Been a long time since i've posted on my blog. Figured I'd write something :D
Regarding older episodes, I've been thinking about whether or not to use the 4:3 (original) versions or the 16:9 (remastered) versions of episodes for images on this wiki. There's arguments to be made for and against each of these aspect ratios, and this blog post is gonna go over a few of them.
For those who don't know what I'm talking about, here's a handy little visual.
Why use 4:3 Ratio?
Up until 2009, all Happy Tree Friends episodes were produced in 4:3 format (also known as fullscreen) They was storyboarded in 4:3, they were animated in 4:3, and were released in 4:3. The downside for these releases is that they were all posted to other platforms in Standard Definition (480p*), meaning that there isn't much detail.
However, for all mainline episodes produced in 4:3, we have their original .swf (Adobe Flash) files. Unlike most video formats, Flash is vector-based, meaning that we can resize it's contents without losing any quality. Because of this, it's possible to create high definition versions (720p, 1080p, even 4K) of these episodes in their original aspect ratio.
To sum things up:
Pros:
- Original flash files allow for infinite quality files
- We have all 4:3 internet series' flash files
- 4:3 is how these episodes were produced---not modified at all
Cons:
- Original videos are only in Standard Definition
- We don't have any TV series flash files**
*TV broadcasts for these episodes were in 480i NTSC, and 576i PAL.
**Except for two scenes from a trailer posted on the old HTF site.
Why use 16:9 Ratio?
Once Mondo Media made the switch to producing HTF episodes in 1080p HD in 2009, they began releasing remastered versions of their older episodes, which were in 16:9 (also known as widescreen) ratio. For the internet series, they would extend the original frame's boundaries to fill in the left and right sides of the new frame, meaning that no part of the original 4:3 version was lost. Because of this, it's not necessary to re-render the original 4:3 flash files in a wider format. However, this can make some scenes that only have one character on screen look somewhat empty, though.
The TV series, on the other hand, did not extend the frame's boundaries. Because there is much more content from the TV series than there are 4:3 internet episodes, the crew making these remasters decided to take the lazy route and cut off the top and bottom part of the frame. This can make some scenes look really off, since they fill the frame too much.
To sum things up:
Pros:
- Content is already in High Definition
- No need to re-render the original flash files
- Internet series doesn't lose any part of the original versions
Cons:
- Aspect ratio conversion can make some scenes look off or empty
- TV series had it's top and bottom chopped off
So which one is better?
It's really your own opinion. I tend to prefer the 4:3 versions, since that's the original format for the older ones, but some people prefer the 16:9 remasters. That's why I'm not changing any episode's images (at least, for now). There's people above me here that could easily remove my perms for making such a drastic change, and I wouldn't want that to happen. I like it here too much ;)
Thanks for reading,
- BarelyGonnaDoAnything