kk650

BuddhaMaster said:

Hey there,

I don't know how active The Aluminum Falcon is.

I've recently gave the semi-specialized V2 a view and it rather impressive then I gave Empire Strikes Back semi-specialized a go and I was very disappointed. Clearly stated in descriptions "to remove the blue tint that was introduced in the DVD versions".

What I see is a clear, thick blue tint all over Hoth, just as blue as any dvd ever was!:

Shouldn't it be ...less blue ...more white?

Actually here's a comparison picture from the recently uploaded Japanese Collector's edition. They go way back to 1993 when color's where still unaltered. That' some of the nicest white I've ever seen on Hoth:

So what happened?

I'm trying again the 16GB version. Maybe I'm just really scared of the blue tint?

Thanks! I'm very glad that you enjoyed my latest Star Wars release.

I actually haven't released the Empire Strikes Back Semi-Specialised Edition V2 yet though, I am currently on finalising the colour grading for that and Return of the Jedi. The version you downloaded there is from a year ago when I first released these three Semi-Specialised editions for the first time, so its colour grading doesn't fit with my latest Star Wars release. I've learnt a few tricks since then so the colour grading for this V2 of Empire Strikes Back that i'm about to release should be consistant with my latest Star Wars release and look much better overall than my release from a year ago, I expect Hoth will also look much better and more natural than my previous release.

Hoth during that scene definately won't look like that screencap you posted from the Japanese Collector's laserdisc though, the snow looks too yellow on my monitor, especially considering that its meant to be an evening/night shot. It isn't surprising because all three Star Wars OT films from the Japanese laserdiscs seem to have a strong blanket yellowish orange tint over the majority of the scenes of the three films for some reason. Those Japanese Collector's laserdiscs weren't a useful guide for colour grading these films for the V2 releases at all to be honest.

towne32 said:

kk650 said:

towne32 said:

I think it looks great. I think the main flaw is the somewhat obvious sound cuts that we've discussed a bit already, so no need to dwell on that more. It would be lovely to see that fix in the 16gb version, though.

As far as other editing decisions go, as you've said, everyone would probably create a slightly different version for themselves. I personally would love a copy with *no* CGI 'dinosaurs' at all (or flying droids) in addition to the rest of your changes. But, different strokes for different folks.

And I did notice the grey line in that shot. Is it only a single frame with this?

If I had access to blu-ray level HD footage of the shots you're talking about without the 'dinosaurs', I'd certainly consider removing the one that walks accross Luke and Ben when they're in the speeder about to talk to the storm troopers. 

 I agree that the flying droids aren't the end of the world.

Would you consider asking Harmy/team negative1 to use their 35mm scan to get rid of the giant dino blocking the camera? It would probably need a lot of color alteration. Given that a lot of that has probably already been done on the shot, I'm not sure how much a clip can be changed back and forth before it starts getting... odd.

I don't necessarily like the 'dino' that they pass *after* the stormtroopers. But, the landspeeder was a mess in that shot as it was originally done. (I recall reading that it was processed and blurred repeatedly, and it shows). So, short of some rotoscoping to keep the speeder and lose the creature, it's probably fine for semi-specialized as is.

There is the shot when they're first pulling into the city, specific to the SE, where there are exact duplicate stormtroopers on both sides, making the exact same motions. I like the shot (for SE purposes), but the identically moving stormtroopers make it look like a 90's video game. Again, probably not an easy fix by any means.

Hmm, it's fascinating because i'm looking at althor1138's incredibly useful Star Wars COLD release to quickly compare the SE to the GOUT and it seems like that dino walking across was put there on purpose to hide the cheap looking half painted white and green R2D2 unit that passes by. Which is the lesser of two evils is the question, GL thinks the dino it seems. I'm 50/50 to be honest.

The shot when they pass the dino after the stormtroopers, I have no preference whether the dino is there or not, both are fine to me, though the GOUT and Japanese laserdisc release have a lot more deadspace below the R2D2 droid with the red top than the SE releases, making the GOUT/laserdisc shot look more like a set and a bit fake compared to the SE releases IMHO. In this case I would definately choose the SE shot because of the reduced amount of deadspace, making for better frame composition and making the set look more real, a definate improvement in my book.

The third thing you mentioned is something i've never noticed (nice spot, though you probably wish you hadn't noticed it now haha) so its not really an issue for me. As you say though, even if it was, I don't think there's that much I could do about it.

towne32 said:

I think it's the big grey line to the left of his cheek. It would probably be easier to see compared to a frame before or after. It looks like a color from the background xwing. So presumably they were using a color extracted with an eye-dropper type tool and left a paint stroke.

