Showing posts with label Blu-ray Backup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blu-ray Backup. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

This Week in Blu-Ray Releases - August 26, 2014

This is new Blu-Ray Releases in the week - August 26, 2014. Keep on reading.

1. The Possession of Michael King 

Shane Johnson, Ella Anderson, Cara Pifko, Dale Dickey, Julie McNiven, Tomas Arana. Following the sudden death of his wife, a documentary filmmaker decides to make his next film about the search for the existence of the supernatural and decides to make himself the center of the experiment -- allowing demonologists, necromancers, and various practitioners of the occult to try the deepest and darkest spells and rituals they can find on him -- and an evil and horrifying force takes over his being.

See the trailer here:



2. Heatstroke

On a family trip in the African desert, a research scientist unintentionally travels off course and is brutally murdered by an arms dealer. His girlfriend is put to the ultimate survival test as she attempts to evade the killers and protect his teenage daughter.

See the trailer here:



3. The Rover

The Rover is set in a world ten years following the collapse of the western economic system, where Australia’s mineral resources have drawn the desperados and dangerous to its shores. With society in decline, the rule of law has disintegrated and life is cheap. The film follows hardened loner Eric (Pearce), who travels the desolate towns and roads of the Australian outback. When a gang of thieves steals his car they leave behind the wounded Rey (Pattinson) in their wake. Forcing Rey to help track the gang, Eric will go to any lengths to take back the one thing that matters to him.

See the trailer here:



Read all Blu-ray and DVD releases here.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

3D Blu-ray New Releases: July & August 2014

This is a list of new released and announced Blu-ray 3D titles. All these 3D Blu-ray discs come to my attention as good examples of 3D video quality.Please refer.

1. Guns N' Roses: Appetite for Democracy 3D - Live at the Hard Rock Casino, Las Vegas Blu-ray



Legendary rock band Guns N' Roses have taken the desert by storm and laid claim on Las Vegas' Hard Rock Casino. This absolute ambush on the city of sin, captured in HD/3D, puts you in the best seat in the house for an electrifying once in a lifetime live concert performance. Filmed during GNR’s Appetite For Democracy residency at The Joint in November 2012, celebrating twenty-five years of “Appetite for Destruction”and four years of “Chinese Democracy”, the elaborate Vegas style production features Rock Icon Axl Rose at the top of his game with his current lineup performing some of GNR’s biggest hits including “Welcome To The Jungle”, “Sweet Child Of Mine”, “Mr Brownstone”, “November Rain”, “Chinese Democracy”, Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, “Nightrain”, McCartney’s “Live And Let Die”, “Paradise City”, and many more hard rockin hits! This is the first live concert release from Guns N’ Roses, since Use Your Illusion II in 1992. Sin City will never be the same.

See the trailer here:




2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)



For Peter Parker, life is busy – between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen, high school graduation can’t come quickly enough. Peter hasn’t forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away – but that’s a promise he just can’t keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro, emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn, returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past.

For more about The Amazing Spider-Man 2 3D and the The Amazing Spider-Man 2 3D Blu-ray release, see the The Amazing Spider-Man 2 3D Blu-ray Review published by Martin Liebman on August 11, 2014 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5.

See the trailer here: 


3. Rio 2 3D Blu-ray



Blu, Jewel and their three kids are living the perfect domesticated life in the magical city that is Rio de Janeiro. When Jewel decides the kids need to learn to live like real birds, she insists the family venture into the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in with his new neighbors, he worries he may lose Jewel and the kids to the call of the wild.

For more about Rio 2 3D and the Rio 2 3D Blu-ray release, see Rio 2 3D Blu-ray Review published by Jeffrey Kauffman on July 14, 2014 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.5 out of 5.

See the trailer here:


Thursday, August 7, 2014

New Blu-Ray/DVD Releases (8/05/14)

The first weekend of August isn't a bad weekend, at least in terms of box office Tnumbers. Divergent earned $150 million domestically, but wasn't able to win over critics. The only wide release coming out this week that earned good reviews was Oculus, but its reviews were much better than its box office numbers were. Here is Blu-ray and DVD Releases for August 5th, 2014.

New Blu-Ray/DVD Releases



Blu-ray Release for first week of August, 2014

I'll Follow You Down Blu-ray

A mystery that essentially announced the return of Haley Joel Osment to screens (he'll next be seen in a month and change in Kevin Smith's body horror indie Tusk), I haven't seen the product, so I can't vouch for it one way or another. If you're interested, I know you can do worse, so there's that.

12 O'Clock Boys Blu-ray

I can't say that I was aware of this documentary's existence prior to sitting down to write this column, if we're being honest. I'm sure it's solid enough, but I have no way to know for sure. You're on your own here kids with this one.

The Full Monty Blu-ray

A box office hit when it landed in theaters in 1997, director Peter Cattaneo's heartfelt comedy follows a group of six unemployed men who decide that they can each make a living as strippers. The film lands on Blu-ray for the first time with lots of special features, including two commentary tracks, deleted scenes and a retrospective look back at the film's impact over the last two decades.

