I watched the latest version of the edit this morning, and the new opening scene doesn't work at all. It'll have to be cut. So I'll do that and make a few other small changes today and tomorrow, then render it.
So, sorry folks but it'll be a few more days.
Will do.
The two I use are Vidcoder and MeGUI. They both take at least 48 hours to produce a good looking MKV (at least on my old laptop) but it's worth it.
If you need help with the settings PM me.
I've had to redo the render unfortunately, so it'll be another 2-3 days before it's online.
Congrats on getting approved.
I'm definitely interested in seeing your TPM. 6.49 gigs is a little too much for me, but if a smaller sized version comes online I'll download it and give you a review.
I'll PM you the download links... hopefully in the next 48 hours.
I appreciate the thought but IMO the scene where Vader arrives on Endor doesn't need to be changed. It's one of the few scenes that I don't think needs to be altered/added to.
Ronster said:
Well I have not seen what you have done so far collectiviley but I would be very interested to see it so I do hope you do a release or a partly finished or even incomplete version....
Ronster - hopefully the latest workprint will be online by Monday.
regularjoe said:
I agree that it gives Luke motivation to re-enter the battle. I just think that this is a case of "less is more." A lot of the Ben scene exists to tell you that Leia is Luke's sister but really, do we need to have it spelled out for us? When I saw 5 when it came out the "there is another" was enough and I don't think that there was a Star Wars nut who didn't remember that line going into 6. If one watches them 1-2-3-4-5-6 then one already knows about the twins.
No way will the Ben scene be put back in this edit. I'm with you - it's a bad exposition scene. Alec Guinness also looks so bored.
Whether or not that scene is needed for the sister plot to work... I don't honestly know. But that's the way my edit now plays, so we'll find out soon enough.
Up until this week Leia wasn't Luke's sister in this edit - the problem is, why does Luke finally attack Vader if it's not about Vader mentioning/threatening his sister?
regularjoe said:
I really like your edit and hope that you don't abandon finessing it In all honesty I find it a preferable watch to the original product (and it's various GL fanedits).
I expect I'll keep editing it for a few more years, perhaps until the Boba Fett movie comes out - which will hopefully contain the footage I need to complete that storyline.
BTW I should have made more clear what the Mediafire file is a few posts up: it's a collection of audio files called "Sounds of ROTJ" and one of them is called "Endor Forest Sounds".
I downloaded the Birth of Vader clip, but to be honest I couldn't get past the video quality. A 170meg clip that's under 3 minutes in length shouldn't look that bad. What software do you use to edit, and what did you use to convert it to WMV?
I suspect, given the size of the file, that you rendered it out in WMV. If you use Vegas to edit, I suggest that you render as an MPEG4 with Mainconcept AVC, which will produce a huge file, roughly 50 gigs for a full movie. If you have a huge amount of hard drive space you could even render it as an AVI with the Lagarith codec (a lossless codec), but the file will be 100 gigs or so. Then use either Vidcoder or MeGUI to convert it down to a manageable sized MP4 or MKV.
Also, make sure you match the specs of the output to the input. Going by memory I think your video was 1440x1000. That doesn't make sense to me. If it's from DVD it will probably be 720x480, or blu-ray 1920x1080 or 1280x720. Lastly, make certain the frame rate of your render matches the input frame rate - that's absolutely vital.
Please don't be dispirited by this post. We were all newbies once (some of us still are) :)
Ryan, it's good, but I would change a few things:
If Luke left earlier during the storytelling (I have Luke leaving at the mention of Vader), 3PO carries on a bit, then you then cut to Luke and Ben, it helps explains the time gap of how he got to the shuttle. I'd also replace the music at the end of the Ben scene - IMO that music is too associated with the rebel fleet scene. And maybe also trim the Ben scene (the from a certain point of view bit always bugs me).
Here's something that will help you: http://www.mediafire.com/?5k3j50x2cd3157a
Bingowings said:
Ryan McAvoy said:
daneditor said:
I could add the Obi Wan scene to the Ewok village before Luke surrenders.^ This idea has caught my imagination. I'm working on it now.
My thoughts on Ben's ghost are that if the scene has to be in it should set up something big (bigger than just Vader pulling his son's strings).
That's why I suggested having it on Tatooine.
Leia has rushed into rescuing Han while Luke is training with Yoda.
He comes to the rendezvous spot in Ben's old hut but she's gone... rushed off like he did in ESB.
Ben then tells Luke about Leia in the spot Luke started his journey because Leia is about to start hers.
That way the revelation hangs over the whole film and colours every move Luke makes.
It also makes the shambles at Jabba's Palace make more sense if it's two rescue plans not one and the first one is an almighty cock-up fueled by attachment unbecoming of a Jedi.
