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The Lord of the Rings - Special Abridged Edition (Released) — Page 3

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now you see what happens, when you read too much about fanedits... I could have sworn I never saw Frodo with that red lips nevermind...

Nothing about fanediting is easy.

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I d/l'ed this version and have only seen 1/3 of it. I was able to watch despite the extreme compression simply because it's that good an edit. The compression/jerkiness makes it look like I'm watching it as part of an old PS1 video game, which actually gives it a neat kind of feel. Nonetheless, I am anxious to see a more "correctly" compressed version of this, as this is an excellent edit. In fact, I've joined this forum just so I could comment on what I've seen so far, because it's *that good*.
Let's start with some nitpicking: 1) On a DVD player, the bars above and below the menu turn *white* when viewed on a standard TV. Otherwise, the menu is excellent. 2) The fight between Gandalf and Saruman is gone...Saruman simply blasts Gandalf against a wall, up the tower, and that's it...which I have no prob with, but some people may feel makes Gandalf look weak, 3) Gandalf and the beast's fall after "you shall not pass" should perhaps be shorter, and cut sooner to the rest of the Fellowship leaving/Frodo crying out, etc (and minus the layering of the one dark shot over it).
Other than those three main things, I think we've got a winner. My friend the LOTR fanatic knew too much of what was taken out and was going apecrap, but for someone who has not seen the theatrical cuts in some time, I find it well done and easy to follow. Someone watching this without any knowledge of the other versions would not be confused. This may be a great way to introduce a lot of skeptics (with less time on their hands) to the LOTR saga. Anyway...I've not seen the whole thing yet, but once I do, I'll add more. Very good job so far, and I look forward to any upgrades.
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Thanks, dasjr!

Hmmm... I wonder why the bars are white. I've never heard of that happening before... I wonder if it has something to do with how DVDLabPro encodes it. I'll see if I can fix it.

My problem with the Gandalf-Saruman fight was the absence of *magic* -- here we have two powerful wizards fighting and all they do is fling each other around like rag dolls. Perhaps I'll reintegrate some of it back in -- however, I think it's important not to let Saruman take Gandalf's staff because it leaves the plot hole -- how did Gandalf get it back? Also, by having Saruman win so easily now, it shows how much more powerful Gandalf becomes after his "resurrection".

I thought the wide shot of the Balrog falling slowly fading into the shot of the Fellowship leaving Moria looked kinda cool, and it's one of the things I'd planned to do from the beginning, when I first envisioned what my cut would be like. But maybe it's just me.

Thanks for your comments! I look forward to reading what you have to say after you've seen the rest of it.
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Originally posted by: wmgan My problem with the Gandalf-Saruman fight was the absence of *magic* -- here we have two powerful wizards fighting and all they do is fling each other around like rag dolls. Perhaps I'll reintegrate some of it back in -- however, I think it's important not to let Saruman take Gandalf's staff because it leaves the plot hole -- how did Gandalf get it back? Also, by having Saruman win so easily now, it shows how much more powerful Gandalf becomes after his "resurrection".

Good call. I agree with your vision even more now.

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Originally posted by: dasjrGood call. I agree with your vision even more now.


All too easy. Perhaps you are not as strong as the Emperor thought. =D
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Wow.

Unbelievable job. You have successfully condensed the entire saga into three hours. There's some more nitpicking here, so let me get it out of the way:
0) re-referring to the Gandalf falling scene...I guess it doesn't need to be shortened, but perhaps the fade from the pit into the fellowship leaving was a tad slow (oh, and dark); 1) the transition from map overlay to map overlay--I think it's about 1hr15min in--should be a fade in and out of black, rather than whatever 3D cube effect you used; 2) I don't know (for the time being) if you really need to crop out the Mumakil during Eowyn's battle, especially since it doesn't help the picture quality; 3) the 3D transition before Elijah Wood's final end credit should be a dissolve instead; 4) the red lettering, "Missing" signs, and your text plea at the end are all funny, but needless...and some people who end up with this version (newbies and relatives new to the LOTR story) won't get the joke.

I think that's all the nitpicking I have at the moment, because otherwise, I'm impressed beyond belief. The arrangement and exclusions are bound to give heart attacks to my purist friends with the extended versions, but call it what you will--abridged, hacked, butchered, LOTR For Dummies--and it is still an achievement. Everything still made sense, and even the exclusion of most of the Two Towers (possibly my favorite in the trilogy) did not confuse or detract from the storyline or the emotional impact. Like I said, I can't wait to see the upgrade of this, and would highly recommend it to numerous fans, and the more casual filmgoer.
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I guess the 3D cube effect isn't so appropriate and effective there... the thing is, I wanted to show that they were going in opposite directions from the same place, and I tried various transitions and was most satisfied (though not entirely so) with this one. Before that I tried to get the maps to line up but it was just impossible. Maybe I'll try a fade after all. We'll see. I'll experiment further with it.