The Man who Knew Too Little Blu-ray

Bill Murray is a hapless Blockbuster Video employee who, although he believes he's playing along to an interactive murder mystery game, is actually caught up in a diabolical plot involving a high-level political assassination. An underappreciated comedy gem, the film hits Blu-ray this week for the first time.

Need for Speed Blu-ray

Act of Valor helmer Scott Waugh brings the hit video game franchise to life with "Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul behind the wheel in a race where the stakes mean absolutely everything. Paul and Waugh re-team for a new audio commentary track, which is accompanied by a variety of featurettes and deleted scenes. If you missed them when the film hit theaters, you can get it in Blu-ray disc now.

DVD Release for first week of August, 2014

Divergent DVD

Shailene Woodley stars in this adaptation of a dystopian Young Adult novel. After the success of The Hunger Games, Lionsgate upped the production budget for this film and it paid off, more or less. The reviews were mixed, but it earned $150 million domestically and $267 million worldwide.

Community: Season Five DVD

I'm still waiting for the screener for this release. I hear the dream of Six Seasons and a Movie isn't yet dead, so fans should be happy.

Oculus DVD

The best-reviewed wide release on this week's list. Unfortunately, it earned less than $30 million at the box office. Extras on the Blu-ray include an audio commentary track, deleted scenes, making of featurette, and the original short film it is based on. If you are a fan of the genre, it is worth picking up.

God's Not Dead DVD

A faith-based film that is clearly aimed at the choir and no one else. This led to a surprisingly strong box office, but terrible reviews. You are either in the target audience and don't care what I think, or you are not in the target audience and you've already moved onto the next release.

Ping Pong Summer DVD


A limited release that earned mixed reviews and opened below the Mendoza Line. Normally I wouldn't have mentioned it, but it is a slow week. Extras include an audio commentary track and a making of featurette, which is fine for this type of release.

Blu-ray/DVD disc Backup Tips:

So a lot of collectors may consider the digital copy of the new blu-ray dvd releases as the optimal way for safe storage. That is exactly a good idea. And this task can be perfectly completed with Pavtube BDMagic!

This is a professional ripping tool with very easy-to-use interface and has immense output format options; with this top Blu-ray Ripper, you can easily backup your Blu-ray/DVDs to MP4 file within a few clicks so that you can watch the new discs on your portable devices, tablet and tv smoothly. Download a free trial version firstly and then have a try.

Mac version is also available; well support Mac OS X 10.9: BDMagic for Mac.

See also: Blu-ray Movies Released This Week | July 22, 2014

Monday, August 4, 2014

Easy way to backup Blu-ray Movies with only Forced Subtitles

What is forced subtitle? Why do you backup Blu-ray Movies with only Forced Subtitles? How to get forced subtitles in Blu-ray discs? This article will tell you the answer!

What is forced subtitle?

Unlike DVD, on Blu-ray, each subtitle item has an attribute that specified whether particular subtitle appearance should be forced. Forced subtitles are shown regardless of current player setting, typically when movie contains a foreign language scene. The "forced" attribute is assigned per individual subtitle image, so entire subtitle track must be scanned to determine if forced subtitles are present.


Forced Subtitles

Why do you backup Blu-ray Movies with only Forced Subtitles? 


If you got the latest released Blu-ray movie like Divergent, Game of Thrones: Season 4, The LEGO Movie, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Noah, etc., and find your Blu-ray movies contain more that one language and you want to understand the lines that are spoken in foeign languages, it's necessary to have a backup for these Blu-rays with keeping Forced Subtitles.

See also: How to obtain forced subtitles only from a DVD/Blu-ray movie

Here Pavtube BDMagic is an easy-to-use yet professional Blu-ray ripping tool, to achieve your goal simply. It can allow users to create videos only with forced subtitles when ripping Blu-ray to MKV, AVI, MP4, MOV, M4V, WMV, etc, as you like. What's more, it supports a variety of multimedia devices including iPad Air, iPhone 5S, Kindle File HDX, etc. Now download it and start the Blu-ray conversion with forced subtitles only.

If you are mac users, read how to backup Blu-ray disc to Mac with forced subtitles.

Quick Guide: Easy way to rip/backup Blu-ray with forced subtitles

Step 1: Add Blu-ray movies

Insert your disc to your Blu-ray drive, and launch Pavutbe BDMagic; click the disc button to import your Blu-ray movies to the program.

convert blu-ray to mp4

Step 2. Choose showing forced subtitle

Specify English in “Subtitle” pull-down list, and then check “forced subtitles” before converting. When “forced subtitles” is checked, the subtitles appear on the screen only when foreign languages (i.e. Francais) other than English are spoken.