Yes, that's it exactly. In hindsight I should have also posted the frame before as you say so it was more obvious what I was talking about.

Lil Brutto said:

Memorex said:

How is your project going Lil Brutto/eurospec19? Would love to check it out when its finished!

This user is offline

I held off on completing my project until the release of the 4K. Now that I have it in hand I'm going to proceed with a regrade to scale back the excess yellow/teal. If the 4K regrade is superior to the Mondo (that I've already used) then I will have to revise my project accordingly.

Stay tuned!

I'm glad to hear that i'm not the only one planning to attempt to remove the yellow on this 4k remaster. Very much looking forward to seeing how you go about regrading this Lil Brutto.

Are you planning to use any source in particular as a colour reference?

Stamper said:

The 4K doesn't need retiming, it's perfect. Watch it instead of watching grabs. It kills the italian which looks like video.

When I regrade it to remove that blanket yellow tint, trust me, it'll look a lot better colourwise.

I do agree with you though that the 4k remaster looks like film while the mondo release looks like video, in that sense the 4k remaster looks much better and more filmic, even with the blanket yellow tint.

towne32 said:

I think it looks great. I think the main flaw is the somewhat obvious sound cuts that we've discussed a bit already, so no need to dwell on that more. It would be lovely to see that fix in the 16gb version, though.

As far as other editing decisions go, as you've said, everyone would probably create a slightly different version for themselves. I personally would love a copy with *no* CGI 'dinosaurs' at all (or flying droids) in addition to the rest of your changes. But, different strokes for different folks.

And I did notice the grey line in that shot. Is it only a single frame with this?

Thanks for the feedback towne32! I'm very glad to hear that you like how it looks. That's what I want to know the most, what people feel about the new colour scheme of the latest Star Wars Semi-Specialised Edition release.

As for those audio cuts on tatooine, they are noticable if you're looking for them but they are not at all jarring for me so I don't consider them flaws that need fixing. The cut that removes the swinging jawa is also cutting a piece of music so its going to be impossible to make that totally seamless. That cut worked out a lot better than I could have hoped though, seamless enough to satisfy me. The other two are scene changes where such audio transitions are common in films, even in Belbucus's Star Wars PCM audio. Both seamless enough for me. I will look into whether I can improve on what i've already done with crossfades though for the 16gb release, if crossfades make them even more satisfactory then of course that is exactly what i'll do.

If I had access to blu-ray level HD footage of the shots you're talking about without the 'dinosaurs', I'd certainly consider removing the one that walks across Luke and Ben when they're in the speeder about to talk to the storm troopers. Honestly the droids flying around don't really bother me. Hopefully Disney will release the original unaltered trilogy on blu-ray sooner rather than later so I have more options. I would especially love to have the Lapti Nek, Yub Nub and Jedi Ghosts footage in blu-ray quality to be able to reinstate them into the Return of the Jedi Semi-Specialised Edition.

Thankfully that thick grey line is only in a single frame, so its an easy fix. I'm amazed that I didn't notice it a year ago when I first released the Star Wars Semi-Specialised Edition.

Hal 9000 said:

How's it going? Looking at the last screenshot with the "obvious" error, I still do not know what I'm looking for. lol

I'll confess my ulterior motive... I'm gonna use this project as a primary source for a custom SE I'm cobbling together for myself. There's some good '04/'11 video to use (like the improved set extension in the cell bay), and your version is color corrected very closely to Harmy's. 

Looking forward to the full version, so I can fuel my Star Wars editing addiction.

Just to the left of Luke's face, don't you see that almost horizontal thick grey line that is completely out of place? Each time I look at it I can't believe that it got through Lucasfilm QA onto the blu-ray.

As for progress on these Semi-Specialised Editions, i'm still waiting to receive certain sources I need for the 16gb release. I was also hoping to get more feedback/reviews on the new Star Wars Semi-Specialised Edition I just released here to be able to make any necessary changes/corrections but it looks like I could be waiting a while for that, so I'm taking a break from Star Wars/ESB/ROTJ and prioritising other releases like Mad Max 2 and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It could be a while before the larger Star Wars release you're waiting for comes out.

Octorox said:

I would keep all of the end celebrations in ROTJ except for Naboo. Match it to the 97 version.

The thing is, I really don't like the CG celebrations on Tatooine at the end of Return of the Jedi, it just seems over the top to me with too many people in one place for a sparcely populated desert planet, it reminds me of the flaws of the prequels with their overreliance on CG.

I don't find the CG Coruscant celebrations as bad because the population density is supposed to be high but that planet is only part of the prequels, its not part of the Original Trilogy, so leaving it in again reminds me and i'd imagine others of the prequels, which most of us would prefer to forget while watching the OT.

