See all the pictures here! Seven pages worth!
If you want to hear about the problems I encountered and solved while editing this project, read along in the
OCPmovie News and Releases Megathread.
I decided to do my "have to figure out how to edit this thing" frustration blogging in that thread, so to leave this thread uncluttered.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Q: Will you be doing a revised 2.0 version of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi?
A: No. I was never happy with my edit of Star Wars, but I am very happy with my previous versions of Empire and Jedi. There is no need to redo them, especially since the Moth3r PAL transfer was used as the basis, a very clear transfer.
Empire and Jedi were done in a very different way than Star Wars. The 2004 DVDs were "hacked" to become the original edit - you're literally watching the 2004 DVDs for 99% of the film, so the picture quality is impeccable.
Due to the botched color correction done on the films for the 2004 DVDs, I felt I needed to color correct the first Star Wars myself to make it look more 1977-like, and so I didn't just "Hack" the 2004 DVD. A much more complicated process, which I did fairly well back in 2005, but much better now.
Q: Is there anything you're unhappy with in this edit?
A: Very proud of all the places where Special Edition material was painted out. I did have a problem with occasional dropped/repeated frames throughout the film which I know how to solve now, and I wish I'd known about before doing this edit. Also I think my edits in the opening crawl are more obvious than I'd like. But overall, very very pleased.
Q: The menus were botched up on the original Star Wars Classic Edition - one or two of the chapter selection menus didn't work properly unless using a computer. Since you're using the same menus for this release, is this still a problem?
A: Yep. And I'm still not worried about it at all. Two of the chapter menus are just as botched as they always were, and sadly I still find this cute. I still don't know how to solve the problem so I still don't mind it.
Q: What was it like editing this version as opposed to the original Classic Edition?
A: It was a real joy to work with the 2006 Lucasfilm DVD. The laserdisc transfer on this DVD was very clear. The picture shakes constantly from side to side, so that was pretty annoying, but it wasn't actually a problem - especially since I'm only using brief snippets of laserdisc material in the whole edit. This cut is much more watchable and nice than either of Lucas' DVDs, or my own previous work.
Q: Why is the picture quality so improved on this edit as opposed to the previous 1.0 version?
A: The first edit was done using the MiniDV codec, which introduced all kinds of picture and color artifacts and lost a lot of clarity. It was also running at 30 frames per second, when it should be running at 24 frames per second, so the motion was pretty staggered. Also I didn't resize the picture properly and lost a LOT of clarity.
This time round I used the PhotoJPEG codec, resized everything properly and generally did things much smarter. I learned a lot in the past year plus while working on projects like the Thief and the Cobbler Recobbled Cut.
I'm proud of my original edit, and had fun redoing all my work from back then in higher quality.
Q: What is the difference between the single and dual layer versions of this edit?
A: A dual layer DVD is twice the size (8 GB) of a single layer DVD. When a DVD is compressed down to single layer, there is a slight quality loss which can be seen as more blocky/soft compression artifacts and in extreme cases a subtle "strobe" effect, as the image becomes clear for a moment, then blurrier, then clearer, then blurrier ....
In the past, with Empire and Jedi Classic Edition, since I was "hacking" official DVDs which were very intelligently compressed, I had no compression problems even in the single layer version. It looked completely fine.
This time round, I was completely color-correcting and reencoding Star Wars, which is much harder than hacking .... and which makes it much more likely that the image will appear compressed in single layer form. So those who know what to look for will notice more compression, and strobing.
The single layer version looks fine, and I recommend it, but the dual layer version does look a bit better.
Q: How will this edit be released?
A: Like all my edits, via snail mail. Write me - *****. I am currently moving to Connecticut so there may be a delay in processing your discs. However, you would be helping me out at a crucial time in my life, so that's all good.
Q: What's your next project?
A: I am currently working on my own film projects, including two animated series .... I'm not doing many fan edits at the moment. I do intend to do a short bit of comedic editing - a "fanedit" mixing a tv personality together with a superhero. I have also been promising a much-expanded sequel to my very popular fan disc "The Bonzo Dog Band: Talking Pictures" for some time now, over a year I'm sure, so I'll have to actually make "Talking Pictures 2" at some point!
To see what I'm working on as I work on it, check out the OCPmovie News and Releases Megathread, where all new fanediting news will be posted, and for you Orange Cow diehard fans, my personal blog at FFrevolution.com, where I show what I'm working on with my own original movies and creative projects, and bitch about my life.