Check Forced Subtitles

Step 3. Select output format

Tap Format bar and choose your desired format. As you see, regular video formats like AVI, MP4, WMV, FLV, MKV, MOV, etc. are provided. Besides, you can also find lots of optimized profiles for many popular portable media devices including Android devices or iPad, iPhone and more.

h.264 mp4 format

Step 4. Backup Blu-ray with forced subtitles

Click the convert button and start converting Blu-ray with forced subtitles. Once the conversion finished, you can get the ripped video with the forced subtitles as you wanted. And just share your movies with families and friends.

If you are a DVD collector, get the best DVD Subtitle Ripper to Rip DVD with Forced Subtitles.

Read More:

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Rio 2 DVD/Blu-ray Release Date

Rio 2 is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated musical adventure-comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha. Here is the DVD/Blu-ray Release Date of Rio 2.

DVD release date of computer-animated comedy movie Rio 2 Starring Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, Jamie Foxx and George Lopez, directed by Carlos Saldanha. Movie storyline will feature the adventures of Blu, Jewel and their three kids after they leave the magical city Rio for a journey to the wilds of Amazon and meet their enemy Nigel. Movie is releasing on April 11, 2014.
 
Update: Confirmed release date of Rio 2 DVD is July 15, 2014.

Movie script is written by Don Rhymer and Carlos Saldanha which will continue the musical-comedy adventures of Blu and Jewel. Rio 2 will make theatrical release on April 11, 2014 so we can estimated the DVD and Blu-ray discs of movie to be release in July-August, 2014.

DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: July 15, 2014
  • Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Jemaine Clement, George Lopez, Jamie Foxx and will.i.am.
  • Distributor(s): 20th Century Fox
  • Genre(s): Comedy, Adventure and musicalFinal release date of Rio 2 DVD is not out yet.
 

Sunday, June 15, 2014

How to Rip/Backup Best 2014 Blu-ray Discs?

Summer is a hot yet cool season for watching Blu-ray movies with your best friends and family. In this article, we will introduce the fast and easiest way to copy and rip 2014 Blu-ray movie without any loss of quality.

Summer Holiday is coming and at this time, people can take a swim or go to beach for a cool summer vocation through enjoying soft sea breeze and cool seawater. Are you wondering if there is a cool way to enjoy the Blu-ray movies which is new released like Capital, Devil's Knot, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Non-Stop, True Detective: Season 1, etc. for pleasure with others at this comfortable summer?



However, as we now, most Blu-rays are hard to be backed up due to region code and disc encryption protection, you'd better to use Pavtube BDMagic to copy 2014 new Blu-ray movies to your computer or external flash drive, or you can rip them to iPad Air, Galaxy Note 3, Google Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HDX, or any other pads and phones. Here we will provide a tutorial on how to copy & rip Blu-rays at blazing speed with high quality. You can merge the converted video files into one and freely add SRT,ASS, SSA subtitles.

How to Copy, Backup and Rip 2014 Blu-ray Movies 

Here we have 300: Rise of an Empire Blu-ray as an example to demonstrate how to copy & rip Blu-ray movies with BDMagic.



Step 1. Run Pavtube BDMagic and import disc.

Click this icon to load disc from BD drive, IFO/ISO or folder. I also noticed if you have a ISO file to import, it will recognize the ISO file automatically with no need to run virtual driver and mount ISO files firstly. Good design. (Mac version is BDMagic for Mac)



Step 2. Choose format.

Click "Format" drop-down list and choose proper format for different using.

To copy 300: Rise of an Empire Blu-ray to hard drive, here are two solutions:

1. Click the "computer" icon on the top to output 1:1 Blu-ray/Blu-ray file exactly the same as original.

2. Select "Copy > Directly Copy" in format list to output an intact m2ts file of the main title.



Step 3. Change video specs. (Optional)

If you are not satisfied with default specs, then click "Settings" to enter Profiles Settings windows. You can customize video frame rate, bitrate, size and other settings freely. (It does not work for directly copy)

Step 4. Start conversion.

Click the big red "Convert" to start backing up or converting your Blu-rays movie. Usually backup will be quicker because it does not need to do trancoding.

After the conversion, click "Open output folder" to quick locate converted files. Connect your hard drive to computer and transfer them into it.



See also:

How to Backup Disney Copy-Protected DVD Discs for watching
Effortlessly Convert Disney’s Blu-ray movies without quality loss on Mac
Rip DVD movies to your portable media players

Friday, June 13, 2014

Review: Star Trek The Next Generation – Season 6 Blu-ray

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6

Release Date: June 24, 2014
Blu-Ray Disc • 6 Discs
CBS Home Entertainment



Seven months after Season 5 hit shelves, we've arrived at the next stop on the journey through Star Trek: The Next Generationremastered for high definition Blu-ray. Next Gen's sixth season consistently ranks highly with fans, bringing together some of the series' most memorable and hard-hitting episodes. This year of adventures feels like a definite step-up compared to the somewhat uneven fifth season, with very few episodes encouraging me to hit the fast-forward button.

