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Laserman

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Join date
11-May-2004
Last activity
6-Sep-2007
Posts
903

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Post
#254229
Topic
Another bloody edit of TPM (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/254229/action/topic#254229
Time
I agree with the thrust of the edit, the film needs a single focus and deblanding.

I've always thought that Anakin needed to actively save the day rather than bumbling it, he needs to get the surge of emotion and rise to the occassion, to be a child thrust into the adult world (and the damage that causes his psyche) he also needs to enjoy the power of it a little bit - he will always struggle with the love of the power and trying to do what is right.
He needs to get into the fighter with a purpose, take out the enemy and have the same 'YES' moment when taking out the ship interior to save the day as Luke has when firing the shot that takes down the Death Star. I was terribly disappointed that Lucas didn't mimick that same shot for Ep1, it seemed ot scream out for it.

I wouldn't reverse any language for vocal tracks, it *always* sounds reversed, especially if it is a relatively well known language like the Germanic/Romantic/Slavic languages - perhaps pick a language that the bulk of people in the US/UK won't be familiar with, like Icelandic or something, and pitch shift it down if necessary. (Make them speak Klingon and fulfil the prophecy of restoring balance to the Trek/Wars universe)

(/rant/) And get rid of the horrendous American commentary of the Podrace, I don't know if it grates as much on American ears, but oh man I hate that with a passion - it goes against the whole galaxy far far away concept, everything not written in English etc. to have that in there - why not put in 'Let's get ready to Rumble' when Luke get's in with the Rancour. (/end rant/)

Not sure if I'd remove R2, Although I still can't reconcile why Obi-wan would look blankly at R2 and say he doesn't remember owning a droid in ANH if R2 is left in there.
I don't mind the R2 link being in there, I'd prefer it if his memory wasn't wiped, it kind of reminds me of when Asimov brought Daneel Olivaw into the foudation series - that was brilliant, and I like the idea of this robot that has been around forever and holds some of the secrets of the universe.
But 3PO being there just closes the wide Star Wars universe down to the size of a small town for me, Chewie kind of does also - it all gets a bit too incestuous.

The crawl needs more balls, the existing one sounds like a treatise on tax law, I think yours is an improvement, but could still use another testicle or three.

"The trade federation has blockaded a bankrupt Naboo for unpaid levies" isn't strong enough as an opening line, it still has a feel of 'administrative issues' or a parking fine, instead of great things that are shaping the universe.
Unfortunately I am void of ideas, I'm shitty at writing copy. But overall the opening line should be bold. Look at Ep4 and 5.

"It is a period of civil war"
"It is a dark time for the Rebellion"

Unfortunately Lucas is already in verbosity overdrive by ROTJ - I can't even be bothered typing the opening Sentence - who needs 29 words for the opening statement.
Even the second line of ANH has plenty of punch.
"Rebel spacehips, striking from a hidden base have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire" Yay!

Then look at episode 1's second line, it is killer!
"The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is *yawn* in dispu....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

So after reading the crawl this soundss like an exciting movie about a taxation dispute way out in the suburbs that a couple of Jedi are being sent over to sort out.

Thrilling.

I think the new crawl needs a strong short opening line, followed by a strong more detailed second statement.
Second paragraph provides some backround info needed to setup the film
Last paragraph leaves you hanging and tells you what is at stake.

The idea of the Qui-gon voice in Anakin's head could work, not sure if it is needed for the pod-race, that is Anakin's turf and they haven't built up that much of a relationship yet, but the final battle sequence 'force voice' draws a nice parallel with the trench scene from ANH.

A somber ending could work if Naboo suffered serious pwnage, so although it was a victory they sustained such heavy losses that celebration would be unseemly.

I'm yet to see an edit of Ep1 that makes the film watchable for me, but this sounds promising.
Post
#254096
Topic
HOW DO I DO A FAN EDIT???
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/254096/action/topic#254096
Time
If starting out, buy a refurbished or second hand mac, it really is a lot more straightforward for doing this type of stuff. If you can get one of the intel imacs they are extremely powerful for the cash and allow you to run programs like finalcutpro and shake which you won't find on other platforms.

If going the PC route and cash is the main concern, pick up a cheap PC and install ubuntu linux and download cinelerra http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3
it can do almost everything the big expensive programs can and is completely free as is ubuntu.

So your only cost then is the hardware itself.

Otherwise you can go Windows and check out doom9.org and the guide mentioned above.
Post
#254093
Topic
Anamorphic widescreen?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/254093/action/topic#254093
Time
Personally when using letterbox sources I always end up creating a letterbox version (for normal tellies) and an anamorphic version for widescreen ones.
If starting out with anamorphic sources I usually leave them that way and let the DVD player squish it back to letterbox for normal TVs (i.e. I don't bother making a letterbox version)
Post
#253900
Topic
Good capture card?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253900/action/topic#253900
Time
In which regard?

