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Collaborative 35mm restoration proposition

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 (Edited)

Hi guys,

INTRO

I’m new on OT, so let me first quickly introduce myself : I’m a starwars fan since a very long time (since I bought VHS with my very first money), and as a job and passion, i’m a C# Software Developer (web and windows)

I know there is currently a lot of tensions arround -1, the annoncement of the disbanding (not dismembering), allegation of unethical behaviour etc. but I will not comment any of this because I have no opinion watsoever about all these problems (I was not there).

So maybe It is not a good time to make this proposation, or maybe actually it is the right moment and it will bring a breath of fresh air … I don’t know. You will tell me.

I always loved sw fan edits, Harmy despecialized, etc, but when I watched on my projector the -1 Silver Edition, i told to myself : “This is it, I want the two other one”

Silver edition was restored with a lot of hard work. I don’t know how many people worked on the restoration of the frames, a small team I guess.

So here is my proposition : Why not try to make a collaborative restoration of Empire and Return ? The 35mm scans are already out (or at least partially), but they need to be cleaned.

HOW TO DO THAT?

Some ideas that come to my mind:

  • Store somewhere (private and secured) each frame of the videos

  • With a software (i can develop it if a windows software, or website), each guy who wants to help will be able get one frame file (tif, bmp or any non destructive compressing format), edit it (with photoshop or gimp or anything), and then, when done, the software will send the modified file back.

  • User will not choose the frame, software (or server) does. (it send the next not corrected frame)

  • The modified file will be stored for further validation.

  • We can make some kind of rules, like “only x frames per day per user”… (to avoid someone download everything)

  • Validation will be done by trusted users, which will be able to see the original and the modified file at the same time (in a screenshotcomparison.com way)

  • Collaborative users will be guided (e.g. Only clean frame with the duplication tool, no resizing, no copy/paste etc.)

  • Global restoration (resizing, color adjust, dust removing, image stabilisation etc.) will not be collaborative, and will be applied after or before collaborative work by skilled users.

I’ve tried to clean one frame (from Harmy’s Grindhouse 35mm) :
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/163094

It took me 12 minutes with photoshop (only duplication tool). Quite easy to do. I thing this is within almost everybody reach.

SO?

So, what do you think ?

I know this would rise a lot of questions and problems about piracy, how to search for collaborative help without catch people / disney’s attention etc. but I wanted to share that with you.

Maybe you already think about all that, and choose to not do this for some reason that i’m not aware of.

Thanks guys.

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It is still being done. TN1 appears to have broken up, but it appears that some of the ex-members are reforming into a new group or considering other ways of how they can move forward.

It’s my understanding that most cleanup is done in PF Clean, and that Photoshop is only used for really damaged frames. I have no idea how PF Clean works, but it’s my understanding anyway that its duplication tool is significantly more advanced as it can use the frames which exist either side of it to guide it towards a more accurate clean-up.

Also each 4k scan is something like 20 TB in size.

Oh I forgot to mention, as a Software Engineer the greatest contribution you could make is to create an open-source alternative to PF Clean - that would allow many more people who don’t have $6k to spend on it to contribute to such projects.

[ Scanning stuff since 2015 ]

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Ok, so they are using a proper and more advanced tool than photoshop to do the cleanup, hmm that make perfect sense.

An open-source PFClean would be a very interesting project, but extremly more complex that I was thinking about.

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True, but just think: it could be used by many thousands of film restorers for many thousands of future film-based preservation/restoration projects. Even if it took you 5 years to develop it it could prove useful for the next 50 years!

Of course, if you’d prefer to buy PF Clean and volunteer to clean-up frames I’m sure the they’d let you sign up for dirt and scratch removal.

[ Scanning stuff since 2015 ]

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RU.08 said:

Of course, if you’d prefer to buy PF Clean and volunteer to clean-up frames I’m sure the they’d let you sign up for dirt and scratch removal.

Project files from the free ‘personal learning edition’ are compatible with the full version. So if you’re not the one who is going to be doing the heavy rendering anyway, that’s an option.

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TV’s Frink said:

Lol at “dismembering”.

Lol, sorry for this one.

towne32 said:

RU.08 said:

Of course, if you’d prefer to buy PF Clean and volunteer to clean-up frames I’m sure the they’d let you sign up for dirt and scratch removal.

Project files from the free ‘personal learning edition’ are compatible with the full version. So if you’re not the one who is going to be doing the heavy rendering anyway, that’s an option.

That’s interesting.
It would be a pleasure for me to help in that way (if what I propose in the first place is not possible)

I will download the Learning Edition and give it a try.

