Episode III: The Eyepainter Fanedit (Released)(Trailer online) — Page 2

Just tried the new arrangement, and I think it works better. I did have to remove a few lines of dialogue from Anakin and Palpatine’s conversation about how trustworthy Padme is, but that’s about it. I’m going to try watching the edit sometime in the next few days to see if it works, but I’m hopeful that we’re reaching the end of the cutting stage.

With that said, I still have a lot to take care of. I’ve got a lot of transitions, edits, and wipes to add. The new blu-ray source has a miserable purplish tint that could use some color grading. And I think this one may require more sound editing than even Episode I. So I still have a lot to take care of, but I think the first stage is close to complete.

Gave the edit a watch, and I’m mostly satisfied with it. It’s currently at a runtime of only 100 minutes, and I think that’s enough. All I have left are a bunch of nitpicky things for the cutting stage, which is most likely a sign that I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel.

I will most likely start work on the wipes and transitions soon. I’ve got quite a lot of them to work on, too.

Well, that was quick. I got the wipes and transitions completed today. Gonna start work on the color grading in the next few days.

I’d like to watch a workprint of this once it’s at that stage, if possible.

CaptainFaraday said:

I’d like to watch a workprint of this once it’s at that stage, if possible.

I’ll see if I can come up with one, but I still have to take care of the sound editing which is usually the final stage of editing for me. I have a lot of droid dialogue to remove (Like I did for Episode I), lines and conversations I’d like to get rid of, cross fade transitions, etc. I’m beginning to think this edit is gonna have more sound editing work than I and II, believe it or not. Still, I’ll see what I can do.

That line was referencing a deleted scene in which Obi-Wan talked to Padme about his worries about Anakin (which would’ve actually been a great scene from what I read in the script had it been left in; the dialogue is actually fantastic, you can read it on Internet Movie Script Database), not Obi-Wan and Padme having an affair.

In the novel that delves into what Palpatine made Anakin think what was going on, it wasn’t an affair either: he was trying to convince him that the Delegation of 2000 and the Jedi were teaming up to overthrow the Republic.

G&G-Fan said:

That line was referencing a deleted scene in which Obi-Wan talked to Padme about his worries about Anakin (which would’ve actually been a great scene from what I read in the script had it been left in; the dialogue is actually fantastic, you can read it on Internet Movie Script Database), not Obi-Wan and Padme having an affair.

In the novel that delves into what Palpatine made Anakin think what was going on, it wasn’t an affair either: he was trying to convince him that the Delegation of 2000 and the Jedi were teaming up to overthrow the Republic.

I thought so. It’s quite a shame that the deleted scene with Obi-Wan talking to Padme isn’t around anywhere. Or at least, with the versions I own. Even without reading the script, it sounds like a great scene.

Anyhow, I just started work on color grading and because of the updates to my editing software, I’m having to learn something new. I tried the HDR color wheels for the first time, and I’m really enjoying the results on the opening shot. I still have to experiment and see what works, but I think the results are gonna look nice. I’ll post some images when I’ve come up with something.

So, I’m currently learning all the new tools in DaVinci Resolve 17, and I’d like to get a second opinion on what looks best.

I’ve come up with two ways to go about with the color grading for this film. The first is a version somewhat similar to the color grading I did for Episode II (but not completely), and the second is a grade I’ve been experimenting with using the new HDR color wheels.

I’m not sure which one to go with, so here’s a still I took from the opening Count Dooku confrontation. I decided on this one because it features skin tones and lightsabers while also placed against a dark background. This should hopefully give an estimate as to what the rest of the film could look like.

Note: I have placed the images under spoiler tags, because I find that the expand and collapse tabs make it easier to draw comparisons between the three.

To give you an idea of the differences, here’s what the blu-ray transfer looks like first:

Now, here’s what the Episode II-themed color grade looks like:

Finally, here’s the color grade I did using the HDR color wheels:

On the one hand, I like the Episode II theme because the yellow tone makes it look more cinematic, but it suffers from having a sepia-toned look that doesn’t really spell “Star Wars” to me. However, I’m not a big fan of the teal-ish look of the HDR version, since it reminds me of too many present day movies. What are your thoughts?

