CatBus

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Yes, you can create an MKV from a Blu-ray. If you mount the ISO, you can add the big M2TS file into MakeMKV and it’ll convert it to an MKV. IIRC you lose chapter data, but video and audio should both come through.

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When you’re color-correcting, usually you’re aiming at some sort of reference. So if you agree with the target, you generally agree with the correction aiming at that target.

Not sure what the thinking for each version was exactly, but I believe 1.3 targets previous home video releases. So if you’re trying to rekindle the glory days of Star Wars on home video, that’ll scratch that itch.

I believe from what others have said here that 1.4 targets low-fade prints. Those collector’s prints that have better colors than home video (more so for Jedi, Star Wars and Empire prints faded like crazy). So if you’re targeting what a rare private 35mm showing may have seen decades after the film originally screened, 1.4 is for you.

1.6 uses color theory, math, and a little subjective fine-tuning to approximate what an opening day print may have looked like. Not low-fade, but no-fade, but you have to trust that the math works. If you’re targeting a 1983 theatrical showing, 1.6 is for you. The flat colors were a subjective attempt to re-create what some believed were Jedi’s theatrical appearance, but it’s that part I don’t like much.

I’ve hated the colors of Star Wars on home video since before there were special editions to hate, so that’s why 1.3 leaves me cold. I prefer 1.6, then Despecialized, then 1.4, and 1.3 isn’t even in the running. None are perfect. But color isn’t everything – I usually opt for Despecialized anyway for the extra fine detail, but again, different priorities will yield different preferred versions.

GroovyLord said:

Question about versions and color preferences. What do you think about version 1.3? I see you prefer 1.4 or 1.6 respectively in recent posts, so I sought those out. For whatever reason, to my eye, 1.3 looks better to me than those two. 1.6 looks a bit muted, and 1.4 to me looks a bit “all over the place”. With side by side comparisons, some scenes are incredibly blue tinted, some are really yellow, higher brightness and saturation overall it looks like in 1.4. In 1.6, it looks subdued and like there’s a sepia tone filter on it or something (in my layman’s take on it).

1.3 to me (by looking at the video in MPC-HC on my TV via my computer) looks really pleasing. Skin tones, colors, brightness etc, it all just looks great. I find 1.3 does look a bit “cool” and reminds me of the laserdiscs, which I think I like for this film. Though my TV is set to the medium “normal” color temp. I found a thread where DrDre’s work is compared to Sanjuro’s work, and in those screen comparisons Sanjuro’s look really dark and a bit subdued color wise. But they don’t look that way in my player with my TV settings etc. And all three of these are being compared on the same screen for me. So I’m a little confused, but overall, just curious to hear your thoughts on what makes you not rank 1.3 so much etc. Thanks.

(And naturally, all three would make fine viewing, just trying to articulate my take on comparing. Kudos to all involved)

If your displays aren’t specifically calibrated, they are almost certainly distorting the colors they receive. So 1.3 on one uncalibrated display will look completely different than 1.3 on another uncalibrated display. In other words, if your displays aren’t calibrated, nobody can even begin to say what will look good on them, so we can’t make recommendations. Once you calibrate them, then you can do some fair comparisons. The other trick is, if 1.3 looks good on your current display, but then later you need to get another display, only calibration will make sure it still looks the same on both displays. Ultimately it will save you time and frustration, but it is an upfront cost. A professional calibration makes a big difference. Even settings ripped off from rtings can get you most of the way there, sometimes. The default settings for TVs are usually (but not always) way too bright & way too saturated, sort of a lurid showroom mode designed to attract attention in the Costco aisle, not to look good in a living room.

I think 1.6 represents the original “opening day” color grade best, but I agree DrDre went a little too flat & drab with it for my tastes. 1.4 is more vibrant, but I feel it represents the feel of older “low-fade” filmstock from that era that had already lost a lot of its yellow. 1.3, eh, I really don’t care for it at all. But like I said, throw it through the randomizing effects of an uncalibrated display and maybe it’s better that way.

The 4K projects have caused some confusion in this regard – i.e. if you want one sort of color correction, you go with 1.4, but if you want another sort of color correction, go with 1.6, and so on. All of the 4Kxx “versions” are at least potentially active branches.

Despecialized uses version numbers in the more traditional sense. You pretty much never want the older ones, because the only active branch is the latest one. If you’re just interested in a changelog, you might have to dig through the discussion threads. Otherwise, it’s always “Problems in the previous versions were found and fixed”.

Harmy’s even joked before that his latest revisions are “the films as he originally intended to make them, and he has no interest in making older versions available”, ironically echoing a certain someone.

You can use the Ultimate Introductory Guide in the first post of the discussion threads to get the current ones.

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Regarding color, the latest version of Despecialized is version 2.7, which I believe was released in 2016. Its main goal was to tone down some of the extreme Tech IB greenish yellow, so it might be right up your alley.

https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Harmys-Despecialized-Star-Wars-1977-Color-Adjustment-Project-for-v27-released/id/48257

Current versions are: SW2.7, ESB2.0, ROTJ2.5. ESB and ROTJ are both very solid. SW sadly still has some pretty big issues, but Despecialized is still my go-to version.

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Lots of preservations typically include only a portion of Project Threepio – the SRT files, because they’re considerably smaller. I sent you a PM with a link to the complete current project.

