towne32

odok76 said:

So 4k83 is here.
Which edition wins the all round, one-copy-only, best ROTJ at the moment?
Harmy 2.5 or 4k83?

Personal preference, really. Despecialized contains virtually zero GOUT. It’s basically all blu-ray and 35mm.

4K83 is extremely clean. I’ve seen commercial blu-rays and TV airings of movies with more scratches or dirt. The image is a little softer, and there are clearly limitations that are inherent to the reel-by-reel grading method. I think once someone does a shot-by-shot version of 4K83 (and as a personal preference, removes the reel change markers), it will be pretty damn hard to beat that. I think some shots look better in 4K83, because they’re purely from the original source. For instance, the early shot of 3PO and R2 at the door.

Two fantastic options.

TV’s Frink said:

Looks like I need to calibrate my babel fish.

Sellout.

You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.

ZigZig said:

Williarob said:

Soon… Very soon…

https://vimeo.com/289687216

Holy s…, this is by far the most exciting trailer I ever seen.
It looks gorgeous.

It does look excellent. It might be worth pointing out though, I think, that the trailer probably has shot by shot color grading and the first release will be by reel. So it won’t look identical.

The cleanup and state of the print itself is quite amazing, though.

Warbler said:
It is not too difficult for newcomers to watch “Twice Upon a Time”.

It’s not difficult but the people making it, and we, want it to be a successful show. It’s a fresh start, and I’ve read from a lot of people (including many in this thread) that they’re tuning in and enjoying it for the first time in many years. Others who have never watched the show are asking “what’s a good time to start?” and seem quite relieved to know that the answer is “right this moment”.

Why have them go back and watch an era (which I love, but one which has abysmal ratings and a lot of disdain for it)? And then to know what’s going on in ‘Twice’, they need to go further back. And further, and further. Clean breaks and jumping on points are important, especially when the entire production team has changed. People very easily feel overwhelmed by how much of this show there is, even based on the length of just the new series.

It would be one thing if this resulted in an actual plot hole, but that’s not the case. She was falling and then she fell into a train immediately after regenerating. I think they handled it perfectly. And based on the reviews and feedback of others who either never watched before, or lost interest, it seems to have worked.

Warbler said:

I am forced to admit. She is better than I thought she’d be in the role. Much better. I was wrong and I am sorry.

I do have a couple of minor complaints about the episode. How could she fall from the sky down into a train without breaking every bone of her body and having to regenerate again?

Glad you gave it a shot. People have addressed the other two questions, but this one can be explained by the post-regeneration healing abilities of the Doctor. The 10th Doctor grew a whole hand back. Some broken bones would probably also quickly be dealt with?

I think it was a good move to not pick up directly from the cliffhanger. They really want to start the era fresh, and this way newcomers can absolutely tune in without feeling like they have missed anything at all.

Puggo - Jar Jar’s Yoda said:

What I assume was an otherwise cliffhanger ending was totally ruined by the sudden cutaway to some pumped-up insert, followed by a total lack of clarity that the episode was over. By the time I happened to notice that credits were running in the corner, a lot of time had passed and I assumed I had missed something.

Basically, the episode was great, while the presentation of it by BBCA was pretty awful. When you can’t even tell what you are watching at any given moment - the show, or an ad, or a get-together, and you can’t tell if the people on the screen are BBCA guests or if they are extras in the episode… it’s a mess. I hope it’s not like this every episode.

Agreed. Sticking with amazon for the next episode. The commercials are pretty detrimental anyway. Just wanted to watch the first one live due to the simulcast.

TV’s Frink said:

Setzer said:

Can’t a mod lock this thread please?

Or everyone can just, you know, stop posting in it and stop reading it.

I’m enjoying reading it myself.

A dumpster fire of a color grading thread is pretty much Frink candy.

ChainsawAsh said:

Handman said:

In addition to the end credits, we didn’t even get a title sequence!

And one of those four people was Wil Wheaton.

Nobody got a title sequence for the first episode. It was announced a week or two ago that it wouldn’t appear until episode 2.

Indeed. Though BBCA lacked the end credits as well. I later watched the digital version, and the theme (at least over the credits) is quite good. Has a lot in common with the 60s version’s melody (and the full version of it), but with modern heavy drums.

ZigZig said:

Yes, ROTS is the one with the fewest differences.
But AFAIK, there are other changes than this wipe :

• Wookie huts have extra details (moss and rust) on their rooftops (to make them look older)
• at the end, a different wipe and shorter “Noooo!” from Vader
• (some dialogues were changed or added, but this point is probably not relevant on a German version)

I may be wrong but I think that for $200, it’s worth saving it, if only for the color references and the 35mm grain.

Right, but going from the HDTV as a source, the wipe is the only thing that needs to be fixed (using the Blu-ray) as far as I know.