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 (Edited)

I would be very interested in a frame distribution model being setup for restoration.
It would have its problems, but would be a useful tool.
I’m happy to donate say 30 seconds of footage to be restored as a test, PM me as I am leaving the forum shortly, and can give you an email contact.
I really think the idea has merit, and could be useful in a multitude of ways, plus it could be a fun community project, people could use whatever tools they have to clean up their frame, and the results would illustrate a bunch of things about restoration that I would love to explore with the community.
Part of the problem is evident in the frame you cleaned up, (which you did a pretty nice job on BTW).
For instance, take a look here:

You can see the duplicated area down a bit and to the right of Luke’s snozz, on the next frame that duplicated section will look different, so that detail will pop in and out of existence, resulting in the background ‘chattering’.
But, there are ways around this kind of thing, and I think it would be a useful experiment, and a way to get the entire community involved.

So my vote is Make It So!

Donations welcome: paypal.me/poit
bitcoin:13QDjXjt7w7BFiQc4Q7wpRGPtYKYchnm8x
Help get The Original Trilogy preserved!

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Blue_Harvest said:

towne32 said:

Project files from the free ‘personal learning edition’ are compatible with the full version. So if you’re not the one who is going to be doing the heavy rendering anyway, that’s an option.

That’s interesting.
It would be a pleasure for me to help in that way (if what I propose in the first place is not possible)

I will download the Learning Edition and give it a try.

Yeah that is interesting Towne, thanks for that insight! 😃

[ Scanning stuff since 2015 ]

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I think this is an interesting notion. I feel a lot of us have gained a fair amount if skill over the years and there’s probably enough of us who can do this kind of work now that this is a viable idea to put in place.

I think it would be more beneficial to distribute full shots to people, though, rather than just frames. That way we don’t run into any trouble with frames in the same shot not looking consistent, and people can pull info from surrounding frames to get rid of damage, rather than trying to clone from the same frame.

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What could also work is once a full scene is cleaned, give that full scene to one individual to color correct.

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 (Edited)

RU.08 said:

Blue_Harvest said:

towne32 said:

Project files from the free ‘personal learning edition’ are compatible with the full version. So if you’re not the one who is going to be doing the heavy rendering anyway, that’s an option.

That’s interesting.
It would be a pleasure for me to help in that way (if what I propose in the first place is not possible)

I will download the Learning Edition and give it a try.

Yeah that is interesting Towne, thanks for that insight! 😃

You’re welcome. But Williarob was the one who pointed out this ‘feature’. Additionally, if one wanted to get really tricky without really breaking the rules, their trial of the free version can export as well. So in theory you could make sure everything is perfect in the PLE before using that version. In reality you’ll find something you hate about the export you thought was perfect the day before the trial ended. 😃

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towne32 said:

You’re welcome. But Williarob was the one who pointed out this ‘feature’. Additionally, if one wanted to get really tricky without really breaking the rules, their trial of the free version can export as well. So in theory you could make sure everything is perfect in the PLE before using that version. In reality you’ll find something you hate about the export you thought was perfect the day before the trial ended. 😃

Yeah cool I hear what you’re saying.

The OP just needs to make the rendering part! 😃

[ Scanning stuff since 2015 ]

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This is a really cool idea and think it would be awesome to get the community involved. I’d love to participate as well.

What’s the internal temperature of a TaunTaun? Luke warm.

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…I completely +1 this idea. Not only would this pull the community together in a new way…but then everyone involved would ‘own a piece’ of the restoration. Put me on the list.

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FWIW, I’m in talks with Blue_Harvest on an idea I had that will help get even non-technical people involved in the restoration, but in a way that won’t impact the quality of the end product. I’ll give more details when we’re done working them out.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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This sounds like an very interesting idea. I’m in, however I can help.

dlvh

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This sounds cool, count me in!

I decided to add a signature

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AntcuFaalb said:

FWIW, I’m in talks with Blue_Harvest on an idea I had that will help get even non-technical people involved in the restoration, but in a way that won’t impact the quality of the end product. I’ll give more details when we’re done working them out.

I’m probably the most useless member on this site when it comes to this kind of thing, but it would be cool if this non-technical person without any money to spend could get involved.

Army of Darkness: The Medieval Deadit | The Terminator - Color Regrade | The Wrong Trousers - Audio Preservation
SONIC RACES THROUGH THE GREEN FIELDS.
THE SUN RACES THROUGH A BLUE SKY FILLED WITH WHITE CLOUDS.
THE WAYS OF HIS HEART ARE MUCH LIKE THE SUN. SONIC RUNS AND RESTS; THE SUN RISES AND SETS.
DON’T GIVE UP ON THE SUN. DON’T MAKE THE SUN LAUGH AT YOU.

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Hi!

I’m very glad that a lot of people are interested in this project 😃

As said AntcuFaalb, we are thinking about a way to make everone contribute to the restoration, without needing to install any software, and without any technical knowledge.

So Dek Rollins, everybody will be useful !

Stay tune.

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AntcuFaalb and I have been talking about something like this for the past few years, so thank you for being the catalyst to get it actually happening!

Donations welcome: paypal.me/poit
bitcoin:13QDjXjt7w7BFiQc4Q7wpRGPtYKYchnm8x
Help get The Original Trilogy preserved!

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I assume this idea consists of people only painting clean up masks and collecting those for use with something like PFClean?

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That would probably work

[ Scanning stuff since 2015 ]