Hello. I have finished this project back in January, thanks to the new 97 SE Recreation by @SonnyGFunk. You can find all the information here: https://forums.thestarwarstrilogy.com/threads/star-wars-rotj-otd83-97-edit.3525
Cheers¡¡
I´ve been trying to enhance some of the remaining deleted scenes for the Extended Cut and as you know, the main upscaling tool has been the famous Topaz Video AI, with overall good results. But in the lowest quality scenes, I couldn´t get rid of some artifacts like weird teeth and hair. And Topaz produces some really creepy artifacts like creating eyes or faces where there´s no. I´ve tried all the models and ended up using mainly combination of Iris and Proteus. In one scene Topaz wasn´t being able to improve the quality at all, maybe because the source is too bad so I went to google and tried some online tools to test and found HitPaw Video AI. Here is a comparison between the source version, Topaz upscaled and color corrected and the one with additional HitPaw enhancement.
https://imgsli.com/MzUwMDA2/0/1
There must be said that I did blend HitPaw output with the Topaz one to decrease the waxy look of Hitpaw version and also used masks in some scenes to just use the HitPaw outputs at concrete parts of the image, but I´d like to hear your opinion abut this as I´m concerned HitPaw is just doing some kind of “Deepfake” to the video and so that´s the reason the “upgrade” is only visible in the head, besides some denoising in the rest of the image. This is another comparison between Topaz and Topaz + HitPaw outputs (notice how HitPaw “fixed” the teeth).
https://imgsli.com/MzQ4MDgy (v1 is Topaz)
So I´d like to know your opinions about this workflow and if there is another alternative or maybe some Topaz model/settings that can do something similar.
Cheers
Fantastic! May I have a link to your labours, please (or do I need to PM?)…
PM for any questions regarding the edit plz.
Hii
As some of you may now I´m working on a Star Trek Nemesis Fan Edit. I´ve already finished the Standard Version (https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/comments/1fu1nv6/star_trek_nemesis_edit_big_update_star_trek/) and I´m currently working on the Extended one. I found an issue common to some of the deleted scenes which I´m upgrading. There are continuous lightning changes during these scenes. I´m attaching some examples:
https://imgsli.com/MzI2NDYz
This is one of that scenes. It´s like the lightning is changing every frame creating that sense of flickering.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/194CrPatEe3ZaEu9XaTsaJNSPRqJSdr4N/view?usp=sharing
That same fluctuation can be seen all around in this other scene:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KhBbom5RbRyTMUcU95Byc_BQsp6hRAEv/view?usp=sharing
I´m not sure which problem is causing that or how to get rid of it. Any help would be absolutely appreciated. Cheers 😃
Hii. Are you still working on this? I did try this myself in the past and improved most of the deleted scenes.
So it´s been finally completed 😃
Here is a small Trailer by one friend who did music and CGI for the edit:
https://youtu.be/Fg4iBLp8apc?si=oCDVUmgprtL7lrMD
This sounds great.
Regarding the upscale of the deleted scenes:
Considering the fact that we have hi-def footage of our actors, wearing the same costumes, in the same movie, one might also consider more advanced machine-learning techniques instead of “just” an upscale using a “standard” neural net. By clever combining, overlaying and inputting data, quality might jump quite a bit.Also: You might want to contact a person named Owen Davies, going by “ODVS” in the internet. He made great strides in upscaling shitty footage in recent years and is involved in many great projects, including the WingCommander4-FanRemaster and the StarTrek:-Borg FanRemaster. That is his YouTube-Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClu1Uwv6SseVHbXIC-b5YFw
Hi¡ Thanks, I will contact him. He is using Topaz Video AI, the same software I´ve been using for this upscaling of the deleted scenes. But this scenes have been color corrected, deinterlaced, AR has been fixed… so upscaling is just one of the steps, albeit the most important to “improve” this scenes quality. DeepFake software wouldn´t work in this scenes because everything is looking blurry, not just character´s faces and costumes. If you “insert” HD characters inside the bad source material, it will look absolutely uneven. I´m not sure what can be done to improve this scenes beyond what I´ve already done given the quality of the source. Btw, there are even some seconds of actual HD footage of some of this scenes from the HD Teaser Trailer.
