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ADigitalMan

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26-Sep-2004
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14-Jun-2025
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Post
#83289
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/83289/action/topic#83289
Time
Frightening. I am a parent, yet all I could hear was Andrew Dice Clay when that post was last entered.

Anyway, ROTJ is done. I could tweak this thing to death, but I'm letting better editors do that with the OT. I've merely created an alternate SE that we hopefully can live with. I'm trying to figure the best way to get the final result out there. It's been offered as a torrent on that site we all frequent. I don't have a DL burner (yet) so my distribution is limited on the DL version (which, to me, is the preferred version to have).

Rik should be getting a copy in the next few days. Hopefully he'll have some ideas on distribution.

ANH is at a standstill right now. Combustion's demo watermarks all output with a big Red X (as seen in my earlier screencaps. I can't afford to buy the program to correct this handful of shots, as I really don't intend to take things further than that. i.e. I'm not planning to become a video editor anytime soon, so the cost becomes hard to justify. Solutions to this dilemma should be taken to PM.

In the interest of my initial purpose in this thread, I hope to make downloads available of the changed portions so others can follow the roadmap to implementing these changes as well. It may inspire others to create other corrections that can be implemented with the right toolset.
Post
#82981
Topic
MagnoliaFan Edits: Ep I "Balance Of The Force", and Ep II "The Clone War" (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82981/action/topic#82981
Time
If only we could get access to the soundtrack sans-dialogue, then one could create a bona-fide spoken Alien language. Or, heck, better English dialogue based on the subtitles just so we didn't have to read so much of Ep I. Whereas I don't think all the friggin aliens need to speak English, it would have been acceptable if the accents and dialogue weren't total crap. That's why MF's edits work so much better than the originals. It's not just the removal of poop and fart jokes and yippees and stupid crap like that. It's better story telling and accents that aren't as offending as the crap Lucas gave us.

That said, the nips and tucks did wonders for both movies, my very young apprentice.
Post
#82982
Topic
Has anyone noticed... the war brewing between MF.com and TFN?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82982/action/topic#82982
Time
I'm trying to stay spoiler free as I did with Ep II. I enjoyed Ep II more than Ep I on opening day not just because the movie was better, but because I really didn't know what was coming. I know too much already about Ep III just because of spoilers that don't come with a proper spoiler alert. Some people expect that once a spoiler is an old spoiler, it's okay to talk about it freely. Like the hows and whereforetos of fates of certain characters.

Right now, I'm trying to make the five movies we already have a more enjoyable experience to lead up to Ep III. In spite of Lucas.
Post
#82851
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82851/action/topic#82851
Time
Originally posted by: grisan

I posted a DVD-quality clip of Shaw-as-ghost a while ago. Why didn't you use that? I could repost it if you want.


I did. And I can't thank you enough. It's been a wonderful source for the project.

By the way, I've just re-converted the PCM track to stereo, remuxed for the upteenth time, and the stuttering problem is gone. At last, I can put this movie to bed. Just as my wife just said from the next room "You do realize they're just movies, correct?"

Now, onto correcting those saber shots in ANH.
Post
#82835
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82835/action/topic#82835
Time
Tellan, I think you're on the right track with the notion of having two versions of the movie: the O-OT based on the LD and a Special Edition that's watchable, based on the DVD. The latter is what my project has turned into. The only LD footage I've used is that of Shaw-as-ghost, and it wasn't problematic as other LD-source video would be, given the nature of the ghost effect.
Post
#82833
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82833/action/topic#82833
Time
Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
Are the two video segments saved at different bit rates? It could be forcing the DVD player to hiccup, kinda like a layer change.


It's happening in the middle of an original video segment that hasn't been altered. The first cut doesn't come for another couple of chapters, and even then, it's still using the same video source. Totally bizarre. I rebuilt my project in DVD-Lab and am remuxing yet again. Perhaps the problem was there, I don't know. If this doesn't work, I'm going to kill the PCM track and try yet again. I think it was fine before this. If it muxes fine without the PCM track, I'll convert the PCM back to AC3 (damn the quality) and try yet again.

Interestingly, the part where I've used a separate video source (restoring Shaw) plays fine.
Post
#82825
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82825/action/topic#82825
Time
Ugh, the problem is definitely not just my computer. For some reason the Bib Fortuna/Droid scene now glitches like crazy. I compressed the video down to a single DVD-R and did a test burn. It freezes on my standalone, just as the full-resolution version does in PowerDVD. Yet, the un-remuxed version plays fine. Could something be happening in the remuxing process that's causing the video to stutter? What would cause such a thing?
Post
#82762
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82762/action/topic#82762
Time
Grisan, I got your clip inserted and it worked great. I had to shift the edit points around a little bit, because the soundtrack didn't quite line up in the same spots. However, I've done it, and it sounds great. If anybody can hear the edit points in or out, I'll be impressed.