As others have said, though, it’s an interesting novelty.

skywalkerfan101 said:

Damn…it would be easier if there was an ISO file already available.

There’s really no point to hosting simple remuxes of large files when the mkv is the much more widely used format. It will be worth hosting when an iso with menus and special features is completed.

I understand that this release is very slightly more complicated than most, but there are two easy solutions posted so far.

Alternatively, someone in the technical subforum recommended Clown-BD ( https://www.videohelp.com/software/Clown-BD ) to remux to ISO. I’ve never used it and can’t vouch for it, but it worked for the person over there.

Collipso said:

just because they barely mention Lucas? that should be a huge negative!

I think there’s enough material out there about that guy. If he was overlooked in the grand scheme of things, sure. But this is a nice treat away from that stuff.

Handman said:

Do you mean Matt Smith’s first Christmas special?

No, one of the later ones. It might have even been his regeneration show… why that was the Christmas Special, I do not know. Series 5 was definitely the best of his era, but it’s impossible to approach the later seasons (and any of Capaldi’s) without being much more familiar with the show. It’s a lot like the original show in the 80s. And… well, both eras saw a huge drop in viewership.

Ah, fair enough. I agree that Time of the Doctor (while I actually love the episode, unlike most people), is possibly one of the very worst episodes to start on.

That said, I think the beginning of Moffat’s run, as some have suggested, is indeed a great place to start.

It depends on the person you’re recommending the show to and their tastes. Though we are only 13 years out, people are already seeing series one as rather dated. There are some parts of the RTD era that newcomers (perhaps more so for Americans) struggle with. I’ve heard at least a couple people doubt they should keep watching once they get to the ‘farting aliens’. Again, depends on the person. People who like British drama from that time period might enjoy the era more.

Handman said:

I wouldn’t recommend starting with Matt Smith or Capaldi. Moffat tried really hard to appeal to long-time fans that most episodes are completely incomprehensible to anyone unfamiliar with the show. The whole extended family was over and we ended up watching that year’s Christmas Special… no one knew what the hell was going on.

I would say starting with the revived show at the beginning, with “Rose”, is your best bet. However, I strongly recommend checking out the original show at some point.

Do you mean Matt Smith’s first Christmas special? What outside knowledge was required for that one? The companions have their own backstory, but they’re basically written out of most of the episode (and all you need to know is that they’re on a honeymoon, which you’re told). It’s actually the episode that got some of my family watching the show, and I think of it as one of the most standalone ones there is.

And there would be even less chance of confusion coming off of season 5. I’m struggling to think about how season 5, itself, could be incomprehensible to a newcomer. You miss River’s first story, but she’s reintroduced. Other than that, not much attention is paid to RTD’s storylines.

Bobson Dugnutt said:
(Pog form is acceptable)

This means I can download all the Alf fanedits I’ve had my eye on.

DrDre said:
something like this:

Can’t wait for your shot-by-shot of this. Hopefully for the DNR version as well as the initial release.

SilverWook said:

Does godaddy have any way to report a website? I’m sure there’s a terms of service violation in there somewhere.

copyrightclaims@godaddy.com is their official address for copyright complaints, but I’m not sure how useful it is if you’re not the copyright holder’s lawyer.

Hopefully there’s something usable here: https://supportcenter.godaddy.com/AbuseReport

I’ve sent a small donation. Good luck!

Chewielewis said:

I think this is where 4K77 and Despecialized can be different.

4K77 is strictly print based, it’s what a original Technicolor print would look like projected. And I think correcting some of the color imbalances from the inconsistent Technicolor process would be acceptable. Using reel by reel correction to keep it “authentic”

Then Despecialized should be Bluray based and be what we would expect a propper o-neg based restoration to be. So shot to shot correction to correct inconsistent color timing, removing heavy print grain and adding light negative grain where applicable. Basically what the BR would look like if it was done properly.

Right. That’s a good description of the project goals. That said, they’re both in a kind of middle-zone right now!

Despecialized is now a bit dated compared to ESB and Jedi, containing some GOUT and Harmy’s older, still impressive rotoscoping. Likewise, the DNR 4K77 is something beyond the ‘as projected’ aim without attempting to be blu-ray quality. IMO, it’s not too far off from the quality of some old ‘HDTV’ restorations (probably derived from transfers made for DVD).

WishItWas1984 said:

towne32 said:

WishItWas1984 said:

Ok, so I just compared the final 4K77 DNR release with Harmy’s 2.7 and I have to say that I think a combination of certain elements of it to a Despecialized 3.0 would be perfect, but I’m inclined to lean towards 2.7 being superior for noise, color, and lighting.

While I noticed insane improvements in Tatooine shots, Death Star shots or Falcon interior shots were either drastically blown out or too green/dirty. Plus, even though it’s DNR, the backgrounds still seemed to be fuzzy and constantly moving.

