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Question for people who own the 1984 VHS releases

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What color were the boxes (e.g. the spine, the bottom of the front, and the dark stripes on the top of the back)? From various scans I've seen, it sometimes looks black or dark gray or bluish gray. Also, what color were the lighter stripes on the top of the back?

I'm working on making DVD case sleeves that look like those VHS boxes (I have the first one finished except for choosing the final colors). I know it has already been done before, probably more than once, but I don't think anyone has used the correct font along with the correct kerning before, because matching the kerning is extremely tedious, and most people wouldn't care about it anyway. However, simply typing out the text and calling it good has a "typed in Word" look to it that I don't care for.

In the old days professional typesetters layed out text manually with variable kerning with aesthetics in mind, and it has a certain look to it that you don't get by simply typing on a PC and leaving it at that.

For example, here is a picture of some of the new text (and some logos; I made the CBS/FOX logo because I couldn't find a good one already made) on top of the original text on a scan of the VHS box:

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/5084/text1p.jpg

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The main color is dark grey. (It comes out greyish blue from my scanner, so I can't post scans. There is no trace of blue on the actual box.) The lighter stripes are just normal grey. Can't wait to see the boxes.

Your current version has a mistake. The ratings box uses the wrong font, (causing some letters to be a little taller then others) and has a drop shadow beneath the text. (which the original did not have)

Comparison:

comparison

This vector file is a okay replacement (although you'll need to cut off the bottom descriptive text and tweak the text placement to make it look like the original)

http://www.seeklogo.com/motion-picture-association-pg-rating-logo-95036.html

Scratch that, the ones in this pdf (on page 18) are official and look nicer.

web.archive.org/web/20081111133643/http://www.filmratings.com/2006Handbook.pdf (copy and paste the whole url, the forum dosen't want to make a clickable link)

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Dark gray then? Excellent. That makes it easier than if there really was some blue in there.

Your current version has a mistake. The ratings box uses the wrong font, (causing some letters to be a little taller then others) and has a drop shadow beneath the text. (which the original did not have)
 

That's not a drop shadow, that's just the original text on the original scan of the VHS box underneath it that you're seeing (I have the opacity of the scan at 50% which makes the printing on it look shadowy; it wouldn't be in the final file of course).

The thing about some letters being taller than others is just an Adobe Illustrator rendering anomaly (the picture I posted is just a screenshot of the file opened in Illustrator); they are all the same size because it is typed from a single font, and if you zoom in (within Illustrator on the actual file) or print it out or export it to a raster file or whatever, they are all the same height.

You're right that the new "Parental Guidance Suggested" font that I used is not an exact match for the font used on the original box.  I wasn't real happy with the whole PG box anyway. The only thing that matches as well as I like is the "some material may not be suitable for children" font (which is ordinary Helvetica [albeit with custom kerning], like nearly everything else on the whole VHS box).

The 2006 MPAA Handbook that you linked to is nice because it is official and it is vector (I actually already have that file as it happens, because of a project I did a few years ago where I needed the rated R logo). The problem with it is, it uses plain old Helvetica for both the upper and bottom boxes, while the logo on the VHS box only uses regular Helvetica for the bottom box, and some type of condensed (narrow) font in the upper box. Helvetica Condensed was the closest I had so that is what I used, but I don't consider it final. I'll see what else I can find. 

One distinguishing characteristic about the original upper box font on the VHS box is the fairly straight sides to the letters (look at the "G" and the right side of the "D" for instance), so maybe that will help me find the correct font eventually. If all else fails I could simply trace (vectorize) the letters myself (it wouldn't be the first time I've done such a thing by any means; that's how I made the CBS/FOX Video logo for example), but in order to do that, I would need an extremely high DPI scan of it (because it is so small on the VHS box), like 1200 DPI at least. Hopefully I can find the right font though, because tracing/vectorizing letters is quite a pain.

I'd also like to find the highest quality versions of the photos that are on the back of each box. I have some 300 DPI ones that I cut from someone else's VHS-to-DVD sleeve project, but they were already JPGs and I don't know how many times they went through JPG compression before I got them. They look good, but I'm just wondering if there are better versions available? Scanning them directly from the VHS box is not a good source, because the scanner picks up all of the color halftone dots from the offset printing process. I don't know where the ones I already have came from (they weren't scanned from the VHS box at least, which is a good thing) ... maybe screenshots from HD versions of the movies?

Edit: I think the font is just an extra condensed version of Helvetica (which would make sense, because the MPAA has always used Helvetica in their ratings boxes). If I squeeze Helvetica Condensed to make it as narrow as the original font, it is a pretty close match. I need to see if I can find some versions of Helvetica that are more condensed than what I already have.

Edit 2: This is Helvetica Medium Condensed, slightly narrowed:

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/5989/helvmedcond.png

The weight is perfect, but the sides of the curved letters (like G and D) are still not straight enough. Helvetica Compressed has the straight sides, but the weight is far too heavy. Very annoying. If a medium version of Helvetica Compressed existed, I think it would be dead on.

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I did exactly this to my covers (which are not in English) so I know where you're coming at. It's a pretty huge task to make them match exactly, good luck.

And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.

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Wow! You are very dedicated. I can't wait to see the full thing. Glad you found a decent font to use for the PG text.

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penguinofgreatness said:

Wow! You are very dedicated. I can't wait to see the full thing. Glad you found a decent font to use for the PG text.

I found a better font for the PG text, and if it is not exactly what was originally used, it is plenty close:

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8983/64992722.png

The top image shows the new text outlining the PG box on the original scan of the VHS box, and the bottom image shows the new text / PG box by itself.

The font is Univers Condensed Bold (Univers is an old and major font, right up there with, and similar to, Helvetica).

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Okay, how does this look - link?

