IDontLikePocketSand

JayArgonaut said:

IDontLikePocketSand said:

I’m fairly certain it is not; left and right sound identical. Original post updated with media info. The aspect ratio is wrong because the picture is somewhat stretched vertically, but I believe that most of the frame is there. Presumably, the stretching was done so that a person could watch it on a 4:3 CRT TV without having to squint as much.

Thanks for your efforts with this.

I was curious about the sound because there was an article about piracy (can’t find the source now) that was published at the time of AOTC’s release and mentioned the role of “inside jobs” and as an example, described a pirated copy of AOTC that contained excellent fully mixed stereo audio, which led Lucasfilm to conclude it had been shot in a movie theatre/cinema by someone with access to a line output.

That means it’s not the Centropy release but I’m intrigued as to which one it was…

You’re welcome. The question of whether the channels match bugged me, so I extracted the first SVCD’s audio and followed the suggestions here in Audacity, resulting in this audio difference which sounds like a meaningless low warble. The channels are practically identical. However, Centropy’s audio track lacks audience noise and is very high-quality for what it is.

The only other AOTC TS or cam that I know of, also hosted by noneinc, is a comparatively poor-looking one called “Star Wars Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones - Cinema” or “SWE2AotCCinema” (screenshots). It might have real stereo sound; you can download and check it if you like.

It could be that the interviewee or journalist said “fully mixed stereo” to sound technically sophisticated or to amp up the perceived sophistication of the pirates and their “theft,” or the person could have been entirely full of it. By all accounts, Centropy was the elite scene group for films in the early noughties and their AOTC release the best one. I at least had that much figured out before reaching out for help by starting this topic.

JayArgonaut said:

IDontLikePocketSand said:
It just finished via none’s site, so I will put my full-sized screenshots in the original post for JayArgonaut.

Much obliged.

It looks quite decent, all things considered. If only they’d managed to capture the entire aspect ratio…

Q: What’s the audio like? Is it fully mixed stereo? There’s a reason why I’m asking.

I’m fairly certain it is not; left and right sound identical. Original post updated with media info. The aspect ratio is wrong because the picture is somewhat stretched vertically, but I believe that most of the frame is there. Presumably, the stretching was done so that a person could watch it on a 4:3 CRT TV without having to squint as much.

Density said:

God did that movie suck. Whoever shot this cam must have been a real pro because I wouldn’t have been able to keep the camera still out of a combination of compulsive laughter and facepalming.

Only tripods are so precise. I am not the biggest fan of AOTC or of the prequels, but I wanted to recapture the memory of my sole theatrical viewing as a youngling in aught-two, in a similar spirit to the great Team Negative1 35mm restoration of “Star Wars.”

To those wondering why this topic belongs here, it clearly falls under “the preservation of Star Wars rarities,” is a help to anyone who might want to make an AOTC theatrical fan edit, and, as someone stated, follows the obvious pattern that has been set in the category and forum; there are search terms and sources named but no direct links. In all candor, I don’t really care what a screen name with accompanying comic book image thinks about me or my posts; it is the sole responsibility of the site owner and moderators to control the forum’s tone, pattern, and culture.

To those having difficulty playing this ancient media format, I have updated the original post with brief instructions for Windows users, links to solutions for Linux and OS X users, and like I said the media info.

Darth Mallwalker said:

'spleen is not VCD. 'spleen is 480x576.
'spleen is identical to none’s website, if that’s what you’re downloading.
But don’t take my word for it… just remember you heard it here first 😃

Very good, then I’ll seed that one for a little while in exchange for towne32’s invite. It just finished via none’s site, so I will put my full-sized screenshots in the original post for JayArgonaut.

JayArgonaut said:

Any chance that you could post a few screenshots on here as well please? I’m curious about the quality.

I will sure update my original post, probably with a link to a new better-titled topic, and share some screenshots. ETA is T plus three hours (28 Mar 2016 0320 EST) at the earliest (edit: my download speed is inconsistent; will probably be 0600 or later).

towne32 said:

Well, I did send you an invite earlier. So there’s that option.

