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Anti-Matter

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13-Dec-2007
Last activity
10-Mar-2008
Posts
66

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Post
#308380
Topic
Star Wars Prologue - Epic Prequel Edit (Released)
Time
Rotoscoping....

I have completed some finishing touches of Part 1 (such as feathering all the transition wipes), and am now in production of Part 2--the first point in the movie where elements from EP1 are used.

There are several sequences containing Jarjar that can be omitted entirely, but there are plenty that cannot. I will occasionally have to rotoscope him out, and it just happens that the first scene I want to edit was filmed with a (slowly) moving background. Here is the first frame of the sequence (Qui-gon stops talking here, so there is no character interaction).

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/3006/rotoscopingjarjarro6.jpg

NOTE: Obi-wan will be entering this scene soon, which is partly why I need it.

I am new to rotoscoping, but I understand the principle and method that can be used in Photoshop (or After Effects) when there is a 'clean' reference frame available for cloning. But what about the case when the target of deletion is ALWAYS in the shot?

I'm hoping that some of you have some experience with this and can offer suggestions, tips or recommendations for other tools that might help.

There's got to be a way to do it with good results.
Post
#308047
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time
Anti-Matter. what problem are you having with playing the video? If you downloaded this via torrent is it possible that your client reported it as complete but it actually wasn't ( i've had problems like that in the past). try forcing a re-check on the file just in case.


Damn, you are magical Adywan. The forced re-check advice was right on! It appears there are some seedy seeders in the swarm.

Thanks a bunch.
Post
#307985
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time
you would get better help if you started a new thread in the technical help section


Understood, but it's probably not necessary to open a new thread. I will eventually track the problem, but I simply needed confirmation that the second copy of Ady's file is ok. Presumably, someone (other than Adywan) downloaded the original RAR-packeted copy and then prepared a torrent for the unpacked AVI. I was not entirely convinced that people were distinguishing the two copies of the AVI, but Josuha_Blue has just indicated that it is OK.

Thanks

Post
#307974
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time
OK, this is getting ridiculous.

Can someone confirm that the AVI that was TORRENTED is not corrupt? Did the original seeder hack the AVI header or something? I have installed the latest XviD codec and Adywan's file does NOT render properly. According the RIFF header, it was encoded with XviD 1.1
Post
#307965
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time
Since this is PAL-sourced, wouldn't it be the NTSC that features the pitch compromise?


No.

PAL discs based on North American titles typically use the simplest method to realize 25 fps. It is why "PAL preference" arguments always imply a caveat.

It is my understanding that Star Wars was (digitally) sourced to North American standards, and that no attempt was made to preserve running times for other markets. Granted, I only have access to the NTSC discs at the moment, so if someone can correct me, please do.

I am also biased to assume the worst, because every PAL disc I have ever rented/purchased in Asia is WRONG. It's wrong, I tell you! Wrong!
Post
#307910
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time
Speaking of the DVD...

Adywan,

1. Have you prepared an audio commentary track? If not, you might consider delaying your DVD production. Doing an audio commentary is great fun and can be cathartic after a long project.

2. Please contact me about PIF(ing), because I am in Asia (Hong Kong/Taiwan region) and do not want to wait until the next ice age to see your edit. I still cannot render your file properly (please advise concerning your codecs).

I can burn DVD-9 (I do it regularly), but must emphasize to everyone the importance of using EXPENSIVE media: Verbatim is the only way to go. If you burn on anything else and then forward it, you are probably sending a coaster. ImgBurn + MDS + Verbatim = DUAL LAYER SUCCESS

I prefer NTSC (the 4% pitch compromise is offensive to me), but I own the Pioneer DV-696 and can watch/test anything, so please count me in for ANY format.

3. Torrenting is better than PIFing (others here have already tried to make this point). Once the hive is established, DVD-9 can be had in 5 to 7 days with low to moderate transfer rates (say, ~15KB/s). The hive for your AVI is already so healthy that I needed only 6 hours to DL.
Post
#307905
Topic
Star Wars Prologue - Epic Prequel Edit (Released)
Time
Well, it is blue in the official releases; but that would be too much blue, in my opinion.

In the Prologue, EP3 Yellow is used:
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6592/alongtimeagoup9.jpg

And for the curious, I am using the original phosphor green for the production credit (though I am hoping that maybe someone can design a better one for me )
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/5058/antimatterfx3.jpg

I generally don't recommend using different colors for the title and crawl--I think you have to let one constrain the other, which is why I instead altered A long time ago.... If anyone has mixed colors successfully in the introduction sequence, I'd like to see it.
Post
#307864
Topic
Star Wars Prologue - Epic Prequel Edit (Released)
Time
Wives can be a great asset during fan productions. Here is one example...

I have spent more time on the opening title and crawl than any other sequence thus far. Much of this time was spent learning new software and hunting down fonts, but I also spent (or rather, wasted) several hours thinking about color. If you examine the title shots below, you can see that there is no standard Lucas print. The colors have varied from lime yellow to light gold.