Curious to know what others think. I for one am happy to not have 4K resolution if it means a drop in other aspects.

That’s kind of you to say.

As for me, having just watched the “DNR” version, I’ve got to say it’s my favorite version so far. There’s a lot that Williarob improved in it over the standard 4K77 release aside from just the grain reduction, of course. The brand new color correction looks excellent. Very much the look I was going for with 2.7, and not always quite achieving. There are a few scenes, such as the Jawa/Canyon scene, where I was probably overly ‘anti-green’, and this new release strikes a nice balance. The contrast is generally excellent, though there are likely more limitations in that department for a scanned print compared to blu-ray as source.

I think it’s got a well-balanced grain profile. For standard, non-composited shots, I think it’s just the right amount of grain remaining, and a surprising amount of detail in the print. It’s true, of course, that the composited shots are softer and grainier, but it reflects the original look of the film, and that will always be the interesting trade-off compared to newer restorations of films with digitally recomposited elements.

But, taking that into account, the “DNR” release is great for its consistent look, throughout.

The “Vader in Death Star hanger walking to the Falcon” scene is a great example of how murky and weird the “Death Star Green” coloring is in the 4K version.

I think that’s just the nature of the technicolor coloring. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Despecialized 2.5, but Harmy attempted to put a lot of that style back into the movie. And in turn I kind of erased most of it in 2.7. 😃 I think the DNR release is a good compromise, but also probably works better as the grading can be brought out naturally from the print by adjusting the curves/levels, which isn’t the case when applying changes to a non-technicolor print.

Some of the ‘murkiness’ is also probably due to this being a composite shot, and grainier on the film print.

In any case, there will definitely be people that prefer the strictly neutral grading (I was like this, but I’m coming around 😃 ).

Well, the DNR version of 4K77 is available now. Aside from the grain management (which I think is very well done), I really like the other work done for this release. Extra cleanup and patches here and there, a lot of the red light-leak flashes from later in the film dealt with, good cropping and stabilization, removed reel change markers, etc.

And, most importantly for me, really gorgeous color and contrast. Thank you, Williarob and everyone else, for the enormous effort on this. This is great.

As far as some shots being grainier in 4K77, it seems like there are some scenes, including shots without effects, where there is more generational loss in the film.

The blu-ray is better for the sake of quality, of course, going back to the camera negatives (especially for shots with no effects/compositing), but’s interesting to see anyway.

Another thing I pointed out, when the last 4K77 version was released, is how soft the shots are that would later, in 2011, become “R2’s rocks”. I’m not sure if they were heavily zoomed or out of focus or what. But it made me wonder if Lucas just added the rocks because those shots weren’t really in good shape for blu-ray.

WishItWas1984 said:

Ok, so I just compared the final 4K77 DNR release with Harmy’s 2.7 and I have to say that I think a combination of certain elements of it to a Despecialized 3.0 would be perfect, but I’m inclined to lean towards 2.7 being superior for noise, color, and lighting.

While I noticed insane improvements in Tatooine shots, Death Star shots or Falcon interior shots were either drastically blown out or too green/dirty. Plus, even though it’s DNR, the backgrounds still seemed to be fuzzy and constantly moving.

Curious to know what others think. I for one am happy to not have 4K resolution if it means a drop in other aspects.

That’s kind of you to say.

As for me, having just watched the “DNR” version, I’ve got to say it’s my favorite version so far. There’s a lot that Williarob improved in it over the standard 4K77 release aside from just the grain reduction, of course. The brand new color correction looks excellent. Very much the look I was going for with 2.7, and not always quite achieving. There are a few scenes, such as the Jawa/Canyon scene, where I was probably overly ‘anti-green’, and this new release strikes a nice balance. The contrast is generally excellent, though there are likely more limitations in that department for a scanned print compared to blu-ray as source.

I think it’s got a well-balanced grain profile. For standard, non-composited shots, I think it’s just the right amount of grain remaining, and a surprising amount of detail in the print. It’s true, of course, that the composited shots are softer and grainier, but it reflects the original look of the film, and that will always be the interesting trade-off compared to newer restorations of films with digitally recomposited elements.

But, taking that into account, the “DNR” release is great for its consistent look, throughout.

93353 said:

@towne32 Can you add hashes to the original post for verifying file-integrity, like Harmy does?


File Name: Star.Wars.Despecialized.Edition.v2.5.mkv

CRC32: 42A67CC6

MD5: E52CC005E48931EF3DF336361DD1A142

SHA-1: 6CA73976E347CD6791DC31B4FCC758F0E5AD265E

SHA-256: 31C4BA98D4A14A71B6DA13830F1C3C508CBF93C89A348D382F76070A23588D6B

I dont have the files on hand, but if people can post and confirm, I would be happy to add them.