Jumping to snippets every now and then would be a bit distracting for me personally. |
| DepeX 22.03.2018 20:52 |
All right, I almost read in your mind in my last youtube post :-) Thank you very much! |
| Thistle 22.03.2018 20:52 |
I cannot wait to see this. A big thanks to everyone involved. CM - you are fucking awesome!! |
| pittrek 22.03.2018 20:58 |
It wants to download for 6 hours, so I'll leave it till tomorrow, but I still want to say my huge thanks to everybody involved! |
| Harry_queenrecordings 22.03.2018 22:19 |
This looks very awesome. Many thanks for everyone involved! |
| Thistle 22.03.2018 22:29 |
Thankfully, didn't need to wait 6 hours! Within an hour or so, I was watching this in glorious quality. Thanks again, it really is an amazing share :) |
| pittrek 22.03.2018 22:41 |
Thistleboy1980 wrote: Thankfully, didn't need to wait 6 hours! Within an hour or so, I was watching this in glorious quality. Thanks again, it really is an amazing share :)Lucky you, after 3 hours of downloading the remaining estimated time for me is 7 hours 55 minutes. |
| brians wig 22.03.2018 22:44 |
So glad to see SO many of us getting involved in this project. THIS is what QZ should be all about - getting the best talent and the best sources together to produce the best product possible. What do you want from me next Chief Mouse! LOL |
| dave76 22.03.2018 23:23 |
This is what you get when Brian, Roger and Jim refuses... Good work to everyone involved. |
| matt z 23.03.2018 00:17 |
Looks friggin glorious! I've gotta find a way to view this while my laptop is dead. There is no question that one CHIEF Mouse. |
| The Real Wizard 23.03.2018 00:59 |
As a guy who has been collecting this stuff for 20 years, it's rare that a video you've watched countless times feels new again. My first copy of this was mostly black and white, and the audio was awful beyond belief. Version after version came and went, and now all these years later we've got this wonderful colour version with all the details I could only imagine once upon a time. It's unfathomable, the hours you put into this - it sounds like a nightmare, but it was a labour of love. Brilliant job, and dare I say keep them coming ! Your work is unparalleled. Needless to say - until this show is officially released, this will be the definitive version. |
| Cruella de Vil 23.03.2018 01:24 |
Dear chief mouse, that's what you get by typing something between coffee, kids and feeding the dog before going to work! Just another in a chain of Senior Moments! |
| Sweet Rhapsody 23.03.2018 04:31 |
Wow, thank you so much. :D |
| Sweet Rhapsody 23.03.2018 04:32 |
Wow, thank you so much. :D |
| Nickman 23.03.2018 05:42 |
This looks brilliant, thanks! Any chance of a torrent? Started the download yesterday, but it gave up on me with about 10% left!! |
| Tamás 23.03.2018 06:50 |
Thank You! It's amazing! |
| Makka 23.03.2018 07:23 |
Thank you so much for your efforts. Can't wait to see this. Thanks to all involved! :) |
| rhapsody8 23.03.2018 08:07 |
Looking awesome. Excellent gift for people who want to have 70s gigs as official release. Huge thanks to everybody who involved with this project... |
| deacontheone 23.03.2018 08:10 |
Great, thanks for this. |
| peckery 23.03.2018 08:23 |
Just seen first song and I'm blown away. One word - INCREDIBLE ! This must be 95% as good as the raw videotapes ! Many thanks Chief and Team. the Mouse that roared / roars with talent.... |
| Bertus 23.03.2018 09:32 |
Chief Mouse is The Herooooooooooooooooooo! |
| pmatsynot 23.03.2018 10:55 |
Thank you Chief for your hard work and thanks to the other people involved. |
| Innuendo1k 23.03.2018 12:10 |
Great Work Chief! thank you very much (naturally thanks to the other people involved), a special gift for my birthday :) |
| RedSpecialTones 23.03.2018 12:35 |
MANY MANY Thanks a LOT!!..OPUS MASTER Mr Chief...the best present..long life friend..thx!! |
| Double-U 23.03.2018 12:44 |
Unbelievable! Thank you very very much! Good invested money. kind regards, W. |
| Sam99 23.03.2018 13:21 |
Chief Mouse thank you very much I can’t wait to get home and download this |
| Barry Durex 23.03.2018 13:49 |
Thanks for sharing all the hard work, and also to those involved. Even if there were to be an official release, rest assured it would be chopped to bits and played about with. Here we have a true document of that evening to cherish. |
