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** The OCPMovie News & Releases Megathread ** — Page 2

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Very nice! Glad to hear it - would like to see it. A "flashback" structure going back to previous series would help a lot. All the "Xtended" episodes and deleted scene sections would be up for grabs to pull material from.

I don't know how much help I could be, as this is the sort of thing you have to figure out during editing - find clever ways to put several episodes together, but good luck!
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I have been converting both the 2004 and 2006 Lucasfilm Star Wars DVDs to PhotoJPEG format so that I can begin work on Star Wars Classic Edition 2.0.

Over in forum 9, several people have done amazing things color correcting the 2004 DVDs to look like the original trilogy. Staggering results, but most of them are just doing these as tests, not actually releasing the film this way, and they mostly seem to be using PC so I can't really copy their work.

So I do feel inferior as I'm doing this, because I doubt I can color correct this film effectively to really look the way you might want it to. I am only doing very very basic color correction work.

But I can try, and as always, where others do tests and talk about releasing a version of the movie, I'll do it quick and actually release it so you can enjoy. (Some have made a career out of just talking and have been just talking since the site began with no results.)

And if color corrected 2004 discs start to come out, well, wonderful! I'm excited to see the work of Desree and others. (Especially as I will never revisit Empire or Jedi.)

As for my own work ...

I know this will be a step up in quality from my previous Star Wars edit. This will also be the only one of the Classic Editions where I will make some attempt to color correct the material.

We'll see.


I have already decided to restore more little things to their non-special-edition state than I did previously. Tiny little things that most people wouldn't notice have been changed since 1977.

As before you'll get that wonderful cast commentary I cut together for the original Classic Edition, and the isolated score, and animated menus.

Good times ahead.
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First ever screenshot from Star Wars Classic Edition 2.0.

A comparison with other versions.


2006 Lucasfilm GOUT.
http://orangecow.org/starwars/traininggout.jpg

GOUT resized.
http://orangecow.org/starwars/traininggoutresize.jpg

2004 Lucasfilm NOT DVD.
http://orangecow.org/starwars/training04.jpg

2006 Ocpmovie Star Wars Classic Edition 2.0.
http://orangecow.org/starwars/trainingce2.jpg


With apologies to Dave Chappelle, Star Wars is back, bitch!
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Editing notes - starting with part 4, the fourth VOB out of 7.

Have had to rip the movie 3 times due to some frame rate issues.

The color correction I'm doing is actually similar to color correction I did on the original Star Wars Classic Edition, except done smarter and in PhotoJPEG format this time. It really brings out the darker areas of the image - sadly the 2004 transfer really crushed the blacks and you can't get them back, but it does look much better this way.

What I like is that this time I'm correcting the 2004 DVD to match the laserdisc, rather than the other way round, or finding some midpoint inbetween.


There's a shot of the Falcon in the Death star, a wide matte painting, which was changed for the Special Edition. I would love to restore the original matte painting but due to the low quality of the GOUT laserdisc transfer, it would stand out (the shot needs to look really clear), so I've never touched it before. This time round I found a hybrid - I've left in the redone Falcon, but the walls of the Death Star are now the darker, less detailed versions from the 1977 version.

This gives the feel of the original shot but in high quality, and that's what we're doing here, giving the feel of the original.

Some missing frames at each VOB breakpoint. This has always been a problem with these edits. Hmm. What to do ....



MORE:



Again in the spirit of de-"Specializing" this cut more than the previous one, I'm going through the painstaking task of changing the hallways in the Death Star ("This is some rescue!") back to their original versions. Although this sequence exists in the very clear 1997 TB and Gkar editions, I'm just using the GOUT again, because I don't want to deal with the PAL frame rate conversion and the hallways are out of focus anyway.

It's difficult to match this material and make it seem seamless - a lot of frame by frame color correction and cropping is being done - and again I'm running into frame rate issues. MPEG Streamclip has done a slightly odd job of ripping the 24 frame video from the 2004 and 2006 DVDs. I'm noticing the occasional dropped or repeated frame. This is so subtle that you wouldn't notice it watching the DVD, but it does require me to carefully reedit when I'm matching the 2006 to the 2004 DvD. Hm.