New Update!! https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/s/I3XyX02VN2
I looked at the Reddit shots. Amazing work! I can’t wait for this to be done.
Thanks you¡¡ There will be a Standard and a Extended Cut. Standard Version at the moment will include 4 of the deleted scenes, while the Extended Cut would include 6-7. The progress is going really good. .I can say now that the Standard Version is almost completed and it’s looking awesome. The deleted scenes restoration is now even better than in the screenshots/comparisons I’ve been sharing and the new music is great.
I would love to see this when it is finished! Thank you for all the time and effort you are putting into it.
Hello. Thanks you for your interest. I´ll give a big update on Reddit. There has been a lot of progress recently. This was the last one: https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/comments/18shpo2/star_trek_nemesis_edit_as_never_seen_before_year/
I would love to see this when it is finished! Thank you for all the time and effort you are putting into it.
Hello. Thanks you for your interest. I´ll give a big update on Reddit. This was the last one: https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/comments/18shpo2/star_trek_nemesis_edit_as_never_seen_before_year/
I´ve been trying to fix one deleted scene from a movie and I didn´t find a way to get rid of this grey/blue halo/glow around characters. It follows character movements as well like a ghosting artifact. I tried a lot of DeHalo filters but didn´t work. I attach two screenshots with the issue marked.
Cheers¡¡
It’s unclear from your post, but I would make sure you’re sourcing the movie from the most recent release of it. It is a much better video presentation of the movie versus the 2009 blu ray.
I didn’t specify on that because the main source video for the edit can be easily replaced in the timeline, if it has the same length which should be the case. If not it wouldn’t be very difficult to find the difference and fix it. Currently I’m using the 2009 Blu Ray but will replace it with the new one before finishing the project.
I don’t know that I’m able to help with the editing on this project, but I’m very interested in your work here, especially what you’re doing with those deleted scenes!
My biggest concern is the haloing in Chateau Picard scene, which is affecting the green screen replacement and the overall quality. You can see it in this screenshot around Data´s head for example. It can be fixed with Photoshop but is a hard work frame by frame and I´m not an expert using that software.
Hello everyone¡
I´ve been working on a fan edit of Star Trek: Nemesis from many years and I think now It´s time to share this project with you. There is a finished version but I´m trying to improve it to get the definitive version of this edit. It is well known that the deleted scenes were cut mostly to give the film a more commericial appeal and more action, but they could have made a much better movie in my opinion. My edit cuts most of the redundant and weakest scenes while trying to recover the missing scenes, at least the best ones that could fit properly in the movie.
Other people have tried to make a fan edit of the last of TNG movies, but the biggest problem is the really low quality of the avaliable footage of the deleted scenes. They suffer from very low resolution, interlacing, bad edges, haloing and wrong aspect ratio. Some scenes have superposed credits and others feature green screens that were purposed to be replaced with VFX in post-production. The new 4k official disks include the same bad quality versions from previous releases, still I would appreciate if someone can send me data from software like MediaInfo from the deleted scenes files included in the new disk.
This is a list of all available deleted scenes:
By order in the movie:
1- Wesley scene during the wedding. 0:54
2- Chateau Picard 4:03
3- Ten Forward scene with B-4. 1:45
4- Shinzon plans 3:24
5- Federation Protocols 1:00
6- Half a minute of conversation during the Shinzon presentation scene in the Scimitar
7- Troi and Picard after meeting Shinzon 1:06
8- Crusher and Picard discussing young Picard extended dialogue at the end of the scene. 0:31
9- Turbolift violation 1:15
10- Sickbay preparing for battle. 0:56
11- Geordi and Worf in Data´s quarters. 1:43
12- Crusher joins Starfleet Medical. 0:36
13- New first officer / Alternate Ending 3:14
This project consist on the following steps:
So anyone who can/want to help with this project is welcome to participate. Feel free to give your feedback, proposals, ideas and if you want to actively participate in the project, contact me in private message.
Cheers
SomethingStarWarsRelated said:
I mean, there shouldn’t be grain in the first place, right? Those were shot digitally. Or am I not understanding?
