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Jaiman Tuckuh

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Join date
20-Oct-2005
Last activity
13-Apr-2015
Posts
409

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Post
#278326
Topic
Idea: a Star Trek VI edit - Klingon blood from pink to red?
Time
Sorry to take so long. I don't get much written on Sundays & Mondays - too much distracting tv.

Originally posted by: Johnny Ringo
I'd always found the judge at the show trial to be rather un klingon in his speech and mannerisms. Klingons often speak in a very abrupt and cincise manner. Maybe I could overdub him with Klingon dialogue from some other source. Although that could seem out of place since they made it quite clear that everyone is speaking in english as a result of the translator.
Yeah, the judge never seemed quite Klingon-like, to me, either.

But he was elderly, and I seem to remember some old Klingons that didn't act or talk like the younger ones. And, now that I think about it, he wasn't a politician, military, or agent. I think we've had a scientist or two who didn't talk typically. And perhaps those guys who created the new Kahless. Maybe that's how an aged Klingon judge might sound.

Also, they may've had judges specializing in recorded trials of other species. He could have been trained to sound, more like an Earth-er. Just as (in TOS) Arne Darvin was trained to sound like a toady human, and Kras (the mining-rights negotiator in TOS Friday's Child) may've been trained to sound less Klingon-like.

I'd think I'd leave it. Like you say, it wouldn't be right to hear him speaking Klingonee, with subtitles, at the same time Chang & the defender are translated for us. I don't think you'd find enough Klingonee from one voice, anyway. (And there are supposedly people who actually speak Klingonee, LOL). There's an outside chance of getting someone who can voice-act, but I've never seen a younger person who could do a convincing elderly guy.


Now that you've brought it up, I realize that there's always been two main styles of speech in Klingons.

There was the blunt, terse, authoritative, and often loud style (Kang, one of Kor's soldiers, the Klingon captain in "Elaan of Troyius", Kruge and a couple of his men (ST III), most of them in V, and the majority from TNG onward).

Then there was the smoother speech pattern, usually overlaid with an air of intimidation, insincere-politeness, scheming and so forth (Kor, Koloth, the Klingon in TOS "A Private Little War", Kruge's mistress (ST III), Maltz (ST III), Koord (ST V), the major Klingons in ST VI, Lursa and B'Etor, Gowron, Martok...).


Here's a little something I was tooling around with earlier...Nothing final, just playing with some ideas.
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5453/frame1tucky8.png
I like that! That dark reddish color is pleasing. And I like that there's a lot of midrage, instead of being "punchy", saturated and contrast-y. It's more subtle, but it's legible - a good balance.


Hey Jaiman, Did you notice this? - Early on as the Excelsior encounters the shockwave Dimitri is standing next to Sulu, then he appears in one of the alcoves, then he is back next to Sulu and and runs over to one of the alcoves...you probably wont notice a thing like that unless you look out for it. at about the 4 minute mark.

LOL! There he is. I saved IMDB's goofs list, but I hadn't checked it out before. Looks like it'd be a pain to composite him out of the seat, because there isn't a clean shot of the console. Someday I'm going to go through their list and check all those bits for repairability.

I think there was always something 'wtf' about that scene...

I think that even the quicker, subtler gaffes are worth fixing. It's like you notice them subliminally. Or you know that something doesn't jibe, even if you don't spot it. In the olden days, long before videotape, I made audio tapes of TOS episodes, to listen to between syndicated runs. There'd be a great scene that I loved on tape. But when I watched it on tv, there'd be spot where I'd feel a disconnect for a moment. Something seemed off, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Decades later, I was looking at a gaffes list, and noticed they happened during those scenes.

By the way, the scene where Kirk tackles the president just ain't right. All of a sudden, the assassin is aiming at the edge of the president's torso? That's lucky for ol' Prez, he shifts position just enough for it to miss, before Kirk can reach him. I'd rather have it cut from pulling-the-trigger to the white frame & the pillar exploding. Perhaps run a slow-motion program on the trigger-pull, so the music and sound would sync up.


Oh, and if you keep the West as the would-be assassin, you have to ditch "This isn't Klingon blood.". That one admiral had reached for the neck (pulse, I suppose), so he could've felt something wrong while the camera was elsewhere.



Might try to put in the alternate shot of Kirk non-verbally retracting his "Let them die!", if and see how it plays, since it was Shatner's wish.

which part exactly were you referring to?


After the Starfleet briefing, Spock and Kirk argue about the negotiation order. Spock says "They are dying." and Kirk says "Let them die.". It's about 11:36 on the SE.

There's an alternate take, of Kirk, on the extras disc, in the "Prejudice" section, at about 1:18. He says "Let them die.", but is immediatly embarassed. Of course it's letterboxed, and probably needs color grading, and there's a little dirt.

It'd be an interesting experiment to keep the original "Let them die." (looks and sounds better, to me, than the alternate take), cut to
part of Spock's long reaction, cut back to a selected chunk of Kirk gesturing that he didn't mean that, and then cut back to another piece of Spock's reaction.

I think the end of Spock's reaction looks more shocked & dissaproving, and might work better as his first reaction shot. The beginning of it could possibly fit as a reaction to Kirk's embarassment.
Post
#278104
Topic
Info: Jaiman's Newsgroup posting list - edits & preservations
Time
Slow upload, please be patient

Fan edit of Spiderman 2, by PaulisDead2221. "The Spectacular Spiderman".

