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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
#151983
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/151983/action/topic#151983
Time
I would imagine for the project to go forwards there would need to be an injection, on my last two months on the project I spent over $1000 of my own cashola on it, but even if I was still involved, I can't work anymore, so there wouldn't be ongoing funds coming from me either way. (Unfortunately having to spend each day waiting for my turn to lay under the big ray gun doesn't fit in too well with earning an income).

This will be my last post for some time, so good luck to everyone, and a great big thanks to everyone who sent me their stuff on discs to watch, it really does take your mind off it all.

It was an unexpected, but much appreciated kind gesture from the fine folk on this forum, and I'm looking forward to watching them all.

"Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter."

Goodbye.

-Laserman



Post
#151715
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/151715/action/topic#151715
Time
Moving starfields don't need a lot in the way of recovery as the stars tend to all be there, just a simple low pass is enough to bring them out. Watch the opening crawl on any bootleg, and then look when the camera pans down, all the stars seem to suddenly appear during the pan and then stop again when the camera stops panning. You can go a step further and do temporal recover, i.e. track the stars across a sequence of frames, and match them back. You could do this with a Shake script without too much trouble, it is a pretty easy tracking job.

As for shots with other things in them such as the Star Destroyer or planets, there are two ways around it.

1) Rotoscope the shot to mask out the objects you don't want in the process (i.e. mask out the destroyer and the planet)

2) Refine your code so that it only works on the stars, basically a discovery pass where you looks for objects less than xx pixels in size that are surrounded by 'black' and then only run your processing on said objects. This method means no tedious rotoscoping, but more testing to ensure you are only processing the part of the image you are interested in. One way to check is to flag all objects processed in bright red or similar, so you can see hwat your code is working on and tweak it til it is correct.


Post
#151687
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/151687/action/topic#151687
Time
Originally posted by: zion
Welcome to the second edition of the XØ Project discussion thread. The original thread can be found here.

Every single frame will be looked at and corrected. Fixes will be limited to dirt and film damage removal, color correction, and stabilization. Wherever possible we will be using the actual celluloid film for reference.

Glitches including matte lines, saber colors, and frame jumps will not be fixed in the initial version. A possible second version could include fixes to matte lines and garbage mattes, but keep the rest of the "glitches" intact.

The finished archive will form a perfect base for any future restoration project or fan edit we might do afterward.




I guess we should have read the first post in this thread


It looks like no disappointment necessary.
Post
#151676
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/151676/action/topic#151676
Time
You could never make the pre-THX sets look better or sound better than the THX ones, the noise floor is too high, the colour is all over the place the detail is very soft and the sound is awful - however certain scenes may be worth lifting to help deal with the temporal noise reduction on the THX sets.
That process was already underway before I left.
The difference in noise reduction between faces and definitive isn't much, both sets have their flaws and advantages over each other.

Most of the noise on the pre-THX sets is encoded into the disc unfortunately, so the X0 reproduces the encoded noise perfectly

The Special Collection may be worth a look, the discs mastered for the Japanese market tended to be of a better quality, so it is worth investigating. Karyudo might have the set, but I doubt it, I've never seen it for less than US$200, so most people gave it a miss.

When I left, the initial run of the X0 project was going to clean up physical film damage and laserdisc artifacts only, as any other version would need that done first.

Fixing mattes etc. was for after an archival version was laid down, so we did a lot of experimentation with removal of those, but there was to be an archival version that left them alone.

Of course that might have changed since

Post
#150761
Topic
Star Wars: Classic Edition by Ocpmovie (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/150761/action/topic#150761
Time
I dunno if I'd start with agent for a noob - it isn't the most straighforward of newsreaders, but is probably the most powerful on the PC.

A premium news server is between $20 and $40 per month for unlimited downloads.
There are a bunch out there, giganews is not the cheapest but is excellent, and there are lots of others out there, but try your ISP first, go to the ISP homepage and look in the configuration or help section and find the setup for news service and follow the instructions.
Post
#150699
Topic
Help Wanted: WWII style edit of ANH - I need a title for this!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/150699/action/topic#150699
Time
Just about any DVD burner will do, might as well get an internal one, it is mega easy to swap out the existing CD drive and put the DVD burner in.
Just don't pay more than around $US40, the NEC one here is a nice unit.
http://stores.tomshardware.com/home_catpage.php/catzero=6
Or the new pioneer drives are very quick. Really though, most burners are just fine.
English subtitles makes sense, I'd PM Rikter re different versions that are available on DVD-R , he can put you on the right path.
Post
#150641
Topic
Star Wars: Classic Edition by Ocpmovie (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/150641/action/topic#150641
Time
OCP, for the Mac I use "Unison" on OSX, and it does the trick for me.
PM me if you want some help setting it all up - it can be a bit confusing at first.

