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Patrick R.

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10-May-2003
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10-Apr-2016
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229

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Post
#495325
Topic
Star Wars coming to Blu Ray (UPDATE: August 30 2011, No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!)
Time

I've said it a thousand times before, but I will say it again. They only need to restore the parts that were altered and reinsert those back into the films. So the whole argument about it being too expensive to restore the original versions is ridiculous.

It would be nice to have some good news on May 4th, but I am not holding my breath.

Post
#463111
Topic
Star Wars coming to Blu Ray (UPDATE: August 30 2011, No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!)
Time

zombie84 said:

A project like that would require millions of dollars and months of work, involving dozens of people. I don't believe this would remain quiet for very long. Plus Lucas a couple months ago at Celebration said that they only restored the SE and that the "classic version" would have to wait until some time in the future. So, maybe Harris is just in the last months starting to do (preliminary?) work on it and has inspected the materials and devised a plan. But come on, more likely he just has heard from various people who restored and worked on the SE restoration materials since he is one of the top film restorationists in the world. Let's not jump the gun.

I didn't know Lucas every said anything about the "classic version" ever being available. It's awesome if he did. I always thought that he said the 2004 versions and beyond would be all that would ever be available and that the original versions were considered "unfinished workprints" in his opinion and that people could watch them on VHS and LD or whatever if they wanted to see them. I thought he also said it would be too expensive to remaster them properly.

What I could never figure out is why they would have to remaster all of the original versions. I thought they would only have to remaster the bits that were changed for the 1997 and 2004 versions since the remainder of the films will already be remastered. It boggles the mind how he thinks. The sad and crazy thing is that these Blu-Ray sets will break sales records no matter what. He could release them in B&W and in mono and people would complain, but they would still buy them.

 

Just my 2 cents.

Post
#310520
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
I remember hearing that the LD telecine on the Definitive Collection LD's changes at points. A friend used both the Faces and the DC LD's for their project. They just used some frames from the Faces LD's to fill in for some frames that break the telecine pattern during the DC side transitions.

I had two or three IVTC problems with my own project which used just the DC LD's. A couple of scenes did not not appear smooth because the pattern had shifted. I know the 3:2 pattern shifts in ANH right after Ben tells Luke that he will have to sell his speeder. I have a rough spot in my project where Han is confronted by Greedo.




Patrick
Post
#230463
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
Originally posted by: Knightmessenger
Could you tell us whether you thought it looked better than laserdisc or (God forbid) vhs?
Good point about calibration. Makes me wonder if the person color correcting the 2004 dvd's had too much red in their overbrightened monitor. "Wow, sure had to add a lot of blue just to make the stormtroopers look white.
Another thought.
"Lucas cut apart the original negative to make the special edition." I thought Lucas was a longtime big supporter of digital editing and tried to get Spielberg to edit Last Crusade on a computer.

Here is a couple of quotes from links provided by The Digital Bits. The first comes from Scott Swan at

Collider.com.

Then Steve Sansweet took the stage. I’ve liked Steve’s genuine affection for this property in the past. He’s a true friend to Star Wars, or at least has been in the past. But when he took the stage, I sensed something funky from the get-go. He launched into what I could only call a tirade about how if you complain about these new DVDs there’s something wrong with you (I’m paraphrasing, of course). He said that “the little black bars” won’t detract from our enjoyment. This part lost me. There would be black bars at the top and bottom of the screen anamorphic or not. I couldn't tell if he actually believed what he was saying, or if Lucasfilm had shoved an explosive device up his rectum and tossed him out onto stage to feed us what he damn well knows is a bunch of hooey. The second scenario is probably more likely.

It all seemed like misdirection, the same way Lucasfilm is fixating on Han shooting first (there are far worse offenses in the Special Editions). So of course, that was exactly the clip he showed next. And it looked pretty much exactly as you'd expect: An old transfer of a movie made for laserdisc, zoomed to fit a 16x9 screen. And he even acknowledged these masters were made specifically for laserdisc. I'm sorry, but the minute you say the L word, you just lost my dollar. They did a cheesy fake-out first with the Han/Greedo scene by showing really horrible looking video. Maybe this was to joke with the audience, as Sansweet suggested, or maybe there was a more sinister intent. Perhaps this was shown to make the real DVD clip they played right after look much better by comparison. Bottom line, though, none of it looked that great. It looked okay at best. But it's nowhere near the second coming they want us to think it is.


