StarWarsLegacy.com - The Official Thread — Page 43

mverta said:

Another shot restored...

Yavin Launch

 Wow, very nice! And I really appreciate that you didn't want to just recreate the ships, even though I can see how it would be really tempting (I actually did it in despecialized, though for me the only other option was the GOUT).

Yeah, the first row of ships actually disappear entirely on the fifth frame of this shot, looks like you kept that flaw intact even though that's one thing that most people would find tempting to smooth over if they had the chance.
One of those little quirks in the original compositing I discovered when I found out about the alternative version of this shot.

Corrected or not, in motion neither would make a noticable difference anyway.

That's really amazing! Great job!

I love seeing these videos. Thanks for posting them!

mverta said:

....  I've considered doing a couple of tutorials once Legacy is finished, actually!

 Please do!

TServo2049 said:

I forget, are the disappearing ships only on the "cloudless" composite

Yes, as the alternate version of this shot begin with that first row of ships already way above the horizon it's not present. I recall it uses the same ship elements, just different timing.

Another video:

Sandcrawler Restored

lucasdroid said:

I hope we can all get a drink one day.

Yeah at MikeV's place where we can watch Legacy while we do that. ;)

@Mike - do you think it would have been significantly more difficult to restore that shot in 2k not 4k in 2002 at the time of the DVD restoration?

No.  Well, yes if you're just trying to throw some software at it, but in that case it's still hard today.  Whether it's now or then, 2K or 4K, the key is being willing to break the shot into elements and handle them separately.  It's insanely more work and time intensive, but obviously do-able.  Having the original negative or whatever's left of things would have only made it easier.

Yes I understand what you're saying, and if I'm correct once you've split the film into your "elements" you would group them into the stacks of similar ones and then designate the work for each group to different restorers in the production line, and then put everything back together once they've all been restored. At least I'm assuming that's how it works, or should work, in an ideal environment.

Except it is rarely the same for any two shots which makes it hard to put it in a fire-brigade-like pipeline, unless you have VFX generalists in every chair who can adapt to whatever the shot challenges are.  Dealing with the sky in this shot, for example, required a different process than the sky in, say, the Rebel Launch shot.

Sandcrawler Restored

Mike,

The restoration is looking great!

Also, you mentioned in the video about George's "Romantic" vision for some of these shots.  I thought I also remember reading somewhere that he used pantyhose over the lens in may of the Tatooine shots, precisely for that purpose.  Could that be the cause of those degraded globs which are on all prints? 

I never thought Tatooine could look so great. I didn't think that shot or the Mos Eisley Spaceport reveal could ever be so clear. I've never seen the details you have brought out. I never noticed the ships leaving Yavin in any version, it always just looked like noise.

Melatius - the pantyhose over the lens was indeed used in the Tunisia footage - it's an old trick; I've used it myself in place of a diffusion filter.  It's most evidenced by the prismatic specular highlights coming off Threepio in direct sunlight shots. However, this isn't what causes those blobs, the origins of which I'm not 100% sure, but it's got to be a combination of the nature of the film stock, and I'm pretty sure some intentional generational degradation - something else we know for a fact was done to help some of the worst shots blend more contiguously with bracketing better shots.

Eyeshot - It's cool, right? For me too, just like everyone else. :)

That's correct - it was Dykstra, Edlund and Grant McCune shooting the miniature in Death Valley.  

I remember the big brown blobs of grain were also in the shot of the Falcon fleeing Mos Eisley and are present in Harmy's Despecialized Edition of that shot. Are these two scenes related somehow as in when/how they were shot?

It's funny how restoring the old shots, actually make them look more believable than the "improved" shots of the Special Edition. I always loved the look of the first Star Wars, but when compared to the rest of the trilogy, I felt it actually looked its age, where the others still looked pretty modern.

Seeing the little bits that Mike has been showing, that is no longer the case. It turns out the copies of the film I've watched just look like shit, and the movie looked just as good as the following 2 films. In all actuality, I think it's making the other 2 look worse in comparison. Of course, the other 2 haven't been torn apart at the levels of Star Wars, so what could they look like?

It is sad that they were so lazy with their restorations at Lucasfilm, when they have much better resources.

Oh, sure.  My lack of interest in restoring the other films is just due to how much work it takes to get the proper materials and the costs of really scanning them properly, etc.

But if I had access to great scans, etc., it would be fun.  They would benefit from all of Legacy's software tools and resources and would be tons easier.  The first anything is the hardest one; building the infrastructure, getting the foundation built, getting up to speed...  Plus I've learned tons of tricks and techniques along the way, and been forced to come up with new ways to handle things simply because of the issues with the harder shots in Star Wars.  That sandcrawler shot, for example, was simultaneously a testing ground for things which would apply to the Worst Shot in the Film - the landspeeder panning shot after Ben Jedi Mind Tricks the stormtrooper.  That will actually be a fun video to post but it will take me a bit to make it, because I want to show just how much shit went into repairing that shot.  It's also the most dramatic before/after, ultimately, because of how wrecked the source is.

Eagle-eyed observers have noticed I've been posting Changed-in-the-Special-Edition shots first, and you guys are right as to why - when you see what could've been done even with the most problem plates, it makes the additions all the more unnecessary.  And they're not even good shots most of the time.  I'm working on the next round of videos now, things like the Throne Room (tons of work), Falcon Hangar matte paintings, Ben's Hut... stay tuned!