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Info: OT Bootleg DVDs — Page 62

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MBJ - While I do agree with others that the credits should remain unaltered, I was referring to the menus in my post. But it's your set, so do it your way, and if I ever make one of mine (ha!) I'll do it my way.
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Hmmm, comparing the pics MeBeJedi has offered to frames from the TR47 version, it seems like the latter has better white balance. Some of the details visible in the TR47 version are lost in the brightness of those white-heavy scenes. Maybe this is something automatic gamma adjustment could improve during the capture process?
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In order to crank up the contrast and make the blackness of space more dense as MeBeJedi has been doing, and in the process trying to make those boxes (garbage mattes) around the ships look less obvious (or dissapear), there is bound to be some loss of detail both in very light and very dark scenes. There has to be a middleground I think. And maybe the TR47 version is just that. We´ll have to see more comparison before we can decide which transfer is the best and truest to the original work.

peace,

Rebelscum
peace,

Rebelscum
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"While I do agree with others that the credits should remain unaltered, I was referring to the menus in my post."

Not that this is really something I want to continue, but just to clarify: you're saying you don't like my name in the menus?

Not offended, just curious.

"Some of the details visible in the TR47 version are lost in the brightness of those white-heavy scenes."

If I may hazard a guess, are you referring to scenes in the hallways, where the outlines of the walls are indistinct (i.e. boxes) If so, I noticed that this is in my capture as well. This may necessitate a new capture, but that won't be happening in the near future. I really don't feel like remastering everything all over again at this point in time. Maybe I will work on adjusting the capture settings for ESB and ROTJ, and then go back to ANH.

That being said, Rebelscum is correct. There are a lot of variables to balance, and while the LD's are the best possible transfer source, they aren't the greatest transfer source, if you get my meaning. This is why laserman's set is going to take so long - there is a lot of fine tuning involved, and compiling the entire film takes 12-20 hours, depending. I had to do this a couple of times to get the MPEG just the right size to fit on the disc. Having a DL burner would make a tremendous difference. If anyone happens to have one just lying around, you can e-mail it to me.

This is why it's still a WIP, despite Riktor's rave reviews. There are little adjustments that need to be done, though I will still make a XVID of this version for all'y'all to see how it's going so far.

"In order to crank up the contrast and make the blackness of space more dense as MeBeJedi has been doing,"

Actually, I kept the contrast setting alone. Ultimately, it did more overall harm than good. That being said, I seem to recall leaving the capture settings at default, so there's still some experimentation that can be done at that end as well...

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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I commend you for your work MeBeJedi, for if it were not for peepz like yourself, nothing would improove OT wise. We all want a better quality OT, or let me put it this way, the absolute best DVD transfer from the laserdisc source, so that it´s not in any way inferior... and hopefully things can be improoved upon in the process.

peace,

Rebelscum
peace,

Rebelscum
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Right, the menus. I personally don't like to think of them as something a fan made, but as a DVD of the movie, and when the fact that it's a bootleg is called to my attention (i.e. the "MeBeJedi's New Hope" menu name) it detracts from the whole experience. In my own humble opinion, of course.

On another note, and this may have been covered several times in the past, what exactly is Laserman doing with his set that differentiates it from others?
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1. If you want your name on there why not add it somewhere during the credits?

2. Seriously, why not use the retail DVD menus instead of fan made ones?
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Originally posted by: Rikter
None taken...they are just missing some cosmetic touches, but the layout and functionality will remain. This isn't the final version. I just wanted Riktor's opinion on the overall DVD so far.

I hate PM's - email is the best for me
Well you don't answer those any quicker! Originally posted by: ChainsawAsh
On another note, and this may have been covered several times in the past, what exactly is Laserman doing with his set that differentiates it from others?
Making it perfect? Though I believe he's using "just" the DE LD's, and no Faces.
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"1. If you want your name on there why not add it somewhere during the credits?"

In case you hadn't noticed, I got in trouble for doing precisely that.

"2. Seriously, why not use the retail DVD menus instead of fan made ones?"

Seriously, I don't have them, and I don't want them.

"Making it perfect?"