My first Return of the Jedi Semi-Specialised release cut both those celebration scenes for the reasons above and i'll be cutting them again this time for exactly the same reason, such over the top CG has no place in the Original Trilogy IMHO.

I'd imagine that Harmy will be creating a HD '97 preservation of Return of the Jedi like he has for Star Wars so that's probably the release you'll want to wait for.

Memorex said:

I would love to see kk650 have a shot at removing the tint! :)

I'm just waiting for my UK amaray order to be dispached (it comes out on the 2nd of June).

While I wait for that i've been keeping myself busy working on a regraded Mad Max 2. It should be up on tehparadox later on today. :)

I'd imagine Leia and that bloke with Vader from the B settings would certainly take you up on that Frink but I could personally use something for eyeburn, regrading Star Wars for too long is one sitting is not recommended.

The colour and fleshtone settings for Star Wars are finalised now, thanks for all your help guys! I was starting to go overboard with the colours, always happens when I regrade for too long, and you pulled me back from the abyss, much appreciated!

I think I had it pretty much right with my latest release of Star Wars. The retro settings will stay the same as that release, with its slight green push to give it the feel of the print, the classic and technicolor settings will both have the same more neutral colour palette with the only difference between the two being the saturation level. I have to now encode different saturation versions for those two settings to see what works best on my TV.

I think i'm going to take a break from Star Wars for a few days though, so I can judge with fresher eyes.

Beber said:

Neither. Liver failure also. Plus, this new comparison shots show a reddish shadow on the wall/door behind the guy. Previous A was better.

The previous A was for the retro release, that's supposed to replicate the desaturated look of the prints and look as natural as possible. The fleshtones on the technicolor release aren't exactly supposed to look natural, the fleshtone colours are meant to be more saturated than is natural. The A technicolor settings here are exactly the same as the previous A settings, the only difference is the amount of saturation.

Take this picture of Ingrid Bergman for example:

Or this shot from Gone with the Wind:

I take it that you prefer A over B then because it has less yellow that gives that liver failure look in fleshtones? Compared to those technicolor shots above the saturation level of those screencaps is actually really conservative. I'm kinda tempted to push the saturation level a fair bit more actually, see how far I can go before my eyes start to burn haha

Cheers guys, that is very helpful! Setting A is what I used for the latest Star Wars release. Seems I got a little carried away with setting B, it can happen when you spend too much time colour grading haha

EDIT: Scratch that second comparison.

Okay guys, I really need your feedback here.

I've been adjusting the fleshtones on Star Wars and would like to know which of these two settings you guys prefer or which feels more 'right' to you in these screencap comparisons, Regraded A or Regraded B:

http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/75871/picture:0

For those interested, here's one of the more obvious examples of the type of error i'm talking about on the Star wars blu-ray that i've been removing. I'm amazed this one made it onto the blu-ray:

Looks like it could be a messed up clone brush or something like that when they were cleaning up the print that they left in by mistake.

I watched AVP:R over the weekend and I thought it was great, you did a fantastic job on this release Andrea.

Nice grain structure, excellent detail and the black level just right, you've done a great job correcting the overly dark blu-ray. Its not a classic film by any stretch but its much better than its rating on imdb would have you believe, I really enjoyed it, in all honesty a lot more than the majority of films coming out of Hollywood these days. Solid acting, great cinematography, very cool action sequences, all in all a very entertaining film.

Thanks for the great release! :)

Has anybody that has seen this release noticed any scratches or dots that stand out? If you have, please let me know the timecode of when it occurs so I can check it out and correct it.

I've carefully watched this whole retro release from start to finish noting down everything I saw that I felt needed to be corrected but I very likely missed some, its so difficult to keep an eye on the whole frame while you're watching the film.

I'm planning to rerelease this retro release with all these noticable dots/stratches removed very soon. A few seperate shots that I missed when I was regrading this have also had their colours changed to better maintain colour continuety throughout the film.

nirbateman said:

I find that the new BD, other than the Yellow tint, doesn't have as much detail and image information as the Italian BD.

The only fault of the Mondo release, is the lack of English subtitles and soundtrack, but that can be very easily fixed.

I see no reason to work on the new one.

I've just compared the mondo blu-ray to a sample from a 1080p encode of the new remastered the good, the bad and the ugly and the encode is actually superior to the mondo blu-ray in terms of fine grain and detail.

In motion it has that look of a 4k remaster which the mondo blu-ray does not have and this is just an encode, so the blu-ray transfer itself will be even better.

Its definately worth regrading IMHO.

hairy_hen said:

Crossfadiing of audio edits is essential to arriving at a seamless result when joining tracks together.  If it isn't done, the edits will instantly stand out and jar the listener away from their suspension of disbelief, which is the very last thing you want to happen in something that is supposed to be an uninterrupted movie experience.

