JustDC

I will be doing the entire prequel trilogy. The result has been amazing so far with Attack of the Clones, it looks so damn good on my 75inch tv. The picture is a good bit sharper, but the goal here wasn’t just to sharpen the image, rather I wanted to bring out detail while making sure not to oversharpen. How I achieved this was to render out a very sharp upscale from Topaz, and then use selective softening during the color grading process to tame the sharpness where needed. This gives kind of a more filmic look that is simultaneously more detailed while remaining somewhat soft. This makes faces less blurry by bringing out details like pores and imperfections without making the edges of things super sharp or things like wrinkles becoming much darker and prominent. I’m about to be finished with AOTC and will move on to ROTS next. Stay tuned!

Attack of the Clones: Remastered

Hey all,

I wanted to share a remastering project I’ve been working on for Attack of the Clones.

This project started when I was rewatching the prequels on a big tv and was reminded just how rough AOTC can look. Attack of the Clones was shot in 1440x1080 and mastered using an early digital workflow, with a source master effectively limited to 1080p 8bit 4:2:2 SDR. Because of that, every release (including the UHD Bluray) is ultimately constrained by the limitations of the original source. I’ve always felt the official UHD release was very flat and didn’t fully take advantage of the HDR space. So with this project, I wanted to see just how far modern processing tools can push the image without breaking it.

For anyone interested in seeing the final results, I’ve uploaded some comparison screenshots here:

https://slow.pics/c/wzumoKvf

Keep in mind that these screenshots are gain mapped so they should appear in HDR, but only if you are using a supported browser and display. Otherwise they should appear in SDR.

Workflow

I started with the official 4K UHD Bluray and tonemapped the HDR presentation back to SDR. Since the UHD is derived from the original SDR master, I wanted a clean baseline before introducing additional processing.

The SDR source was processed through Topaz Video AI using a conservative enhancement workflow. The goal was to reduce compression artifacts and recover as much legitimate image information as possible without over processing.

Once the image was cleaned up, I used Topaz to generate an HDR pass. Given the limitations of the original source, this isn’t creating new dynamic range, but it does provide a more convincing HDR presentation with improved highlight separation and image depth.

To minimize banding and preserve as much information as possible throughout the grading process, the HDR output was exported to ProRes 4444 XQ and brought into DaVinci Resolve as a high quality 12bit intermediate.

The final stage is being completed entirely in DaVinci Resolve, where I’m handling color correction, HDR refinement, highlight management, and scene by scene adjustments.

So far the results have been very encouraging. Lightning strikes carry significantly more impact, gradients are noticeably smoother, fine detail holds up much better without looking overprocessed, the image overall has a lot more depth.

I’m currently deep into the grading phase and would love some feedback.

Cheers!

I’ve always felt like these deleted scenes were so vital to the story and pacing of these movies. I’ve been getting better results the more I play around with it. Here are some before and after shots of ROTS:

thebluefrog said:

Looking really crisp and clear! Keep it up!

If you did this for all of the deleted scenes throughout the saga, a lot of editors will praise your efforts since a lot of people want to add scenes (especially in the sequels) but they are just too poor SFX wise.

I would love that too! Not sure how doable that is at the moment, but I’m sure once the technology is more refined we could get closer to that.

Vidmaster said:

Not to bad, missing just a little bit of sharpness for my tastes but that will of course introduce new artifacts which need to be cleaned up by hand.

Yeah unfortunately the AI in its current stage is not great with textures, so a lot of things in the frame end up getting smoothed over. I think it has worked best for some of the episode 2 deleted scenes, as those were pretty soft to begin with. But it is much more noticeable in episode 3’s deleted scenes. I think it works really well with wide shots, so I’m experimenting with combining different shots with each one having different settings–as opposed to one setting for the whole scene–to get the best overall picture. In the end, I don’t expect to be able to bring these scenes up to the same quality as the rest of the movie, but my goal is just to make the transition into these scenes a little less jarring for a better viewing experience.

Hey guys! I just started playing around with using AI upscaling software on the deleted scenes from the prequel DVDs. The results I’ve gotten so far are pretty hit or miss, but I figured I’d share anyway. Here are some of the better shots I’ve been able to render so far:

What do you guys think?

The Aluminum Falcon said:

JustDC said:
*I love the flashback after the Martha namedrop

Wish I could take credit, but that was in the theatrical cut already! 😄

Haha really? And also I didn’t even realize you were the editor who made Man of Tomorrow. That’s probably one of my favorites! I just watched it last night and was really blown away. Nice job man.

