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solkap

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Join date
21-Jan-2016
Last activity
23-Feb-2019
Posts
390

Post History

Post
#1163057
Topic
Star Wars Despecialized Editions - Custom Bluray Set (Released)
Time

yhwx said:

I bet they have filters for this kind of content at public libraries.

That might sometimes be the case, but it was not my experience.

The NTSC DVD5 versions of SW 2.5 and ESB 2.0 are posted on mega, and I ran into the IP address data limits that pop up after 5 GB when I was downloading those DE rars for the first time.

So I used precisely the approach I mentioned above to speed up the operation.

I would download 10 500 MB files at home, and when I could, run to the library, and download 10 500 MB files there, one by one, straight from the links, with no download manager, just to supplement the process. Even if all the files had been posted on mega and my home internet had been dial-up speed, for me, it would have been possible to obtain everything with this method, albeit tediously.

Post
#1162875
Topic
What printers does everyone use for printing discs and artwork?
Time

DragoonClawNZ said:

Still need to try glossy HQ paper though

Since you are using a Canon Pixma MG5350, make sure your paper is inkjet compatible. Glossy inkjet paper has microscopic holes in the plastic coating that allow the ink to get in and adhere to the paper underneath.

Since paper for laser printers doesn’t have these holes, it won’t work, because the ink will still easily smudge off even after drying.

Post
#1162639
Topic
Star Wars Despecialized Editions - Custom Bluray Set (Released)
Time

People also seem to forget that using computers that are publicly accessible at libraries to get the rars a few at a time is a feasible option, even if your home internet is slow.

If you use a flash drive just for the purpose of transporting files from the library to your home storage, an 8 gig drive would suffice to get 10 rars per trip.

Most libraries at least have broadband, so even if you only have dial-up at your home, these projects can still be within reach for you.

Post
#1162601
Topic
Harmy's STAR WARS Despecialized Edition HD - V2.7 - MKV (Released)
Time

TheTrueSpottedfeather said:

When you DO do whatever it is you’re going to do, you’ll announce where to get them somewhere on this site, I assume ?

yoda-sama said:

don’t ever expect to be told directly where to download such things in this forum, anyone doing so shouldn’t, this is for discussion about these projects, not how and where to get them.

Harmy will likely announce the release of the latest iteration of the DEEDs in these threads as he did for the last release (ROTJ 2.5 on 2/7/16), but there won’t be any download links here.

However, if you notice, that past announcement has the link to

The Ultimate Introductory Guide
(https://goo.gl/1WGHBA)

That guide will have links to the

Multipart RAR Download Links supplemental guide
(https://goo.gl/5Sif60)

which should likely be updated with the new download links you’ll need.

Post
#1162430
Topic
What printers does everyone use for printing discs and artwork?
Time

Even though this is an aging thread, for those pondering the purchase of a printer for direct to disc printing, I found this list helpful. They are all models of printers that are capable of direct to disc printing. I can personally vouch for the quality of the PIXMA TS9020.

The video link at the bottom was the source of this list.

A small note about the video. The poster says something near the begining about using these printers for “projects and things that they sell online”. He, of course, is not refering to any of the Star Wars projects here and I would not, in any way, endorse using those printers to create anything from those projects for resale.

Pixma TS9020
Pixma TS8020
Pixma MG7720
Pixma MG7520
Pixma iP8720
Pixma MX922
Epson P400
Epson P600
Epson Xp-630
Epson XP-640
Epson XP-830
Epson XP-860
Epson XP-960

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTOvCyK48eI

Post
#1162377
Topic
Star Wars Despecialized Editions - Custom Bluray Set (Released)
Time

To those people asking for others to burn their sets for them:

We understand it is frustrating to have to buy a blu-ray burner to make the sets. But that is the unfortunate reality. The few of us that have the equipment available would never be able to keep up with demand for burned sets from the general public.

Also keep in mind burners are not ridiculously expensive. Remember, you had to save in the past to buy a television & blu-ray player. You can do the same for a blu-ray burner.

As for as technical skills, it really isn’t that complicated. Just follow the guide step by step, and post questions if anything confuses you. People will be more than willing to help on that front.

