OmegaMattman

Cassius76 said:

So, I can't watch these on My TV then?  I was hoping that the files would play on my Panasonic Blu ray player.  It has the AVCHD logo on the front..  Surely there must be a way?  I am using alcohol 120 % to mount images, and the iso's are not readable.

 Yes, AVCHD is designed for playback on most set-top Blu-Ray players.  Just burn the ISOs to standard DVD+R DL discs with ImgBurn (or another program) and pop 'em in your player.  That's what they're intended for.

vbangle said:

 

Why are the colors so different? They almost look like they are from different sources?

 I color and level corrected GOUT to reduce the over-abundant reds and reduce the white levels.  Some of it is detailed in the earlier posts.  Undoubtedly, it's not going to be to everyone's tastes...but it makes me happy.

shorn said:

Do these ISO's contain H.264 video stream? I mean, ideally I would like to convert them to M4V format and keep the 720p res without further encoding. 

 The M2TS streams are H.264 based.  You should have no problem converting them to whatever format you need ;)

Here are 4 selected comparisons from TESB.

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/2941/esb1.jpg

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/1679/esb2.jpg

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/7303/esb3lr.jpg

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/1012/esb4.jpg

I'll try to post some screencaps whenever I can (hopefully sometime tonight or tomorrow).  Unfortunately, once this project was completed, I deleted everything but the most essential backup files, which included the raw, compressed H264 files.  I'll have to see if I can extract them from the final ISOs when I get the chance.

But, the screengrabs on post #17 of this topic do accurately reflect the new color timing.

FINISHING LINE:

The Star Wars Trilogy: Hyperspace Collection for AVCHD (with bonus DVD) is finally complete.  It can currently be found over at TehParadox and I'll be adding it to Demonoid shortly.

FINAL DETAILS:

Prepare to experience George Lucas’ epic STAR WARS trilogy the way it was originally seen by audiences worldwide. This special Hyperspace Collection restores all three films to their theatrical versions, digitally remastered from the best source materials available and newly converted to 720p high definition.

Plus, explore the saga behind the saga with an exciting Supplements Archive DVD, featuring rare interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and more. It’s unlike anything in your galaxy!

Full credits for the sources and software used are included on the Supplements Archive DVD.

DISC 1: Star Wars
- AVCHD format (DVD9)
- 720p High Definition, Widescreen
- THX Home Video Sound Mix (Dolby 5.1 & Dolby 2.0)
- Original Theatrical Stereo Mix (Dolby 2.0)
- Restored Theatrical Mono Mix (Dolby 1.0)

DISC 2: The Empire Strikes Back
- AVCHD format (DVD9)
- 720p High Definition, Widescreen
- THX Home Video Sound Mix (Dolby 5.1 & Dolby 2.0)
- Original Theatrical Stereo Mix (Dolby 2.0)

DISC 3: Return of the Jedi
- AVCHD format (DVD9)
- 720p High Definition, Widescreen
- THX Home Video Sound Mix (Dolby 5.1 & Dolby 2.0)
- Original Theatrical Stereo Mix (Dolby 2.0)

DISC 4: Supplements Archive
- NTSC DVD format (DVD9)
- From Star Wars to Jedi
- War Stories: An Interview with George Lucas
- The Star Wars Gallery (Narrated by Ralph McQuarrie)
- The Lucasfilm Archive Tour (with Don Beis and R2-D2)
- Sound Advice: An Interview with Ben Burtt
- How the Walkers Walk (Narrated by Dennis Muren)
- The Flight Through the Asteroids (Storyboard Comparison)
- The ABCs of Jedi Effects: An Interview with Dennis Muren
- Jedi Videomatics (Narrated by Ken Ralston)
- Lapti Nek: Extended Music Video
- An Exclusive Interview with George Lucas (3 Parts)
- THX WOW: Demo Reel (Dolby 5.1 and DTS)
- THX: Soundtrack (Featurette)
- Alternate 1981 Opening to Star Wars

Just a brief update.  I've finshed authoring all of the discs (3 AVCHD, 1 DVD) and am just finalizing the artwork before I upload to the usual places.  Everything should be finished sometime next week.  I'll post all of the final details then.

I'm REALLY looking forward to moving onto some other, non-Star Wars projects ;)

skyjedi2005 said:

I was surprised that according to a review they actually bothered to include the 35mm mix in 2.0 on the blu ray of the theatrical cut, i don't have a blu ray player and have no way of knowing if the 5.1 is another new mix or the 70mm mix which all have been waiting years to hear again.

As far as I can tell, the 5.1 mix is just a lossless version of the 5.1 mix from the previous Theatrical Cut DVD.

The 2.0 mix was on the replacement discs of that DVD as well (after fans complained), so I would have been more surprised if WB decided to leave it off. 

Thanks, hupraeha :)

And, sorry to everyone for taking so long to finish Hyperspace.  I should have been done by now, but life keeps throwing a wrench in the works.  It will probably be finished and uploaded sometime before the end of June.