The next comes from Quint from Ain't It Cool News.

They showed some examples straight from the DVD and the film looks exactly like those bootlegs out there of the laserdiscs. A little washed out, pixelated and strobey. Goddamnit, is it too much to ask for the originals restored properly?


Looks like I will have to pass on the '06 DVD's. I bet he will remaster the Originals at some point because he always does the opposite of what he says. If not, oh well, I've went this long without them.

Patrick
Post
#211905
Topic
Who has now lost all respect.........
Time
If the DVD's really come out in the form they have been announced, I will lose all respect for the man. I had more respect for him when he wasn't going to release them. The reason is that I came to terms and stubbornly accepted the fact that he would never release the versions I wanted. Then we get this announcement which makes me happy. Then all hopes are shot within two weeks when I find out they will not be anamorphic and probably the same masters used for the DC and Faces LD's and VHS tapes.

One other thing. If he uses the the same masters for the sound the snowspeeder spinning out of control and exploding will not be heard. That is how it is on the Faces and DC sets. When I was going to continue my project, I was going to take that piece of audio from the SE VHS set that I am going to sell.

Lucas makes it very tough to continue to be a Star Wars fan, especially if you have a 16x9 TV or will be purchasing one in the near future.

Patrick
Post
#210720
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
Well, it looks like the X0 Project just might be better than the official release which will be non 16x9. I definitely know what I am not buying in September unless there is a major change.

I'm hoping to send my first X0 donation by early next month. Keep up the good work guys because Lucasfilm surely isn't.

Patrick
Post
#207267
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
I wanted to try and bring things back on topic and ask something.

How do you guy handle color correction? Do you have a certain program? Do you have to do something to each individual frame or can you use an algorithm to handle color correction? I know you go frame by frame to clean up dirt, spots, and other damage, but I didn't know how you handle color.

Patrick
Post
#207053
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
I for one am glad about Lucas' decision to release the Originals, but I do have a few concerns.

1.) What master are they going to use? I read somewhere that Ward said that the films won't look as good as the 2004 versions because of the master they are using.
2.) What kind of cleanup will there be? I believe the 2004 DVD's have great resolution from what I have seen of them, but they did not do a frame by frame restoration. I would have more faith if they would do that type of restoration instead of just plugging in an algorithm and letting it go.
3.) How will the colors look? The 2004 DVD's have way too much blue push for me.
4.) How will the sound be? We know they are only going DD2.0. Will it be screwed up like the 2004 DVD's? I mean, will the sound quality flucuate because they took from different sources like the 2004 release? Will the audio be reversed again?
5.) What dialogue will they use? I release there were different lines of dialogue between the 35mm and 70mm prints. I don't know which is which, but I prefer, "You're lucky you don't taste very good." over "You were lucky to get out of there." and "It's alright trust me!" over "It's alright I can see a lot better.".

I don't care so much about the effects flubs like the matte lines and saber issues. It would be nice to have the matte lines removed, but I have lived with them so long that it does not bother me.

I'm just glad to see the X0 Project continue. I will continue to support it, but I am abandoning my own project as it would take a lot of money for me to do it right. I may still capture those scenes with the dialogue that I like in case the 2006 DVD's have the other lines.

Patrick
Post
#206605
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
Well, I say that it would be best to continue the X0 Project. I still plan on making my first donation soon. I'm sorry that I haven't yet, but there have been so many things come up.

I have more faith in the X0 Project than the Official release since the 2004 DVD's were so screwed up. When I say screwed up, I'm talking about the colors, reversed audio, etc. and not the added CGI stuff. I hated that as well though.

I could be wrong, but also I think all of these homemade DVD versions of Star Wars had something to do with Lucas's decision. The other factor is of course money.

Patrick
Post
#187600
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
I think it is funny that people are talking about HD transfers when there haven't been that many standard definition DL transfers done yet.

I also think it is funny how people are so quick to judge that HD-DVD is inferior when neither format has hit the market yet. Storage space is one thing, but how well either format handles backwards compatibility is going to make it or break it. Sure, both formats are said to be backwards compatible, but I remember seeing several PS1 games lock up on the PS2 when they did not on the PS1. Back to space. Blu-Ray claims 50GB discs, but has yet to produce one in a real world environment. None of those launch titles are going to be that size. Also Blu-Ray is sticking with MPEG-2 which eats up more space than MPEG-4 and VC-1. Blu-Ray players are also going to be insanely expensive. The PS3 also keeps getting pushed further and further back.

