Cropped Cutscenes

[Jadentheman]

It really bothers me that such a company as Square Enix can't even make something simple such as real 16x9 ratio. It kinda ruins the HD remastering to me because important visual cues were cut due to plain laziness. I mean if 1 person can give true 16x9 ratio to the PS2 version then surely a company as big as Square Enix can muster that. Sigh... hoping for stereoscopic 3D support then or for someone to do a widescreen hack for the PS3 remasters

 

[Chaser]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

The cutscenes are fine. Really, they're not cutting off anything that's important.

 

[Mirby]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

Well I'm sorry, but I fail to see the point of this thread.

Basically, you're bugged that a company can't do something an emulator can and are repeatedly pointing to said program as proof that Square Enix isn't doing their job. And honestly, it seems like you're just fishing for agreement, for someone to stroke your ego.

I think it looks fine, and it'll look fine in gameplay and everything too.

And to build on what Chaser said, it's the same as watching a movie on normal resolution then widescreen. Yes, it gets cropped, but not by much. And there's nothing vital removed by the cropping. You're really throwing a huge fit over something incredibly trivial.

 

[Knehcs]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

It really bothers me that such a company as Square Enix can't even make something simple such as real 16x9 ratio. It kinda ruins the HD remastering to me because important visual cues were cut due to plain laziness. I mean if 1 person can give true 16x9 ratio to the PS2 version then surely a company as big as Square Enix can muster that. Sigh... hoping for stereoscopic 3D support then or for someone to do a widescreen hack for the PS3 remasters

I agree wholeheartedly, and I'm disappointed that so many people here find this to be a trivial issue. I'm also disappointed that we've seen little to no update in textures and animations (even if they've made slight adjustments to models). Other than slight gameplay tweaks and the additional Final Mix content, naerly all of the data required to present these games in this higher resolution is already present on the original discs (as seen through various legal emulators). Unless we see other significant changes or improvements, it seems as though they're just cashing in on us fans without making much effort to really improve upon the experience.

 

[LordPhantomhive]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

*shrugs*Eh doubt it will be that big of a deal.

 

[OathkeeperRoxas XIII]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

Was this necessary, it really isn't a big deal.

 

[Chaser]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

Unless we see other significant changes or improvements, it seems as though they're just cashing in on us fans without making much effort to really improve upon the experience.

Yeah, these Days scenes surely aren't S-E making an effort to improve the experience of the game.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

I don't even see how this is a big deal. I've seen tons of media get cropped for widescreen viewing. Even if it is possible to make widescreen without cropping, I am not bugged enough by it to see it as a major issue. Also we only saw a 2 minute trailer for what will be a 50+ hour game experience (give or take some hours depending on how fast you play). There isn't enough to judge if they've updated textures yet. The game still looks fantastic so I just can't see the point in putting in any energy into complaining.

I know there are many of you who do care. There are also many of us who don't and might not have even noticed. Will this ruin the game experience? Not one bit. It's playable, will look better than it ever has on the PS2 (and only a minority of people have played on an emulator so it isn't like this is a widespread complaint.) It's not like they cropped down to Sora's nose.

 

[OathkeeperRoxas XIII]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

I was going to mention that it was a two minute trailer we're judging, but thank you for saying it, Spock.

Give it time and maybe it will look better with more trailers and news. Remember how alot reacted to the first DDD trailer?

Oh the memories.

 

[ajmrowland]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

The cutscenes are fine. Really, they're not cutting off anything that's important.

I disagree. while losing a few pixels in and of itself is trivial, sometimes the framing may feel a little cramped, and a lack of pan and scan can make a shot like Ansem floating in the air for the first time lose it's feeling because the top of his head is missing. still trivial by comparison, but that's where I feel the power of that shot lies and makes you feel more like you're looking up at him than in the trailer.

the same reasons why many think it's wrong to crop for widescreen viewing. as a movie buff and future filmmaker, i feel everyone must watch in the original aspect ratio or a ratio that doesnt sacrifice the integrity of the original product. Spock, I see your point, but this is not simply a crop. it's a badly done one-at least in that one shot. pixels are pixels. framing is everything else.

Edit: Actually, I just looked at a screen of the original. It really is the bottom that gets cropped, so it's nothing.

And yes, it's just a trailer. For all we know, they're planning on reprogramming the cutscene camera and havent gotten around to it yet. Of course, considering it's an in-game camera it could take just about every shot.

And to you, Oathkeeper: can you remind me what the reactions to the first DDD trailer was? All I remember was the awesomeness of flowmotion and the fact they were returning to TT to fight Xemnas and Ansem.

Notice anything weird about that? That's not even the proper aspect ratio. the true AR of cutscenes in the PS2 games is 1.66:1. This is closer to 1.33:1 or 4:3. I didnt notice until just now, so it kind of a trivial difference, but how can somebody who posted a link to this as a representative of the original make an accurate comparison

 

[Jadentheman]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

^Agreed. Usually Square is about quality so we'll see. One thing to note is that they have pulled shit like this **cough** Final Fantasy XII *cough**

 

[Lnds500]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

Just wanted to add that, as other people have said, this is not the final product. Trailers (movie trailers in particular) have changed/cropped the image to fit TV standards of the time. Maybe they thought that a 16:9 trailer would appeal more to the masses?>

But then again, someone has said that Square has done this again?

