eldusto84

I used Adobe Encore to do the DVD/Bluray authoring. As far as I know, it’s one of the few disc authoring programs still out there…and they discontinued it after the CS6 release.

Dear God, is this new website layout hideous! I don’t even like coming here anymore because everything is just impossible to read.

Anyhoo, Bluray and DVD ISO files are up on my website. I won’t share any direct links but just Google “Maple Films hobbit” and you’ll find what you’re looking for pretty quick!

Seriously, this website looks atrocious now.

Hi Gecko, that’s great that you were able to splice in the Galadriel footage! You are right that it’s a bit late for my version however. Personally I cut her out because she wasn’t in the book, and I wanted to save any White Council-related footage for my side quest edit, Durin’s Folk and the Hill of Sorcery.

The main reason I cut that scene with her and Gandalf is that I found it to be too preachy. I hate how Gandalf literally turns to the camera and delivers a lecture to the audience…it’s unbelievably cloying and out of place. BUT, that’s just my own opinion and I like how you worked the footage back into my cut. I certainly encourage you to make your own version based off mine 😃

Bluray/DVD ISO files are in the works. I’m honestly waiting on subtitles to be finished by the people who volunteered to do them. Arggh. I hate waiting on other people, lol.

As for a specific timeframe, I dunno. I’d like to say before Christmas but we’ll see. I need to light a fire under my subtitlers.

I’ve only skimmed through the Spence edit so I can’t comment on the differences between our versions. I have to say that he also did a very good job in general with transitions and such however. I don’t think he was trying to remain faithful to the book as much as he was just trying to make a better film overall. My version aims to do both!

After more than two years of work, I am very excited to have completed the final version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, a massive re-edit of Peter Jackson’s massive trilogy. I won’t bore you with a specific cutlist here…if you want to read that you can visit my webpage for the details. Like many others, I wanted to see a version of The Hobbit that was closer to the spirit of Tolkien’s book. This is that film.

Many of you probably saw or heard of “The Tolkien Edit” when it was released last year. That was not my fan edit. It was hastily assembled and had very poor audio/visual quality, especially since the editor used a pirated DVD screener copy of Battle of Five Armies as his source. A guy named David Killstein released his own edit shortly after that, called “There and Back Again.” It had better editing, but the technical quality was still poor. Regardless, both of these edits grabbed a lot of attention because they were the first Hobbit fan edits out of the gate, and it showed people that it was possible to cut a 9-hour trilogy in half (or more) and still make sense.

So if you liked those edits, you will LOVE this version. J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit has been created using only the highest-quality media available- full HD Bluray and 5.1 surround sound. Working with 5.1 has given me far more options for audio editing than a simple stereo track. Here’s just a sample of some of the work I’ve done on the film.

• A 532 minute trilogy cut to a single 247 minute film
• Well over 600 actual edits and trims made
• An Intermission splits the film in half, at the exact point where Peter Jackson originally intended to split the Hobbit when it was still two films.
• Overall, the film remains focused on Bilbo and the dwarves.
• Unnecessary subplots, characters, and CGI silliness have been jettisoned. That means no Tauriel.
• Color corrected in several sequences to match LOTR’s visuals more.
• Numerous digital alterations, including a new opening title, gold coating removed from Smaug, Radagast erased from an eagle flyover shot, etc.
• Orc subtitles altered to explain plot adjustments
• Several unused music cues by Howard Shore have been re-inserted in key scenes, including the famous Misty Mountains theme that was abandoned after AUJ.
• Various scenes from the Extended Editions have also been added where needed. Yes, Thorin’s funeral is in here.

SO. If you’d like to watch this fan edit, I only ask that you legally own all three films in advance. It’s only fair to the copyright holders, regardless of how you feel about the original films.

Right now you can enjoy the HD digital copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, but in the next week or so you will be able choose from DVD or Bluray ISO files. They will both be 2-disc sets with custom artwork (available for free on my site). They will feature 5.1 digital surround sound, interactive menus, the whole shebang. Eventually I plan to add subtitles in multiple languages…several people have volunteered to help translate already! Finally, I’ll include a side quest film called Durin’s Folk and the Hill of Sorcery on the special features. It’s an hour-long film that follows the Dol Guldur subplot and how it ties into the dwarves’ backstory. This subplot actually works a lot better when it’s not distracting from the main story of the Hobbit!

