ChainsawAsh

Dynamic range compression makes the loud parts quieter and the quiet parts louder.  You do not want to do this.

Changing the dialnorm setting simply changes the volume before it gets to the receiver/TV.  It's basically the same as changing the volume on the TV, but it does it before it reaches the TV.  (If I understand HH correctly.)

The idea is you need to find out the overall volume level of each track, and adjust the dialnorm setting for each track so that they all output at the same overall volume level.  I assume "RMS" is the same as overall volume.

I don't know how to measure it, though, HH should be able to be more help with that.

48 hours for one film?  Yikes, that's rough.  Yeah, I don't think you'll be getting any better results with that setup no matter what program you use.  HandBrake is pretty damn fast.

You could give MPEG Streamclip a try, but you'll need the MPEG-2 Quicktime component first.  And I'm willing to bet it'll be slower than HandBrake anyway.

HandBrake is the best option for everything you want to do for these reasons:

1. You want to choose your bitrate, and use a variable bitrate
2. You want to crop it (and I assume you want to be able to preview exactly what you're cropping)
3. You want to preserve chapters
4. You're using a Mac, and an older one at that

Get the most recent version of HandBrake you can that will work on your system and use that.  Nothing else is going to be much faster, and anything that is will be missing out on some key features for you (namely chapter preservation and Mac compatibility).

If it's any consolation, I use HandBrake on a 3-year-old 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with OS X 10.5.8 and 4GB RAM, and it takes a damn sight longer than I'd like (about 75-80% the length of the movie, sometimes almost the exact same length).

So, let me get this straight.  I've been here for just shy of six years.  You've been here less than one, and you already have more than twice as many posts as me?!

I ... I just don't know what to say ...

What about the 4 Tom & Jerry shorts that aren't on any of the DVDs as they were considered too racist?  Does anyone have those?

If "They're bringing back X" rumors were true even 50% of the time, Paul McGann would have returned at least twice every season.  I wouldn't hold my breath for the return of the Yeti.

That's not a bad idea at all.  I like it.

The script is available (I think, I could be wrong) for those who wish to use it to make their own disc, if I'm not mistaken.

Dude, I've tried to many times.  I can register, but never get the confirmation email that allows me to login.

I freaking LOVED Shutter Island.  Saw it in theaters.  It's the first movie that I was expecting to end, was ready to leave my seat, then it continued for 30 more minutes ... and I didn't care.  In Return of the King, I was bored to tears by the real ending, but with Shutter Island, I was enthralled the whole way through.  Fantastic film.

I rewatched Quantum of Solace the other day, which I hadn't seen since theaters - it was much better than I remembered.  I think the biggest problem is that movie had to follow the second-best Bond film of all time, so it could never live up to everyone's expectations.  I was still a bit bothered by the Bourne-y action, but that aside, it's a solid film, miles better than Brosnan's last three films or any of Moore's.

As a sidenote, I also rewatched From Russia with Love with some friends - it's still my #1 Bond film, but they were all visibly bored until the last 30 minutes or so.  At least I didn't make them watch Dr. No - now that one bores me to death ...

I also saw Coraline for the first time - it was absolutely fantastic.  The animation was beautiful, and the story was nice and creepy.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

Tried watching Lost in Translation.  Got bored and stopped watching about 45 minutes in.  I'll probably finish it eventually, but I wasn't impressed with what I saw.

Finally, my roommate finally got me to watch the original The Pink Panther.  I'd never seen any of the films in the series.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It wasn't what I expected at all.  Looking forward to watching A Shot in the Dark next.

Now, here's where you guys can help me out.  I have a large selection of movies on my hard drive, and I haven't watched quite a few.  I want to watch another one I haven't seen soon, and I'll let you guys pick for me.

Here's the list of ones I haven't seen - what would you recommend next?