Running Time: 112 minutes. (15 minutes cut from the original movie).
Stats: NTSC, Animated menued, Barely audible 5.1 Dolby Digital and generously sized 2.0 PCM
Covers: Case & Disc art. (I don't know who made them).
Size: 4.32 Gigs (4,644,741,349 bytes)



10% Pars. The rars have a recovery record. If you need more pars, reply to this nfo (limited time offer).
Md5 & Sha1 verification files included (see below).

http://www.originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=7349
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cuts removed/added/extended :
1. New title integrated into the title sequence
2. Cut various overly cheesy little things
3. Softened Harry's obsession just a little so it's not over the top ("Every night! Until I find him it's 24/7!! Rarrr!")
4. Cut out the...flamboyant music montage before the play
5. Cut out the asian woman's rendition of the Spiderman theme, both times.
6. Cut out Peter's conversation with himself after the answering machine hangs up on him after the play.
7. Cut out Doc Ock's "NOOOOOOOO!" (Darth Vader anyone?)
8. Moved the wedding scene to much earlier in the film, so Mary Jane putting her heart out to Peter becomes much more "all or nothing"
9. Etc. Mostly it was just little things, it's really a good film overall. Especially for a Marvel movie. Especially for a sequel.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Snip]
Post
#278018
Topic
Idea: a Star Trek VI edit - Klingon blood from pink to red?
Time
I've dreamed about converting Russ's character to Tuvok, in Generations! Maybe a person could use something like Poser to render eartips. It'd take a lot of fiddling to line the head movement up, but it'd be worth it. Once there's a convincing source of eartips, properly lit, it shouldn't be that much work to composite them in. Be worth a shot.


Yeah... expanding the dedication is an interesting idea. I wouldn't want to dilute the tribute to GR. But hey, its an edit, not the original, I think it could be cool.


I probably came off as an ST VI basher. I love the film, its just a few little things that set my teeth on edge. I have nitpicks for all the movies.


I don't have very extensive notes. I was planning to fit it to 2 episodes. So I was going to add Flashback Excelsior bits, take care of the nitpicks, and find ways to trim for time, once I got into it. But summitted for your consideration:


Might try to put in the alternate shot of Kirk non-verbally retracting his "Let them die!", if and see how it plays, since it was Shatner's wish.


I'd clip out the use of that klunky Bosun's Whistle, there (& in ST II, for that matter). There was only one occurance in TOS - and they used a real whistle - appropriate for something traditional. They didn't use it for Ambassador Sarek, other alien digitaries, or for Starfleet admirals.

A for-home-video bit I'd leave out: "Klingons have no tear ducts." It is funny, and I hate to lose "I bet that Klingon bitch never shed a tear.", but Spock wouldn't make that error. Tear ducts drain the tears. Tears are produced by lacrimal glands. Besides, there's Worf's story that has a line about "cried a river of tears..." (quote approximate).


West's rescue plan is an interesting for-home-video addition, but I like the pacing of the theatrical.

Also for-home-video, pulling the mask off of West is a little hokey, and also weirds out the pacing, but it is nice to show the audience that a human was putting himself at risk, and violently involved. Of course he'd planned to pull off the mask, for his escape, so it makes sense.

Might weigh those against seeing almost-Odo, close-up, as an admiral... it's kinda distracting, to me.


And the SE addition of flashbacks during the mind meld. It helps us remember the who the hell they're talking about. But it just seems melodramatic, and it distracts from a very intense scene. (Maybe tone it down, get rid of that hokey sound effect, shorten them up).

1/4 impulse is a power-setting, not a speed. I could accept the claim that it was more than regulations allow, but Saavik ordered it, and she was concerned about regulations. If I recall, it was used in the other movies as well. Personally, I don't really care for the throat-clearing and tsk-tsk'ing anyway. The speeded-up footage for leaving spacedock looks false. I think it was sped up from recycled footage, so ya night steal it from whichever movie. Yes, Kirk likes his orders followed, and maybe he chafes at some rules, but he doesn't go out of his way to piss off Starfleet, while he's there, just for the hell of it.

That whole notion of mothballing Starfleet, or its military capability, is too silly for anyone to utter. There's nothing hypothetical about an alien threat, there's the Romulans, at the very least.


I wish it were practical to get rid of those distracting neon clocks, and replace the curved tube-tv-screens with flatscreen. But that'd be an overwhelming amount of work.

I doubt Klingons would choose the word "Gulag". Might be possible to edit out the uses of the word, and just leave "Rura Pente". Morphed frames could be used to keep them from being jump-cuts. Yeah, it could be chalked it up to the universal translator, and left it as is. But it seemed like a heavy-handed "They're Soviets! See? They're Soviets!" to me. They were clearly politically-analogous to the Soviets in TOS, without any blunt cues for the non-fan general audience. I think it would at least be nice for "Welcome to [] Rura Pente!" because the original line is clumsy. And if it were the universal translator, would that word have survived into their century? Maybe, it might've been applied to other powers's labor-camps, over the centuries.


Oh, and: "If the shoe fits." I'd cut Checkov gloating, and Spock getting his attention. He drops the shoes, we see Valeris's, Spock's, and the crowd's reaction after having their attention drawn to Dax's feet. Camera pans down and we see the problem. Checkov & Valeris look dissapointed. Actually, it's hard to believe that no one noticed his feet sooner. Maybe have him come in, then the camera pans to his feet. Gets right to the punchline.
Post
#278008
Topic
Idea: a Star Trek VI edit - Klingon blood from pink to red?
Time
I will be looking forward to your release, Johnny Ringo. I wish I could pitch in, but I doubt it. I'm full of advice though.


