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PaulisDead2221

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Join date
3-Nov-2005
Last activity
6-Mar-2024
Posts
548

Post History

Post
#622117
Topic
Harmy's STAR WARS Despecialized Edition HD - V2.7 - MKV (Released)
Time

Harmy said:

Yes. I'm hoping for a release next month - only reel 6 left to do and I don't recall there being much I wanted to fix - I just don't have the time to work on it just now.

Thanks so much for the invite.  I dled the entire trilogy in their current versions and it was an awesome experience.  Consistency in clarity was entirely convincing even when I knew the source was GOUT/LD/etc and the more intricate fixes involving matte work were quite perfect.

I'm happy to hear there will be more releases, because I saw issues with black levels and color correction.  Regardless I think this set is the most perfect form of the films in their original state we can hope for at this time.

Post
#619899
Topic
Harmy's STAR WARS Despecialized Edition HD - V2.7 - MKV (Released)
Time

I'm beyond excited to see this work come out.  I'm aware of the history behind every source used and I'm blown away by the hard work compiling these sources together for the most consistent video quality.  What really makes this a worthwhile project is the way you've compiled every historically significant audio track to go with the film.  I attempted a project like this some time ago with some similar ideas.  I could never have put something together so astoundingly complete.

Anyway, the reason I'm posting is because the first post of the thread says to post for an invite to myspleen, and I'd like to politely take someone up on the offer.

Thanks for this release Harmy :)

Post
#502338
Topic
Star Wars Sound Effects Archive - A collection of SW sounds for use in Fan Edits (* unfinished project *)
Time

Thanks again for this great resource.  I used an early version of your sound fx archive almost exclusively for my short film.  Anyone looking for a good source of sound fx for any type of project, star wars related or just any kind of science fiction project, should pick this up.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7de90AOBHPE

Post
#496119
Topic
Star Wars coming to Blu Ray (UPDATE: August 30 2011, No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!)
Time

Darth Hade said:

Back in the very early days of prequel hype, I subscribed to the Homing Beacon that was/is sent out by the official site: starwars.com

Subscribing to the Homing Beacon seemed to always get one e-mail updates to all things Star Wars. I didn't have a Homing Beacon in my inbox today, but I did have this...

BR

Very mysterious.  Saw it on facebook.  Let's hope for double good news this week in both the world of politics and the world of OT fan politics, right?

Post
#489642
Topic
Spaced Out: A Stoner Odyssey (five minute sneak peek)
Time

 

Spaced Out: A Stoner Odyssey (first five minutes sneak peek 720p)

Vimeo link

Youtube link

Hey everybody,

This is the first five minutes of a short film I developed.  There was a post on here some time ago concerning George Lucas's view on fan films and fan fiction in which he stated that he enjoyed watching them and appreciated the effort put into fan-projects of his films, but at the same time felt that the energy put into them could be better spent developing an original idea--something that could do for us the same thing Star Wars did for Lucas.  I thought about it awhile and realized that it's all I've ever wanted to do is make my own Star Wars (I even sent him a fan letter as a 9-year-old begging him to help me develop a Star Wars rip-off!).

So I got this idea to try and make a science fiction film the way Star Wars used to be made, and I synthesized a lot more science fiction including Heavy Metal, Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and others to create something I would have as much fun watching as making.  I built three car models and filmed them in front of glass and green screen (similar to Kubrick's methods), filmed cloud tank effects (also similar to Kubrick) and put together digital backgrounds to create what you see.  Skyjedi made a suggestion that I read the wonderful book: ILM: The Art of Special Effects, which was a huge influence on how I went about compositing and filming my effects.  I also spent time in a community college film school learning about lighting and cinematography to try and create a real film look.

Everything was shot on a Rebel T2i with the packet lenses.  I recorded sound on an Zoom H4n with a Rode NTG-2 shotgun mic.  All the supplementary sound effects were either self-recorded or taken from Brash's thread which supplied me with all of the Star Wars soundboards as well as other great links and resources.  We have an entirety of 20 minutes fully rehearsed and an hour and a half of movie written, but unfortunately due to our schedules, jobs, and schoolwork, I'm not sure how much farther we can go as the original idea has expanded far beyond our micro-budget capabilities.  However I feel if I start getting this out there I could get some grants and/or funding to bring this project to fruition.  I wanted to know what you guys thought.  Play like you're a big movie executive and you're watching my sneak peek and wondering if you should invest or not.

