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4K restoration on Star Wars — Page 3

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m_s0 said:

 Whatever we might think about the OOT, the average Joe won't care or understand what this is all about, hence why I doubt they'd make it a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Getting it out to maintain a consistent level of buzz and to get the hardcore nerds on board with the new Star Wars Overlords - sure. Making it a significant part of the marketing campaign (classic Star Wars is back, with a follow up soon etc.) - nope.

There's a chance I'm just too jaded to see it. It would be cool if they did make a big deal out of it, not only because of validation and all that stuff.

 I think you're partially right about a certain segment of the fanbase not being too hyped about the OOT release, but I think that has more to do with that fact that a generation has passed that has probably never seen the OOT.   I will say that my nephews did not know about the OOT versions until I showed them to them and they were in shock when they saw Sebastian Shaw as a force ghost!

But I think we get caught up in the internet 'demographics' sometimes, as there are ALOT of older SW fans who would come out of the woodwork if they released the OOT.  I can say that many of my friends would buy it in a second, and they don't talk about SW anymore. 

That is why I think the PT or SE fans on the are vastly overrated on the internet.  I think they are just loud as the OOT fans, so we both think WE are the real SW fans.  I still have yet to meet a real person in life who likes the Prequels more then the Originals, as it is only on the internet that I have encountered this type of fan!

Most SW fans probably never posted on a SW internet board, don't really think about anymore, probably bought the DVD and BluRays (not because they love the SE, but they put up with the changes because they love the movies so much.)  In the end, they will see Episode 7 and would buy the OOT set if it came out.

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emanswfan said:

More footage from the new restoration at 2:53 on their film restoration demo reel.

This almost confirms it, right? We know now that they're working from film sources and that this is not the same as the Blu-ray (the pod door is blue). I suppose they could be working from a 97 print, but why? 

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I just worry that since this is the same company that absorbed Lowry, this is just the Lowry work reconstituted as Reliance's.

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That particular comparison might be the older transfer from 2004. I remember that was one of the big "before and after" examples.

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digitalfreaknyc said:


I just worry that since this is the same company that absorbed Lowry, this is just the Lowry work reconstituted as Reliance's.
The dates on the resume say at least 2012 and describe a "4k Blu-ray".

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This guy was the director of image processing at Reliance/Lowry between 2006 and 2010 and said that a 4k restoration was done during his tenure. 

Some of the more notable projects completed during my tenure were Avatar, Prometheus, The Amazing Spiderman, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The Image Processing team completed 4K restorations of The Star Wars Trilogy and Titanic and 2K restorations of Alien, Aliens, Terminator, The Abyss and True Lies.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ryan-gomez/39/20a/405

“In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be “replaced” by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.” - George Lucas

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doubleofive said:

digitalfreaknyc said:


I just worry that since this is the same company that absorbed Lowry, this is just the Lowry work reconstituted as Reliance's.
The dates on the resume say at least 2012 and describe a "4k Blu-ray".


That doesn't mean it was DONE for 4k blu-ray. It was a 4k scan. And it's already quite old.

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Funny, I always thought Alien and Aliens were 4k all the way through. I guess they were just 2k finishes of 4k scans.

As for Star Wars, maybe the work took a long time? Especially if they were working frame by frame at 4k resolution. By "Star Wars" maybe he just means the first movie. Maybe that's all that was done by the time the blu-ray happened in 2011 and so they still used the old master for consistency's sake.

Like I said, there's no footage from Jedi in that demo reel. Maybe they worked on ANH several years ago and only recently worked on Empire.

They could be working on RotJ right now for all we know.

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OK, based on those picture comparisons, this is definitely a new restoration and the colors seem very close to the original colors but it could still very well just be the SE - the lightsabers weren't changed until 2004, so if they'd scanned the 97SE, you'd get the original lightsabers. And it seems likely, that they did a 4K restoration and that that is what they will be showing a DCP of in Atlanta this friday and we already know, that that will be the SE.