I've never made a DVD sleeve before, and I don't know if that will print out nicely or not (I'm waiting for some blank sleeves in the mail to try it for myself). I'm open to comments/suggestions/criticisms.

The next two (TESB and ROTJ) won't be as tedious as that one, because a lot of the graphics/text is reused on all three boxes.

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MaximRecoil said:

Okay, how does this look - link?

I've never made a DVD sleeve before, and I don't know if that will print out nicely or not (I'm waiting for some blank sleeves in the mail to try it for myself). I'm open to comments/suggestions/criticisms.

The next two (TESB and ROTJ) won't be as tedious as that one, because a lot of the graphics/text is reused on all three boxes.

Just use legal size paper.  Or, if your printer can do "full bleed" photo printing, you might be able to squeeze it onto letter size paper.

My outlook on life - we’re all on the Hindenburg anyway…no point fighting over the window seat.

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Ziz said:

Just use legal size paper.  Or, if your printer can do "full bleed" photo printing, you might be able to squeeze it onto letter size paper.

 I don't have any paper here suitable for photo-type printing. I only have ordinary, cheap letter paper and even if I could fit it on there, all photo-type images look bad printed on that stuff, no matter how good the source is. But I have some suitable paper coming in the mail soon.

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Can someone who owns the VHS releases tell me what the first few characters of the following text is from the lower back of the TESB box (I could only find low resolution scans for TESB and ROTJ)?

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/7747/textlv.png

It looks like maybe:

®™ & ©

Is that correct?

Edit: I could use a readable scan of the bottom of the front of the TESB box too (the credits section). Does anyone have one?

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MaximRecoil said:

Can someone who owns the VHS releases tell me what the first few characters of the following text is from the lower back of the TESB box (I could only find low resolution scans for TESB and ROTJ)?

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/7747/textlv.png

It looks like maybe:

®™ & ©

Is that correct?

Edit: I could use a readable scan of the bottom of the front of the TESB box too (the credits section). Does anyone have one?

It's ®*

And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.

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Another question: on the spine after the big "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" text, is that another "®*"?

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If I ever complete my A New Hope Revisited ReVHSed, I'd love to get access to your template or just permission to modify your finished cover, as this is exactly what I was going to go for as the basis of the cover.

Star Wars Revisited Wordpress

Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress

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doubleofive said:

If I ever complete my A New Hope Revisited ReVHSed, I'd love to get access to your template or just permission to modify your finished cover, as this is exactly what I was going to go for as the basis of the cover.

Yeah you can modify the cover. Also, if you have Adobe Illustrator or some other vector program, I can send you the vector file. Everything except for the front art and back screenshots is vector. Some of the vector stuff I found online (the Closed Caption, FBI, front STAR WARS, and VHS logos). The other non-typed stuff I made myself.

There was a Star Wars text logo available online for the spine, but it didn't line up right, so I made my own. There was no vector CBS/FOX logo that I could find anywhere, so I made that too. Vectorizing/tracing is one of my areas of expertise (it used to be my job), but it is tedious, so if a suitable vector file is already available, I'll use it.  

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I have Illustrator, so that would work nicely! I need to play with vectors more, my 5 could use some sharpening...

Star Wars Revisited Wordpress

Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress

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MaximRecoil said:

Another question: on the spine after the big "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" text, is that another "®*"?

It is on my covers. But like I said, they weren't in English but the copyright stuff should be the same. I have ®* next to both TESB logos on the spine and on the front.

And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.

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doubleofive said:

I have Illustrator, so that would work nicely! I need to play with vectors more, my 5 could use some sharpening...

What do you want to do about the fonts? Here are the options:

1. I could send it as a PDF that retains AI-editing capability. That way it *should* embed the fonts (otherwise it would substitute e.g. Arial for Helvetica if you don't have Helvetica installed on your computer; which would ruin everything). However, I *think* it only embeds the fonts for viewing in a PDF reader; I don't think it will do it when opened in Illustrator.

2. I could expand all the text into vector objects, which makes fonts irrelevant, but it is nice to have font-based text for ease of editing if you want to do so.

3. I could include the fonts that I used when I send the AI file, and you would need to install them on your system.

Also, what version of Illustrator do you have?

PM me with your email address along with what you want to do about the fonts.

LexX said:

It is on my covers. But like I said, they weren't in English but the copyright stuff should be the same. I have ®* next to both TESB logos on the spine and on the front.

 Yeah, it is on the front of the scan I'm working from too (I hadn't got that far yet). Thanks again.

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Oh, btw when you are done with the covers, could you please make alternatives that don't have the hi-fi stereo or CBS/FOX logo on the front side of the cover. I think I would like this look the best. The covers look great.

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Thanks for the scan, that is a big help.

Oh, btw when you are done with the covers, could you please make alternatives that don't have the hi-fi stereo or CBS/FOX logo on the front side of the cover. I think I would like this look the best. The covers look great.
Yeah, that's not a problem; just a matter of 2 mouse clicks to hide those objects two groups of objects, and exporting to a raster file.

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@penguinofgreatness: On your scan, on the second-to-last line, after the words "Panavision" and "Laboratories", what are those little superscript dots? Are they symbols?  

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penguinofgreatness said:

They are "®" symbols

 Thanks again.

I think I'm going to need to use scans of the screenshots from the back of the VHS boxes (I don't know of any other quality source for those specific images). I have the TESB sleeve done except for the screenshots on the back. Could you scan the screenshots from the back of your TESB and ROTJ (if you have it) boxes at 300 DPI to a lossless format (such as PNG or TIF with LZW compression)? Or do you know of a different high quality source for those exact images? 

BTW, I got ahold of some of that software that a lot of people on this forum seem to be using to render 3D mockups of the DVD cases:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/9898/anhmockup3.jpg