Edit points must also be chosen very carefully, particularly when there is music involved.  Trust me, I wrestle with this kind of thing all the time . . .

I do have fading between the audio cuts which makes it a lot more seamless than if it wasn't there, seamless enough that the audio doesn't take me out of the film at any point but I do not believe it is crossfading. If crossfading can make it even more seamless then that would be great, I might as well give it a shot and i'll learn something new in the process.

I did actually spend a few weeks carefully choosing the audio edit points of the three semi-specialised editions a year ago to make the edits as seamless as possible so I know exactly what you mean hairy_hen.

towne32 said:

kk650 said:

TV's Frink said:

kk650 said:

I don't find it at all jarring, which is the most important thing.

 Maybe to you, but you released it to the public.  The public often cares about different things.

I've done the very best I can there, I am very satisfied with that audio cut and i'm a difficult man to please.

Ultimately I'm making these Semi-Specialised Editions for myself, I'm very happy that others are enjoying them as well but my aim was never to try to please all the public, as that would be impossible.

Everybody has a different opinion on things to keep/change/remove from the Special Editions, so if I was trying to make everybody happy with these releases they'd never see the light of day.

 

I'm happy with them, as they're almost all changes I was thinking of trying to implement myself.

As I said, I don't find them too jarring, especially the first one. But I do think cross-fading could help. I'm not sure what the function in TMPG does, but cross-fading overlaps audio from the two adjacent cuts and adjusts their levels simultaneously to smoothen things out without leaving a moment of silence behind (as depicted here: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/w/images/8/85/Equal_power_cross-fade.png ). If nothing else, maybe you'll find it useful in your future work in situations where you can't find a good cutting point.

Thanks for that explanation. I'll definately look into it.

DoomBot said:

New blu-ray screencaps

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/74866/picture:0

Damn, that's one hell of a yellow tint that new blu-ray has got all over it, never seen anything anywhere near that strong before.

The detail is very nice though, massive improvement on the previous US blu-ray. I'll have to check how it compares to the italian release which also has a great transfer.

I love this film, its in my top three, so i'll definately be looking into fixing this when it comes out.

EDIT: Luckily it seems it can be fixed without too much difficulty to look similar to the previous US release colourwise. It works for all three screencaps so it looks like a blanket yellow tint has been applied.

Here's a very quick regrade I just did to remove the yellow tint, the screen comparison between the 2014 blu-ray and the regrade can be seen below:

http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/74870

TV's Frink said:

kk650 said:

I don't find it at all jarring, which is the most important thing.

 Maybe to you, but you released it to the public.  The public often cares about different things.

I've done the very best I can there, I am very satisfied with that audio cut and i'm a difficult man to please.

Ultimately I'm making these Semi-Specialised Editions for myself, I'm very happy that others are enjoying them as well but my aim was never to try to please all the public, as that would be impossible.

Everybody has a different opinion on things to keep/change/remove from the Special Editions, so if I was trying to make everybody happy with these releases they'd never see the light of day.

towne32 said:

Chewtobacca said:

42:54

43:06

43:58?

I'm fairly sure I can hear all of your audio edits.  Are you crossfading at edit points?

 I wouldn't have caught the first one without listening for it, because of the major shot change (the speeder quiets down as it travels away, and then picks up again in town). But yes, the other two are a bit noticeable. 

The only way to make the cut removing the swinging jawa totally unnoticable would be for the music to be rescored by John Williams to fit my release, which I don't think is going to happen haha. I am personally very happy with that audio cut, it turned out much better than I could've hoped and I don't find it at all jarring, which is the most important thing.

The last cut you mentioned won't be necessary when I use the Cinema DTS audio to create a new track for this release.

Memorex said:

I will definitely check out your work when I get the chance! I really liked your Terminator re-grade with the mono-track!

You should definately check it out. This Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition regrade is without a doubt the release that I feel I have improved the most out of all my releases, the difference is pretty huge. The official blu-ray is an unwatchable dark green mess IMHO.

It can be found on myspleen listed as 'kk650's Regraded Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition Version 2 (Standard Edition)' and also on tehparadox.

Okay, i've just put the latest regraded Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition V2 (Standard Edition) up on myspleen for those that are interested in checking it out.

Chewtobacca said:

If you're happy and don't want to change anything, then there's not much more to be said, but I would point out that I heard the cuts without looking for them.

Fair enough. When I use the cinema DTS audio to create a new track there won't need to be one of those cuts you pointed out there anymore. In fact there'll be very few audio cuts throughout the whole film so you'll probably prefer that track.