 

[OathkeeperRoxas XIII]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

Just tjed to add that, as other people have said, this is not the final product. Trailers (movie trailers in particular) have changed/cropped the image to fit TV standards of the time. Maybe they thought that a 16:9 trailer would appeal more to the masses?>

But then again, someone has said that Square has done this again?

Yes the one above mentioned FFXII, not a good agurment as that game had a different graphic design before 13.

 

[axel95]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

Personally, I don't really care. But I can understand the complaints of those who do. Just keep in mind that this is the first trailer we have seen. It may or may not change. I'm more worried about it coming to the U.S. than something as trivial as this.

 

[Delsan]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

Like the majority of the posters here, I don't really see why it's an issue. You're lucky we're even getting a full HD game. I recently bought the God of War HD collection, and the cutscenes are not remastered at all. The game's great, but playing in HD and having to all of a sudden switch to the regular non-remastered PS2 cutscenes is a little jarring.

And besides, the game's not just an HD port. We're finally getting the Final Mix. The controls are being revamped. Days is even getting HD cutscenes with new ones altogether. You can resort to your emulator, but you're gonna be missing out on a great collection of games for the PS3.

 

[Decrith]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

I recently bought the God of War HD collection, and the cutscenes are not remastered at all. The game's great, but playing in HD and having to all of a sudden switch to the regular non-remastered PS2 cutscenes is a little jarring.

This, they have 2 choices, keep the cutscenes unremastered at all, or crop it down to get the 16:9 ratio they need without looking like they stretched it out.

 

[Chaser]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

without looking like they stretched it out.

Awwwwwwwww, shit. Here we go *grabs popcorn*

 

[johnboy3434]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

This, they have 2 choices, keep the cutscenes unremastered at all, or crop it down to get the 16:9 ratio they need without looking like they stretched it out.

The following argument is made on the assumption that the trailer accurately portrays the visuals of the game.

No, there was a third option: widen the "camera lense" by 16.7% on both the left and right during gameplay, resulting in a 16:9 picture that isn't stretched. Instead of taking away from what we could see like they're doing now, they would be adding to it. Then, when cutscenes play, cover these "new" areas with vertical bars so that the cutscenes maintain their original 4:3 composition. From an artistic standpoint, this is objectively the best solution. The cutscene director's intent is fully preserved, the player gets a widescreen gaming experience, and the clarity of the picture is still increased by a factor of three at minimum.

Why Square chose not to do this is beyond me. Even if they didn't care to add the pillarboxes to the cutscenes, surely they must have realized that widening was better than cropping, right? I don't know how the mechanics of the engine work, but this suggests to me that they were somehow unable to adjust the shape of the in-game camera. That would force them to crop like they've done. That seems like an odd limitation for an engine to have, though.

 

[Jadentheman]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

This, they have 2 choices, keep the cutscenes unremastered at all, or crop it down to get the 16:9 ratio they need without looking like they stretched it out.

Gameplay ran on a REAL ps2 with real 16x9 ratio. Real time cutscenes also extended to 16x9 ratio. And this was an amateur done hack. Nothing stretch (well except for the HUD, but when I played on the emulator HUD seemed fine)

[video=youtube;w8luCJMYrmg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8luCJMYrmg[/video]

 

[ajmrowland]

Re: Discussion: Cropped Cutscenes

^Agreed. Usually Square is about quality so we'll see. One thing to note is that they have pulled shit like this **cough** Final Fantasy XII *cough**

Really? I didnt notice cuz I played the game in widescreen exclusively. Based on the menu, it looked more to me like a stretch job.

This, they have 2 choices, keep the cutscenes unremastered at all, or crop it down to get the 16:9 ratio they need without looking like they stretched it out.

But that's not the point. The real question that's being asked is "what about option 3" theoretically, with all the camera programming, shouldnt they be able to change the cutscene camera to 16:9 without changing anything else. It should be just as easy as rerendering the pre-rendered "movie" scenes in open-matte, something that's been done to CGI since at least a Bug's Life, and to other movies since the dawn of Cinemascope.

of course, they may no longer have access to the software to alter the ingame cutscene camera like that. Pixar wasnt able to animate the models from Toy Story 2 when they used them as reference for Toy Story 3, so any upgrades to the square system could've affected this collection.

Gameplay ran on a REAL ps2 with real 16x9 ratio. Real time cutscenes also extended to 16x9 ratio. And this was an amateur done hack. Nothing stretch (well except for the HUD, but when I played on the emulator HUD seemed fine)

But that's not fully real. A lot of the elements on the side were stretched, like the HUD and the command menu. I'll give you that most of the 3D graphics are skillfully done, but it's still not true widescreen in cutscenes because of the thin black bars.