Roller Coasters in the RAW on Blu-Ray

[FeelTheFORCE]

I think Yahtzee said it best: "I've never found myself saying, 'oh, Army of Darkness is a glorious celebration of boyish fantasy violence but if only the resolution was a wee bit bigger it could be significantly improved.' I'm not a connoisseur, but for me there's really not enough visible difference between Blu-Ray and DVD quality for Sony to credibly argue that it's the next big advance."

 

I'd say I agree.

 

Have you never seen a Blu-Ray on a 1080p TV 42" or larger, with the latest surround sound? It's an astronomical difference from regular DVD, in my opinion. And I'm not talking about these digitally remastered Blu-Rays of films that were released in the early 90s (Army of Darkness, 1992). There is only so much you can "digitally remaster." I'm referring to modern titles such as Transformers 1 and 2, 300, Iron Man, Dark Knight, Avatar, etc. Like someone said before, once you watch one of those on Blu-Ray, you'll never want to go back.

 

It's not like it's insanely expensive either. A Playstation 3 for $299 is a great value, or if you want a standalone player, you can get a decent one for $130 or less. Also, if you're patient, stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart ALWAYS have $10-$15 deals on Blu-Rays, which is cheaper than DVDs when first released. If anyone pays the full $30+ for a Blu-Ray, they're nuts.

[robbalvey]

It's not like it's insanely expensive either. A Playstation 3 for $299 is a great value, or if you want a standalone player, you can get a decent one for $130 or less. Also, if you're patient, stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart ALWAYS have $10-$15 deals on Blu-Rays, which is cheaper than DVDs when first released. If anyone pays the full $30+ for a Blu-Ray, they're nuts.

Is the price point a regional thing? Almost all the "major release" DVDs at our local Best Buy, Target, and Wal-Mart are all between $19.99 for a lower end newer movie on sale and $29.99 for big blockbusters when they aren't on sale. Or sometimes a limited offer deal on a "loss leader", for example, our local Wal-Mart is selling Avatar for $22.99.

 

I've only see $10 - $15 Blu-Ray deals in So Cal on the most crappy of films or something that they clearly overstocked on and didn't sell as well as they hoped. (For example Batman Dark Knight was $16.99 at Best Buy yesterday.)

 

It still seems like your "average" Blu-Ray price is between $22 - $27.

 

--Robb

Edited April 22, 2010 by robbalvey

[Emiroo]

Speaking as someone who has the Toy Story movies on both DVD and Blu-Ray, I can assure you there is a major video and audio fidelity difference between the two formats. So much so that even my 4 year old said it (blu-ray) was awesome. Once you see it you'll never go back. Buzz practically jumps off the screen!

 

Now obviously, not all blu-ray transfers will be as meticulious as I'm sure Pixar was with the TS series (and your hdtv specs also factor in too), but there is definitely enough improvement to warrant the $$$. And as FeelTheForce pointed out, when you get modern titles that were filmed with digital technology to begin with, it'll really blow you hair back.

[Sir Clinksalot]

^^ If you look around you can usually get most new release Blu Ray's for no more than $15. Amazon usually has REALLY good deals on new releases. Or if your willing to shop around a little, even less. For example, I got both of the Toy Story movies on Blu Ray for $16 total at Target using a coupon for Disney Rewards that took me 60 seconds to find and print.

 

I haven't paid more than $18 for any Blu Ray.

 

But for what it costs for production of a Blu Ray and considering you guys aren't a movie studio, I think that $25 is a fair price.

[Montuman99]

I can't wait to get my hands on a Blu-Ray version. It's gonna look so real!

[Ledgy]

By the way, starting with Blu-Ray is great, but when are you going to start to take the RAW series with this cam:

3D HD Camcorder

 

Yeah, that would be the mega RAW series... Watching Rollercoasters in the RAW and so on in 3D HD

 

Just kidding... but who knows what will come in a few years

Edited April 22, 2010 by Ledgy

[robbalvey]

By the way, starting with Blu-Ray is good, but when are you going to start to take the RAW series with this cam:

3D HD Camcorder

When there are about 20 million 3D HDTVs in the world, then I *might* consider it!

