adywan

Youtube links are now live

New Clip 720p

New clip comparison

Tobar said:

Just watched it, awesome stuff. I take it this is still before the final film grain pass on the new elements right? =)

no, the final grain is there

Happy Anniversary ESB

Here is the new clip as promised. Youtube links will be added later

New Clip 720p

New Clip Comparison

doubleofive said:

Wow, all three (ignoring the 2004)? Sounds like fun. Maybe watching them all in a row will help you see ESBR in a renewed light.

lol. i won't be watching them all in a row. Gonna watch the first in the morning then the second late afternoon and ESB:R last thing at night. Yeh, i've ignored the 2004 version. Just can't watch those crappy colours anymore

Well i have my Empire@30 day planned out. It will start off with this version, followed by the 97 SE version taken from the TB broadcast version that i ahve just finished and synced the laserdisc SE 5.1 audio to then to round it off i will be watching the latest workprint version of ESB:R.

My wife is going to hate me. lol

This was just a one off for the 30th anniversary of ESB.

OK, its fully uploaded now

The optional fix is going up now and should be done in about 90 minutes :)

I will be posting an optional audio fix in an hour or so that removes the SE hatch sound. It's a pretty easy fix with all the tools needed and instructions for those that want it.

Chewtobacca said:

adywan said:

I spotted a slight audio error on the DVD when watching it last night but nothing major. I'd just forgot to remove one sound effect of the falcons hatch closing when Lando pulls luke inside that was added for the SE.

I would never have noticed, so it doesn't bother me personally.  Do you plan to "correct" this, though, in a later release?  I just thought I'd ask before I send out copies to friends, whom it might bother a little. 

dark_jedi said:

Thanks for the heads up Ady, I will wait then before jumping on this one.

I won't be doing another version just to remove 1 split second sound effect.

It's fully uploaded now

zombie84 said:

The Hoth sequence definitely didn't have two or three shots re-comped. Probably more like a dozen. The cockpit shots look like they were just darkened to hide the transparancy though, but most if not all of the speeder shots were re-touched and in some cases had different compositional elements--subtle, yes, but nonetheless re-comped. That's why the sequence had very little grain in 1997. The thing should be grainy as hell, and the GOUT is a testament to that.

You took me a little too literal there ;) It was just a figure of speech. If you have the TB broadcast version of the '97 SE you can see what shots were redone. They actually stick out like a sore thumb because it look too clean next to the rest of the footage as if they have gone through some sort of grain removal process. It's strange that they would do some shots yet other glaringly bad composites untouched, but you are correct when you say its about a dozen or so shots

I spotted a slight audio error on the DVD when watching it last night but nothing major. I'd just forgot to remove one sound effect of the falcons hatch closing when Lando pulls luke inside that was added for the SE.

Lord__Vader said:

What about fx shots? Like in the battle of Hoth, which was comletely recomposited for the SE and looks better but a lot less old school and I love that old school effects look, is this preserved here?

And also, is there any chance we'd be getting this in HD? I know the quality changes would be more apparent but I'd still prefer to watch it in HD that would switch to SD quality sometimes then to watch SD the whole time. That's one of the reasons I don't watch ANH:R, because it's not HD.

Don't believe everything you have heard about them completely re-compositing the Hoth battle. That is rubbish. I proved this when i was starting the Hoth battle for ESB:R. Even in the SE documentaries when they mention they recomposited the cockpits to remove the transparency was just lies. All they did was lower the black level as the cockpits are all still transparent. There are one or two  very minor differences in the battle and that's it

I did mention in the first post that this would not be a 100% authentic recreation as this is not what i was aiming for.

And you won't watch ANH:R just because it's in SD? So you only watch stuff that's in HD then? Limiting yourself a bit there.

Kurgan said:

Since this will apparently be the last version from Ady with blue-ties, I second the motion for "BT, MU, and RS uploads soon, pretty please." ;)

I will only be uploading it to newsgroups as i stay well clear of torrents. With it only being a DVD-5 the free giganews or other trials should be sufficient to grab this.

