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STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 REVISITED ADYWAN *1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION — Page 138

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Has anyone noted that that gun on the floor with the hand is not the same one Dr Evazon draws? That may need changed too.
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I kinda noticed that too, but I think that it's close enough with the shadowing to pass for it. It's really only the "scope" that looks to be off.

FE<3OT

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Adywan,

I admire your subtlety and attention to detail!

I have a pre-school age son that I've been waiting to show Star Wars to once he reaches the age I was when I first saw it, and I've been torn as to which version to show him. The Special Edition, which all his friends would have seen is too cartoony for me. But the original might be too bland for him. You've put together a Special Edition that is a perfect mix of the two, plus some. I'm in awe, and when my son turns 6, I'm sure he will be too.

Thanks!
-T

Working on: Superman: Son of Jorel

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THAT TIE SHOT

Ok Ady, I took a closer look at the "Big TIE shot" and I can better express what I feel could be improved.

You are right, the TIE model looks fine and the lighting works. The tonal balance is good too and it looks like you match the grain pretty well.

The main issue is the animation itself; to start, the TIEs are moving very slowly; the energy and pace we've seen in the rest of the battle has not been matched. I would go as far as to say the action should be sped up by 200%.

Another thing is the camera motion is VERY CG looking - it starts off COMPLETELY locked off - watch the stars, they are absolutely rock-solid still until the pan begins. This makes the shot very dead for the first half, and to help sell how fast the TIES are moving, having a little camera motion at the start would help liven things up. Even just giving the camera a little bank (starting at maybe 10 degrees and ending at -10) is a very easy way to keep the frame moving. That alone will make a huge difference.

The TIES should also have a sense of formation; it's not important to make it strict, but just a grouping of two or three here and there will make it look more organized.

I have one tech note for the render, but it will go a long way towards matching the original FX footgae - BLUR LENGTH. The TIES are are bluring WAY too much, and I'm guessing Lightwave's blur is set at the default of 100%. Cut it in half, at least. Step-frame through some of the original battle footage, especially shots of X-wings moving fast - the edges of the ship blur much less than your TIEs are. But again, that can be fixed simply by re-rendering the elemets with a 50% (or maybe even 35%) blur.

And as has already been said, the Death Star background looks like mush.

Please understand, I am not being hard on you - I am treating this project with the same care and high standard that I have kept with any other project I've work on. I've designed space battles for Babylon 5, Voyager and now Galactica and I am asking you to have faith that the things I have mentioned WILL have a positive effect on the shot!

If you want to send me the scene file and even a low-res version of the TIE model, I'll be happy to whip up a couple of animatics for you.
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Mojo - surely you are beating a dead whippet here? Ady has said he's really happy with the shot; everyone else thinks it is excellent, so why keep on at it? I dont wish that to come across as sounding rude btw - more curious
From the way you say you want to give it the same care as every other project youve worked on, it comes across that this is your project also - which it isnt.

All I can suggest is that you do the shot yourself and show us what you mean. But dont forget to include a flipper in it somewhere to keep up with the times
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Okay, so a couple of small things and maybe it's just me:

Is anyone else a little (and I do mean A LITTLE) thrown off by the sudden lack of chatter when the TIEs appear? Rebels are all chatty attacking the Death Star, TIEs appear, they go on radio silence for 45 seconds, and then they're all chatty again. It's not a big deal, but it just made me go "huh..." for a moment. Obviously there's only so much footage/sound available that can be used, and it all looks amazing! It's just a little something I did notice.

Also, when Luke tells Biggs he "picked one up" you can tell that he says "Biggs, you picked on up" but "Biggs" is cut off. Is there an available "Biggs" soundbyte that can be dropped in? I know the video isn't complete, but if Luke says "Biggs" just before it cuts to him in the cockpit to finish the sentence, it seems more complete.

