I originally started this project back in April 2010, after finding the originaltrilogy.com and learning that their was a higher then VHS quality release of the 1997 SE, namely LaserDisc. The project started as an attempt to preserve the UK PAL LaserDisc box set. To get me started I brought my player and discs from a well known auction site for £200 shipped. Then I purchased the ADVC-55 for about £150 shipped after some failed attempts at using a cheap £40 USB solution. Since starting I have been on a steep learning curve, having spent many hours reading online forums for advice, help and information, not to mention the months of trial and error using different configurations, settings and filters.

It is now 6 months since I started this project and I have successfully completed Version 1 of my 1997 SE preservation, with Version 2 about 66% complete. I am also considering expanding this project to include a preservation of the 1995 PAL (French) THX OUT LaserDiscs, using the English audio from the PAL GOUT DVDs.

From the outset I had planned to release this preservation on DL DVDs using an Anamorphic 16:9 aspect ratio and including the special features from side 3 of Return of the Jedi. Originally I had planned to use the 2.0 stereo audio from the PAL LaserDiscs however I have since been supplied with the DolbyDigital 5.1 surround sound audio for each film from the NTSC 1997 SE release, which I have retimed and synced to the PAL video.

Technical Details:

Source Material
Video from the 1997 Special Edition UK PAL LaserDiscs.
5.1 Dolby Digital Sourround soundtrack from the 1997 Special Edition US NTSC LaserDiscs

Hardware
Pioneer CLD-D925 Laserdisc player
Canopus ADVC-55
Belkin Quad Shielded Firewire (IEEE 1394) cable
Belkin PureAV Quad Shielded 24k Gold 1.2m Composite RCA Cable
2007 20" iMac 2.4ghz Core2Duo 4GB Ram 360GB Hard Drive
Lacie 1TB Firewire 800 External Hard Drive

Software
Capturing: Final Cut Pro using miniDV Codec
Post-processing: Final Cut Pro using Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) Codec
Encoding: Compressor 3
DVD Authoring: DVD Studio Pro 4

Project Log:

UPDATE 3/9/2010: I am now using segments from the Widescreen (Letterboxed) VHS versions of the 1997 Special Edition to bridge the gap between changes in the LaserDisc sides.

UPDATE 15/9/10: Thanks to Darth Editous and Jetrell Fo I now have the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio from the 1997 Special Edition NTSC LaserDiscs and will now be using this audio instead.

UPDATE 19/9/2010: Version 1 of this is project is close to being finished, with V2 in the planning stages.

UPDATE 23/9/2010: Version 1 of this project is now complete, any one interested in a copy should PM me.

UPDATE 24/9/2010: Planned changes between Version1 and Version 2 of this project;
1. Use of Belkin PureAV Quad-Shielded 24k Gold S-Video cable.
2. Use of Belkin Quad-Shielded Firewire 6-pin to 6-pin cable.
3. 5-Capture averaging to reduce any random analog noise.
4. Use of Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) codec.
5. No longer using automatic Gamma Correction in ProRes codec.
6. Changed the filter chain to just use the "G Chroma Sharpen Interlaced" filter, set to anti-alias only.
7. Droped the Color Choker filter as previously used in V1 ESB & V1 ROTJ from the filter chain.

In addition to these changes I am thinking about doing an NTSC release.

UPDATE 25/9/10: Just did a quick compare between using the Belkin PureAV Quad Shielded 24k Gold S-Video and Composite Cables, and I think the composite has come out on top, so I will be using this now instead of the S-Video.

UPDATE 9/10/10: The DVD image for ANH V2 is completely finished, it just needs burning and testing in a DVD player.

UPDATE 10/10/10: The DVD image for ESB V2 is completely finished, it just needs burning and testing in a DVD player.

UPDATE 13/10/10: The DVD image for ROTJ V2 is completely finished, it just needs burning and testing in a DVD player.

UPDATE 14/10/10: V2 of the 1997 SE release is now completely finished, having successfully burned to Verbatim DL DVDs and played successfully in a number of DVD players.