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MeBeJedi

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Join date
10-Mar-2003
Last activity
10-Feb-2025
Posts
4,879

Post History

Post
#64958
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/64958/action/topic#64958
Time
Ironically, I tried to make my 5.1 as faithful to the PCM track as possible. I can only guess what others have tried to do to "spice up" their AC3s.

That being said, I've considered using simple volume fades in the rear speakers to create the appearance of "steering", but it would be subtle at best.

Oh, I've finally found some decent Star Wars fonts, so those menu screencaps will be undergoing some changes (including adding my username. )
Post
#64893
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/64893/action/topic#64893
Time
"Some of the things you did (29.97fps video to 23.96fps film for instance) I hadn't gotten around to trying before I gave up. HDD space was an issue, since I was limited to 140GB."

The 23.976 IVTC process is very simple, once you wrap your brain around what you are actually doing. As you can see, it was definitely worth the effort. High-motion spaceship fly-bys ROCK!

My original uncompessed RGB capture of ANH came out at 180GBs. It would have eaten your hard drive and your cat. Luckily, two things happened. 1) Costco had sales on Maxtor hard drives ($130 for 160GB, $180 for 250 GB), and 2) laserman introduced me to the wonderful word of HuffyUV, which cut my capture size in half! (with better color fidelity as well) Once I was able to make captures with no dropped frames (which took a lot of tinkering), everything else was pretty straightforward.

"ETA: Niiiice. Did you have to any work on color balance, or was the Faces Set that good to begin with? These encodes look less washed out than the Definitive versions/"

Honestly, it didn't take much. I keep screwing around with brightness/contrast, and finally realized that just dropping the brightness made the best improvement. As you can see from my earlier pic, my DVD capture was darker than my AVI master. My biggest goal was to get "space" as dark as possible, without losing too many stars. Everything else just kinda fell into place once I found that right balance.

People can "ooh and aah" all they want about the Def. Col. (which I also have), but the Faces set is no small potatoes by any stretch. You won't find one website that gives the CAV process a huge visual advantage over the CLV process in anything other than viewing individual frames, at least in regards to the Star Wars films. Believe me, I've looked. (BTW, the last third of the Faces set is in CAV. You know, the "armada" scene? )
Post
#64891
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/64891/action/topic#64891
Time
"why don't you add a credit part in your dvd menu instead of changing the "directed by George Lucas" text at the end?"

1) The "menu" idea is a good one. Thanks.
2) I wanted to see if I could erase his name and replace it with mine. A "technical exercise", much like the DVDs themselves.
3) Fuck Lucas. According to him, these versions "don't exist" to him anymore. Therefore, I have struck my flag into this new, unclaimed territory.

"Or even better, a bonus part where you show a video comparison between the LD Master you encode and the final video after you tweak the colors and removed the glitches."

Another good idea. That's something I might put on the supplement disc.

Oh, here are some screencaps. Best I can do on short notice (I can never get them to look as good as the video.) As you can see (better in the first pic), you can see Leia's shoulders through her dress (the trash compactor scene ROCKS! )

http://home.netcom.com/~eandtc/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/capture.jpg
Post
#64885
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/64885/action/topic#64885
Time
"(was it done in RGB or YUV?)"

Technically speaking, YUV (HuffyYUV, to be specific). The only "RGB" aspect was when I used VirtualDub to create the 23.976 IVTC video stream, as well as the video-crawl filter (VD drops into RGB mode to make changes, but the source remains YUV at the end.)

"I do not recall even seeing a side flip or a disc change and from what I saw today"

You won't. Vegas is very good about combining/overlapping video and audio. How do you think I made my Millenium Falcon intro. BTW, I found my old ESB intro, and I'll send that to Rik also. I got it off one of the Def. Col. LD's, and it kicks ass - and will look even better with this new transfer process.

"MeBeJedi, how long has this taken you so far and when do you expect to be finished with the whole trilogy?"

Well, it's taken me a year to perfect the process, but technically I can do each film in a week now (I'm including "Darth RealLife" in that equation. ) That being said, even with 700+ GB on my computer, I'm running out of room (total files for ANH alone are 100+GBs), and I wanted to hold onto them for more corrections (glitch removal, anamorphic), so I'm kinda stuck between fixing ANH and staring on ESB. As much as Rik loves the audio/video quality, [Lucas] "I'm still not done with Star Wars" [/Lucas], so it's going to look even better.

Oh, chances are that I won't include the 5.1 audio in the future. I just wanted Riktor to hear it, since I worked so hard on it (unless, of course, everyone clamors for it.)