Moth3r said:

Thanks for this, I look forward to grabbing it.

So the audio, is it as ripped straight from the GOUT DVD, or did you encode the LD PCM to AC3 for your version?

I've updated the first post with the new audio information

hairy_hen said:

Question: is this synched to the GOUT?  It would be cool for the user to be able to add/substitute GOUT-synched audio for personal use, but I suppose that's a minor point in the scheme of things.

You should be able to sync GOUT audio by adding a delay at the beginning. I'm not sure what the delay would be though.

doubleofive said:

I can't wait to see how many "mistakes" he put back in, if any. For example, the snowspeeder that never flies through the ATAT explosion.

Like i said it isn't 100% accurate in that small things like that would have been put back to how they were originally, but i did re-flip things like the rank badges at the end

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/The-Empire-Strikes-Back-1980-Theatrical-version-Reconstruction-Adywan/topic/11544/

Specs:

Video:-      NTSC DVD 16:9 Anamorphic DVD-5
Audio:-      5.1 dolby digital surround
Subtitles:- None
Menus:-     None

Created using the colour corrected ESB version used for my AVCHD '97 SE, elements of the GOUT and other higher quality elements to improve theatrical scenes eg. matte painting scans

Now this isn’t a 100% true theatrical version as i didn’t want to use the low quality GOUT to replace the newly zoomed and cropped cockpit shots that appear in the SE version but all of the SE elements have been removed. There are a few shots that i had to use the GOUT but i have used some filters and mixed in other higher quality elements where possible so the change in quality doesn’t jump out at you like it would if i had just replaced a shot with the GOUT.

The audio has been created using the laserdisc SE 5.1, an upmix from the PCM laserdisc track,surround channels from the 2004 DVD & music soundtrack.

I know that there is some projects going on at the moment that are recreating the theatrical versions, but with the 30th anniversary of ESB getting so close it doesn’t look like any of them will be appearing in time so i hope i don’t piss anyone off by jumping in with this version.

It will be a barebones DVD with no menus or subtitles

A big thanks to nohandluke who convinced me to do this version.

Here are some screenshots:

Now the mpeg rendering and DVD authoring will be completed overnight and will start appearing in the a.b.starwars newsgroup Wednesday evening and should be completed uploading the following day, so plenty of time to get it for the 30th anniversary on Friday

Thanks guys.

Just a heads up. Look for a bit of a new ESB related thread starting tomorrow evening in the Preservation section ;)

doubleofive said:

 

Enigmas said:

Sooo, Facebook tells me Adywan's birthday is on Monday. Anything special planned?

he's probably going to go out and party. Why?

;-P

 

yep, off out with the kids ,their boyfriends and the wife and we're going to party hard :)

vaderios said:

Lobot is here..and then my ears got crazy...

Lobot

What the hell were they thinking when they added this? I seriously hope this is a joke and not an indication of a newer version of Empire ;)

mfastx said:

But I want to ask: why you are changing Boba Fett's voice from the SE?  Because all of your changes have to do with consistancy, and this changes just cancels out the consistancy established by the PT. 

Also, on a side note, I wish (I know I'm probably the only one on here that does) that you would keep Vader's shuttle going back with the Executor.  I agree with you about changing his line to "bring my shuttle," but when the SE shows Vader's shuttle, it just looks cool, those are my favorite Star Wars aircraft.  Plus the music from the scene fits perfectly with that shot.  I just want to know why you are scrapping that, I'm sure there's a good reason.

mfastx said:

I just noticed something while watching the original ESB, and I didn't think of it until now, but the original Boba Fett voice sounds like a well to do guy trying to sound intimidating.  It's kinda weird, but it's like Jason Wingreen is trying to hard, while Temura Morrison just talks naturally.  If someone would just show me the two clips with different voices, I hate to say it but I'd prefer the voice of Temura from the SE.  (?) 

Oh well, maybe that's just me. 