Phew, long post. I’ve said it many times since I began working on this edit, but buried somewhere underneath the uneven, bloated Hobbit trilogy is a truly great film. For me at least, I have finally found that film. Hopefully you’ll think so too!

It's been a while since my last update! Well there's lots of stuff to share, but what I'm most excited about is the trailer I've made for my fan edit. Here is the link, let me know what you think!

https://vimeo.com/138426986

I am happy to share this all-new side quest film, called Durin's Folk and the Hill of Sorcery! It will serve as a companion piece to my main fanedit, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. This film focuses on Gandalf's investigation into Dol Guldur, along with showing more of Thorin's back story. While I felt that these subplots were too distracting in the theatrical releases of The Hobbit, now they actually work quite well on their own. Just like my main fanedit, this is only the first version of Durin's Folk...I imagine there will be more relevant footage to add once the BOFA EE is released in November!

https://vimeo.com/130716015

I did my best to cover the audio, even going so far as to use Howard Shore's soundtrack cues to make the fades smoother. For the most part I think it worked, but there are some transitions which are harder to cover up. Sometimes the action onscreen necessitates a cut sooner or later than the audio can realistically match.

The fanedit is complete! If you are interested in viewing it, PM me for the link.

The Battle of Five Armies was released on Bluray today, and I have already begun working on it. I did some test edits on a digital copy in the weeks previous, just to see if some ideas of mine would work. So! With that being said, here is a list of my planned edits for the third and final Hobbit film. I expect to be done with this in the next few days and will have something to share very soon. Stay tuned!

• I went back to DOS and realized it wouldn’t be too hard to remove the Dwarves from Laketown completely, so Smaug’s attack on Laketown is now dwarf and Tauriel-free.
• Alfrid has been completely removed from the film aside from the opening scene. It is implied that he dies when Smaug lands on the Master’s boat. You’re welcome.
• Since the four dwarves from Laketown were never actually there, I removed their reunion scene with the company.
• Some of Thorin’s “dragon sickness” scenes have been cut or trimmed. There were too many of these scenes in the original version and they dragged the film too much. The gold hallucination scene is gone...it's implied that he has a change of heart after Dwalin talks to him.
• Legolas and Tauriel are gone completely. Hooray.
• The giant were-worms are gone. Azog’s army simply marches out of the mountainside.
• The actual Battle of Five Armies has been drastically cut. I boiled it down to its most essential element- Dain’s army is quickly overrun and Thorin must decide whether to help or not. Everything else that happens is not crucial to the plot. Therefore, most of the fighting in Dale has been cut along with some of the more ridiculous bits of the battle. Everything has been streamlined and is much easier to follow now. It also puts more focus on Dain and the dwarves, which is nice.
• Ravenhill has been trimmed considerably as well. I'm looking to combine Kili and Fili's deaths and it looks REALLY good so far. Unfortunately there is no onscreen death for Bolg since PJ gave him and Legolas the most unrealistic and ridiculous fight scene ever. So let’s just assume Beorn ate him or something.
• Thorin’s fight with Azog is trimmed a bit but is mostly the same.
• The film is basically untouched after Bilbo begins his journey home.
• The End!

towne32 said:

Okay I understand.

But is your edit of army of darkness completed yet or do I have to wait longer?

 lol

Nice cutlist. After seeing your posts on Fanedit.org, I didn't realize you were planning to make this a single three-hour film. There's a three-hour version out right now (I think it's called There and Back Again, by David Killstein) that moves way too fast so I'm interested to see how your version flows.

How did you transition between AUJ and DOS? Especially without the warg/orc chase and without Beorn? I don't think the Orcrist plothole will be that big a deal...it's one small issue that arises from solving a larger problem (Legolas).

Personally I think that three hours is not enough time to let the story breathe and give the film a proper cinematic pace. Since you are not worried about staying true to the book however, maybe you've found a way to make it work.

I just updated the video clip last night...was that the version you watched? It's somewhere in between the original scene and my initial cut. The URL should be the same.

