Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda

This forum is called "originaltrilogy".com because - surprise(!) - its focus is on the original trilogy.  So don't be surprised if most of the people here are therefore focused on SW/ESB/ROTJ rather than on the prequels.  Although there are certainly people here who inexplicably, through whatever mental insanity from which they suffer, like those too.  Actually, I do myself admit to having a morbid fascination with creepy puppet yoda from Ep.1 and very desperately want him to be preserved and his deep artistry appreciated for all time.

Oh and BTW, that "childhood" stuff didn't come from us - we just get blamed for it.  I think my childhood survived Jar Jar perfectly intact; well, mostly.

Audio just crapped out on my workstation.  That will delay my work for about a week while I get it fixed.

Ok, reel 1 sync with MW's audio is done.  It went pretty much as expected.  A couple of rough spots, requiring me to cut the audio into three pieces and then stretch them each independently.  Had to play with the splice area so there wouldn't be a gap.  But overall it only took about an hour or two... much easier than syncing with the 16mm audio.

MW's audio rip is 44.1.  Will upsample to 48, then convert to ac3.

Will start on reel 2 tomorrow.

Syncing with the 16mm is always tedious. There are always some strange splices and missing frames to deal with.  It should be easier than syncing with the 16mm audio though (ironically), because capturing the 16mm sound involves a warbly old analog machine.  The frame-by-frame video capture is solid time-wise, but the audio is captured separately on a completely different machine in real-time. In some ways, the digital rip should be easier to sync because it is matching one solid track with another.

After listening to segments of both, I think I'll go with Mallwalker's... to my ears it sounds like it has is a little bit more detail.

Ok, I'll give them both a listen.

Ok, it looks like Mallwalkers were bit accurate digital rips from the 1989 CLV disks.  The ones Silverwook sent me were, I think, from slightly earlier CAV disks (and I don't know if they were captures or digital rips).  CAV is supposed to be slightly higher quality, right?  If the above is all correct, then what would be better, a digital rip of a CLV, or an analog capture of a CAV ?

Never mind, I think I found it.

Ok, I'm not interested in using a 5.1.  So was hairy hen's ESB mix only 5.1?  If so, I think I'll use an LD rip.  I have one that Silverwook sent me, and Mallwalker's that none sent me.  Silverwook, can you contrast those two choices?  Is the one you sent me a digital rip, or an analog capture?

Can anyone link me to hairy hen's esb audio thread?  I can't seem to find it.

You're discovering, as I discovered, that although there are lots of people here capable of doing this kind of stuff, it is even more fun doing it yourself.

Don't eat the raisins.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

So there's Harmy's, DJ's, and Mallwalker's (so far).  I have to confess that I'm pretty ignorant of the various mixes of ESB.  So I'm going to largely rely on you folks out there to discuss this in the thread, and hopefully come to some sort of concensus, on which would be best for PSB.  I don't think that I could realistically have more than 2 mixes due to space limitations on a DVD-5.  And one will definitely be the 16mm.  So that means we have to decide on 1 more.

Google "automatic gain control".

Yes the audio on both prints is a mono fold down.

I will have to sync the audio manually regardless of the source... the 16mm film has lots of little issues, some splices, etc. and so the frames don't align exactly with any other source.

So I'm more interested in hearing which audio would be most desired.  Preferably something not overly compressed, and close to what would have originally been heard when the film was first released, in a nice theater.

I almost forgot that I was planning to sync up a stereo alternate track.

Any suggestions as to the source?  Has someone out there already made a high-quality unsquashed grab from a laserdisc that could be usee?

Yeah, don't forget to unleash the mice!

After several experiments, I decided to do some of the corrections, but to leave some of them alone.  So the film is pretty much done.  I have to watch the whole thing for a final test to be sure, and I'll probably have Jaxxon take a look at it too before calling it a wrap.

I also sound synced the "extra", and finished encoding it.

Next up is the "making of" mini-doc.  I pretty much know what I'm going to do for that, so it shouldn't take all that long.  After that, I'll do the menu.  I've decided to stick with the same menu theme as PG, as that would give the trilogy a unifying "look".

In short, this thing is coming together a little faster than first anticipated despite my crunch time at work.  Expect an August completion.

Doing the DVD first.  I still consider them first and foremost to be research material, and the DVD allows me to include an extra with relevant details, leaders, etc.  Also easier to cover up the shortcomings of my capture :)

1. yellowing at two corners of reel 2
2. yellowing at one corner of reel 3
3. bright scratch in one frame of reel 1 - brief but surprisingly noticeable
4. hair for a couple of seconds in reel 1 - already have fix but forgot to splice it in.

All simple stuff.

And of course I need to watch the whole thing on DVD to make sure I didn't miss anything else, and that the sound synch is solid.

Reel 1 done, and looks great.

There are four very minor fixes I have to make, after which I'll start on the "making of", menu, and extra.

jero32 said:

What George Lucas is doing however, is more comparable to John Lennon deciding Yoko Ono was also part of the band, and permanently mixing her voice into the song.

Great analogy!

To clarify, when the film came out, it wasn't scratched up... the scratches came over the years.  There would have been some film grain, though, and that is one thing that many viewers appreciate seeing again.

This 35mm transfer has the potential of looking fantastic, even compared to the blu ray, and certainly compared to the DVD, because the detail (including the grain) is so well preserved.  It also will accurately preserve an important window into film history.

You are right that some people may subsequently use it for repairing the blu ray. I'm just guessing that is about the last thing on -1's mind.

jero32 said:
Also keep in mind, unlike most of you I'm only 19 years old. So I didn't really grow up with the originals the same way most of you would've.

It's not about what *I* like, or what anyone in particular likes. It's about preserving the movie that won 7 academy awards and changed filmmaking. It's about preserving history.

I actually enjoy some of the changes.  But this effort (and this website, for that matter) is about preserving the original, since Mr. Lucas won't.

Brooks said:

Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

You might want to peruse the lengthy Blu Ray thread.  Restoring a classic film means just that - restoring it to its original Academy Award winning form, no more and no less.  -1's work is at the very leading edge of this effort.

Where is that thread?  I tried searching for blu ray and it gets 1000+ results

:(

Go to the "General Star Wars discussion" forum (the first one).  There's a thread with a great big "Ohhhh Nooooo!!!" in the title, with over 300 pages of posts. Last I checked it was only about 6 or 7 threads down.  No need to search.