I've re-muxed everything and developed a strange error. If I preview in PowerDVD on my drive, the scene with R2 and 3PO talking with Bib Fortuna stutters (like it is freezing on keyframes or something like that). However, if I view the VOB file in Windows Media, the scene plays fine. A curious anomaly. I think I'll take my chances on a burn. I get the feeling the data is just fine, and will read just fine if unfragmented on a silver platter.

I changed the 2.0 track to PCM. Because I had to convert to PCM due to my crossfading technique, I didn't want to lose any more data by recompressing. It fits on the DL disc, so I just left it PCM. I even normalized the track, so it should be a bit louder than the 5.1 mix.

One movie down, one to go!
Post
#82708
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82708/action/topic#82708
Time
Thanks. I've previewed in Windows Media. I'll convert to NTSC, demultiplex and see if the volume levels match at an optimum point. If this works, then I won't have to try to crossfade the two 5.1 tracks. Otherwise, I at least have a great 5.1 source to work with now, which makes a tremendous difference. Again, thank you for helping out. This is awesome!

Just out of curiosity, do they include the English 5.1 mix on your disc? And how is the music mix on ANH?
Post
#82661
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82661/action/topic#82661
Time
Back in town after a much needed vacation. I may be on here less in the coming weeks, but I'll not be absent for sure. I'm going to try to pick up where I left off on ROTJ this week, with what has now become my "reduced SE" project. Not de-SEing the whole DVD, but trying to fix the major things that stuck in my craw. Two are down. One is half way done. To recap what I've done, and what I'm trying to accomplish:

1) I've managed to get Shaw reinserted based on the previous post from the PAL LD (Grisan's post, I believe?). Using only the three Shaw shots edited in-between the surrounding DVD footage, I've gotten a seamless scene recreated in NTSC. Had to convert the PAL to NTSC first, and then using Womble's MPEG Video Wizard, I made all of the cuts in the video and reassembled.

2) A few people have seen my pet project in the SE, which was to re-order and re-edit the "Jedi Rocks" shots over top of Lapti Nek. Since the original film version of Lapti Nek is only available in the film, this was a radically different approach than restoring the SE. The result was getting rid of most of Joh Yowza, not to mention that stupid, stupid, stupid song. It works pretty well if not perfectly, and it quite enjoyable. Interesting trivia: This new sequence takes up exactly the same number of frames as the original DVD. I simply replaced the soundtrack, re-edited the video to match, dropped in some Jabba dialogue to match his taunts to Oola, and it's done.

3) I've gotten the "Wesa Free" line out of the ending of the stereo track by crossfading with the French 2.0 track during the final scenes of the movie (after the dialogue is complete). I have not gotten the 5.1 remixed though, as I'm having a bear of a time editing 5.1 audio. If anybody has a 5.1 track in a non-english language (German for instance) PM me. It may help. I'm unsure if they made a 5.1 mix in any language other than English, but I'm hoping.

As for ANH, so far I've:
1) Deleted the shot where blaster fire is exchanged. Greedo does not shoot.

2) Restored the title card recession using the Spanish angle, and did a video fade into the crawl to help mask the difference in start times. Until I learn how to do masks, this will suffice. It's not exactly as it should be, but it's still better than what we were given officially.

3) Whenever I get a hold of Combustion, I'll start to recolorize Lukes infamous green saber that I can't stop railing on. The demo for Combustion was promising, but the big red X won't fly in actual output.

4) I even came up with an alternate set of subtitles for Jabba. His dialogue is much less redundant to Greedo's now. Knowing this puts me in the minority, I always liked the scene, but now I think it plays much better. Both the original subtitles and my re-edit will be muxed on to my final disc.
Post
#82416
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82416/action/topic#82416
Time
I'm up for editing the wav files if that's what it takes even if I load six mono WAV files, I should be able to line them up to the correct frame. I am using the GUI and it may be just my settings. I'm at a bit of a loss, whatever the case.

I'm actually unsure which channel(s) "Wesa Free" is in. I imagine its in the front channels, if not all six. But that is a guess based on very little real info. I've not had a free moment to pop this into my home theatre where the 5.1 is set up to verify.

I'm actually racing the clock on a non-SW project for the holidays, and that's taken up all my energy for the past couple of days. I'm surprised I've made it on here as much as I have, but it's a fair use of my down-time-due-to-compiling.
Post
#82404
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82404/action/topic#82404
Time
MBJ, I did get the Combustion help file (thanks if I didn't say it earlier). It too was giving me errors, but I was, at least, able to view the help pages one-by-one, though the index was broken. Bizarre. Totally bizarre. But in the installation with the trial version, every single one of those help files was blank. I assume the files didn't compile properly in that version of their installer, but it could be my system.

