Originally posted by: Mitch
We would use the VHS because of the lower quality in the available extended footage. We really do not want it to be totally noticeable, but we will see. Going froom HDDVD to crappy extended copied VHS footage even if cleaned up to the best would look poor. We want it to be like you were watching it in 1983 on KCOP.

I certainly understand your line of thinking. My only reservation is that it becomes not so much a restoration, as sort of an evening out of two main sources..."We're gonna shine up the extended stuff as much as possible, and then we'll take the stuff that's on the DVD/VHS, and we're gonna crap it up just enough so that it blends in with the old off-the-air recordings."

...Whhhhaaa? If you're going to do that, there's really only one logical thing to do: Find the best copy you can of the complete extended edition, shine it up, and leave it at that. The only real reason to edit in from different sources is if you're willing to accept having VISIBLE quality differences. Otherwise, you're not going to be picky enough to say "This scene looks best in this source, and this scene looks best in this source..." Because if you are looking at it that way, then there WILL BE A VISIBLE QUALITY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCENES.

I'm not at all attacking you, I just want to make sure that you have your thinking totally lined up before you start doing this in earnest. I've wanted to see a nice looking version of this for a long time, so I really really really look forward to seeing the results, and I'm delighted that you're taking this challenge on.

My personal feelings? I'm not all that bothered by quality differences. In a way, I like it, because it really clues me into what's added in, and what's not. I'd like to see every frame come from as high a quality a source as possible, regardless of what differences between scenes crop up. So whether it's HDDVD, DVD, VHS, off-the-air archival stuff...I want to see it all, each bit coming from whatever is the best.

But that's just my feelings, and this is your project, so best of luck either way.