Anyway the main point of sharing this with you guys is that I know you all share my appreciation for the aesthetics of conventionally done effects.  This was all done the way movies used to be done, just with the advantage of digital compositing and a digital workflow.  Thanks for looking and I'll definitely post more if we shoot anything new.

 

Post
#489633
Topic
HD Media Player
Time

canadianbs101 said:

To be honest, I haven't ever tried burning an mkv to my player. Looks like I have more homework to do. I have a Panasonic DMPBD60 that supports AVCHD.

If the MKV is in AVCHD format then I think you can just remux the file into a blu-ray disc using tsmuxer and burn it using imgburn.

Post
#468189
Topic
Star Wars Sound Effects Archive - A collection of SW sounds for use in Fan Edits (* unfinished project *)
Time

brash_stryker said:

As for what you said about conversion degrading the quality, it wouldn't be converted again from 44.1 but rather from the source files, so that's a non issue. I'm just wondering which is best :-)

What quality are the source files?  The soundboards sound sourced from a parsed 5.1 ac3 off the DVD.  So a 48 khz file would be better if they weren't down-sampled for the internet in the first place, but 24-bit isn't necessary at all.  I say keep delivering as you are as CD quality .wav files (unless you have reason to up the sampling quality to 48).  They're uncompressed and easily imported and utilized in all editing applications.

BTW, thanks for this.  I've downloaded a bunch and am currently using them in a "fan-film-ish" project.  I'll keep following the thread as you update it!

Post
#464025
Topic
STAR WARS: EP V &quot;REVISITED EDITION&quot;<strong>ADYWAN</strong> - <strong>12GB 1080p MP4 VERSION AVAILABLE NOW</strong>
Time

Hey Ady,

I wanted to congratulate you on everything you've done so far with both ANH and ESB.  I've been following the thread for a long time.

Have you found any use for cloud tank effects?  I've been shooting some cloud tank footage for a short film.  I have files at 720/60p and 1080/30p slowed down to 40% and 80% respectively to create 24fps cloud effects.  They composite easily with a luma key and could be a great resource for nebula and other cosmic phenomena.  Some of the footage could also spruce up cloud city a little bit (although I've seen the progress you've made already).  They're all in easily manageable .mov files that Vegas 10 takes like a charm.

neato looking nebula, eh?

Post
#459256
Topic
ATTENTION: Dayv needs our help
Time

Nerfherder said:

PaulisDead2221 said:

I did not appreciate somebody's comment about "karma" that seemed to be insinuating that the proper karmic "balance" to this situation is for you to actually get cancer

That wasn't my attention at all - I meant if you lie about something, it'll catch up with you in the end - that's what I meant by the Karma comment. And how dare you insinuate that I would wish cancer on anyone, especially after I posted that I know people that have died from it (people I loved). I'm awaiting an MRI result myself...

Then, indeed, I take it back.  I hope you read this before you leave the thread.

Leguman said: But this damn keyboard won't let you know exactly the real "me" I'm affraid.

I realize now this is the real barrier that separates us all.

Post
#458991
Topic
ATTENTION: Dayv needs our help
Time

PSYCHO_DAYV, whatever your situation I only wish you the best (I did not appreciate somebody's comment about "karma" that seemed to be insinuating that the proper karmic "balance" to this situation is for you to actually get cancer).  Even if you've perpetuated something shady with the forum members out of a place of desperation in your life, then if everything is set right I don't see why anyone should hold any animosity towards you.  I certainly don't, and I was more than ready to donate to your cause.

I'm going to go to the off-topic section and talk about Star Wars for awhile.

Post
#386762
Topic
OT: Favorite Special Effects
Time

Enigmas said:

Moncynnes said:

My faves is during the Battle of Endor in Jedi, when the Falcon, Wedge's X-wing and an A-wing dive into the Death Star tunnel.  The perspective on the shot still makes my stomach lurch -- it feels so real to me.  That's gold!

