Citizen

User Group: Members
Join date: 17-May-2005
Last activity: 15-Sep-2006
Posts: 455

Post History

Post: #109979
Topic: PAL vs NTSC laserdiscs
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109979/action/topic#109979
Time: 29-May-2005 4:15 PM

I won bidding on a PAL German THX laserdisc set

if the auction info is anything to go by then they only pressed 1,000 of these sets so it's pretty rare, I'm presuming the audio is in German so will have to take the audio from my Definitive set when mastering, I just hope these German discs were made with the same (or better) video source as the French set... *crossing fingers* will post my findings once I receive them.

edit: off back to eBay to sell some stuff to help pay for the laserdiscs...

Post: #109935
Topic: Help Wanted: re the Leia welding footage from ESB
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109935/action/topic#109935
Time: 29-May-2005 8:41 AM

I'm out this afternoon so will do a proper reply when I'm back.

Post: #109932
Topic: Help Wanted: re the Leia welding footage from ESB
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109932/action/topic#109932
Time: 29-May-2005 7:27 AM

My definitive set has the 7 secs of Leia welding, not sure how I'd get you the DV capture though.

Post: #109927
Topic: Crop and Resize: prepare for / how to
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109927/action/topic#109927
Time: 29-May-2005 5:58 AM

When you have VirtualDub's framerate setting setup to undo the 3:2 pulldown, it applies the undo before passing it on to any filters you have setup, it doesn't do the undo when you skim through the video on the main slider bar, only when you save the avi or do output preview with full processing turned on.

A shame it doesn't apply it in realtime when you look through the video with the main slider bar, hmm maybe a suggestion to the creator to impliment it.

Post: #109925
Topic: Crop and Resize: prepare for / how to
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109925/action/topic#109925
Time: 29-May-2005 5:43 AM

Yes CCE can encode a string of avis into a single mpeg file, open up the first avi, go into the encode settings and press the Setting... button in "Input files" section, there you can add more avis (right click & select add).

Post: #109872
Topic: Crop and Resize: prepare for / how to
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109872/action/topic#109872
Time: 28-May-2005 8:20 PM

Personally I only use VirtualDub's internal temporal smoother when I'm trying to get a decent still from grainy video so I put it at maxiumum, best to use 'intelligent' temporal smoothing filters if you're going to use one, the MSU Denoiser is such a one and works well.
It doesn't seem to matter wether you place a temporal smoother before or after resizing but it should be placed before any 2d smoothing or sharpening.

Post: #109856
Topic: Crop and Resize: prepare for / how to
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109856/action/topic#109856
Time: 28-May-2005 6:57 PM

Great stuff

Now the really slow and tedious part begins... finding out what filters to use with what settings & in what order to produce a final result you're satisfied with

Post: #109837
Topic: Info Wanted: Digitally Remastered Original Trilogy preservation set?!?! (on ebay)
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109837/action/topic#109837
Time: 28-May-2005 5:21 PM

Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
That's almost what I did, except that I used Graphedit to split up the 2.0 into 6 channels, precisely because it *did* do Pro-Logic II decoding. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on it.

Yup I used GraphEdit too but how did you get Pro-Logic II output? whatever I tried I only ended up with Pro-Logic I mixing

I was going to try and make a Blade Runner 5.1 audio mix where the voiceover comes out of the rear channels instead of the center.

Post: #109827
Topic: Crop and Resize: prepare for / how to
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109827/action/topic#109827
Time: 28-May-2005 4:17 PM

I'll try to explain how to do manual 3:2 pulldown removal using VirtualDub, as you have a Canopus analogue to digital converter as I do it should be easier with the settings.