That's my plan as well. I'm just not there yet.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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My $.02 on credits: I believe in giving credit where credit is due. And nowhere is credit more visible than the entertainment industry (how many restaurants do you know of that list the chef's name on the menu?). However, it rubs me the wrong way to see someone take credit for something they did not do, such as write a story or direct a movie. But MBJ has done something, which I'm sure has taken up many hours of his days. You'll notice on retail DVDs there is always a link somewhere that shows the credits for the company that made the DVD, not the movie. Therefore I think the more professional option (if MBJ chooses to add any credits or info about his work) would be a "Credits" link somewhere in the menus.

Having gotten that off my chest, I must add that I am really looking forward to seeing the MBJ transfers. Since I don't have a widescreen TV, if I had a letterboxed version of the movies with excellent picture and sound as well as the commentary tracks, I don't think I would need any other set.

All of us fans are indebted to you and the others that spend so much of their valuable time (and money) on these transfers! I can't say thank you enough!

And I can't wait until you release Empire!
wolfhead
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Guys, Please keep in mind that I have a full-time family - Answering emails is not my priority so PLEASE let's not clutter the boards with how long it takes to email or answer PM's - I try to get it all done but when Corbin wants to play Lightsaber Dual or Have me watch cartoons with him - He beats you guys out

“My skill are no longer as Mad as the once were” RiK

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"Corbin"?

(j/k)

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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Yes,

Corbin - My 5 years old

“My skill are no longer as Mad as the once were” RiK

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is laserdisc the best source? what about super8 ?
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The MeBeJedi STAR WARS: A New Hope (prototype??)

THIS is ONLY 1 opinion.................... (written at 5:30am)

First,
This is not a transfer of the Definitive Collection LD's but a transfer of the "Faces" set (which is said to be of better quality)

It's like watching the film for the first time at home again!

But this time we are treated with a 15 second THX LD trailer that is followed by a 27 second "Millenium Falcon" intro which navigates straight to the main menu. This basic menu layout that thankfully lacks all the "Drama and SPFX" that most new commercial DVD's all seem to be infected with, instead MeBeJedi delievers a neat, clean basic menu layout that features an immediate chapter selection screen (witty chapter names ). The discs menu structure lacks any needless title screens and selecting a chapter is simple enough and by simply pushing your down arrow button you can highlight the commentary link which then jumps you to the appropriate commentery page which feature a brief description of the commentary for that chapter.

Again these menus are very simple and you should have no problem moving through them at all ~

The Video Quality...

The Picture is awesome!!!

So far the colors are the BEST I've seen yet and DAMN the video just looks so clean.............

It's apparent that this was the result of a painstaking color correction process - the gamma levels have been adjusted, contrast and the color levels (was it done HuffyYUV) have all been restored. The color seems a bit red in some scenes but it is neither distracting or overdone this seems to be a side effect of the contrast changes, it does seem to be a bit overly white on the Tantive IV but like I said it's still one of thes best - IMHO

BUT as far as the general video quality... Under my DVD players zoom feature the quality holds up....
@ 2x zoom they still look very good @ 3x zoom you say damn this is a good transfer (good job on the the VBR and color correction is perfect!) - the colors really are that good and are even better then the actually laserdiscs IMHO -

The Audio Quality...

This is the best feature yet! - THE PCM track is better then the TR47 set - IF you crank up the TR47 set there is some noise in the audio stream.... THIS set has very little noise to no noise in the audio. It's a cleaner and smoother PCM audio track then ANY other set I've heard as it has the most natural sound.

2 audio formats/ 3 audio tracks

LPCM 2.0 @ 1536 kbps

WOW ~ This is a great sounding PCM and with the care that was taken in the conversion the matrixed surround track was reatained and BOY what beautiful playback you get.

AC3 Dolby Digital 5.1 - THE BEST 5.1 EVER ~ It really only sounds like a perfect conversion - there is NO fake rear steering just a WONDERFUL re-encode of the original PCM - CHEERS to you on that! (it's a little quite but most DD 5.1 is)

AC3 Dolby Digital 2.0 -
And the commentary is clean but a little loud compaired the rest of the video.

OVERALL -

I did not see or here any major or noticable errors in the video or the audio other then the contrast being a bit much - BUT that is me knit picking . There are no "missing" scenes and I do not recall even seeing a side flip or a disc change and from what I saw today

- the TR47 and the Dr. Gonzo set may well soon become things of the past.