Zion, the biggest problem I've had with the splicing in Womble is the mismatch in volume between the French/Spanish tracks and the English 5.1 track. Going from 5.1 to 2.0 isn't desired either, hence why this is becoming more complicated. I did this nicely in the stereo track by just replacing the entire ending at the point of the funeral pyre onward with the french language track. Since there is no dialogue, there was no need to return to the English and make yet one more edit. It worked great for the English 2.0 track, once I was able to crossfade the two stereo tracks (again, the volume is not at the same level on the two files.

Now I need (a) to find or (b) to generate a 5.1 track (sans Gungan dialect) for splicing into the original English 5.1, and then (c) figure out how to crossfade it if I can't get the volume to match at the splice point.

Once again, BeSweet is ticking me off, as it won't actually output any WAVs for me (this program never outputs a doggone thing for me). I did try what you suggested ... break the AC3 out into six waves and edit in a multi-track editor like Sonar, which I use in my studio. From there I'd need to figure out how to recombine and recompress into AC3.

Vegas and Combustion are now on the back burner for licensing reasons. I'm an old pro at SoundForge XP so I know I'll like Vegas if I get into it seriously.
Post
#82399
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82399/action/topic#82399
Time
I'm always having trouble with BeSweet, but I'll try again. BeSweet and DVDShrink, two of the most popular tools, are perpetual thorns in my side for some reason. I use Pinnacle for recompressing DVD video. It's slow but the results are usually gorgeous. As for audio, I've done lots of multitrack audio editing in my day (being that I've produced and recorded three CDs now) but I've never mixed to AC3 so it remains an untouched arena for me. I use Sonar for multitracking, but I haven't whipped it out for this project yet. I may need it to mix the 5.1 with crossfades if I can't find a simpler way to accomplish it.

The Womble software has been good at splicing and regenerating AC3 files without the need to recompress. But with ROTJ it's been inescapable, because I used two tracks for Lapti Nek anyway, and now two tracks for the "Wesa Free" -free ending. Womble seems to stitch together AC3s so long as (a) the file type is a match and (b) only one audio track is used. Otherwise, it forces you to choose MPA or LPCM (which they erroneously label WAV) audio. I usually choose the LPCM, then convert to standard WAV in DVDLab. I'll then normalize the WAV file before recompressing to AC3 so the volume doesn't get totally blown out in the recompression stage.

All this because of some stinking Gungan dialect. *shakes head*
Post
#82385
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82385/action/topic#82385
Time
Anybody have an official DVD with a 5.1 mix of a non-English track? I'm trying to locate a 5.1 mix of the ending of ROTJ without the annoying "Wesa Free" over the Naboo celebration. The French and Spanish R1 discs are without this line, but they're only stereo mixes. I'm looking specifically for a foreign language 5.1 without this.

Assuming somebody out there has it, PM me. I don't need the entire disc ... not even the entire track. From chapters 47 onward will suffice.
Post
#82339
Topic
The Curse of the Blue Lightsaber
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82339/action/topic#82339
Time
I just read my post after a couple of weeks, and realize it read like it was from the Dept. of Redundancy Department.

What I meant in my final sentence was that Anakin & Obi-Wan both managed to lose blue sabers, again underscoring CC's point that blue blades just don't cut it (pardon the pun). Add to this that their loaners were one blue and one green, as CC points out. The blue one didn't get the job done. Yoda's green one eventually did.

Man, this thread is a testament to the level of detail some of us study in the movies. I doubt this was purposeful in Lucas' mind because he has such a lack of attention to story detail, but it's the kind of observation that could one day make nice fan fiction.
Post
#82196
Topic
Thought on de-SE'ing the DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82196/action/topic#82196
Time
Interesting info. I guess with regards to this thread, the color timing of output video would need to match that of the DVD itself, given that the idea is to take footage from other sources and splice it in place of the SE content so that the video and audio match as closely as possible.

I'm interested in more on the color timing and whether the green saber in ANH merits being called a mistake as I and others believe. Conceptually it is a mistake, as we know the saber is supposed to be blue story-wise. But in the vein of your points about color timing and shifts during digitization, was this saber re-rotoscoped, or did the shift happen in the simple transfer process of film-to-digital? And if so, why would this be allowed by LFL? To me it looks like a glaring error that inexplicably escaped quality control.
Post
#82194
Topic
Lucasfilm acknowledging fan hate
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82194/action/topic#82194
Time
Welcome to the boards, zbgump. You'll fit in nicely here. Hayden Christensen and Dancing Gungans are now the last images of the entire Star Wars saga. I agree, it was a big middle finger to fans of the OT and detractors to the prequels. And I'm somebody who largely liked the Special Editions before now. Fortunately we have MagnoliaFan among us here, saving us from the wretched mess of Ben Burtt's editing.