1. First open your Capture.avi in VirtualDub.
2. Press the expand to fullscreen button on to top right of VirtualDub.
3. Right click on the left video plane and select 25% scale.
4. Right click on the right video plane and select 150% scale.
5. Go to the menu Video>Filters... and add "resize", select the size to be 512 x 384 with "Nearest neighbor" (this is only to aid finding the pulldown cut-off sections easier), then press OK & OK to exit the Filters... section.
6. Go to the menu Video>Compression... and select a fast compression codec, personally I use an MJPEG codec for this bit because each frame is a keyframe.
7. Go to the menu Video>Frame Rate... and select "Reconstruct from fields - manual", Offset: 0, select "Invert polarity", then press OK.
8. Go to the menu File>Save as AVI... and select a filename such as CaptureTest-0i.avi (0i because you selected Offset 0 with "Invert polarity" in step 7).
9. Keep an eye on the right video plane and as soon as you see the interlace artefacts (the 512x384 Nearest neighbor scaling makes this show up like a sore thumb) press stop.
10. Open the CaptureTest0i.avi in another instance of VirtualDub and scan through until you find the first frame where interlacing artefacts show up, if the interlacing artefacts start at the beginning then go back to step 7 and try Offset:1 "Invert polarity", then Offset:2 etc. until the start of the CaptureTest avi doesn't show any interlacing artefacts.
11. Once you have a section of test video with no interlacing artefacts go back to the first VirtualDub, menu Video>Direct stream copy, make the start selection at the start of the video and the end selection at the interlacing artefact frame of the 2nd VirtualDub.
12. Go to the menu File>Save as AVI... and select a filename such as Capture01-0i.avi, 01 for the section number and 0i or 1i or 2i for whatever pulldown setting you used.
13. Go to the menu Video>Full processing mode
14. Press Del on your keyboard so this will remove the video from the timeline and you can go back to step 7 to repeat the whole process again until all of the Capture.avi file has been split up into separate files each with their own 3:2 pulldown removal setting in the filename.
15. Now you've found the 3:2 pulldown removal setting for the individual avi files (if you're lucky you'll only get a few files) you can then process each one with your cleanup/crop/resize/whatever VirtualDub filters and save as say Complete01.avi etc. and join them all together afterwards (Append AVI segment... should do the job, some mpeg encoders can use a list of avis to create a single mpeg file so you don't have to join the avis up beforehand)

This was all typed out from memory so sorry if there's any errors in the process, it should work for you.

Post: #109698
Topic: Info Wanted: Digitally Remastered Original Trilogy preservation set?!?! (on ebay)
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109698/action/topic#109698
Time: 27-May-2005 9:09 PM

Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
I'm curious to know how he made his 5.1 soundtrack.

I played around with upmixing a surround 2.0 track into 5.1 but had problems with the rear channels, basically it involves putting the 2.0 through WinDVD's Dolby Pro-Logic audio processing to end up with 6 mono audio tracks (except the sub track is empty, easy to create though from the 2.0 source) which you then mux into an AC3 file, the problem I had was that I couldn't get it to do Pro-Logic II where the rear surround channels are different, I was getting Pro-Logic I results where the rear channels are identical - my A/V reciever does Pro-Logic II upmixing better anyway so at that point I gave up trying to create 5.1 from 2.0.

Post: #109390
Topic: "Holonet Series" - DVD Covers
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109390/action/topic#109390
Time: 26-May-2005 10:18 PM

This was my take on the SE:

http://www.haku.co.uk/b3ta/StarWarsSE.jpg

(it did get frontpaged on b3ta)

Post: #109376
Topic: Crop and Resize: prepare for / how to
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109376/action/topic#109376
Time: 26-May-2005 9:54 PM

The only way I found I could get a 100% reliable 3:2 pulldown removal is to use VirtualDub in manual mode, finding out what undo setting works at the start of the movie and for how many frames, save that section as a new avi (direct stream copy) and press del, then start again with finding out what setting works and for how long and saving it - repeat until the whole film has been cut down into sections with each section having their own 3:2 pulldown removal setting. Falling back to AviSynth and the Decomb filter for small sections where VirtualDub just can't seem to find the undo setting.
Then process each piece individually by VirtualDub's job capability and join the now ITVC'd cleaned sections together to create a final complete film. Slow yet, laborious yes but it's the only 100% reliable way I know of removing 3:2 pulldown, AviSynth Decomb filter and VirtualDub's automatic removal can't do the job 100% reliably, AviSynth Decomb comes close but not close enough so I use it to get a good-enough 23.976fps source to test cleaning filters on.

I've done this process on a few NTSC laserdisc captures to create progressive NTSC DVDs and PAL DVDs, usually end up breaking the captured avi into between 5 and 15 pieces, one day I might put fingers to keyboard and create a guide on how I do the process.

