Have you thought about adding a bit of color toning to the finished result? Old projectors had rather warm color temperatures, unlike today’s more neutral bulbs. Personally, I think a subtle amount of sepia gives black & white some richness. Just an idea. 😃
Good idea for a project. I’m not sure if it’ll help but Blackmagic has a couple of free tools that might come in handy. The first is Davinci Resolve, which is excellent for color correction. The second is Fusion, which according to the manual, has some frame repair and cloning tools. I’ve never used Fusion, so I can’t vouch for how good they are, but both programs are Mac/Windows compatible. They’re both pro tools, so they’re not exactly easy to learn, but they might be worth a look.
Best of luck! 😃
—ScruffyNerfHerder
Made a regrade using HDTV as source; why? Because, even if it has lower quality than BD, it has bigger frame size in the first part of the movie; it could also be used just for the first part, where the frame size is bigger, though…
Hi ^…^,
Do you have access to a 4k Blu-ray player at all? I have the film on 4k Blu-ray, but I haven’t had time to watch it yet. I’m curious what impact the larger colorspace and dynamic range has on the image. In general, I’ve found the colors of 4k Blu-rays to be very pleasing. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was fantastic.
First, regarding Peter Cushing’s height, I know that he wore slippers during filming, and that was because the boots he was issued were too small. He only wore them for the few long shots. Either way, that’s hardly a huge criticism, nor did I intend it as such, more of an observation. 😃 Second, the generals (perhaps even Tagge) would likely have brought up the size of the Rebel attack in the very passage you cited. Why not mention that the Rebels risked a huge swath of ships to get the stolen plans? You said that it likely wasn’t the entire fleet, and perhaps that’s true, but it was definitely a substantial amount of ships, and the Rebels are clearly few in number and must carefully choose their battles. Why risk so much if the plans are worth so little? I still find that part odd, but we can agree to disagree. 😃
Either way, I did find the film entertaining. And I’m very happy that other people liked it a lot. 😃
Well said, NeverarGreat.
I finally watched it for the first time last night on Blu-ray, and I definitely agree with you. I’d like to add a couple of observations. 😃 First, I simply don’t see what the movie adds to the mythos. We already knew that the Death Star has a weakness, and that someone stole the plans and delivered them to Leia. Why does it really matter who made the Death Star or who stole the plans? And, as you said, much of the ending muddies the opening of Star Wars with half-contradictions. Second, Darth Vader’s appearance was very disappointing. While it was kinda cool to see his castle, and the bacta-chamber tube he was in, it added nothing to the film. Replace him with some other Imperial stooge and the scenes wouldn’t change a bit. He was there to appease the fans, not to serve the story.
Third, I can’t believe that the Empire would dismiss the stolen Death Star plans so readily in the next film. “It doesn’t matter what technical plans they’ve discovered. This station is now the ultimate power in the galaxy…” Really?! The Rebels sent their entire fleet to get those plans, don’t you think they did that for a reason? This felt like another of your inconsistencies, NeverarGreat. Finally, wasn’t Peter Cushing too tall? I seem to remember him being barely taller than Carrie Fisher, and she was rather short too. He towered over nearly everyone.
Overall, the film, while competently made, just didn’t feel like Star Wars. (Even the color palette felt off.) It was entertaining, but lacked the magic that Episode VII has. Still, I’m glad I finally watched it. 😃
Hi DrDre,
I’m glad your family emergency sorted itself out. That can be quite scary. 😦 The images look great to me; it’s amazing to think they started life with the dreadful Blu-ray flaws and yet look so good now. Best of luck to you and your family, and to a happy vacation another day!
I agree with Papai2013. I’d personally leave the audio, like the video, as-is, in the original Dolby Surround format. As far as proper playback at home, Dolby Pro Logic was “designed to decode soundtracks encoded with Dolby Surround” (credit: Wikipedia) and it goes back to the days of VHS and Beta, so it shouldn’t be an issue. (Dolby later improved upon that with Pro Logic II, IIz, and IIx.) New receivers like mine have an even better way of playing these signals based on Dolby Atmos and DTS: X. You might want to double check any audio concerns with Hairy Hen, as he is the best when it comes to these sorts of issues, but I believe a straight lossless stereo encode will do the trick nicely. Hope this helps! 😃
Agreed! What really strikes me is that the Genie is more of a soft baby blue than the bold royal blue I remember from the Blu-ray. In fact, all of the Blu-ray colors seem oversaturated in comparison. Man, what a great film. 😃
This is a very cool project, dark_jedi! I was on a total media blackout regarding TFA, so pretty much all of this content is new to me. Thanks for your hard work. 😃
Wow, what an amazing collaboration! Team Blu has always been very professional, so I can’t imagine how much better it will be with this influx of talent and resources. Exciting times ahead! 😃
Hi Yotsuya. Cool project. The only thing I’d add is that the text edges look a bit aliased to me. (It might just be an artifact of the 720p preview video.) Is it possible to feather the edges of the text slightly? Keep up the great work. 😃
I have yet to sit down and watch my Blu-ray, but I’m pretty disappointed that the BD lacks the theatrical Dolby Atmos mix. Did anyone here see it in Atmos? None of the theaters near me are set up for Atmos (other than my home theater 😉).