With the absence of creator Gene Roddenberry following his death in 1991, the show gradually started to embrace a less Utopian attitude to 24th century life, incorporating issues such as espionage ("Chain of Command"), piracy ("Starship Mine"), violence ("Descent, Part I") and even torture ("Chain of Command"). Naturally, this all made for much meatier storylines and succeeds in adding tremendous depth to many of the characters (especially Picard and Riker, who both undergo significant development in the sixth season).

The penultimate year of TNG always felt like Star Trek at its finest to me. Indeed, both co-producer Ronald D. Moore and actor Brent Spiner don't hesitate in naming this as their favorite season. It's like a box of 26 different chocolates, each with their own unique flavor; whether you have the desire to boldly go on a galactic romp ("The Chase"), revisit history - both past ("Ship in the Bottle", "A Fistful of Datas") and future ("Relics"), delve into a psychological thriller ("Frame of Mind") or confront the deepest questions of life ("Tapestry"), love ("Lessons") and existence ("The Quality of Life") - Season Six has everything you need.


 
Remastering Quality

Two years down the line, and Star Trek: The Next Generation's massive remastering project is entering its final hours. As I type this review, the team over at CBS Digital in Los Angeles are putting the finishing touches to TNG's final season (due out later this year). After cutting their teeth on the first season back in 2012, this group of industry professionals have perfected their individual techniques to create a product which consistently draws rapturous praise from hundreds of thousands of fans across the globe.

Rebuilding this elaborate and technically challenging 25 year old TV show from the original 35mm film - element by element - is made to look like child's play when you watch the final product. The stunningly recreated visual effects are all seamlessly integrated into freshly scanned HD footage, hiding the labyrinthine nature of the project that the CBS Digital team are confronted with on a daily basis.



Check out the sections below for a more comprehensive breakdown of the remastering effort this season, but if you're going to take away just one headline from this review then let it be this - the work on display in Season 6 is quite possibly the most impressive yet. The picture is virtually flawless and the visual effects are incomparable to anything I've seen previously. On to the analysis!I. Live Action Footage

The task facing people like CBS Digital's Sarah Paul, Sean Sweeney and Kiki Morris is gargantuan in nature: hunting through hundreds of original 35mm film reels to track down every last second of negative needed to rebuild the show from scratch. Sarah takes on her job as if it's a military operation - every episode is broken down element by element in meticulous detail and at any one time she knows what she has and what she needs. Naturally with a show as complex as Star Trek: The Next Generation, film is misplaced over the years and when that happens the team have no choice but to resort to upscaling existing SD footage. The fifth season was hit comparatively hard by this issue, but thankfully the same can not be said for Season 6. CBS has managed to locate every piece of film necessary to ensure that the sixth season Blu-rays are presented entirely in high definition with no upscaling - fantastic news!

In standard definition, each season of TNG seems to be afflicted with its own particular problem. The old SD copies of TNG's sixth season (and likewise Deep Space Nine's first, which was filmed at the same time) are incredibly soft, far more than earlier TNG seasons. It's difficult to establish with any degree of certainty why the 1991-1992 seasons suffered so badly, but they've always stuck out to me like a sore thumb. Now for the good news - the newly scanned high definition live-action footage of Season 6 on Blu-ray looks phenomenal. Excluding the odd soft focus shot sprinkled throughout the season ("Time's Arrow, Part II" has the highest amount of 'hazy' soft focus shots, although this is clearly an artistic choice) the new HD image is pin-sharp. The crispness of the newly scanned 35mm print is mindblowing - just wait until you see the colors in episodes like "A Fistful of Datas"!

CBS Digital's Marvin Hildebrandt is responsible for adjusting the color timing of the HD footage to ensure a consistent look over the series. Colors are once again vibrant and pop off the screen in stark contrast to the faded and uneven color timing which plagued the SD master tapes. Flesh tones appear realistic, and the slight red tint which was noticeable on some of the previous sets isn't quite as pronounced here. Black levels are well balanced for the most part; However there are some instances when blacks overwhelm dark scenes, crushing out fine detail (this is particularly noticeable in some of the Celtris III cave shots from "Chain of Command"). This is unfortunate, and extreme care should be taken if a darker-toned show like Deep Space Nine is ever remastered!

The cast and crew weren't given many chances to shoot on location during the show's penultimate season, but each of the three episodes that feature outdoor locations has a distinct feel to it: the hazy streets of 19th Century San Francisco in "Time's Arrow, Part II"; the classic sepia-esque Western look in "A Fistful of Datas" and the distinctive alien lighting of Lore's unnamed planet in "Descent, Part I". The high definition experience gives these locations a wonderfully immersive other-worldly quality that really draws the viewer in. San Francisco and Deadwood are especially fun in HD - I was freeze-framing on many of the shots to pick out newly visible store-signs and street posters!



Scenes filmed in low lighting generally perform much better thanks to the new high definition transfer, although I feel compelled to add a caveat here. While there are indeed huge improvements in episodes such as "Rightful Heir" (the underground monastery at Boreth looks particularly moody and atmospheric thanks to the new details visible), overly strong black levels have crushed out some detail in other episodes ("Chain of Command" is particularly affected - the texture of the away team's dark uniforms is no longer discernible in some scenes).