| people on streets 23.03.2018 17:10 |
Thanks much to all involved. Especially thanks to CM of course. Must have been an awful lot of work to get this result. Beautiful! |
| Kacio 23.03.2018 18:14 |
amazing as always! Thanks ;) |
| Tim June 23.03.2018 20:00 |
This is superb work. It is very nice to watch this legendary concert in such good quality! Great. Thank you very much! |
| jabbo5150 23.03.2018 20:42 |
Wow, this looks amazing, Can't wait to check out the full show |
| Catus 23.03.2018 21:42 |
Thank you so much for such a hard work! Can't wait to see it. |
| Kevin Spacey 23.03.2018 22:10 |
Thank you, this is just awesome! |
| Victorvil 24.03.2018 01:01 |
Chief, your name is no coincidence. Thanks to everyone involved. This is a wonderful achievement! |
| ARMANDO MARTINEZ 24.03.2018 03:24 |
Could anyone be so kind to upload this as a torrent, please? |
| BobbytheCat 24.03.2018 08:54 |
Thanks very much. This is so much better than the versions I've seen before. Cheers! |
| mric! 24.03.2018 12:12 |
Thank you very much! Another great video! |
| moonhead79 24.03.2018 15:18 |
SOMEBODY GET THIS MAN A MEDAL!!!!!! Thanks CM!!!! What a day! |
| Unniendo 24.03.2018 18:29 |
Thanks a million! It's brilliant. |
| gambri 24.03.2018 19:04 |
Another concert that Queen Productions has not released we have an excellent quality in Queenzone. Thanks to Chief Mouse and all those who have collaborated in this sensational work. What will be next? :) |
| Thistle 25.03.2018 00:13 |
Fuck it. I'm fed up with all the niceties. This is pure shit Rudolf - I expected this to be Phil Collins with peter Gabriel's vocals. What have you done, making a Queen show look good? How dare you! ;) Best thing I've seen in a long while mate. Keep it up :) |
| brunolezouf 25.03.2018 06:04 |
Wow! It took me three hours to download this. I even had to keep the computer running during the earth hour... Shame and boos. But what a shock when i got up at five to see a little from what I had downloaded! I finally watched itfrom beginning to end enjoying every minute of the show. This restoration is great. Thank you to Chief Mouse and all the people who made this possible. |
| Chopin1995 25.03.2018 12:29 |
This is amazing stuff! The number of the people involved in this project shows how much work was put into this. Huge thanks to everyone! Even if they will release this concert it doesn't necessary have to be better that this. It is possible that this version is the best we will ever see. Once again a well-deserved thank you and congrats! In my case it took me 7 hours to download but I'm not complaining. Totally worth it! |
| tcc 25.03.2018 15:12 |
Thanks for this. I had problems with my PC and could only download this today. Here is a torrent for those who need it: |
| ARMANDO MARTINEZ 25.03.2018 15:47 |
Thanks a lot to all those who made this possible! |
| QSMJohn 25.03.2018 16:31 |
Thank you so much CM! :) You did a great job!! |
| PROTOCOLMAN 25.03.2018 20:02 |
Thank you, thank you...... |
| March-68 26.03.2018 21:53 |
Thank you so much! |
| MAYniac91 27.03.2018 20:04 |
Great... as always. Thanks!!!! |
| johnlocke 27.03.2018 21:04 |
Awesome Job.. Thanks so much.. |
| queenside 28.03.2018 12:00 |
chief did it again! amazing work! |
| vivaqueen 28.03.2018 21:39 |
I dont know what to say, it's just amazing, all the effort and work "Merci Beaucoup" like Freddie said in Paris... |
| mcgroom 29.03.2018 03:05 |
Amazing!! Thank you! |
| katman 29.03.2018 14:56 |
Looking forward to this, fantastic work. |
| Sam99 29.03.2018 15:15 |
Today was the first time I have had an opportunity to watch this, having had the show ripped to DVD, got so ripped off due to lack of software, but I digress. Thanks for reminding us just what great musicians Queen were, especially in the 70s. One perceived shortcoming of the film of Earls Court is that the camera stays on one musician, especially Brian, this provides an opportunity to oberserve his playing, especially on White Queen, which is just a masterclass. As time wore one Queen’s show changed, there was less focus on musicianship, this sort of thing was out of style. To this day I’m no great fan of some of Queen’s hits, like AOBTD and IWTBF, but when you’re at a show, in the 80’s as much as now with Queen + AL this is what the general crowd wants, whilst I might not be in love with those songs the general ticket buyer loves them, I wonder was this the great catalyst for a changed Queen in the 1980s? |