UPDATE!

OKAY - Today I had a few friends over........

I did a blind test with 4 DVD versions of the OT. For the test I put in each of the DVD's and played the first 5 minutes of each film (as the first 5 minutes really do push the limits with all the white - so the colors really stand out on the scenes on the Tantive IV

I tested it on this gear -

Projector Playback -

Projection Panel: nView Spectra C - connected via SVGA
Video processer: ViewSonic NextVision N4 - connected via SVGA
Over Head Projector: 3M 9700 - 410w/4000 lumens

TV Playback -

TV: Apex 27" - connected via S-video
DVD 1: Mintek 1600
DVD 2: Apex AD-1500

Audio Playback

Decoded via PRO-LOGIC II + DTS NEO6

The PLII was the winner here ~ The DTS was a bit to quite and the conversion created extra noise

A/V Receiver 1: Onkyo TX-SR501 - connected via TOS-LINK
A/V Receiver 2: JVC RX-315 (used to power tactile transducers)
Front Speakers: NHT New Wave x2
Center Speakers: NHT New Wave
Rear Speakers: Kenwood KS-203 x2
Center Rear: Kenwood KS-203
Sub: KLH ASW10
Tactile Transducers: AURA "Bass Shaker" AST-1B-4 x2

All three films were tested on both my TV (first) then the Projector...
Again We watched the first 5-10 minutes and skipped around the disc for other scenes (Anchorhead, Vadrer+Ben's dual and the D-Star).

The end result was that everyone (all 5 of us including my wife ) picked the MeBeJedi set for BOTH audio and visual followed by the TR47 set then the Dr. Gonzo Set.

“My skill are no longer as Mad as the once were” RiK

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EDITED

“My skill are no longer as Mad as the once were” RiK

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can i see some screeshots from the making of dvd:s menus? how does the quality differ from the laserdisc ones and the vhs captured ones?


thanks!
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Rikter, in what regard did you find it to be the best of the three? Was it the black levels, contrast, clarity, sharpness, colors, movement (ghosting) or what? You just state that everybody found the MeBeJedi version the best of the bunch but you don´t say why. Please give us the full details of your findings if you would?

peace,

Rebelscum
peace,

Rebelscum
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I thought I did .....

I did not review the TR47 set or the Dr. Gonzo as they've already been reviewd.

AND I did state it was a BLIND test - That means opinion of the a random veiwer kind like a blind Taste Test - NOT a scientific tear down of the film.

I asked a few friends over 1 of which is a diehard LOTR fan NOT a SW fan at all -

The result of the "taste-test" was C was the best

C= MeBeJedi's capture

1 fan said - "the colors are better a bit red but better on the C version"

Another fan said - "the detail on the Star Detroyer is BETTER on C"

My wife said - "The black levels are perfect - none of that faded out grey starscape"

A Non-Fan said - " Damn, that sounded GREAT and better then the others" - this was about C

I said this..................


The Video Quality...

The Picture is awesome!!!

So far the colors are the BEST I've seen yet and DAMN the video just looks so clean.............

It's apparent that this was the result of a painstaking color correction process - the gamma levels have been adjusted, contrast and the color levels (was it done HuffyYUV) have all been restored. The color seems a bit red in some scenes but it is neither distracting or overdone this seems to be a side effect of the contrast changes, it does seem to be a bit overly white on the Tantive IV but like I said it's still one of thes best - IMHO

BUT as far as the general video quality... Under my DVD players zoom feature the quality holds up....
@ 2x zoom they still look very good @ 3x zoom you say damn this is a good transfer (good job on the the VBR and color correction is perfect!) - the colors really are that good and are even better then the actually laserdiscs IMHO -

The Audio Quality...

This is the best feature yet! - THE PCM track is better then the TR47 set - IF you crank up the TR47 set there is some noise in the audio stream.... THIS set has very little noise to no noise in the audio. It's a cleaner and smoother PCM audio track then ANY other set I've heard as it has the most natural sound.

“My skill are no longer as Mad as the once were” RiK

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Can't wait till MeBeJedi is finished ...