I don't know why this is.


I'm going for a more seamless look this time round, trying to hide any places I've done work, make it all invisible. Proud of how I did this in the censored "imperial officers getting shot" scenes.

Yes ....
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Which shot of the Falcon in particular did you mean? I ask because I'm sure there are high-res versions of the matte paintings floating around that you could utilise for such shots.

To contact me outside the forum, for trades and such my email address is my OT.com username @gmail.com

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Originally posted by: ocpmovie
Some missing frames at each VOB breakpoint. This has always been a problem with these edits. Hmm. What to do ....

I could maybe help you out there. With DVD Shrink, you can just take chunks of the video, and I can just take a few seconds around where the VOB breaks are and send the MPEG files your way. Would that help?

EDIT: Just to be clear, the clips would be the whole affected areas straight through, from a few seconds before the break to a few after, seamless.

I used to be very active on this forum. I’m not really anymore. Sometimes, people still want to get in touch with me about something, and that is great! If that describes you, please email me at [my username]ATgmailDOTcom.

Hi everybody. You’re all awesome. Keep up the good work.

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>> I could maybe help you out there. With DVD Shrink, you can just take chunks of the video, and I can just take a few seconds around where the VOB breaks are and send the MPEG files your way. Would that help?


Yes, that would help a lot. And be much appreciated.

I was also figuring the chapter breaks wouldn't be at the same points as the VOB breaks, so I could pull the data from there if necessary.


>> Which shot of the Falcon in particular did you mean? I ask because I'm sure there are high-res versions of the matte paintings floating around that you could utilise for such shots.

That had occurred to me.

It's a very wide shot looking sort of down on the Falcon showing the whole hangar in the Death Star - you see a shot of stormtroopers running, and then in this shot they're coming toward the Falcon.
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ocpmovie,

I'm so glad to hear you're doing a Classic Edition 2.0. It was just on a whim that I popped into the non-SW forum today, and when I saw this thread, I figured I'd see what you you were up to lately.

If there's anyone with the experience to combine the 2004 DVDs and the GOUT, it's you. Why haven't you announced this in the SW preservation forum?

You mentioned that you're fixing the hallway in the detention block shootout. I understand your purist tendencies, but I think this is one of those very minor changes that you should keep. To me it's equivalent to fixing matte lines.

And are you still going the same route with the '93/mono soundtrack? I'm sure you're aware of Belbucus' ongoing restoration of the mono mix, but I don't know if you want to wait for that. Would you ever consider using the '97 mix as your base soundtrack? Lately I've heard several people around here say that the '97 mix was a "recreation" of sorts of the original mono mix, using many of the same elements.

You know of the rebellion against the Empire?

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>>If there's anyone with the experience to combine the 2004 DVDs and the GOUT, it's you. Why haven't you announced this in the SW preservation forum?

Oh, I will eventually. I left that forum a bit back partly in protest of Lucas' policies and partly because I was kicked out by some people who claim their unreleased and unreleasable and almost nonexistent Star Wars edit will cure cancer, make blind people see and lame people walk, and bring the dead back to life!

Please let's not get into that again though. I don't want to talk about that situation. And the day their edit comes out and cures my nonexistent brain cancer, I'll applaud.


>> You mentioned that you're fixing the hallway in the detention block shootout. I understand your purist tendencies, but I think this is one of those very minor changes that you should keep. To me it's equivalent to fixing matte lines.

I kept it in last time.

This time round, I'm having some fun putting the old stuff back in. Errors and all.

For example, there's a shot where Vader's saber wasn't colored in. I've restored that shot to its uncolored glory.

I actually prefer it this way, for some reason I find all the changes distracting in some way.

These are such minor changes that I don't think most people notice them either way, so I like to err on the side of 1977ness and reward the few fans who know to look for these "errors."

>> And are you still going the same route with the '93/mono soundtrack? I'm sure you're aware of Belbucus' ongoing restoration of the mono mix, but I don't know if you want to wait for that.

I wasn't really aware, no. Yes, I'm still intending to combine the 93 and mono mix.

>>Would you ever consider using the '97 mix as your base soundtrack?