TFA would’ve really been a great showpiece for immersive audio in the home. Oh well, maybe the inevitable 4k BD will have it.
Hey DrDre,
This looks amazing! I make it a point not to swear, but holy shit your work impresses me. 😛 I did have two questions. You use Matlab to create your algorithms, correct? As there is a Mac version of Matlab, is it also possible to create a Mac version of your completed applications? I don’t want to add to your hassles if the process is complicated, but if it’s a matter of hitting a button and spitting out a Mac app, I for one would appreciate it. I do have Bootcamp, and quite a few old photos and videos that I’d love to put through your process either way.
Keep up the amazing work! 😃
I have an ongoing subscription to Photoshop CC, plus time, and a love of Star Wars; if I can help, I’d like to! 😃
Also, I agree that having access to an entire shot—not just individual frames—would be a good idea. It’s often far better to clone from the next/preceding frame than within a damaged frame.
I’m VERY sorry to hear about this Poita. Is it possible that your homeowner’s insurance could help replace the damaged items? I don’t know exactly how that works, or what is/isn’t covered but it might be worth a phone call.
Best of luck and hang in there. 😃
What are the steps to burning a BDMV file to a Blu-Ray disc on Toast without losing anything?
I’ve had good luck following the instructions mentioned here: http://forums.support.roxio.com/topic/90622-create-disc-image-using-bdmv-folder-avchd/ . While the steps are actually for creating a Disc Image, just pick BD as your medium and click Burn instead.
Hope that helps. 😃
Sorry for the late reply, TServo. I’m very sad to learn the fate of the Fantasound mix, but I definitely appreciate the info very much. 😃 I wonder why exactly the Fantasound mix would deteriorate so soon after its creation. Either way, it’s sad to think this is lost to history.
At the end of the training remote session with Luke talking to Ben, what are the green ovals in the top right with white scribbled lines for?, in the last sentance or so before you cut to the Death Star board room
I think those are just reel change markers. It’s something we no longer see in digital projection, or on home video, but would definitely be present in 1977. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cue_mark for more info.
Hope that helps. 😃
Cool find. Do you know if this dub has the original multichannel Fantasound mix? There weren’t many theaters even in the U.S. that could accommodate it, so I sincerely doubt it. Still, my fingers are crossed that I’ll hear it one day! 😃
Hi Harmy,
Now that Mike Verta has screened his completed version of Star Wars, is there any chance he can send you updated color references for version 3.0? If my memory is correct, many of your earlier references were based on his work in progress scans.
Either way, I’m really looking forward to seeing it. 😃
That was interesting. Thanks for posting the link. 😃
I totally agree with you about playing Obi Wan; Ben had important information to relate and Mifune’s inability to speak english would likely mean he’d be dubbed. But Vader was dubbed anyway, and he certainly could’ve done the lightsaber battles well. Still, how tall was Mifune? David Prowse at least added a formidable presence to the role. If Vader was shorter and not very muscular (at least not bodybuilder class muscle), I think much of the menace of the character would be lost. Mifune likely would’ve brought more grace and snap to the character’s movements but I can’t imagine his Vader casting such an impressive silhouette, especially in ESB.
Good find! 😃
I'm very sorry to hear that. :( Rest well Poita! :)
Welcome aboard, toaonua. Your best bet is to read the very first post in this thread. Harmy, the person who created the Despecialized Edition, has laid everything out in detail. It's really not a hard process, and it's well worth it. :)
Sorry to necro post, but if anyone is in the Boston area, there's a 70mm screening of 2001 this Saturday and Sunday. It's at the Somerville Theater. I wish I could go, but this weekend is unfortunately not good for me. :(
Anyway, for those who may be interested: http://feitheatres.com/somerville-theatre/2001-a-space-odyssey-in-70mm-this-sat-sun-only/