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Timstuff

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11-Sep-2008
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21-Sep-2022
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301

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Post
#703287
Topic
STAR WARS: EP V &quot;REVISITED EDITION&quot;<strong>ADYWAN</strong> - <strong>12GB 1080p MP4 VERSION AVAILABLE NOW</strong>
Time

Happy May the 4th, Adywan! Check your paypal for a little token of appreciation for all of your hard work! :)

I'm going to be watching all 6 episodes today, back-to-back. ANH Revisited and Adywan's cleaned up ESB AVCHD will be included in the lineup, of course!

Post
#536502
Topic
What does the blu-ray set have to offer?
Time

I like CG yoda in TPM and the blinking Ewoks, although seeing as TPM is my least favorite of the saga and I always thought the Ewoks are silly, that's not really the biggest of consolations. I hate the new audio stuff they added, and if anything I was hoping that Lucas would listen to some of the criticisms and change back Boba Fett's voice (speaking of which, does anyone know if they still have the phoned-in overdub in there?), but instead we get an even sillier Kraayte Dragon scream and Darth Vader's "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" now ruining the ending of ROTJ. It sounds like Lucas was more interested in tweaking the artistic aspects of the film to suit his more recent tastes than he was in actually cleaning up the film, because I hear that there are still plenty of color errors all over the place.

My room mate is picking up his copy of the Saga tonight, and we're going to have a marathon of the whole thing so I will have a chance to see for myself what has been fixed, and what has been meddled with. I am actually a bit of an apologist for some of the "enhancements" Lucas has made over the years, because I am all for making the movies look prettier-- as long as the original version is still available, and Lucas is only fiddling with things that there was no money or technology for originally, and not compromising the artistic choices of the original version. To me, inserting CG ships and making the creatures look more alive is an "enhancement," but having Greedo shoot first or replacing actors is changing, and changes really boil my butt because they are undermining the original artistic intent instead of enhancing it.

The Blu-Ray still does not have the original versions of the films, and Lucas has made even more daft changes, so I'm not exactly in a rush to go buy it (my current financial situation doesn't help either, though). If anything though, hopefully we'll get a Blu-Ray version of ROTJ Revisited now that a low-compression 1080p source is available.

Post
#463048
Topic
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 <strong>REVISITED</strong> ADYWAN *<em>1080p HD VERSION NOW IN PRODUCTION</em>
Time

The news of an HD release of Episode IV revisited made me jump in my chair with excitement. Even if it's a loooooong ass way off I still look forward to it with eager anticipation. :)

Also, Ady, I know that you said you won't be taking further suggestions on nips and tucks for the new release, but even so... I'd like to reiterate that I'd enjoy a longer, more dramatic destruction of Alderaan sequence. I recall you were working with an overseas team to film new footage for ESB revisited. Have you considered re-teaming with them to make new footage in ANH?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hMOG9qN5rg

Post
#461945
Topic
The future of Lucasfilm
Time

As much as some of us would like to believe that there's that much demand for the OOT, it ain't so. It's something that fans and film enthusiasts really want, but the casual viewer doesn't really care about which version they're watching. The whole reason why it's taken this long to get Lucas to produce a decent transfer of it is because the demand isn't high enough that he thinks it's worth investing in. I'm sure it will happen eventually, but it's going to be a niche product, and doing it for historical preservation will have to be the motivation to do it moreso than consumer demand.

Post
#461521
Topic
Star Wars coming to Blu Ray (UPDATE: August 30 2011, No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!)
Time

TheForce.net user Chreff allegedly has connections at Lucasfilm, and he's explained why the 2004 DVDs looked so bad, and how the Blu-Ray version will have fixed all the problems that the 2004 transfer had, and he also makes the claim that this is Lucas's "final" version of Star Wars. I kind of doubt that since there's still the 3D release looming ahead, and if Lucas is given enough time I suspect he'll think up new things to tweak, but overall Chreff's post sounds encouraging, not just for the Blu-Ray release but for the digital preservation of Star Wars in general. He even mentions Adywan. ;)

 

Chreff said:

Let me see if I can be more clear. The 1997 SE was a restored version of the original print plus new effects added. What they did in 2004 was completely disassemble the restored film, cleaned it more and scanned everything in the computer separately. THis basically means the celluloid negative will never have to be touched again. They then re-composited the films together back into the SE version with more additions. Because this process is almost like putting a film together again from scratch, the original color timing that was done in 1977 or 1997 was basically erased and had to be redone. The problem is that because they attempted to meet a DVD release deadline they completed the composites but never finished the color, sound and other little things that would normally be done on a full restoration. That's why things that weren't even in the original release in '77 (like the big blue halo around the Death Star explosion in ANH) are seen on the 2004 DVD. The digital transfer is almost too good.

