Member bobo Posted March 25, 2014 Author Member Share Posted March 25, 2014 what i was told is that they eventually plan to release every known english dub that they have access to. this could take quite a while, even years. they were talking as far ahead as 2016--- and that is if this is a success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Rocket Posted March 25, 2014 Member Share Posted March 25, 2014 what i was told is that they eventually plan to release every known english dub that they have access to. this could take quite a while, even years. they were talking as far ahead as 2016--- and that is if this is a success. That's great. Hopefully these do well. I would prefer to have physical blu-ray releases, but I don't think there's any chance of that happening for most, if not all of these titles. Is there any consistency as to when new titles are posted? Or is it random? Also, has anyone found a way of accessing the Shaw catalog page from within iTunes? I can only get there via the link posted in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted March 27, 2014 Member Share Posted March 27, 2014 Also, has anyone found a way of accessing the Shaw catalog page from within iTunes? I can only get there via the link posted in this thread. It seems you should have iTunes installed on your computer then register as it is area specific; then access the iTunes store via the software/application but I am not too sure if this is the only way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member David Rees Posted March 27, 2014 Member Share Posted March 27, 2014 I just discovered these and while I prefer physical media, I found that I could correct the frame rate from 25fps to 24fps and burn them to a disc and get an end product superior to any dvd (at least as far as video is concerned) out there. I'd say they're even superior to any of the botched pal-to-ntsc converted blu-rays that are available (36th Chamber, any of the Well-Go stuff). Any chance you could share the list of which titles Celestial plans to make available on iTunes, bobo? I 'd love to upgrade some of my IVL titles such as Magic Blade, Shaolin Temple, Intimate Confessions..., Men From a Monastery, and a host of others. Thats great that you can do this, what software did you use and was it difficult to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Rocket Posted March 28, 2014 Member Share Posted March 28, 2014 Thats great that you can do this, what software did you use and was it difficult to do? Unfortunately there is no "1-click" software option. It involves using a handful of different programs (all free). It's not particularly complicated if you understand the concepts of what you're doing, and most of the individual steps are "1-click". However, if you're a complete novice it might seem overwhelming. Step one involves removing the drm from the iTunes files and I'm not sure if that's appropriate discussion for this board, so I'll just lay out the basic steps. Note: The following is in reference to the HD versions of the movies. I haven't done anything with the SD. 1. remove drm 2. demux the movie file (That means splitting up the video, audio and subs into separate files). Program used: MP4Box 3. use audio editing software to slow down and correct pitch of the audio tracks (4.096% is the magic number). Program used: Audacity 4. Use a subtitle editor to change the timing of the subs from 25fps to 23.976fps. Program used: Subtitle Edit 5. Recombine video, audio, and subs into .mkv making sure to set the video frame rate to 23.976. (You can also create chapters during this step, but it's not required.) Program used: mkvMerge At this point you have a perfectly usable .mkv file which can either be played on a computer, streamed to your tv, or played by your blu-ray player via usb flash drive or external hard drive. The whole process takes me about 30 minutes, but times vary depending on your computer. My pc is on the older side, so it's not terribly fast. If you want to burn a disc playable on your blu-ray player, there are a couple of more steps. 6. You know how movies with wide aspect ratios (like Shaw Scope) still have "black bars" on the top and bottom when viewed on a 16x9 tv? Those "black bars" are hard encoded into the video because HD video needs to be 16x9. However, the iTunes files do not have any "black bars." We need to add them. Thankfully there's a program called uncropMKV which is made just for this very process. This involves re-encoding the video and is probabably the most complicated step and longest step. It's still not a big deal though. Program used: uncropMKV 7. Take the newly uncropped .mkv and convert it to AVCHD. Program used: TSMuxer 8. Burn AVCHD onto a dvd-r (the Shaw titles seem to all fit onto single layer dvd-r). This should be playable on your blu-ray player. Program used: ImgBurn If anyone wants more detailed instructions, feel free to pm me. I'm not an expert by any means (especially when it comes to audio) and I've learned how to do this mostly by googling the info. I'm sure there are easier/better ways of doing things than how I do them, but I was perfectly happy with the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted March 28, 2014 Member Share Posted March 28, 2014 Unfortunately there is no "1-click" software option. It involves using a handful of different programs (all free). It's not particularly complicated if you understand the concepts of what you're doing, and most of the individual steps are "1-click". However, if you're a complete novice it might seem overwhelming. Step one involves removing the drm from the iTunes files and I'm not sure if that's appropriate discussion for this board, so I'll just lay out the basic steps. Note: The following is in reference to the HD versions of the movies. I haven't done anything with the SD. Firstly if there are legitimate pro sites like VideoHelp which has been going on for years about this kind of stuff http://www.videohelp.com/convert then I don't see why we can't discuss it here. Secondly apologies for misunderstanding your previous post.I don't think iTunes has a dedicated Shaw catalogue page within the store at the moment.They are mainly as far as UK iTunes store is concerned under the Action Adventure category amongst other general action movies.A few can also be found under Foreign. Maybe there will be a dedicated Celestial Shaw Brothers page if the titles get more popular in future;why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tigerstyles Posted March 28, 2014 Member Share Posted March 28, 2014 Itunes UK is useless trying in vein to find Shaw Brothers titles you have to just type in Shaolin and hope for the results to throw up... related tab too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Rocket Posted March 28, 2014 Member Share Posted March 28, 2014 Firstly if there are legitimate pro sites like VideoHelp which has been going on for years about this kind of stuff http://www.videohelp.com/convert then I don't see why we can't discuss it here. True, but it's a slippery slope towards piracy once you start talking about removing copyright protection. I know some forums prefer it's member avoid the topic and this board has never been big on that sort of techno talk anyway. I just didn't want to speak out of turn. A quick google search on the topic will give you all the info you need anyway. Secondly apologies for misunderstanding your previous post.I don't think iTunes has a dedicated Shaw catalogue page within the store at the moment.They are mainly as far as UK iTunes store is concerned under the Action Adventure category amongst other general action movies.A few can also be found under Foreign. Maybe there will be a dedicated Celestial Shaw Brothers page if the titles get more popular in future;why not? There is a dedicated Shaw page in iTunes (at least in the US). Someone posted a link to it earlier in the thread. The link opens in your browser then redirects to iTunes. All of the Shaw titles are there on one page. I was just wondering if there was a way to access that page from within the store and not have to go through the browser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted March 28, 2014 Member Share Posted March 28, 2014 True, but it's a slippery slope towards piracy once you start talking about removing copyright protection. I know some forums prefer it's member avoid the topic and this board has never been big on that sort of techno talk anyway. I just didn't want to speak out of turn. A quick google search on the topic will give you all the info you need anyway. There is a dedicated Shaw page in iTunes (at least in the US). Someone posted a link to it earlier in the thread. The link opens in your browser then redirects to iTunes. All of the Shaw titles are there on one page. I was just wondering if there was a way to access that page from within the store and not have to go through the browser. Very good response and you are 100% correct in all aspects.With the copyright issue I guess there is a lot of politics involved but with many loopholes that certain areas around the globe might conveniently ignore eg codes for region free hacks, 0 all zones legitimate Hollywood films industry standard pressed blu-ray discs not forgetting the significant HD Fury gadget palaver; made illegal in the US but legal to use in the UK and most of Europe i think which defeats HDCP (High Definition Copy Protection). Try this link for iTunes Shaw page....http://www.celestialpictures.com/shaw/shaw-main.asp then click on " Download Now At The iTunes Store " on the right to see if this will take you to the dedicated page within the iTunes store.Hope it works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chemical Lemon Posted April 9, 2014 Member Share Posted April 9, 2014 The Delightful Forest and Golden Swallow are up on iTunes now. Both have english dubs, though I suspect the one for Golden Swallow is a recently made one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Eastern Evil Posted April 9, 2014 Member Share Posted April 9, 2014 The Delightful Forest and Golden Swallow are up on iTunes now. Both have english dubs, though I suspect the one for Golden Swallow is a recently made one? If I can remember correct, it is a -70's stylr dub. I just wonder when they will get a dub none of us have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member bobo Posted April 10, 2014 