No.

>> Lately I've heard several people around here say that the '97 mix was a "recreation" of sorts of the original mono mix, using many of the same elements.

That is much more true of Empire and Jedi, for which the 97 mixes restored the essence of the earlier 70mm mixes for some reason. The 70mm mixes and 35mm mixes of Empire and Jedi both have their good and bad points, and so I mixed the two together, 1993 and 1997 mixes.

I don't think the 97 mix sounds like the mono mix in any way. I consider the mono mix pretty definitive in terms of content, if not in terms of quality! So putting back little bits of it into the similar 35mm stereo mix was worth doing I think.

The 97 mix was too busy for my tastes. Although I can see why someone would use it as their base mix, it's clearer and has a good dynamic range.

The 2004 mix is a travesty.






Today at my messageboard/blog, FFrevolution.com, read a depressing post about me winding up in handcuffs, to be arrested on made-up charges of assaulting a police officer ...

Or better yet, don't.
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In an attempt to get my life sorted out, I am moving back to Connecticut (where I was born) on November 14th.

How this will affect the development of Star Wars Classic Edition 2.0 is unknown. I am likely to go through with production on it anyway.
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best of luck with the move. You do so much for this community. best wishes.


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OCP, I have a collection of the Star Wars matte paintings but the Falcon ones I have don't seem to match your description. This one is the closest I have I think....

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/6331/falcon3rsc5.jpg

Of course they're in higher resolution, I just shrunk and resized for preview. I can upload thumbnails of the other Falcon matte paintings if need be. Surely I'm not the only one with this matte painting collection, though. Somebody help out.

To contact me outside the forum, for trades and such my email address is my OT.com username @gmail.com

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Well, it's happening -

I am being asked to leave this apartment tomorrow, which is about 14 days sooner than I expected to leave it. What I'm going to do with myself livingwise for 14 days I have no idea.

I am trying to get packed and get my affairs in order today. My flight is on the 14th, a saturday.

I will be checking my email periodically I'm sure, but I won't be "around" for the next month in the way that I am normally "around."

Any unfulfilled orders I'll try to take care of today if possible.



Images from my test copy of the second half of Star Wars Classic Edition 2.0.

http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab2.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab3.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab4.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab5.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab6.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab7.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab8.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab9.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab10.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab11.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab12.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab13.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab14.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab15.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab16.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab17.jpg
http://orangecow.org/starwars/ce2grab18.jpg



I did complete editing on most of the Star Wars Classic Edition 2.0 .... my "first cut" of any fanedit, particularly a Classic Edition, is pretty much a test, and huge changes to the look and color correction will probably be made once I see it on a TV screen.

The big challenge color correctionwise was the black dropoff - the 2004 DVDs have very crushed blacks, and brightening up the dark areas of the image is the main thing I'm doing to give this disc that "Classic" feel. The blacks are lightened up greatly, and then I use Chromakey to key out the darkest areas of the image - a "black dropoff" to true black so that the image won't have grey blacks, but have true black.

It was hard to give the image a "true black" without taking away detail that ought to be there, or making the blacks too milky, and due to the slight PhotoJPEG and MPEG compression, the darkest areas of the image, when brightened up, often became very grainy and nasty in shots that are entirely dark, such as just shots of starfields.


So I'll see how it looks.

I completed most of the first half of the film also. I will probably have to do yet another sound mix for this edit from scratch. But we'll see.

At the moment I have bigger things to worry about - like moving.

Best wishes.
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This is AMAZING work! I cannot wait to see the finished product.

Best of luck with the move!


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Great stuff.

Good luck with the move and all that goes along with it. Thank you for the contributions you make.
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Star Wars Classic Edition 2.O looks amazing, I cant wait to see this one day, good luck with your move and thank you...
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Sorry I haven't gotten those clips to you, I just got back from a trip to California. I'll get them to you when you have regular 'net access again.

I used to be very active on this forum. I’m not really anymore. Sometimes, people still want to get in touch with me about something, and that is great! If that describes you, please email me at [my username]ATgmailDOTcom.