If you mean build quality then it is about the same, cheaper cards tend not to have a lot of attention paid to details when designed, it is more about a 'feature list' that looks better than someone elses on paper. So Joe public counts the number of 'ticks' on one list compared to another and buys the one with more things on the list.

It may be fine for you, but the cheaper cards are very power sensitive, so a good supply is a must, and cheaper cards tend to pay less attention to tolerances, so one card may work fine in your particular PC, whereas another may have problems because it is 5% the other way.
So I'd just make sure you can take it back if you don't get an interference free picture.
Post
#253810
Topic
Ghosting problem
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253810/action/topic#253810
Time
What He Said ^

Basically when capturing to a PC you just want the cleanest video path possible. The V8000 has pretty much a straight through video output, it is one of the hidden gems of the laserdisc scene.

It isn't something that you could point to and brag about in your lounge room though, it is big noisy and ugly and has almost no features. For a capture project though the lack of features is a distinct advantage, there is less circuitry adding noise and creating loss on the video circuit.

Post
#253625
Topic
Approaches to reduce telecine wobble?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253625/action/topic#253625
Time
Remember it isn't just telecine wobble that your are contending with, but also gate weave in the camera itself. When pin registered cameras are not used, the film can weave left and right as it passes through the gate.
If your telecine process then adds different gate weave as well, you have two levels of movement which can make it look more pronounced.
So yes, it is a shot by shot fix, and you need to have a very good tracker. The good news is if there is nothing easy to track in the scene, then your eyes and brain have trouble tracking as well, so it is harder to see the wobble in those scenes and you can usually leave them alone.
Post
#253620
Topic
Ghosting problem
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253620/action/topic#253620
Time
You can purchase the Pioneer service disc and it comes with instructions, but for checking bandwidth issues you just need some test patterns, the required ones may be on the video essentials Laserdisc which crops up from time to time on ebay.

I'll do a bit of a writeup of what to do when I get a chance.
You may also want to get the service manual for your player, they are available online for $5 or so, then you could look at tapping the composite video signal before it enters the OSD chip and you might get a better picture.
The X9 and X0 are the only players I've seen that don't get smearing on CLV (the S9 still smears on some titles, like Top Gun for instance).

Your best bet is to adjust the player to be within spec and get the composite signal as early as possible. An outboard comb filter like the faroudja VS-50 can also make a huge difference, if you can find one.


Better still pick up a Pioneer LD-V8000 the most under rated lasedisc player ever, it gives a better picture than the Pioneer S9 and can be regularly found on ebay or at dealers for less than 50 bucks. Very very clean signal path and a great image, better than any of the 704, 703, CLD-97, 99, S9 etc. that all suffer from smearing.
Post
#253611
Topic
Good capture card?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253611/action/topic#253611
Time
If you buy the X800, make sure you get it from somewhere that has a return policy.
It is an excellent card, but can have problems with interference patterns on the composite input which I think is due to insufficient filtering on the power rails. It is a bit of a lucky dip as to whether you get a clean picture in a particular PC.
(A good quality power supply is a must with cards that are on the edge of tolerance)
The 3D comb filter is somewhat useful, but introduces a lot of artefacts as most 3D comb filters do.
Post
#253423
Topic
Help Wanted: Star Wars films with audio description. Can anyone help out??
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253423/action/topic#253423
Time
I had to use a screenreader here for a little while, and one thing that drove me crazy on forums was people with long signatures, you had to listen to the entire sig over and over again.
I still use it from time to time, it is handy sometimes to have the computer read to you whilst you are doing something else.

I've contacted some Australian societies to see if we have any releases available over here.
Post
#253170
Topic
STAR WARS: the alt.binaries.starwars thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253170/action/topic#253170
Time
You may want to download quickpar for the PC or MacPar deLuxe for the MAC to allow you to check and repair the files, and then unrar with winrar on the PC or unrarX on the MAC.

MacPar deLuxe will automatically use unrarX to decompress the files, or split&concatenate to join them if required, it is fully automatic. I don't know if there is anything like that for the PC that automates the entire process.
Post
#252884
Topic
Good capture card?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252884/action/topic#252884
Time
Get 1GB of RAM, memory is cheap and XP doesn't really start to perform properly until it has 1GB to play with, and no, it won't come with a decent capture card, you will need to buy one separately - but they are easy to fit.