I dislike aspects of both formats and will not root for one over the other until I see the same film presented in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD side by side on two HDTV's. It would have to be a Warner or Paramount film since they will support both. Furthermore, I will not endorse either with money until I hear what actual player and disc owners have to say about them. Do they have a lot of glitches? Do they perform great? Do they play most or all their standard DVD's or do they only play a few and are not even able to read the rest of them? etc. etc.

I will say that I am no fan of Sony, but I do like Pioneer. There involvement as well as a few other electronics manufacturers in Blu-Ray keeps me interested enough. I don't care about the studios since they will quickly jump to the other side and embrace whichever format comes out ahead just like Disney and Fox did when Circuit City's Divx didn't pan out. I can tell you that Star Wars won't be out on Blu-Ray anytime soon and will probably be the damned 2004 or later versions anyway, so I don't care.

Back on the X0. I wouldn't even worry the guys with Blu-Ray or HD-DVD as they are still in the cleanup phase of ANH as MeBe has stated. Sure HD would be great, but it just isn't practical right now. Even if Blu-Ray or HD-DVD is successful which I have my doubts about, those formats are not going to become commonplace for a long time and surely won't sell as fast as DVD. Many including myself need to get HDTV's and other equipment before buying into that.

Patrick

Post
#175243
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
Originally posted by: Knightmessenger
What was the retail price of an X0? Did you guys also get X0 captures from other SW laserdisc material such as the definitive collection extras?



It was only made in Japan and used to go for $7000.00 U.S. and about $700.00 for shipping to the U.S.. The good news is that it appears the price is dropping on them. They don't pop up often, but I rarely see them go for over $3000.00. Hopefully, they will drop to the $1000.00 to $1500.00 mark. I may spring for one myself at that price depending on how my job goes.

Patrick
Post
#164118
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
Originally posted by: nin
I just installed the PDI delux card and Huffyuv + virtualdub. Now, I'm green at this, can anyone help me what settings I should have for optimal composite capture? RGB 24, RGB 16 or RGB32? And all kind of settings for the best capture.

/Thanks in advance


Hi Nin,

I don't know if this helps, but I found this in Virtual Dub's documentation here.

"Which capture format should I choose if I'm going to use video compression?
Ultimately, you will need to choose a format which is compatible with the codec, but if you have a choice, always choose YUY2, UYVY, or YVYU over RGB24. Here's why:

TV cards generally use one of two chips, either the Zoran ZR36120 (FlyVideo-derived devices), or the Brooktree/Conexant BT8x8 series (everyone else). If you look at the datasheets for these chips you will find that they either accept YUV 4:2:2 data from the decoder or produce it internally. Guess how they produce RGB24 data when you ask for it? You guessed it, the YUV 4:2:2 data is upsampled to RGB24. This means that the extra color resolution that RGB24 gives is entirely fabricated.

Choosing YUY2/UYVY/YVYU over RGB24 typically gives you a sizable speed increase, and gives you better compression with Huffyuv.

RGB16 introduces horrible banding and signal loss, while RGB32 just adds an extra 8-bits of junk to RGB24. There is no point in using either."


Hope that helps.

Patrick

Post
#160016
Topic
***The MeBeJedi feedback thread ***
Time
Originally posted by: MasterYoda510
Sorry if I was unclear, but I AM using the digital tracks, but my LD player is using its D/A converter and feeding them to me using red and white RCA jacks.

On topic: Nice work, MBJ! I look foreword to the finished product!


Sometimes that is the best method because of dot crawl which shows up in more in the reds. The connectors are composite and so is the LD source. When I used S-Video, I had a bunch of dot crawl in the picture (little dots in the reds). A lot of people noticed the same thing on their projects. If possible, I would try out S-Video as well to see which one works best for you.

Patrick
Post
#156791
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Time
I'll have to read up more on the rolling bar issue. I've heard of it, but I haven't been able to see it myself yet. Were all pressings of the DC set susceptible or just the first? Is it something that develops with age or is it inherent in the LD's when they are made? Can it be overcome without losing quality? Is there anyway to tell what pressing you have? I know mine is not the first pressing because I am not missing the Leia welding footage in ESB. Sorry for the barrage of questions.

Patrick