Post: #109423
Topic: Info & Sale: eBay seller on drugs?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109423/action/topic#109423
Time: 26-May-2005 7:34 PM — Edited 21-Apr-2020 6:37 AM

It’s a neat idea, but HOW MUCH?!

(eBay item) Star Wars Laserdisc Presentation - Home Cinema Picture

Now you know what to do with that fullscreen SW laserdisc you’ve got laying around gathering dust

Post: #108581
Topic: A modest proposal: Should Lucas make more OT changes?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/108581/action/topic#108581
Time: 24-May-2005 11:14 PM

I have to agree, it should be digitally restored back to it's brilliance, the only minor changes I would make (if the end result was truly seamless) would be to a few special effects, removing the borders on the super-imposing (look at the foot on speeder bike pedal, tie fighters following the Millennium Falcon inside the death star etc.) and enhancing the lightsaber glow in ANH to match the other two films. Nothing drastic, just enhancing the 'reality' of the film's effects.

In other words restoring the films so things look as 'real' as they did when you first saw them all those years ago, special effects have gotten so good these days that we're spoilt, making special effects in older films look flawed.

Post: #108574
Topic: Crop and Resize: prepare for / how to
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/108574/action/topic#108574
Time: 24-May-2005 10:58 PM

I tried a few different ways of scaling captured letterbox definitive LD footage up to a fake anamorphic picture, tried both VirtualDub and AviSynth and found that all the results look bad unless you undo the 3:2 pulldown first.

Post: #108519
Topic: star wars dv avi tremble
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/108519/action/topic#108519
Time: 24-May-2005 7:36 PM

Hmm, so not the 3:2 pulldown, at a guess do you mean the whole screen shaking very very slightly? probably when they captured the actual film they did it in realtime instead of using todays individual frame capturing/cleaning methods so the image didn't stay 100% in place going through the projector. (finding it hard to get across my theory, which is probably wrong)

BTW I'm using a Canopus ADVC-100 which has the same analogue-to-digital hardware, I find I have to shift the chroma 3 pixels to the left to get it so the picture doesn't look like the colour is bleeding (use Flaxen's VHS filter, Chroma Shifting I & Q, Horizontal 3 Neg), also to compensate for the lower chroma compression use VirtualDub's internal filter Chroma Smoother in 4:1:1 NTSC DV mode.

edit: if you need to use filters that don't have an interlace button/option, use the internal deinterlace in "Unfold fields side-by-side" before the filter(s) and then afterwards use deinterlace in "Fold side-by-side fields together" mode.

edit2: Just remembered, if you encode the video to mpeg2 with in the wrong field order then any interlacing will stick out like a sore thumb, I have a Sigma Hollywood+ hardware mpeg decoder card in my PC which is extremely useful for checking encoded mpeg files and whole DVDs on a real tv before burning anything to disc, my 2nd one only cost me £9 from eBay including postage (I have one in each machine)

Post: #108434
Topic: PAL vs NTSC laserdiscs
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/108434/action/topic#108434
Time: 24-May-2005 5:27 PM

Aside from PAL resolution being 20% higher than NTSC resolution, from the comparison images; the unscaled but cropped war-room image I posted of the NTSC definitive collection LD, and the same scene Moth3r posted of his PAL DVD created from his French PAL LD (only scaled upwards vertically) it's painfully obvious that the NTSC definitive collection suffers from noticable detail loss - lines & sharp edges that are nearly horizontal are jagged, whereas the PAL set isn't jagged on the same lines & sharp edges.

I'm going to try and get the PAL LD set for two reasons, 20% higher image quality which helps image clarity on a projected picture, and no loss of detail on those near-horizontal edges.

Post: #108380
Topic: PAL vs NTSC laserdiscs
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/108380/action/topic#108380
Time: 24-May-2005 4:22 PM

For the moment I'm planning on making a PAL set from my definitive LDs, speeding up the audio without adjusting the pitch so that when I play it back on my PC with WinDVD's "PAL Truspeed" setting it'll play it back at the original speed and restoring the audio pitch.

