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ZigZig's THE PHANTOM MENACE Theatrical reconstruction 1080p – (V1.0 a WIP) — Page 2

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ZigZig said:

Since this project will be 100% theatrical, any theatrical audio track would be in good sync. The original theatrical DTS audio track will be already included.

But this project is not released yet…

That’s actually not necessarily the case. If the prints used to make whatever sources you’re using weren’t missing any frames it’ll be good, but usually there’s at least a few missing around the reel changes, which can cause issues. It shouldn’t be too much of an issue, but in the worst case you’ll need to either conform the video to the audio tracks by inserting a few blank frames, or conform the audio to the video by snipping a little out.

Looking forward to release, by the way! Can’t wait to finally retire my copy of the laser disc rip. The DVD cut really ruins the pacing with all the extra podracing stuff.

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 (Edited)

I can assure you that there will be no missing frame!

Owyn_Merrilin said:
The DVD cut really ruins the pacing with all the extra podracing stuff.

So true…

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Some news after many weeks …

Since ChewieLewis’ project (https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Phantom-Menace-99-HD-Theatrical-Version-by-Chewielewis/id/60924) started on the same basis as mine, and since ChewieLewis told me that he wanted to deliver his project as soon as possible in 2018 (and thus, it wouldn’t be possible to collaborate because my work speed was much more slow than his), it seemed constructive to me, for the benefit of all, to restart/reload my own project on a new different base, even closer to the “Despecialized” approach: rebuilding TPM in HD by taking Blu-Ray as the main source (instead of merging HDTV and STDV sources).

As a result, the OT community will benefit from two different approaches:

  • a reconstruction from HTDV and SDTV sources (ChewieLewis’ project)
  • a despecialization from Blu-Ray (my project).

The process is obviously more complicated, but is well advanced:

  • rebuilding every altered scene (mainly via rotoscoping + the modeling technique I developed for the previous project) - almost done
  • color grading and cropping on a scene by scene basis - to be done

I have also been able to find other major sources (ie captures from the first DLP version of Texas Instruments in 1999, or negative scans with original cinematographic subtitles).

I’ll try to deliver the final result for the 20th anniversary of TPM (19th May 2019)

NB: I sincerely regret that ChewieLewis insisted so much on finishing the project in 2018 - which was the main reason for our lack of collaboration (since I was not able to work so fast)… finally, his project was not delivered as fast as he said in 2018, so we could have collaborate.
That’s life… 😃

Some comparaisons :
http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/029MNNNU
http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/WP7PNNNX
http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/029CNNNU

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This looks interesting ZigZig. I’m trying to get my final render out but the christmas period has left me with little time, if you have anything you want to contribute before i hit that button that would be much appreciated.

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ZigZig said:

Some news after many weeks …

Since ChewieLewis’ project (https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Phantom-Menace-99-HD-Theatrical-Version-by-Chewielewis/id/60924) started on the same basis as mine, and since ChewieLewis told me that he wanted to deliver his project as soon as possible in 2018 (and thus, it wouldn’t be possible to collaborate because my work speed was much more slow than his), it seemed constructive to me, for the benefit of all, to restart/reload my own project on a new different base, even closer to the “Despecialized” approach: rebuilding TPM in HD by taking Blu-Ray as the main source (instead of merging HDTV and STDV sources).

As a result, the OT community will benefit from two different approaches:

  • a reconstruction from HTDV and SDTV sources (ChewieLewis’ project)
  • a despecialization from Blu-Ray (my project).

The process is obviously more complicated, but is well advanced:

  • rebuilding every altered scene (mainly via rotoscoping + the modeling technique I developed for the previous project) - almost done
  • color grading and cropping on a scene by scene basis - to be done

I have also been able to find other major sources (ie captures from the first DLP version of Texas Instruments in 1999, or negative scans with original cinematographic subtitles).

I’ll try to deliver the final result for the 20th anniversary of TPM (19th May 2019)

NB: I sincerely regret that ChewieLewis insisted so much on finishing the project in 2018 - which was the main reason for our lack of collaboration (since I was not able to work so fast)… finally, his project was not delivered as fast as he said in 2018, so we could have collaborate.
That’s life… 😃

Some comparaisons :
http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/029MNNNU
http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/WP7PNNNX
http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/029CNNNU

That’s great news! I have one question. Are you planning on adding any film grain since the Blu-Ray has almost none thanks to the overuse of DNR? The reason I’m asking is because I saw a project on myspleen where someone had added a layer of grain on top of the Blu-Ray image and it looked really good. It also looked like as if some of the detail was restored that was lost during the DNR process. What are your plans?

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Hi Skippy!