SkywalkerFan01 said:

JustDC said:

Also, part of me feels this film may benefit greatly from introducing Bruce Wayne at the LexCorp event, but I also feel his POV of the Metropolis destruction is integral to his motivations for hating superman so much. Also I don’t know if that would work well or not. I would like to see it if anyone could pull it off though. I think this film suffers from switching back and forth between Batman/Bruce’s story and Superman/Clark’s. If it were focused more on Superman I think it would help the pacing a lot.

You’ve given me an idea (that I hope Aluminum will consider since I have NO editing skill), what if instead of showing the last part of Bruce in Metropolis saving the girl as the nightmare, we’re left wondering why Bruce hates Superman up until he has that whole opening sequence as a PTSD nightmare.

Another idea we could add to this is instead of having him save the little girl, we see the large metal thing (don’t remember what it’s called) coming towards the screen and that being what abrubtly wakes Bruce up from the nightmare, with the implication being that the little girl was killed in front of him, which gives him even MORE hate towards Superman.

So, what do you guys think?

I really like that. But what if we used the entire Metropolis destruction in place of the nightmare instead? I always liked the idea of the girl surviving but her mom being killed in the destroyed building. I always thought it was more powerful in that it’s suggesting Superman’s aftermath has destroyed families. We could introduce Bruce at Lex’s event, where it’s already obvious he dislikes Superman, flashback to Metropolis during the encryption and it would give some exposition.

Also, part of me feels this film may benefit greatly from introducing Bruce Wayne at the LexCorp event, but I also feel his POV of the Metropolis destruction is integral to his motivations for hating superman so much. Also I don’t know if that would work well or not. I would like to see it if anyone could pull it off though. I think this film suffers from switching back and forth between Batman/Bruce’s story and Superman/Clark’s. If it were focused more on Superman I think it would help the pacing a lot.

I just finished watching the workprint you put together and I really like what you’ve done so far. The pacing is a lot better and makes for a much nicer film. I just want to share my ideas and some things I’ve noticed.

*In the intro, I feel it would be a good idea to leave batman saving the girl and embracing her where it was instead of in place of the nightmare sequence. I get what you were going for with that edit, but to me that really gives the viewer an idea for why Batman has this hatred towards Superman early on in the film. Also from what I’ve seen done by other editors and pulled off really well, you could skip past the encrypting sequence altogether. Go from “starting encryption” to the Lexcorp logo. Just skip the percentage screen.

*During Batman’s intro at 17:58-59 I think it would be a good idea to obscure batman from vision as to retain the mystery behind him this early on. I saw another editor do this and it worked really well. Just cut to him running away on the ceiling or whatever haha. It always seemed odd to me that he just stood there silently while the officer looked at him.

*Lois going to Africa feels a bit rushed but I don’t know if there’s anyway to fix that.

*I love the flashback after the Martha namedrop

*It might’ve just been me but the doomsday fight felt a tiny bit rushed. Not really a big deal and I love how you kept it on earth.

*Still not sure how I feel about “Is she with you” line. Take it out and it’s like “Ok well I guess Wonder Woman’s here now.” Leave it in and you’re left thinking that he literally just met her 45 minutes ago. But it definitely works better now that you took out the whole email exchange between the two.

After watching this I’m really excited to see what you bring to the table with this edit. Keep it up!

I would definitely be interested in seeing the workprint you’ve put together and giving you any help I can. I’m not too advanced in editing, but I do know a bit. Just like a lot of people I really want to like this movie, but it’s just so crammed full of unnecessary subplots and failed fanservices. I wouldn’t go as far as comparing it to TPM, as I strongly believe that we can get a solid movie out of this. I really like the idea of keeping the Bruce Wayne POV of Metropolis’s destruction, cutting the Africa scene, and putting Superman on trial for the destruction of Metropolis. Anyway, keep up the awesome work.

Jaitea said:

JustDC said:

Captain Antilles said:

Call me crazy, but I actually like the so-called "matte-ness" of Vader's ANH helmet; it's kinda cool. If you're looking for an in-universe explanation, then who's to say his helmet doesn't receive upgrades over the years? And maybe those upgrades differ slightly from each other in appearance. Or maybe he has different helmets for different purposes. 

Yeah, I always just used that reasoning. It always seemed to make the most sense lol.

Yeah, when I was a kid I remember thinking Vader was moving up the ranks in the movies, in the first one he was a thug...working for Tarkin, in the next he led the mission to find Skywalker,....in the last he was at the Emperors beck and call...through the three movies he evolved, from rough to more refined.

At the end of the last of the three crap films he looked more refined than he did in ROTJ....it would have looked better if they changed his look more like McQuarrie's concepts

J

Yeah, well you know how it is, everything just HAS to be shiny for Georgie.