Assuming they are planning a BD release of this new master, it would still be good news, even if it was the SE, of course, especially if it was the 97SE, which had far less alterations and a proper 4K restoration of it would therefore be an ideal source for Despecialized or any such project - it would of course be better, if it was the original version and no such project would be necessary but I firmly believe, that with this new scan and with the current state of 35mm fan-preservations, we could have a true fan-restoration of the original version at the highest quality within a year.

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adywan said:


It's the 1997 SE version. You can tell by the lightsabers. Looks like they were using that version ready for the 3D releases. They would probably just have inserted the 2004/11 changes into the new 4k scan from the master they had.
Interesting, but their "restoration" video shows the same damage to the negative that they fixed already in 1997, right?

Man, if they make a 97/11 hybrid in 4k, that's just more stuff for us to find in the complete comparison. "They changed this in 04/11, but changed it back to the 97 version when they did the 15." *head explodes*

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No replies yet; crossing my fingers that it's not the SE.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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timdiggerm said:

Eh, those lightsaber blades look 2004 to me.

 Really??? They look MUCH better than I remember - but the truth is I haven't seen it since 2004

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pittrek said:

timdiggerm said:

Eh, those lightsaber blades look 2004 to me.

 Really??? They look MUCH better than I remember - but the truth is I haven't seen it since 2004

Agreed. The cores look a lot bigger, too.

The color looks off, but that's expected.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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Shit, nevermind, he said it was a 4k job of the entire trilogy.

The hell?

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The "original" in the restoration comparison can't be the interpositive made for the SE, as most of the damage of the original was dealt with in the cleanup for that version, and the damage matches the O-neg pretty perfectly. Furthermore, the original Lowry cleanup left some scratches on the Blu-ray which are cleaned up on the new video. This leads me to believe that it is a completely new cleanup of the original elements. Whether or not they include the SE changes is another matter, but it's pretty clear that at least part of what they have their hands on is the original.

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AntcuFaalb said:

No replies yet; crossing my fingers that it's not the SE.

The compositing in the lightsaber duel from those frames 005 posted is the '04 FX - work, no question about it.

We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions. 

Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com

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msycamore said:

AntcuFaalb said:

No replies yet; crossing my fingers that it's not the SE.

The compositing in the lightsaber duel from those frames 005 posted is the '04 FX - work, no question about it.

The top of the three? It seems to match GOUT better than the DVD/BD.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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NeverarGreat said:

Here are three screengrabs which I've fit to the bluray dimensions. There's different warping on the stills in question, so it's pretty clearly a new scan:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/83700/picture:0

The skintones look much better on this scan, as well as the shadow detail (check out the switches behind C-3PO and the X-Wing starfield). The oppressive pink flashes are handled much better as well. The reds are not bleeding, nor are the greens (R2's green panel lights), and the exposure is far better here. The only gripe I have is that C-3PO looks too green, but that's small potatoes compared to the dramatic jump in quality in this scan.

JEDIT: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/83709/picture:0

The shadow detail regained in the trench run shot is quite excellent.

 This is why I read this website!  You are a godsend.  That scan looks beautiful--the way the Death Star set is cleared of the hot-pink sheen and cooled back to its grey-green glory!

Calming...calming...

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AntcuFaalb said:

msycamore said:

AntcuFaalb said:

No replies yet; crossing my fingers that it's not the SE.

The compositing in the lightsaber duel from those frames 005 posted is the '04 FX - work, no question about it.

The top of the three? It seems to match GOUT better than the DVD/BD.

Yep, the top one. I guess that's probably how the work in 2004 looked like before the colorists turned it into a candy colored mess. There might have been a new transfer done since then, and that's maybe what we are looking at here, but that's definitely not the original compositing. See Ben's saber for just one example.

You can also see a different appearance of their work in the 2004 DVD chapter menus.

We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions. 

Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com