towne32

CatBus said:

If you like that totally unfamiliar language angle, try the Thai dub. It’s also about as far from English as you can go, and it uses even fewer recognizable words. And it’s a complete trilogy dub, and they dub Jabba in Thai, which is as awesomely wrong as it sounds. The downside is the sync varies between excellent and poor, sometimes in the same shot. Not 80’s Hong Kong bad, but not good. Actually the real downside is they get Leia very, very wrong IMO.

I’ll have to check out the Thai dub.

Now I kind of want to have a multilingual dub, where each character is played by their best dubbed actor. It’ll really capture the diversity of the Galaxy. 😉

Harmy said:

BTW. Towne, you 100% have my blessing to start your own thread if you wish to do so. I clicked though the render you sent me and I think it looks great! The only problem with it is the compression - it’s really not handling the grain well.

Thanks, that means a lot! If anyone else becomes interested in it I may do that. As for the compression, it was a low bitrate sample and I’ll definitely optimize the real render to any degree that I can (and it will be blu-ray sized).

What software are you using to edit? Lossless would be one way to go.

But video editing software is often quite compatible with raw 264 video streams and even m2ts straight from the disc (this obviously depends on the video stream and software). It might not be the most efficient, but any decent machine shouldn’t have a problem with an m2ts, and it’s quite convenient and small. If you need to render something in multiple stages, you’ll want to go with lossless.

Yes, it’s really great that they are two types of projects that are in no real way competing with one another. And obviously the benefits from collaboration are enormous.

mheath182 said:

towne32 said:

mheath182 said:

towne32 said:

mheath182 said:

I know you can’t post links, but can anyone point me in the direction of SW & ESB GRINDHOUSE Editions? I’m assuming RotJ is pending…?

Yes, it’s pending.

The other two are on myspleen and probably tehparadox. I’m pretty sure SW was on public trackers, too. If ESB was at one point, I would be surprised if the public has kept it seeded this long. Both are on usenet.

OK. Thanks. I’ll check Paradox. What are they exactly? Are they like the Tarantino film with missing frames and scratches etc?

Frames are missing at the ends/starts of reels, but it’s not too noticeable (they are at scene changes of course). Yes. ESB especially looks like an old, worn film (because it is). SW had a lot of cleanup, but there are lots of small scratches and dirt if you look closely. There’s plenty more info in Team Negative’s threads.

Ah. It’s TN-1’s? Already downloaded SW, saw the huge scratch at the start over R2 and deleted it. I’ll stick with Harmy’s.

The RoTJ isn’t their’s, but yeah, sounds like 35mm prints are not for you.

astromags said:

GroovyLord said:

Just watched Despecialized for the first time (2.5), gotta say thanks! Loved it, a joy to see the movie in HD clarity. Which other than seeing the 97 version in theaters, I’ve only even seen on VHS or laserdisc version.

For some critique, I feel some shots the color isn’t quite 100% spot on. It looks like yellow is a bit overpowering in a lot of the movie, with stuff like Han Solo’s shirt popping, or skin leaning more yellow when it should lean more on the red side I think.

Here’s a comparison of Luke in Despecialized and an old laserdisc rip: http://imgur.com/a/tZV7t

Sometimes skin and hair etc to me looks a bit like a colorized movie in this version, if that makes sense. Maybe at times oversaturated, and maybe not quite the right hue. Also maybe more blue should be in the mix at times. That said, definitely better than the color choices of the official blu-ray, and this wasn’t in every shot or anything, just at times.

That’s my only constructive criticism though, really really impressive stuff. I didn’t notice any quality drops, all the effects shots looked great, terrific stuff all around, thanks again. And great sound too, I went with the 85 track. Much thanks!

I agree with what you’re saying about the “colorized look” These were my exact thoughts when I first viewed the despecialized version. Not as distacting as bad CGI everywhere but I wish the color was a little more natural looking. maybe in V3.0?

That said my thanks to Harmy and all those that put in the effort to make these editions happen. I felt like I was 12 Years old in 1977 all over again.

Darth Lucas and I are both (independently) working on color adjusted versions of De 2.5. I think/hope we’ve made it clear to Harmy that it’s not intended to be disrespectful. He himself has clarified that he didn’t know that the reference scan was not yet corrected to the print, and Poita has pointed out the problems with the UK lab producing what was essentially one of the very last Technicolor prints made in the west.