For the love of all things SciFi, please get rid of "Don't wait for the translator!". (And get rid of the translator guy). That's their most idiotic cold-war reference. Klingons have universal translators, just like everyone else.


Dried human blood is brown. Assuming that Klingon blood is, then that makes it far more believable that no-one noticed the dried blood on the transporter pad, until Checkov looked closely. Maybe you could make dried Klingon blood an unexpected dark color.


If you're going with the aspect ratio on the ST VI special edition, then you're going to have a problem matching Flashback footage to it. The first several years of new-Trek episodes have poor-quality video. Cropping & resizing will make it worse. They were mastered onto D2 - a low-end (lowest?) broadcast-quality tape, until the final two season's of Voyager. In fact, they are somewhat pillarboxed - black bars on the side. Also there's artifacting & other video problems that'll get worse with resizing.

ST-VI was Super35, and they opened the matte to close to 16:9, for the DVDs. If you trim them to 16:9, then you'll have less resizing to do with Flashback. (Phase-II-style edits would look ok in fullscreen, the opened matte means most of the camera work looks normal in P&S).


The biggest problem with Flashback is that Janeway is right there. She's obvious in almost every shot. (Makes Mulgrew look like a camera-hog, but the story is really about her being in Tuvok's past). Fortunatally, the scenes are replayed from a variety of camera angles. So it might be possible to find enough bits where it's possible to composite her out. When she's in normal uniform, you might be able to replace her head (far fetched), alter her hair, or use shots where she'd far enough to try to not-notice.

The nastiest bit is where Kang is on the viewscreen, and she walks right up and blocks the right side of viewscreen. I think that one can be repaired by compositing. But when it switches back to a view of the nebula, there's going to be a challenge. Thankfully, Takei's acting is passable in the sequence with Kang.


My Phase-II-style vapor-edit would only use a few of the Flashback scenes, and change the episode's story a bit. Sulu wouldn't disable the Klingons and head right back. Klingons have subspace communications, too. Sulu would cooperate until he was out of sensor range. Then he'd sneak back in. He'd save the nebula explosion trick, in case the Klingons caught him again (which they did).

Also, I'd, personally, remove all references to Dimitri dying. He was alive at the end of the original. (Or you could choose to composite him out of the viewscreen shot at the end). I consider his death to be another false memory - not as traumatic one as the virus's signature false-memory, but pretty bad. (Especially for a Vulcan who wasn't very cooperative with the emotion-repression as a child).


And then there's the small matter of Rand's rank being different in Flashback. That would require some very advanced compositing, maybe rendering, or you would have to choose her closer-shot scenes exclusively from one or the other.

The first event in Flashback, where Rand teases Tuvok about the tea, happens before the start of the movie. And Whitney (Rand) is suddenly a bad actress. (I blame it on the same Voyager directing that made Takei's performance Chacotay-wooden. Captain Sulu was awesome in ST VI, and suddenly awful for much of Flashback). Too bad, because there's actually a shot or two without Janeway.


Heh, no matter how many opinions any two Trek fans have in common, you will always find some thing(s) that they completely disagree about.

I'm sure it puts me in the minority, but almost all of the ST VI jokes make me wince. I remember the theater audience laughing where I was cringing. The ones that I hate require them to be out of character, in my opinion.

While the sabatoge discussion has humorous moments, it requires everyone but Valeris to be uncommonly dense. Then there's the jokes that make Checkov a comic-relief character. Checkov's character had lame dialog in ST II, then he became more & more of a dufus. He bounced back to normal in Generations. (In TOS, he had the "Russian invention" thing, but it eventually became clear that he was joking with them). And my gawd, the translation scene. Ick.

The only thing that earns unreserved laughter, from me, is the whole "I'm going to kill you anyway, so I might as well tell you." sequence. And I know few people who share that opinion. If my version ever gets realized, it will be fairly humorless.


One more thing: Normally, a PAL DVD would give you more vertical resolution (if it were scanned, to PAL, from film). But they did an pitiful job of resizing the NTSC sources to PAL. Modern software would do a lot better. So if you can get ahold of the NTSC version...


Another more thing: That bit with Uhura struggling with books to do the translating. Yeesh. Even if they could pick up on the universal translator's generated voice (I doubt it, that's more believeable for computerized voice impersonation), I don't think their equipment would pick up on normal Klingon sentances. She should be reading from a monitor. Unfortunatally, I think the scene would have to be cut. Or have the two bored Klingons challenge them for ID, then switch away to the Excelsior, or switch to Kirk & McCoy. The audience can just worry about it until we see the Enterprise crew again. Might also be able to crop the books out and have Uhura start to say "We are the..." and then switch.

Edit, again: Vertical resolution, not horizontal.
Post
#278005
Topic
Idea: a Star Trek VI edit - Klingon blood from pink to red?
Time
Red blood is automatically recognised as gory, by the brain. If you have to think about it as blood, it reduces the impact slightly.

And combined with Klingons who had been changed into even-more alien form, the ratings-dolts would consider it close to monster-killing - something they've always accepted. Also, ratings-boards give outer-space science fiction uncommonly harsh ratings. For one thing, some time back, influential theologians twisted religious text - humans must the the only intellegent life. That, and the tolerance, and imaginativness, and several other things about SciFi, offend ratings-morons. But ST VI was a very mainstream movie, and it was seen as slightly-campy, self-depricating nostalgia, so they eased up on it.