Again, not a big deal and not something that's going to be distracting if they are left as is. It is still truly a masterwork.
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Originally posted by: Mojo_LA
Another thing is the camera motion is VERY CG looking - it starts off COMPLETELY locked off - watch the stars, they are absolutely rock-solid still until the pan begins. This makes the shot very dead for the first half, and to help sell how fast the TIES are moving, having a little camera motion at the start would help liven things up. Even just giving the camera a little bank (starting at maybe 10 degrees and ending at -10) is a very easy way to keep the frame moving. That alone will make a huge difference.
Yeah, I had a similar feeling. Personally I wouldn't have let the ties come towards the camera because then you reveal their numbers. If yu cut directly to the shot of the ties flying towards the x-wings you get more of a "wow, lots of ties attacking" feeling. But I'm no editor.
What I do mind (a bit) is the use of recognizable ESB music... Did more DSbattle-like music such as The Pit of Carkoon, Sail Barge Assault from the SE ROTJ CD not fit?
It's fine the way it is now, but one better mentions these minor things before the DVD's out, right?
I have one tech note for the render, but it will go a long way towards matching the original FX footgae - BLUR LENGTH. The TIES are are bluring WAY too much, and I'm guessing Lightwave's blur is set at the default of 100%. Cut it in half, at least. Step-frame through some of the original battle footage, especially shots of X-wings moving fast - the edges of the ship blur much less than your TIEs are. But again, that can be fixed simply by re-rendering the elemets with a 50% (or maybe even 35%) blur.

I don't know if rerendering the ties is an option... wasn't this the shot that took a month to render?
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Wow, I finally managed to see the fruits of Adywan's labor of love. As much as I hate saying the "wow" thing, its use here is well placed, for Adywan's work deserves praise. After several months of work, HDD failure and all the stress & sore eyes... you deserve it, man.

Why?

Because you've pulled the trick LFL/ILM tried to 10 years ago. Their attempt left us with mixed feelings (at best). Your attempt revived in us the excitement that Star Wars was always stirring in us, in the old days ("before the dark times"). Even thought my contribution to your project was nothing but mental (spiritual?) support (therefore I feel I'm not worthy to be mentioned in the credits - but thanks anyway it feels cool to be mentioned in Star Wars movie ), I was rooting it all the time (despite the fact that I don't frequent forums as often as I used to be). I saw that not only you really love SW (as most of us do), but you really have that subtle sense of knowing what to do - what is better left unchanged and what needs to be fixed - and in both cases you can explain why. This is the difference between you and those new LFL guys - they were simply changing things "because we can".

After watching your edit it became even more striking to me how their edits were often out of place (like e.g.: how Vader's arrival at SSD is copy&pasted in TESB finale). I mean your final product is more seamless than theirs - and we have to take into account the fact that they had the technology available (yes, that was 10 years ago, but digital compositing and 3D meshes could be successfully used back then, thank you), extensive archives and huge resources as well (editing facilities and $$$), while for you it was "just" a non-profit hobby project.

What does it mean, did they simply made a rush job? Were there no people who actually love the movie and know what's best for it? Did they simply lose the subtlety after all that "faster, more intense" years?

Isn't it sad that we can only get well thought and thoroughly developed products from fans, who can't be paid for their work and have limited resources, while the companies who have the license and resources at hand can only provide us with "rushed", unfinished or otherwise unsatisfactory products? I was drawing such conclusions after I started playing with the idea for a new SW game, which I cannot realize primarily because of the license problem.

Maybe the should've start hiring fans?

I'm not very much into the fan-edits thing (so far I've only seen yours and Jambe Davdar's fan-doc -which for me doesn't count as edit but as documentary movie). It's often like repeating Lucas' error - if the movie can be "customized" and people start "add this, add that" we end up with 483 versions of SW Everybody has his/her own taste and so do I. So of course: there were moments in your edit where I agreed completely with your choices, or where I was pleasantly surprised by things I wouldn't have thought about before, on the other hand there were also things I didn't like very much or where I preferred the "old school look" of the unaltered original. But when viewed as a whole thing, your edit passes the test. I would even say that from now on if I'm going to watch any special edition of Star Wars (how many we have now, the '97, '04 ...? they altered it with each DVD release...) I will choose yours.

