Harmy said:
Not necessarily - they could have just got those frames from a different 35mm source.
Or they don't know better and left them out entirely.
Fang Zei said:
Our suspicions of this being a new version of the SE seem to have been semi-confirmed:
http://badassdigest.com/2015/04/09/how-did-i-screw-up-that-star-wars-story/
Well at least after an entire year there's something new. He also only says that it has the original Han and Greedo scene, making no mention of anything else.
TV's Frink said:
*ducks*
Where?
nickr said:
Harmy am I right in saying that the 'forced' English subtitles are burned into the video stream? I watched the 'who shot first' scene at about 49 minutes and the subtitles appeared for Han and Greedo, even though I have no subs turned on.
No problem with that, just checking I haven't done anything wrong.
They're burned in to match theatrical prints.
This really isn't for people who have an HDTV or want to watch it on anything other than a rental basis at home. People mostly use digital copies for tablets, laptops, and phones so they can watch it on the go.
hairy_hen said:
I expect that the availability of the Despecialized Edition itself has contributed somewhat to that shift in attitude. Before, the only way anybody could see the films in a modern format was to get the DVD's or Blurays, so they put up with the changes because they had to—perhaps rationalizing them away as being "not that bad". Now, with a bit of effort it's possible for anybody to see the original versions in high quality. The superior artistic merits of the originals speak for themselves, especially when presented on equal footing with the official releases and not hindered by low resolution and other problems.
If sales of this digital release are lower due to increased demand for the original versions, Disney really only have themselves to blame for not putting them out themselves.
I also wonder if anyone in charge of releases knows about the Despecialized Editions. They've been gaining traction over the last few years and have a sizable following outside of this site. I'm wondering if there's a possibility that they would believe that fans would consider the DE good enough, thus to them having no obligation to release the originals. Or, and more preferably, it shows Disney/Lucasfilm the demand for the OOT and the lengths fans will go to in order to see the originals in decent quality.
DominicCobb said:
But why now? Surely in anticipation for TFA. But are they really going to squeeze more milk from the TFA teat in a few months? If they were going to re-release the old masters before the "new" ones came out, wouldn't they have done it a year or two ago so as to not oversaturate the market with too many re-releases in a short amount of time?
It's not really market saturation so much because no matter what they put out there, it will sell. This could be a great time for them to squeeze what little life is left in the 2004 masters before unveiling a shiny, new 4K transfer in some form or another. Then if they don't put that new transfer out on digital, they will continue to make money off of a decade-old transfer until any and all displays are at least 4K.
mverta said:
X-Wings Dive towards the Death Star
_Mike
Do you physically clean the prints before you scan them or is all your work done digitally?
Baronlando said:
Yeah this is a whole new cash stream to get from the 2011 box without doing anything. (and for all the yammering about Fox, the Disney logo is all over this)
Actually, what's interesting is that the Star Wars trailer has the Fox logo, which confirms who the home video rights to each belongs- Fox has Star Wars, Disney has the rest. It's also worth noting that they are willing to work out a deal to release them in some form.
mverta said:
Another shot:
It's got a luminance error in it, since corrected. Something invisible in P3 which popped right out as soon as I put it online, but I didn't feel like remaking the video. :)
That engine glow is gorgeous in the restoration.
IamLam said:
it's like the guy next to you in the theater starts farting really bad and the smell just lingers.
How poetic and accurate.
GoodMusician said:
Suggestions would be welcomed :-)
I would suggest not calling it Star Wars Legacy, as that name has been taken for another project.
What did this guy do that was so bad?
DrDre said:
I added a fair comparison: precise bicubic (A = -0.75) vs super resolution
The differences are subtle, but you can see more detail in the eyes, eye lashes, hair in the super resolution one. You could try sharpening the bicubic, but this would also increase the grain/noise.
Can you add the untouched GOUT frame for reference as well?
SVHS said:
Then the question is... what is the Legacy Edition to Lucasfilm and Disney?