Star Wars (original)
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/1077/ep4aao0.jpg

Star Wars SE
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/8570/ep4os2.jpg

Prequel Episodes 1-3
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/82/ep1ax6.jpg
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/208/ep2an2.jpg
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/4919/ep3ju6.jpg

When it came time to make some color decisions for my title, I leaned toward EP3. In fact, I prefer using elements from EP3 whenever possible because the DVD provides the most up-to-date source for sound and digital effects. My wife also preferred the EP3 color.

However, she also wondered why I was tasking myself to choose a Lucas color. With her subtle charm, she reminded me that this is MY project. I could use any damn color I wanted. It didn't even have to be in the yellow family!

Of course! What was I thinking? I didn't have have five color choices; I actually had millions of color choices.

I eventually stumbled into the short wave-length family of colors and found a blue that we both agreed looked very sci-fi. However, we quickly determined that it also looked like the blue used in old style video games. It was a good color for the movie, Tron--but not for a Star Wars prologue.

The color I eventually developed looks very "Star Wars" to me and my wife; and probably for good reason. It is based on the same RGB values used in the title for EP3. I merely swapped the red and blue components

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/2462/prologuetitlevs0.jpg

Star Wars purists might have issue with my decision to go blue, but I argue that the strong color departure helps to reinforce that this is a prologue to the original trilogy. Episodes 4-6 are in a completely different class (IMHO).

For those of you still downloading the Part 1 screener, this is the title crawl that awaits you. As I noted previously, there are some encoding artifacts in the AVI that do not appear in the source:
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/8772/prologuecrawlzd5.jpg
Post
#307726
Topic
Star Wars Prologue - Epic Prequel Edit (Released)
Time

STAR WARS PROLOGUE TECHNICAL DETAILS

===============================

Media : NTSC dual-layer DVD
Audio : English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround
Video : 16:9 enhanced w/original 2.35 letterboxed frame

N Discs : 2
Length : ??? minutes

Region : All
Subtitles : N/A

Production Environment

  • Audio Editing : Adobe Audition, Hypercube, Sonic Foundry, Vegas Pro
  • Video Editing : AfterEffects, AVISynth, Paintshop Pro, Photoshop, Vegas Pro, VirtualDub
  • Story boards : Womble MPEG Video Wizzard
  • Burning/ripping : DVD Decrypter, ImgBurn
  • MPEG-2 encoding : MainConcept 1.5.1, TMPGEnc Plus 2.5

Notes: The Prologue uses a new, high-definition transfer for all EP1 footage, resulting in a NTSC DVD that is superior to both the original PAL and NTSC Phantom Menace discs. Viewers will notice increased detail, decreased film grain and none of the edge enhancement artifacts that plagued the original NTSC DVD transfer. The original NTSC DVDs are used for all EP2 and EP3 footage because picture clarity is as good or better than the PAL discs–due partly to the latter’s anemic MEPG-2 encoding. Audio quality is superior to anything available on a PAL disc.

 

QUICK RESOURCE

============

File. Official Teaser Trailer - 10.7MB (MQ MP4 Encode)
MEGAUPLOAD, Rapidshare

YouTube (low quality)

Note. This file is also available as a torrent. Try either mininova.org or btjunkie.org and search for “Star Wars Prologue Epic Prequel.” If you are new to torrents, I recommend the uTorrent client. It is lightweight, free, and fairly easy to setup and use.

Content

Page 01. Early Jarjar removal screenshots.
Page 03. Discussion about ‘ghosting’ Qui-gon.

 

INTRODUCTION

===========

I started this thread to share some early progress in my own project. <span>The Prologue</span> is my replacement for TPM, AOTC and ROTS. The goal is to cut <span>A</span> prequel from the original DVDs. It is ‘epic’ in the LOTR sense; the new DVD will span 13 years, depict several battles and likely have a running time of about three hours.

The immediate motivation behind the <span>Prologue</span> is to better serve the original trilogy, not to improve or revise the prequels. I feel that each of the prequels has some good material intermixed with nonsense filler and superfluous silliness. Collectively, there is plenty of material for an intelligent and fun movie.

More specific goals include:
1. Reducing JarJar to an incidental character;
2. Restoring information control and secrecy;
3. Removing annoying acting and alien banter;
4. Correcting post-production AV sync flaws.

The Prologue begins with secret clone order 66 and then follows Ben, Yoda and Senator Organa as they scramble to make sense of what happened. A reference to Qui-gon at the end of E3 is used to arc the story back 13 years, at which point elements from TPM and later AOTC are introduced into the movie. The Prologue eventually resumes where it began, but by tracking instead the events of Anakin and Palpatine.

Aside from the opening crawl, I want to avoid introducing new and useless elements. The goal of most of my rotoscoping techniques is to REMOVE elements. However, in some cases it will be necessary to add or alter music and sound elements.

Post
#303936
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time
Originally posted by: teharri
I can burn dvd's so I can PIF. So if Ady sends it to me I can froward a bunch to others.