Ell, A newsgroup is a discussion group on Usenet that is for talking about a specific topic e.g. alt.binaries.starwars would likely have discussions and files to do with star wars - alt.binaries.ilovemonkeys would have discussions and files for people who have a penchant for monkeys etc.

Newgroups can store files, messages, pictures etc. but you need a newsreader program to be able to connect to the newsgroup, browse/read what is there and download or post files or messages.

The big deal about newsgroups is that unlike a torrent or "Direct Connect" hub etc. you are not dependant on the speed of the 'uploader'. Once a file is on the newsgroup, you can typically download it at the full speed of your particular internet connection.

So if you are on a 1.5mb/512k ADSL connection for instance, you would get around 150KB per second when downloading from newsgroups. (Whereas you might only get 2K per second from a torrent if the uploader has a slow or busy connection.)

Some ISPs support newsgroups, so if you have a good ISP, you can just download a simple download oriented newsreader (like Grabit for the PC or Unison for the Mac), subscribe to alt.binaries.starwars, tell it to grab all the headers (This can take a while the first time - some newsgroups have over 4 million headers/files) and then choose the files to download.

If your ISP is not so good, then a lot of the files may display as incomplete, or not show up at all - in that case you need a 'newsgroup provider' and pay a monthly fee to get access to newsgroups. Companies like giganews provide this type of service, have extremely fast servers, and keep the files for over a month and the files are nearly always 100% complete, so they are well worth it unless your ISP is spectacular.
The provider will give you an account with a username and password, and you put that into your newsreader software and off you go.

Almost anything imaginable is out there on Newsgroups, from music, old TV shows, esoteric films, abandonware, special interest stuff - it is like a whole other internet of treasures waiting to be accessed at full speed.

Once you newsgroup, you can never go back....

Post
#150451
Topic
Info: Anyone Have The Fight Club Workprint? Or any workprints for that matter?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/150451/action/topic#150451
Time
Originally posted by: digitalfreaknyc
It's not high on the list of things to do. The quality still isn't very good even though it's so close to the master. Lots of flickering because, well, it's a recording of a projection.
Higher on the list is the dual-layer version of the hi-def down-rez of the DC that was broadcast.


Flickering can be almost completely removed with the right math - I wrote a Shake script a coupla years ago for just that purpose, and it works very well - so it can almost definatley be improved.
Post
#150442
Topic
.: The X0 Project Discussion Thread :. (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/150442/action/topic#150442
Time
Thanks Moth3r,
If the damn drugs don't kill me, they give me a 50% chance of still being here after 5 years, (actually it is either a 75% or 25% chance depending on the subtype, but the test to find out costs around $8,000 and won't change the outcome anyway, so I'll take the average 50% stat) - so with any luck I'll be still around when the BluRay/HD-DVD/3D version of the trilogy comes out
Post
#150438
Topic
Info Wanted: has anyone tried a Star Wars Super 8mm to DVD preservation project?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/150438/action/topic#150438
Time
I assure you, it is completely illegal for a commercial telecine company to make a copy of a feature film for someone who is not the copyright holder - no matter what the proposed usage, lack of profit or otherwise.

If you can find a single company anywhere that will do it, I'll send you a free kangaroo.

I agree that it is highly annoying however, especially if you were the 'owner' of a copy on film that is degrading, and you are not allowed to get anyone to make a preservation copy for you. (In fact under the terms the films were released under, it may be illegal even to 'own' the film itself - depends on where you live).

At around $60,000 a pop, purchasing your own Rank Cintel is a pricey option
Post
#150431
Topic
.: The X0 Project Discussion Thread :. (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/150431/action/topic#150431
Time
Not at all, I'm finished with it, but as I said, my part was basically completed, and I didn't really intend to be involved in where it was heading from here onwards.

It will probably go faster now if anything, I haven't exactly been productive in the last month or so, if anything was probably beginning to hold things up a little.

