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NeverarGreat

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Join date
11-Sep-2012
Last activity
24-Apr-2024
Posts
7,651

Post History

Post
#1028926
Topic
4K restoration on Star Wars
Time

TV’s Frink said:

NeverarGreat said:

TV’s Frink said:

moviefreakedmind said:

EDIT: Then again, I think that this entire forum is overly concerned with color correction. I think I might be in the minority there, though.

I’m with you.

Yeah, what kind of loser obsesses over the exact hue of the Death Star control panel lights?
I mean really, nobody cares!

I care about obvious shit like Hoth being blue or Vader’s lightsaber being pink, but half the time I see before and after pics here and they look nearly identical.

The sky being 0.02% too blue in one shot does not bother me in the slightest.

The Joke

On topic, I’ll believe that the OUT is on Blu-ray when I see it. There are a hundred and one things that could go wrong with it, not least of which is excessive DVNR, erased blaster shots and other effects, or getting yet another special edition to add to the pile.

Post
#1028842
Topic
Neverar's A New Hope Technicolor Recreation <strong>(Final Version Released!)</strong>
Time

Dreamaster said:

Just to keep things clear… (SO MANY VARIATIONS NOW!) this is Dr. Dre’s version:

The top one in Neverargreat’s comparison was from my single pass regrade of SSE 1.5, before 1.6 was released.

Something interesting about this shot is how much of the “sky color” is reflected in the “sand color”. Getting a nice, deep blue sky nets an unusually blue sand, probably showing the sky shouldn’t be quite that blue in the shot?

Thanks for posting that shot, it’s great… in fact… it’s kind of NeverarGREAT! 😃

The sky was certainly intended to be quite gray, but in the actual photography it was probably on the blue side, like a normal sunny day. You can see the green tones in the sky of the SSE example reflected in C-3PO’s head, and on the oversaturated Blu-ray this turns him into a multicolored mess. However, it may be more true to the photography to have that blue sky reflection, it’s just that in the Tech references he’s quite monochrome in the desert because of the desolate look. I’m still not entirely happy with how red the sky is in my version, but it’s phenomenally difficult to change while retaining the proper blue of R2’s panels.

JEDIT: Reduced the reds! Updated images above.

Post
#1028836
Topic
Neverar's A New Hope Technicolor Recreation <strong>(Final Version Released!)</strong>
Time

UnitéD2 said:

Wow ! How did you manage to make 3PO’s color that uniform ? He’s almost multicolor in the Blu Ray…

Plus, the result of the correct encoding on the clipped highlights is very impressive in those two frames. Good job ! 😃

Thanks!

How did I get the colors uniform? RGB curves, Channel Mixer, multiple layers of individual color addition and subtraction…a long process. I was about to recruit color from another source for a while, but decided to keep adding adjustment layers and tinkering with it. This shot was borderline unsalvageable (and some gradients are still missing), but sometimes it just takes another hour of work to fix.

Post
#1028625
Topic
Neverar's A New Hope Technicolor Recreation <strong>(Final Version Released!)</strong>
Time

Dre
Here’s probably my final grade of that shot, from the Blu-ray:
Neverar
And one showing R5:
R5
Comparison with the Blu-ray:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/195809/picture:1
So it’s quite a bit warmer than Dre’s version, with the sky staying almost gray.

JEDIT: I’ve reduced the reds in the sky, and the imbedded images have been updated. New comparison:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/195878/picture:1

Post
#1028228
Topic
Can Someone Explain the Map to Luke Skywalker?
Time

It is also said by Kylo that the part of the map in R2’s memory was from the records of the Empire, presumably downloaded while on board the Death Star. This would mean that either the piece held by Sydow was charted later, or the yellow line marking the path to the temple was the only information yet to be discovered at that time. Perhaps Luke copied that small section of map from R2 then deleted it so that nobody in the Resistance could even start looking for him, then when he discovered the route to the temple, he gave the route to Sydow.