To sum up what I said - once again, thank You for spending so much time to bring us so much joy.
I saw the original theatrical release of the Old Trilogy on the big screen and I'm proud of it...
How did I accomplish that (considering my age) is my secret...
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hi ady, just got the edit off rapdishare. quick skim last night at 2am. and love what I'm seeing. detailed analysis to come via email as usual.

cheers

Tellan
When a woman says yes, she means no - when she says maybe, she means no.

http://www.auky37.dsl.pipex.com/falconlogo_web.jpg
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Originally posted by:Mojo_LA

THAT TIE SHOT

Ok Ady, I took a closer look at the "Big TIE shot" and I can better express what I feel could be improved.

You are right, the TIE model looks fine and the lighting works. The tonal balance is good too and it looks like you match the grain pretty well.

The main issue is the animation itself; to start, the TIEs are moving very slowly; the energy and pace we've seen in the rest of the battle has not been matched. I would go as far as to say the action should be sped up by 200%.

Another thing is the camera motion is VERY CG looking - it starts off COMPLETELY locked off - watch the stars, they are absolutely rock-solid still until the pan begins. This makes the shot very dead for the first half, and to help sell how fast the TIES are moving, having a little camera motion at the start would help liven things up. Even just giving the camera a little bank (starting at maybe 10 degrees and ending at -10) is a very easy way to keep the frame moving. That alone will make a huge difference.

The TIES should also have a sense of formation; it's not important to make it strict, but just a grouping of two or three here and there will make it look more organized.

I have one tech note for the render, but it will go a long way towards matching the original FX footgae - BLUR LENGTH. The TIES are are bluring WAY too much, and I'm guessing Lightwave's blur is set at the default of 100%. Cut it in half, at least. Step-frame through some of the original battle footage, especially shots of X-wings moving fast - the edges of the ship blur much less than your TIEs are. But again, that can be fixed simply by re-rendering the elemets with a 50% (or maybe even 35%) blur.

And as has already been said, the Death Star background looks like mush.

Please understand, I am not being hard on you - I am treating this project with the same care and high standard that I have kept with any other project I've work on. I've designed space battles for Babylon 5, Voyager and now Galactica and I am asking you to have faith that the things I have mentioned WILL have a positive effect on the shot!

If you want to send me the scene file and even a low-res version of the TIE model, I'll be happy to whip up a couple of animatics for you.




I highly doubt Ady changes that scene. Too many people are happy with it. Reguarding the motion blurr, we don't know what the CG artist had it set at. For 24 frames a sec, the shutter should be set at 180 degrees with a 1/48 of a second shutter delay. My only complaint is that the Ties are moving a bit too slow. I may just wip up a small shot myself. I have a really good Tie mesh I can experient with in my Maya.

Venerable member of the “Red Eye” Knights

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Ok, I know that you are all making honest criticism, but come on, a perfect movie that would suit everyone is not possible. We all have different taste, and although we are slightly grouped here because we all like Star Wars, it doesn't mean that we like the same flavor of it. This 'final tweaking' could go on forever. I am sure that Adywan will tweak whatever needs to be tweaked, after all, I completely trust that a fan such as Ady, who spent so much time on this edit, knows and loves SW as much as possible, will do it right.

I don't know, maybe a solution would be to get a DVD packed with alternate scenes and paste it together for each individual taste.
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Hi Mojo_LA!

I'm going to field this first as I'm the CG guy who did the animating and rendering. I appreciate your feedback! You have good points of course; I'll just point out a few things that will probably just sound like excuses in the end, but it's what it is.

