Infinity said:
With regard the the subtitle shake (and please someone correct me if I am wrong). But wouldn't the subs be burned into the film itself and the shake would be caused by it going through projector? If so, then wouldn't the whole film have such a shake (opening credits, etc)? I understand you are trying to do a high quality restoration of the original trilogy, which I am grateful for - but to replicate what was caused by the projector and not what was was actually in the film itself seems like a bad idea to me. It would be similar to adding cigarette burn marks in the corners, because they were seen in theaters from when the film had to be spliced together.
Please understand I mean no disrespect, and it is likely I am misunderstanding what caused the subtitle shake. But if the shake wasn't on the actual film print then I don't think it should be part of the restoration/reconstruction.
Yes, the film would shake as it went through a projector, but the subtitles on the film print were done optically, meaning that there is going to be a natural weave to the subtitles regardless of how stable the main picture is.
As Mverta pointed out, a film camera is not as rock steady a medium as a digital camera. In essence, for a 24th of a second, a frame is exposed, the shutter closes and the next frame is physically pulled down and exposed again. Film is a mechanical process and there are inherent minute differences between exposures. This causes the picture to move around a little and this is called gate weave.
Nowadays, thanks to digital technology, we are used to seeing more steady images and composites.
Just go look at the speeder scene on Return of the Jedi and you will see the speeders bobbing up and down. Or look at the star field in the throne room. Same thing.