Put aside questions of it being released for now.
Is Legacy a proof of concept for just how good you bring the theatrical editions up to standard. Keeping in mind this is by definition a fan restoration which makes it all the more wild.
Is it, for lack of a better phrase, an audition tape so that Mike can get the commission for the trilogy and at that point utilise their best elements and scans. Maybe even work with a small team (under careful supervision of course).
Is it, when completed, able to be utilised as is for HD and 4K blu-rays which there is no doubt as Mike is working with a 16-bit 4K scan (I think). This would mean Star Wars would be presented and derived from an unofficial scan but there's no worries quality-wise judging from the samples posted up so far.
All in all, this edition has gotta appear and it'd be really nice and a real testament to the love and work put in by fans if they were able to step forward and say here's the theatrical editions that we grew up with and it was made possible by both Lucasfilm and the fans.
Honestly, if it's either of the last two, it would make one hell of a story if these happened.
mverta said:
Meanwhile:
I can see why they might want to re-composite it (the laser going behind the wings shows off thick matte lines), but the SE version looks identical if you aren't looking too hard. Sure, they come a little closer to the turret, but if you watched the two version back to back, you wouldn't notice. Besides, some of the stuff they keep looks nothing like the CG stuff they did- that makes both the CG and the model work stand out in weird ways. Anyway, great work as usual, Mike.
_,,,^..^,,,_ said:
Wazzles said:
To me it looks like it has some standard up-scaling artifacts the way you do it. The superres one looks softer but cleaner, and generally more appealing.
Indeed, I used one of the most simple upscaling filter, but have you noted the problems on the superresolution version? OK, I must admit they are very tiny - infact you have to zoom in a lot to see them - but they are there... look in particular the eyes...
I expected much more quality, according to comparison examples...
What I saw look like interlacing and aliasing. The aliasing is part of the source, but the interlacing-esque artifacts were strange.
_,,,^..^,,,_ said:
Don't know if this is due to compression artifacts (even if I don't think so, because 20Mbps should be enough to avoid them), but it seems that the superresolution algorhythm you are using is not that effective... a simple avisynth bicubic upscale, using the compressed MKV SD video you provided, sharpened a bit, seems very similar...
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/117604
what do you think?
To me it looks like it has some standard up-scaling artifacts the way you do it. The superres one looks softer but cleaner, and generally more appealing.
No one has mentioned Legacy yet.
TServo2049 said:
OK, perhaps SW was scanned at 4K, but I thought digital intermediates were still at 2K? Correct me if I'm wrong here.
Depends on the movie. Blade Runner was done in 4K for the Final Cut, but some other new movies are still being done in 2K.
CatBus said:
When it comes to the preview versions, never say never. Harmy surprised us all by having Vader shoot at Han first in Empire Strikes Back.
Although I suspect when it comes to fooling around, he'll stick to fooling around with footage that doesn't need to have its despecialization reviewed. So, you know, maybe the Rancor will get CGI blinking eyelids, or something.
Or every single character replaced with Hayden Christensen because, hey, you never know.
TV's Frink said:
I see a lot of which without why.
I see a lot of who without how.
Currently:
Star Wars DED 2.5
ESB Grindhouse
RotJ Team Blu V3
newguy said:
*Used my own GOUT version when that fat CG creature walks in front of speeder, hopefully I can get my hands on the same source that harmy uses (i.e. not gout), since it's much better http://share.pho.to/8v5P3 (mine vs gout)
You could also use the actual despecialized 2.5 release, even though it's in 720p.
mverta said:
It would take more time, more people, more money than I've ever heard done to a commercial release... I mean, there's no way around it. Even with original elements, the hardest shots are shit-tons of work. I dunno... we have no reason not to stay hopeful and positive, but also no reason not to hedge our bets.
What about other restorations of films from the 70's like Jaws or The Godfather? Both of those were relatively worn to shit and they have some great restorations.