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Preserving the...cringe...Star Wars Holiday Special (Released) — Page 19

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Are you using Avisynth MT i guess :P

Be careful with FF3dfilter dont abuse it or the image will be full of jaggies.  Second QTMC convert it to 59.976 fps , are you using SelectEven / SelectOdd to put it to 29.976 progressive?  This video is pure interlaced so it will never be very smooth like the original source if you deinterlace it.

Is better if you use

separatefields()
selectevery(4,0,3)
weave()

This come at the end of the script to convert it again to 29.976 interlaced.
Always work in Avi without compression i recommend you Lagarith.

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Yeah thats kind of the fine line with doing any enhancements to the picture of this thing, its late 70s video and it has to keep that feel or it doesn't look right anymore. That was one of the problems with the previous rifftrax version, it just didn't have the right movement anymore. Thats what I like about KCCI, it really moves like a soap opera and yeah while not the best thats just how it has to be.

Tobor is robot spelled backwards.

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henryperu77 said:

Are you using Avisynth MT i guess :P

Be careful with FF3dfilter dont abuse it or the image will be full of jaggies.  Second QTMC convert it to 59.976 fps , are you using SelectEven / SelectOdd to put it to 29.976 progressive?  This video is pure interlaced so it will never be very smooth like the original source if you deinterlace it.

Is better if you use

separatefields()
selectevery(4,0,3)
weave()

This come at the end of the script to convert it again to 29.976 interlaced.
Always work in Avi without compression i recommend you Lagarith.

I'm using Avisynth MT, yes, though it doesn't seem to like having both QTGMC and SSSharp in the same script and keeps crashing. For now, I'm not using any of the MT stuff.

Using the combination of QTGMC, FFT3DFilter, and SSSharp has resulted in zero jaggies as far as I can tell, which is a relief. And yes, I am using SelectEven to revert back to 29.97fps. Reinterlacing at the end is probably the best way to go unless the filters don't require progressive video.

What I'll probably end up doing is splitting my master script into two separate ones, outputting the first half to a lossless codec (I've always used HuffYUV), then running that through the second half and outputting once more. Then I can run that into Premiere for the color correction.

I haven't had a chance to work on this since I posted the screens, but hopefully I'll have some time in the next week or two.

My Projects:
[Holiday Special Hybrid DVD v2]
[X0 Project]
[Backstroke of the West DVD]
[ROTS Theatrical DVD]

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 (Edited)

Skot, have you checked out Ralph McQuarrie's web page:

http://www.ralphmcquarrie.com/gallery_1/star_wars/tv_special/

I can't figure out how to get a closer look at the gallery images, but a few I don't think I recognize. (It's hard when I'm squinting at something the size of a small postage stamp.)

The paragraph to the left is a short summary of production and why it turned out a ghastly mess.

(Ah, never mind, just went back to the main page: "PLEASE NOTE: All thumbnails will eventually become clickable pop-ups.")

“Before the Dark Times. Before the Prequels.”

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MattMahdi said:

Skot, have you checked out Ralph McQuarrie's web page:

http://www.ralphmcquarrie.com/gallery_1/star_wars/tv_special/

I can't figure out how to get a closer look at the gallery images, but a few I don't think I recognize. (It's hard when I'm squinting at something the size of a small postage stamp.)

The paragraph to the left is a short summary of production and why it turned out a ghastly mess.

(Ah, never mind, just went back to the main page: "PLEASE NOTE: All thumbnails will eventually become clickable pop-ups.")

Yes indeed, there's some great-looking unseen artwork there.  I keep hoping they will convert those to larger image pop-ups, but that message has been there for quite a while now with no sign of any updates.

I did pick up a few interesting new images at the last Celebration in the Ralph McQuarrie room, along with the early story treatment.  I bought the small booklet they were selling covering the items on display there - the booklet is sort of an addendum to the big hardback they brought out at Celebration 4.  I still need to scan the images from the small booklet and add them to the HS website.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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SKot said:

I keep hoping they will convert those to larger image pop-ups, but that message has been there for quite a while now with no sign of any updates.

Well, darn. There goes that hope.

