Retro the master D1 tapes for the classic CGI cartoon "ReBoot" have been recovered

[Krvavi Abadas]

For years, there have been rumours circulating about the status of the original PAL D1 masters of ReBoot and whether they still exist. After visiting Mainframe Studios yesterday to take a look through their ReBoot archives, we’re happy to confirm that the masters are all here, for every episode of the show!

Getting a proper digital transfer of the D1 masters is high priority item for us. It would mean having the entire series in the best possible picture and sound quality, presented as accurately as the day it was rendered. There’s also a library of additional ReBoot content (animation tests, toy commercials, Electronic Arts video game footage, IMAX content) that is currently stuck on the D1 format and we need to preserve it for the future. This would obviously benefit the documentary but ultimately, it would benefit the fans the most!

Here’s where we need help. We need a working D1 tape deck to capture all these tapes. Mainframe hasn’t had one for years. We haven’t been able to find anyone in Vancouver, British Columbia, or even all of Canada that has one of these tape decks. We’d greatly prefer buying or renting one of these decks so that the tapes can be captured locally, without needing to ship them.

If anyone has a lead on where we might be able to get one of these decks, please contact us!

(facebook link)

the note about content from the "Electronic Arts video game" being found definitely caught my eye, i'm curious how that'll be handled. as i doubt EA would ever be interested in remastering it.

 

[chocolate_supra]

 

[kvetcha]

excellent

 

[GenOneCam]

That‘s awesome. I grew up on YTV and ReBoot and Beast Wars were essential viewing. I hope they can find the tape deck they need.

 

[Suswave]

wow, fascinating

I haven’t heard that name in a long, long time…

 

[Shadow]

I've tagged a number of the people that work on the Doctor Who restorations, and they've responded with a few tips for the right equipment to transfer the tapes. While the show isn't meant for me, this is legit amazing and while they manage to get it all arranged!

 

[robertman2]

Are the Beast Wars tapes missing too?

 

[Koren Lesthe]

To Mend and Defend.

 

[Oscillator]

This is really cool. Not everyone was happy with the DVD collection released a while back, it ran a bit slow compared to broadcast and had some audio artifacts. Assuming these tapes have the audio on them and aren't raw, silent renders, they'll be the perfect* answer.

*Though it's possible they don't have things like distributor logos on them? Those old YTV/Corus logos are musts to turn Canuck nostalgia cranks.

P.S. While the show was made in Canada (NTSC), the tapes are in PAL so they could render fewer frames.