The sample shots in the beginning of this thread are taken from test clips, those same clips played back on a 5 foot wide projected screen look great which is what I'm planning on watching them on once finished, I still want to get the PAL THX LDs for the higher resolution to work with and no jagged broken lines. Aannoyed I was outbid at the weekend on a PAL LD set but just got an email from eBay giving me a 20% off coupon (£20 max, 2 week validity) for buying something with PayPal

Post: #108318
Topic: star wars dv avi tremble
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/108318/action/topic#108318
Time: 24-May-2005 2:43 PM

The 'trembling' & interlacing artefacts, are you talking about 3:2 pulldown? the process in which 24fps film is turned into 29.97fps interlaced NTSC.

Post: #106883
Topic: You've all got to get one of these!
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/106883/action/topic#106883
Time: 20-May-2005 6:02 AM

I have the out of production ROTJ Luke saber, I've duelled with it with friends sabers and theirs all cracked at the hilt but mine's still OK

I took it apart to check it wasn't damaged so while it was apart I added some strong clear tape where the breaks happens. Last time I saw me friend's ROTJ Luke saber it was 2 inches shorter because he broke it too many times

he also bought two Vader sabers and attached them together a-la Maul style, worked well for a while till he cracked those too...

Post: #106424
Topic: PAL vs NTSC laserdiscs
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/106424/action/topic#106424
Time: 18-May-2005 9:43 PM

As I live in PAL land I prefer most things to be in PAL format because I can't stand the 3:2 pulldown used on NTSC films, however since I got a projector (well, built one, see LumenLab.com) I now have a truly progressive display which means no 3:2 pulldown on NTSC DVDs (unless they're burnt-in) and WinDVD has an option called "PAL Truspeed" that plays PAL films at true film framerate, slowing the video & audio playback so the pitch is correct. I don't know how/if it copes with sending the slowed digital stream to an external amp, will have to try that if I can find my motherboard manual for the SP/DIF output socket.

When I first got my definitive LDs I was playing around with converting them to PAL format and instead of speeding up the audio to compensate for the 4.096% speedup I tried timestretching with pitch preservation, it works but I couldn't find a program that would do it with any real competance, while the speech was fine some tones in the music sounded 'glitchy' due to the sample overlapping method timestretching uses to preserve the pitch.

Post: #106401
Topic: PAL vs NTSC laserdiscs
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/106401/action/topic#106401
Time: 18-May-2005 6:45 PM

Thanks both for the heads up, that eBay auction was the one I was found so looked it up on lddb.

If I get a set with foreign audio it isn't a problem as I can use the audio from my definitive discs, I've done this with a German DVD release of The Wizard which has a dubbed German soundtrack, I captured my VHS, synched up the video stream so all the frame times match then save the audio and use that to remaster the DVD. Worked a charm.

Moth3r, I'd seen you mention the missing screenwipe on one of your threads, how did you eventually get round it, replace it or leave it as is?

Post: #106383
Topic: PAL vs NTSC laserdiscs
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/106383/action/topic#106383
Time: 18-May-2005 5:09 PM

Are the faces discs identical in terms of the jagged edges of near horizontal lines like the definitive discs?

I see there's another widescreen French PAL set that has an extra disc with a documentary (presumably in French?), japanld.free.fr/laserdisc.php?id=31358, does anyone know if this set is original or SE?

Post: #106353
Topic: PAL vs NTSC laserdiscs
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/106353/action/topic#106353
Time: 18-May-2005 3:28 PM

I have the Dr_Gonzo discs (without the 4th disc), sorry my bad on the IVTC, they do have the 3:2 pulldown removed, it doesn't seem smooth playback on my PC despite being 2.4ghz.

MeBeJedi, I noticed they (over)used temporal smoothing on the definitive ANH discs, really shows up when R2-D2 is wandering around and caught by the sand people.

Post: #106326
Topic: PAL vs NTSC laserdiscs
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/106326/action/topic#106326
Time: 18-May-2005 12:49 PM

Sorry, crossed wires, I didn't question interlacing as I know how to deal with editing/creating/removing it (also why NTSC is an annoying 29.97/59.94fps and not a round 30/60), I meant why did they master the definitive collection LDs in such a way as to lose half of the picture quality.
It's almost as if they took an image that was 2x the height and instead of smoothly halving the height they just removed every other line.