Brooks said:
Thanks guys! That dvdactive article was really interesting, I ended up reading the whole thing. And I like russ's site too, it's a shame it isn't active (though I imagine keeping up with all the restoration projects is quite a task, there seems to be an overwhelming number of them). The site I was looking for listed the transfer source for each release. Until I saw that site I just assumed t hey all came from the original negatives, how naive I was! It looked like a wiki if I recall. I searched wookiepedia and didn't see it there. Maybe it was on the OT wiki, how do I search it? The only link I see on it is for the fan project list.
It's funny after reading on this forum about all the 35mm prints degrading (including the original, crazy!) I've decided to undertake the enormous project of scanning all of my old film negatives (my personal pics) for fear that they'll degrade too. It's a different kind of film (right?) so it hopefully won't have. I think I also capture my old SW vhs tapes for kicks. I really do think there should be a repository for raw scans of each of the released mediums (or at least the out of print ones, it wouldn't be necessary for the dvds or blurays) for people to experiment with restoring. That way if someone makes a great capture but then puts some questionable color or contrast decisions the original great capture is out there for others to work with.
I've got a trailer for the S.E. that was chopped up and being sold on eBay...by an eBay employee as separate lots. I got the whole thing from him but it's in pieces and I don't have a "slide" attachment for my printer to scan any of them. It would be cool to have as reference pics though as it seems the film version does differ from the LD release of the original S.E.. They look more natural than the video transfer....IMO anyways.
As for a repository...It is a cool idea...too bad there wasn't an FTP site for such things, it would probably be a better way to house them for safe access.
I know I did transfers of my 2006 VHS tapes with a Panasonic DMR-EA18...it only does 256kbps for the audio but it's better than nothing. I also used the Panasonic to transfer each side of the LD's to their own discs for possible future restorations. I believe I used the Japan S.E. LD's, if I'm not mistaken, including TPM.