1) This shot is not only my first effects animation, but is basically the first effects shot I have ever done, still or otherwise (the DS graphics are more just "graphics" than effects in my mind). After I did the graphics we testingly slid into feeling out accomplishing this shot. I was giving it my best go doing what the said he wanted, feeding him little tests, seeing what he thought...leading to what you see in this edit (a remotely final composite of which I still have not even seen myself yet!).

2) The camera motion looking "CG": Again, this is my first effects animation, and I am not a student of anyone who does this, have not read up on the art of carrying this out. I felt I was already juggling so much just to get what you see completed. Had I the experience to show/offer Ady such an improvement, he probably would have liked it, but... To my slight credit, for the pan I did avoid just perfectly tracking the center TIE (the kind of thing I actually see movies a lot and it bugs me); the camera turning is done independently, you see the TIEs fall out of frame for a little bit... I'm kinda proud of that, even if it isn't much.

3) I had no composite materials of the shot on my end beyond my renders, did not have his edit of the battle into which I could see what was coming before and after this shot, that was all on Ady's side -- and Ady didn't have a finished, fully blurred render until about five days ago, when he wanted the project released. While I could have requested he send me the layers and such, he was undstandably *busy*, and I didn't want to come across as trying to overstep my bounds. He knew what he wanted, and truth be told it all was fine to me for the most part from what I was seeing, what he was explaining. The guy is good! Had I had the composite layers and more of the edit in my hands, maybe my "CG animator" eyes would have noticed these things you mentioned, like a better/more accurate blur length and the camera being too rock-solid -- or maybe my inexperience would have failed me, which I will honestly say is a possibilty. In fact, I picked the final mo-blur setting here, not Ady -- but it was a virtual shot in the dark for me as I was only going by playbacks in VirtualDub of the raw, uncomposited renders alone. Again, we were kind of hands-tied in a lot of ways putting this together. He's in the UK, I'm in California, I only have dial-up for e-communicating/sending... although I honestly think even just the CG side of this shot looks a bit better than a reasonable expectation for the how the end result could look given the resources and experience of the people who put it together for the kind of shot it is (or maybe not...?)

4) Deadline -- Rendering this was going to take a long time on my computer as it was a 1.3 millions poly scene (<-plus motion blurring that!); With how much Ady was juggling we simply didn't have the time to do many tests -- and besides, our tests we did complete all looked pretty good to us -- and we reached a point where it seemed like a good "go" and we went for the final render to have a hope of getting this thing done. (There's more to the story, but this is already long.)

5) As far as the DS surface looking like mush, we did try to get the jedilaw's "DS surface greeble pack" working for us, but we just didn't have the resources in the end for that to happen (converting the meshes to LW, lighting them, animating, then rendering those MANY polygons!).

Anyway, I hope that sheds some light on this, hope I didn't come off as too defensive. Honestly, it's cool to hear (for me anyway) feedback. Lastly, obviously it's not really up to me if upgrades to effects are done for this edit.

LightWave = fun times with gfx for me 😃

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Now in a very sick way, Adywan knows how George feels. There's just no way to please everyone.
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Hey WXM, it's great you hear about your contribution to this edit. CG work is hard to perfect, and I think you did a very good job for your first try. You did the best with what you were given, and not knowing what was before and after the shot would have been very difficult for any person in your place. So in that respect, I applaud your effort.

Venerable member of the “Red Eye” Knights

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Ady, are the Death Star interiors somehow more desaturated on the Xvid than they will be on the DVD? I just started noticing this last night on my third viewing (someone else mentioned it pages ago, but I can't find the post). Most of the interior shots appear to be desaturated all the way to grayscale. So it's like a black and white movie in the background with maybe a few faces and panel lights in color. Vader almost always appears in total monochrome, with the exception of his lights.

Now... this could easily be my video card, I could be seeing it wrong. And I didn't notice this at all my first couple of viewings. But once I started seeing it, I had a hard time *not* seeing it in a high percentage of interior shots, and even during the DS battle (which is so awesome I rewound it three times... again!). Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

At least I didn't mention either flippers or TIEs!