Post
#1027869
Topic
YouTube/Vimeo/etc... Star Wars video finds
Time

Someone in the Birth-Movies-Death comments pointed out the similarities between this theme and a certain theme from Return of the Jedi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkWd0azv3fQ

JEDIT: Incidentally, if you mute The Force Awakens Blu-ray and substitute this at precisely 02:03:49, it makes for a wonderful alternate ending theme.

Post
#1027847
Topic
A place for self reflection.
Time

darthrush said:

suspiciouscoffee said:

I was going to write something here. In fact, I did, I typed a lot. I deleted it all because it was pretentious, whiny, asinine, and pathetic (just like me).

Self-reflection leads to me quite a self-loathing rabbit hole.

Omg same here.

It’s the self reflection part that matters, not so much the posting of it, but I understand not discussing these things in public. I’ve only recently gotten to the point that I’m able to publicly admit even these problems with my life.

Post
#1027839
Topic
Why Doesn't the Resistance have Tie Fighters in The Fore Awakens?
Time

I think that would have been a great idea. Red Letter Media suggested something similar in that the Starkiller Base should have been a New Republic weapon that Leia was leery of and wanted nothing to do with. For the New Republic to also have the technology of the Empire, such as TIE Fighters and Star Destroyers would have been realistic and also rather ironic, seeing how the Disney empire has taken over the Star Wars IP. Of course, this being Disney, they would never have taken that risk.

Post
#1027824
Topic
A place for self reflection.
Time

This isn’t the most uplifting forum on the internet, but it’s better than some I’ve participated in. I explore the internet to be challenged in my beliefs and be exposed to other attitudes, and certainly this forum can be challenging.

I’ve made some mistakes and bad decisions in my life, but who hasn’t? I know that other people are dealing with their own problems and sometimes that spills out in forum posts, but that’s just human nature. I try not to meet anger with anger, since I believe that you receive what you give. I try to see the best in another person, since I would hope that they do the same, and if they don’t, then I try to move on. Sometimes these tendencies get me in trouble. Sometimes I do get angry with opinions online, so much so that I have to get up and walk away from the computer for a time. It’s not a particularly healthy response, but I’m working on it.

I’ve been thinking a lot about human nature this past year, especially considering our new political reality. I think that a whole lot of people have learned the wrong lesson from this political upheaval, which is that people are ultimately tribalistic, irrational, and can be fooled by anything. While this is a seductive and depressing interpretation, I don’t think it’s true. I believe that people are ultimately unified, imaginative, and reasonable, but our institutions are so fundamentally flawed that we are incentivized to behave far below our potential. Perhaps that’s my idealism showing again.

I have a dream for a better world. In comparison, my life is in such disarray that I feel like I need to start over in order to begin building this world, beginning with myself. I’ve been struggling with feelings of apathy, seeing the far horizon of the road I must walk, but there are moments of fierce determination as well. I fear that some of my choices have permanently damaged me physically, but in some strange way that also hardens my resolve. Similarly to the political trouble on the horizon, the path can become clearer when there is an obvious obstacle to overcome, something to focus my energy. I’ve had some serious anxiety issues over the past year, as well as one full blown panic attack, but since November these feelings have been fading with my newfound resolve, replaced with a refreshing calm.

I’m working on a book of philosophy now. It’s unabashedly autobiographical, about me and for me alone. Nobody else will read it, but I’m starting from the beginning, from first principles. Perhaps from that I will be able to write something good, something persuasive, something that I believe could change the world. The philosophy isn’t new, yet the way I approach the subject hasn’t been done before, at least as far as I know. Perhaps I will persuade no one, for who would listen to someone who has not even ordered their life? Yet there’s a part of me that believes that it could revolutionize both my life and the world of philosophical thought, and that is why I write.

Is that enough self reflection?