What's good about all this though is that everything is in a computer at super high res quality. They can pretty much dial in a piece of film and the effect and adjust and correct at will. It's far less laborious than trying to redo real film. Instead of having to mess with celluloid they just hit a keyboard. They put all 3 films together for the 2004 release in less than a year. They've now had 6 years to do the same work. There's no question this quality will be the best ever for SW.

I know how this process works because I have experience in digital editing and also follow SW quite closely, obviously. I also know people in the business who are involved and I know the restoration on the SW saga was still being done long after the DVD release. People like to call GL names but he's continued to put a lot of cash into this project for years (as he should since this is where everything started). The blu-ray is essentially the final version of SW.

The lightsabers will be fixed, especially the green one in ANH. That black smudge on the Emperor in ROTJ? Gone. Those boxes around TIE fighters in ANH? Bye bye! The magically appearing TIE's in the ROTJ space battle? I don't know about that one honestly. It's won't be like that Adywan Revisited stuff though. I'm as anxious to see it as anyone to see it all on my 55" plasma!

 

http://boards.theforce.net/the_star_wars_saga/b10456/30885339/p12

Post
#461509
Topic
Star Wars coming to Blu Ray (UPDATE: August 30 2011, No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!)
Time

Seriously, Amazon should just freaking stop letting people review products that have not been released. Who exactly benefits from these so-called "reviews?" Just looking at the ridiculous things on both ends of the spectrum that have been posted on the set's Amazon page are enough to make one's head go numb.

Post
#461505
Topic
Star Wars coming to Blu Ray (UPDATE: August 30 2011, No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!)
Time

bkev said:

@Timstuff: We're still waiting on Indiana Jones blu-rays, and that movie is also available in HD. I don't see why they wouldn't reuse the sources they already have. Plus, September just seems to be the month of big releases - the original GOUT, the original '04 DVDs, the Beatles remasters etc. (the original '04 dvds were a September release, yeah?)

 

True, but why wait until September 2011, and not September 2010? If they aren't doing anything to make the picture look better than the 2004 release, then there's no reason it should take an entire year to prepare the set for release. Lucas could have just slapped together a hasty re-release with only one bonus feature disc containing a new featurette, and it would probably make the same kind of money that they would a year later with more bonus features. The whole reason that the 2004 discs sucked is because they were rushed for a holiday release, and if that is a compromise Lucas was willing to make for the Blu-Rays as well then I think he would have already released them.

Lucas also implied that there is not probably not enough time or money to transfer and restore both the SE and the OOT in time for the Blu-Ray's release and still have the resources to make the bonus features. That implies that the SE is being restored to some capacity, because otherwise wouldn't it have been easier for Lucas to just say "we're too busy making the bonus features to restore the OOT"? I think it's apparent from his words that something is being done for the picture quality, with the question being "what." Of course, there's a possibility that there will be brand new problems with the transfer, or it could be the best the film has ever looked. We really won't know until we've actually seen how the transfer looks with our own eyes.

Post
#461481
Topic
Star Wars coming to Blu Ray (UPDATE: August 30 2011, No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!)
Time

We're still at least 8 months away from the set's release. I think we all need to take a chill pill and wait before we jump to conclusions, whatever they may be. Will these discs have the OOTs on them? Probably not, but when was the last time a format came and went with only one release of Star Wars, anyway? If no OOT is a dealbreaker for you then you can wait and let fan restorations tide you over.

Lucas had the time and money to either digitally restore the OOT for Blu-Ray, or make bonus features. The general public is more interested in the bonus features, so pragmatically that is what made more sense to focus on. That doesn't mean you'll never get the OOT on Blu-Ray, either. You'll have to wait longer, which sucks, but at this point it does not make sense financially to invest in digitally restoring it. It's a niche product, and like it or not Lucas has to be able to make money off of it.