I bought the small booklet they were selling covering the items on display there - the booklet is sort of an addendum to the big hardback they brought out at Celebration 4.  I still need to scan the images from the small booklet and add them to the HS website.

--SKot

Well, I'll certainly look forward to those. Thank you for your hard work over the years.

“Before the Dark Times. Before the Prequels.”

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Hi everyone,

 

I'm new here at the forums and I'm seriously interested in the SWHS. I have no clue why (as it really is awful) but I love it. It has to be the cartoon. That and Bea Arthur...

I have a copy of the KCCI version (as well as, among others, the WMAR, KCMO, and one from Chicago) and love it. As I have read, you have all agreed that the KCCI is the best right? I just want to make sure I do have the best available to me...

 

On to part 2 of my post. I'm wondering if you might help me with something. I want to take the audio from the French broadcast and sync it with the KCCI broadcast. The only problem is that I've only found ghastly clips on YouTube and one synced the the WMAR Baltimore broadcast (with little segements missing here and there, so it is really useless to me). Is there a full version of the original french broadcast available somewhere I could take a look at? I know its a big project, but I've got some time at the end of this week to attempt it. I'd be more than happy to share it once I'm done.

 

Glad to find this forum! Thanks in advance,

 

Mahjong123

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Mahjong123 said:

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new here at the forums and I'm seriously interested in the SWHS. I have no clue why (as it really is awful) but I love it. It has to be the cartoon. That and Bea Arthur...

She really is irresistable, isn't she?  ;)

I have a copy of the KCCI version (as well as, among others, the WMAR, KCMO, and one from Chicago) and love it. As I have read, you have all agreed that the KCCI is the best right? I just want to make sure I do have the best available to me...

 Yes, it has generally been agreed that the KCCI is the best overall version out there.  It suffers a slightly dark picture, but so far is the best we've seen.  Recently the Chicago version has given the KCCI a run for its money, but I think the KCCI still wins overall.

On to part 2 of my post. I'm wondering if you might help me with something. I want to take the audio from the French broadcast and sync it with the KCCI broadcast. The only problem is that I've only found ghastly clips on YouTube and one synced the the WMAR Baltimore broadcast (with little segements missing here and there, so it is really useless to me). Is there a full version of the original french broadcast available somewhere I could take a look at? I know its a big project, but I've got some time at the end of this week to attempt it. I'd be more than happy to share it once I'm done.

 Something to bear in mind is that the Holiday Special was edited down (very well, I might add - all the worst things were excised!) when it was broadcast in France.  So that's why it might seem to be missing segments.

So you're just looking for the complete French audio then?

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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SKot said:

Mahjong123 said:

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new here at the forums and I'm seriously interested in the SWHS. I have no clue why (as it really is awful) but I love it. It has to be the cartoon. That and Bea Arthur...

She really is irresistable, isn't she?  ;)

I have a copy of the KCCI version (as well as, among others, the WMAR, KCMO, and one from Chicago) and love it. As I have read, you have all agreed that the KCCI is the best right? I just want to make sure I do have the best available to me...

 Yes, it has generally been agreed that the KCCI is the best overall version out there.  It suffers a slightly dark picture, but so far is the best we've seen.  Recently the Chicago version has given the KCCI a run for its money, but I think the KCCI still wins overall.

On to part 2 of my post. I'm wondering if you might help me with something. I want to take the audio from the French broadcast and sync it with the KCCI broadcast. The only problem is that I've only found ghastly clips on YouTube and one synced the the WMAR Baltimore broadcast (with little segements missing here and there, so it is really useless to me). Is there a full version of the original french broadcast available somewhere I could take a look at? I know its a big project, but I've got some time at the end of this week to attempt it. I'd be more than happy to share it once I'm done.

 Something to bear in mind is that the Holiday Special was edited down (very well, I might add - all the worst things were excised!) when it was broadcast in France.  So that's why it might seem to be missing segments.

So you're just looking for the complete French audio then?

