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Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side (the TM edit) (Released) — Page 72

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Originally posted by: Trooperman
At one point I was even considering transfering the movie to tape after this was done and then recapture it to lose the edge. But the loss in quality would be too great.


I wonder if just re-encoding in not the best manner could achieve a similar effect (hopefully with no/little pixelation). I briefly considered something similar in trying to make 2004 footage better match the 2006 OUT.

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1113/userbar381851ln2.gif
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8653/userbar381853dp6.gif
Super Mario Bros. - The Wicked Star Story
"Ah, the proverbial sad sack with a wasted wish."
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I think the color on Phantom Menace looks really good. I actually wasn't that impressed with the color and cinematography on the original films. The lighting looks rather flat, made worse on the 2004 dvd, and the most of the sets look rather drab and dull. Cloud city interior looks like a hospital wing, Jabba's place looks more like a dark cave than a palace. The wall on the Hoth base where 3PO pulls down the wampa sign in a deleted scene looks like molded plastic rather than a cave that was carved through ice. Even Endor doesn't seem that colorful for a forest. I know it's supposed to be a used future look but still so much seems to take place on confining corridors with either white, gray or black walls. I'm not very fond of 70's style and architecture so that might be part of it too.
When I first watched Phantom Menace in '05, I was completely blown away by the varied landscapes and vistas, detailed set design and colors that were very vibrant while still looking natural. The visual effects looked great and I think they still hold up fairly well even today. They just don't have that much resolution but I think after a certain point, trying to add more detail to CG just makes it more obvious because that just brings out the fake texture and unnatural sharpness. Ironically, I think the biggest aspect of where the prequels actually improved on the original films was not visual effects but rather set decoration and design, costumes (especially prosthetics masks) and the minature sets. It's a shame so much of II and III used blue screen.

Anyways...
I decided to try color correcting some screenshots from episode II.
I thought this shot looked pretty good to start. How was the landscape generated (if it was real world, where was it shot?) and how was the house made?
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/4319/084resizewt8.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/1869/0844resizeod2.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

I don't think this correction is perfect (part of R2 becomes overexposed) but I think it gives you a good idea.
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3935/00134resizeuy7.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/6263/001342resizene0.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

This is probably one of the better examples of the oversaturation that TM was referring to. But if you were to jack up the saturation on the image all the way, you would reveal the problem with the shot. Padme's face will look pretty much the same color as the sand she's lying in. So basically the face of someone and desert sand under broad sunlight is not able to be differentiated by the camera in regard to color. The image is also too far red shifted and fixing that makes Padme's shirt more white. I think I adjusted the contrast/midtones with the shot but not very much. I also desaturated it which was more effective with the other fixes.
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/3369/aotcpadme156resizemr8.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/5396/aotcpadme1563resizeom4.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

Take back the trilogy. Execute Order '77

http://www.youtube.com/user/Knightmessenger

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Originally posted by: Knightmessenger
I think the color on Phantom Menace looks really good. I actually wasn't that impressed with the color and cinematography on the original films. The lighting looks rather flat, made worse on the 2004 dvd, and the most of the sets look rather drab and dull. Cloud city interior looks like a hospital wing, Jabba's place looks more like a dark cave than a palace. The wall on the Hoth base where 3PO pulls down the wampa sign in a deleted scene looks like molded plastic rather than a cave that was carved through ice. Even Endor doesn't seem that colorful for a forest. I know it's supposed to be a used future look but still so much seems to take place on confining corridors with either white, gray or black walls. I'm not very fond of 70's style and architecture so that might be part of it too.
When I first watched Phantom Menace in '05, I was completely blown away by the varied landscapes and vistas, detailed set design and colors that were very vibrant while still looking natural. The visual effects looked great and I think they still hold up fairly well even today. They just don't have that much resolution but I think after a certain point, trying to add more detail to CG just makes it more obvious because that just brings out the fake texture and unnatural sharpness. Ironically, I think the biggest aspect of where the prequels actually improved on the original films was not visual effects but rather set decoration and design, costumes (especially prosthetics masks) and the minature sets. It's a shame so much of II and III used blue screen.

