Star Wars on Super8 (Released) — Page 3

Well, the next step after scanning it will be running out a lo-rez workprint as the raw scan is around 3TB. Then I need to capture the audio.

Then it will be picking some key frames and colour correcting them to exactly how they look when viewed on the Super8 editor to have as a reference for correcting the scan to the print.

Then it is up to the community, if anyone wants to supply me a 3TB drive and postage both ways then you are welcome to the scan. I have no way of uploading 3TB+ of data. I can also buy a 3TB drive locally and send it, saving anyone one lot of freight.

I don't have time to colour correct and cleanup the film myself in its entirety, plus I want the raw scan to be available asap, as I learned from my past projects that hanging onto it until I am happy with my results means it stays in my personal galaxy far far away for a long long time. I'm too much of a perfectionist with the post production work, better to get it out there.

Then hopefully I can sell my prints and try to get some funding to pick up the ESB and ROTJ prints. I can get a brand-spanking never been projected ESB print for about a grand, just have to rustle up the funds.

Yes, it is a non SE print on Super8. I have seen it with my own eyes and run some of it on an edit desk to take a look. Colour looks great, and the quality is excellent. Can't afford it unless I give up my Star Wars prints though.

poita said:

...there is plenty of gate weave in the film even with the sprockets totally stabilised, that is just how it was.

Oh, okay. I thought it looked worse in the wet gate footage, but I didn't do a side-by-side comparison, so I'm probably just imagining it.

poita said:

I can get a brand-spanking never been projected ESB print for about a grand, just have to rustle up the funds.

Derann didn't do Empire though, did they?

Nope you are not imagining it, that wet gate footage isn't from the Derann print, it is from a Cineavision print that has more sprocket damage. I was just testing the wetgate as the Cineavision print had more scratches so made a better test.

That print also has more 'baked in' weave, so it would require stabilisation in post.

Derann didn't do empire, this is a print from a German Lab, so it has German audio and the German Crawl, but the print looks gorgeous.

The stabilization function available in a certain post-processing tool with a seven-letter-long name is excellent.

With all the resources available at OT (e.g., Darth Mallwalker's reel change frame numbers, none's shot list spreadsheet, etc.) a proper restoration is very possible to do in a reasonable period of time.

I suppose that this is where I come in. :-)

I'd like to get a small team together if anyone's interested.

I'm more than happy to supply you with the files, and scan it/convert it to whatever formats are most useful.

poita said:

I'm more than happy to supply you with the files, and scan it/convert it to whatever formats are most useful.

Excellent! How much would it be to purchase a large-enough hard drive there and have it shipped to Columbia, MD USA? I can send you the money via PayPal.

Well, 3TB HDDs are AUD$145 or so, not sure what postage would come to.

At 4K uncompressed it is about 3TB per reel, I have yet to convert to OpenEXR but it is usually about half that size. If I drop it to 14bpp then it will take up less space.

At 2K, which is really enough for Super8 I can probably get the entire film onto a single 3TB drive at 10bpp.

That price is fine. Are you able to get an estimate on the postage? I can e-mail you my address, if needed.

I'm hoping to get about "80% of what's possible" with this restoration. I'm a perfectionist too, so I need to be careful not to set my goal to 100% if I ever want this to get released.

I know that's an incredibly-loosely-defined goal, but I think keeping it around as a mantra of sorts will go a long way in helping me make some difficult choices for the sake of getting this thing done in a reasonable amount of time.

Aaannnnddddd... here's difficult choice #1: We're going to have to settle on 8bpp rather than 10bpp.

Now, I understand the benefits of working in 10bpp. Trust me, I do. Unfortunately, neither myself nor my color-grading guy are equipped to do anything in 10bpp, so my question is: Can you do something on your end to lessen the impact?

The only way to lessen the impact would be to colour correct it before dropping it back to 8bpp really. Or at least decide on the gamma curve and apply that before dropping to 8bpp.

I don't know any colour grading software that doesn't work in at least 16bit, what software is he using?

The captures are actually in 16bpp not 10bpp, I capture video in 10bpp, but film is usually 14bit or 16bit.

poita said:

Or at least decide on the gamma curve and apply that before dropping to 8bpp.

Yes, let's do that, if you don't mind. Also, can you look into dithering so that we can lessen the visibility of any banding?

poita said:

I don't know any colour grading software that doesn't work in at least 16bit, what software is he using?

It would be You_Too, so it's custom curves files made in The GIMP. It's not a software issue.

I don't think he has any 10-bit-capable displays.

Don't need a 10bit display, that is what a LUT is for.

poita said:

Don't need a 10bit display, that is what a LUT is for.

Good point. He knows much more about color-grading than I do, so I'll ask him if he has any experience working with >8bpp.

... which I should have done in the first place!

Davinci Lite is free and is great for high bit depth work, and is apparently used by pretty ladies.

It is limited to HD resolutions but otherwise is fully functional. I can supply the files at HD res.

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/models

poita said:

Davinci Lite is free and is great for high bit depth work, and is apparently used by pretty ladies. 

Something... wrong... with her ponytail.  Can't figure it out.

CatBus said:

poita said:

Davinci Lite is free and is great for high bit depth work, and is apparently used by pretty ladies. 

Something... wrong... with her ponytail.  Can't figure it out.

It's that weird bend around the neck point.

Molly said:

It's that weird bend around the neck point.

But what is it?  A deformed extra vertebra?  An invisible multidimensional parasite?  It is starting to seriously freak me out.  Can't stop looking.

It is a Bezoar Demon freshly hatched from its egg.

Oh, and this arrived today, pretty beaten up but interesting.

http://we.tl/b6ndWrX8Ea

Nope. Something else.

1983, the way it was supposed to be:

http://we.tl/EK5nnaxZpI