[Ledgy]

OMG! That´s too late, before that we have all visited the new ClubTPR Park in Orlando and have season passes.

 

...I guess you will plan something like that in the future

[MagicMountainMan]

^^I'd film in 3D too if it didn't require a whole new workflow and the camera wasn't $21,000....

 

There won't be any region encoding on the Blu-Ray.

 

--Robb

I seriously didn't realize that Blu-Ray is region free until you posted that... Well that's a huge plus for everybody else!

[robbalvey]

I seriously didn't realize that Blu-Ray is region free until you posted that... Well that's a huge plus for everybody else!

I just figured that everyone knew it was like DVDs. Blu-Rays and DVDs are only region encoded if you encode them to be region specific. We won't be adding any region encoding to our discs. That would only limit the amount of people who could order them!

 

--Robb

[MagicMountainMan]

I just figured that everyone knew it was like DVDs. Blu-Rays and DVDs are only region encoded if you encode them to be region specific. We won't be adding any region encoding to our discs. That would only limit the amount of people who could order them!

 

--Robb

I didn't realize that was true with DVDs either.... I guess since most all DVDs are region encoded I figured that it was universal. Can non-region specific DVD and Blu-Ray players play both PAL and NTSC?

[Speeddeamon128]

I voted no, because I do not own a Blu-Ray player. Also I don't plan on buying one anytime soon & am to cheap to but DVDs on Blu-Ray

[robbalvey]

I just figured that everyone knew it was like DVDs. Blu-Rays and DVDs are only region encoded if you encode them to be region specific. We won't be adding any region encoding to our discs. That would only limit the amount of people who could order them!

 

--Robb

I didn't realize that was true with DVDs either.... I guess since most all DVDs are region encoded I figured that it was universal. Can non-region specific DVD and Blu-Ray players play both PAL and NTSC?

If you have a non region encoded disc it *should* work in any player, although the playback results might not be amazing.

 

I know that with our TPR DVDs, they seem to play just fine in PAL DVD players.

 

--Robb

[ash.1111]

I can vouch for the TPR DVDs working fine in PAL players.

[Mici]

I also do not own a Blu Ray machine so it will not help me.

[DailyBugle_JL]

after watching the intimidator vid in HD on youtube. I was hoping for a bluray release of the next raw compilation. When you do release a bluray version of your movies will there be a package deal where you get both a Bluray and a DVD in a combo pack. I wouldn't mind paying extra for something like that.

[fatdaddy]

I don't got a blueray now but, plan on getting a ps3 with my credit card reward points. I think roller coasters in the raw in blueray would be cool. I don't normally go for movies in hd or even care about quality. I mean i grew up watching movies in the drive in, with the little speaker on the window. Crappy picture, crappy sound quality, but somehow if the movie is good it doesn't matter.

[Calicoasters]

I would like to say I'm all for better picture quality, but the truth is I really don't care. When I had cable we had tons of HD channels that we never watched and when it comes to DVD and DVD players, I just want to pay the minimum.

 

Cody "The only Blu-Ray player I'll ever own is when standard DVD becomes extinct" Davis

[robbalvey]

When you do release a bluray version of your movies will there be a package deal where you get both a Bluray and a DVD in a combo pack. I wouldn't mind paying extra for something like that.

No, this would not be possible.

 

Mainly because the Blu-Ray is going to be made up of:

 

1. Coaster footage that has been released on previous RAW discs that was shot in HD but only released in SD.

2. Coasters that were featured on a previous RAW disc, but we have since filmed NEW footage in HD and this footage will ONLY be available on the Blu-Ray. Balder for example. We released the footage we shot in 2006 on Raw 1, but last year we went back and shot all NEW footage of Balder in HD.

