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Moth3r

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Join date
26-Oct-2004
Last activity
16-Jul-2017
Posts
4,892

Post History

Post
#524983
Topic
Random Thoughts
Time

CP3S said:

What the fuck? Away for a few hours and come back to find every other thread on lock down. Kind of excessive, isn't it? Off Topic is starting to look like FE or TF.n. 

Thanks to the (nice) lax moderation, we end up with a severe troll problem, then when Fink tries to deal with the troll problem we decide it is moderation time and moderate the hell out of his attempt. Meanwhile, yay, troll's still here!

I got a PM from someone complaining about the bullshit going on in off-topic, I checked a few threads and saw a load of Frink vs twooffour, Warbler vs Davy, and decided it was time to lock a load of threads.

I don't have the time or the inclination to read and decide who is wrong or right, or who is a troll and who isn't.

Post
#524745
Topic
Info: a Smear-free '93 ?
Time

I liked the sample, these old video transfers have an aesthetic appeal that's hard to describe.

I would definitely increase the white level (contrast), then perhaps you might want to carry out a gamma adjustment to darken the lower end of the luma curve.

So I take it the sample video is from a multi-capture median script, while the screenshots above are from the raw captures?

Yes the script above is simple to modify for five captures. There is a noticeable improvement when going from a 3-cap to a 5-cap average, but I've found that five is the sweetspot; more than this and the additional time and storage required outweigh the benefits of a small increase in quality.

Regarding the temporal soften command, I don't think the scenechange parameter (the 4th figure) is required, and I cannot tell any difference between modes 1 and 2 (the 5th figure). Obviously you would use radius=2 for a 5-cap average.

Post
#524739
Topic
Chance to talk to Lucasfilm about the new SW Blu-rays. What do YOU want to know?
Time

Has this Q&A happened yet?

I do agree with Anchorhead that all questions about the OOT will be ignored or inadequately answered. However, maybe you could obtain some insight into the opinions within LFL with certain leading questions?

"In the recent Blu-ray Deleted Scenes Teaser on StarWars.com, I was thrilled to see color images of Luke on Tatooine watching the blockade runner battle. I would like to ask Kayleen if the Blu-ray Discs include any of the scenes from the original theatrical versions that were later deleted, for example the original approach to Mos Eisley that was deleted in the 1997 Special Edition, or the scene with Sebastian Shaw appearing as the ghost of Anakin Skywalker that was deleted in the 2004 DVD release?"

I'm sure someone else could come up with a cleverer question.

Post
#524724
Topic
RETURN OF THE JEDI story LP (Released)
Time

Whatever happened to MoveAlong? He said here he was planning on doing Jedi eventually - I guess real life took over.

It's nice that someone else has stepped in to do this, and the clips you've put up so far have been very good.

(Also fettip, I'm sorry to say this but your signature image is slightly higher than the forum size limits. Please could you crop it? See the link in my sig for more info.)

Post
#523751
Topic
Curious about Certain Aspects of My (Primitive) LD to DVD transfers
Time

As with any of these things, the only way to be sure is to carry out tests yourself. For example, the Panasonic DMR-ES10 is supposed to have excellent built-in filters for stabilising wobbly VHS images in pass-through mode, however from my tests I found it blurred high frequency detail coming into its composite input.

This page seems to have some comprehensive advice on DVD recorders. The general consensus is that later models (2007 onwards) tended to drop features, such as built-in tuners, additional recording modes and filters to improve the video signal, in order to reduce costs.

Post
#523176
Topic
Curious about Certain Aspects of My (Primitive) LD to DVD transfers
Time

msycamore said:

captainsolo said:

Since you're capturing straight to a DVD recorder, I don't think there's much more you can do to improve things. From what I always understood there's only so much that those can handle.

I think DVD recorders have come a long way since the early players hit the market, some players comb filters can be very good.

I don't know about the early players, but I think the quality of DVD recorders peaked around 2005-2007. Users then moved on to DVR-type devices (e.g. Sky Plus in the UK) or on-demand (catch-up) services.

What model Toshiba recorder are you using? The RDR-XSxx and RD-KXxx models are reportedly very good.

In the end you will always need to do some post processing to get LD-captures to look any good, tweak the levels, multi-cap average/median, IVTC and resize etc. The clipped white levels have nothing to do when the transfer was made, there are shitty transfers made today just like there were good ones made in the old days.

I agree with the above; you may even find that some of the clipped whites are recoverable (I found this with an LG recorder). I'll take a look at your sample.

Post
#523170
Topic
Info: Observation on cinematographic composition and atmospheric diffusion (aka one of the reasons why the '04 transfer looks so bad)
Time

Assuming that the image on the upcoming BD releases has the same problems, how would you go about fixing this?

The colour adjustments applied by Adywan and Harmy on their theatrical reconstruction attempts has failed to address this particular issue (sorry guys).

Referring to the first shot with the crushed balcks, you cannot simply raise the black level, as this produces some ugly grey artefacts (this was one of the problems with OCPmovie's Classic Edition V2). Although this effect could possibly be reduced by applying a dither, or error diffusion, to the dark areas of the image.

As for the second image with the unnatural colour boosting, I don't think there is an easy way to fix this using any overall image adjustment.

Post
#522930
Topic
Info: Observation on cinematographic composition and atmospheric diffusion (aka one of the reasons why the '04 transfer looks so bad)
Time

Surfing the net the other day, I came across this document on the subject of cinematography.

The author uses paintings to illustrate some of the principles of composition. One of the paintings is this one by Gustave Caillebotte, showing a Paris street on a  rainy day:

Chris Chomyn said:

Notice how the rain and fog which constitute atmospheric diffusion, soften the details and mute the shadows into shades of gray.

