Chewtobacca

Doctor M said:

Wait, now I'm confused, you need to use double plus signs?  I've always used a single one.  Is there a difference in what that does?

As Moth3r said, it is how the audio is handled.  As I said, I don't think it makes a difference if with video-only splicing: I just do it this way out of habit.

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't know about DeleteFrame().  That would probably be the best opion.

By the ++ operators, I mean typing ++ between trim commands to join up, rather than having to type AlignedSplice and brackets.

To cut out frames 100 and 200 from a video, it might look like this:

AviSource("video.avi")
Trim(0,99) ++ Trim(101,199) ++ Trim(201,0)

I think that's right.  I assume this is being done without audio, so I guess it doesn't matter whether you use aligned or unaligned splice.  I just do it this way out of habit.

Yes; open your script in Virtualdubmod and find the number of the frame(s) in question.  You can read the frame number in Virtualdubmod, same as usual.  Go back to your script and use the trim command to cut the video at the frames before and after.  I hope I have made that clear enough.  (You can load the script back up in Virtualdubmod to preview your cuts, if you like.)

Then use aligned splice to join the rest of your video back together.  I usually use the ++ operators for this.

http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Splice

As to marking the videos, adding this to the end of your script might help:

Info()

Don't forget to delete it from the script when you have finished working though, or the info will be burnt into the video.

Harmy said:

OK, the workprint's up, Chewtobacca and Erik, you've got a PM. 

The main thing that concerns me is colours. I need you to tell me if you notice any sudden colour change from shot to shot somewhere. Or if the colours seem wrong somewhere (although that is based on opinion but I'd still like to hear your suggestions).

Thanks for the PM.  I shall post feedback as soon as I can, and try to comment on the colors.  I knew you had made some tweaks to the colors since the PDE, so I was planning to look out for those anyway. :-)

Jetrell Fo said:

Chewtobacca said:

There is no NTSC for AVCHD; nonetheless, PM sent. 

I'm watching an NTSC (or at least a Region 0) AVCHD version of this right now...  ;)

No; you are not.

Count me in.  :-)

I agree with Frink.  The burnt in subs look fine.

That is scary.  So in effect we improve the GOUT by dispensing with the GOUT!

ChainsawAsh is right.  There is definitely a need for this. 

Forget about HD though.  It is just not possible to make true HD theatrical reconstructions with the currently available material.

I will be happy having a reconstruction of ROTJ that is practically identical to the theatrical cut, in good DVD quality, to go along with Adywan's reconstruction.  The remaining SE changes that were in Ady's ESB did not bother me because it is the crude and obvious alterations that bother me about the Special Editions, not the little fixes.

Harmy said:

Yeah, I agree with Chewtobacca that the SE shot of R2 looks better (they've done a pretty good job on this one, unlike on some in ESB) but it is a glaring SE change and this is after all a theatrical reconstruction.

That is true.  :-)

You could always make a non-purist edition, if you felt like being a glutton for punishment. 

They do indeed look really great.  Super work, Harmy! :D

I still do not like the black color Artoo has in that last scene, but I shall defer to the majority.  It is only a very brief shot after all.

Don't forget the infancy gospels, Bingo, old chap.  You know, of Anakin's virgin birth and his childhood miracles.

Even if the release were only up for a short amount if time, it would give people with premium acccounts or access to newsgroups the chance to download and re-upload it to ensure its future availability.

Harmy said:

I'll go with Chaisawash's advice, exept I'm still not sure about the laser blast not being a 1993 thing...

That sounds fine then.  I personally think that the laser blast looks better on the SE, but I do not have strong feelings about it either way, so ChainSawAsh's preferences more or less mirror my own.

I am really looking forward to this now.  :-)

hairy_hen said: Colour correction--mainly eliminating the general blue cast, and dialing down oversaturated reds on Tatooine--is the most important thing.  But the '93 transfer doesn't exactly have stellar colour itself, either, so I'm not sure what it's really 'supposed' to look like.  Given the kinds of differences apparent between the GOUT and the SW Technicolor print, the film's true look is most likely something in between the extremes of each rendition.

Yes; I think something between the two is a good approach to take.  As long as the result looks natural and consistent, I do not think it matters greatly what the film is "supposed" to look like.