At any rate, I just felt that it took too long for the company to actually get inside the mountain. The fact that the dwarves get discouraged so quickly and start to head home kind of bothered me.

I'd like some opinions on this clip. I realize the scene of the company finding the secret door is pretty close to how it was in the book. But after watching it over and over, I felt like it could be condensed without losing too much, so a 7-minute scene was then cut down to 2 minutes.

I'm honestly undecided whether I want to keep this altered version in my fanedit or not, so let me know what you think. Trimming a scene like this means I'm not completely adhering to a "book faithful" version of the film, but at the same time the film's pace is more consistent with the other cuts I've made.

https://vimeo.com/120888098

This is a different approach to the Hobbit movies. Are you splitting the fanedit, and if so where at in the story?

TheHutt said:

I'd say "Eldusto84's Fanedit of Peter Jackson's Adaptation of The Hobbit" is a more appropriate name.

 Good grief, that's such a long and cumbersome title! It could use some editing, just like these films. Ha, get it?

 what about BluRay?

Not to worry, I'm also making the Bluray cover art and will have it up soon. I'll probably just resize it and swap the DVD/Bluray logos, nothing else major.

In preparation for the March 24 release of Battle of Five Armies, I decided to start making my box art for JRR TOLKIEN'S THE HOBBIT. Here's the direct link to the image:

http://www.maple-films.com/uploads/3..._dvd_cover.jpg

I scanned and modified the 1966 leather-bound edition of The Hobbit novel for the design here. If you'd like to read my blog post as well, here is the link to that. Let me know what you think!

http://www.maple-films.com/the-hobbit-fanedit

 I think you need a better transition from the troll hoard to the Rivendell cave. Way it is now, almost makes it seem like the trolls are squatting on Elrond's front yard.

Hmm, I could just remove that short bit with Dwalin saying "I cannot see where the pathway is, do we follow it or not?" So as not to suggest that the back of the troll cave leads to Rivendell. I believe one of the fanedits has done something like that and it worked out pretty well.

It looks like many editors are trying to have the first Hobbit fanedit out of the gate, such as Tolkieneditor or a few other guys that have made their versions using the horrible-quality bootleg version of BOTFA.

I'm going to start editing the Theatrical Bluray when it comes out in a few months, but won't make a completely final version until the EE is released later this year. At that point I'll pick and choose which extras scenes will stay or go. I'll probably still upload a "nearly finished" version in between then just to get some feedback from viewers though.

Once I have the Five Armies edited into the mix, I will go back and try to fit some of the EE scenes you mentioned. I do really like the scene between Elrond and Bilbo especially.

Here's a link to some select scenes from my fanedit that I've uploaded:

http://www.maple-films.com/video-clips.html

FigmentJedi said:

Found another project here, calling itself There and Back Again: A Hobbit's Cut

https://ahobbitsholiday.wordpress.com/

Pacing's kinda wonky, but it's a pretty decent book-edit. Actually manages to sidestep the Orcs attacking during the barrel sequence entirely and Azog's been cut out entirely with Bolg in his place.

I just looked through this version. While it's impressive he was able to cut everything to three hours, the pacing of the entire film suffers as a result. Scenes and characters come and go so fast...nothing has time to breathe. There are also several audio issues and other continuity problems created by some of the edits. Between this and Tolkieneditor's version, I'd say the latter is the best complete fanedit right now.

This is just making me more excited to get my hands on the BOTFA bluray and start cutting away.

I've gone through the Extended Editions for the first two Hobbit films, and did not see any scene that was imperative to add. The scene with Gandalf calling out the dwarves for Beorn was kind of funny, but it just dragged on too long.

I'm definitely going to use the Extended cut of the third film, since it was obvious that much was left out of the theatrical version (Beorn, Dain, Bard, Thorin's burial, etc).

Thanks! With Frodo and the unnecessary Dale/Erebor prologue gone, old Bilbo's intro fits in very nicely. It also ties in Tolkien's work and the LOTR films with one scene. Plus it's a great bookend for how Battle of Five Armies concluded, which was one of the few things that worked for that film.

Let me know what you think of the other clips. If you compare "Tolkieneditor's" version of the barrel chase, you'll see he cut out the battle at the gate but still left the CGI acrobatics with Bombur intact- a puzzling decision.