I could have completely missed it, but are MeBeJedis DVDs 16:9 or 4:3 ?
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4:3

“My skill are no longer as Mad as the once were” RiK

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Actually, they don't really exist yet (unless your name is Rik), and he says he'll do both.
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Okay, after a long wait, I have found a FREE Image Hosting site thanks to TheSessler and was able to upload all of my Star Wars (aka A New Hope) Screen Shot Comparison pics. Thanks Sessler Thanks as well to Obi_Skywalker who also offered to host the images for me.

First off, you will be able to tell right away that all of our favorite OT "bootlegs" are way too bright when compared to the "official" Extra Special Edition DVDs. I started out trying to look at screen shots to see which of our favorite three (MeBeJedi, TR47 and Dr Gonzo) looked the best when compared to the "official" Extra Special Edition DVDs. Needless to say, it didn't take long to see that none of our favorite transfers could hold a candle to the "official" DVDs. It is so hard to come up with the right balance of contrast and brightness in a way that will work for the entire film(s).

That being said, I am posting these comparison pics today in an effort mainly to compare our favorite three transfers with the "official" shots being used for goal setting comparisons.

You will notice that the "official" DVD has so much more definition with its balance of brightness and contrast. In the best transfers that are out there now, the white on white scenes tend to look too "washed out" due to the brightness of the white walls and troopers.

As I mentioned earlier, the screen grabs I took were intended to match those that MeBeJedi posted earlier. By the way, thanks MeBeJedi for allowing me to use your pics for this comparison

Okay, without any further adoo, here are the pics

* Needless to say there are a lot of pics so be patient

George Lucas "official" Extra Special Editions - Shot A

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/7410/Lucas_000.jpg

MeBeJedi - Shot A

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/9593/MeBeJedi_000.jpg

TR47 - Shot A

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/25/TR47_000.jpg

Dr Gonzo - Shot A

http://img26.exs.cx/img26/2739/DrGonzo_000.jpg



George Lucas "official" Extra Special Editions - Shot B

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/9707/Lucas_001.jpg

MeBeJedi - Shot B

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/1548/MeBeJedi_001.jpg

TR47 - Shot B

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/2595/TR47_001.jpg

Dr Gonzo - Shot B

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/4095/DrGonzo_001.jpg



George Lucas "official" Extra Special Editions - Shot C

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/8629/Lucas_002.jpg

MeBeJedi - Shot C

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/2019/MeBeJedi_002.jpg

TR47 - Shot C

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/3407/TR47_002.jpg

Dr Gonzo - Shot C

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/3404/DrGonzo_002.jpg



George Lucas "official" Extra Special Editions - Shot D

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/2557/Lucas_003.jpg

MeBeJedi - Shot D

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/2307/MeBeJedi_003.jpg

TR47 - Shot D

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/1563/TR47_003.jpg

Dr Gonzo - Shot D

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/9035/DrGonzo_003.jpg



George Lucas "official" Extra Special Editions - Shot E

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/3293/Lucas_004.jpg

MeBeJedi - Shot E

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/4302/MeBeJedi_004.jpg

TR47 - Shot E

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/791/TR47_004.jpg

Dr Gonzo - Shot E

http://img79.exs.cx/img79/2357/DrGonzo_004.jpg



Okay, there ya have it. Please note that due to many different factors a screen shot may come out blurry and possibly not best represent the actual DVD... this is mostly due to limitations of the DVD software, capturing software and ultimately me

Keep up the good work MeBeJedi

-BadAsh
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BadAsh71... after seeing the "Lucas edition" I feel quite bad thinking how great an official original trilogy DVD would have been.
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Damn! That official release looks absolutely mindbogglingly gorgeous!! There is just no competing with that when it comes to bootlegs from the laserdisc. But from all of those shots it seems to be that the official release is a clear number 1 and followed (lightyears later) by the TR47 version. It´s definitely a bit sharper than MeBeJedi´s transfer and much more so than Dr. Gonzo´s muddy transfer. The TR47 transfer seems to have the best overall colorbalance, not too dark or too bright - a good middleground. Obviously I haven´t gotten the chance to compare all those "in motion" so I can´t comment on that, possible ghosting effects and so on.

peace,

Rebelscum
peace,

Rebelscum