3. Coasters that will be featured on future Roller Coasters in the RAW DVDs.

 

This Blu-Ray would essentially be creating a new series: "Roller Coasters in the RAW HD."

 

And the other thing to think about...if we did a combo pack, that's a LOT of stuff for me to put together. If I did a DVD version of this Blu-Ray, it would have to be on 2 DVDs. So that's 1 Blu-Ray and 2 DVDs that I'd have to create for each package. If we made up 100 copies, that's 300 discs I'd have to burn, label and package up!

 

I'd have to have two different versions of the label, one with the combo pack information, one without. I'd need two different types of cases. One that holds a single Blu-Ray and one that holds 3 discs.

 

From a logistics standpoint, it's a lot. Remember that I make up each DVD by hand! (Well, KidTums now helps too!)

 

--Robb

Edited April 23, 2010 by robbalvey

[ash.1111]

Robb, you're going to have to start having more kids to help with the work!

[Bentsen83]

I ended up voting yes (both have a player (PS3) and would buy a Blu-ray).

 

My only concern would be it ending up in the toll which would add a lot of extra charges. The Danish national post would charge around $28 for handling and an additional of amount of around $7 in Danish VAT, bringing the total price up from $25 to £60 + freight.

This is also the explanation of why I have bought my DVDs as digital downloads until now.

 

It would be cool if the value could be written down, so it would not be subject to extra charges, or that, but if that was not possible (which I would totally understand), I guess that I would take the risk and order it anyway...

 

Those god damn trade barriers! ;o)

 

[FeelTheFORCE]

^^ If you look around you can usually get most new release Blu Ray's for no more than $15. Amazon usually has REALLY good deals on new releases. Or if your willing to shop around a little, even less. For example, I got both of the Toy Story movies on Blu Ray for $16 total at Target using a coupon for Disney Rewards that took me 60 seconds to find and print.

 

I haven't paid more than $18 for any Blu Ray.

 

Exactly. Case in point, Amazon is currently selling the Avatar DVD/Blu-Ray combo for $19.99. That's 50% off the original price.

 

Robb, here is my answer your question you posted when quoting my post a page or two ago. Yes, most new releases are that expensive, but with a little patience and smart shopping, you'll NEVER have to pay that much. You don't have to wait long at all to see an occasional "hot" title pop up on that $10-$15 shelf, or find a good deal somewhere. They are out there all the time. In no way was I suggesting you charge $10 for a RAW Blu-Ray (if you did, you'd most likely be hemorrhaging money after only a short while), I was just pointing it out for anyone in doubt about Blu-Rays because of cost.

[chinook]

We do have a blu ray player and would probably buy coasters in the raw in blu ray (we've already bought 2 that weren't). Since the whole point of buying the in the raw footage for us is to relive rides on favorite coasters or get through long periods of 'coaster drought', anything that would bring us even closer to the action would be welcome.

[Guy T. Koepp]

If you print it on Blu-Ray. I will buy!

[FeelTheFORCE]

Robb, I'm sorry you took my post the wrong way, but I only meant well by it, and wasn't attempting to ridicule you for whatever you price them at, call you "nuts," or anything of the sort. The point of it was to ENCOURAGE people to buy a Blu-Ray player by showing how great of a value it can be, and to NOT be intimidated and scared away by the prices. I want more people to buy Blu-Ray players and, in turn, hopefully give you tons of support regarding TPR film segments on Blu-Ray, because I REALLY like this idea and hope it becomes a reality. I wouldn't have pulled all the stops and used so many examples if I didn't think Blu-Ray players were a great thing. I have all the respect in the world for you and your business here (if I hadn't, I doubt I'd still be sticking around here after 4 years of being a member), and would NEVER try and tell you how to run it.

Edited April 24, 2010 by FeelTheFORCE