Info Wanted: Help, I'm new! :/ (looking for a good OOT preservation)

My name is Brooks.  I’ve been thinking of doing my own fixes on the 2006 dvd’s of the original releases for a while since I’ve been unhappy with them.  In researching it I found savestarwars.com which led me here.  I’ve browsed around a little and I’m amazed at the work you guys have done!  In my previous career I did video/audio editing and some aftereffects work so I thought I could tackle the project but you guys have done such a great job I don’t think I need to make my own.

My son is now 2 years old. I first saw StarWars in 78 when I was four, so I really want to get a decent copy of the real star wars by the time he’s four or five so he can see it the way I did.  For a new guy like me there’s an overwhelming number of projects on here, I really don’t know where to start.  Is there a consensus on which projects are the best so far?  Also, I’m curious as to which sources are the best to work from?  I have the dvd’s of course and a friend of mine  has the laser discs.  Are the vhs useful at all?  I still have the widescreen vhs fancy box set I bought in the mid 90’s.  I’ve never even watched them.

I’m so thrilled to find a place where talented people are working on this, it’s a noble task and important for future generations (like my son 😃 ).  Thanks for all the work you do!  -B

Thanks for the suggestions!  Thanks to some generous help from you guys I'm getting the dark jedi versions now, I'm really excited to see them! Harmy's sounds intriguing as well, I'll definitely read through the forum about these two projects.  I'm really curious how they can make HD versions from the 2006 dvds.  I'm so glad I found this place, it's great!  -B

I would like to experiment myself, it kind of looks like fun. So are the 2006 dvd's the best source to work with? Are they better than the laser discs? Is there anything worth capturing on my thx widescreen vhs tapes? Or even the original early 80's tapes (I have them somewhere).

Hey Brooks, welcome to the forum!

Which versions are worth working on depends on who you ask. Every version has it's pros and cons and there's always someone who prefers a specific version in their collection. If you wanna experiment yourself, simply choose the one you like the most!

Though I'd say you won't even need to do it yourself, since there are so many projects going on here that you'll most likely find something perfectly suiting your taste.

Brooks said:

I would like to experiment myself, it kind of looks like fun. So are the 2006 dvd's the best source to work with? Are they better than the laser discs?

I hear ya, Brooks.  I've been the same way.  As much as I love and respect everyone else's projects, there's just something about the personal touch.

For my money, the '06 DVDs are the best to work with at the moment and are what I've used for the bulk of my custom sets.  While they're based on the same masters from the 93/95 LDs, there are some differences (i.e. missing scanlines on the Emperor hologram).  The NTSC versions are best for ANH and ESB.  The PAL version of ROTJ is superior, but only slightly.

Laserdiscs, in my opinion, have been more useful for their sound mixes than video (though they are the best source I'm aware of for the "Episode IV" crawl).

Unfortunately, every official source has something wrong with it (Lucasfilm did a real bang-up job over the years), so what starts as "fun" might end in "frustration".  Best of luck! :)

How do you guys typically rip the dvds for editing, what kind of file do you rip to?  Also, is there a repository somewhere to get ripped versions of all the different releases or does everyone just rip their own?  It would be handy if there was a library of "raw" ripped files for us all to experiment with, but I'm not sure about the legality of that?

Brooks said:

How do you guys typically rip the dvds for editing, what kind of file do you rip to?  Also, is there a repository somewhere to get ripped versions of all the different releases or does everyone just rip their own?  It would be handy if there was a library of "raw" ripped files for us all to experiment with, but I'm not sure about the legality of that?

I believe most of what you'll find is LD rips and you'll need an LD machine and capture software to do that.  As for the repository idea, as far as I know, there isn't one.  While it is a good idea I don't know how and where it could be hosted with such large file sizes.

For ripping software you could probably search out DVDShrink or Decrypter.

Not too long ago I found a link that listed all of the official releases (dvd, vhs, film etc) of the trilogy and their sources.  I've been looking for it again all morning and can't find it, do any of you know of a site that has this info?  I think it might have been on this site but the search function on the forum keeps crashing on me :(

Sounds to me like DavisDVD.com , but that one is down for a long time.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070607235053/http://www.davisdvd.com/misc/starwars/index.htm

that is not the one I was looking at before but it is pretty awesome, too bad it's not updated anymore.  Thanks for that link!  The one I saw earlier actually specified which transfer each copy was made from and tracked the changes.