Rik and I are hammering out details for an XVID version, to give you guys a taste of what it looks like (but he needs to return my PM. )
Post
#64906
Topic
An article of lies and disgust - George Lucas talks re the 2004 OT SE DVD release...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/64906/action/topic#64906
Time
"The defense that these new DVD versions are "the way Lucas always wanted them" can't hold up when you realize fullscreen is created to appease a certain segment of the population and is in no way "Lucas' true vision"!"

Not only that, but I'd love to know what "technological hurdle" prevented Lucas from orginally filming Greedo shooting first. Whatta-buncha-horse-shit.
Post
#64822
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/64822/action/topic#64822
Time
"2nd or 3rd Pass VBR encoding is how it is achived"

Oops, forgot about that.

(Actually, it was 2nd pass. Am I really the only person to have used it on these sets? )

Just noticed this...

"along with menus for audio and chapter selection."

Actually, the audio selection is forced when you go into the commentary menus. It works behind the scenes (and at this point, you have to manually select the 5.1 during the movie. It's there just as a curiosity.)
Post
#64816
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/64816/action/topic#64816
Time
"Will Prillaman or somebody else who knows their stuff, be reviewing and comparing your transfer to the ones already available, most importantly the TR47 transfers?"

I guess you didn't read Riktor's comments a few days back?

"since you own (or have seen) the Definitive Edition laserdisc can u tell me what video problems it has besides being a little soft? Are there compression artifacts on it or some noise for example the scenes in the desert on Tatooine or the ice scenes on Hoth."

First of all, my set is flawed, so my comments wouldn't necessary reflect on TR47's version. This is why I used the Faces set instead (which, again, is 99% the same transfer) That being said, you won't see any compression artifacts on the LD, since the video is uncompressed.

"Also, is the starfield in the opening scroll pristine and clearly defined or a bit muddled as in the DVD-R transfers?"

I'll show you what the starfield looks like from my master and DVD.

http://home.netcom.com/~eandtc/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/starfield.jpg
Post
#64806
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/64806/action/topic#64806
Time
"I'm skeptical on how all that stuff could be crammed in on a single disc without sacrificing picture quality"

Well, for one thing, converting the LD video from 29.976 fps to 23.976 fps makes a boatload of difference. My earlier attempts with just the regular video and the compressed 5.1 soundtrack filled the disc at a lower bit-rate. Now I've been able to have the PCM, DD, and the video at a higher bit-rate. The key difference is not only fewer frames to compress, but that the frames, themselves, have much "cleaner" images (i.e. no "ghosting" from movement between frames.) I also ran the files through a dot-crawl filter. The better the master, the better the compression. You know, "garbage in, garbage out."

And, as I said before, everything is mastered to as high a level as it can possibly go and still fit on the disc. My final project came out at 4.69 GBs.
Post
#64780
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/64780/action/topic#64780
Time
Hey! Rik's finally back.

"1) Am I correct in assuming that Rikter will be the point of contact for these when they're done?"

Undecided. I may go ahead and release this initial release on BitTorrents, but there's still some details to be worked on (fixing visual glitches, anamorphic, etc.)

"2) Do you have all 3 encoded, or just ANH?"

Just ANH. I've been fine-tuning the process, and wanted Riktor's experienced opinion on it before continuing with the others.

"3) Will there be a supplemental features disc?"

When the films are done. I've been collecting many of the same features that are on the other discs people have been advertising. (I will say this, though - I redid "Troops" with the original "Bad Boys" soundtrack, not the crap they put on the Total Movie version.)
Post
#64728
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/64728/action/topic#64728
Time
Believe it or not, there was no "font". Vegas is a non-linear editor, and I superimposed select letters from different names, and lined them up over Lucas' name. The "B" and "J" look different because the only name that had them was "John Barry", which was also when the names started scolling up. That one was a little trickier to line up (after halting the scroll.)

Oh, if by interlacing, you mean the two or three places where it seems like another letter bleeds through, that is exactly what is happening. I am unable to define the exact size of the matte used to block out the other letters, so some of them do bleed through. I might go back and work on that, but it's not horrible.

A pretty good effect, considering what I had to work with.
Post
#64698
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/64698/action/topic#64698
Time
I'm afraid you've got quite a wait on your hands. He's taking his own sweet time on these and for good reason - it's tedious work. ANH is 200,000 frames, and he's going through all of them. It's going to be several months. I don't recall his stance on making these anamorphic.

[EDIT] Actually, I seem to recall him not being so keen on making these anamorphic, due to the overall loss in resolution.