I just donated $2USD. I know it’s not much but you’re doing something amazing. I hope you get the funds to complete this.
Spoilers!!!
As a huge star wars fan, I sat there cringing and bored for the first 30 minutes of the film. Also, the one line jokes were abit much… Maybe I was expecting a more “dark” film given the title.
I felt the whole Finn and Rose scenes were pointless plots to fill in the film.
Loved the Luke scenes, and i had an emotional moment when Luke and Leia were on scene together.
Loving how we get to see kylo Ren develop into a darker character. Just wished he kept the helmet. It’s sick!!!
Yoda as always shared his wisdom to us all!
Also the red guard/royal guard were a nice add to the film.
Will have to watch again but I feel that TFA was a better overall movie. May need to add after a 2nd viewing.
this is looks fantastic!
Does this release include lossless audio tracks?
Yeah, it’s honestly just that this project tends to move at a very slow pace. Life is definitely far busier than when I initially started the project, even moreso than a year ago and I’ve given myself far more ambitious goals in terms of how to work with the footage.
So no I have never forgotten about the project, there’s just often very few updates to share.
The most recent thing I’ve been looking into, if anyone is interested, is how I might use this still in development avisynth-based software Video Artifact (formerly Windmotion) to further improving the quality of the BD source for the intensive color work. http://www.videoartifact.com/va/
I think it’s also good to mention, that I tend to have become quite perfectionist about this project. Which when you stare at sequences and shots from these films for long periods of time over and over you really do begin to realize just how awful these films really look.
Absolutely I’m sure you’re busy at home etc. I think just by judging this thread there’s a lot of attention created and we definitely want to see it’s first version come out shortly!
Good luck with the rest of the project. I’m sure it’s going to turn out fantastic!
Hi Harmy,
Any progress on 2.5? Please tease us! lol
Man it was looking good… Did everyone lose interest in this project? 😛
Is there even a true source of the 70mm 6 channel audio?
We have an in-theatre recording, but those aren’t really good enough to turn into a real soundtrack. They make fine references though.
Err, and here’s my “wrong movie” original answer (about Star Wars, not Empire):
The track we have now is assembled from “true enough” sources for my tastes. As hairy_hen said earlier, the 70mm mix was based on a four-channel master, which can mostly be gotten back to via the 35mm matrixed stereo. Then, we have an in-theatre recording of the 70mm audio which allows us to know the timing and relative volume of the differences from the 35mm version, minus the channel info. And we have SE audio which contains these differences, which can be mixed in at the appropriate places, to achieve a pretty accurate reconstruction of at least the four main channels of the 70mm mix. I’m not sure how h_h handled the LFE audio, but that may have involved a little more guesswork, adjusting and modifying the equivalent SE channels to create something more faithful to the original.
It’s amazing the work that has been put into the despecialised trilogy.
Thank you for clarifying. i think the LFE sounded nice and crisp in big scenes. I may need to revise again as the last time I watched 2.0 was months ago. But definitely no complaints about the audio track. The 5.1 track is amazing.
Can’t wait for 2.5!
What is the difference between the 5.1 1980 mix and the 2.0 1980 mix? Are there any content differences, or are they just mixed through more channels?
Also, does the 16mm mono track differ from those two in any way?
IIRC, the 5.1 1980 mix is just the matrixed stereo upmixed to 5.1, with some of the LFE channel from other sources like the Blu-rays where they still seem decent. In other words, it’s a nice, tasteful upmix of the stereo mix. Unlike Star Wars, it is NOT an attempt to reproduce the original six-channel mix. And unlike Jedi, we know that there are content differences from the six-channel mix, but the six-channel mix didn’t apply to this cut of the film. So no content differences, just more channels, technically not theatrical but not actively revisionist in any way.
The 16mm track is way different. C-3PO gets some different lines (ones that later showed up in the Special Editions), and the mixing is occasionally a bit different too.
So in other words the 5.1 is just stereo? It does sound amazing but just interested as i thought it was a pure 5.1 source. Is there any interest in obtaining a true 5.1 source or using the 6.1 source from the blu rays etc?
- Rev
No, it’s an upmix of matrixed stereo, not plain stereo, which gives you 4 distinct channels. Mix in the LFE and it’s true 4.1, upmixed to 5.1. The channels aren’t as distinct as a modern discrete mix but they’re distinct enough. However, it is just the stereo mix, i.e. sound effects and dialogue specific to the stereo mix. No content from the original mono or six-channel mixes.