Thank you very much for that. I may have found the SVCD version outside of MySpleen after all! (The hint is in the filenames specified by the NZB which DarthMallwalker found [edit: hell, the operative string is SWE2AotCctp].) The server is now delivering it to me on and off at 10 KiB/s (second edit: it’s stopped cutting out and is delivering 156 KiB/s). Whatever happens, I will give back to MySpleen, either by seeding the VCD mentioned earlier or by sharing this 2.5 GiB version if it finishes, is not password-protected, and is better than what the Spleen has. (It; that is, the original ~2.5 GiB SVCD; is on MySpleen.)

JayArgonaut said:

Was it “Star Wars Episode II - Attack Of The Clones MED SWESUB-XVID”?

If so, I have a copy of that and it’s just the regular home video version.

No, but I found an alternate name of it; it’s a DVDRip in three SVCD images like Centropy’s TS, which made me hope that it was a TS. The Centropy version was also on the eDonkey network a decade ago, but I couldn’t find a link and am certain nobody is seeding. No AOTC TS seems to be available on public servers or trackers (edit: except the NZB indicated by Darth Mallwalker, which is now 1744 days old).

towne32 said:

I generally do not give myspleen invites to new users, since they are almost 100% of the time hit-and-runners. But would give you one because of your familiarity with the 35mm differences and, more importantly, your username.

I would be very grateful regardless of the best version available there. Candidly, although I am a “Star Wars” fan, I rarely feel the urge to discuss fiction or entertainment. The only thing that sparked me to look for this was the release of the 35mm “Star Wars” restoration, which I didn’t even know occurred until yesterday and am now downloading with public trackers.

However, I will certainly not be a hit-and-runner of MySpleen, but will seed this release to a ratio of at least two unless no peers show up. I will sign up using the same name that I have here (and am just now registered on Spleen Forums), so presumably you should be able to view my share ratio; if not, it is no trouble for me to PM you proof.

towne32 said:

However, myspleen only has the vcd, not the SVCD. If you manage to find that, though, it would be nice to have on the spleen. Perhaps someone with a usenet account that has absurdly good retention can find it?

I checked the popular Usenet binary search engine, disregarding age, and found nothing. There is a (dead) public torrent, but it’s (presumably hard) SWESUBbed.

FOUND. So what I wanted is available on noneinc’s site and on MySpleen. I have finished downloading via HTTP, so enjoy the NFO rendering and the full-sized screenshots.

It comes in three SVCD bin/cue images about 800 MB each. To play one, mount it with Alcohol 120%, UltraISO, or somesuch, and open with VLC (other media players not tested). When mounted, you can extract the MPEG files and splice them with something like MKVToolNix, ffmpeg, or HandBrake.

Linux solution: (1, 2)
OS X solution

Video: MPEG-2 480x576 25fps (PAL SVCD spec.)
Audio: MPEG-1 Audio Layer II stereo (left and right tracks sound identical) 44100 Hz 224 kb/s
Subtitles: English (forced) from the 35mm print

(^ The speeders which Obi-Wan passes are absent from digital and home media versions.)

(^ The prosthetic hand only twitches its fingers a few times, accompanied by subtle mechanical sound effects, before panning up. In the digital and home media versions, this is replaced by a CGI prosthetic that takes her left hand.)

Original post

Hello. I would like to get the package named Star.Wars.Episode.II.Attack.of.the.Clones.SVCD-Centropy (preview images), which will undoubtedly be the best source of the theatrical 35mm version of AOTC until some good citizen acquires and digitizes a film can for us.

As most of you probably know, the 35mm version, which was the one seen in all but a few digital-projector-equipped theaters, has several differences from the home media versions, including a few more speeders in the shot in which Obi-Wan catches Anakin’s lightsaber, Natalie Portman’s despised “To be angry is to be human” and “Yes!” lines, and Anakin’s mechanical arm barely twitching in the end (more info; I am not sure how or whether the digital theatrical version differs from the film version, except that it is digital, although Chris Gould seems to indicate that the “digital and DVD” versions are the same).

I am not the biggest fan of AOTC or of the prequels, but I am drawn to the idea of possessing the captured theatrical memory on my hard disk, very curious to see these rare attributes in motion, and especially interested in seeing the sadly twitching robotic hand which I vaguely remember from my single theatrical viewing as a whippersnapper nearly sixteen years ago.

TL;DR: Is the AOTC TS (Star.Wars.Episode.II.Attack.of.the.Clones.SVCD-Centropy) on MySpleen? If so, please give me an invite, in which case I shall seed equitably; if not, please give me an appropriately vague hint or PM me with assistance.