Burdokva said:

On the original Boba Fett voice - based on YouTube clips, as I don't have any pre-2004 renditions of the Saga, besides my uncle's 97SE VHS, which I don't have at hand - it sounds a bit... inconsistent?

I don't mean the actual actor, but the "quality" of the voice. In some scenes it seem that it's filtered, as if through a microphone, in others it sounds muffled, like a guy in a suit.

Ady, would it be possible to check the audio you have and try to fix it with a more consistent microphone filter through all dialogue lines? A more even distortion due to the helmet, I mean, not changing the original actor or his voice pitch.

Sorry, this has bugged me for a while - I don' intend to start flame war about the actual voice actor used. Don't throw stones at me... :)

well first of all, welcome. Now Boba fett should never have been changed just to fit that bloody Prequel trilogy. I'm changing it back to how it was and how it should be. I really don't care if it cancels out any consistency with the PT and this has been discussed in quite a lot of detail over the years in this thread. Morrison sounds like he just can't be bothered saying the lines. Jason's portrayal was perfect . But i will be changing Jango's voice when he is wearing the helmet so there is no problem there. But i can see that there is going to be a lot of people saying exactly the same thing when ESB:R is out. Damn the PT...Damn them all to hell!!! lol

Now onto the quality of his voice as mentioned above. There is nothing wrong with it and his voice is consistent throughout. In the GOUT version for some reason his voice in just one line isn't filtered but it is in the '97 SE, which was based more on the 70mm mix, it is and the '97 mix is what i will be using so no problem there.

And Vaders shuttle is another addition that should never have been made. I completely disagree that the music fits perfectly. That score was butchered just to fit some shots that we never needed to see. And Vaders new line...GONE. "Bring my shuttle" was perfect and is the line that will be used in my edit. That one line eliminated the whole need to see Vader leaving in the shuttle.

Bobocop said:

gurgle1624 said:

I thought it would lend more credibility to the scene if we actually saw or at least heard why it wasn't friendly. I mean if someone introduced you to someone on the phone and then said I dont think he's very nice but gave no reason for not being nice wouldnt you be curious as to why that person isnt nice?

Watch that scene again and think how cool it would be to at least hear laser blasts, yells, static, then "it isnt friendly whatever it is".

I think it's perfectly logical as is. They're hiding from the Empire, and their lives may well depend on staying hidden, therefore any signs of technology or life on Hoth must be assumed a threat and treated as such until proven otherwise.

It's more like if your ex-girlfriend is chasing you with an axe, and you run to a friend's house to hide out for a while. Suddenly your friend comes into the room saying "hey, some chick called asking for you" and he hands you the phone. Your first reaction would likely be to think she's not friendly, whoever she is. (hopefully that makes sense and I'm not just crazy)

Bobocop said it perfectly

Jokke_r said:

Looking at a couple of the youtube clips of Adywans upcoming ESB Revisited, i feel that some of the removal of the blueish hue in the Hoth scenes done in the name of color correction are in error.

Especially in the outdoor scenes, some of the shadows in the snowy enviroment should have a blue tint, seeing as shadows are lit by indirect light which for the most part consists of atmospheric scattering and to some part light reflected from the snow in the enviroment, my 2c...

 

EDIT: Here's some of my army photos from couple years back to show what i'm talking about

 

Well you have only watched Youtube footage and most of the Hoth footage posted was from the first colour pass to remove the cyan tint. Those photos you posted aren't really a fair description of what the glacier would look like in daylight as neither one are in full daylight. check out these photos that were taken recently at the actual Hoth location in Finse.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/knokkel/4583145753/in/set-72157623994401080/

Hmm, not much blue there is there and certainly nothing like the 2004SE.

Lord__Vader said:

Adywan, could you please post the english subtitles you used for your AVCHDs somewhere in a text format so they could be translated to other languages? I wanted to show STAR WARS to my friend and I would have loved to use your AVCHDs but he doesn't speak English so I was stuck with the awful 2004 DVD (GOUT didn't come out here at all) or dubbed 4:3 VHS. And an advice on how to put the subs into the AVCHD would also be apreciated, thanks a lot.