The point of the 1980 six-channel mix is to be authentic yet multichannel. You could certainly get more channels from the Blu-ray, but you’d lose everything else–quality, authenticity, etc. 4.1/5.1 is about as good as you can expect in this regards when the cadillac best-of-breed audio in 1980 was 4.2. The only thing theoretically better would be a preservation of the 70mm version of the video with accompanying six-channel audio, but that’s unlikely–and frankly I don’t like the 70mm cut as well, so what we have now is still better, IMO.
It is possible to insert 6.1 sound from the Blu Ray to the Despecialized edition, however the Blu Ray is the special edition cut with added shots not seen in the Despecialized edition.
Also the audio quality on the Blu-rays is fairly tragic, so if you can find a nice, alternative lossless source (which we have), you’ll end up with considerably better results than anything using the Blu-rays as a significant source. You’re not going to improve anything by pulling in audio from an inferior source, regardless of the nominal channels.
Thanks for clarifying. Is there even a true source of the 70mm 6 channel audio?
I’m sure Harmy would’ve included it if he had access to it…
Either way the stero up mix to 5.1 sounds amazing. Was just shocked to hear it was an up mix! Sounds better than the blu rays in most scenes.
What is the difference between the 5.1 1980 mix and the 2.0 1980 mix? Are there any content differences, or are they just mixed through more channels?
Also, does the 16mm mono track differ from those two in any way?
IIRC, the 5.1 1980 mix is just the matrixed stereo upmixed to 5.1, with some of the LFE channel from other sources like the Blu-rays where they still seem decent. In other words, it’s a nice, tasteful upmix of the stereo mix. Unlike Star Wars, it is NOT an attempt to reproduce the original six-channel mix. And unlike Jedi, we know that there are content differences from the six-channel mix, but the six-channel mix didn’t apply to this cut of the film. So no content differences, just more channels, technically not theatrical but not actively revisionist in any way.
The 16mm track is way different. C-3PO gets some different lines (ones that later showed up in the Special Editions), and the mixing is occasionally a bit different too.
So in other words the 5.1 is just stereo? It does sound amazing but just interested as i thought it was a pure 5.1 source. Is there any interest in obtaining a true 5.1 source or using the 6.1 source from the blu rays etc?
I literally came home From watching rogue one (finally).
Some thoughts - I felt the story started way too slow at the start than the build up came too fast (if that made sense) in which gave the story abit of “lacking” premises.
I really liked Donnie Yen’s character and how it relates to us around religion. You have an ancient guardian who really believed in the force but was not a Jedi. I thought it was cool to give us viewers faith in the force. Really cool and I thought at times funny in the action scenes.
Darth Vadars castle was interesting and we get to see a more darker scene from Vadar. Like someone pointed out it just seemed like Vadar is always set up for failure and rogue one was an example of it.
Was anyone disappointed that they took JJ Abram’s camera shots again for another Star Wars movie? I thought it was too up close and didn’t give it a Star Wars feel like the original sagas.
On the contrary, 4K would need 4 times the bandwidth to be of equal quality with 1080p, so upscaling 1080p to 4K would be pointless and would either result in pointlessly huge files, or reduced detail compared to the 1080p version due to compression.
As for the '95 Czech dubs (I actually recently discovered they were made for the 1995 THX VHS release, not the '97SE), I didn’t include them, because the translation is awful and I also always try to include the most original dubs possible. If anyone wants any alternate dubbing, they are, of course, welcome to mux them in themselves - the number of audio tracks is way too huge as it is, so I can’t include multiple dubs for each language on top of all that.
I’m actually thinking about releasing the next version with english tracks only and then including links for all the different dubs and instructions on how to add them.
Thanks Harmy for the reply! That makes sense. Either way im too excited for 2.5!
Harmy, I know 1080p is in the works for 3.0 versions and up but do you have plans to do a 4K version/upscale? Any benefits to take use of bandwidth and perserving quality? Or no point in doing so at this stage?
Harmy, a massive appreciation to all your hard work. ESB is one of my fav films of all time and you keep improving your work. Big prompts to you and your team. 2.5 is looking great and I subscribed to your YouTube account!
Anybody know any reliable public trackers for 2.7? I can’t seem to find any. That, or perhaps a my spleen invite? VERY keen to see the new color corrections. Thanks!
“You are the chosen one”
Check your PMs
Father?
Can I please have a my spleen invite as well? 😃
Hi Harmy,
Im a massive fan of your art. It truly makes us feel like we were in the theaters when they were released.
Is there any possibities you will be releasing the next versions in 1080p with a higher bit rate? I found it with ESB2.0 it was abit pixelated in some scenes.
Just a thought. I’m a huge fan and thank you for spending hours on.
Mike