But offering to burn discs for other users opens a pandora’s box, both in terms of copyright infringement and the flood of requests it would invite. Because of that, it is highly unlikely that people here will do the burning for you.

Post
#1161378
Topic
Info Wanted: Curious about plans for long term cultural legacy of the efforts here
Time

I think the idea about entrusting actual prints to an independent film archive is a good one. In terms of public access, though, it wouldn’t help much.

Of all the efforts here, it seems to me that the Despecialized Project fills that niche best.

Someday, though, the Despecialized Project will presumably be finished. This might happen either because it will reach a version that cannot be further improved upon or there won’t be anyone left who wants to continue it.

If the project reaches that point (perhaps decades from now) what will happen to the Final Despecialized Editions?

Catbus’s r/K analogy is apt. And I suppose anything involving the Library of Congress is out of the question, since copyright laws actually threaten the existance of the DEs rather than protect them.

At the same time, it seems inadequate to hang the future of films as significant as the OOT on a plan that amounts to flood the web with copies and hope some of them survive.

Is there some independent digital preservation society that exists now that could keep them online for posterity?

Something with the relative permanence of archive.org but the unofficiality of fanedit.info?

Or if nothing like that exists now, but came to be within our lifetime, could it hypothetically serve as a repository for the future last version of the DEs?

Post
#1161014
Topic
Harmy's STAR WARS Despecialized Edition HD - V2.7 - MKV (Released)
Time

TheTrueSpottedfeather said:

I found the blu Ray set through the Disney movie club.

Ah, OK. Great! Go for it then!

My only worry was that you said “VHS twice and on DVD”, which don’t meet the requirements. But it doesn’t matter if you got the blu-rays discounted or even for free as gift, just as long as you’ve got them!

I wish I could help you and others with the burning, but it presents two problems. First, I feel it is just pushing the copyright envelope too far, even if I didn’t profit, because I would be physically distributing publicly.

Second, even if all that were perfectly fine, I’m also wary of becoming a “go-to” guy for disc burning. I don’t want to take on a huge load of users here who might want a set, but lack the equipment.

After the comments above, though, you may be able too find someone else here who feels differently. It’s worth a shot!

Post
#1160558
Topic
Harmy's STAR WARS Despecialized Edition HD - V2.7 - MKV (Released)
Time

TheTrueSpottedfeather said:

Would it be against forum rules to ask if someone here could burn a copy of NJVC Custom Bluray Set for someone that doesn’t have the ability ?

The short answer is that it is not ok for someone here to do that. And this isn’t the NJVC Set thread, this is.

The long answer would be to ask why you don’t have the ability. If it is a matter of equipment, you don’t need anything all that fancy beyond a blu-ray burner. You can find them for around $50 or maybe less.

If it is a matter of technical skill, you don’t need much. I’m not even in the same league as many on this site, and I figured it out and put up this guide to help. It’s long, but straightforward. Follow it step by step and you’ll do fine.

Post
#1160240
Topic
Info Wanted: Curious about plans for long term cultural legacy of the efforts here
Time

This is probably way beyond what anyone really wants to think about, but I think it’s something worth considering if nobody has yet.

Given that many of the Star wars projects on this site are with the intent of cultural preservation, has anyone thought about the very, very long term plans for their continued public existence?

I mean in terms of beyond our own lifetimes?

Take Nosferatu (1922) or Phantom of The Opera (1925). Or the silent films of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.

Almost no one, if indeed anyone, is still alive that would have either produced those films or seen them in theaters upon their initial release. But they continue to be easily available for two reasons. Their cultural/historical relevance and because the copyright holders chose to make them available.

With the OOT, the studios want to expunge a large part of the legacy, so it will be up to future preservationists to maintain public access. Have any of the producers of restored content here given any thought about doing anything to try to make sure their work passes to the public of future generations?

Or is that too ridiculously down the line to even think about at this point?

Post
#1160188
Topic
Project Index: Star Wars Preservations <em>(last update 29th Oct '17)</em>
Time

NeverarGreat, that flowchart is really useful for understanding what releases exist and what exactly all of them are. Have you, or anyone else who has knowledge of all the projects out there, considered making charts like this for ESB & ROTJ?

