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Laserschwert

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Join date
27-Sep-2004
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25-Jun-2025
Posts
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Post
#70291
Topic
.: The Zion DVD Project :. (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/70291/action/topic#70291
Time
Originally posted by: Faid
Originally posted by: zion
Laserschwert, thank you for dissecting my screencaps today and suggesting all of these filters. Seriously, it's great to have someone like you come along and tell me what I could be doing better, I appreciate it.


This sounds downright condescending.


Yeah, when I first read it, I thought that too...

It might read like this:
"Thanks for dissing all my work and wise-assing around... seriously, it's great to have some total stranger come along and tell me what to do... I appreciate it... YOU PRICK!!"

I hope I am wrong, regarding my new, looong post above
Post
#70285
Topic
.: The Zion DVD Project :. (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/70285/action/topic#70285
Time
My pleasure... your project has the absolute potential to become a great LD-transfer, so I am glad to be of help.

Originally posted by: zion
Even if it ups the brightness a bit, it's not that big of a deal since I can always adjust that when I color correct in Premiere.


No, this wouldn't work... take a look at my first sample frame, the middle image. As you can see, the brighten up version of the frame simply blows out the white of the Stormtrooper helmet. The top of it becomes pure white, and kills the distinction between the helmet and the light on the ceiling. If you would take this image and darken it in Premiere, the helmet and the light would become darker in an equal manner, just producing a tone of grey. You wouldn't be able to get the slightly darker upper edge of the helmet back.

It's very important to watch your brightness levels. It can easily happen that some very light colors or greys become too bright, and just turn white. The same could happen with very dark colors, or greys, becoming too dark, and turning black. You can't get these colors or tones back.

So I really suggest that you apply the filters as I showed. After all the filters for removing the halos are all VirtualDub-filters, so they integrate perfectly into your workflow. I would say do it like this:

    1. Capture your footage

    2. Create an AviSynth-script (which contains the IVTC, the cropping and maybe the GuavaComb-filter to remove possible dot-crawl, and maybe some noise-reduction)

    3. Frameserve this script into VirtualDub, and add the following VirtualDub-video-filters (in the order shown):

      - Brightness/Contrast UI-enhanced (settings as shown above)
      - VHS toys (settings as shown above)
      - Exorcist (settings as shown above)
      - LanczosResize to 2000x1000 (*)
      - Add the Xsharpen-filter (play with the settings when all the filters are set up) (*)
      - LanczosResize to 720x400 (or whatever the desired anamorphic(!!!) height is)... don't add the black bars.


    (*) These two filters should only be added, when sharpening is really necessary... they might make the image look worse (just try it).

    4. -> Output to a new AVI

    5. Color correct the thing in Premiere

    6. Encode with TMPEG (you can add the black bars here, so that your image gets the final size of 720x480. Don't resize in TMPEG... AviSynth and VirtualDub are better).


This spares you some inbetween steps, and you only need two AVIs (the captured one, and an intermediate one).

By the way, could you provide a 20 seconds (or more) long clip of your raw capture? I guess the IVTC causes the stairstep-effect... I would like to do some tests regarding this.

Sorry, if I sound too bossy here
Post
#70244
Topic
.: The Zion DVD Project :. (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/70244/action/topic#70244
Time
The GuavaComb-filter for AviSynth handles dot-crawl very well... maybe you'll take a look at it.

Concerning the resizing, when using Lanczos use Lanczos4Resize (since version 2.5.5) which results are a little sharper. But there's an interesting method on Doom9, called Integrated Image Processor, which uses a combination of different resize-processes to avoid too much blur.

And for noise reduction check out the RemoveDirt-filter.

One more link regarding the removal of chroma-artifacts.

And I still think you should get rid of those halos. By the way, do you know why the stairsteps occure? ARE you deinterlacing? Or are those things already present in the raw capture?
Post
#70237
Topic
.: The Zion DVD Project :. (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/70237/action/topic#70237
Time
I this case I have to say: Laserdisc is crap *g*

But seriously: The LD contained the error as well? Because this is obviously an analog error. On the other hand halos can be caused by the excessive use of sharpening filters (though this wouldn't result in halos as big as in your capture). But to my knowledge the composite signal is always inferior to a SVHS signal.

By the way, how are you resizing to achieve the anamorph image? There are some plugins out on Doom9 to add "artificial detail" when scaling up... although the Xsharpen-filter already helps alot here.

Post
#70232
Topic
.: The Zion DVD Project :. (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/70232/action/topic#70232
Time
All these filters do is remove ERRORS in the frames... like the halos around high-contrast edges (artifacts that aren't supposed to be there and look just plain ugly). Notice the white shine left of Vader's silhouette? That's an error resulting from capturing the LD-signal via a SVHS-cable. If you'd watch the laserdiscs, those edges wouldn't be there, and it would look like my results. I work in the field of video-editing and animation for years now, so I know a bit about it. But of course, after all it's a question of taste.