As for the picture quality problems, again, there's 8 months to go. Let's look at what we know: the footage in the trailer looked largely the same as the 2004 DVD release, except for Episode I which looks to have been cleaned up. Episode I is set to be re-released in theaters in 3D next year, so that means that they are probably already working on the stereo conversion. If that's the case, then obviously they already have restored version suitable for theatrical exhibition. Has anyone considered the possibility that the trailer was rushed together before any of the films beside Episode I (and possibly some other footage, but that would require more analysis) had been restored? Even though a trailer only takes a few days to make, it takes a long time to get it approved and finalized. Point is, there's plenty of time from when that trailer was made to the time they release the actual discs. If they were lazy enough just to use the 2004 transfer at a higher resolution, and therefore there is no work left to be done on the transfer, why do you think it's taking them until September 2011 to release it? That would be pretty half assed, even by Lucas's standards.

Post
#426551
Topic
Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace: Redemption ** unfinished project **
Time

I had a bunch of dumb summer school stuff that prevented me from authoring the DVD. I have never made a DVD before and I'm still learning the basics of Adobe Encore, but I recently burned a bare-bones copy of the edit that works on DVD players. There were no chapters, subtitles, or menus, but it still played. Exporting it with a 5.1 audio mix might be a little tricky too, but I'm pretty sure I can make it work. I am currently working on making a disc with more bells and whistles, and I hope to have it done in a week or two. Sorry I kept everyone waiting so long for this. :(

Post
#426545
Topic
Idea &amp; Info Wanted: for Video Game Movie Edits
Time

There's a crazy machinima some guy made where he took gameplay from Modern Warfare 2 and somehow managed to make it look like it was being shot through a handheld camera, and it looks like it's a movie even though technically it's just a really fancy spectator mode for the single player campaign. Something like this could work very well for bridging the cutscenes in a video game movie edit as "action scenes," however I am not sure whether or not the amount of work that would be involved with making high-quality machinimas like this would be something a fan editor would be willing to put up with, since I imagine a fair bit of mod savvy is involved.

You can see the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHHBK6PGN8M

Post
#417667
Topic
Pandora (Avatar fanedit) - V2 HD &amp; SD releases coming soon (Released)
Time

Could you possibly remove some of Quatrich's dumber lines, like "You're not in Kansas anymore" and his George W. Bush quotes when they're preparing to attack the Na'vi? Those lines, for me made him go from being a fairly interesting character to being a goofy scenery eater, and the Bush quotes made it feel way too political.

Post
#417379
Topic
Idea: Throwing around some ideas for an Iron Man 2 edit...
Time

OK, I loved Iron Man 2. I thought it was a fun movie and had lots of great action in it. However, I did not love it as much as the first one, because it had some problems due to pimping the Avengers movie so much. The Nick Fury Easter Egg in the first film was cool, but in Incredible Hulk the ending with Tony Stark felt kind of random and irrelevant to the Hulk movie itself. In Iron Man 2, they just went way off the deep end with all the shameless self promotion for Avengers and I think they should have had a lot more restraint. Nick Fury and Black Widow were pretty much shoehorned into there, and didn’t really contribute anything worthwhile to the plot that the other characters couldn’t have done on their own.

So, tell us your ideas for what can and should be done with Iron Man 2 to make it a more complete and coherent experience. Myself, I’m of the opinion that the movie is already good but would be better with less Avengers stuff, and possibly have it removed altogether if possible due to it keeping the film from feeling self contained / complete. Also, I didn’t much care for the wisecracking and humor during the action scenes, because it took the danger out of them.

Post
#411851
Topic
Revenge of the Fallen: The Real Effing Deal (Released)
Time

Kevinicus said:

Thanks for the thoughts Tim.

 

I never had a huge problem with the premise of the Sam/Primes scene, but wish what was really going on had been explored better, and I absolutely hate the look and feel of the scene.  I would have removed it if I could, but Bay and co. had to make the matrix fall apart. 

I just thought tonight about perhaps doing some of the Prime's voices playing over the shots of Sam as they're working on him, so that you get sort of the gist of what's happening in his head, and what he's hearing, but without seeing the stupid scene that goes with it. 

I'm too lazy to work on it though.  As far as I'm concerned I'm done with editing Transformers (until the 3rd one at least) and I'm going to start making Avatar a likable movie once Slysoft gets that encryption fixed.