Hi everybody. You’re all awesome. Keep up the good work.

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It's okay, I ripped the clips myself.
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Ah, okay. Sorry about that.

I used to be very active on this forum. I’m not really anymore. Sometimes, people still want to get in touch with me about something, and that is great! If that describes you, please email me at [my username]ATgmailDOTcom.

Hi everybody. You’re all awesome. Keep up the good work.

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I'm moving, but still taking your emails and orders ....
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***** is the email ....



Anyway - I may be moving, and currently staying at a friend's place with all my stuff in boxes, but I'm still Garrett Gilchrist and I'm still working.

I set up my Mac G4 on the kitchen table and spent a few hours finishing major picture editing on Star Wars Classic Edition 2.0.

It's all looking good. I still remember how I accomplished most of the edits the first time round, so I was able to redo my work but improve my methods with a few new tricks.

I'll burn this material to DVD and see how it looks on a TV screen - that always shows any errors in editing for what they are.

I also ripped a DVD for my secret little comedy project.


The first time round with Star Wars Classic Edition, I had wanted to do some Star Wars type wipes to hide my edits, but was unable to make them invisible. This time round I got it right, and the ability to wipe helped a lot.

At this point I'd like to mention one shot I HAVEN'T changed from the Special Edition. The shot where Luke sells his speeder. The Special Edition added some tiny little CGI ships in the background - very subtle but there. For my first Classic Edition I decided that it would be too difficult to fix this subtle change without making it too obvious - the subtle changes are always the hardest.

For the time being I have decided the same thing this time, again. I could fix the shot for most of its running time, but when Luke and Obi-Wan walk toward the camera, the difference in quality would show.

Hm.
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I burned the first test copy of Star Wars Classic Edition 2.0 today .... I always need to do test copies and watch my edits on a TV screen to see if they really work and look right.


Overall I'm happy with it. The transfer looks good - very clean, and brighter than the 2004 DVD. It looks more like the original version. Brightening up the dark areas and taking the saturation down made quite a difference.

There are a few things I will fix, but these are very minor.


Unfortunately, this is the one time in my fan edits where having a dual layer copy will make a difference. I can clearly see compression artifacts from shrinking this edit down to a single layer.

The single layer looks fine, but there is a difference which there hasn't been in the past.



A major problem was frame rate. When ripping the video in MPEG Streamclip, the system was having trouble figuring out the 24fps framerate - it thought it was looking at 30fps video. Although very minor, there were some repeated and dropped frames throughout.

The only place I had a real problem was with the first 15 minutes-ish of the film .... On the official DVD there are alternate angles showing the crawl also in French and Spanish, and this has been the bane of my existence in all these Classic Edition edits, as it makes it impossible to rip the crawl and first shot in English - it's just a mess of three versions combined. (For Empire and Jedi I believe I captured the crawl analog, just watching the DVD).

Although not a problem here as I'm using a different crawl anyway, somehow this managed to confuse MPEG Streamclip completely for the first 15 minutes - I believe it thought that the film was running at 30fps .... quite a bit too fast .... and the video it ripped was a mess filled with constantly dropping-frames.

I wound up ripping the film about 7 times before I got it right ...

Instead of using MPEG Streamclip I just used Quicktime to convert the M2V video to PhotoJPEG. Quicktime understood it as 24 fps video without trouble. I wish I'd done that for the whole film, there'd have been no dropped frames.

It looks fine now.




Anyway, I should be done soon .... I will have to rerender the entire film over the next few days, just to make a couple of tiny changes .....


I did a whole new sound mix for this edit, even though I probably didn't have to, as it's basically identical to the original Classic Edition sound mix.


Party on.
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Brilliant news! Can't wait to see this.


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One of the little things I noticed when watching the test version of Star Wars Classic 2.0 was the matte boxes around the TIE fighters in the Falcon battle. The color correction I used brightens up the dark areas of the picture, so the matte boxes were incredibly visible.

A slight change of color correction and the boxes have disappeared for the final version.
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Cool. Sounds like it's coming along well.

Will you be making dual layer versions?

Also, did you try to use GOUT footage to get the original sabers back?

You know of the rebellion against the Empire?