Project files have been updated to version 9.0 (codename: “Aaand We’re Done!”), first post has been updated, please PM me for temporary download links until the files are available at a more permanent location (and yes, I’m planning on more than just MySpleen and PM’s this time).
- Full Japanese subtitles for Return of the Jedi are now available in SRT format (thanks to Sadako). Operation Eyestrain has been a success!
- Greatly improved Finnish translations for the entire trilogy (thanks to LexX)
- Fixed a typo in Japanese subtitles for Star Wars (thanks to wayphat)
- Fixed some Brazilian Portuguese translation issues (thanks to Kloky)
- Fixed some European Portuguese translation issues (thanks to jl8)
- Translations for alien subtitles now closely match theatrical subtitle timing – they may not match the timing for alien subtitles on home video releases
The change in subtitle timing is a bigger deal than it might seem. Particularly in Return of the Jedi, the timing of the alien subtitles varies widely between theatrical prints and various home video releases. This means that Project Threepio’s subtitles, without manual adjustment, may look out of sync during the sequences in ROTJ with alien dialogue, if there are burnt-in English subtitles using timing from a non-theatrical source. More specifically, this means Project Threepio’s alien subtitles no longer line up quite so neatly with the burnt-in alien subtitles in ROTJ Despecialized 1.0 or the first 2.0 workprint, but will sync with the final version 2.0 when it’s released. So if you’re just looking for subtitles for ROTJ Despecialized, 8.3 may look better for now.
As the codename suggests, the end of Project Threepio may well be in sight. I doubt this will be the very last version, but in its current state, it now meets all of my original goals for this project, in addition to all of the other goals I’ve added along the way. I honestly can’t think of very much more that can be done without venturing into areas I’ve already definitively ruled out for the sake of my sanity (mono mixes, 70mm Empire, 85/93 audio, 81 crawl, matching foreign dubs, and so on). So – absent language contributions from outside sources – no major updates are really even possible at this point. Minor corrections and refinements can, of course, potentially continue indefinitely, so that’s where I can still see a minor release or two down the line.
Project Threepio is now in a state where any Star Wars trilogy preservation can pretty easily have extensive subtitle support, regardless of whether it syncs to the GOUT, includes burnt-in alien subtitles, what sort of framing is uses, or if it includes translated crawl and alien subtitle text. And I have to say, even if this project never goes any further than this latest release, I’ll still be quite satisfied with what we’ve accomplished.
That’s not to say that this project thread won’t stay active, with, if nothing else, enough “PM sent” posts to keep everyone satisfied for a long time to come!