I like the idea but it's beyond my ability to do. Maybe Adywan will use it.
The best way to make the Han rescue logical is do what TMBTM did in War of the Stars 2, but it'll make the film about 20 minutes shorter, and wreck the pacing.
Mightily impressive work. Are you using After Effects to do this?
Nice! I'd love to see what you come up with.
Thanks guys. Very interesting suggestions.
Ronster: the idea of cutting between Luke and Leia when Leia gets wounded is excellent. Trouble is that in my edit she's shot by Fett not a stormtrooper, and the way the scene has been re-edited I doubt cutting to Luke would work in that moment.
I definitely don't want to use the Obi Wan scene. I like how the opening ten minutes flow right now, and a long sit down to explain everything would kill the pace. If I had better skills at After Effects then maybe I could add the Obi Wan scene to the Ewok village before Luke surrenders, but I honestly like the idea of Luke using the Force to figure out who Leia is. It's just a question of whether the audience will keep up, or wonder if they've missed something.
Bingowings: I like it the idea of the audience getting the information incrementally. "another Skywalker" "it's you, Leia", "especially for... sister".
I'll give it a try, although I suspect the audio editing will be a problem. (it might be one of those situations where that Adobe software that's hopefully gonna be out next year will be required)
Thejediknighthusezni:I agree it should be a big moment in the movie, and it's really a shame how they botched it. I quite like the movie without the subplot, but unfortunately it ruins a key moment: when Vader is baiting Luke and Luke finally attacks. It's too important a moment, so I'll have to put the subplot back in.
A while back I cut Luke and Leia as brother/sister from this edit, but someone suggested I put the subplot back in - but without the Obi Wan exposition scene. So my question is, if Luke uses the Force to realize that Yoda's "another Skywalker" refers to Leia, and then explains it to her (and the audience) in the Ewok village would that work from a storytelling POV? Or would it feel like a scene was missing?
As a Whedonite I have to mention SERENITY (2005).
It has more humour than SW, but it captures the same sense of fun and action - and obviously Mal Reynolds bears more than a passing resemblance to Han Solo.
emanswfan said:
On another note, that spectral sound editing I mentioned earlier is being taken to new levels in this sneak peak for a future Adobe version a year or so away. While they are basic files he's playing with, the fact that there are no artifacts is amazing, and shows we are getting closer.
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-technology-sneaks-2013/sneak-peek-audio-layers/
That's incredible! This could be a total game changer for SW edits.
Ryan McAvoy said:
Thanks to daneditor's suggestion to use dialogue from 'Star Wars: The Interactive Boardgame' and darth_ender's kind uploading of said game. I've been able to create new dialogue for Vader that is unique to this scene instead of re-hashing lines from elsewhere in the OT. Thought I'd show it in colour as you can already see how the BW version looks anyway, on my Vimeo channel.
The Vader scene works really well with the new dialogue! Great work. The only thing I'd suggest is maybe reduce the volume of Vader's last line as he walks away, just slightly.
Bingowings said:
Please don't mistake my lack of comment as a lack interest.
I'm fascinated to see how this plays out.
It might be fun (coming from the conversation over on the Star Wars discussion thread) if you attempted to remove the suggestion of Force powers being inherited from the edit.
The lines that would need to go would be Ben saying that The Emperor and Ben knew that Vader's offspring would be a threat to him and Luke saying that Leia has the same power that he has and will learn it.
How is she supposed to learn it if Yoda and Ben are gone and he, Vader and the Emperor are dead as he claims to expect on The Death Star.
It would be nice to watch Jedi with the impression that anyone could become a Jedi and fight Vader rather than a prince born with magic powers.
Those two lines have already been cut, although not for that specific reason. Luke and Leia aren't related in this edit so the Ben/Luke scene has been cut altogether and the other scene was trimmed to remove those lines.
It's an interesting idea but surely Luke becoming a strong Jedi already suggests that Force powers are inherited?
Ryan McAvoy said:
Can't wait!
Cool. I'll send you the links when it's online.
I haven't tried it myself, but apparently it's easy to use MEGA with JDownloader (if you're still having problems downloading from MEGA).
Thanks for the kind review. I appreciate it.
Re: the opening. It has since been changed quite a bit. It now opens with Luke using the Force to build his lightsaber, then Coruscant, then the whole Yoda dying scene.
Glad you liked the Fett subplot. It's taken a lot of work just to get to this rough stage. But I doubt it'll ever be release-worthy - there are so many shots taken from various fan films, so that nothing matches up as well as I'd like.
Hopefully the new version will be online by the end of this month.
This is a fantastic edit that everyone should watch.