I expect that the other guys will run with it now. Zion has already posted that the new newsletter is ready to rollout, and that a bunch of updates are imminent, so it is all still rolling along - keep your eye on x0project.com I guess - I'm sure they will keep you all posted as to progress.
Post
#150428
Topic
.: The X0 Project Discussion Thread :. (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/150428/action/topic#150428
Time
Originally posted by: Patrick R.
I'm gone for a while and return to bad news.
I'm still far behind on what I wanted to do. I still have to make a donation. I was hoping to be in my permanent position by now, but it is taking HR a long time. My fiancee and I have also moved and have had to put a lot of money into the house and have had to push our wedding date back a year. I hope I can get back to my project, but it probably won't be for a long time. I've also debated just selling off my LD Player and the LD's and forgetting it. It's a tough decision.
Patrick


I know what fun moving is, and how a house eats money. (perhaps you could do a 'Money Pit' restoration...)

Question is, how much would you actually get for the player and LDs these days? Enough to buy an IKEA coffee table?

Keep them hidden under the bed, you will probably get back to it one day - your stuff looked pretty promising last time I saw it.
Post
#150381
Topic
.: The X0 Project Discussion Thread :. (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/150381/action/topic#150381
Time
Uh oh, the cuckoo kids - that means it's time to go...

I will be leaving the X0 project mainly due to my failing health, also the direction it will take from this point on is beyond where I wanted to take the project anyway, so it is time for me to bid it farewell.

My departure won't affect it much I'm sure, as my portion of the X0 project is basically done, and the rest of the guys will take over and do their parts which I am sure they will do amazingly well - anyone that saw what Zion and mebejedi managed to extract out of what were awful captures can only imagine what they will do with a great capture as their base.

I will probably not be here much either, the treatment makes it very difficult for me to function on any useful level, but in my up time I will probably keep plugging away at my own thing but it will be completely away from the X0 project.

I won't really be able to answer any more questions about the X0 project in the future, as I won't really know what is happening! So I will be watching the site along with the rest of you to see how it progresses.

It has been a wild ride, I thank everyone for all the good times here, I really enjoyed the forums, learned a lot, and hopefully my contributions were useful also.

I'll be around here for a few more days, but probably not much longer, so to quote another great story - So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Post
#149888
Topic
Help Wanted: WWII style edit of ANH - I need a title for this!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/149888/action/topic#149888
Time
See , this is fun!

Not sure if I'd go with Panzer Fleet division, although it really just means 'armour' so I guess it works.

Good idea to wait and see what is in the PC box before buying anymore gear - who knows what it holds.

In the meantime - I just couldn't resist


fu·ror n. A general commotion; public disorder or uproar.

füh·rer n. A leader, especially one exercising the powers of a tyrant. [German, from Middle High German vüerer, from vüeren, to lead, from Old High German fuoren.]
Post
#149681
Topic
Original Trilogy.com in the Press
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/149681/action/topic#149681
Time
There is no definitve version of the trilogy, even in its initial run Star Wars appeared in different versions at different cinemas in different parts of the world, but I thinkt the archival projects can achieve a couple of things.

1) The trilogy gets archived for posterity complete with the problems that the budget and "state of the art" technology at the time had to deal with (i.e. matte lines, glitches, oversights etc.) Future generations can see how one of the most influential films ever looked way back in 1977.

2) Each various version gets archived, and when Bluray/HD-DVD becomes a reality, you could have one disc that contained the various releases PAL/NTSC/Faces/Original Crawl/Mono/Stero/Surround etc.

As for it being different to what Lucas is doing, it is quite different.

Most projects are of an archival nature, so just preserving what is now in existence, and making it more accessible.
Then there are the restoration projects that attempt to get as close to initial run film releases by adjusting the colour and pulling from various sources to try and recreate the original - akin to what art museums do when cleaning and restoring paintings - doing the best you can to bring it back to how it looked originally.

Then there are the personal projects to fix glitches and jarring shots - closer to what Lucas is doing, but still different. i.e. not changing the story or overall look of the film, just fixing technical problems that would not have occured if they had had better equipment/more time etc. That is, getting closer to what they tried to do in 1977.

Then finally there are the re-invention projects, I guess these are more on a par with Lucas - people changing the movies to suit their personal tastes, whether removing something they hate, or re-imagining it as a WW2 movie for their personal pleasure, fun, learning or whatever reason - but even here there is a subtle difference, none of these imagineers are trying to snuff the original work, whatever its flaws, out of existence.

As for legal proceedings, I think LFL is reasonably benign when it comes to fan stuff, as long as it occurs well after the movies in question have had their run, and they have made their money. I appreciate how much Lucas lets the fans do in this regard - almost no other company lets people play with their product in this way.
It is very different to releasing a product on the net that is *about* to be commercially released - that would invite anyone to come gunning for you and is just stoopid.

I'm always aware though that at anytime LFL or more likely FOX could come a gunning and try to make an example out of someone if they suddenly felt inclined that way...