CatBus

Oh, I’ve done all kinds of tricks. It’s just too different (the ESB dub I took it from is just awful quality in many ways, and it’s not just tape hiss, and Vader’s voice REALLY doesn’t match). However, there’s another SE dub that, if it’s complete, I can despecialize to make a better-matching dub just starting from scratch. I don’t have it yet, but I’ve got a lead on it.

Yes, you have hit on a big problem I have yet to address with Project Threepio. ImageMagick works great for ALMOST all image operations, but the whole ImageMagick+Pango text rendering business is very, very fragile and limited. The last version to work on Windows was 7.0.10-23, and Linux may be similarly version-limited (I didn’t discover this until after the current version was released, so it’s not in the README). The latest and greatest ImageMagick seems broken, and ImageMagick doesn’t archive old versions anywhere. Even with the correct Windows version, some scripts won’t render properly on that platform and must be done on Linux.

I am actually in the process of re-writing the text renderer right now, using something other than ImageMagick+Pango to turn the text into images (Google Chrome, actually). However, this is far from done and unlikely to even make it into the next version, so we’re looking two versions out for a complete fix. The goal is complete cross-platform support, greater certainty of long-term future support, and no loss in functionality. You’ll notice I didn’t say performance. The new version of the script appears to be even slower, and for those who have run the current one, you’ll know that’s really saying something.

So all I can suggest right now is to try older ImageMagick versions, or use the specific version I mentioned on Windows. For now, that’s all I can suggest. I just chose the wrong technical foundation for text rendering, mea culpa.

I’ve found this place that hosts old ImageMagick binaries (if you’re the sort to trust random binaries from the Internet):
https://ftp.icm.edu.pl/packages/ImageMagick/binaries/?C=N;O=D

The good news is that regardless of all of this, there WILL be a solution for the mono mix (for both Star Wars and Empire, and the 1981/1985/1993 versions too) in the next version of Project Threepio. It’s not “there” yet, but I can say it’s pretty close. Maybe within the next couple months, I’m just waiting for some new translations to come in. So if you can wait for this, there will be something for you that’ll be much faster and easier then.

EDIT: You dove into the Python code of the text renderer script?!? You’re braver than I thought!

Looks like that’s Hungarian?

AntcuFaalb said:

CatBus said:

AntcuFaalb said:

PJ said:

Hey does anyone recommend a painless way of matching the frame size of two different sources? I’m trying to align footage from the 2020 Bluray of ESB to Harmy’s ESB Despecialized and I just can’t get it right.

BUnwarpJ

It’s just a jump to the left

Oh, oh, nevermind then. Sorry! I should have read the post more closely.

Argh. Sometimes I tell jokes only to amuse myself and bystanders get hurt.

“Let’s do the BUnwarpJ again!/It’s just a jump to the left”

AntcuFaalb said:

PJ said:

Hey does anyone recommend a painless way of matching the frame size of two different sources? I’m trying to align footage from the 2020 Bluray of ESB to Harmy’s ESB Despecialized and I just can’t get it right.

BUnwarpJ

It’s just a jump to the left

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PM sent. They’re compatible.

If you want to re-create them, the font family to use is something in the Franklin Gothic/Trade Gothic/News Gothic family, semicondensed, semibold. You can get something very close with that. I don’t know about the PT’s, but the ST’s have “sharp corners” on the letters, which would be well-reproduced by your standard digital font. I’m afraid I don’t have anything to offer but that.

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44rh1n said:

CatBus said:

Speaking of your avatar, for those who haven’t already seen this:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=18347156&postcount=5884

Top: Theatrical Blu
Middle: Extended Blu
Bottom: UHD

The tonemapping on that UHD still doesn’t look accurate to me. (It at least shows off the lack of the green tint though!)

Well, I think it’s a photo of a display. There could be a whole lot of weirdness added through that alone (auto-white-balance, etc). But yes, the lack of green (even compared to theatrical) is the reason for showing it off.

Speaking of your avatar, for those who haven’t already seen this:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=18347156&postcount=5884

Top: Theatrical Blu
Middle: Extended Blu
Bottom: UHD

PM sent.

Nick66 is gonna have to change his avatar 😉

Seriously, everything looks pretty delightful to me so far. It’s not the same as the DVD, but I never needed or expected it to be identical to the DVD. I just needed it to be good, and it is!

peacefrog35 said:

However, I think I would prefer a cleaned up GOUT that is closer to the VHS. Does anyone know what versions those would be as there are so so so many now?

The project that literally fits this requirement is dark_jedi’s “V3” trilogy:

https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Star-Wars-OT-and-1997-Special-Edition-Various-Projects-Info-Released/id/10550/page/1

But there are better options.

I don’t disagree that Star Wars Despecialized, even v2.7, has lots of visible seams, especially in Mos Eisley. IIRC those shots were upscaled from the GOUT, and, well, since the GOUT really isn’t even proper DVD resolution, mixing that with Blu-ray footage (even a low-quality Blu-ray like the 2011 set) isn’t ever going to be perfect. If the seams are the biggest issue, you may want to look into the DVD5 downscales of Despecialized. By capping the video quality at 480i, the Blu-ray and GOUT-sourced footage blend much better.

I do see a couple seams in Empire (nothing that bothers me, but bothering is relative), but Jedi for me seems smoothest of the bunch. Jedi is exactly frame-matched to the GOUT, so if you see any timing issues, you’ll see the same in the GOUT. You may be seeing something wonky with the VFX that’s part of the source that we’ve all gotten used to (or revealed in HD), or maybe it’s a judder/interpolation thing on your display. But if you prefer the SE ending, just go with the SE and don’t worry about it.

I’d also look into the 4K77 & 4K83 projects (the Destiny Editions seem to be a promising branch from these sources as well). They’re from scans of film prints, so while they don’t have all of the fine detail of Despecialized, they still generally have a lot more than the GOUT – and they’re all from one source, so it’s a consistent level of detail. I am personally not a huge fan of 4K77 (there’s something to complain about with every Star Wars preservation), but 4K83 is very nice and worth a look and the only gripe I have is the lack of fine detail compared to Despecialized. Since you’ve already indicated you’re willing to sacrifice some fine detail for a more consistent image, 4K83 may be a perfect fit for you, assuming you can grow to love Yub Nub 😉

yotsuya said:

Technically the GOUT release of ANH created a new version of the film. They used the 1993 master tape and replaced the opening crawl with the version they had scanned for The Empire of Dreams.

IMO the main unique thing about the GOUT version of Star Wars is the 77 crawl/93 audio mismatch. The fact that the 77 crawl was spliced onto the 93 video is a comparatively minor detail, although it’s a funny reversal of how the 81 crawl was frequently spliced onto 77 film.

Oddly, even though I’ve never considered any of the GOUT versions to be in any way equivalent to the original films, they work out to be the same for the purposes of subtitles, since the 93 audio doesn’t change any dialogue from the original stereo/multichannel mixes for any of the films, and the crawls have the same text.

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Can’t help find any of these, but the title of this thread threw me. I thought for a second you were classifying Kevin Smith as a form of Star Wars Megafauna. I remember very little of the prequels, but I’d like to think I’d remember a scene like that!

Very nice as always, Dre. Since you seem to be following along roughly chronologically, you may need to think about the giant disclaimer you’ll need for your color-corrected Mos Eisley frames, to avoid fan panic 😉

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doubleofive said:

My name is doubleofive, and I approve these threads.

And I have to say they do look sharp on you. I especially like the bow tie.