I'm really annoyed about the picture quality when I zoom in. Urghh. And Premiere doesn't have different zoom options so I don't know what resizing algorithm it uses. Hopefully it won't be so bad when I use the original DVD sources (though I suspect the pixellation won't improve much). I wonder if the picture quality would be better if I used AviSynth to double or triple the resolution of the image, and then scaling everything down in Premiere... though I'm not sure how well Premiere would handle downsizing.

It's true that a dissolve would be more consistent with the rest of the credits. I just wanted to have something a little different between the producers' and actors' credits, but I'll try it the other way and see how it looks. I should also change the font of my added credits so that its consistent with the rest. Do you know if the font used in the movie is available on the 'net (or something very similar) and what it's called?

Sorry, but the Missing signs are staying in. =P I would consider changing the way its done, or the wording, but I'm not taking it out. (Apart from being clever, there is also a technical reason for it -- I can't just cut out those credits because of the long fades from each still to the next, each of which is non-static -- notice that the camera actually zooms in as each still is on screen.) Anyway, this version isn't only aimed at newbies -- it's also for fans of LOTR (like myself) who want to enjoy the whole story on screen in a (relatively) short period of time. In fact, in a way I think this version is more faithful to the spirit of the novel in a way -- the novel is very plot-driven (or at least that's the impression I got each time I read it), while the movies often flounder about and make storms out of drizzles -- especially in TTT, which was my least favorite of the three movies, where much of the movie serves no purpose whatsoever to the plot (though ironically it was also the movie that benefitted the most from the extra and extended scenes). The Helm's Deep battle was a brief skirmish in the book -- one of many battles that were raging all over Middle Earth.
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I can't find this edit anywhere. Are you still planning on doing the better quality version? I'm looking forward to seeing it...

Working on: Superman: Son of Jorel

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yes, I'd like to see it as well!
I'm always looking to trade my edits, if you don't want to get them from a torrent. PM or e-mail!
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Originally posted by: PaulisDead2221
(...months later...)

did you ever finish it? cool idea with the map overlays


No, I haven't redone it, if that's what you're asking. (I finished and released the first version long ago.)
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I have really enjoyed this edit - It's the only way to get my wife to sit through the entire thing-
I wish someone would do it the Star Wars movies - One disc per Trilogy.
Hammond
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JHammondC, would you be so kind as to make PaulisDead2221 a copy of the edit? I'm really swamped right now and about to leave the country to visit my family, so I won't be able to do that for awhile.
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If you still after a copy Paulie, drop me a PM

Merry Christmas
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I downloaded the torrent file of this fanedit from piratebay, but it seems it does not work at all? Is there an working torrent for the 4.5gb disc releasE?

Same Make. Same Model. New Mission.

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Originally posted by: JHammondC
I have really enjoyed this edit - It's the only way to get my wife to sit through the entire thing-
I wish someone would do it the Star Wars movies - One disc per Trilogy.


I have 2 DVD's containing a edit of both the original and the prequel trilogy in my collection, i have downloaded this a while ago from usenet. I do not have any info on them, so if anyone knows some info on them please let me know!

Cheers,

Marco


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I am suprised it has not turned up on rapidshare by now, because boon has mentioned it.


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Ooh . . . I'd like to see the artwork, ThrowgnCpr!

I guess I should upload this to RapidShare. I'll let you know when I do. I've been really swamped and I haven't yet sent out some discs I've promised to send to some people, so I don't want to offer any more physical copies of anything until I've fulfilled all my outstanding requests.
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mentioned, yes,because I watched it, but I don't have it (anymore).
I had it a long time ago, before it all started. It would be great, if you could upload it, wmgan.

Nothing about fanediting is easy.

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I downloaded this from Rapidshare last week and have to admit, I was looking forward to this fan edit more than most - I haven't been keen to watch all 3 LOTR movie again, but was very curiuous how this edit would capture the story.

My friends and I gathered tonight to check it out and... we couldn't watch it because of the "stuttering" issue. It looked like it was playing back every other frame.

I've been reading this thread and it looks like this edit goes back a bit - was the original Xvid edit the one that was supposed to have this problem, and a DVD was made to correct this? Or does it exist in all formats?

Wmgan, I really am sorry if this bugs you... I am sure you put a monumental effort into doing this, and I really want to see it... but we just couldn't bare the idea of watching 3 hours of choppy video on my friend's 10 foot screen!!

Honestly, the video quality looked fine - it was clear and sharp - it's just the stuttering.

Have you looked into every possible way of fixing this? I've done quite a bit of editing myself, and it seems like if you go through enough conversion scenarios and hit it from every possible angle there is usually a "magic combo" that can fix just about anything.

If this is indeed a result of going from 23.97 to 24, I'd be willing to bet it can be fixed.

Maybe re-convert it from 24 to 23.97 and run a pulldown pass on it?

Anyway, looking forward to seeing this!!
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this problem has come up before, check out the thread at fanedit.org for more details. I believe the source videos were a lower encode, and this edit was never meant for the public really. I don't think there will be a better version of this for a long time, as wmgan is busy with other things. Have to bear the choppiness for now

ThrowgnCpr’s edits on Fanedit.org

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Yes, I'm afraid that's it for now. I will certainly announce a better version when it is made and released, but there really isn't anything I can do about it now.