| The Real Wizard 30.03.2018 02:33 |
Sam99 wrote: One perceived shortcoming of the film of Earls Court is that the camera stays on one musician, especially Brian, this provides an opportunity to oberserve his playing, especially on White Queen, which is just a masterclass.Indeed - that song is such a special piece of film. |
| Biggus Dickus 30.03.2018 05:37 |
I watched this last night and it definitely is the best version I've seen. Probably the best version any of us will see. |
| RadekQ 30.03.2018 11:27 |
What an amazing job! The best version I have ever seen. Even those small imperfections create special 'cimate' that I like very much. Hey, it is more than 40 years old! Thank you some much for your effort - and everybody involved. The final result is awesome! Best regards from Poland. RadekQ |
| blueroom 31.03.2018 01:34 |
Thanks a lot for this CM, really appreciated |
| The Real Wizard 31.03.2018 17:13 |
RadekQ wrote: Hey, it is more than 40 years old!I remember when it was less than 20 years old, and watching it in black and white. We live in good times. |
| brians wig 02.04.2018 21:55 |
Yep. I first saw it black and white, complete with buzzing sound, on VHS back in the late 80's, the same way I got to see tons of old Dr Who stories. I'll tell you what. Despite the quality (or lack of!), one certainly appreciated stuff more than young un's do now when they get it on mint quality DVD or Bluray. |
| DAZH 03.04.2018 16:40 |
Thanks great work |
| Unniendo 03.04.2018 17:06 |
I really like the stabilization on this release. Picture is much better than Houston at all. It will be really interesting to see Hyde Park remastered edition from Chief in the nearest future. Thanks again for amazing work! |
| Thistle 04.04.2018 02:11 |
My first sighting of EC '77 was a b&w version too...and that was in 1999/2000! I almost creamed myself when a VCD came out in the early 00's that had colour. Now the quality is shit-hot, thanks to Chief. It's as close to an official release as we're likely to see, so enjoy it! The guy is so talented :) |
| dudeofqueen 04.04.2018 09:20 |
My first sighting of EC was, again, on a B&W VHS purchased from a bloke in the alleyway at Camden Market which cost about £30. I bought the double cassette at the same time and pretty much listened to nothing else for ages. Sadly, my enthusiasm for the band has diminished somewhat and, whilst this amount of work is truly stunning and a real gift to the community, it's not something I'll be picking up. |
| moonhead79 04.04.2018 11:22 |
Unniendo wrote: I really like the stabilization on this release. Picture is much better than Houston at all. It will be really interesting to see Hyde Park remastered edition from Chief in the nearest future. Thanks again for amazing work!Yes! It's like a dream for me! |
| rhapsody8 04.04.2018 18:56 |
Unniendo wrote: It will be really interesting to see Hyde Park remastered edition from Chief in the nearest future.Will it be a Hyde Park remastered edition by Chief Mouse? Is there any announcement or mention about it? I think there is no video stuff for try to do something, if Mr. Ghost didn't do a surprise of the last 20 years :) |
| pittrek 04.04.2018 20:34 |
I finally managed to watch the whole thing, great stuff as always |
| Rami 05.04.2018 08:34 |
Thank you very, very much to everyone involved, especially to CM!! Great, awesome and wonderful! And my favourite concert :-) |
| Rami 05.04.2018 08:34 |
Thank you very, very much to everyone involved, especially to CM!! Great, awesome and wonderful! And my favourite concert :-) |
| fly 06.04.2018 10:34 |
First of all, huge Thanks!. This looks fricking amazing judgeing by the samples! Who needs queenproductions, when we have wonderful people of queezone productions. Sorry for my ignorance, but I have to ask,,, this .mkv file can't be burn onto dvd media and watch it in the dvd player, or it can? This are not .vob files! How can I burn this to a blank dvd media? Or there will be DVD version (.vob file) of this concert !! |
| Chief Mouse 06.04.2018 19:49 |