Post
#1027391
Topic
Star Wars moving forward without Ms. Fisher
Time

About CGI characters:

CGI characters in live action movies has always been a dicey proposition, and one metaphor for this is a pre-recorded magic act. The audience at home wants to be fooled by a variety of magician’s tricks, but they usually don’t want to be fooled by deceptive video editing or people who have been ‘planted’ in the crowd specifically for the trick. In other words, people want to be fooled in some ways but not in others. CGI for me too often feels like a trick of the latter category. Some computer generated elements are acceptable, even expected in movies now, just as flashy lights and graphics in a magic show serve to embellish the theatricality of the act, but when the act itself is a deception, this breaks the unspoken agreement between audience and movie.

That’s just a long winded way of saying that Tarkin and Leia in Rogue One felt like a deception rather than a magic trick. Furthermore, in the case of Tarkin, he distracted from the primary villain: Krennick. Vader is a special case, since he has always been played by multiple actors. As long as James Earl Jones provides the voice, I have no problem with him being a secondary villain.

As far as Leia in Episode IX, I think there are far better ways to complete the trilogy than turning her into a CGI puppet. I would rather watch the movie magic of our new generation of leads than the deception of a corporation with too much money and too little sense.

Post
#1027238
Topic
Info: Need special effects for your edit? Request them here!
Time

I need the shots of the lightsabers in these scenes degrained to match the blu-ray footage, and stabilized so that I don’t have to manually align the SSE frames to the Blu-ray frames. The goal is to rotoscope the SSE sabers into the Blu-ray, since those are so degraded.

As for how much degraining would be required, I’ve gotten good results with Google’s Nik Dfine 2 Photoshop plugin, with degrain settings of 70% contrast strength and 20% color strength:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/195506

However, I don’t know how to automate this process, so I have to do this frame by frame. If someone had an automated degrain process that produced these results, that would be fantastic.

Specifically, every lightsaber shot in the Falcon except for this first one needs to be done, and the last part of the Obi-wan/Vader battle (after ‘Is the ship alright?’).

Post
#1026983
Topic
Rogue One * <em>Spoilers</em> * Thread
Time

Tobar said:

After the huge shoot out in the hallway there’s no denying her involvement. Captain Antilles and Princess Leia are both just delaying Vader for as long as possible, hoping Artoo can get away and find Obi-Wan. As for the transmissions being beamed. We don’t know if Vader saw that soldier hand off that data tape. His mission as mandated by Tarkin is to mop up the space battle and prevent ships from escaping. So he could have been on his way to try to stop the Tantive from launching. Alternatively, as the Tantive was docked inside of Raddus’ ship, Vader could consider them both just one vessel and as we saw, the plans were beamed up in about four or five chunks simultaneously.

That is all well and good, but it isn’t exactly elegant in terms of explanation. It’s rather a bit of lawyerly technicalities that allow Leia’s speech to work rather than being an organic and believable lie.

It’s much more believable that Leia’s ship was on the edge of the battle for a brief moment to receive the plans before jumping back to hyperspace on her way to recruit Obi-wan. Why they stumbled over this simple plot device is anyone’s guess, perhaps just so Vader can have the fist shaking moment of failure.

Post
#1026446
Topic
Random Thoughts
Time

DuracellEnergizer said:

Since I don’t get many replies in the “Script Writing and Re-Writing” subsection, I figured I’d post this here.

I’ve started writing the screenplay for my Episode III re-write, and here is where I plan on introducing Palpatine. To build up his character, I wanted him to feature in a number of short scenes of him delivering political speeches – speeches which begin as hopeful and stirring, but become darker and more totalitarian with each new speech he gives. The thing is my knowledge on things political is extremely weak; I can’t write politicians.

I figured it would be best to use real-world political speeches as inspiration – speeches given by Hitler or Stalin or even a certain American president-elect. 😉 If anyone could provide links to transcripts or videos of the kind of speeches I’m thinking of, I’d really be grateful.

Here’s a couple:
Hitler Subtitled
Stalin Subtitled
Mussolini Subtitled

and of course:

The Greatest Dictator