Ron Moses

Avoid infestation. Rotate.

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WXM - I've said a huge thank you to Ady already, but I'd like to extend this to you also for the phenomenal work you've done on the edit. Most here are agreed that the TIE reveal isTHE jaw-dropper shot of the film, so to learn it was your 1st attempt at this sort of thing makes it all the more incredible.
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Originally posted by: AuggieBenDoggie
Hey WXM, it's great you hear about your contribution to this edit. ... I applaud your effort.

Originally posted by: Fuser
...but I'd like to extend this to you also for the phenomenal work you've done on the edit.

Thanks, Auggie and Fuser!
Ady and I are both pretty happy with how the TIEs turned out. Some of those frames of the anim, damn if those don't look like real filming miniatures! (<-a lot of credit for that goes to MaxwellRender though, not me )

I finally got to see the shot (Ady saw my post) and I must say that I am very impressed! For this shot to go from purely a point on Ady's wish-list to this level of actualization through his efforts (especially with what we had to work with)... stunning! Even if some people don't agree with how the shot fits into the film (slows the pace, etc.), hopefully everyone will acknowledge and applaud the mental energy and drive and cahones it took to bring such a shot about from just about nothing to this level of immersibility. Not that most everybody isn't doing that already, but I'll add my voice too in that regard (at the risk of seeming a bit biased): Rockin' job, Ady, I say! I like it!

LightWave = fun times with gfx for me 😃

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Originally posted by: ron2112
Ady, are the Death Star interiors somehow more desaturated on the Xvid than they will be on the DVD? I just started noticing this last night on my third viewing (someone else mentioned it pages ago, but I can't find the post). Most of the interior shots appear to be desaturated all the way to grayscale. So it's like a black and white movie in the background with maybe a few faces and panel lights in color. Vader almost always appears in total monochrome, with the exception of his lights.

Now... this could easily be my video card, I could be seeing it wrong. And I didn't notice this at all my first couple of viewings. But once I started seeing it, I had a hard time *not* seeing it in a high percentage of interior shots, and even during the DS battle (which is so awesome I rewound it three times... again!). Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

At least I didn't mention either flippers or TIEs!

Ron Moses

The interiors aren't all the way down to monocrome, there is still a hint of blue, but i always wanted the interiors to be grey .When doing the colour correction i tried bringing the blue down so it would match shot to shot but it created more problems. Some areas were so oversaturated that when i got parts to look the way i wanted there would be blue patches here and there and it also created video noise. Also some shots were almost monocrome when removing the blue tint so i had to set a medium and the only way to get it looking to what i wanted it to was to remove the blue from the walls so no patches existed. So inevitably some of the subtle blue tints were lost ( not that they were even there in the first place in some scenes due to the horrible colouring of the 2004 DVD). I mentioned about this before when i explained about the monocrome cockpits in shots during the Death Star trench run. I like the more monocrome look and thats all that matters to me
Originally posted by: sunday256
Now in a very sick way, Adywan knows how George feels. There's just no way to please everyone.

You got it exactly right there. there seems to be a lot of nit picking going on which totally took the buzz i had for having finished it. the whole flipper debate just became stupid. One thing that really bugged me is that a lot of people slam lucas for using CG for things that could be created using real world items but suddenly there is enthusiasm to use a CG created flipper instead of a real item. i know totally how he feels now. damned if you do, damned if you don't. i need to finish off these dvd's, get them out and forget about star wars for a while (apart from something i'm working on For jambe) otherwise the way i'm feeing at the moment ESB is a dead project. i'm just happy that the majority like what i've done. i knew i'd never be able to please everyone, but come on.. It a bloody edit that was created at home and not a studio job. I'm not a miracle worker and there were bound to be shots that don't look like a true hollywood movie. I only started trying to do Fx work about 14 months ago and i had never even touched After effects until after that. I'm 99% happy with it so i'm not really that bothered is others want to pull it apart. . The constructive criticism i like and its that which has helped me throughout the edit, it s just the plain bashing saying shots look like shit or that have got me to the point i'm at now.