EDIT: Getting back to this, you should note that the result isn't softer or blurrier than the "original" version, it just appears like that. Actually the halo thingy causes the same effect like a sharpening filter, which basically creates halos around strong contrast edges, to INCREASE the contrast at these edges. This makes the edges appear more pronounced. A very cheap trick, since the quality really suffers from this (though it sometimes is used on commercial DVDs... and it's always put on the "con"-side in reviews).
Post
#70215
Topic
.: The Zion DVD Project :. (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/70215/action/topic#70215
Time
OK, I have done a few more tests using your screenshots (I guess using your original captures would yield better results). There are actually some VirtualDub-filters out there that can be used to remove the artifacts occuring in analog captures. I used the following:

Exorcist
flaXen's VHS toys
Brightness/Contrast UI-enhanced

The Exorcist-filter is used to remove the ghosting in the video signal, while the VHS-filter is used to handle some chroma shifting artifacts. Here's how it looks with and without the filters (note that my sample images look a little noisy, because they're 256-color GIFs):

http://www.scummbar.com/mi2/temp/anh1.gif

These are the settings used:
Exorcist (4 pixels left, 17% brightness)
VHS (only "chroma shifting" activated: horizontal 3 pixel, negative, "Shift Chroma I" activated)

Now, there's a visible boost in brightness, resulting from the way the Exorcist-filter works, which unfortunately causes the whites to blow out (notice the Stormtrooper-helmet in front of the ceiling light). You can avoid this, by darkening the image with the brightness/contrast-filter (the UI-enhanced version has an added "preview"-feature). It's important to put this filter IN FRONT OF the Excorcist- and VHS-filters, otherwise we would be just darkening the already blown-out image. Here's the result:

http://www.scummbar.com/mi2/temp/anh2.gif

Brightness +0% (unchanged), Contrast 87%

Note how these filters already take care of some of the noise (which was basically amplified by these artifacts). I hope this help a little bit.

Post
#70185
Topic
.: The Zion DVD Project :. (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/70185/action/topic#70185
Time
Anamorphic or not, there WILL be black bars. Anamorphic video only takes the 16:9 squeeze into account... but DVD-players can't squeeze an image into 2.35:1 (which is sad, since it would add another degree of resolution here). Actually that's just what ChainsawAsh already described, and the other Ash didn't notice... I guess.

By the way, Zion, there are still several artifacts I notice on your screenshot. One being a slight "stairstep"-effect on diagonal lines. Did you deinterlace the source? Another thing being a slight ghosting effect... you can see this effect very good on the screenshot of Luke at the homestead watching the binary sunset. The ghosting shows as a slight dark shadow of the video itself, left of Luke's head. There's a good filter to fix that contained in TMPEG, so maybe you might want to take a look into that.

Furthermore, your image looks a bit fuzzy... I guess some sharpening would be appropriate here. Since you're using AviSynth inbetween, I would use the WarpSharp package for it, and add these commands to your script:

Lanczos4Resize(720 * 4, 480 * 4)
XSharpen
Lanczos4Resize(720, 480)

Maybe some noise reduction afterwards would be needed. The video size, of course, depends on what you work with, but I guess you're working at this resolution.

EDIT: Mmh... I guess the first thing should be the removal of the ghosting effect (it would only get worse when sharpening and filtering the image with the ghosting)... although I don't know if there's a VirtualDub-plugin for this. After all, you can't do it in TMPEG, since TMPEG is your last step.
Post
#68327
Topic
A German thread / Krieg der Sterne auf deutsch
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/68327/action/topic#68327
Time
@soundtrackmaster:

You've got mail.

@MeBeJedi:
Don't slow down with Vegas... use BeSweet or GoldWave... I've done some PAL/NTSC-conversions with WaveLab, and those are pretty good too.

By the way, have you checked the IIP-plugin for AviSynth? Might be of help in creating a good looking anamorphic image from the letterbox source, or even for increasing overall detail: IIP-thread a Doom9-forum

There are some great looking samples of the script on Page 7 of that thread. (Don't freak, it's Star Trek).

He uses DVB-caps as a source though... so this might not work on the hazier LD-footage. But maybe you'd like to give it a try.
Post
#68254
Topic
A German thread / Krieg der Sterne auf deutsch
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/68254/action/topic#68254
Time
Quote
Originally posted by: Darth Chaltab
Wow. That sucks. So where did all the other translations that didnt suck comefrom?


Professional translators... and I mean PEOPLE.

Back on topic:
Weiß jemand von euch, ob man irgendwoher das deutsche Premiere-bootleg (wenn möglich mit deutscher UND englischer Tonspur) zur Special Edition kriegen kann? (und damit meine ich nicht eBay, denn dort sind sie ja wohl absolut überteuert). Und bevor ihr mir die Frage nach der SE im OT-forum vorhaltet: Ich hätte gerne alle Versionen von Star Wars auf DVD...

