Harmy's THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Despecialized Edition HD - V2.0 - MKV & AVCHD (Released) — Page 59

Not sure which version of TESB Despecialized I have, but it's the only one I could find.  The MKV file (md5:11d31216c9ba86e727173c8c9c1cc656) is 7,358,526,553 bytes and contains only the 720p AVC/H.264 stream, a 5.1 AC3 audio (English) stream, and and a stereo AC3 audio (also English) steam.

There were no chapters like my v2.5 ANH, so I created an XML and OGM file based somewhat on the chapters from some DVD version that I like and using the exact timecodes based on the closest I frames reported by mkvinfo for this particular version (whichever one it actually is).

They're lengthy (for a post) and there's not a [code] tag, so I'm not sure where to post them.  Still waiting on tehPARADOX email.

^^ Updated the link on previous page. Now has OGM format for ESB & ROTJ GOUT chapters.

GregMc said:

Not sure which version of TESB Despecialized I have, but it's the only one I could find.  The MKV file (md5:11d31216c9ba86e727173c8c9c1cc656) is 7,358,526,553 bytes and contains only the 720p AVC/H.264 stream, a 5.1 AC3 audio (English) stream, and and a stereo AC3 audio (also English) steam.

There were no chapters like my v2.5 ANH, so I created an XML and OGM file based somewhat on the chapters from some DVD version that I like and using the exact timecodes based on the closest I frames reported by mkvinfo for this particular version (whichever one it actually is).

They're lengthy (for a post) and there's not a [code] tag, so I'm not sure where to post them.  Still waiting on tehPARADOX email.

I think http://pastebin.com/ would be good for this, yeah?

Hal 9000 said:

Harmy's work popped up in this YouTube video.

Funny how short-sighted their complaint is that [in reference to film trailers] "you didn't used to give everything away" and "you would have ruined classic movies, too".  With any research they would have noticed there was a time that trailers were even WORSE about giving things away than they are now.  Great example, off the top of my head, being the trailer for Soylent Green, it was about three and a half minutes of stepping tediously through the entire film, over-explaining it plot point by plot point, finishing up at the absolute end of the movie, minus the very last spoken word that declares what Soylent Green is (seriously, don't watch the trailer if you haven't seen the movie).  Though, in all fairness, Charlton Heston could well have been meaning to say, "Soylent Green, it's.... Monty Python's Flying Circus".

OK Harmy, I've seen the work-in-progress clips from v2.0 and I've noticed you've decided to stick with the GOUT upscales for the most part (I suspect you have used some of the 1997 VHS), and while they do look much better than before, does that mean the people from team negative-1 have been unable to provide you with any useful 35mm scans? I know Puggo Strikes Back is a no-no for you and I understand, because I myself have seen PSB and the scenes are either too dark or too blown-out.

Harmy said:

I definitely didn't use any VHS :D The '97SE source is a standard definition anamorphic PAL digital broadcast recording. As to 35mm scans - no I have only received those for two or three shots so far but I'm hoping to get many more for v2.5 - the thing is, I'm already pushing this further than I originally intended - I wanted v2.0 to be a quick new version that would replace v1.0 mainly for the reasons of v1.0's poor picture quality, rather than making any huge leaps in the despecialization department. And I think that as soon as I get my computer fixed, I will finish v2.0 fairly quickly and then do v2.0 of ROTJ in a similar fashion and then just wait until I have the better sources for v2.5s.

 RoTJ 2.5 could really benefit from some 35mm material for Anakin's eyebrows, as well as his ghost, and the Jabba's palace scene. Hope all those things come together some day.

Harmy I loved the work that you did on Star Wars Respecialized. Is there a chance you would release a colour corrected version of ESB bluray before releasing the Despecialized Edition of ESB?

I only ask because no doubt that will be your main source that you would use for this project and would take little work to color correct the SE scenes.

:)

Harmy said:

Some day maybe but as of now, ROTJ seems to be getting the least attention in terms of fan 35mm restorations. I would add that the scene in ROTJ that needs a 35mm source the most IMO is the musical number.

True. Maybe they will be kind enough to bump up those scenes in the priority list, as may have happened with the landspeeder ANH scene. Either way, at least team negative suggest that RoTJ will need the least cleanup as far as dirt/scratches/damage go. 

Anyway, veering off topic we are. :)

Thank you for your straightforward answer, johnlocke2342.

There's a lot of background between all three despecialized editions.  I'm trying to make sure I'm not wasting time on work (like chapters) for outdated versions.  I went ahead and did it this time, since it was the only version I had, and your reply was helpful and good news for me.

Some of this makes more sense since I've had time to go through more of the forums and educate myself. :-)

GregMc said:

They're lengthy (for a post) and there's not a [code] tag, so I'm not sure where to post them.

The chapter files using exact I-frame timecodes in the mkvinfo output for the TESB Despecialized MKV are online, assuming I created the links correctly (if not, please help this techno-challenged n3wbie).

Chapters OGM (simple text format)

Chapters XML

(One can use https for these links, too, but that URI scheme breaks the url tag formatting.)

I used mkvmerge (GUI for me, of course) to add the chapters using the XML file to the MKV file.  For the XML version only, I put "Chapter XX - " in front of the actual chapter description, to make it easier for me to tell in the VLC chapter selection menu.  Of course, it's easy to delete/change those in the XML using any text editor before one merges the chapter info with the original MKV.

Using tsMuxeR to create an AVCHD, the chapters imported automatically when loading the merged MKV file, and there were no problems in the output when played on my Blu-Ray player, with chapters working just like the MKV does in VLC on the computer (minus the description text of course).

Please let me know of any problems or if I am off-base (works already been done, lack of best practices in the data format/content, etc.).

From here for me (off topic?):

Any advice for going from mkvinfo output with timecodes, e.g.:

"SimpleBlock (key, track number 2, 7 frame(s), timecode 7321.952s = 02:02:01.952) at 7235474519"

... and:

"[I frame for track 2, timecode 7321952]"

... to frame numbers?  This required for another tool I want to use for transcoding projects with this same video as a trial run.  It seems like I need a "stream analyzer" tool.  Any suggestions for what I might try? Free, open source is preferred.

Thanks, Harmy, and thank you to all the helpful members of this forum!

^ Great news. Good luck with the return.

GregMc said: Please let me know of any problems or if I am off-base (works already been done, lack of best practices in the data format/content, etc.).

It sounds like you know more about this than I do, but the chapter marks I posted on the previous page use time codes taken straight from the GOUT DVDs, rather than time codes "based somewhat on the chapters from some DVD version that I like". However, I know nothing about exact I-frame time codes and whether or not this is required for certain players.

Harmy said:

Here is a tweaked second half of the second part of the duel:

<a href="http://uloz.to/xRibF6tg/duel-2-2-compar-mp4" target="_blank" title="uloz.to/xRibF6tg/duel-2-2-compar-mp4">http://uloz.to/xRibF6tg/duel-2-2-compar-mp4</a>

And here's the third part of the duel:

<a href="http://uloz.to/xYknqaU9/duel-3-compar-mp4" target="_blank" title="uloz.to/xYknqaU9/duel-3-compar-mp4">http://uloz.to/xYknqaU9/duel-3-compar-mp4</a>

Here are some screenshots:

http://postimg.org/gallery/a65nbn5o/