Anyways...
I decided to try color correcting some screenshots from episode II.
I thought this shot looked pretty good to start. How was the landscape generated (if it was real world, where was it shot?) and how was the house made?
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/4319/084resizewt8.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/1869/0844resizeod2.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

I don't think this correction is perfect (part of R2 becomes overexposed) but I think it gives you a good idea.
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3935/00134resizeuy7.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/6263/001342resizene0.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

This is probably one of the better examples of the oversaturation that TM was referring to. But if you were to jack up the saturation on the image all the way, you would reveal the problem with the shot. Padme's face will look pretty much the same color as the sand she's lying in. So basically the face of someone and desert sand under broad sunlight is not able to be differentiated by the camera in regard to color. The image is also too far red shifted and fixing that makes Padme's shirt more white. I think I adjusted the contrast/midtones with the shot but not very much. I also desaturated it which was more effective with the other fixes.
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/3369/aotcpadme156resizemr8.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/5396/aotcpadme1563resizeom4.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]


The Padme picture never had anything wrong with it. Why do humans automaticly associate everything to something on earth? Guess what, not everything is the same as earth. Not every planet in the galaxy is going to have the same color sun. What if the sun in the Geonosis system is a redder light? It would make everything redder. Plus, the sand on Geonosis is suppossed to be redder than sand like is on our beaches. Also, the sky of geonosis is red. This also creates the red tone. The picture of padme is right, because that is how Geonosis looks. It is very red, and is suppossed to be.


Author
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Knightmessenger
I thought this shot looked pretty good to start. How was the landscape generated (if it was real world, where was it shot?) and how was the house made?

The shot is real world except for the "Naboo-ish" domes and some flora. That was generated by ILM's digimatte department. The rest is a location shot from Lake Como, Italy.

Marvolo
Guess what, not everything is the same as earth.

Yes, but our eyes are used to seeing stuff from earth, including colours, atmospheric haze, etc. Anything else looks foreign and thus, a little disconcerting to the mind's eye.
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Originally posted by: shanep
Knightmessenger

The shot is real world except for the "Naboo-ish" domes and some flora. That was generated by ILM's digimatte department. The rest is a location shot from Lake Como, Italy.


I'm pretty sure its the same location (ie Lake Como Italy) that is used in "Casino Royale" (at the end when Bond takes out the bad dude in the car park with his big arsed gun).
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I don't know about that but they did use the location as a hospital where Bond was in recovery and had Mathis arrested.
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Originally posted by: Marvolo
Originally posted by: Knightmessenger
I think the color on Phantom Menace looks really good. I actually wasn't that impressed with the color and cinematography on the original films. The lighting looks rather flat, made worse on the 2004 dvd, and the most of the sets look rather drab and dull. Cloud city interior looks like a hospital wing, Jabba's place looks more like a dark cave than a palace. The wall on the Hoth base where 3PO pulls down the wampa sign in a deleted scene looks like molded plastic rather than a cave that was carved through ice. Even Endor doesn't seem that colorful for a forest. I know it's supposed to be a used future look but still so much seems to take place on confining corridors with either white, gray or black walls. I'm not very fond of 70's style and architecture so that might be part of it too.
When I first watched Phantom Menace in '05, I was completely blown away by the varied landscapes and vistas, detailed set design and colors that were very vibrant while still looking natural. The visual effects looked great and I think they still hold up fairly well even today. They just don't have that much resolution but I think after a certain point, trying to add more detail to CG just makes it more obvious because that just brings out the fake texture and unnatural sharpness. Ironically, I think the biggest aspect of where the prequels actually improved on the original films was not visual effects but rather set decoration and design, costumes (especially prosthetics masks) and the minature sets. It's a shame so much of II and III used blue screen.