Small intricate details in sets, costumes and makeup are finally made visible in high definition. This is especially noticeable in the sixth season due to the softness of the original SD master. You'll have great fun picking out the various aliens stood around the dom-jot game in "Tapestry" (watch out for the Tailhead - a more familiar sight on DS9's Promenade!); meanwhile, you're bound to marvel at the terrifying Solanogen-based lifeforms in "Schisms" who look scary as hell in high definition - the makeup and costume hold up remarkably well! A few other things that especially stood out to me - the costumes in "Ship in a Bottle" and "A Fistful of Datas" look particularly rich in HD, and the makeup on aliens like Jo'Bril ("Suspicions") now boast some amazing detail that has always been lost due to the limitations of standard-def.

Finally, I can't write about Season Six without mentioning "Birthright". At long last we get our first glimpse of the Deep Space Nine sets in high definition. Both the promenade and replimat are represented here and they don't disappoint. The replimat looks especially colorful, with the flora decorating the ceiling sparkling in HD. The brief glimpse of Morn made me smile warmly, and his Lurian makeup only serves to tease the viewer more about the prospect of a DS9 remastering project. Come on CBS, sort out the budget and make it happen!



II. Visual Effects

CBS Digital's work recreating the visual effects for Star Trek: The Next Generation has been consistently superb. As the show became more complex through its run, the team have refined their technique and kept ahead of the curve to ensure their work continues to meet the high expectations of fans. This project is a labor of love for so many of the team behind it, and it really comes across in the final product. To take on the last three seasons of TNG consecutively is no mean feat, but judging by the results on display here, CBS-D have once again risen to the occasion and turned out some beautiful work.

Planet-Creator Extraordinaire Max Gabl is firing on all thrusters once more with another collection of alien worlds that look like they could have just been photographed by NASA. Max has a wonderful talent for mixing realism with fantasy in his art and through collaboration withEric Bruno's compositing team, the Enterprise never looks out of place entering orbit of one of the new planetary creations. So what caught my eye in Season 6? Tagra IV from "True Q", the newly-designated gas giant Deinonychus from "A Fistful of Datas" and the beautiful planetary collision in the Detrian system from "Ship in a Bottle" (which I raved about in this article) all deserve worthy mentions. However, I reserve some of my highest praise for the varied shots in "The Chase" - one of my personal favorites from Season 6 - and the firestorm-plagued Bersallis III from "Lessons". Bersallis in particular looks utterly terrifying from orbit, with the huge scale of the firestorms clearly visible. The destruction of Indri VIII in "The Chase" as well as Loren III are stunningly recreated. Max had a full plate this season but has risen to the challenge with customary aplomb - great work, Max!



From the raging firestorms of Bersallis III in "Lessons" to the destruction of Indri VIII in "The Chase", Max Gabl knows his planets!

Eric Bruno and his visual effects compositing team at CBS Digital habitually up their game so each season things have a tendency to look that little bit more sleek and effortless. Eric himself worked on the beauty-shots of the Enterprise docked at Deep Space Nine in "Birthright, Part I" and has done a stand-up job of giving us our first taste of the station in high definition. DS9 is no longer flat and lifeless - the new shot screams grandeur and elegance with subtle shadows and sparkling lights giving the station a beautiful sense of scale and power. Rusted exposed hull plates jump off the screen in shocking shades of pink and yellow that haven't been seen since the model was first filmed. Shots like this are a perfect example why CBS needs to lock down aDeep Space Nine remastering project before talented people like the gang at CBS Digital move on to bigger and better things.



It's worth mentioning a couple of other stand-out moments from this season's visual effects: "Relics" and "The Chase". The Dyson Sphere ("Relics") remains one of the more alien and mysterious objects encountered in the Star Trek universe. At the time the episode was produced, its imposing scale was unprecedented - the design team put together some incredibly complicated maquettes and matte paintings whose details were all but lost in the murkiness of standard definition. Thankfully we can finally see the sphere in all its glory. It's almost Borg-like in design - complex hull panels criss-cross the surface and stretch off far into the distance giving the impression of a truly huge size. Rusted features on the surface are also visible, leading us to believe that the sphere is ancient in origin. Detail like this is a joy to see, and I'm left dumbstruck knowing that it was there all along, hidden under the murk of standard def.



Finally, "The Chase" gives us the chance to see some pretty awesome starship encounters as the Enterprise warps around the galaxy looking for the key to life's very existence. There is some beautiful compositing work on display here, especially as the Cardassian ships engage in combat against the Klingons and the Enterprise. I don't think these models have ever looked so good. I can't thank the team enough for their work - they've done Star Trek proud, something which I'm sure every fan who watches these Blu-rays can agree on!



Wow! The Enterprise is struck by Cardassian fire in "The Chase". Doesn't she look amazing?

To highlight every piece of work done with the visual effects this season is an impossible task. There's simply too much here to cover in a review - especially when I know you're all wanting to read this as early as possible! So I'll end the visual effects section with a cute story from "Realm of Fear". This perfectly illustrates how the most innocuous looking shot on screen can mask days upon days of frustrating and repetitive work for the guys at CBS Digital. We all know the plot - Lt. Barclay encounters strange lifeforms inside a transporter beam which look a bit like giant worms and turn out to be stranded crewmembers of the science vessel U.S.S. Yosemite. Those giant worms were actually puppets whose complex movements were filmed and then composited over the transporter beam to give the cool final effect. I had the pleasure of visiting CBS Digital while this particular shot was being worked on, and discovered that the original production team had filmed dozens upon dozens of different takes of this giant worm, all moving in subtly different patterns over different time-spans. It transpired that no notes existed indicating which takes had been used in the final episode, so staff at CBS Digital had to painstakingly go through take after take trying to match by eye each movement with the blurry low-resolution SD master. Another perfect example why these guys are perfectionists - they'll work tirelessly around the clock to ensure that even the tiniest details are correct.

Verdict time. It's a no-brainer: Season Six represents another perfect example of CBS Digital's quality work bringing TNG into the high definition 21st century. If ever there was an example where more than five stars were necessary to grade the product, this would be it!Bonus Material

Roger Lay, Jr. and Robert Meyer Burnett are back again with another multi-part documentary covering the history of TNG - "Beyond the Five Year Mission: The Evolution of Star Trek: The Next Generation". There's no reunion special on this set - the duo had planned to get a collection of TNG directors together but couldn't find a date that worked for everybody. Nevertheless, fans have a new trio of audio commentaries, deleted scenes and bloopers to keep them occupied.

So what about that documentary? “Evolution” combines three thirty-minute segments, “The Lithosphere”, “The Biosphere” and “The Noosphere”.

“Part One: The Lithosphere” is frustrating - it's almost as if this part doesn't know what it wants to be. The first half of it is purely dedicated to Deep Space Nine. Now I'm a huge Niner, but this stuff really felt out of place to me - numerous archival interviews with Colm Meaney, Michael Piller and Rick Berman, talking about the premise of the show and the pilot, all interspersed with numerous (SD) clips from "Emissary". I understand DS9 launched during TNG's sixth season, but there are almost no references to TNG here. I'd love to have heard the TNG crew's reactions when they discovered a new series was on the way. At one point Rick Berman hints at potential dischord ("it wasn't really a conflict, but things got a bit crazy"), but this is never followed up on! Meanwhile the second half of this part is a rather abbreviated compilation of snippets from creative staff including Naren Shankar, René Echevarria and writer Morgan Gendel. There are a couple of cute anecdotes in here (I enjoyed René's story of how he wanted to kill Will Riker in "Second Chances"), but things are all too brief and the documentary chops unrelated stories together in a rather haphazard fashion.




“Part Two: The Biosphere” is a marked improvement on the disappointing first part. Production Designer Richard D. James and Director of Photography Jonathan West both own this half-hour segment with some truly fascinating stories about their roles in the production of Star Trek. Listen out for James retelling how he convinced the producers to get rid of the expensive plexiglass windows from sets like the Observation Lounge after they plagued the film crew with unwanted reflections. Meanwhile West talks about his involvement all the way back on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, filming Spock's death sequence and catching pneumonia on Ceti Alpha II! Throw in some cool info about the reconstruction of the classic Enterprise bridge in "Relics" and Rick Berman revealing how Stephen Hawking rewrote some of the jokes in his "Descent, Part I" appearance and this segment is sure to entertain!



“Part Three: The Noosphere” pulls together interviews with the principal cast on Season 6 and features the long awaited appearance of Guinan actress, Whoopi Goldberg. The Whoop is on strong form recalling how both Rick Berman and Gene Roddenberry couldn't believe that a film-star at the peak of her career would want to guest on Star Trek. That said, my favorite part had to be when she apologized for saying "bullshit" only a few seconds into her interview! John de Lancie also shines in this segment - listen out for his famous dinner-party allegory and his intellectual breakdown of geek culture at the end of the segment. I found myself really enjoying this part, maybe a touch more than the second part. Nicely done!

Gag Reel: This season's gag reel comes in slightly shorter than Season 5's at 5:20 but it doesn't pull any punches when inducing more fits of laughter. Right from the opening shot of Jonathan Frakes confronting Geordi with a drill(!) in "Aquiel" to Whoopi Goldberg's distaste for Ferengi scientists ("Suspicions"; "Do you think that Ferengi f**k killed himself?!"), you're guaranteed five minutes of raucous hilarity!



Audio Commentaries: The set contains three audio commentaries, newly recorded especially for this set.