fly wrote: First of all, huge Thanks!. This looks fricking amazing judgeing by the samples! Who needs queenproductions, when we have wonderful people of queezone productions. Sorry for my ignorance, but I have to ask,,, this .mkv file can't be burn onto dvd media and watch it in the dvd player, or it can? This are not .vob files! How can I burn this to a blank dvd media? Or there will be DVD version (.vob file) of this concert !!Firstly, thank you all for kind words! No, there won't be a DVD version. I suggest you to copy this to a USB stick and watch it on your TV that way. |
| Mrmarioanonym 23.05.2018 19:05 |
thanks for your time and effort. amazing work as always, a true passion project. |
| madmetaltom 28.05.2018 18:50 |
This is amazing work! Could you make a Blu-Ray copy to share ? Thanks again |
| MackMantilla 30.05.2018 19:44 |
madmetaltom wrote: This is amazing work! Could you make a Blu-Ray copy to share ? Thanks againI'll try to make one |
| QueenAllTheWay 06.09.2018 23:14 |
Chief, I sent you a PM |
| Mrmarioanonym 16.09.2018 08:20 |
a bluray copy would be pointless. |
| Bo Alex 19.09.2018 01:14 |
Thank you very much!! This is wonderful! |
| cmsdrums 20.09.2018 21:10 |
madmetaltom wrote: This is amazing work! Could you make a Blu-Ray copy to share ? Thanks againWhy would you want it on a blu ray when it will fit on a dvd or you can have it on a media drive or hard drove as a downloaded file? |
| deltazulu 05.10.2018 23:23 |
A rare DZ appearance to grab this and say thanks so much for everyone's hard work on all these upgrades. |
| jabbo5150 16.01.2019 16:37 |
This looks incredible. Fantastic work as always. I suspect the reason people want it on Blu-ray or DVD is to be able to have menus when watching on TV. Is there a way to transfer this to Blu-ray or DVD without losing quality though? It would defeat the purpose to have it on DVD or Blu-ray and have it be lesser quality when it looks so great as it is now. That said, if one were to burn the raw .mkv file to a DVD, what format should the DVD be in to ensure one's blu-ray player reads it properly? |
| Makka 18.01.2019 05:34 |
Well done Chief and all involved. This is what makes coming to QZ worthwhile if you can delve through the bullshit! |
| Nitroboy 18.01.2019 11:38 |
jabbo5150 wrote: This looks incredible. Fantastic work as always. I suspect the reason people want it on Blu-ray or DVD is to be able to have menus when watching on TV. Is there a way to transfer this to Blu-ray or DVD without losing quality though? It would defeat the purpose to have it on DVD or Blu-ray and have it be lesser quality when it looks so great as it is now. That said, if one were to burn the raw .mkv file to a DVD, what format should the DVD be in to ensure one's blu-ray player reads it properly?I believe you can use tsMuxeR to change it to an AVCHD folder, which you can put on a DVD9 disc (8.5GB). Any Blu-ray player will play that fine. |
| MackMantilla 18.01.2019 18:53 |
I have authored a BD edition with some extras. Next week it will be shared here. |
| brians wig 19.01.2019 13:55 |
MackMantilla wrote: I have authored a BD edition with some extras. Next week it will be shared here.May I ask what software you use? Does it allow nice menus to be added. And will it author the file as is or does it insist on re-encoding like some? Thanks! |
| MackMantilla 19.01.2019 15:11 |
brians wig wrote:MackMantilla wrote: I have authored a BD edition with some extras. Next week it will be shared here.May I ask what software you use? TMPGEnc Authoring Works Does it allow nice menus to be added. Yes, chapters and interactive menu And will it author the file as is or does it insist on re-encoding like some? Re-encoded to TS file for BD, but with high bitrate for avoiding quality loss. Thanks! |
| jabbo5150 21.01.2019 15:11 |
Great! thanks for the info! |
| MackMantilla 01.02.2019 13:56 |
http://www.queenconcerts.com/queenzone/1538281.html |
| sammyfrankfreddie96 16.05.2019 10:50 |
First off, thank you SO much for this amazing restoration. It looks great and I can't wait to watch. One issue I'm having, I'm trying to use Toast Titanium 11 to burn this .mkv to a DVD. I burned it yesterday, but for some reason it has no sound when burned? Anybody with any experience with this have any clues as to why this might be occurring? |