Harmy, I would go with the SE in all those shots apart from 2.  I simply cannot stand even the most fleeting glimpse of the SE Sarlac beast, even if it is in the distance.  I even do not mind the recolored R2.

I think this will be an excellent project.  Will this sync to the GOUT ROTJ audio and will you be removing the SE Bantha herd in its entirety?

skyjedi2005 said: Terminator 2's second release had better color definition and not as dark but too much dvnr.  Never a perfect release.

It is even more pathetic when you realize a lot of the problems on the American release like too much dvnr were not there on overseas releases.

The japan release for instance looked better.  Not too sure about the euro release.

Yes; the Japanese Geneon release looks great.  I too think I will probably end up sticking with my first Terminator Blu-ray, just as I did with Predator.

Ziz said:

Maybe this is the "cropping" you guys are talking about and just not describing it correctly but I also noticed there's a shift in the aspect ratio between the D and BD shots, but not literally a width/height difference.  Look at the shapes of things when you shift from one cap to the other.  The D-Theater shot is squeezed a bit left/right (or the BD is stretched, depending which you think is correct), so they're also doing something to the image proportions.

I think that is because the D-theater is intended for overscan/nominal analogue blanking, i.e. it is meant to be overscanned/stretched horizontally a little on playback.  This is not the cropping issue though.

Screenshots of Aliens on BD and DVD:

http://www.worstpreviews.com/images/headlines/temp/temp2303.jpg

Oh, I see.  Well, I prefer the black bars to reproduce the theatrical experience, but I can understand people not liking them.  It is taste, as far as I am concerned.

skyjedi2005 said:  Because of the idiotic complaint of black bars, the same as in not understanding that film is supposed to have grain.  Same with the louder is better people for liking their cd's dynamics to me ruined.

What does this mean?

ChainsawAsh said:  I could be wrong, but I saw nothing that led me to believe excessive DNR had been applied in all 3 caps.

I would agree.  Despite the initial panic, I do not think the DNR is excessive.  I can tolerate a certain amount of DNR, as long as it is not overused, but it is just taste.  Skyjedi seems to find any amount of DNR unacceptable.

What is it with you and the double posts? :D

CompMovieGuy said:  If I remember correctly, the D-Theater tapes, ones officially released, didnt have any alterations or "touch-ups" done to them, so this makes me think that the Bluray has been deliberately altered with the DNR and color at least

It is definitely Ridley Scott's practice to change the color timing on his films when they are remastered/restored.

ChainsawAsh said:

Almost every release of every film ever made (on film) is cropped somewhat.  It's not that the Blu-Ray is cropped while the D-Theater version isn't.  It's that the framing is done slightly differently.

I know that, but there seems to be a fair bit of cropping here to me, and I was also commenting on the trend towards tighter cropping of BD releases in general, and wondering why.  For example, the remastered Gangs of New York BD is pretty heavily cropped.

I agree with you in not disliking the new color timing though.

I first thought this was a thread about calling 911 from the title. Doh!

I remember watching TV and my friend rang me and told me to change channel.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  It just didn't seem possible.

CompMovieGuy said:  Edit: Also you are not the only one complaining about the cropping and color timing Chewie

Yeah; I just don't understand why this cropping is taking place.  It seems bizarre to me.   There are increasing number of films that I like that I am not buying on Blu-ray.  I never thought this would happen a year or so ago, when I first started buying HD movies.  It is not great, but it is at least saving me money! :D

ChainsawAsh said:

What the hell is "D-Theater"?

You have never seen a D-Theater release?  D-Theater releases were basically HD tapes.  There is another name for it, but I cannot remember what is is --  D-Scene or something like that.  They are usually quite good, but not modern HD quality.

Why is the BD cropped?  I have seen a number of cropped BD releases recently. The pictures also seem to stretch when you move the cursor over them.  This might be to do with NAB, I suppose.

TV's Frink said:

From all the descriptions and screen grabs I'm probably better off leaving it unseen.

That is wise.  I watched it a while back as I thought it might fall into the so-bad-it's-good category, but it was just bad.  By the end, I was just wishing for it to end.