Hello all. This is something I’ve been working on for a little while. It’s sortof my own semi-specialized version of Ep Iv and V. (Not including VI because I’m making a fan edit of it that I will use to match the rest of the set in presentation, unless people like IV and V enough I might release one of it too)
The controversial thing about these editions is that they will use the 2011 color timing. Sorry, but on my projector and huge screen, they really look fine. A tad dark at times but its not a deal breaker for me. However there will be a base adjustment based on settings suggested by JawsTDS. This will adjust the strange hue and has a mild gamma adjustment to fix the darkness.
These will also use telecine7’s versions as a base. Basically this means all lasers, blaster shots, and lightsabers are redone to match the modern films. They look fantastic and all credit goes to him for this.
Another serious point of effort in these editions is the audio. Theo primary audio track will be a 2.0 fully pro logic/dolby surround compatible ac3 track with a very high bitrate (for a 2 channel track) sourced straight from a dts track or a lossless pcm track of the 93 mixes for some sections. This was in aim to be able to provide people without dts capabilities or receivers to have the quality the dts tracks offer in a dolby (much more accessible) format. Being that they are mixed down to 2.0 that is a much higher bitrate per channel than a 5.1 track would, and sounds much closer to to the original dts track quality wise than a 5.1 conversion would. And great care was taken to ensure that they were downmixed properly and fully compatible with pro logic/dolby surround systems and they work great, you still get a very immersive surround experience. Also on the full bd25 versions will be provided a 5.1 upmix for folks without pro logic or an upmixing receiver, but the 2.0 track will be the recommended track due to the higher fidelity because of it being sourced straight from the dts files. (The 5.1 file will be converted as directly as possible as well but with more channels to spread the bitrate over its not quite as good. Don’t get me wrong it sill sounds quite good, just a little less full sounding, the bottom isn’t quite as warm and less fine detail) on a/b tests the only real (audible anyway… Obviously small minute differences) difference was the dialogue bleeding a bit into the front left and right speakers, but honestly who cares about that.
Here’s a more specific breakdown of the films.
EPISODE IV (finished)
Mostly just the (telecine7) 2011 bluray versions. However:
-Entire Mos Eisley sequence (until the stormtroopers blast at the han and crew boarding the falcon) is the original version. Taken from harmys despecialized version upscaled to 1080p and color matched to the 2011 version. (Again, I know I’m in the minority on this but while they may not be authentic but the 2011 colors just look better to be). This means no jabba, no cgi ronto, no greedo shooting, or anything else they butchered for that.
-all lasers and sabers redone by telecine7. Some jump cuts also smoothed my him also.
-Sorry, but the shot of the walking trash can in the sandcrawler has been removed. I promise it was done seamlessly but I always hated that.
-Bad audio cut during the sandpeoplec music cue is fixed by borrowing audio from adywans revisited.
The audio is sourced from the 1997 sound mix dts files for most of it. The horrid 2011/2004 mix is banished. No more inconsistent dialogue quality, no more harah, dry sound. 93 mix used for mos eisley sequence. As stated before the audio is presented as a 2.0 pro logic track sourced straight from the dts/wav files. The alternate 5.1 track in this case was actually assembled separately and is not just an upmix like in V and VI. Although the difference is negligible honestly to me and the 2.0 track still sounds better to me.
Episode V (almost finished)
-All lasers and sabers redone by telecine 7.
-Wampa cave reverted to original using the dreamaster degrained film scan with a stabilizing filter applied to stop the shaking. Also color matched to 2011.
-Various dialogue takes changed from 2011 put back (shelter is built instead of up, Luke is full of surprises and doesn’t grunt falling down steps, r2 is lucky he doesn’t taste very good etc.). However, the 2011 mix and it’s superior quality is used as a base so the missing speeder explosion is there and Luke tells 3po thanks while recovering. Also the fixed music cut is still fixed and the missing boba fett departure cue is still present from the special edition.
-original boba fett voice restored.
-added special edition shot of the slave ship chasing the falcon ridiculously close removed.
-Ian is the emperor.
-changes to the ending sequence reverted back. (Bring my shuttle restored, extra shots removed)
-one or two unique changes that shouldn’t matter much to anybody.
The 5.1 track included here is just an upmix but it sounds good.
ANH is done and ESB is mostly done. I have not authored the bd25 yet, as I am planning on having a few documentaries included as bonus features and also menus authored to mimic the menus of the SNES games, mostly just for fun. However I plan on uploading a 720p avchd compatible mkv to the spleen very soon. Once I’ve authored the full bd25 version which will be 1080p I’ll upload it as well.