ANH:REVISITED
ESB:REVISITED

DONATIONS TOWARDS MATERIALS FOR THE REVISITED SAGA

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Originally posted by: adywan
I like the more monocrome look and thats all that matters to me


Me too!

Ron Moses

Avoid infestation. Rotate.

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If these three things were fixed the edit would be pretty much perfect to me.

*The obviously human guy posing as a Jawa at the end of the purchase of the droids scene.

*The cord/battery pack up Luke's sleeve when he first ignites the saber and waves it around in Kenobi's house. I know it's quick and most don't notice, but once you do notice you never don't again. You said this was difficult, but it seems like an easy fix compare to the other amazing things that were done!

*A couple of shots during the saber duel you can still see the cord near Kenobi's sleeve. This should be painted out, maybe using elements of Kenobi's robe as it was in others shots.

Thanks so much for the amazing work and this edit has made my year so far!


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Originally posted by: Sevb32
If these three things were fixed the edit would be pretty much perfect to me.

*The obviously human guy posing as a Jawa at the end of the purchase of the droids scene.

*The cord/battery pack up Luke's sleeve when he first ignites the saber and waves it around in Kenobi's house. I know it's quick and most don't notice, but once you do notice you never don't again. You said this was difficult, but it seems like an easy fix compare to the other amazing things that were done!

*A couple of shots during the saber duel you can still see the cord near Kenobi's sleeve. This should be painted out, maybe using elements of Kenobi's robe as it was in others shots.

Thanks so much for the amazing work and this edit has made my year so far!


Well learn yourself After Effects and use some of your freetime to make this already perfect fan-edit your ultimate version...... :-)

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the way i'm feeing at the moment ESB is a dead project.

Nooooooo! Ady, it is YOUR edit, and it is great. Everybody's complaining, but we don't see them producing anything better. Everybody who is too much into not really relevant detail, you are not wathcing the movie, you are deconstructiong it, and not storry-wise. Ady did a damn good job, please stop beeing so anal!!!
Ady, don't give up on ESB and ROTJ, we are with you all the way!



Well learn yourself After Effects and use some of your freetime to make this already perfect fan-edit your ultimate version...... :-)


Exactly. Sevb32, I don't think Adywan will loose any sleep if you don't think his edit is perfect.
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Ady,

I hope you get your determination to do the other movies! Forget about the people who have to nitpick about the little stuff. If they don't like it, they are free to do their own edit.

Your work is amazing and myself and my family thank you very much. As many people have said, this is the Episode IV that I will watch exclusively. I have already watched it three times from beginning to end.
I never thought that I would love A New Hope more than I did, but you actually got me to love it more and for that I am thankful.

I think what you need to do is just do what you want with the flipper/hand and then that is all...Tell everyone "Case closed". If people still give criticism after that, then we will see that they are being jerks because it is over.

Only one more thing...I am so looking forward to seeing your box cover art. I told my wife how you are painting it and she couldn't believe that you are so talented to be able to do all these things.

If I were you, I wouldn't even read this thread anymore. Just start a new thread for Empire to get the creative juices flowing.
JediBorota
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I don't want or expect him to lose any sleep, no movie is perfect. I was just pointing out 3 things. The awesome things are too many to mention! I guess it's ok to complain about the flipper thing, which I had no problem with, yet I get raked over the coals when I mention those three other little things!
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If I were you, I wouldn't even read this thread anymore. Just start a new thread for Empire to get the creative juices flowing.


I couldn't agree more!!!


Sevb32, I'm sure Adywan knows about those 3 things you pointed out. He just decided to let them be as they are. It is his edit, decision. Case closed!