--SKot

Thanks Skot. Now I know my copy is the best. :)

I'd like a full copy of the show (with the edited parts edited, of course) in french. The audio is the most important (since, anyways, the video would be cut out regardless) but I'd also like the video to do a 1:1 cut ratio (the frame on the french broadcast is the same as the frame on the KCCI one)

The edits are done quite well (except, as you mentioned before, the Jefferson Starship cut) and they look like the original broadcast. I'd like to preserve the broadcast as if it was being dubbed on a DVD. (I.E - Really good quality). I have the hopes of taking the french title screen ("Au Temps de la guerre des etoiles") and replacing the original english screen. If anyone objects to me using this, I won't proceed. I just thought it might be a good idea to try. Like I said before, when I do indeed complete the project, you'll all be the first to see the finished copy.

So, in a word, yes, I need to somewhere find the french audio. But I'd like the video too. :)

Thanks for your help,

Mahjong123

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I just finished watching the Chicago broadcast. The lighting and coloring is excellent, but some of the transitions cuts (mostly after commercial breaks) are very rough as opposed to the KCCI, which has very well done commercial breaks. As well, on the left had side of the video, throughout the whole thing, there is a white band that is lighter than the rest of the picture (and may possibly be absent on some 4:3 TV & monitor sets). I've not watched the show in whole for a while, and it is exactly the same as I remember when I watched it the first time last year. I wasn't alive in 1978, so these are the only ways for me to see it.

The only one error I know of in the KCCI broadcast is the glitch in the "Chewbacca Remembers" sequence. I also never knew until I saw a clip on YouTube that the commercial break between the scene when the troops are arriving at the Wookie House and when Malla growls at them is missing about 2 seconds from the original broadcast. Not a big deal, but it is indeed something the average watcher would have never noticed.

Skot, you're right, the best part of the special is when Bea Arthur comes on. That makes the whole show worth watching in itself!

Mahjong123

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Mahjong123 said:




The only one error I know of in the KCCI broadcast is the glitch in the "Chewbacca Remembers" sequence.


Yeah, that bugs me too because the KCCI is so good otherwise.

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I was able to somewhat fix the audio at least of that Chewbacca glitch in the KCCI/WMAR version that I recently did. Its still not perfect but a little less distracting.

Tobor is robot spelled backwards.

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Yeah some are going pretty far with the rumblings thinking that the whole thing will be included. While that would be GREAT, I think thats a bit of a stretch. Hopefully at least the cartoon in good quality will be there. I wish they'd just bite the bullet already and get the whole thing officially released.

Tobor is robot spelled backwards.

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balsho said:

I wish they'd just bite the bullet already and get the whole thing officially released.

But then what would we have to complain about?

Oh, yeah, the lack of the original commercials, lack of the four (?) commentaries that are loose on the Internet, lack of the strange and wonderful special features that are out there and would make a wonderful set of supplements, ...

At least, they probably wouldn't clean it up or give us a "George's original version" update. Can you imagine the lot of us griping because they didn't give us the original, unaltered, 1978 version of the Special?

If the Special were on the Blu-ray discs, it at least would give me far more incentive to buy them.

“Before the Dark Times. Before the Prequels.”

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Yeah even if it is officially released at some point I'd have to make my own version with the commercials and commentaries added. It'd just be nice to have something other than 30+ year old home vhs recordings to work with for a change.

*Someone better secure the domain name originalholidayspecial.com

Tobor is robot spelled backwards.

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My money's on the cartoon being the only thing they put on there...partially because it's the only element that was done on film and therefore would be available to scan in hi-res for this release, and partially because that's the only thing in the Special that Lucasfilm has admitted isn't half bad.

Of course, if they dropped in a clip or two from, say, the Falcon cockpit scene, I'd be over the moon.

I'll get right to work on that "originalholidayspecial.com" domain... ;)

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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I also wouldn't put it past GL to use the KCCI version if the holiday special was indeed on the disk.

"We went deep in our vaults and found the best quality we could find."

What’s the internal temperature of a TaunTaun? Luke warm.

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You can see the short on their site here:

http://redlettermedia.com/half-in-the-bag/chicago-comic-con-2011/

(Note: It's part of a larger video, which is also phun.  I think RLM knows how to game the system so to point traffic to his site, they release it on youtube, get the blog coverage then the magic of the take down pushes people to their main site.  )