Again thanks to ArdaYcln, we now have Persian/Farsi dubs. These are apparently unauthorized pirate dubs, in the style of the original Turkish dubs, where instead of voicing over the English soundtrack, they replace the English dialogue and filled in the background music and SFX to match. In this case, they did a much better job of blending with the rest of the film… some of the time. In fact, I really wonder if they really did somehow use a voices-free soundtrack for some parts of the films, but then use really out of place and mismatched audio for other parts. It’s a weird mix, at least in terms of technical execution.

The sync was pretty haphazard but it’s much improved in the despecialized versions, and unfortunately there are missing sections, patched in with English. Those will be covered with Persian titles-only subtitles in the next version of Project Threepio.

At the moment, only Star Wars is synced, and available in the usual places. The other films are being worked on.

PM sent!

Harmy said:

I export everything in rec709. To be honest, all this hdr stuff is giving me headaches. Not just for Star Wars but at work too - there, at least, we have a dedicated support team for this stuff. 😀

For what it’s worth, it’s possible use Rec. 2020 without any HDR. There is a benefit to it, albeit small. Some commercial discs do it, and (UHD) player compatibility is not an issue.

The downside is that you’ll be inviting questions like “Why didn’t you do HDR?”. But to be honest, those questions are going to happen regardless!

Thanks to ArdaYlcn, I’ve got another Turkish dub, and this one will replace the one in my current collection.

The old despecialized dub was great, except for one issue. The Emperor scene in Empire Strikes Back was missing, so initially it was filled with English, then eventually I filled it with a different pre-SE dub. But Vader’s voice in that scene still didn’t match the rest of the film at all, and the overall quality difference between the two sources was obvious and annoying.

The new dub is the 2015 iTunes dub (despecialized, of course), and it’s complete (finally!). And unlike some other Turkish dubs, it’s not missing the score, and Chewbacca isn’t dubbed, so it’s pretty faithful to the films in that respect. What I notice most about this dub is the voice matching. For the most part, they found actors who sounded very much like the original actors. So many dubs get Leia very wrong, but not this one. And in some moments I thought “Billy Dee Williams speaks fluent Turkish? Wow!” Luke is cast a little younger than most dubs. This makes it easy to distinguish between him & Han (which can be an issue on some dubs), and the younger voice really goes well with the young Mark Hamill in Star Wars. But it doesn’t quite work as well in Jedi IMO.

I’ve asked ArdaYlcn to do some quality checks on this first, and then it will be available soon afterward.

EDIT: Also, this new dub will require new “titles” subtitles, which will be included in the next Project Threepio release.

FYI – all of the dubs in my personal collection are now available synced to NTSC GOUT (Despecialized, 4K77), and theatrical (4K83), with the exception of Turkish. All future 4Kxx and Despecialized releases will be theatrically synced, but in the meantime, you just need to be careful which audio you use.

The reason Turkish isn’t included is because I’m currently syncing/despecializing a new Turkish dub, which should get rid of the problem with the Emperor scene in ESB. Once that’s done, that new dub will be available synced to both frame standards.

I’m not really in the position to offer money at the moment, but I can offer a testimonial for those who don’t remember You_Too well.

You_Too is a longtime valued member of this community. He doesn’t like to toot his own horn, but he’s contributed in a number of places. He was deeply involved in the color correction of the 720p GOUT upscales. He was responsible for the initial “de-purpled” correction of the Blu-rays, which became the basis for the Despecialized Edition’s Blu-ray footage. He gave me the initial Nordic language translations for Project Threepio, which are still in use today for Norwegian and Danish. And of course he was one of the first out of the door to save the Shire from the green menace of the Extended Edition Blu-rays.

He’s also a really nice guy. There are a lot of, er, strong personalities around here, myself included. But You_Too has a superpower – he’s immune to interpersonal bullshit. He just wants to help, and he delivers. Arguments can be raging all around, and like a spaceship immune to gravity, he just passes right by that black hole without getting sucked in. He’s a peach, a mensch, whatever term you want to use. If you don’t know him, he’s worth getting to know.

For those who don’t want to read a “wall of text”, he badly needs to move to a new apartment, for his and his mother’s well-being. Any help would be appreciated.

There’s a difference between profit and recouping expenses. The 4Kxx project asks for donations to recoup their expenses, just like Harmy. Film restoration isn’t cheap, and I can assure you, neither project is running a profit.

https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/4k77-released/id/60815

PM sent. Project Threepio will almost certainly be more than you needed in terms of subtitles, but it will be more current and complete than what comes with Despecialized.

I apologize to anyone who downloaded my synced Romanian voiceover dub on my glowing recommendation earlier. It turned out I screwed up the encode (among other things) and it didn’t really represent the quality of that audio very well. I’ll have a better version available shortly.

Sorry, I just have the OT dubs.

Harmy said:

Hi, guys, here’s my new update video:

https://youtu.be/1RBGGB8tgzU

Just so the discussion about frame references doesn’t distract people from seeing your update video, I quoted your link again.

As for the apartment, I’m most impressed by your door-opening ghost. Also, it’s touching to have the big box of tissues ready by the TV, just in case you get overwhelmed 😉

Seriously though, keep safe. I’m glad you at least have avoided COVID thus far.