If purchasing a PC now, simply get a conroe (intel core duo) based system, they are cheap and more than powerful enough for just about anything. Even the slowest one will be more than fine for your purposes. (they also seem happy to overclock quite a bit with standard cooling if that floats your boat) You can get boards that use standard DDR2 memory, make sure you have a few PCI slots free for add in cards. If it isn't a hardcore gaming rig, you may want to get a passively cooled graphics card (no fan) to keep the sytem quiet. (Personal choice, but video editing is time consuming, and the drone of PC fans drives me nuts after a while - silent is better)

Also, get a second hard drive (to capture to) and make sure it is 7200RPM. If money is an issue samsung drives are cheap and quiet and have 3yr warranties, otherwise the WD or Seagate drives at 7200RPM will do the job. I've had nothing but trouble with Maxtors, but YMMV.

As for software, most of the capture software is free or cheap. VirtualVCR, avisynth/virtualdub can all be downloaded.
You may want to get the cheap version of CCE (Cinema Craft Encoder) for encoding the DVD.

Most importantly, option up to a *quality* power supply, cheap power supplies tend to put electrical noise across the bus and it ends up as video noise/interference in your captures. A decent power supply will also make your system more stable for everyday use, and you can get ones that run quiet.
Post
#252883
Topic
Info: Auto-correction from SE colours to GOUT colours (lots of information)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252883/action/topic#252883
Time
Originally posted by: Desree Oh, and this operation was performed in rgb colour space, as experimentation showed this to give a better match than either YV12 or Polar YV12. In fact, polar YV12 seems to do nothing at all, and is a waste of an afternoon of histogram rendering. Also, once colourlike was invoked, black and white levels needed to be corrected once more (i`d like to take this opportunity to thank the X0 boys for their tutorial on this), otherwise i got a washed out look:

Washed Out Fleet


Check that you are using the latest version of colourlike, the first release had the polar co-ordinates screwed up.

We do pretty much all colour correction in RGB colourspace whenever possible, it allows you to do corrections that you can't do in more limited colourspaces.
Post
#252651
Topic
External HD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252651/action/topic#252651
Time
Pop the drive into the PC and see if it recognises it.
You may have to go into the diskmanager and mount the drive.

If it works then you are OK, if it doesn't, listen to the drive when you power up the PC (stick your ear on the drive) you should hear it spin up and the heads move.

If you do, then download HDDRegenerator http://www.dposoft.net/ it has saved my bacon (and my drives on multiple occasions)
You can try before you buy.
Post
#252646
Topic
Anyone Hi8 Experts
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252646/action/topic#252646
Time
To answer your other question, internal capture cards tend to give better results as you can capture in full range RGB using a 'lossless' codec.

What this means in simple terms is that instead of an external box compressing the video into 'blocks' and throwing away three quarters of the colour resolution, an internal card lets you keep all of that information and then you can compress it yourself with a lot more control when making a DVD of it or whatever.
Post
#252645
Topic
Anyone Hi8 Experts
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252645/action/topic#252645
Time
There is nothing magic about capturing Hi-8 footage.
You simply need a quality capture card with SVideo inputs.
The standalone boxes tend to convert to DV on the fly, and have a habit of crushing the blacks and whites quite severely and giving relatively soft captures.

Hi-8 is similar to SuperVHS quality wise and has excellent colour resolution, so you really want to capture uncompressed via SVideo. You want to use SVideo as Hi-8 records the Chroma and Luma separately, so it makes sense to keep them separate.

The PDI Deluxe/Sweetspot card (internal PCI card) in conjunction with DScaler software for capture will give you pretty much as good as it gets results for Hi-8 capture.

For the best quality playback of Hi-8 via SVideo, the Sony industrial/broadcast decks are your best bet, but even their camcorders give pretty good playback.

It is impossible to say how good your captures look really as we can't see the source with our own eyes.

Post
#252644
Topic
Good capture card?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252644/action/topic#252644
Time
The PDI Deluxe (sweetspot card in Europe) allows capture via RGB, or component or Composite via the three RCA jacks.
It also has another two SVideo jacks and those two can also be used for composite.

It is the best sub $500 card I've used. On paper it looks like any other capture card, in use it produces much cleaner captures than anything else in its price bracket.

If you are in the NTSC world, then you really really don't want to use DV capture, in addition to limitations with the DV codecs, NTSC captures in 4:1:1 whereas DVD (and PAL DV) is 4:2:0, so you end up with 4:1:0 efectively, so you lose a *lot* of colour resolution.

If getting dropped frames, use a separate hard drive to capture to (i.e. never use your C: drive), make sure you have plenty of RAM and make sure all other programs are not running (virus scanners, any other memory resident programs) and use a 7200RPM drive, or configure a pair of drives as RAID0.