Anyways...
I decided to try color correcting some screenshots from episode II.
I thought this shot looked pretty good to start. How was the landscape generated (if it was real world, where was it shot?) and how was the house made?
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/4319/084resizewt8.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/1869/0844resizeod2.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

I don't think this correction is perfect (part of R2 becomes overexposed) but I think it gives you a good idea.
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3935/00134resizeuy7.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/6263/001342resizene0.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

This is probably one of the better examples of the oversaturation that TM was referring to. But if you were to jack up the saturation on the image all the way, you would reveal the problem with the shot. Padme's face will look pretty much the same color as the sand she's lying in. So basically the face of someone and desert sand under broad sunlight is not able to be differentiated by the camera in regard to color. The image is also too far red shifted and fixing that makes Padme's shirt more white. I think I adjusted the contrast/midtones with the shot but not very much. I also desaturated it which was more effective with the other fixes.
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/3369/aotcpadme156resizemr8.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/5396/aotcpadme1563resizeom4.jpg[URL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]


The Padme picture never had anything wrong with it. Why do humans automaticly associate everything to something on earth? Guess what, not everything is the same as earth. Not every planet in the galaxy is going to have the same color sun. What if the sun in the Geonosis system is a redder light? It would make everything redder. Plus, the sand on Geonosis is suppossed to be redder than sand like is on our beaches. Also, the sky of geonosis is red. This also creates the red tone. The picture of padme is right, because that is how Geonosis looks. It is very red, and is suppossed to be.



I think the issue is more that even if the sand that they photographed was actually red, it should not have looked THAT red. Also keep in mind that I am trying to do this OT-style as much as I reasonably can, which means that although exotic locations were chosen, they were filmed on Earth and the image was not unnaturally adjusted.

Knightmessenger.. those are some interesting fixes. They are certainly better than the originals. I don't know that they are enough, though.

"I'm not very fond of 70's style..."

Ah, see that's what I was trying to bring to the prequels. The 70's style of the OT movies fit in really well with the "used universe" concept, I thought. You can see this more in Star Wars and Empire than in Jedi, when things got a bit more polished. One of the things I loved about the OT, though, is that it was a combination of Golden Age filmmaking with this 70's grittiness which completely disappeared in the PT.

This is just personal taste really, but I really liked the starkness of the sets and costumes in the OT- I thought it set the mood really well and it still holds up today. Plus they stated many times they weren't trying to show off the sets and costumes- it was simply part of the world. Lucas said back in the 70's that he took a documentary style approach to shooting Star Wars. He didn't try to explain everything, show off sets and whatnot, he just threw you into the action and the story.

I see where you're coming from on some of the sets, but I thought the costumes looked great in the OT and extremely stupid in Ep. I. Amidala's wardrobe, for instance.

http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/01/duffy/pic42.html

Who came up with this stuff? No matter how much editing you do, you can't take that garbage out. This isn't my idea of what Star Wars should have been.

I'm sure I look at this differently than a lot of people, but I have a very distinct "classic" sense of what Star Wars should be and I think that I have created that mood as much as possible with Ep. II. It involved cutting out obviously digital characters, taking out the blatant political correctness, cutting ridiculous dialouge, bringing the music to a much more important level- I think it has become a much classer and more "classic" movie. Obviously it could be so much more if it was written and shot well, but I think that I have it in best possible form (for me, anyway). I'm reluctant to put too much work into Eps. I and III because I don't know if it's possible to do what I've done with this one. In particular, I think the clone war at the end will surprise a lot of people because I really think it feels like Star Wars now.

On the same token, I've done some things editorially that George Lucas probably would not have done even back then. Then again, so did Irvin Kershner.... I definitely left my own mark/style on this movie when I edited it together...

I hope that made some sense

----------------------------------------------------

Audio work is coming along. Still waiting on a couple voice recordings, but that's not a problem right now. Adywan is very busy right now but I just want to thank him again for helping me to complete this at the quality level I wanted it to be at. He's very busy both with this and with his own project and I have the deepest thanks for his willingness to help me out. Thank you Ady


TM

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition

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Good news: Adywan has just sent me his FX solution to the Anakin vs. Dooku problem and it is great and solves the scene very nicely. Thank you so much, Adywan

Bad news: At this point, Ady is very busy/falling behind on his own "Revisited" project because he was spending so much time doing audio for SOTDS. So he will not be able to work on this anymore (at least not for the time being).