The African Queen
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Barry Lyndon
Daybreakers
For a Few Dollars More
Grave of the Fireflies
Howl's Moving Castle
The Hurt Locker
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Kiki's Delivery Service
Love Actually
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
My Neighbor Totoro
Natural Born Killers (Director's Cut)
The New World (Terrence Malick; Extended Cut)
Porco Rosso
[REC]² (sequel to [REC] ... obviously)
World's Greatest Dad

I'd like to see a proper edit of the TV movie that removes any half-human references.

Hell, I might give that a stab after the new DVD comes out later this year ...

Didn't see that, Monroville.  However, I feel like that would take away from the redemption of Anakin, since he wouldn't be the one that kills Palpatine.

Alternatively, what if the rebels try to go in and blow up the Death Star as planned, but can't get through, or it doesn't work, so [someone] comes up with the idea to ram the Executor into it, thus destroying it?

That would probably require too much footage that simply doesn't exist, though ...

What if the Executor crash takes out the superlaser, allowing the Falcon et al to get through to the core?

Perhaps.  But there's the heavily-rumored possibility that Empire's 70mm version had several visual/edit differences beyond the audio mix alone.  I haven't heard anything about Jedi's 70mm version at all.

This is quite exciting!  We'll finally have ALL the mixes for all 3 films, minus the true 70mm for Star Wars and any form of the 70mm for Empire and Jedi, synced to the GOUT!

'Tis a great thing you've done for Star Wars fandom, DJ!

dark_jedi said:

I am just messin with you dude, I probably won't even listen to the stereo tracks that I am putting SO much time into, and I am pretty sure the 5.1 mix will be the default on all 3 because that is the version I will most likely listen to, I do have a very nice high end set up and DD 5.1 all the way for me.

 

No worries.  I always make long-winded replies to offhand jokes - it's kinda my thing.  ;-)

dark_jedi said:

ChainsawAsh said:

I'd recommend the 5.1 version wholeheartedly.

LOL, then why do all the work preserving the stereo audio then?

I was talking about Hairy_Hen's 70mm reconstruction.  All I meant was that, if you're putting it on a disc as a reconstruction of the 70mm six-track, I don't see the point in using the stereo version of the reconstruction, especially when the 5.1 sounds so good.

The stereo mixes are important because they're the original mixes, and what the majority of people seeing the films in their theatrical releases would have heard, unless they saw them in 70mm.

The only reason I would want the Empire and Jedi 5.1 mixes included on the disc is for the sake of consistency - why would one film have a 5.1 mix while the others don't?  Just make it clear that Empire and Jedi's 5.1 mixes are absolutely not intended to replicate the 70mm mixes - they're just there to give the option available to those who want it.

I also wouldn't make the 5.1 versions the default tracks when you just hit the PLAY button on the DVD menu.  That should go to the theatrical stereo mixes (possibly the theatrical mono mix for Star Wars, but stereo would be best for consistency I suppose).  The rest should be accessible via the audio options menu.

And in all honesty, even on a 5.1 system, my audio tracks of choice would still be the mono for Star Wars, and the theatrical stereo for Empire and Jedi.  The only time I'd ever put the 5.1 mixes on would be if I was watching the movies with friends, since most of my friends give me shit for being such a purist (I have to fight to not watch the 2004 SE, for Christ's sake).

I believe that the upmix to 5.1 was done with the equivalent of a Dolby Pro-Logic II decoder, which is exactly what you'd hear if you played the stereo version through a PLII receiver anyway.  The added benefit you get is the LFE channel that Hairy_Hen meticulously created.

However, you're right that it's impossible to know exactly what the LFE channel should sound like - the whole thing's a judgment call.  But having heard it, it sounds simply amazing to my ears, and I can't imagine listening to the track without it.

Honestly, the only reason to use the stereo version (in my opinion, anyway) is if you'd be watching it on a stereo system that doesn't have a subwoofer.  If you're using a surround system, I'd recommend the 5.1 version wholeheartedly.

Well, you're describing exactly what IS going to be on the discs, but in stereo instead of upmixed to 5.1 surround.  I think it'd be a waste of bitrate to do that, honestly.  If anyone wants to use the stereo version of it, Hairy_Hen has uploaded it here for anyone who wants it (it's much easier than it sounds to mux it together with the video).