Wasn't it Russ's site ? :-)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/russdawson/gtf/

Would it have been russs15's Galactic Trade Federation: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/russdawson/gtf/

The Star Wars Collectors Archive also has a list of home variations: http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_category&category_id=56

OT.com has a wiki which lists quite a bit: http://originaltrilogy.com/fan-edits/

What did the site look like?

Note: on searching through OT.com it's better to use a search engine, use "site:originaltrilogy.com _your query term_"

http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/articles/star-wars-the-changes-part-one.html

Thanks guys!  That dvdactive article was really interesting, I ended up reading the whole thing.  And I like russ's site too, it's a shame it isn't active (though I imagine keeping up with all the restoration projects is quite a task, there seems to be an overwhelming number of them).  The site I was looking for listed the transfer source for each release.  Until I saw that site I just assumed t hey all came from the original negatives, how naive I was!  It looked like a wiki if I recall.  I searched wookiepedia and didn't see it there.  Maybe it was on the OT wiki, how do I search it?  The only link I see on it is for the fan project list.

It's funny after reading on this forum about all the 35mm prints degrading (including the original, crazy!) I've decided to undertake the enormous project of scanning all of my old film negatives (my personal pics) for fear that they'll degrade too.  It's a different kind of film (right?) so it hopefully won't have.  I think I also capture my old SW vhs tapes for kicks.  I really do think there should be a repository for raw scans of each of the released mediums (or at least the out of print ones, it wouldn't be necessary for the dvds or blurays) for people to experiment with restoring.  That way if someone makes a great capture but then puts some questionable color or contrast decisions the original great capture is out there for others to work with.

Brooks said:

Thanks guys!  That dvdactive article was really interesting, I ended up reading the whole thing.  And I like russ's site too, it's a shame it isn't active (though I imagine keeping up with all the restoration projects is quite a task, there seems to be an overwhelming number of them).  The site I was looking for listed the transfer source for each release.  Until I saw that site I just assumed t hey all came from the original negatives, how naive I was!  It looked like a wiki if I recall.  I searched wookiepedia and didn't see it there.  Maybe it was on the OT wiki, how do I search it?  The only link I see on it is for the fan project list.

It's funny after reading on this forum about all the 35mm prints degrading (including the original, crazy!) I've decided to undertake the enormous project of scanning all of my old film negatives (my personal pics) for fear that they'll degrade too.  It's a different kind of film (right?) so it hopefully won't have.  I think I also capture my old SW vhs tapes for kicks.  I really do think there should be a repository for raw scans of each of the released mediums (or at least the out of print ones, it wouldn't be necessary for the dvds or blurays) for people to experiment with restoring.  That way if someone makes a great capture but then puts some questionable color or contrast decisions the original great capture is out there for others to work with.

I've got a trailer for the S.E. that was chopped up and being sold on eBay...by an eBay employee as separate lots.  I got the whole thing from him but it's in pieces and I don't have a "slide" attachment for my printer to scan any of them.  It would be cool to have as reference pics though as it seems the film version does differ from the LD release of the original S.E..  They look more natural than the video transfer....IMO anyways.

As for a repository...It is a cool idea...too bad there wasn't an FTP site for such things, it would probably be a better way to house them for safe access.

I know I did transfers of my 2006 VHS tapes with a Panasonic DMR-EA18...it only does 256kbps for the audio but it's better than nothing.  I also used the Panasonic to transfer each side of the LD's to their own discs for possible future restorations.  I believe I used the Japan S.E. LD's, if I'm not mistaken, including TPM. 

Is there a new member's guide??  Did I miss something : /

Jetrell - I got an epson 4490 display model last week from microcenter for $20 (can you believe that)?  I haven't had a chance to dig up my negatives and try it out yet.  I'll let you know how they look.  I wonder if it wouldn't be better to scan the individual frames of the various films everyone is restoring vs using a telecine.  Granted, I'm sure it would take much much MUCH longer but I imagine the quality would be better (right?).

As for my tapes, I got an ads pyro firewire dv converter years ago to capture the raw vhs footage of a show my friends and I did in college, it works pretty well, I may drag it out and try my widescreen star wars tapes.

Brooks wrote: The site I was looking for listed the transfer source for each release.

What were some of the transfer sources they listed?  Have you checked your browser history?

The best version out there is Adywan's "Star Wars Revisited" the purist edition.

I have it on dvd and would be happy to send you a copy.

Elliott