Here’s another sampling of images I’ve taken. This one is from the Darth Plageus scene. I’ve singled on this one because of how problematic the purple skin tones are. I figure this scene is another good demonstration for how the edit will look depending on which color grade I choose.

Let’s start innocently enough with the opening of the scene. We’ll start with the beginning shot of Anakin running into the opera house. I realized the first still I took didn’t show any reds, and because of how common red is for Episode III, let’s take a look at a shot that’s mostly red.

Original Blu-Ray

Episode II Themed Grade

HDR Grade

Overall, I think the HDR Grade wins in the red category. However, the teal appearance I’ve been worried about is also prevalent, especially if you look at the Coruscant background. While the original and episode II grade show a normal grey Coruscant, you can see a green hue to the HDR grade.

Let’s get to the opera house, shall we?

This shot has a lot of faces, which makes it a perfect demonstration. Here’s the original blu-ray as shown.

As you can see, the skin tones look too reddish. Let’s take a look at the Episode II theme grade.

And here’s the HDR grade.

Once again, I think the HDR grade wins this round, but the teal issue is a consistent one. Perhaps even more so here because the dark areas (particularly on the left side of the image) are much greener than in the other two grades.

Next, let’s look at the fancy ball itself. Here’s the original blu-ray image most of you have seen.

Here’s the ball with the Episode II grade.

And finally, the HDR grade.

The choice to make this shot darker in the Episode II and HDR grades than what was shown on the blu-ray is intentional, as the blu-ray suffers from a lot of white clipping. You can see this at the bottom of the biggest ball where it’s so white that you can barely see any detail in the blu-ray still, while the other two grades show more detail. Regardless of which grade is chosen, the white clipping issue is one I intend to fix. Overall, I think the Episode II grade wins simply by being the darkest one in the bunch, but I’ll let everyone else be the judge on that.

The last still I have to show is a shot of Anakin and Palpatine. This one is more of a close-up than the others, making the decisions on skin tones even clearer. Here’s what the blu-ray blessed (or cursed) us with.

I really hate the skin tones in this shot, even if it is natural to the scene. Palpatine’s face looks so weird in all the wrong ways.

Let’s look at the Episode II grade.

The yellow-ish tint in this grade is subtle, but an improvement over the blu-ray release.

Now, for the HDR grade.

Personally, I think the HDR grade skin tones look phenomenal here. However, the green tone is at its most visible in this still as well.

Artan42 said:

If you could reduce the blue from the HDR a smidgen, I think it’s the best looking one overall and fits RotS as a film.

I hope I can. I think a lot of what makes the skin tones look better in the HDR is because the grade has been tinted to the opposite color (green being the opposite of violet by computer standards). If I change it too much, the skin tones will end up with that weird red-violet hue again. I just did a minor little adjustment and moved the dark and shadow levels from green to yellow to see if that made any difference. Here’s a comparison between the two adjustments.

Here’s the entrance hall shot:

…And here’s the adjusted version:

Here’s the first still showing the skin tones:

…And here’s the adjusted version:

Here’s the fancy water ball:

…And here’s the adjusted version:

Here’s the close-up shot:

…And here’s the adjusted version:

As you can see, the purplish-red skin tones are coming back somewhat in these stills. However, I do believe it’s a small improvement over the previous HDR grade. If nothing else, it looks more natural.

Assuming there are no objections to the yellow adjustment of the HDR, I’m going to use that for the color grading of the edit. I’ll post some more stills of the adjusted HDR grade in the future as I continue working on it.

I like the final HDR grade.

Sounds like it’s settled. I’ve currently graded about two-thirds of the way through the opening sequence and I’m laboring through the General Grievous meetup. I’m trying to see if I can remove R2’s distraction through the use of zooming and cropping, so that Obi-Wan just snatches his lightsaber right in front of Grievous’ face instead. Needless to say, it’s a pain in the neck.

I’ll grab some stills of the opening sequence as soon as I’ve completed it.

Just got finished with the opening sequence. As promised, here’s a bunch of stills I took to give a demonstration on the differences between the blu-ray and the color grade I’ve been working on. For simplicity’s sake, top is blu-ray, HDR grade is bottom.

