From: jwkenne@attglobal.net   
      
   David E. Powell wrote:   
   > On Sep 24, 1:34 pm, "John W. Kennedy"  wrote:   
   >> Harold Groot wrote:   
   >>> On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 13:29:54 -0400, "John W. Kennedy"   
   >>>  wrote:   
   >>>> David E. Powell wrote:   
   >>>>> I have heard that the DVDs were cut off on the top and the bottom - Is   
   >>>>> this true? I would very much like to see them in original format if   
   >>>>> possible, even if it means space at the sides on the "new style" HD   
   >>>>> TV.   
   >>>> It's complicated. The original live footage was shot wide-screen, and   
   >>>> the original CGI was designed wide-screen. But the original computers   
   >>>> were programmed only to generate the central area of the images, to save   
   >>>> computer time. The idea was that, eventually, the missing CGI side   
   >>>> panels would be generated for the DVD.   
   >>>> And then some damfool at Warner Brothers lost the master data, so that   
   >>>> the missing parts can no longer be created.   
   >>>> So the live footage is being shown the way it was intended to be shown   
   >>>> all along, but scenes with CGI, including scenes composited with live   
   >>>> action, have had to be trimmed top and bottom to match.   
   >>>> Maybe in 5-10 years they'll do the same thing that "Star Trek" has done,   
   >>>> and create all-new CGI.   
   >>>> John W. Kennedy   
   >>> There's more to the story that that.   
   >> Well, not really. You are describing what happened to the initial Sci-Fi   
   >> Channel prints. I am describing what happened to the DVDs. The Sci-Fi   
   >> Channel prints were just plain botched by the outside contractor hired   
   >> to make them, but that was fixed before the DVDs were made. The DVDs are   
   >> not botched, as such; they are an awkward compromise made because Warner   
   >> Brothers insisted that they have custody of the CGI masters, and then   
   >> lost them.   
   >   
   > So the DVDs out now are not clipped? I was just checking, I don't buy   
   > many DVDs but B5 is one of those shows I would like to have.   
      
   As I said, the live action is extended on the sides. The CGI had to be   
   trimmed on the top and bottom to match. Barring a miracle (or, possibly,   
   the choice to re-do all the CGI from scratch), that's the best we're   
   gonna get.   
      
   --   
   John W. Kennedy   
   "Compact is becoming contract,   
   Man only earns and pays."   
      -- Charles Williams.  "Bors to Elayne:  On the King's Coins"   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)