I can also burn DVDs--both DVD5 and DVD9--but what is a PIF? I am not familiar with that term within this context, and I don't want to be left out of the mix, as I am currently outside of North America.

I can only make an educated guess...

A. Pay It Forward method
B. Potentially Illegal File(s)
C. A popular document encoding format

Post
#303925
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time
Originally posted by: Gorilla
...the easiest thing to make the entire saga make more sense is to edit and change the OT so it fits more with the PT, when in fact it SHOULD be the other way around.


This ought be the golden rule in Star Wars fan edits that are driven to fix or improve recognized issues (as opposed to projects that are intended only to quell personal demons) : When necessary, modify PT events to be congruent with OT 'cannon'--not vice versa.

There is early discussion in another thread about (again?) developing A prequel episode. That is, one 'new' film to precede the OT (and to replace, by Borg assimilation, Ep1 and Ep2). I wonder if there are enough anchor points in Ep3 to support flash backs or other time jumping methods? At first glance it is a feasible way to extend Ep3 into, say, a 3-hour movie. The immediate advantage, of course, is that all the prequel content is readily available in anamorphic NTSC and PAL DVD.

Admittedly, I haven't thought this through (I only know that I like the idea), but with enough clever minds and fresh approaches, any project is do-able.
Post
#303771
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time
The line change is one thing i won't be swayed against


Sure, I understand, as you made this clear in an earlier post. Thank you for the explanation.

I can't say that I fully understand the various inconsistencies that are remedied by the "I" edit, but I will try to pay more attention the next time I watch the six films.

BTW, nice catch on edit #87 (the delayed gesturing); that bit has always bothered me.

That reminds me, has anyone yet discovered the silly continuity error within the Jabba scene? It does not involve Jabba, which can make it difficult to spot, but once you catch it, it's impossible to ignore. I realize you are scrapping the entire Jabba scene, and I mention this because I recently examined whether it would be possible to edit out the tail-stepping bit--which was only my gripe... until I discovered that the scene is also plagued by a continuity error. Hence, I was forced to the same conclusion: It's better just to ignore the entire sequence.

Let me know if I can help with subtitle authoring or image/file hosting. I have spare bandwidth and disk space.
Post
#303764
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time
@ sunday and ron

Indeed. In fact, there is clear motive and logic in that scene: Obi-wan wants to encourage and entice Luke, so there is design in what he says and does not say. It is true that their meeting was not scheduled, and it is also the case that this sequence occurs before the message reveal, but we can (should) assume--with very little effort--that Obi-wan had already prepared for this day.
Post
#303763
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time
Original : "Your father wanted you to have this...."
Altered : "I wanted you to have this..."

I guess that depends on a certain point of view.


Yes, I agree that the question involves interpretation; but I am wondering if the situation was over-interpreted.

For example, the only point of view that is relevant is Obi-wan's; it is his remark. As I understand it, the altered version is supposed to fix something. But fix what? There is no contradiction, and no conflict with previous or subsequent episodes--including Episode III.

We already know that Obi-wan is selectively revealing information to Luke. Half-truths, lies, distortions... call them what you will.

Example : Vader betrayed and murdered your father.

No one would presume to edit that statement (at least I hope not), so why does it bother some fans that Obi-wan is also not accurately portraying events when he introduces the light saber? [In the very same scene, no less.] I am genuinely interested in the thinking behind this, partly because I am intimately familiar with the original trilogy (as a Gen X'er), have reviewed the pre-quels multiple times, and still don't see any problem. There are many things to fix, to be sure, but I don't think this scene's dialog is flawed at all.

What might be flawed is the assumption that the statement no longer works in light of Episode III. I think that the original dialog continues to be entirely CONGRUENT. Does anyone else not see this?

Now that I am thoroughly fascinated, is there an explanation for this change that I could read? I don't recall seeing anything definitive or specific when I began browsing this thread last month.

Thanks in advance.
Post
#303737
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time
Does Kenobi now say "I wanted you to have this when you were old enough."


I have been following this thread with great interest and admiration; but I feel compelled to jump into the mix because of this particular modification.

Granted, it is a trivial change execution-wise, but there is very little justification for changing the original remark. In fact, there is MORE reason not to change it. The original wording is entirely consistent with Obi-wan's mindset and agenda at that juncture of the story.

I would like to argue that, "Your father wanted..." is contextually correct, logically correct, historically correct and requires no change.

It is easy to fall prey to "thinking too much" the more deeply you commit to a project, because you will inevitably become hyper-sensitive to details. I do not presume to know Adywan's mind, but I wonder if he needs to distance himself from the work for a short time. I often have to do this in my own writing and research projects. I am a perfectionist and I work intensely for long periods, but eventually I must put the work down and FORGET IT until my mind and imagination are refreshed again.

I guess what I am saying in my very first post at this forum is that this particular edit has all the markings of "thinking too much"--a phrase that my students like to use when they fear I am micro-analyzing or becoming too serious. Or am I being completely obtuse?

This notwithstanding, I am enthused about Adywan's project, and wish him all the best in his labor of love.


Happy holidays