That's where we are right now. I've told you everything I know, ha ha. I'd love for you all to see this movie, but I'm not going to release it without a very convincing audio mix because if the audio is bad, the movie will not be taken seriously.

The main thing here is dialogue mixing. I know it can be done, I saw a couple Adywan test clips... it can be done. I'm just running out of time in "the real world". However, I have pretty much all of the elements ready to be worked on.

My question is this... is there anyone out there fairly experienced with audio mixing and someone that has all the plugins that would be neccessary to do something like this. Would you be willing to finish this audio for me? Like the original release of the OT, the final audio should be in (possibly matrixed) stereo, not necessarily 5.1 surround.

Obviously it'll take a fair amount of work, but the upside is that you get to be the second person to actually see SOTDS, since you will be working on it. It'd also be really nice to have another set of fresh ears listening to this.

If there's anyone that might be able to help (and doesn't have anything else on their plate), please just drop me a PM that you might be interested and we can discuss it. If it works out, I will probably send you links to...

A. A low-quality video clip of the section being worked on (there are 20 sections)
B. An "Anakin only" audio track
C. A second track, usually containing production audio
D. A track containing the new music used
E. "Everything else"

Depending on the clip, I might send you more audio tracks to give you more control over individual elements. Adywan and I worked out this system where the mixer has enough control over the audio to mix it without me having to send thousands and thousands of files.

Anyway, you would import all of this into a program like Vegas, you'd synch up the 4 or 5 audio tracks to the video file, and you'd be set to go. You'd send me a test clip, I might have a suggestion or two, and then you would render out an uncompressed stereo WAV which I would then synch to the actual MPEG.

And then we'd do the same for another section. And another section. Some sections (like section 10, the fist fight) I have already completed and will not need help on, so it's actually not 20 sections, more like 15.

And if you only have time to do a few sections, that's fine too, I'll take all the help I can get. Hopefully I will be able to get the audio completed in this way so that I can finally be done with this monster of a project.

Thanks

TM

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition

Author
Time
I think the 70's look has grown on me a bit since I first watched the OT in entirety in 2004. I had only seen parts of the movies on tv before. But yeah, the look of the original films and the prequel films is totally different. I think the pristine look of the prequels works well though because it takes place in the days of the republic when the Jedi are still around. Queen Amidala's costumes were pretty extravagant and some of them were unnecessary. Then again, they probably make perfect sense to a planet who elects a girl at 16 years old to be queen. I think it does keep with the idea of those in power being complacent and more worried about formalities and properness intstead of leading their people. It might have been more interesting if the other characters made a big deal out of her wardrobe. Like what would Han Solo have said if he saw Leia wearing that kind of stuff?

I used a fairly basic photo editing program, not something advanced like photoshop to make those corrections. I'm sure someone here could improve the actual video rather than still frames far better than those examples. Whatever you do, I'm really looking forward to this because there was just so much in the prequels that didn't feel right and not always in the sense of not having an OT feel. More like going to the trouble to set up all these ideas and concepts and not fully delivering them. Themes and personalities have places where they should be but aren't. I think I now understand why numerous people here have mentioned they saw the prequel films multiple times because they thought they missed something the previous time.

Take back the trilogy. Execute Order '77

http://www.youtube.com/user/Knightmessenger

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Originally posted by: Knightmessenger
I think the 70's look has grown on me a bit since I first watched the OT in entirety in 2004. I had only seen parts of the movies on tv before. But yeah, the look of the original films and the prequel films is totally different. I think the pristine look of the prequels works well though because it takes place in the days of the republic when the Jedi are still around. Queen Amidala's costumes were pretty extravagant and some of them were unnecessary. Then again, they probably make perfect sense to a planet who elects a girl at 16 years old to be queen. I think it does keep with the idea of those in power being complacent and more worried about formalities and properness intstead of leading their people. It might have been more interesting if the other characters made a big deal out of her wardrobe. Like what would Han Solo have said if he saw Leia wearing that kind of stuff?