It all sounds goofy, but ratings boards are run by goofy folks.

Afterthought: It also had the overtly-obvious political message about the end of the Cold War, and our very reality-based worry that Gorbachev was assasinated at one point. We came out on the happy side of the Cold War, so it brought up pleasant thoughts. That's something that made Western rate-ers very happy, they couldn't help but like it.

So ST VI got the kind of violence rating that non-SciFi, or monster-kill movies get.
Post
#277835
Topic
Info & Info Wanted: Star Trek Theatrical versions - question
Time
Originally posted by: Oso Blanco
@Jaiman Tuckuh:

As I understand, you have a HD version of The Undiscovered Country which seems to be the theatrical cut. Are you going to upload that one as well? Would be nice to have, just for the sake of completion.
I wouldn't be welcome to repost them into the groups they were originally in - alt.binaries.hdtv and alt.binaries.hdtv.repost. Once something is reposted, there, that's usually it.

I might be able to repost hdtv files to alt.binaries.startrek, some day. But I don't know how likely that is. I have at least 2 months of fan-edit/preservation stuff to post already, and there's more that I haven't got yet. Plus new stuff keeps coming out. Also, it would take me 4 or 5 days to post a set. I would like to, because they should be posted to that group. Of course no one does post hdtv files, there, so I would have to do an "intent to post" to see if anyone objected.

You might be able to get them by torrent (see the babbling at the bottom).

Of course, if the movies become available on retail HDTV discs, (or retail HDTV download, like the XBox service), then I won't be able to post them at all. OTOH, if the retail versions are altered from the HDTV captures, then it wouldn't be against the forum rules to distribute the old captures (if I understand correctly).

That being said, the first set of ST VI captures, that I have, aren't identical to the theatrical. There is more of the picture vertically (like in the DVD's). And the end theme is different from what was described at IMDB. But they do match the theatrical scenes, whereas the DVD's have extra scenes.


BTW, what format are the HD versions before they are being converted to DVD format? Is there a loss in quality during the conversion? If so, is there any place where I could download the original HD files? Many questions, but I'm kind of new to this ...


Yep, there is a lot of quality lost, in conversion to DVD. HD files have much more detail than DVD. So, of course, they are large sets of files - 2 or 3 single-layer dvd's-full.

The hdtv files are almost always .TS files. Usually in 100 Megabyte chunks. Those have to be joined to play smoothly. They contain either mpeg2 or hx264 codecs. VLC plays HD files. But any software will have trouble playing some hx264 caps (if they have a full-sized picture and a high "bitrate"). Joining and converting gets into a longer subject.


A different posting of ST VI (looked about the same, but wasn't a file-match, and I didn't get a chance to check it scene-by-scene) was posted on 11-27-06. That expired from Giganews recently. So it might show up again in the repost group, soon.

Meanwhile, ST III was posted, for the first time ever, 15 days ago, in alt.binaries.hdtv. It'll likely be reposted.

So that leaves ST IV as the only Trek movie never posted in HD.

Bit-hdtv Had torrents for ST 1, 2, and 6-10, the last time I looked.

Hd-bits probably has V, but they are invitation-only.

Once you download them, though, you might not have someone to seed to - ruining your ratio. Their advice is to select some of the files from a popular torrent, and seed those over & over, to build up a ratio - then go for the heavily seeded torrents with few downloaders.


I wish I had ST V, but I managed to miss it. I don't suppose anyone happens to have it, or could get me an invite to hd-bits?
Post
#277650
Topic
Idea: a Star Trek VI edit - Klingon blood from pink to red?
Time
I hate that damned Milk of Magnesia. Klingons had red blood before and since.

It'd be neat if AfterEffects chromakey could handle the job. But I suspect it'd be as braindead as any other color selection tools I've seen. (Why can't they be vector-based, and less dependent on brightness?, he asked, rhetorically).

But maybe that histogram trick could be used - with a hand-corrected sample as a base... hmmm... but that'd get tedious with changing shots.


I can't tackle any projects for quite a while. I have a commitment to something that's going very slowly.
Post
#277496
Topic
Alien Appendix #3: The Alien Archive (Released)
Time
Cool news on the disc art, Ash.


AA3 is finally going up in the newsgroups.

Look in alt.binaries.dvd, and alt.binaries.dvd.midnightmovies. Posting notices to a.b.dvd5, a.b.scifi, and a.b.multimedia.horror.


They spoiled us for a while, Airmail was taking 4 days. Or maybe the carrier pigeon was facing a headwind. I got it yesterday, a prior post finished this morning, I hit a snag, yaddayaddayadda, and now we're in buisness.


Thanks, meedermow, for that disc, and the two that I was missing. Copies are made & ready to go to DrGonzo, hopefully tommorow.

By the way, I recommend the freeware Damn Nfo Viewer for Ash's nifty-looking nfo.

Post
#277495
Topic
Idea: Preserving STAR TREK - a preservation project?
Time
Originally posted by: Uncanny Antman
Originally posted by: crazyrabbits
I think, THINK, I can get some of the bonus materials that came on the store-exclusive discs (as they're on another torrent site), but I'll check back in tomorrow to tell you folks what I can find.


No need to go crazy-nuts on those. I have all of them, as does everyone in the world who bought the TNG and/or DS9 on region 2 or 4. All those extra-extras were on them as standard.