Author Member Share Posted April 10, 2014 the english dub for GOLDEN SWALLOW has been available for years. it played on the short lived martial arts channel in the states and somebody copied it. it's been available threw collectors or even pan media . the dub i have is the original voice group from those years and it's pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member waywardsage Posted April 10, 2014 Member Share Posted April 10, 2014 As much as I prefer Blu's, I really think iTunes is our last best hope for getting Shaws out to the wider world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chemical Lemon Posted April 10, 2014 Member Share Posted April 10, 2014 The 14 Amazons is also up on iTunes. Not sure how long it's been there, it doesn't show in the iTunes Shaw Brothers page. It may have been out there for some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted May 11, 2014 Member Share Posted May 11, 2014 Sorry if I asked this before, but, has anyone that purchased the DD blu of 36th Chamber of Shaolin bought the iTunes download? If so, how do they compare? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kevenz Posted May 15, 2014 Member Share Posted May 15, 2014 they can't be the same...... the higher bitrate on the blu should make a difference on bigger hdtv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chemical Lemon Posted May 16, 2014 Member Share Posted May 16, 2014 I don't own the DD 36th chamber blu ray, but if what's been said about it is true then the disc was botched. 1080i and some other issues. This might be the one situation where the iTunes version looks better than the blu ray. If English dub is important to you though, the iTunes version does not have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted May 16, 2014 Member Share Posted May 16, 2014 Cool, thanks for the response. I have the 36th Chamber blu but it does not look that bad to me. But, then again I do not have a giant screen tv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OldPangYau Posted May 21, 2014 Member Share Posted May 21, 2014 So I took the plunge and bought one of them, Boxer From Shantung... and I gotta say, the quality is the best I've seen for the film! It does indeed have a true HD look to it, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it had both Mandarin and English mono... I didn't even know digital downloads had multiple audio tracks I don't own the DD 36th chamber blu ray, but if what's been said about it is true then the disc was botched. 1080i and some other issues. This might be the one situation where the iTunes version looks better than the blu ray. If English dub is important to you though, the iTunes version does not have it. I (sadly) own the disc, and yeah... it's a disaster. Soft 1080i PAL-to-NTSC botch job. Hell, the DD DVD looked better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Skeleton Claw Posted June 6, 2014 Member Share Posted June 6, 2014 The releases on the US iTunes store seems to have stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member spannick Posted June 6, 2014 Member Share Posted June 6, 2014 at least here's hope, eh: Celestial Pictures' Shaw Brothers Universe Film Library: Dear XXX, as we are trying to catch up with the rest of the platform, that's why we are holding up new release on iTunes. Stay tune with us for the next batch shall be up in the coming Fall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Skeleton Claw Posted June 6, 2014 Member Share Posted June 6, 2014 "...in the Fall"???? Damn. Thanks for the info though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member spannick Posted June 6, 2014 Member Share Posted June 6, 2014 yep, i had to re-read it three times to believe it. what the hell is taking so long? who knows... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chemical Lemon Posted June 6, 2014 Member Share Posted June 6, 2014 ouch... I guess I can stop checking every day. I'm guessing when they say they're "trying to catch up with the rest of the platform" they mean other streaming or download services. Which I guess is a good thing, hopefully a sign that they at least believe there's enough cash in it to make it worthwhile to invest the time needed to coordinate with multiple services. That's a long wait though, hopefully they'll come back with some interesting titles. I really hope they start mixing in some of the movies from the zii eagle and some movies with rare dubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Skeleton Claw Posted June 9, 2014 Member Share Posted June 9, 2014 Okay, well Celestial just posted on their Facebook page that Kid From Kwangtung is now available for download on their iTunes page complete with a link to the store. However, when I clicked on the link, the title is not there - nor is it anywhere in the store after I searched for it. Their post is only 2 hours old so maybe they made the announcement prematurely before he film was actually up on the store. Hopefully it will have the rare dub. Moreover, hopefully this portends to more (good) releases before the fall rolls around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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