Captain Antilles said:

Call me crazy, but I actually like the so-called "matte-ness" of Vader's ANH helmet; it's kinda cool. If you're looking for an in-universe explanation, then who's to say his helmet doesn't receive upgrades over the years? And maybe those upgrades differ slightly from each other in appearance. Or maybe he has different helmets for different purposes. 

Yeah, I always just used that reasoning. It always seemed to make the most sense lol.

This ^^

Ziz said:

Really?  ',:-\  I mean, was Maul really supposed to become Grievous or was that just a convenient shortcut the pre-vis team took to create the Grievous CG to get their job done faster?

I doubt it since TPM was the only prequel movie that was non-digital. I don't think the animatic creation process was the same for TPM as it was for the other two. 

But I suppose anythings possible... 

DuracellEnergizer said:

I thought the whole "Maul-is-Grevious" deal was a thing the concept artists were keen on, but that Lucas never really took to heart.

Yeah I read about that too, but I just never thought the idea had gotten this far.

Coov said:

That is pretty funny.... I never noticed this before...

Ani - "SHE went into the club Master..."

Obi -  "Then why don't you listen to me?"

Obi - "Do you see him?"

Ani - "I think he is a she..."

Yeah I noticed that before and simply shook my head at the simple lack of continuity. It's a real shame.

Yeah lol heres the proof! a bunch of random HTML!

But jokes aside, sorry about that. I should've previewed before posting. It's fixed now though.

After watching this thing a million and one times, one day last week I decided to pop-in the prequel Blu-Ray Extras. However, when it got to the animatics scene of the duel b/w Obi-wan and Grievous, I caught something I would've missed within the blink of an eye (and almost did). I immediately grabbed the remote to rewind and playback at the slowest speed I could. This is what I found: 

 

DominicCobb said:

2. The biggest reason why I'm against it is that if Anakin doesn't turn into a ghost, it makes his redemption much more bittersweet. When ROTJ ends, Vader's dead and you're actually sad. Then, oh wait a minute, ROTJ is a happy movie, now Vader's a ghost too! Vader was really evil at one time. I feel there needs to be a consequence for that. Having him be dead, and unable to find life after life, would be a much more poignant end to the saga. I think that the Star Wars series is too serious to simply cast the over-happy ending off as part of the fantasy. My biggest beef with ROTJ (and I'm not alone here) is that the movie is way too happy. Vader is EVIL for almost 4 movies. Consequence is necessary. That's why they killed him. Also, it gives the final conversation between Luke and Vader MUCH MORE meaning. I mean honestly, think of that conversation and then think about how Luke and Vader can talk again whenever they want. 

I Think that actually would work a lot better at not only fixing the continuity problem but also to help tone down the sappy, everything's forgiven and we're all happy ending.

Bester said:

muddyknees2000 said:

I'll never understand why people feel so threatened by this project. Enjoy whatever you wish to enjoy....no-one (certainly not us) is trying to stop you. Live and let live is apparently something that trolls have yet to figure out.

Insecurity.  They probably have very small penises.

Wow. Just wow....

lol

Nice. I really like where this edit's going. I wish u the best o' luck (hopefully premeire isn't being too much of a pain in the a*s.)

--JustDC

mrbenja0618 said:

Never have I EVER had a problem or have been confused by this sequence. Honestly, I understand most of the suggestions on here, but wow, I think sometimes people over complicate things. I understood it when I was a kid... I also had no issue with Han walking outside the ship to shoot mynocks with a very simple face mask, and somehow, gravity! =)

man sometimes i wish there was a button here u could just click to "agree 100%" with someone, cause i'm with you on this one...

wow, I really like your ideas of changing even the most subtle details (e.g. Padme's facial expression). I'll definitely be keeping up on the progress of this project. Keep up the awesome work!

--JustDC 

Mr Ghostface said:

Damn, some of the things that get posted here, anyone would think George Lucas never created all this wonderful stuff in the first place. Never mind what happened to it since 1997, the man did create the entire Star Wars universe and everything that went into it. Lucas hating and all that sort of hysteria is incredibly juvenile.

As for donating to Ady, like Bingowings said, there's no conflict there. You can give Ady money for whatever reason you like, there's absolutely no problem there. But pushing a "boycott" of the blu-rays, that's asking for trouble. Firstly, it wouldn't achieve anything except for a miniscule, negligible dent in sales, and two, if they caught wind of it, you're asking for them to stop fan edits being published online.

I agree with Mr Ghostface. He pretty much summed up everything I was thinking for the past few pages. Now, I think we should get back on topic, PLEASE. If anyone still wants to discuss this I think opening a new topic is the best solution.

Thanks guys,
--JustDC

Filthy Pierre said:

Its as if 1000s of Ewoks suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

 

Wow, you really made my day with that one. My mind even read it in an Alec Guiness Accent XD