There would be a lot of redundancy, but many of the preservation/restoration/recreation efforts don’t extend to ESB & ROTJ.

Plus, ESB would have the Dream Mastered version, and ROTJ would have Harmy’s Grindhouse Restoration. And there are probably also projects of which I am unaware.

Post
#1159245
Topic
Star Wars Despecialized Editions - Custom Bluray Set (Released)
Time

MusicallyInspired said:

I have a question. There’s a PDF that comes with the artwork for the NJVC set for inserts (not covers) that have the subtitle, special feature, audio languages, chapters lists, etc. I’m assuming these are little foldover booklets that go inside the case where the discs are. But they don’t seem to be sized for the correct dimensions for a Bluray insert. Are they? What are the physical dimensions of a Bluray insert (again, not cover)?

I’m not sure I know what PDF you are describing. Without posting a direct link, can you point me to where you found the artwork in question?

Post
#1158294
Topic
Star Wars Despecialized Editions - Custom Bluray Set (Released)
Time

Ryan said:

solkap said:

I don’t remember seeing any. But you could always try messaging members here for versions of their designs with excess text taken off so you can add your own “Bonus Features” text.

Or www.fanart.tv has a lot of high-res images you could use to make your own.

Why does that website give an “unsafe” warning when you try to go to it? Looks like something to do with “HTTPS”?

Oh sorry, I think you’re right. Try https://fanart.tv/

Post
#1157952
Topic
NJVC Custom Blu-ray Set of Harmy’s Despecialized Editions now available on Mega
Time

Binny said:

Gonna have to format my c drive to get the space for extraction (I made some poor partition decisions last install). I did check everything with md5checker and it didn’t return any errors, so I should be good, right?

Yeah, you should be good. BTW, would it be worth it to buy a 256 gig flash drive? Either as a place to move the rars or a place to extract them? They are usually about $50, but it might be worth it, as I would think an entire C drive reformat would be a real hassle.

Ryan said:

As far as the “main” extras and things in this NJVC collection. Does anyone know if they are the highest quality versions available of those extras?

Have you tried messaging NJVC? I doubt he’ll send you any files directly given the piracy issues surrounding his work, but he might be willing to answer that question and/or point you to his sources.

Post
#1157753
Topic
Harmy's STAR WARS Despecialized Edition HD - V2.7 - MKV (Released)
Time

IMHO, with physical media, the rights to a particular copy are purchased and only maintained by virtue of physical possession. If you sell or give that copy away, you relinquish the rights to it, as well as any rights to edited versions.

My understanding is that that is one of the big reasons the powers that be tolerate the Despecialized Project or fanedits in general. In theory, more people than not will adhere to the honor code, and the copyright holders don’t lose that much money.

But in the scenario ray_afraid describes, both he and whomever he passed his blu-rays off to now both have access to copyrighted material, while only one copy was purchased, and the studios lose revenue.

Same problem with course of action towne32 describes. I hope I’m not coming off as preachy or judgemental here. I only mean to share my conscience.

Post
#1157746
Topic
Harmy's RETURN OF THE JEDI Despecialized Edition HD - V3.1
Time

SteveE said:

But from what you are saying I’m better off downloading the MKV? What do you mean by a more reliable file integrity?

Hi SteveE,

Oh no, that’s not what I’m saying at all! Any of the official versions from Harmy and NJVC are awesome!

What I’m saying is that whatever format you choose, it’s probably safer to get them from the links you can access through the guides I’m pointing you too. That way you know nobody else has tampered with the files you are getting.

If you choose to get them from demonoid or some other torrent site, the files you get may have had changes made to them, perhaps lessening their quality, leading to extraction errors, or hiding unwanted software.

I’m referring to the unreliability of torrents rather than any issues with different formats.

Here are those guides again:

The Ultimate Introductory Guide (TUIG)
This will give you step by step instructions on how to aquire the DE’s as well as lead you to the

Multipart RAR Download Links
which have lists of the links you need for the rars to the DE’s.