But I'd like to hear where to find the TOS, Voyager, and Enterprise bonus discs (without exact links, of course, just the tracker).

And I hope there's good news on all the rest of that stuff.
Post
#277482
Topic
Info: Jaiman's Newsgroup posting list - edits & preservations
Time
Jonno and the Alien Appendix Team present:

Alien Appendix 3 - "Alien Archive" version 1.0 PAL. (An NTSC version is planned for the future).


A collection of rare documenteries that are not available commercially. (Details below).


10% Pars. The rars have a recovery record. If you need more pars, reply to this nfo (limited time offer).
Md5 & Sha1 verification files included (see lowest section of this nfo).


http://www.originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=4888&STARTPAGE=1
http://www.originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=7436

Alien Appendix 3: The Alien Archive - Version 1.0 - February 2007

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//Release Information//
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DISC DETAILS
==========

Title : AA03 - The Alien Archive - Version 1.0 - February 2007
Type : DVD Movie
Video Format: DVD/VOB/MPEG2/720x576/16:9 and 4:3/PAL
Audio Format: Dolby Digital 2.0 (various bitrates)
Size : 4.35GB
DVD-Rom : NFO, Cover (by Ash595)


RELEASE DETAILS
===============

Sources : VHS and DVD from PAL and NTSC broadcasts, laserdisc, promotional DVDs
Transfers : TB1971, Rijir, Ash595, 8t88, Jambe Davdar, Jonno, meedermow
Authoring : Jonno
Creator Catalog: AA03
Release Group : Alien Appendix Team
Contents :

Giger's Alien (1979)
Excerpt from Ridley Scott: Eye of the Storm (1992)
Masters of Terror with Vincent Price (1986)
Shock & Awe: The Return of Alien (2003)
Alien: the Director's Cut Featurette (2003)
Yaphet Kotto interview (2003)
Widescreen Alien teaser trailer and theatrical trailer (1979)
Alien Widescreen VHS release trailer (1992)
Alien: the Director's Cut trailer (2003)
Alien: the Director's Cut TV spots (2003)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//Alien Appendix Release List//
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AA01 - Preservation of the "Alien Evolution" documentary (PAL) - Version 1.0 - March 2006
AA01a - Preservation of the "Alien Evolution" documentary (NTSC) - Version 1.0 - May 2006
AA02 - Alien Redux - "The Virtual Workprint" - Dual-Layer anamorphic - Version 1.0 - July 2006
AA02a - Alien Redux - "The Virtual Workprint" - Single-Layer non-anamorphic - Version 1.0 - July 2006
AA03 - The Alien Archive - Version 1.0 - February 2007


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//Team Notes//
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alien Appendix 3: The Alien Archive collects material provided by the following contributors:
tb1971
RIJIR
Ash595
8t88
Jambe Davdar
Jonno
meedermow
DVD authored by Jonno, technical support and quality control by meedermow and Jambe Davdar.

Cover designed by Ash595.

Thanks to the many contributors and supporters of the Alien Appendix project on originaltrilogy.com, with special thanks to

TB1971, for granting access to his own formidable Alien archive, and meedermow for his continued dedication to the cause!


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//Distribution Notes//
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PLEASE - DO NOT sell this disc for profit.

This DVD is a "not for profit" fan created transfer, intended for entertainment and educational use only.

DON'T SUPPORT PIRACY.

You are welcome to share, trade or Pay this disc Forward but please keep this NFO file and DVD_ROM folder intact.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//Alien Appendix//
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All Appendix discs are Fan Created Preservation efforts taken from the best possible materials.

We are a Worldwide group who all share an enthusiasm for the Alien Series.

We will not create any titles that are officially available in the current Worldwide marketplace.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//Transmission Ends//
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BTW: I recommend the freeware "Damn nfo viewer" for the nfo contained in the Dvd-rom folder.
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/Text-editors/DAMN-NFO-Viewer.shtml

Post
#277019
Topic
Info: Jaiman's Newsgroup posting list - edits & preservations
Time
Slow post, please be patient.


The two Matrix sequels edited down to a single disc.

By Spence. With the single-Layer conversion done by Boon.

Running Time: 2hrs. 33 min.
Stats: NTSC, Anamorphic, menued, DD 2.0
Covers: Currently only a thinpak cover from THXjay.
Size: 4.34 Gigs (4,688,169,005 bytes)
Extras: 2 Alternate endings
Note: the intact versions of trimmed/deleted fight scenes were removed for the SL version.

(The original version of Revised is Dual-Layer DVD).





http://www.originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=5917
http://www.originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=7391

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spence says:

Hey folks, Spence here.

I've been working on a revised version of my fan edit of The Matrix Squared. This version
is more cleaned up, getting rid of the technical glitches and other things that bothered me.

This is essentially the same edit as the first version of Matrix Squared, it's just
cleaned up and better.

If you don't know what Matrix Squared is it, is a fan made edition of The Matrix Reloaded
and The Matrix Revolutions into one film, also including scenes from Enter The Matrix and
The Animatrix. It removes a lot of subplots and side characters and rearranges things to
make a new sequel to The Matrix. The basic plot is the same, but now you can get the full
story in one sitting.

the final run time on this is 2 hrs. 33 min. considering the two sequels were over two
hours a piece, this is a pretty good running time.

This is a DL full quality dvd. It includes these special features:

2 alternate endings
deleted fight sequences.