BRIEF UPDATE:

Got a bit sidetracked and haven't been making as much progress.  Right now, I'm working on authoring the bonus supplements disc.  All of the menu designs are complete.

WHAT'S IN IT?:

As stated before, the Supplements Archive disc will be a standard DVD (DVD9 format).  It will include:

1 - From Star Wars To Jedi: The Making of a Saga (based on the Dr. Gonzo DVD)
2 - An Exclusive Interview with George Lucas: Parts 1-3
3 - War Stories: An Interview with George Lucas
4 - The Star Wars Gallery: Narrated by Ralph McQuarrie
5 - The Lucasfilm Archive Tour with Don Beis and R2-D2
6 - Sound Advice: An Interview with Ben Burtt
7 - How the Walkers Walk: Narrated by Dennis Muren
8 - Flight Through the Asteroids: Storyboard Comparison
9 - The ABCs of Jedi Effects: An Interview with Dennis Muren
10 - Jedi Videomatics: Narrated by Ken Ralston
11 - Lapti Nek: Extended Music Video
12 - THX WOW: Demo Reel (in Dolby 5.1 and DTS)
13 - THX Soundtrack (based on the OCP DVD)
14 - Alternate '81 Opening to Star Wars (from the Rebellion DVD)

Sadly, the original trailers will be left off due to disc space concerns...which shouldn't be too big of a deal since they'll likely be on the "official" Blu-Ray release.

5.1 HYPERSPACE:

I have also decided to include the 5.1 upmixes from Rebellion for all three films.  Not really a big deal and not really the best mixes...but I figured I might as well, since Hyperspace is edited to match Rebellion.

The main thing I'm noticing (and it may just be my monitor) is that the flesh-tones seem a bit oversaturated.  This gives some of the faces too much of an orange hue.

dark_jedi said:

 

Hell I do not even know what I should try to match the color to, the LD rips are real dark, VHS versions not as pink, and the DV broadcast versions are all different to LOL, so do any of you have any suggestions? to be honest, the 04 really doesn't look that bad colorwise.

 I know it's only good for a few shots, but what about matching to the color from the original SE trailers?

I don't know what the original source for the video is so their might be a less compressed version out there than the Rebellion Collection version.

The source used for the Rebellion bonus disc was the THX Ultimate Demo Disc DVD.  Before that, THX WOW was part of a Laserdisc Demo that also included the featurette Soundtrack.

The version on the Ultimate Demo DVD was upscaled to 16x9 by Lucasfilm and is the same version on Rebellion.  Unfortunately, compression issues between the two are just about the same :(

Also unfortunate is that the scenes featured in the demo are too short and incomplete to be of any use for most projects.  I sent a 720p upscale of WOW to Harmy a while back for his Despecialized Edition, but don't think it was of any use to him.

skyjedi2005 said:

Well the d1 master tape itself is extremely limited anyway.  Even if you were Lucasfilm, taking that and upscaling it to blu ray would be out of the question.

The gout coming from the original 35mm master IP or IN   is the best star wars oot ever has looked on home video.

However, if Lucasfilm would have opted for whatever master was made for the PAL THX versions, a 16x9 DVD upscale would have been very possible.  I was playing around with Lee Thorogood's '95 THX transfers a while back...and even though they were upscaled without first anti-aliasing, reducing the jaggies was a lot easier.  Plus, as we all know, DNR is much less pronounced.

Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of these LDs to work with myself.  I'd love to get my hands on a raw, untweaked, high-quality LD-to-digital transfer of the PAL editions to toy around with ;)

Unfortunately, and with no disrespect to Zion or the X0 team, the X0 transfer just doesn't really offer anything of use.  When you break it down, it's still just a transfer of the '93 Star Wars LD, though from a solid LD player with no compression artifacts.

But, it does have it's own issues.  For starters, and this was mentioned a few posts back, there is obvious dot crawl.  Luckily, most of it is easy to remedy.

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/5900/x0b0.jpg

Second, there are some occasional instances of video drop-out.  While rare, they are usually of such extreme that entire frames might need to be replaced.

http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/8229/x0c0.jpg

Finally, the opening ANH text has some issues with the yellow letters.  I don't know if it has to do with the dot-crawl...or what.  But, in my opinion, it renders the X0 transfer an unsuitable source for the '81 opening...unless someone knows a way to clean that up.

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/8302/x0a0.jpg

Plus, it still has all of the wonderful ugliness associated with the '93 transfer, securing GOUT as our best (yuck) current source.

Another change of plans.  Because of today's far-from-complete announcement on the official BDs, I'm making changes to the supplements.  The only documentary being ported over from Rebellion will be From Star Wars to Jedi, since the others will be included in the LFL set.  This means there will only be one DVD9 of extras, not two.

Despite my lack of updates, this project isn't dead.  I started getting a bit burnt out, so I took a little time off.

