Chewtobacca said:
zombie84 said:
If G-Force's script is the same as dark_Jedi's DVD releases, and unless I am mistaken I believe it is, then I would have to seriously object.
DJ's currently released version uses quite an early version of G-Force's script that he has since developed. He is planning to implement G-Force's new scripts for the other films as they become available. You should read the GOUT image stabilization thread. Given the relatively high degree of interest that G-Force's release generated, and the fact that you seem interested in theatrical reconstructions, I'm pretty incredulous that you think that G-Force's release is just the same as DJ's old release. `
I've read that thread, and I realize that dark_jedi's version is based off the script as it was like 6 months ago, but I can only judge based on what's available to me. There are no comparison caps posted, and I'm not going to download the same DVD three times when I wasn't very impressed with the first version (it was actually a later version of DJ's encode). People were saying how amazing that version was, but it really just looked similar to a de-noised VHS in terms of detail, maybe a bit better. Are you telling me that G-Force's lastest version of the script has zero softening and zero detail erasure, and also doesn't leave the image 100% grainless? Because unless there is absolutely no impact on the sharpness whatsoever, it's a deal-breaker, it makes the image worse. Companies can maybe get away with it with a modern HD transfer (not to me, though) but as I said, the GOUT cannot tolerate any image softening whatsoever, it defeats the purpose of trying to enhance the GOUT because it is already terrible. G-force's scripts are great for other aspects, but I haven't seen indication that he solved the detail issue. If he has, then great, although I would never want the grain removed like that anyway since it often just makes it look like video (the ideal situation IMO is probably in between the GOUT and g-force, but its more authentic to have the GOUT grain levels rather than the smoothness of dark_jedi-encode-era g-force, especially if it wipes away all the fine detail as well; the grainiest shots with g-force script look more appropriate, but the softening in the versions I've seen also sometimes smear it into video-like noise rather than actual grain). But as far as I can tell, the issue hasn't yet been totally solved, although I'm sure it looks better since last I saw it. Dark_jedi's encode did have pretty nice colors though, a lot of people seem to jack up the saturation (again--another major problem caused by the HD trends) but all that does is make the colors pop, because ANH (by its video transfers at least) has more pastel coloring, which is another reason why I liked the slightly muted approach of Editdroid, which looks far more natural most of the time.
It's a fine line to cross in terms of how much grain to leave, especially because viewers have a lot of uninformed preferences these days. Professional restorationists struggle with the same thing--look at the early days of Lowry, and even their modern versions go too far IMO. And it must be very difficult to come up with scripts that can take out the grain without taking out the detail--there's a reason why Lowry was considered very revolutionary with its technology. I don't know if g-force solved the issues--I don't think he has based on the info available--but I hope he does, and if he has with the version he put out a little while ago someone should post some caps. Editdroid's release makes for a good intermediary until those issues get resolved though. Again, the main issue with GOUT wasn't the grain, it was the shitty ass Laserdisc (non-)detail, and Editdroid's version seems to have been able to pull the most amount of picture information of all the releases (while also being slightly less grainy than the GOUT, actually), which makes it the most useful in my opinion.