6x18 "Relics" with Ronald D. Moore and Mike & Denise Okuda
6x19 "Tapestry" with Ronald D. Moore and Mike & Denise Okuda
6x23 "Frame of Mind" with James L. Conway and Jonathan West

Deleted Scenes: It's such a treat watching through deleted footage that's never been seen before - especially for a show as special as TNG. But when said footage includes an almost legendary clip of the late Jimmy Doohan which was culled from "Relics", things are taken up a notch. We have an accompanying article which breaks down every single deleted scene included on this set with full review commentary and screengrabs - watch for it coming to TrekCore next Thursday, June 19th!

Summing up the bonus content on offer here, I couldn't help but feel that the documentary could have been confined to two parts. The first part really is superfluous. Still, parts 2 and 3 don't disappoint and served up enough fascinating stories and anecdotes to keep me interested. Here's hoping that Roger and Robert have some surprises in store for the seventh season - let's go out with a bang, guys!

The Bottom Line? Simply divine, and probably my favorite TNG Blu-ray release so far. Fantastic episodes, breathtaking HD remastering and a whole load of great new bonus features. If you only buy one of these Blu-ray seasons, make sure it's Season 6!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Effortlessly Backup Disney’s Blu-ray movies without quality loss on Mac

Want to keep Disney's Blu-ray movies without quality loss on Mac effortlessly? Check out this article to learn how to backup Blu-ray discs with the best Mac Blu-ray coping tool.

When I was just a child, one of our family’s weekly activities was sitting down to watch reruns of Disney movies each week. Our entire family, adults and children alike, couldn't get enough of the loveable characters and their adventures. With Disney has released many movies in Blu-ray collection! I had the chance to review the latest DisneyBlu-ray releases and I was pretty excited to backup some Disney Blu-ray movies which my sons like best so as to play for them later easily when they are free. Here I will share my way to backup Disney’s Blu-ray movies on Mac.


2014 Blu-ray releases for the Walt Disney Animated Classics line:

February 11: The Jungle Book - Diamond Edition

March 18: Frozen

August 12: Hercules, Tarzan, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad/Fun & Fancy-Free: 2-Movie Collection

October 7: Sleeping Beauty - Diamond Edition

October 14: Frozen 3D (rumored)

See also: 



How to backup Disney Blu-rays on Mac, then you can easily get the them playback on any device?

As you may know, Disney Blu-rays are copy-protected, so they are usually not easy to be backed up or directly played on media devices. The freeware like Handbrake can only deal with the non-protected Blu-ray movies. Also even some paid Blu-ray ripping programs can't successfully finish this task. To copy Disney Blu-ray on Mac quickly and efficiently, what you need is a powerful Mac Blu-ray ripping tool.


Here Pavtube BDMagic for Mac (Read review) is a professional program in making digital copy of Blu-ray. It can rip the latest 3D/2D Blu-ray and DVD and convert to various video formats for some popular smartphones and tablets as well as editing software. And you can add srt/ass/ssa subtitles to the output videos to make it unique and perfect. Simple interface but effective conversion. (Another two programs can also do the job from Pavtube are ByteCopy for Mac and iMedia Converter for Mac.)

The following guide will show you detailed steps.  

Now you can have the trial version to try all the functions firstly, and then download the retail version to install it. (Windows users go to get Pavtube BDMagic).

How to convert/copy Disney Blu-ray Disc to Mac for enjoying  

Solution One –Disney Blu-ray Backup with original structure Directly 

1. Import Blu-ray source.

Click "Load file" button to import the inserted Disney Blu-ray disc. After few second, it will be imported successfully and you can preview the whole movie in the preview window.

Then, you need to select the subtitle and audio track for output. As blu-ray movie contains multiple audio and subtitle tracks, you could choose your favorite one for output.

Note: Force subtitle can be checked for output so as to help you to read the unknown language and fully enjoy the blu-ray.

2. Click “Browse” button to select a destination folder for the output files.

3. Start coping.

Click "Copy the entire disc" button in the main interface to starts copying the Disney Bluray disc maintaining the original structure menu.



Note: With the trial version, you can make full disc copy of your Blu-ray disc 3 times.

As soon as the copying task finished, you can click “Open” button to locate the Blu-ray directory. Connect your hard drive to computer and transfer them into it or directly store it on your Mac computer. The final output files have the same structure as that on the original Blu-ray disc.

Among them, the BDMV folder is the most important one with audio and video files in it. Open BDMV -> STREAM folder and you will find all the .m2ts movie clips. You can play these M2TS videos on PC or have a further conversion and transfer to other devices for playback.
Solution Two - Copy Disney Blu-ray main movie and leave out extras 

Step 1: Select Blu-ray source.

Launch the best Blu-ray to M2TS backup software, click “Load files” button on the top left, you will get three options:

a. Load the disc: Inserted discs are usually recognized and listed automatically, just select the one you desired.

b. Load from the folder: When you have copy the content of disc to computer or hard device, use this option to select the folder to import.

c. Load ISO/IFO: If your blu-ray source is ISO file, use this option to load.

Once imported, you will get a list of titles on the source. The main title with longest duration usually has been selected automatically.

Step 2: Choose Directly Copy for output.