^This. I love that shot. Best in the saga as far as I'm concerned.

Completely agree.  That's a mastery of the techniques developed over the course of the series.

Post
#384733
Topic
OT: Favorite Special Effects
Time

ChainsawAsh said:

Mine would be the same as Sluggo's, but more specifically the lightsabers in Empire.  They're perfect.  (At least, they were before they got all fucked up in 2004.)

And the first time the Falcon goes into hyperspace.  Such an amazing moment the first time you see it ...

Oh yeah how is hyperspace done?  It looks like a rack zoom through the stars that is slowed down for a second to get that preliminary star trail.  Is this right?  Of course the spinning stars after the falcon leaves seems like a separate composition.

Post
#384501
Topic
OT: Favorite Special Effects
Time

Anchorhead said:

As soon as I read the post, this image popped into my head. It's not ground-breaking and there were plenty of others in the film that were more impressive. However, as I sat in the theater in 1977, it's the one that really moved me into feeling far far away and has always been my mental image of the film.

Yeah I like this one too.  The set up must have been so simple.  Does anybody know how they did this?  A simple double exposure?  If I had to eyeball it I'd say they took the shutter and aperture way down and refilmed for the higher sun to expose onto the image.  Is this accurate?

Post
#384144
Topic
OT: Favorite Special Effects
Time

I’m studying old school special effects and wanted to hear some of everybody’s favorite visual feats in the trilogy.  The thing I love most about many of the effects is that they’re amazingly simple and doable on even the tightest budget.

My personal favorite is the starfields of the old trilogy, just holes poked into construction paper if I remember right.  It’s amazing that an entire universe can be conveyed to the audience by poking a tack through something that can be bought at a crafts store for 85 cents.  Science fiction doesn’t have to be a blockbuster game, we just need lower budget filmmakers to use a little practical imagination.

Post
#374489
Topic
Star Wars - The Vintage Edit (* unfinished project *)
Time

So I've reviewed the mess of ideas I've had going in my brain for the past few years.  Tell me what you think of this one:

-Video: Adywan's AVCHD color corrected version of ANH, losslessly converted (for compatibility purposes) to 23.976 fps.  I do not know if this will require simply converting the framerate or actually slowing down the video.

To "de-se" the source we'll use the GOUT, as cleaned up as we possibly can make it.  G-force's thread is dedicated to stabilizing and cleaning up this material.  There is also a new project that may in the future provide a new laserdisc capture that might surpass the quality of the GOUT.  Video is synced to the GOUT so all future audio projects can be appropriated to this one (people's audio projects always seem to be synced to the GOUT right?)

-Audio: All the ANH mixes available as noted here, plus a track that utilizes the 1997 optical capture from Adywan's AVCHD version as a source, which is then edited and remixed to emulate the original 77 six track as a 4.1 mix (this will also require the subwoofer channel from another member's project--I'm sorry I forgot their username but the track they gave me was awesome).  The source used to "correct" the 97 mix is the 77 stereo preservation of the six track mix, upmixed through the graphedit method Moth3r provided me with a number of pages back.  I have gotten this all to work, I just lost everything during a reinstall.

-Method: Oh God I don't know...I'll use TSmuxer to get Adywan's video off the BD9.  I believe I can change the framerate with this program without changing the source.  This file I will import into Vegas 8 (although that's where one of my attempts got complicated.  The imported video would play fine until suddenly the video ran at half speed and stopped after the destruction of Alderaan).  In Vegas we'll bring in the GOUT or laserdisc capture and do the basic editing required to get rid of all the CGI and editing changes.  BTW my computer runs much faster now so editing the HD sources might not be as impossible as it once was.  A separate project can be dedicated to the 4.1 mix.  With editing completed, we scale down everything to DVD resolution and export a real Star Wars DVD. Anyone with a better methodology please scold my awkward attempts and teach me!  A blu-ray version might be nice, but we have to consider the source material.  It would basically be the HD broadcast having gone through about 20 generations by the time I rapaciously steal it.