If you like this fan edit, check out some of my other work:

King Kong
King Kong ver. 2.0 (same edit but featuring extended edition scenes)
Daredevil
Silent Hill
The Amazing Spider-Man
Alexander

In the Works:
Jurassic Park Trilogy
Flags of our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Rent
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Snip]
Post
#276976
Topic
How to use HuffYUV
Time
Originally posted by: Knightmessenger
I want to use Huffy in real time capturing.

Huffy is fine for real-time capture. Perhaps the best.

I have also heard Huffy video does not play back well on the computer.

VLC, for example, doesn't play Huffy avi's worth a crap. It's not designed to. But Powerdvd plays the avi's smoothly. I would expect Windvd would, as well.

Would this be a problem on a playable dvd and what could be done about that if it is?

No problem at all. Whatever mpeg2 encoder you use, will use the Huffy avi as information, and the encoder will create an entirely new mpeg2 file.

How do I calibrate it?


If you mean color/brightness/contrast, then Virtualdub gives you basic settings. I suspect the capture card driver can give it fancier settings like gamma, if the driver is written to do that.

In Virtualdub, go to File->Capture.

Video->Source gives you those basic settings. (And this is where you choose the source (in my case: tuner, composite or S-Video).

If you have preview or overlay on, you'll be able to see the video, so you can make those settings by eye.

Video->Filters->Add gives you a choice of built-in filters. Some of those can affect color & brightness & junk. You can probably google up a gamma filter to add to Virtualdub. But a filter might slow Virtualdub down, and could potentially cause dropped frames.

You need to set the compression, of course.

And there are various other settings that are, hopefully, self-explanatory. Go through them all & see what you can figure out.

It's been years since I captured. My Virtualdub shows the capture card driver, I don't think I ever had to tell Virtualdub that it was there.


I also have DScaler installed. I know that can convert interlaced to progressive but I'm not sure if I should. My footage is all hand held and has a lot of action. I want to test it first on captured footage before I capture with it on. How do I make sure it's not on and then use it later?


I haven't read much about DScaler. I seem to have it installed, because Virtualdub has a "BT8X8 Tweaker" (My capture driver is BT848); and when I click the tweaker, it tells me to copy several DScaler files into the VirtualDub application directory.

In any case, I'm sure you would have to do something to make DScaler do deinterlacing, or to make it create 60 fps progressive.


DScaler can convert that to 60 frame per second - but then you won't be able to play the file on a normal tv. I don't believe you could even make a 60-frame-per-second dvd.


De-interlacing, (with DScaler or anything else) will lose quality, by throwing away/blending/interpolating fields.

Dvd standards allow interlaced, and all dvd players will handle it effortlessly.

If you were to deinterlace, you would have to introduce pulldown - an interlacing created by repeating fields. And that will cause a slight jerkyness in motion. (We here in NTSC-land are used to that. But true interlacing still looks nicer to us).

(I suspect all modern sports coverage is from videocameras, and is broadcast at 60 fields per second).

So a highlight reel (or any other dvd you make) will look best if it's left interlaced. Nice, smooth action.

I need really simple instructions as I don't have a clue about script settings or just number settings.

My editing system is vegas 4 with Windows XP. All the video is from Hi8 tapes.


Vegas is designed to use avi, so edit your Huffy video with Vegas.

Anything about converting to mpg, or about filtering before editing, is best left to people more experienced, with those, than I.
Post
#276609
Topic
Idea & Info Wanted: Is there a way to save Bakshi's Lord of the Rings?
Time
I have mixed feelings about the silhouetted or posterised parts of the rotoscoping, in his works. Some places, it seemed effective, to me. Other times it didn't seem so hot.

I can see why it ain't everyone's cup.


Sure it was cheap. It was a cost-cutting innovation. But he took those savings and plowed them into some sweet animation, on a budget he could get get in the real world. And it fit the "Oh my god we must censor out all the violence, boo hoo!" times. It's like the shower curtain in Psycho. Told the story, but wasn't graphic. (Animation was considered kid's-first, and boy did they censor it, in the 70's. There was more leeway in movies, but still).


The technical side of this, though, belongs in the "Requests, How-to's, and Technical Discussions" sub-forum.


A bit of advice: honey is better than vinegar. You may feel disgusted, but you want people to come in with positive "That would be neat." thoughts. Maybe change the subject of your first post of the thread to something a little more mellow. Say - "Upgrading the rotoscoping in Bakshi's LotR?".


AE is meant to be frustrating. They want you to take classes, and study under masters to learn their trade secrets. It's built for proffessionals - and "the last thing they need" is a 20,000 self-studied hot shots suddenly competing for their jobs. But that ain't going to happen because there's massive demand from small-scale advertisers, and most people are happy to use their skills to amuse themselves. Thankfully, there's many experts who aren't paranoid, so the info's out there.

But I digress...


It just might be possible to make AE draw a line at the boundry of the colors. And then put the tracings on a monotone.

Since the information is 2-color, there's nothing else to process. So I doubt if you could do more than that without hiring animators.


I only know a thin slice of AE's functionality, so I couldn't tell you "if" or "how".

If it can do that, it would probably work something like an image editor function - you'd auto-trace the boundry onto another layer, and replace the original layer.


A tedious possibility - if you get the lines-on-paper effect, you could manually add some motion blur-effect to selected areas (fast moving limbs & such). Don't ask me how, though.

If you want to spend months on it, learn rotoscoping, and do whatdoyacallit? Radial density? Give them a sense of shape & mass.

