StarWarsLegacy.com - The Official Thread — Page 42

Nobody expects the Spanish Inq-- er, yeah, the FBI, I guess you can expect them.

Funcha--if it helps, the community does benefit from this.  Not as directly as you'd certainly prefer, but the existence of this project makes all of the projects that you CAN download better.  Far better.

...not to mention the help/resources I've given Harmy and -1.

 I try to help how/when I can; sometimes by talking about the process and providing technical assistance, sometimes by showing what's possible so others know what they can get out of their materials.

_Mike

^This (both above posts)!

Basically, wouldn't a lot of the knowledge that went into SW Legacy be possible to repurpose for restoring Team -1's 35s too?

Certainly in theory, especially because -1's primary (?) print is/was the same Kodak LPP I first had scanned years ago in 4K.  I almost never use anything from it, but if you're really dedicated, there's quite a lot of stuff in there.

But any restoration is really a combination of 3 factors - source, tools, and skill. I can say absolutely that with commercially available tools (albeit the expensive ones), even some of that print's more egregious issues can be greatly improved.  I've considered doing a couple of tutorials once Legacy is finished, actually!

They do not have my 4k scans of the LPP.  They scanned it themselves on a home scanner at 2k, with plans to do it at 4K.  As to the quality of the scans, I can say this: there's a reason the Scanity costs what it does.  I also know -1 got parts of some of my Tech IB scans from a print.  I also sent them part of a scene they were missing.  As to that, I can say this: even having the original negative didn't assure that Lowry did a good job with the restoration, it's not a magic button. Having Tech prints is about 25% of the final image, I'd say.  My restoration before/afters represent weeks and weeks of grueling effort per shot, pushing my visual effects and post-production experience of 20+ years to the very brink.  Trust me, to anyone with Tech scans I say, "Good luck!" It's not like you think where it's a little clean-up here, a little color correction there.  Bull. Shit.  To get what you see in Legacy is no fucking joke, even with being sponsored by top software tool companies!

I helped Harmy with reel-by-reel reference images of a Tech. and other guidance along the way.  I do what I can, when I can. Despite the absolutely insane, delusional, narcissistic arrogance of people who claim to be "saving Star Wars," (we're not, we're keeping it on life support at BEST), I still like to think we're all in this together.

There's only a complicated answer to that, but let's say the bottom line is that reciprocity and communication aren't the situation's strong suits.

Funcha said:

Well, my enthusiasm for this project went down to zero. Can't wait to read about how glorious this is come September and know I'll never see it. lol

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember some talk about how this project would go commercial if the right parties ever decided to become involved...

...of course, the odds of that happening are one in a million, but in the words of Lloyd Christmas...

... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The sad reality to the whole thing is the fact that Star Wars isn't the only film being used as toilet paper. It's probably just the most blatant in it's desecration. Nearly every film I have on Blu Ray is a bastardized mess that has been chopped, scrubbed, and slapped together in some Frankenstein creation that isn't original. 

It's ridiculous that they can get away with that in film. It would be like buying a new release of an album you really love, only to find out that all the instruments have been re-recorded and sections of the songs where re-written. It happens quite often, but not at the level it does in film.

You can almost guarantee something was fucked with on each consecutive release.

It's pretty sad that fans with "lesser" materials are doing a better job than the people with resources galore.

mverta said:

Certainly in theory, especially because -1's primary (?) print is/was the same Kodak LPP I first had scanned years ago in 4K.  I almost never use anything from it, but if you're really dedicated, there's quite a lot of stuff in there.

They do not have my 4k scans of the LPP.  They scanned it themselves on a home scanner at 2k, with plans to do it at 4K.  As to the quality of the scans, I can say this: there's a reason the Scanity costs what it does.  I also know -1 got parts of some of my Tech IB scans from a print.  I also sent them part of a scene they were missing. 

I helped Harmy with reel-by-reel reference images of a Tech. and other guidance along the way.  I do what I can, when I can. Despite the absolutely insane, delusional, narcissistic arrogance of people who claim to be "saving Star Wars," (we're not, we're keeping it on life support at BEST), I still like to think we're all in this together.

  I've had some of the -1 LPP print scanned at 4K on a Lasergraphics Director, which does a noticeably better job on prints that the Scanity does. I agree that there is indeed 'quite a lot of stuff in there'.
Definitely a worthwhile source, even though it is pretty beat up in places. (I do not have the -1 print currently, just organised a section to be scanned, I am not a part of the -1 team, and don't foresee utilising their print in the future, just for the record)

I also agree that having a great source (of which there are not many) does not a restoration make. I have multiple IB prints here in Oz, and restoration is a s-l-o-w and tedious business. It is good having the prints on hand and a screening room to be able to keep going back to the actual prints to look at colour and grain and the projected image, and not relying on the scans themselves.

We all do this for our own reasons, mine are different to Mike's and different to the -1 teams, and probably different to Harmy's and Adywan's and everyone else's motivations. But we all love this stupid film, and spend insane amounts of time and money on it. I sometimes have no idea why, but then I remember sitting in that cinema in 1977 and just being removed from this world for 2 hours, and it all makes sense to me again, and I go back to my control surface and get on with things.

EyeShotFirst said:

It would be like buying a new release of an album you really love, only to find out that all the instruments have been re-recorded and sections of the songs where re-written.

I have no idea what you're talking about, Ozzy Osbourne would never do anything like that.

poita said:

I also agree that having a great source (of which there are not many) does not a restoration make.

That's why I find preservation much more interesting.

Another shot restored...

Yavin Launch