Post
#67812
Topic
A German thread / Krieg der Sterne auf deutsch
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/67812/action/topic#67812
Time
@Chaltab:

That was probably the worst online translation EVER... and it's funny that even the link got translated... translating it back would mean something like "free the translation!", so maybe we should start a petition concerning the surpression of translation.

By the way, since this is one of the most active forums regarding bootlegs of the OT, it's quite reasonable (and fair) to have a thread regarding foreign versions of the movies as well. I would LOVE to have a copy of the unaltered OT in both German and English... so, SHHH!

Oh, right, this is a German thread, so, on with the topic:

Ich habe vor, mir die Bootlegs von TR47 zu bestellen, welche ja so ziemlich die beste Bildqualität von allen Bootlegs haben sollen. Allerdings würde ich natürlich auch gerne eine deutsche Tonspur dazu haben. Ich habe mir überlegt, seine DVDs zu rippen, und dann mit Adobe Premiere eine deutsche Tonspur daran anzupassen. Das einzige Problem: Ich habe keine deutsche Tonspur der OT. Natürlich habe ich das VHS-Set der SE, aber abgesehen von irgendwelchen alten Sat1-Aufnahmen habe ich die unveränderte Trilogie in keiner anderen Form mehr. Das THX-Laserdisc-Set von dem ihr redet ist dann wohl die brauchbarste deutsche Tonquelle... videomäßig werde ich ja vermutlich nicht viel anstellen können, da ich keinen LD-Player habe (und auch nicht vorhabe mir noch einen zuzulegen), und ich außerdem mit meiner alten TerraTValue-Karte keine brauchbaren Captures erstellen kann. Natürlich ist TR's Bootleg in NTSC, also müsste ich zumindest eine Normwandlung durchführen. Was mich zu der Frage bringt, ob die Qualität der PAL-Laserdiscs besser ist, als die der NTSC-discs. PAL hat ja generell eine höhere Auflösung... welche Auflösung hat Laserdisc? Weniger als die 720x576 (bzw. 720x480) von DVD, wenn ich mich recht entsinne, oder?
Post
#67795
Topic
Changes in 2004 DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/67795/action/topic#67795
Time
I am new to this forums, and this is my first post, so, hi there.

First of all, I consider myself neither a Lucas-fanboy, nor a die-hard SW-fan, although I grew up with a lot of Star Wars in my life. Of course, I have only seen the OT on video (I am 23 now), but since then I was a fan not only of SW, but of visual effects. Over the years I got a quite notable collection of Star Wars books and toys, and even now, four posters of the non-SE trilogy are the only posters in my room. Of course, I was really thrilled when I learned about the SE being worked on, and it became my first opportunity seeing those movies on the big screen. And being an effects fan I generally liked the additions to the trilogy, including the extended Mos Eisley shots and the discussed Jabba scene.

I guess it's hard for me judging how the Jabba scene modifies the pace of the movie, since I have seen the movies so many times (and being a huge Harrison Ford fan, with Han being my absolute favourite character in SW), so that I am just happy to see MORE Star Wars (and Han) than before. Now, taking a step back and looking at this particular scene, I've gotta admit that Klingon_Jedi has a few points that really make Lucas' statements appear false. Generally I don't like Lucas since I have watched the "From Puppets to Pixels"-documentary on the EP2-DVD. I don't really know what it is, but this docu really makes me mad at Lucas. I didn't really think about what he said about the Jabba-scene, but now - with Klingon_Jedi's post as a remainder - it doesn't make sense claiming it being planned as a VFX shot.

Jabba being a slug, or an alien of ANY kind wasn't planned before ROTJ, that's for sure. Otherwise there would've been sketches of him in some publications dealing with the design of ANH. Second of all, Klingon_Jedi's right, the way the scene was shot, it could've NEVER been made a VFX-shot. And Lucas knows that. In "Empire of Dreams" (yeah, of course I own the new DVD-set *g*) it is shown that Marquand got help from Lucas on several shots requiring visual effects to be inserted, so Lucas really understood how a shot like that has to be set up. I've worked on a few commercials and industry-films, so I know about compositing and matching effects to moving footage, and there is NO way a stop motion figure could've been inserted into the Jabba shot back in 1976. So clearly, that's not the reason it got cut out.

A similar "inconsistency" of a Lucas-statement came to my mind when McQuarrie talked about his design-idea for Vader. He had the idea for him wearing a mask, because he had to swap ships in space. On the other hand Lucas always claims, that he had written the whole story of the saga even before ANH got shot (and probably before it got designed), including the reason why Vader wears his mask (the lava-pit and stuff). So, either it was a GIGANTIC coincidence that McQuarrie gave Vader a mask, OR Lucas lied. I might as well be absolutely wrong here... maybe the first draft of the Saga didn't mention Vader's past at all... so, this is just a thought.