Maybe effects-up a swirling fog/dust effect, and use the solid background as your chroma-key color. Give it that fog-of-war thing. (Men and animals stirring up clouds of dust when they fight).

Maybe save the scenes to sequences of images & try some watercolor/oil brush effects in an image editor.

Or buy some plugins, and do it in AE.

You could play with clipping out frames & morphing so the blows look fierce, instead of like inexperienced stunt-actors pulling punches.

Google up tutorials, try forums that are dedicated to that stuff, maybe invest in those here's-what-we-think-you-want-to-know books.

Maybe you can get other people interested in working on the project with you. You might have to get some stuff done, first, and show it to them, though.

It's up to you, learn it, play with it, and show us what you come up with.
Post
#276603
Topic
Transferring help wanted for "Thief and the Cobbler" LD
Time
In my experience, it's always up to the guy, who wants it preserved, and can pony up the dough, and spend the time. There's lots & lots of worthy stuff out there, that hasn't been getting done. Everyone who can, has a backlog of their own favorites, or they don't have time.

But you can get pretty close on a budget.

To get you started, this sub-forum has great advice. Search "laserdisc" and "capture".


Some bullet-points:

The X0 is the the bad boy that we all need. The X0 Project had the temporary use of another person's. Last I looked, there's an eBay dude in Japan who can ship you one, when he has it in stock. I think about $7,000. Plus a few hundred shipping (it weighs a LOT).

The expensive ones that are almost-as-good use a lot of antiquated signal processing that softens & degrades the image. Looks nicer than static, when you're watching, but it takes away signal that you want to capture. You want to do the processing in the capture card & software. (The X0 has a bypass path around the extra processing).

So, the next best thing is the V8000 - a cheap industrial model that's built like a stone and skips most of the signal processing. Trouble is, they go for cheaper than the shipping - meaning no one is motivated to test them beyond power-up and play. Most don't test past power-up, some don't even bother with that. You'll find the exact model in this sub-forum.

You might need a TBC (Time Base Corrector).

You capture to a lossless codec. That compresses without artifacts or compromises. Huffyuv seems to be the only one that works fast enough for capture. Then you do your processing steps & compress for dvd. You might store the original capture - it'll take a few discs.

You don't use the word de-interlace. Taboo! That isn't for film-source. If you use that term, over on videohelp.com, they will think you mean it and give you a lecture on the evils. De-interlace is a destructive process - only for truely-interlaced sources - e.g. 60 field/s videocam footage, or 30 frame/s CGI.

You're wanting IVTC (Inverse Telecine). That removes the pulldown (aka telecine).

IVTC is done after capture.

Videohelp & Doom9 are where you go for the various IVTC tools, and not-much-explanation on how to tweak them.

Laserdiscs video is stored as analog, so you want a kickin' capture card to digitize the signal. (The LD analog is a little more complicated than tape's steady analog, but it isn't digital. Doesn't matter how, though, so I'll skip the explanation). There's good recommendations in here.

Citizen did a thing where he captured the disc 5 times, and averaged out the static & interference. That emulates one of the nifty tricks that the X0 does in hardware. There a software utility, called "Toot" that works with 3 captures.
Post
#276434
Topic
Info: Jaiman's Newsgroup posting list - edits & preservations
Time
Yeah... seems the Dvd-rom folder was just a hair too large, wasn't it?

Ok, there was only room for the disc art and the little files.

I put in a link for the covers.rar.


Also I added a rar for the original ifo & bup set.

And two sets of md5's and sha1's - one set for the original ifo & bup, another for the corrected.

Seems hardly worth a new nzb, but you don't want to get headers, now, do you?
Post
#275918
Topic
Info: Jaiman's Newsgroup posting list - edits & preservations
Time
Long nfo, please be patient.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Slow upload, please be patient

The Thief and the Cobbler - Recobbled Director's Cut - Revised Mark II, by ocpmovie


This is NOT a retail version. It's not any of the stomped-upon kiddie-only versions.

It is a painstaking visual & audio reconstruction of what was originally intended by famed
animator Richard Wiliams ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit").

With the workprint as a guide, many rare sources were used to give us the best (currently)
possible look at what SHOULD have been seen (and heard). Yes, parts of this look and sound
pretty rough, which is why we (and Williams) deserve to see this masterpiece properly
restored and completed.


Note - before burning:
The DVD-rom folder contains an Ifo & Bup fix, so that when the movie ends, you will be
taken to the "Special Features" menu (Courtesy of Doctor M). The original ifo/bup set
causes the disc to stop after the movie.


Running Time: 01:37:11
Stats: NTSC Anamorphic DVD-5
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Covers: Garrett Gilchrist, Mark Smith
Size: 4.38 GB (4,711,836,118 bytes)
Extras: Restoration Commentary, About, Deleted Characters, Image Galleries, Trailers


10% Pars. The rars have a recovery record. If you need more pars, reply to this nfo (limited time offer).
Md5 & Sha1 verification files included (see below).


http://www.originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=4256&STARTPAGE=1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


---This new version, Recobbled Cut Mark II, has been compiled after a
widescreen version of The Princess and the Cobbler surfaced shortly after
this version became widely available online. This was such a huge find that
Garrett felt compelled to recobble it once again, incorporating more of the
fully animated widescreen material that he just didn't have before.

The scenes which are most affected are the witch and war machine scenes,
which have been improved in quality. Also added - more "Deleted Characters"
footage of the Mullah Nasrudin and the Enchanted Ogre Prince.


