The team members in Orphan tend to collect rarities on analog media, even if there's no real intent of ever subbing them. So here's another raw release, the 1990 movie Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko. Not much is known about this movie, but it appears to be a digest or compilation of some or all of the 13-part OVA series, Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko. The timing is a little odd; the movie was released before the first OVA. Furthermore, it includes the previews for OVAs 6 through 13. So it may be a "teaser" for the OVA series or a complete summary. Adventurous fansubbers are welcome to try matching up scenes in the movie with Ukyuu's subs of the OVAs.
Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko was ripped from a VHS tape, as a test case for Orphan's New and Improved™ VHS transcription capability in Japan. Our media guy had been having trouble with video/audio synchronization between his S-VHS deck and his capture card (something to do with "TBC"). As an alternative, he bought a used D-VHS (digital VHS) deck to see if it worked better. D-VHS was the dying gasp of VHS technology; it supported tapes with digital encoding. Unfortunately, D-VHS came out after DVDs were established, and the format never took off. But the deck did have one redeeming feature: digital outputs. It put out MPEG-2 over Firewire and PCM audio over an optical cable. This removed the capture card completely and produced a better image, usually, then the S-video output. It also allowed for high-resolution audio. Would you like FLAC with your VHS rip, sir? I wouldn't, but it's now a possibility.
This new setup isn't a panacea. VHS tapes are still analog, and most of them are quite old. Fancy electronics can't overcome the intrinsic limits of the medium. The tapes are interlaced, and the output compression makes software-based correction problematic. Vertical pans, in particular, look pretty bad. But unless Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko is given a digital makeover, this raw is about as good as it's going to get.
Our media guy ripped the video, and M74 encoded it. The new setup was funded by a generous donation from a benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous. The entire team is grateful for his continuing support and is trying very hard not to blow their entire Christmas gift allowance on old tapes.
Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko was ripped from a VHS tape, as a test case for Orphan's New and Improved™ VHS transcription capability in Japan. Our media guy had been having trouble with video/audio synchronization between his S-VHS deck and his capture card (something to do with "TBC"). As an alternative, he bought a used D-VHS (digital VHS) deck to see if it worked better. D-VHS was the dying gasp of VHS technology; it supported tapes with digital encoding. Unfortunately, D-VHS came out after DVDs were established, and the format never took off. But the deck did have one redeeming feature: digital outputs. It put out MPEG-2 over Firewire and PCM audio over an optical cable. This removed the capture card completely and produced a better image, usually, then the S-video output. It also allowed for high-resolution audio. Would you like FLAC with your VHS rip, sir? I wouldn't, but it's now a possibility.
This new setup isn't a panacea. VHS tapes are still analog, and most of them are quite old. Fancy electronics can't overcome the intrinsic limits of the medium. The tapes are interlaced, and the output compression makes software-based correction problematic. Vertical pans, in particular, look pretty bad. But unless Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko is given a digital makeover, this raw is about as good as it's going to get.
Our media guy ripped the video, and M74 encoded it. The new setup was funded by a generous donation from a benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous. The entire team is grateful for his continuing support and is trying very hard not to blow their entire Christmas gift allowance on old tapes.
This was a fun quick read and very interesting. It's exciting to see what you lot are able to achieve with this new setup. Thanks Orphan and anonymous benefactor. The community of old school Anime fans appreciates your continued hard work and dedication to preserving and translating long lost titles.
ReplyDeleteWait, you were looking for the Utsunomiko movie? I own that on laserdisc, you know...?
ReplyDelete