 

I don't think i still have the text files i used. You could try subscene. To swap the subtitle files just use MultiAVCHD. Import the AVCHD into that then just replace the originals with the new ones. It will then remake the AVCHD structure with your new subs in a few minutes

INv8r_ZIM said:

Hmmmm...wellllll...that's alot of talking out of your ass, isn't it, Adywan?  Unless you've managed to eke something other than "maybe we'll get a release on BR inn 2011" from Sansweet's quote.  There's no reason to think the things haven't been screwed with more - anybody remember the report out of an ILM source a couple of years ago that said there was some work being done on the battle of Hoth?   BS perhaps, but the same kind of BS that said McDiarmid was being inserted into ESB a few years ago.

Well it wasn't just from that quote but an earlier one that  said that the HD transfers are all done and ready for Blu-ray, and recently they had a digital screening with George Lucas of ESB and it was the same transfer with the horrible overdone cyan tint. The same transfers were also used for the Star Wars in concert tour when TPM has had a new transfer with amazing colour and the new Yoda. The evidence is out there that that the OT Blu-rays are going to be the same as the 2004 set, so not really pulling anything out of my ass. ;)

irn-bru said:

Erikstormtrooper said:

Adywan, with a possible 2011 release date for the saga on Blu-Ray, do you have any plans to step up production on the AVCHDs of Jedi, Clones, & Sith?

I'd really love to get Jedi.

 Ady  ?

Well from the looks of things the SE version on the Blu-ray will be the same HD transfer we've got at the moment just higher quality, but with the same colour issues so no rush really to do Jedi. I really need to get ESB:R finished first anyway before i can even think of doing the rest of these

seven said:

The request for a image of the shield generator on Hoth was made a long time ago, and I just happened across this today. Apparently its from a special feature on the old Laser discs narrated by Don Bies at LFL Archives.

Thanks for that seven :) I can't believe that after all this time of trying to find a good pic of the model that it was featured on the Archives feature. Oh well. I've got to admit that it does look a little plain. I kind of like this type of design for the generator but without the red markings:

http://www.swtor.com/media/concepts/republic-generator

none said:

http://finse2010.blogspot.com/

These 501st'ers took a trip to the set locations of Hoth, maybe they have photography which could be useful as background plates.

Someone very kindly sent me some very good pics from the Hoth locations at Finse but if i could get some more that would be very useful

Ripplin said:

That's some breakthrough! ;)

How are the kitchen and work station coming along?

Well the kitchen is finished and so is most of the redecoration. Unfortunately the workstation is going to take a little longer. The piece that was thrown away was one of the main sections so i might have to start from scratch because matching it up would be a pain and i have lost my original plans for it. Oh well. :(

The costume props for the 2nd unit Hoth troopers is coming along nicely. All i have left to do is the vests, boots and the box compartments for the backpacks.

and here is a sneak peek at the Wampa :)

WAMPA

Actually, looking at both the R2 shots, they both have the same level of detail but the ED2 has altered the black levels (just check the "eye" dome on R2's head and 3P0's stomach and you can see the the loss of details due to black crushing). Adjusting the levels have just made the dirt look more prominent, but they are both from the same source. Check out the left side of the picture and you can see the edge of the frame is faded in both shots in the same place. You can also see that a sharpening filter has been applied to the ED2 by the white edges of the top matte bar. Very common by-product when using a sharpening filter. And the shot of R2 in your first post shows the bad aliasing that is apparent in the GOUT but never seemed to be a problem in any of the laserdisc preservations i have.

i used the motion tracking stabilising function that's standard in After effects, but since CS4 After effects comes with an amazing program called Mocha that is a much better motion tracking software than its built in one.

Yeh, it looks like Vader strikes the railing first and then the wall.

As for the rip in the arm of Luke's outfit, well it is there throughout the sequence. It's just the way that Luke's arm is positioned that makes it looked closed, but upon closer inspection you can see the rip and Luke's skin. (just click on the image for a larger view)

EDIT: Corellian77 beat me to it :)