In a move that has delighted fans of classic science fiction, Warner Bros. Discovery has begun uploading full episodes of the iconic series Babylon 5 to YouTube, providing free access to the show just as it departs from the ad-supported streaming platform Tubi. The transition comes at a pivotal time for the series, which has […]
The CGI was done in 4:3 for budget reasons, so CGI and composite shots are only available in 4:3 (which then had to be cropped for 16:9 later on), which is why the CGI looks terrible. At least in the earlier seasons, afaik later on rights were acquired by some network that wanted 16:9 and so from that point forward CGI was also in 16:9
The CGI was supposed to be re-rendered for widescreen release but things went south with all that. A bunch of files were found though and someone has done them in 1080 widescreen and they look amazing. They’re on YouTube. Sadly I think they all got turned over to WB and have never been heard from since I don’t think.
When they were making the original 4:3 CGI, they thought that by the time a 16:9 release was desired, technology would have evolved enough that they’d want to re-render everything anyway.
The CGI was done in 4:3 for budget reasons, so CGI and composite shots are only available in 4:3 (which then had to be cropped for 16:9 later on), which is why the CGI looks terrible. At least in the earlier seasons, afaik later on rights were acquired by some network that wanted 16:9 and so from that point forward CGI was also in 16:9
https://www.modeemi.fi/~leopold/Babylon5/DVD/DVDTransfer.html has lots of info and examples
The CGI was supposed to be re-rendered for widescreen release but things went south with all that. A bunch of files were found though and someone has done them in 1080 widescreen and they look amazing. They’re on YouTube. Sadly I think they all got turned over to WB and have never been heard from since I don’t think.
When they were making the original 4:3 CGI, they thought that by the time a 16:9 release was desired, technology would have evolved enough that they’d want to re-render everything anyway.
Indeed. And they certainly did want to. But as always, money.
That’s an excellent link, thank you!