Let’s start with a few stills of the opening shot:

Here are some stills of everything that happens before the Dooku confrontation:

And here’s some stills of the actual Dooku confrontation:

Next, we go to stills of the escape:

…Which leads us to General Grievous:

…Which segues into the landing:

Currently grading the Obi-Wan/Grievous confrontation. The color grading is taking longer than I expected, mainly because I noticed the whites looked a little too red. I made a very slight adjustment towards the green, making the whites just a tad closer to cyan than the greys and blacks. It’s a small adjustment, and I don’t think it will be too noticable, but I’ll get some screencaps when I have the time to show what’s different.

As promised, here’s some screencaps showing the slight alteration I’ve made to fix some slight reddish tints to the brightest parts of the color grading. Once again, top is before, bottom is after.

Pay close attention to the sky in this one, since it shows the most dramatic change.

Next, here’s a shot of the jedi temple.

The hallway in this shot, I feel, shows considerable improvement.

The lights in this cap look better too.

Look at the sunlight closely in this cap.

Here’s a cap of one of the deleted scenes I’m adding in. Mon Mothma’s white suit looks a little different in this shot.

Here’s some more of that same deleted scene. Much like the first screencap, the skyline shows a major difference.

Here’s another skyline cap from one of the few remaining shots of Kashyyyk.

Another skyline cap. This time, with Anakin.

The ship in the background shows a noticeable improvement.

Ditto for this one.

This cap, I’m not so sure about. I might go back and re-adjust it some more.

Same with this cap. Not sure what it is about this particular scene, but the blue looks off for some reason.

Here’s a screencap of Grievous. This cap is subtle, but the difference is there.

And finally, let’s finish this off with a cap from the Utapau battle.

So, hopefully, all of this will give you a rough idea for what the brighter parts of the image will look like. I know this color grading is taking a lot longer than my previous two, but I’m doing what I can (in between work shifts and major life changes) to get it finished.

I’m more than halfway through the color grading now. Plus, I’m getting this weekend off. So, fingers crossed, the color grading will be finished soon. I think I’ve posted enough screencaps at this time. So I don’t intend to show more. I don’t want to turn this topic into a photo album.

Finished with the color grading, or so I hope. I’ll give the edit a watch tomorrow to see if any inconsistencies pop up or errors need to be ironed out.

Once that’s over, I will be heading straight for the sound editing.

Just gave the edit a glance. I realized I made a mistake in lowering the exposure levels. I was trying to give the movie a more cinematic look, but I ended up clipping the black levels. I’m resetting the exposure levels back to 0 right now. The only exception being the white levels, as they still have a clipping problem. So, I will lower the exposure of the white levels slightly to fix the clipping issue.

If I find any other issues, I’ll post another update. For now, I’m going to work on the exposure levels, which should be fixed by tonight or tomorrow.

Exposure levels reset. Watching the edit for any other issues. If everything else looks good, I’ll be heading into the sound editing stage.

Just got sick today. I’m trying not to exert too much energy until I heal, so I decided to get the crawl rendered instead of watching the color grade (trying to decide if I want to analyze the grading, as I tend to feel worse if I interact with electronics too long when I’m sick). It’s a time-consuming process that only requires me to click a few buttons and that’s it. I’ll work on getting better for the time being. My hope is that I’ll be back on my feet by tomorrow or the day after. I’m not going to say that the edit is being delayed yet, but I do have to take things slower until I feel better.

Feeling much better today. I think I will start work on the sound editing and remove as many unwanted lines and droid dialogue as possible. That should be enough for a workprint. I’m not sure how long exporting the workprint is gonna take, but I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to send it out to Captain Faraday in the next 12 or so hours.

…And while I’m at it, I suppose it might be a good idea to show what the color grade looks like with the exposure levels reset. I’ll only show a still of the opening shot since I don’t want to overwhelm everyone with a zillion more examples.

Here’s what the color grade looked like before I reset the exposure levels:

…And here’s what the color grade looks like now:

I’ve picked this shot as an example because of how dark the image is, and to show just how much detail was lost when I lowered the exposure levels. In the top example, you’ll notice how hard it is to see the darker parts of the ship, while in the bottom example, those details are easier to notice.