Or if you go to
NJVC Custom Bluray Set…
it will lead you to both instructions and download links for that custom blu-ray set.

Post
#1157676
Topic
Harmy's STAR WARS Despecialized Edition HD - V2.7 - MKV (Released)
Time

ray_afraid said:

All I have are receipts showing that I bought a copy and sold it.
Those two receipts are my entire Star Wars collection.

But isn’t it actually current ownership of the source material that makes it ok to have the DE’S? IE, you probably shouldn’t have sold it as long as you intend to keep the Harmy’s versions?

Post
#1157581
Topic
Despecialized: Cases &amp; Printing - Help! Looking for my place in all of this...
Time

From the looks of that program, I would assume Nuance PowerPDF could handle that, but I’ve never used it, so I can’t promise.

If it turns out it can’t, I ended up using GNU Image Manipulation Program GIMP. It’s not the most user friendly program, but it’s learn-able with a little practice and research, and it’s free.

As far as fonts, I used Episode I Font to put “Despecialized Edition” on my discs.

Post
#1157047
Topic
Despecialized: Cases &amp; Printing - Help! Looking for my place in all of this...
Time

Q: Do I print the discs before I burn them?
A: It’s up to you. Printing on the top of a disc isn’t really risking damage all that much.

Q: What’s up with these Criterion cases? Am I missing something or is it just straight preference?
A: The spines can be sized a little differently. I got my cases from casetopia.com. Notice in this selection there are cases with 6mm, 11mm, 12mm, and 14mm spines. 12mm is the most common commercial size and the size that most of the people who post cover art here use for their projects.

Q: What are the key items that I should be looking for with artwork, particularly dimensions pertaining to the case so it fits correctly. What format (PDF, jpg, etc)?

A: Depends. Different image formats have different properties (lossy vs lossless, etc.). I’ll let you research the merits of the different image formats yourself. If you are going to try to take your project to a print shop, they will probably want it as a pdf.

If you are going to print at home for a 12mm case, the most important thing is to initially print at approximately these dimensions:

Width:
10 & 9/16 inches
Height:
5 & 15/16 inches

Then trim off 1/16 inch from each side. This will cut very slightly into the outside of the picture so there will be no white at the edge.

32 lb glossy paper works well for covers. Make sure whatever you get is compatible with your printer. Glossy laser printer paper will not work in inkjet printers for example; the ink would just smear off. You can technically use 8.5 x 11" paper, but that leaves less than 0.25" margins on the sides, and that might cause issues. If you can get your hands on 8.5 x 14" paper it’ll work better, but it can be hard to find.

Even though they probably won’t print the covers for you because of copyright concerns, places like Staples or Office Depot usually have large paper trimmers they let the public use that are ideal for this type of cutting.

The most important thing is that your finished dimensions for a 12mm case will be:

Width:
10 & 7/16 inches
Height:
5 & 13/16 inches

But remember Phildesfr’s stuff in the mega link at the bottom of his post is already properly sized for all that.

If you want to do a double sided insert (ie have stuff on the inside and outside), print the first side image of it aligned with the top left hand corner of the paper. Then take the printout, flip it over, and print the second side image of your insert, but this time aligning it to the top right hand corner of the paper on the other side, like so:

It won’t line up exacty, but by having it be just a tad oversized, you end up trimming the slightly misaligned excess from the edges anyway.

Q: Any other ideas, items…

A: If you do need to resize for some reason, there are scaling options in the print dialog of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader program.

This link or the photo below might be helpful.

1

There’s lots of cover art in this section of the site:

Or here are several other specific threads from which you might get some good art to use and/or design ideas:

Phildesfr’s Blu-Ray Complete Set

Tyler0013’s Boxless Boxset

Star Wars THX “Faces” Covers Posted by “TheDarkKnight”

Detolas Custom BluRay Set - (Pic Heavy)

Also a few other things I will address via pm.

Q: …or insults that I should consider?

A: Hmmm. Well, I guess if you really want an insult, I could say you are a nerd, but I clearly live in a glass house, so throwing those types of stones would probably be kind of foolish on my part. 😉