The scene with the primes could have been a lot better if it hadn't looked like "robot heaven." That was what kept the scene from working for most people I think. If it had a more technological, digital look, it would have been a lot better. I'm not saying that the matrix of leadership should have been completely de-mystified, but if it looked a bit more "Tron-like" it would have felt like a natural extension of the Transformers' technology. They are living technology, so it makes sense that their afterlife would have a technological look to it. Instead, we got some goofy "all robots go to heaven" nonsense. Maybe an after effects-savvy fan editor in the future could give the MOL a more technological look, but that would take a lot of work and some very clever art decisions.

Post
#411183
Topic
Revenge of the Fallen: The Real Effing Deal (Released)
Time

Closing thoughts: a little annoyed that Robot Heaven is still in there, but I understand the reasoning behind not taking it out. The scene was a necessary point B to reach point C, and something I did notice in Gieferg's cut was that losing the scene did seem to cause a slightly bigger rift in the narrative than was already there, even if it came across as less silly. Given the alternative, I'm OK with leaving the scene in, and given how much the movie has already been improved I'm OK with a little bit of the cheese being left in.

Post
#411180
Topic
Revenge of the Fallen: The Real Effing Deal (Released)
Time

I'm watching the Blu-Ray version of Real Effing Deal right now. I must say, it's a pretty darned solid edit, and it looks gorgeous. From a technical standpoint it's pretty seamless so far, and I don't really notice what's been cut until after a scene is over and I have a chance to recall (although in all honesty, I've only seen the original once). Barring any serious flaws in the end of the film I think I can safely say I won't be missing the offical cut at all.

This cut isn't as as experimental as Gieferg's cut (don't expect any Soundwave vocoder voice or G1 music), but it's very well technically executed cut and I like it a lot so far. I haven't seen the earlier iterations of Real Effing Deal, but it seems to me like most of the complaints I'd read about it have been adressed in this version, so kudos to you, Kevinicus.

If you hate the Transformers movies, then I don't know if this is going to win you over. But if, like me you enjoyed the first but were sorely let down by the sequel, I think you will find this a much more enjoyable film than you remember seeing in the theater. It's still a flawed film, and in terms of plot it's still pretty poorly laid out compared to the first film (which I don't think even the most skilled of editors can truly "fix"), but it's still entertaining popcorn, and it's a movie I would feel comfortable popping into my PS3 when friends are over. And again, watching it on Blu-Ray is awesome! Having a solid fan cut that I can watch in picture quality similar to the official release is very much appreciated.

Also, on a side note, I have tested it both on my PS3 and the Blu-Ray player at school and have not run into any compatability issues.

Post
#408197
Topic
TMBTM's &quot;The War of the Stars&quot;; a Star Wars &quot;grindhouse&quot; cut (Released)
Time

If your ESB cut were a "direct to video" version, it would be cool if you could somehow mess with the framerate to make it look like it was shot on beta instead of film. It might result in the film having to play slightly faster, but probably not fast enough for most people to notice right away. I think it would call for some expirimentation...

Post
#408024
Topic
Another new Star Wars animated series in the works.
Time

I honestly can't imagine stretching the Robot Chicken Star Wars antics into a whole series, so I kind of hope this one never makes it out of development. There's so much more that they could be doing with Star Wars animation that I'd rather LFA not get distracted with silly stuff like self-parodies. Star Wars has a history spanning thousands of years and there are so many eras they could develop whole series out of.

Post
#407140
Topic
RedLetterMedia's Revenge of Nadine [TPM 108 pg Resp. [RotS Review+RotS Preview+ST'09 Reveiw+Next Review Teaser+2002 Interview+AotC OutTakes+Noooooo! Doc.+SW Examiner Rebuttal+AotC Review+TPM Review]
Time

Sorry 'bout the ninja edit. I did realize seconds after posting "borderline obsessive" how retardedly hypocritical that sounded, considering how much time I've poured into my Phantom Menace fan edit. :P

Post
#407136
Topic
RedLetterMedia's Revenge of Nadine [TPM 108 pg Resp. [RotS Review+RotS Preview+ST'09 Reveiw+Next Review Teaser+2002 Interview+AotC OutTakes+Noooooo! Doc.+SW Examiner Rebuttal+AotC Review+TPM Review]
Time

I honestly couldn't stand listening to this guy for more than 5 minutes. How anyone can listen to him for 90 minutes, and then turn around and say they love it escapes me. He sounds like Napoleon Dynamite's retarded cousin from Chicago. I know a lot of people love his reviews, but I think that 90 minutes is way too long to spend watching someone dwell on a movie's problems, when you could spend that time watching an actual movie that you like.