-What do I got?: Right now?  I don't got much.  I have Adywan's BD9/24p AVCHD project, and with it the 1997 mix.  I have the GOUT of course.  I also have a few shots that were donated to me by Adywan that reinstate the matte painting in the detention block at DVD quality.  Very helpful.  I have none of the audio projects I once had.  Looking for:

  • [not completely necessary] The 12 gig encode of Ady's AVCHD project (I thought I heard something about this existing and being available am I wrong?)
  • Any of the sound mixes from the previous list I gave, and any new projects people have worked on over the past few months that I've been foolishly absent.
  • [not completely necessary] A slightly smaller sized version of WG's BD project if the color correction (or "adjustment" as he likes to call it) was amply done by everyone's collective standards
  • A capable partner to cooperate with.
  • [not completely necessary] the new laserdisc capture if it becomes available in the future and proves to surpass the GOUT

I already stated that I'm not even sure if my methodology and computer capabilities are reliable with the video aspects.  I'd be happy to double team it with someone else and work on the 4.1 mix while they work on the video or something.  Maybe the problem with projects like this is that they are quite difficult, and we never reach out and ask for cooperative efforts.  Let me know what you guys think.

BTW, I'd like to make it clear that I'm engaging in a project like this with all the humility of someone who has not done any of the actual work that people like Adywan, G-force, dark_jedi, Belbucas, or anyone else have spent on their projects that I have now appropriated for my own uses.  I do this because I know you guys have done work better than I could have (and my record shows my lack of real skill).  I do take pride like a good DJ in the way I sample and synthesize these wonderful contributions into a new whole.  Thank you.

Post
#374482
Topic
Laserdisc revived - pics added - Japan Definitive Collection &amp; Special Collection (WIP)
Time
Moth3r said:
Aleksbmw said:

Im thinking of releasing a blue ray format release also, since whats the point in IVTC the whole thing then cramming it back into interlaced for a dvd. Progressive > interlaced.

(Pedant: it's actually "Blu-ray")

If done correctly, the MPEG2 video on a DVD is actually encoded as progressive. The framerate is made up from 23.976fps to 29.97fps by pulldown flags in the video stream. A progressive scan DVD player will reconstruct the original film frames on playback.

However, the disadvantage with the DVD-Video format is the MPEG2 encoding itself. Encoders tend to struggle with losts of random noise which can lead to compression artefacts. It would actually be a good idea to use a more modern AVC/h.264 encoder such as x264 which can better deal with the noise present in the source.  Standard definition video would of course not need to fill a full BD-25 disc, but a DVD-9 sized AVCHD disc or MKV file would be a excellent choice.

 

AVC/h.264 would be a great idea, especially for anyone looking for source material for those quixotic "de-se'd" Star Wars projects.  Can't wait to see what comes of this.  Good luck and don't give up.  :)

Post
#373707
Topic
Star Wars Saga on Blu-ray (a joint venture project)
Time

hey dark_jedi I quoted you in the other thread because I wanted to reply to what you were saying about a joint venture, but I was doing it from my phone so I couldn't figure out how to reply, then I accidentally clicked "post."  That was pages ago in the other thread, I just saw I forgot to explain what happened.

I'm definitely in support of this project.  I know how hard it is to do something like this by yourself I hope you're getting all the help you need.  I also hope you're using the wonderful 1997 optical capture off the Special Edition laserdisc for the audio. :)

Post
#371269
Topic
Wookie Groomer's 1080p Star Wars Saga project (Released)
Time
dark_jedi said:

I am sure some of us here can get together and form our own team to make our own Blu-ray versions of these movies,Hell I have Blu-ray authoring software and ALL the 1080p HD versions of all films,English & German,I just don't have a Blu-ray burner to test them out,but sure would like to try,but I would keep them to a BD25 not an overblown BD50.

 

 

 

Post
#364951
Topic
Answer Sean's Questions
Time
sean wookie said:
PaulisDead2221 said:
sean wookie said:

I went to toys r us to check out how much it was and it was only 20 dollars so it looks like I'm getting her the plush and the rose. Maybe a card that says "You are the perfect drug" since that is one of her favorite songs. The card would be too much.

 

A card is too much.

i already said that.

Oh, I thought you were asking--because why would you bring it up in the first place?  I now realize you were talking about the card as a joke.