So… anyone following this thread has heard about this “update” coming. Well here’s what I have listed out:

Runtime changes: Film might be longer by two minutes or so, but just due to having both cuts & additions, it actually balanced out pretty well.

-New Scenes/Moments-

The company hears Orcs after leaving the Shire. Provides context/build-up for the “Orc pack” that shows up later.
Misty Mountains Storm - There is no longer an avalanche, instead, Bilbo simply slips off the edge because of the dangerous weather. This is preferred to my old cut, as when this new version is analyzed, there are far less inconsistencies/causes for confusion/continuity errors (or even none at all).
Added a second close up of an Orc in the Out of the Frying-pan sequence to make sure the audience knows it’s not just a Warg pack, but also an Orc pack.
Added an establishing shot of a mountain range with some wind SFX & soundtrack at the start of part 2 to give a slower opening before we cut to Bilbo.
Bard discovers Thorin’s quest. In this extended Laketown sequence we get to hear some more lines from the book, it provides build up for Bard opposing their quest, shows that Bard is smart and discovered what they were doing on his own, and it explains why the Dwarves were forced to try to steal weapons.
More of Dwalin talking to Thorin in the throneroom during the battle. I have added a few extra lines to this scene, including the iconic “You sit here, in these vast halls…yet you are lesser now than you have ever been.” This is an interesting moment to have, especially with the Dwarvish music building up, and helps to act as a better moment of “changing Thorin’s mind,” because Dwalin really spoke some hard truth.
Gandalf’s departure has been reworked to mirror the dialogue from the book. This also makes it so Gandalf does not know about the ring until sometime after The Hobbit/the start of FotR, which is accurate to the lore.

-Color Grading-

Removed green tint from AUJ
Increased the effects on DoS/BotFA to match AUJ more
Overall, the color grading looks more real & natural, with a slight ‘reddish/warmer’ feel rather than a ‘greenish/murky’ atmosphere. Certain scenes have been adjusted differently, for example, Laketown has a bluish atmosphere to match the coldness of the setting, same with the Goblin caves.

-Digital Alterations by Eric-

Removed Thorin’s injuries on his face from the end of part 1, because in my edit he never dueled with Azog.
Removed arrows from appearing on the barrels when they meet Bard.
Removed Bard’s son from the Bard vs Smaug scene, so now we get to see Bard release the arrow on screen.
Removed Dwalin from the background when Bilbo gets knocked out.
[Pending] Improved the removal of Radagast from riding an Eagle.

-Fixes/Small Adjustments-

[Pending] added establishing shot when switching from night to day in Rivendell to ease the transition.
Removed a jump-cut that was in the official movie when Bilbo was waking up to turn around back to Rivendell.
Removed silly cartoon sound effect when Bilbo is falling down into the cave and tries to grab the rope but his hands slip out.
Adjusted the shot of Gollum floating on his little raft over to Bilbo so that we don’t see his full face. This means the first time we see his full face close up is when he jumps down in front of Bilbo, which works better because he should be more mysterious at first.
Slightly shortened the sequence when the ring falls on Bilbo’s finger to mirror how it looked in FotR when it happened to Frodo. Originally, when it fell on Bilbo’s finger we saw a CGI ring dancing around/floating in circles for a really long time before it went on his finger, this was something they probably did to “look cool” but it wasn’t necessary at all.
Adjusted a short transition when they are escaping on Eagles at night, to account for the sound effects of Gandalf moving his arm on the tree, because previously in my edit this audio played during a wideshot so if you listened closely there was a random sound.
Also for the Eagles, when they are landing on Carrock I swapped a shot out and now we see them fly up to Carrock, then cut to 3 shots of them being on Carrock (Gandalf/Company/then Bilbo), and we cut to the Eagles flying off. This is better because now I don’t have that odd shot of what appears to be Thorin lying unconscious on the ground.
Removed a Warg sound effect I had play in the background at the start of part 2 when the company was talking, I had this to remind the audience of the Wargs, but now that I have shown the Wargs several times we already get the idea they’re still after them
Removed my custom subtitle for Thorin’s insult when he’s in the cell. I have purposefully left his other insult subtitled to Thranduil because that actually contributes to the narrative - showing that Thorin wishes Thranduil’s people faced the same demise of dragon fire, which contributes to their feud.
Reduced red tinting that I had added on the scene of Azog marching his army so it looks more natural.
Increased audio volume for the stab wound SFX on Fili/Kili
Tidied up various audio transitions/fades, the Company escapes from Goblins, landing on Carrock, the Rivendell transitions, and possibly more, these usually don’t effect the runtime at all.
Will add a movie chapter for “A Thief in the Night” because my edit now has had the Bofur scene for some time, which I like, so I believe it requires its own chapter rather than being combined with the following chapter like I had done previously.
Added Eric to the editor’s credits.

Coming this year.

IF YOU HAVE FEEDBACK now is the time as I am working a lot on this project, this is supposed to be the most comprehensive & detailed book-accurate Hobbit edit (to an extent, I could probably trim more but then character arcs would be flat and plots wouldn’t be fleshed out) that also sits well with LOTR