I’ll add grain (using a proper original grain scanned in 4K) at the end of the process.
The complete project contains :

  • rebuilding/rotoscoping missing/changed BR scenes :
    • original logo and crawl (1 scene)
    • jedi speed effect (2 scenes)
    • Gunray and Haako looking at Jedi’s escape (2 scenes)
    • invasion of Naboo (first scene above the planet - previously undetected change) (1 scene)
    • hand of Fode and Beed (1 scene)
    • missing podrace scenes (2 scenes)
    • arrival on Coruscant (3 scenes)
    • human cameo in the Senate (1 scene)
    • Theed bridge (1 scene)
    • original Yoda (all scenes with Yoda)
    • misc corrections and missing frames (ex : first frame of first scene)
  • original cut in full HD
  • new DTS source directly from theatrical CD-ROM + original Dolby 6.1 track
  • original colors (regraded on a scene by scene basis)
  • original alien subtitles (recreated from 35mm scan)
  • original grain
  • original ratio (based on 35 mm scan : 806x1920 instead of 820x1920)
  • original theatrical cropping (based on theatrical bootlegs)

If I have enough time:

  • lot of bonuses (theatrical advertising and trailers, George’s masterclass, making of)
  • BR authoring
  • several versions (23.976p vs 24p, with or without alien subtitles).

Trillary Dump is also involved in this project (for the original artwork, maybe the making of, and some finds of valuable sources).

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Great! Can’t wait to see the finished product!

ZigZig said:

  • invasion of Naboo (first scene above the planet - previously undetected change) (1 scene)

Interesting. Do you want to elaborate more on that?

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Skippy The Jedi Droid said:

Interesting. Do you want to elaborate more on that?

Of course. Here is the exact same frame from the theatrical version (HDTV), compared to the Blu-Ray (at 00.09.56) : http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/1B01NNNU

I only stretched and warped the HDTV version to fit perfectly the BR.

As you can see, some ships are in the same place, some are not, some are added… Obviously, the entire scene was rerendered for the Blu-Ray (possibly for the same reason than adding a bridge near the Palace of Theed…).

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Likely re-rendered for the 3D conversion. Or maybe they grabbed the wrong filmout file?

Would be great to have that released on bluray one day. Although i doubt it will due to it being a failed project.

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Chewielewis said:

Would be great to have that released on bluray one day. Although i doubt it will due to it being a failed project.

I wish I would’ve seen it in 3D when it was rereleased. I heard at least episode II and maybe III were all ready to go for their 3D release too.

The user formerly known as “Trillary Dump” (it was the 2016 election…)

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Chewielewis said:

Likely re-rendered for the 3D conversion. Or maybe they grabbed the wrong filmout file?

Yes, I thought the same thing.

But I’m not sure: the theatrical scene has more depth than the BR re-rendered scene. Furthermore, other scenes would have also deserved a new rendering for 3D (final battle in space, pod race) but yet they have not been re-rendered.

Anyway, you’re right: it would be great to have that released on bluray one day.

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The air taxi scene has also been rerendered for bluray, interestingly. Take a look when they are sitting in the air taxi, everyone is rearranged.

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Interisting! I didn’t notice, since this scene is not in the theatrical version.

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I wonder if that scene wasn’t properly “finished” in HD in 2001 since it was initially restored for a DVD release. Interesting.

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Hey what type of font is used for the phantom menace subtitles

(Previously Pickle2503)

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The font is home-made and precisely recreated from the 35mm cells

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ZigZig said:

The font is home-made and precisely recreated from the 35mm cells

I’m working on my own little project, do you know what font would be closest to it?

(Previously Pickle2503)

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One more question, sorry to be bugging you, do you know if there’s any way to get the movie without any subtitles, that way I can use that font for my version? Thanks again.

(Previously Pickle2503)

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The Blu-Ray subs are “soft subs,” that is, they’re a separate subtitle file instead of baked into the video. So just use the video stream without the subtitle stream.

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ChainsawAsh said:

The Blu-Ray subs are “soft subs,” that is, they’re a separate subtitle file instead of baked into the video. So just use the video stream without the subtitle stream.

Oh great, can I just use MakeMKV to do that?

Edit: Nvm, I’ll just figure it out with ts muxer

(Previously Pickle2503)

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ZigZig said:

Here is the resut (compared to another project where a simple upscaled SD video seems to be used):

http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/KKW7NNNX

Comparison :

SD upscaled :

ZigZig’s HD reconstruction :

I did it quicky without really adjusting the fine parameters, but the result seems to me already very promising.

I just took my TB copy (ORF is the same, by the way), upscaled on MSpaint to get HD size, and noted that in this shot, its frame is bigger on all sides, in particular on bottom…

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/129849

I also noted that Chewielewis’ frame size is a bit bigger, albeit your has more details; I wonder you have used the BD and overlaid the humans only, right? Why don’t you use both SD and Chewie’s versions to get added “borders”? Just my 2c, hope this could be useful!

Eagerly waiting to see this release - do not let us wait until 20th Anniversary! 😄

Sadly my projects are lost due to an HDD crash… 😦 | [Fundamental Collection] thread | blog.spoRv.com | fan preservation forum: fanres.com

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Actually, those examples were made when I was working on a reconstruction made from HDTV sources (just like ChewieLewis), there was no BD in it.
Since then, I rebooted my project from scratch and I currently use BD as my main source (which is far less cropped than HDTV and ChewieLewis’ reconstruction).