From the three-time Academy Award winning animator of Who Framed Roger Rabbit ...
Restored version of Richard Williams' unfinished animated masterpiece, The Thief and the Cobbler.

Unofficial restoration by Garrett Gilchrist. This is not intended for profit,
just a fanmade research project and tribute to this classic film.
The film was worked on for 26 years, with a team of master animators like Ken Harris and Art Babbit.
This film inspired Disney's Aladdin.

Ruined versions of it were released as "The Princess and the Cobbler" and "Arabian Knight" (aka "The Thief and the Cobbler").

Trailer: http://rapidshare.de/files/13429755/ThiefRecobbledTrailer.avi.html
You can watch this entire restoration at Youtube, in low quality.
DVD cover art: http://www.orangecow.org/thief/cobbleramarayv3.jpg
Disc label: http://www.orangecow.org/thief/thiefdiscartv4.jpg

For the first time ever on video, enjoy the original version of this lost
animation classic, written and directed by three-time Academy Award winning
animator Richard Williams (animation director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit).
Nearly 30 years in the making, a labor of love by a team of animation greats,
this was to be the masterpiece of Williams career, perhaps the most ambitious
independent animated film ever conceived. The film was the inspiration for
Disneys film Aladdin, which proved to be its undoing. After over two decades of
work, the film was taken away from Williams when he couldnt meet his deadline.
It was eventually bought by Disney, recut and destroyed. It has never been seen
the way it was intended to be seen ... until now. Based on Williams' original
workprint, missing scenes have been restored using storyboards and unfinished
animation. Restored to its true form, this lost classic has finally been found -
for you at home.

Directed by Richard Williams
Screenplay by Richard Williams and Margaret French
Master animator Ken Harris
Produced by Imogen Sutton and Richard Williams

When Richard Williams was fired from his film The Thief and the Cobbler (after 26 years of work),
Fred Calvert was hired to finish it quickly and cheaply. He did an incredibly poor job.
His version was called The Princess and the Cobbler, later recut further by Miramax into
the nearly unwatchable Arabian Knight.

This "Recobbled Cut" uses footage from Williams' original 1991 workprint with higher quality footage
from Arabian Knight and Princess and the Cobbler ... this does include some lower quality Calvert
animation with the high quality Williams animation - it's easy to tell the difference.

The film has been carefully reedited to match Willliams' original 1991 workprint for the film,
and his original vision. Calvert footage has only been used if it conforms to Williams'
storyboards - in some cases footage has literally been reanimated frame by frame in Photoshop
to make it match Williams' scenes! The restoration in total took 4 months to complete.

Restoration from the editor/filmmaker who brought you Deleted Magic, SW Classic Edition, and
Gods of Los Angeles.

Story:
It is written among the limitless constellations of the celestial heavens, and
in the depths of the emerald seas, and upon every grain of sand in the vast
deserts, that the world which we see is an outward and visible dream, of an
inward and invisible reality ... Once upon a time there was a golden city. In
the centre of the golden city, atop the tallest minaret, were three golden
balls. The ancients had prophesied that if the three golden balls were ever
taken away, harmony would yield to discord, and the city would fall to
destruction and death. But... the mystics had also foretold that the city might
be saved by the simplest soul with the smallest and simplest of things. In the
city there dwelt a lowly shoemaker, who was known as Tack the Cobbler. Also in
the city... existed a Thief, who shall be ... nameless.

ANIMATION AMONG THE MOST GLORIOUS AND LIVELY
EVER CREATED! - The New York Times

Restoration and cover artwork by Garrett Gilchrist

Joeshrubbery writes: "Acclaimed master animator Richard Williams spent the
better part of three decades working on what was meant to be his masterpiece,
'The Thief and the Cobbler. After his success as animation director on
Who Framed Roger Rabbit' he was finally able to get studio financing to take
The Thief from a career spanning side project to full-blown production.
A stolid perfectionist, costs mounted and deadlines loomed with Williams
at the helm, and Warners eventually pulled out when Disney announced the
similarly themed Aladdin.

With funding gone, the film was taken from Williams by his creditors
and was completed by others (under the leadership of Fred Calvert),
cheaply and poorly while making massive changes to try to make it
more mainstream. This version only saw release in Australia and
South Africa, as The Princess and the Cobbler. Later Disney bought
it and heavily edited it again, in such a way as to make it appear a
cheap knockoff of Aladdin (instead of the film that's largely believed
to be the greatest inspiration behind Disney's film), while making it
almost unwatchable in the process. Released as Arabian Knight,
it was a travesty. This Recobbed Cut is a recent fan-created reconstruction
of the film as Williams wanted it, or as close to as possible. Based on a
workprint of the film from when Williams was nearing completion (shortly
before the film was taken away from him). Using the workprint, DVDs of
the two officially released cuts of the film, and other related elements
taken from various sources this Recobbed Cut reveals the masterpiece that
could have been.

[Snip]
Post
#275569
Topic
Alien Appendix #3: The Alien Archive (Released)
Time
This Supe is going into my usual groups - alt.binaries.dvd & alt.binaries.dvd5, with the nzb further crossposted into alt.binaries.nzb.


I think I'll take mm's suggestion of alt.binaries.dvd.midnightmovies, for the AA's and the DotD's, from now on.

So they'll be crossposted to alt.binaries.dvd & alt.binaries.dvd.midnightmovies.

When in doubt, check my newsgroup posting list. But the nzb will always go into a.b.nzb, so that makes it easy, for the nzb-enabled.