Compare with this shot of the entrance to the Hoth base from Empire:

The problem is clear - the “cave” entrance is not a shade of grey, it’s almost pure black. It shouldn’t be. If you can imagine standing at that location, a distance away taking a photograph, the wind kicking up fresh snow, there is no way that shadow would appear as pure black. The '04 shot just looks worng.

The '93 transfer, notwithstanding its horrible DVNR, at least gets this right:

Chris Chomyn also said:

The natural diffusing quality of this light helps to reduce the saturation in all the colors, creating a very subtle palette.

Now, here is a shot from the Tantive battle in Star Wars:

Look at the red, yellow and blue lights in the background. Mike Verta is more qualified than me to explain this one:

Mike Verta said:

There’s just simply no way that photographically, these lights would register this way through all that atmosphere. They’d look the way they do on the DE LD. But they’re subtly ruining the frame for me: my eyes read them as impossible, and out of character with the photography.

For reference, here is the same frame from the GOUT/DC LD transfer:

Post
#522736
Topic
Who is Ignoring You, and Who are You Ignoring? (was: Who is Ignoring You? (was: Hello all, I'm back!))
Time

doubleofive said:

I'm such an ignorant American about the British Isles. I know that Irish are on their own island, and that Scots are on the north of the main island, but where do the Welshes fit in?

Please don't ignore me (see, on topic!)

This'll make your head hurt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10

Post
#522107
Topic
Extremely Silly Website: digital-fanedits.com (Was: Extremely Silly Article About Star Wars Prologue On DVD)
Time

This review by Spence was posted in another thread:

SpenceEdit said:

It sounded like a good idea, but it just devolves into random sequences and events without any emotional through line. His "twist" in the final scene is ridiculous and is executed very poorly. The only thing I would say I liked about it was his Jar Jar removal, which is admittedly very well done.

The edit has zero handle on the actual plot and character arcs of the movies, nor does it try to change and improve them. His structure is interesting, but he makes everything that happens in the movie almost pointless. Without Anakin's end to his story, there's just random people we don't care about doing random things. Basically he took what's wrong with the prequels and made it infinitely worse.

 

Post
#522041
Topic
Discussion about other movies?
Time

xhonzi said:

Here are the topics from the front page or two that we could move to a new forum to make more room for moronathons in off-topic.

Why should the "good" topics have to be moved to a new forum? I would prefer to see a new (unmoderated) forum solely for moronathons.

This would have the advantage - if Jay ever gets round to implementing forum user permissions - that certain users could be temporarily "locked" into the moronathon forum, as an alternative sanction to a temporary ban. 

Post
#520961
Topic
Songs That Tell a Story
Time

ERNIE (THE FASTEST MILKMAN IN THE WEST)
Benny Hill - 1971


You could hear the hoof beats pound as they raced across the ground,
And the clatter of the wheels as they spun 'round and 'round.
And he galloped into market street, his badge upon his chest,
His name was Ernie, and he drove the fastest milk cart in the west.

Now Ernie loved a widow, a lady known as Sue,
She lived all alone in Liddley Lane at number 22.
They said she was too good for him, she was haughty, proud and chic,
But Ernie got his cocoa there three times every week.

They called him Ernie, (Ernieeeeeeeeeee)
And he drove the fastest milk cart in the west.

She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is best,"
She says, "Ernie, I'll be happy if it comes up to my chest."

That tickled old Ernie, (Ernieeeeeeeeeee)
And he drove the fastest milk cart in the west.

Now Ernie had a rival, an evil-looking man,
Called Two-Ton Ted from Teddington and he drove the baker's van.
He tempted her with his treacle tarts and his tasty wholemeal bread,
And when she seen the size of his hot meat pies it very near turned her head.

She nearly swooned at his macaroon and he said, "If you treat me right,
You'll have hot rolls every morning and crumpets every night."
He knew once she sampled his layer cake he'd have his wicked way,
And all Ernie had to offer was a pint of milk a day.

Poor Ernie, (Ernieeeeeeeeeee)
And he drove the fastest milk cart in the west.

One lunch time Ted saw Ernie's horse and cart outside her door,
It drove him mad to find it was still there at half past four.
And as he lept down from his van hot blood through his veins did course,
And he went across to Ernie's cart and didn't half kick his 'orse.

Whose name was Trigger, (Triggerrrrrrrr)
And he pulled the fastest milk cart in the west.

Now Ernie rushed out into the street, his gold top in his hand,
He said, "If you wanna marry Susie you'll fight for her like a man."
"Oh why don't we play cards for her?" he sneeringly replied,
"And just to make it interesting we'll have a shilling on the side."

Now Ernie dragged him from his van and beneath the blazing sun,
They stood there face to face, and Ted went for his bun.
But Ernie was too quick, things didn't go the way Ted planned,
And a strawberry-flavoured yogurt sent it spinning from his hand.

Now Susie ran between them and tried to keep them apart,
And Ernie, he pushed her aside and a rock cake caught him underneath his heart.
And he looked up in pained surprise and the concrete hardened crust,
Of a stale pork pie caught him in the eye and Ernie bit the dust.

Poor Ernie, (Ernieeeeeeeeeee)
And he drove the fastest milk cart in the west.

Ernie was only 52, he didn't wanna die,
And now he's gone to make deliveries in that milk round in the sky.
Where the customers are angels and ferocious dogs are banned,
And the milkman's life is full of fun in that fairy, dairy land.

But a woman's needs are many fold and soon she married Ted,
But strange things happened on their wedding night as they lay in their bed.
Was that the trees a-rustling? Or the hinges of the gate?
Or Ernie's ghostly gold tops a-rattling in their crate?

They won't forget Ernie, (Ernieeeeeeeeee)
And he drove the fastest milk cart in the west.