Right, but the 70mm theatrical track was never in stereo, it was in six-track surround.  So the 5.1 upmix more closely approximates the experience of seeing the film in 70mm.

And the earliest non-time-compressed LD releases of Empire and Jedi (both prior to the Japanese Special Collection, where the 1985 mix[es] first appeared if I'm not mistaken) are what Dark_Jedi is using for the theatrical soundtracks.

The theatrical soundtrack for Star Wars was synced by Belbucus a while back, from a similar early non-time-compressed laserdisc.

Correct, there are no music changes to Hairy_Hen's 5.1 Star Wars track.

I believe dark_jedi's releases will contain the following audio options:

Star Wars
- Theatrical (1977) 2.0 Stereo
- Hairy_Hen's 70mm Restoration 5.1 Surround
- Theatrical (1977) 1.0 Mono

Empire
- Theatrical (1980) 2.0 Stereo
- Hairy_Hen's music-edited 5.1 Suround

Jedi
- Theatrical (1983) 2.0 Stereo
- Hairy_Hen's music-edited 5.1 Surround

I think he's also considering including the 1993 2.0 Stereo soundtracks, but he hasn't decided.  He's also expressed interest in the 1985 2.0 Stereo soundtracks.  It all boils down to how much room is left on the disc after the video is encoded.

Dunedain said:

Is that the case with the stereo soundtracks for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, no music changes/additions?

It's my understanding that Hairy_Hen isn't doing stereo tracks for Empire and Jedi, just 5.1 tracks.

Dark_Jedi is, however, working on making the original 1980 and 1983 theatrical stereo tracks available to us (that is, synchronized to the GOUT DVD) for the first time, which is very exciting!

(Though to be fair, we don't know if the 1993 Jedi track is different from the 1983 track or not - we'll have to wait until DJ is done with his sync to know that for sure.  Ditto with whether Empire or Jedi were remixed in 1985 or not.)

There is no 70mm stereo restored soundtrack for Empire or Jedi, since we don't know for sure what those 70mm tracks sounded like.  (Plus, it's possible that the video for the Empire 70mm version was different, as well.)

The 70mm track Hairy_Hen made for Star Wars is, however, a restoration made by comparing an in-theater 70mm recording to the 1993 mix, so it's as close to original as we can possibly get.  There are no music edits to this (though I'd love to see the Bantha/Tusken Raider music cue fixed as it is on ANH:R - it bugs me every time I hear that music edit after seeing it fixed).

I like the idea of the music-fixed Empire 5.1, but it'd be nice to have a 5.1 upmix of the 1993 mix with the speeder sound effect restored and the added 1997/2004 LFE track (edited to match the theatrical mix, obviously), but the music left alone.

I'm torn on the restored cue in Jedi, but I do like the scene with the music.  I'd like a pure 5.1 upmix of the 1993 mix, though (with the LFE track from 1997/2004 added as in Star Wars and Empire).

However, as these music-edited options are 5.1 tracks, which never really existed for the theatrical versions anyway, the purist in me can let it slide.

Darth Solo said:

Random thought to stay on tropic: place a sabre in yodas hand at some point in the training regime.....

I highly disagree.  Then again, I'm the one who is strongly of the opinion that Yoda and Palpatine should never be seen with a lightsaber, even/especially in the prequels.  They're powerful enough that they don't need lightsabers!

1. The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
2. Amy's Choice
3. The Eleventh Hour
4. The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
5. Vincent and the Doctor
6. The Beast Below
7. The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood
8. The Lodger
9. The Vampires of Venice
10. Victory of the Daleks

Final rankings for the season.

Seems like Moffat has a multi-season story arc planned for us ...

SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THE FINALE!!!

... since he didn't explain who caused the TARDIS to explode, what the "Silence" is, and who/what River Song truly is.  Interesting.

And I'm glad that Rory seems to be joining as a permanent companion - he's my favorite since the revival, for sure.

But my question is: is he still Auton-Rory, or is he human again?