Not native grain, but it could have filmic grain on purpose. As I don’t remember how AOTC looked in cinemas back in 2002, I can’t be sure if it was already without almost any noise. What I’m sure is that it wasn’t as waxy as on the Blu Ray/ UHD versions. But as we are doing this for use in fan edits , I think what will be best for all of you is to have this scenes as much as similar to the Blu ray / UHD releases. So I will take an agressive approach with DNR. If someone is doing an edit which includes a theatrical source (4K02) or some noise restoration tell me via private message and I will share versions with a less agressive approach.
They look great!
Are you going to release any more Prequal images soon?
Hi! Yeah, I intend to release a complete collection of all deleted scenes from the prequels in time. But I’m starting with AOTC as they were the most requested. I’m near releasing finished versions of that scenes using the best tools I have.
SomethingStarWarsRelated said:
I mean, there shouldn’t be grain in the first place, right? Those were shot digitally. Or am I not understanding?
Not native grain, but it could have filmic grain on purpose. As I don’t remember how AOTC looked in cinemas back in 2002, I can’t be sure if it was already without almost any noise. What I’m sure is that it wasn’t as waxy as on the Blu Ray/ UHD versions. But as we are doing this for use in fan edits , I think what will be best for all of you is to have this scenes as much as similar to the Blu ray / UHD releases. So I will take an agressive approach with DNR.
One question. Do you tink I should be true to the BR/4K editions which use extensive DNR (grain is almost gone) using a more agressive approach or make them less waxy? I saw TPM in cinemas back in 1999 and it was much more filmic than the BR and subsequent releases. It had grain as 4K99 project is showing. But I´m not so sure about AOTC or ROTS. If they already had that waxy appearance in cinemas.
that sounds good.
all scenes from dvd and bluray? unfinished too?
Scenes which are unfinished like Obi Wan being told Dooku’s story in the library will be made only at request. I will be doing scene by scene using mainly DVD as source (BR source is really broken). I’m starting with the dart’s analysis scene.
I have found out that the Blu Ray deleted scenes are missing some and feature more damaged footage than the DVD source, even when they’re presented in its original 23.976 frame rate. They’re also upscaled to 1080p so Topaz margin to work on them is decreased. For that reasons DVD source will continue to be the main source for this project.
SomethingStarWarsRelated said:
Looking forward to it!
I’ve noticed with upscaling, the first frame of every new shot looks odd. As far as i know, the only way to fix this is to then upscale a rendered out scene in reverse, then replace those odd looking frames.
I believe Adywan did this with his upscaled ESB:R.
Do you plan on doing this as well?
That´s not happening to me. If the source is previously cleaned-up and any combing, ghosting or frame-blending issues are fixed, Topaz shouldn’t have any problem. I´m using 2.6.3 version.
that sounds good.
all scenes from dvd and bluray? unfinished too?
Only the finished scenes for the moment. All avaliable scenes from DVD and BR.
Hi! I’m back on work with this project. I have learned a lot about different ways to improve quality and I will give them a try with the prequels deleted scenes.
This previous attempt was good but the picture looked too much empty and waxy. Even more than the actual Blu Ray or 4k version of the movie which already uses a lot of DNR.
I will try to improve the quality while keeping the image more true to the rest of the film and minimizing the artifacts.
Cheers
Antonio
Can you say what it is you don’t like about 1.3’s colors in particular?
And definitely food for thought on the pro calibration thing, but I don’t have an uncalibrated TV with those eye-blinding default settings or anything. Just mentioned my color temperature setting since I have an older TV with only three settings for that. And while for sure the more versed people in the scene like yourself who do editing will need that more so, I think many fans such as myself will just compare the screens of a few versions or pop on a couple and find what they like, when comparing. Even though almost everybody in this hobby’s monitor and TV settings will be different, there is still a noticeable enough difference between the versions that people can still kind of have a discussion and know what eachother mean anyway.
And I wasn’t asking for recommendations for a version to watch, since I know I prefer 1.3, so my calibration there wouldn’t affect what I’m asking. I was just curious why you good posters here didn’t like it as much as 1.4 and 1.6. If there is anything notable that it does that was fixed in other versions, since many seem to agree are improvements over 1.3. And with all three being so noticeably different from eachother, it makes me even more curious how people compare and rank them in their preferences. Thanks.
1.3 is the best forever. Don´t worry, it´s perfect.