Firstly, go to select the location of output files. Simply click “Browse” button and choose the destination folder.

Secondly, click “Format” menu you will find lots of format options in the dropdown list. Here “Directly Copy” is the best choice for you because it will copy the intact main movie without any recoding. In this way, you will get a lossless m2ts file at amazing conversion speed.



Step 3. Lossless Backup Blu-ray main movie to M2TS on Mac.

Hit “Convert” button to start copying M2TS streams from your Disney Blu-ray Disc to Mac, then click “Open” button you will find a quick way to locate the generated files. Once completed, you can get one lossless m2ts file with multiple streams from original Blu-ray.
Additional Tip:

Besides copying Disney Blu-ray, this best Disney Blu-ray backup tool also enables you rip and convert Disney Blu-ray to MOV, MP4, AVI, MOV, FLV, M4V, MPEG, etc. Meanwhile, the program provides the optimized preset profiles for almost all popular multimedia devices and HD media players. So, you can choose to rip and convert Disney Blu-ray to a common video for playing on Mac, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 3, iPhone 6/6 Plus, Kindle Fire HDX, Galaxy Tab S, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy S6/S6 Edge, Surface 3, Surface Pro 3, etc..

Now start coping Disney Blu-ray on Mac. With the best Mac Blu-ray Backup and copy tool, you can take your favorite Disney blu-ray anywhere and enjoy them whenever you want to. Just try it now!

Meanwhile there are many new Money Saving Software Bundles to help you save more. Go to find the one you need.

Read more:

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Blu-ray Release: Saving Mr. Banks




Today, at March 18,2014, Disney is releasing the wonderful Saving Mr. Banks on Blu-ray & DVD, one of the best movies of last year. Brilliantly depicting the struggle that Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) faced when trying to convince author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) to sign over the film rights to Mary Poppins, this is a moving and entertaining film that provides a beautiful look at the deeply personal elements every writer puts into their work.


We all loved Saving Mr. Banks when we reviewed the film in theatres this past December, and our glowing consensus was:

“Fronted by brilliant acting from Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, with an excellent supporting cast and beautiful screenplay, Saving Mr. Banks is an entertaining and moving film that pays tribute to the legacy of Mary Poppins. **** (Out of 4)”

The Blu-ray includes deleted scenes and a “behind the scenes” featurette, as well as a video of the cast and crew performing “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” in tribute to composer Richard Sherman.

Saving Mr. Banks is 125 minutes and rated PG.


Runtime:125 min
Rating:Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including some unsettling images
Official Site:http://movies.disney.com/saving-mr-banks
Production:BBC Films
Genres:Biography, Drama, History, Comedy, Music, Family
Countries:USA, UK, Australia
Language:English
Home Release Date:Mar 18, 2014
DirectorCredit
John Lee HancockDirector
WriterCredit
Kelly MarcelWritten By
Sue SmithWritten By
Principal CastCredit
Emma ThompsonP.L. Travers
Tom HanksWalt Disney
CastCredit
Alexandra SurerHotel Guest
Andy McPheeRandolph
Anna RobertsPremiere Girl
Annie BuckleyGinty
Ariana GuidoDaughter/1960
B.J. NovakRobert Sherman
Bradley WhitfordDon DaGradi
Christine AmesAirline Stewardess
Claire BockingMrs. Goff's Housekeeper
Colin FarrellTravers Robert Goff
Demetrius GrosseBarman
Dendrie TaylorLillian Disney
Elizabeth RussoWomen With Dog
Emma ThompsonP.L. Travers
Erin PickettWoman In Bar
Jason SchwartzmanRichard Sherman
Kathy BakerTommie
Kimberly D'ArmondNanny Katie
Kristopher KyerDick Van Dyke
Lily BighamBiddy
Melanie Deanne MooreDolly
Melissa BickertonMrs. Corry
Mia SerafinoYoung Woman
Michael SwinehartPorter
Paul GiamattiRalph
Rachel GriffithsAunt Ellie
Ronan VibertDiarmuid Russell
Ruth WilsonMargaret Goff
Steven CabralClerk
Tom HanksWalt Disney
Tomas JohanssonAirline Passenger
Victoria SummerJulie Andrews
ProducerCredit
Alison OwenProducer
Andrew MasonExecutive Producer
Christine LanganExecutive Producer
Ian CollieProducer
K.C. HodenfieldCo-Producer
Mark CooperLine Producer: United Kingdom
Paul TrijbitsExecutive Producer
Philip SteuerProducer
Troy LumExecutive Producer
Summary:

When Walt Disney's daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers' "Mary Poppins," he made them a promise - one that he didn't realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney's plans for the adaptation. For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn't budge. He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from his grasp. It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history.


Tip:

Like the movie Saving Mr. Banks too much and want to watch again? Collect this movie in Blu-ray Disc now! And if you want to backup it on computer (PC/Mac), try Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper. And another two products can also help you to make a full disc copyVideo Converter Ultimate and ByteCopy .