Plus, I keep hoping against hope that Lucas' big announcement this week (5/4/11) will include the theatrical cuts.  After all, it seems GOUT was made as a response to all of the LD preservations that were popping up online, right?  With new projects like dark_jedi's V3 and Harmy's Partly Despecialized Editions generating some fan-buzz, maybe we'll see Lucas go ahead and make his move.

Oh well, time to hop off of my unicorn and come back to "planet reality" ;)

ONE IDEA BITES THE DUST:
I've decided to abandon 720p upscaled special features.  As I mentioned before, the only extras I was releasing in HD were some trailers and THX WOW.  Well, they didn't turn out as well as I'd like.  The trailers from the 2004 Bonus Disc have some minor compression issues that became more apparent upon upscaling.  Plus, I have no doubt there will be trailers on the "official" Blu-Ray.

As for THX WOW, it has some aliasing issues caused from Lucasfilm's slip-shot uprezzing to 16x9.  Unlike GOUT, most of the those I was able to resolve.  However, it also has some compression issues.  Nothing too nasty...but it just doesn't seem to be a noteworthy boost in quality.

BUT...for those of you who are interested in seeing it, I uploaded an MKV of my upscaled THX WOW for Harmy a while back.  If anyone else wants it, PM me for links.

AGAINST MY BETTER JUDGMENT...BUT IN A REALLY GOOD WAY:
Originally, I'd said Hyperspace would not be as feature packed as my Rebellion set.  Since I've abandoned the 720p features, I've decided to change that.

Hyperspace will include 2 DVD9s of extras with their own cover art.  These discs will include everything from Rebellion, with possible exception to the phone messages for The Empire Strikes Back.

Also included will be the THX Soundtrack featurette, a version of THX WOW with improved anti-aliasing (based on my 720p), and the 1981 alternate opening to Star Wars (though I haven't decided what source to use).

So, there you have it.  Right now, I'm working on the menus for the supplement DVDs...and I have no idea when everything will be finished.

Stinky-Dinkins said:

Yeah, by 24 I mean 23.976.

If you're working with all (LD, DVD, and broadcast) interlaced sources meant to refresh at 60hz, converting everything to 25p and then to 24p in the final stages, how exactly does this work? Is it able to take the two halves of the interlaced image at every 1/60th of a second and combine the data to make one solid frame? Wouldn't that leave you with it running at 30p?

Are frames dropped?

Frames themselves aren't dropped, but fields are.  It's called inverse telecining.

Usually, there are 2 interlaced fields for each progressive frame at 30fps (29.97).  But, when 24fps film is converted (telecined) to 30fps, extra fields are added to preserve timing.  These are invisible to the naked eye.  So, instead of a field pattern of 2:2:2:2:etc., we get a pattern of 3:2:3:2:etc.

Inverse telecining is literally removing those duplicate fields which restores the 2:2 pattern and results in a speed of 23.976fps.

Harmy said:

Could someone maybe PLEASE get the battle of Yavin clips (and anything else potentially useful you can find) from the NTSC version for me - preferably already upscaled to 720p?

More than happy to do so.  It'll just take some time because of the constant pulldown changes.

THX WOW PM sent.

@hairy_hen: I considered that but unfortunately all shots in the EoD doc have some kind of weird ghosting issue. It may be some interlacing thing but I don't know how to get rid of it.

Are you using the PAL release of EoD?  It could be a botched standards conversion.  I just checked my NTSC copy and it seems fine...although the pulldown pattern changed with every new film clip, so it would take some time to IVTC.

@Mattman: I don't have it and have never seen it (although I know what it is from reading about it). It could be interesting - from what I gathered, the transfer should be much better than the GOUT.

I just completed a 720p upscale of "WOW" which I had intended to include with "Hyperspace" set (though that's still up in the air).  If you'd like me to upload it somewhere for you, let me know.  It's only about 5 minutes long, so it shouldn't be too large of a download.

hairy_hen said:

I don't know if you've already thought of this or if anyone has suggested it, but would better results for some of the composites be obtained by using footage from the Empire of Dreams documentary?

Also, I don't know if anyone has addressed this, but is there anything you can salvage from the THX WOW demo reel?  I remember it had a few shots of the battle of Yavin.

One word: Incredible.  Seeing the gradual updates to this project is certainly a highlight of my day ;)

bkev said:

^But an LD image isn't quite as clear, so you wouldn't see the aliasing as much thanks to it being a bit blurry. Also, if there really is a vertical blur, does that mean that the release was modified and not sent out just as-is straight rip? Interesting... shame they couldn't have been assed to do any more.

The more I think about it, I seem to remember reading that the Lucasfilm marketing team showed a "before and after" when they were promoting the GOUT DVDs at one of the home video conventions.  Maybe they did do some minor cleaning (instead of leaving well enough alone).

bkev said:

I know; in fact, I posted them. I just wonder if it was an error in the encoding in some fashion or post-processing.

 Whoops!  That'll teach me to reference past threads while I'm not looking at them.  This week really needs to end ;)