I used a fairly basic photo editing program, not something advanced like photoshop to make those corrections. I'm sure someone here could improve the actual video rather than still frames far better than those examples. Whatever you do, I'm really looking forward to this because there was just so much in the prequels that didn't feel right and not always in the sense of not having an OT feel. More like going to the trouble to set up all these ideas and concepts and not fully delivering them. Themes and personalities have places where they should be but aren't. I think I now understand why numerous people here have mentioned they saw the prequel films multiple times because they thought they missed something the previous time.



I agree completely... a big problem was devoting so much screentime to concepts that aren't even explained, and then having Anakin turn to the dark side in a couple scenes in ROTS, almost as an afterthought. All I'm trying to do is take what we have and make it as classy and as entertaining as possible. BTW, in SOTDS Amidala is actually born into royalty like Leia was. Through some clever editing I eliminated all references to her being "elected" and serving terms. In fact, Amidala is a queen throughout the PT, but she is also serving as senator (this was Magnoliafan's idea). I think this makes a whole lot more sense.

I know, I watched the prequels several times too because I thought I was missing something. There wasn't anything I missed, they were just bad, ha ha


Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition

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Just say it. You're trying to make the prequels make some basic kindergarten level of sense.

And we all thank you for it.
He big in nothing important in good elephant.

"Miss you, I will, Original Trilogy..."

"Your midichlorians are weak, Old man." -Darth Vader 2007 super deluxe extra special dipped in chocolate sauce edition.

http://prequelsstink.ytmnd.com/
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Hi guys,

Here is a sample clip containing new, Adywan-mixed dialogue.

http://download.yousendit.com/4D26CAFA27B2F549



TM

EDIT: This must make no sense to you.

Adywan actually does have the time (at least for now) to work on the audio for SOTDS. He didn’t realize the film was to be in stereo and that he wouldn’t have to do the whole film when he first told me he wouldn’t be able to do it. He was attempting a 5.1 mix, which would have been very difficult with what I gave him. So Adywan will be helping with the audio after all. You’re probably sick of this clip by now, ha ha!- but it really is best because you can compare it to the previous versions.

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition

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Originally posted by: Wesyeed
Just say it. You're trying to make the prequels make some basic kindergarten level of sense.

And we all thank you for it.


Ha ha! That’s a nice way to put it.
This clip pretty much sums up the problem too:


link

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition

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That you tube link is freaking hilarious! The Episode III one was great as well. The guy does a great Ewan. Maybe he could read some lines for you...
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Originally posted by: Darth Richard
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a349/moonwalker723/yeahbaby.gifhttp://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a349/moonwalker723/yeahbaby.gifhttp://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a349/moonwalker723/yeahbaby.gifPERFECT!!!http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a349/moonwalker723/yeahbaby.gifhttp://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a349/moonwalker723/yeahbaby.gifhttp://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a349/moonwalker723/yeahbaby.gif


WOW! I couldn't have said it better myself!

I haven't been this excited since....OH before you were born!

It is official, this will be the prequal of all prequals. WELL DONE!
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TM, the mix Ady did is much better. I'm trying to get that ADR done soon.
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Originally posted by: Sluggo
TM, the mix Ady did is much better. I'm trying to get that ADR done soon.


Great, thank you!- I was just about to ask you about that.

Thank you Darth R. and Jra- I'm very excited too. I think Ady was really able to make the old and the new blend seamlessly. This is great because now (I hope) the new voice will be taken seriously. It looks like we have a green light to continue in the same way. Thanks again to Ady!

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition

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WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is amazing! The dubb blends in so well. Great job, TM and Adywan!!!!!


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I'll be getting on those last bits of dialogue straight away, TM.

Awesome job on that clip, by the way. I always liked the new voice but right away I realised this clip sounds far better than it ever had before! Much more natural. Excellent.
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Don't want to take away any time from the movie itself, but any chance of an updated trailer?

Looking forward to the film's completion.

O.T. or No T., baby!

ANH:R Cover Art

ESB:R Cover Art

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Can anyone tell me how to play a .rmvb file on a Mac?
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If you would like to avoid the ever annoying real player I think there is a mac version of real alternative, which like the name implies is an alternative solution to playing real player files. Just google "real alternative".

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape