Hal 9000

Yes, getting close. Applying the LUT made dark parts of the picture look crushed so I made a rudimentary color correction instead to make it look less yellow-green, careful not to go too far.
I’m just waiting on subtitles and then I will need to do the write up and then get to packing and distributing.
I’m also hoping to sit down and record a commentary track. I didn’t record one for TFA:R both because it was a relatively simple restructure which others helped with and because I expected it to be the only ST fan edit I’d be doing!

Yeah, what Ash said. There are deleted scenes relegated to 1080p, and the prequel edits of mine will be forever locked at 1080p, so I wouldn’t be in a big hurry to go to a lot of effort and headache to spearhead a 4K version.

Good thing is that anyone who is able could relatively easily remaster the video stream using a 4K source.

Is it expected for this LUT to cause an apparent strong degradation of picture in dark scenes? I am using FCPX to apply and render it. When rendered either as a master file or any other destination format, this particular scene looks poor. (Another portion which looks very poor is the first several seconds of the film, where the blackness of the opening is riddled with video noise.
I have uploaded a clip to take a gander at, linked to below. If it’s an issue with my program, perhaps I could approximate the look you achieved by eyeballing the color correction tool. Could you describe the fundamental alterations you put into this LUT? (Increasing brightness, reducing green highlights, etc.? Not necessarily those precise things, of course.)
Thanks for your attention.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tSb4PJLbiE3DZLRHkqDWnsjfWLopveLQ

JEDIT: Nevermind. I was using V3, and was not aware that there was a V4. It was my mistake, but all the same, it might be good to update the OP. Love the regraded look, and am happy to use it for my TLJ fan edit. 😃

JEDIT 2: It does seem harsh on blacks though. Space in particular has more noise than before applying the LUT.

Our ties have been mutually broken. May as well lock this thread or leave it alone in order to distance ourselves from any target from the Mouse.

This hobby is very much not something that generates income, but if it were… Man, I could have retired by now. 😉

JEDIT: I missed an opportunity to say “Would that it were…” D’oh!

Jackpumpkinhead said:

I just hope this doesn’t become the catalyst for shutting down the fan edit community.

That’s what concerns me as well. I don’t care about whatever he wants to do, but his lack of discretion could potentially hurt us all collectively. And I really don’t feel great selling merchandise related to a fan edit. This is quite different than chipping in so Adywan or Harmy can get a graphics card or something to dedicate to their projects.

…No, I won’t be doing that.
Also, why the twins theme??

I don’t know… the fan editing community has pressed into a position of caution throughout the years.

DigMod said:

I’m just shocked at all of the money he’s getting via his patron site. I don’t mean any offense, but he hasn’t really shown anything that rivals Adywan or NeverarGreat, SirRidley, or Hal’s work.

I didn’t want to say anything, but I’m glad someone did.

JEDIT: Regarding the principle of having a Patreon for a fan edit project in principle, not anything about any particular amount.

Turns out LUTs are very easy to apply in FCPX. So the plan is to render out lossless video from FCP7, and encode to distribution formats from FCPX after applying DrDre’s color correction.

Yeah, that idea wouldn’t play out well at all IMHO. I’d prefer Luke dramatically tossing the saber somewhat off to the side ala “Never… I’ll never turn to the dark side” over the deadpan beat we have in the movie. I think it’s important that he toss the saber, though. Given no recourse, it has to stay as is. I didn’t hate the moment, at least not the first viewing.

toastedzen said:

I re-watch TFA restructured so often, that I am getting really excited for the finished product for this film. I left a spot for it in the box set I am making. Hal, your edits are simply the best.

That’s wonderful! If I had much of a physical media collection I’d have to put something like that together for myself as well. Very fulfilling to see something so concrete come out of all this stuff.

I was fortunate enough to be able to sit down and vet everything I’ve done so far. I am currently rendering out a “golden master” to be used for sync for Mala. I don’t think anything is different from the prior workprint that would affect sync, though I could be wrong. Better to render a fresh encode just in case. Poppasketti was kind enough to remove a few more white specks from deleted scene footage, and I made several small audio tweaks and other things like that. Only thing left is to apply DrDre’s LUT, which I still haven’t found a good solution for. Might be possible to render out my entire project to ProRes, and apply it using FCPX. That’ll be a headache for another time.

There will always be, just like with the prequels, cool new ideas introduced as time goes on. However, my goal here is just to make a somewhat conservative edit to get the film into a more palatable state, which to my mind required a more radical approach than with TFA. In that spirit, I hope not to do a V2 in the future. You never know, though. But, unlike with TFA:R V1, I’m actually happy with this one and feel I’ve accomplished (enough of) what I set out to do.

Yes, that’s the order.

I think that’s all correct, Mala, thank you!
I did try removing the “we’re taking heavy losses,” but it seemed just a little ‘off’ merging the two sequences before and after. The music and composition is based on having a brief cutaway. It doesn’t bother me at all, and it’s not worth cutting if it introduces even a slight jarr. shrugs 😦

Thank you for posting an update for us! I feel good knowing the relevant people have your work to hold their feet to the fire. This is the most encouraging SW-related news I’ve heard in some time.

Having done a copycat job of darthrush’s ladder kick removal, I think I’m about ready to render out a ‘sync-locked’ version for Mala to work with.

Does anyone have anything else to toss out here?

From Reddit:

Octorox said:

I thought this video was relevant to the goals of this edit: https://youtu.be/GYN2Lp9oHMk

Good watch. Would have sold me on the ‘Luke has a Moment’ + ‘Finn and Poe’ deleted scene combo if I weren’t already. 😃

I’m also very much looking forward to it. Out of all the changes listed, the only thing I’d suggest doing differently is to let the “reveal” of Kylo Ren’s parentage occurs when Han meets Leia and says, “Leia, I saw our son.”
It keeps the drama present in the original just in time for it to come into play, holding out mystery up to that point, and makes for a cooler moment of revelation.

Could you post a clip or description of your first Snoke scene? It might be super short if you are removing both the Starkiller planning AND the Solo reveal.

I doubt the deleted scene trend anything to do with fan editing. Probably more that bonus material had become deemphasized the the big ticket item isn’t a super dvd bundle anymore.

I can think of two ignitions of the saber in that environment: the one which kills Snoke, and the super quick one Kylo used to kill the last guard.

The first I recall as being at least not obviously wrong, and the second being artistic license done deliberately for understandable reasons. I’ll have to check again and make sure, though, about the first.

You can easily crop it out, or apply a widescreen matte overtop.

No, for reasons stated earlier in the thread. The Caretaker raiding scene has uncompleted effects, as many of the deleted scenes unfortunately do. Besides, as much as I enjoy the scene, I agree with RJ’s reasoning for cutting it; Luke and Rey are about to come around to the same page when suddenly things explode. Reinstating that scene loses that aspect. To me it is more elegant and helpful to the movie overall to cut the Caretakers altogether.
The ending scene with the kids stays, as it is way too abrupt to end after the Falcon. Star Wars films always have a scene free of (English) dialogue to close things out. It is thematically very relevant, given the spark of hope always being talked about.

See “Labyrinth Of Evil,” my fan edit of Episode III. Thread is in this forum, perhaps a page or two deep at this point.

Here’s a clip from what ended up the final version, without sound. Sir Ridley did the color correction and inserted a little Easter egg. Pay special attention to her neck:
https://vimeo.com/258836776

I dubbed the medical droid to now deliver the news, “She has sustained severe injuries. I cannot say how long she might last. We are preparing to deliver the babies…”

This particular edit was driven by marrying two ideas:

• De-emphasizing the role of Padme’s impending doom on Anakin’s turn to the dark side
• Making your Boleyn idea work out as best as possible

These two ideas dovetail well! If you’re still planning to execute this idea yourself in a complete edit, I would suggest watching my edit, perhaps with my audio commentary enabled. If you need help finding a copy, PM me. But, your Boleyn idea was stellar.

I’m certainly intrigued to see what you produce!

I obviously made use of your Boleyn idea, taking after Q2. I regret not being able to use finished versions of your Qui-Gon score for his mention in ROTS and blended rendition of the Imperial March with ANH’s Imperial theme as Anakin marches on the Jedi Temple.