Now, I'm locking the final picture cut and encoding it to MPEG. I have to say, so far the quality is very good to my eye. This is essentially one generation down from the DVD, but the image is somewhat softer than the original (which is what I wanted). I have finalized and encoded Section 1 and Section 10 (out of 20 sections). It's really fun to watch the finished material full-resolution, finally in the correct aspect ratio, more soft/natural, and with more subdued colors. I got excited all over again watching the original fox logo, the "Lucasfilm" logo, and the "Long time ago..." card come up in DVD quality. My encoding is planned for dual-layer size; I figure I can shrink it for single layer at a later point. Right now I just want to lose as little quality as possible.
February will be spent finalizing and encoding the remaining sections (I still have to rotoscope some lightsaber shots, and I'm still waiting on some analysis room effects shots from TJ- I haven't heard from him in a long time).
Then in March, I will join all 20 MPEG sections together using Womble (not having to reencode) and after burning to DVD for security, I will import the finished video track into a new project. One by one, I will import the many layers of original audio tracks into this new project, adjusting levels, putting all dialogue in a couple of designated tracks, and just in general organizing all of my audio for the next step.
So I will import and organize all of my audio in this new project, and then start substituting my new ADR recordings (which are more than 50% done) in for the old ones, and lock down the mix, minute by minute. After I feel good about the final mix, I will render it out, encode as AC3, and burn the first DVDs. A day that I am greatly looking forward to....
So honestly, the release date could be either March, April, or May. Honsestly, the most likely month is April. But as I said, May 25, 2007 is the ABSOLUTE deadline. Again, I'm sorry for the delay. Obviously if this was the only thing I did in life ithe movie would have been done ages ago. But 2007 is a good year to release! I see that MagnoliaFan is releasing an edit soon, and along with Star Wars Reborn, the Adywan edit, and others, this year is looking better and better for OT Star Wars fans.
The editor has spoken
P.S. If you have not PM'd me with your name for the credits, and you have made a contribution (however small), please do that for me...