The main thing that mine uses is Harmy’s 97SE, which is a refined version of his take on the Technicolor print (minus his 97 changes). Here are some comparisons: http://imgur.com/a/CPcka Note that I darkened the Sandpeople/Ben scene in those images and have since reverted them to the full 97 Respecialized contrast. Some changes are slight, some are big.

I also edited many of the strongly yellow/green shots by hand: http://imgur.com/a/adIa1 Note in this case that the shots preparing for the battle of Yavin are off (Luke is blue in the first, and the next two are kind of red) as these are old sample images. I have fixed it to be more neutral.

I don’t think I’ll make my own thread about it, because I think it will inevitably get some flack for being seen as a criticism of Harmy. But I can keep it out of this thread too if he wants. He did an amazing job correcting to the scans he had. I can’t really fathom how did it so well in some cases. My version isn’t supposed to be accurate to one specific source, it’s just a less jarring (to me) version for me to watch until 3.0 comes out. It is definitely not an attempt to remove his Technicolor based timing. Walls are still bright, faces are rosy. Just the green/yellow/brown shots I wanted to have a go at.

mheath182 said:

towne32 said:

mheath182 said:

I know you can’t post links, but can anyone point me in the direction of SW & ESB GRINDHOUSE Editions? I’m assuming RotJ is pending…?

Yes, it’s pending.

The other two are on myspleen and probably tehparadox. I’m pretty sure SW was on public trackers, too. If ESB was at one point, I would be surprised if the public has kept it seeded this long. Both are on usenet.

OK. Thanks. I’ll check Paradox. What are they exactly? Are they like the Tarantino film with missing frames and scratches etc?

Frames are missing at the ends/starts of reels, but it’s not too noticeable (they are at scene changes of course). Yes. ESB especially looks like an old, worn film (because it is). SW had a lot of cleanup, but there are lots of small scratches and dirt if you look closely. There’s plenty more info in Team Negative’s threads.

mheath182 said:

I know you can’t post links, but can anyone point me in the direction of SW & ESB GRINDHOUSE Editions? I’m assuming RotJ is pending…?

Yes, it’s pending.

The other two are on myspleen and probably tehparadox. I’m pretty sure SW was on public trackers, too. If ESB was at one point, I would be surprised if the public has kept it seeded this long. Both are on usenet.

Jaxer said:

So no one gets these perfect, or damn near perfect prints? Even you have to go in and clean them up?

I gotta tell ya, you do fantastic work man. The scans are SUPER sharp.

I was reading over in TN 1’s Silver Screen post, and people asking whether or not to get your version or theirs. I was reading that theirs are kinda blurry and more suited for projector style viewing.

How did you get the insertions for V 2.5 so sharp?

TN1’s silverscreen is from a copy that was duplicated in 1983. So, it has less detail and more grain. But, the good news is that it preserves the color that is surely completely lost in the film it was copied from back in 83 (unlike in 1977, film stocks used in 1982 onwards are extremely fade resistant).

Take a look at their Technicolor sample, and you’ll see the quality is much higher. Additionally, many of the scans including what Harmy has of Jedi, and some technicolor scans, were done on higher quality equipment than TN1’s older scan of the SW LPP.

But to answer your first question, no, the scans don’t look anywhere near perfect to start with. The color needs to be adjusted, and there can be anywhere from a little to a ton of damage. Check out TN1’s Grindhouse ESB release, if you haven’t.

I don’t have much to contribute, but I would definitely give what I can to help you rebuild.

The matte line in front of the moon in 81? If it’s there, I don’t see it in that image.

I just did shift+refresh and that did the trick. 😃

LuckyGungan2001 said:

jedimasterobiwan said:

LuckyGungan2001 what’s your avatar pic from?

My previous avater was the Predalien from Aliens vs Predator: Requiem, which, apart from the design of the Predalien, is awful, and I wouldn’t make anyone watch it.

That’s the one I see, or Attack the Block is waaay different than I imagined.

Thanks for clarifying. In my defense, it was a total guess, so I feel I was pretty close to cracking it. 😉 (looked like a less detailed vs. more detailed model).

And I agree, it’s a great shot. Holds up very well, you can practically feel the g-force as the dive occurs, and I always liked the lighting of the model.

McGayver said:

REPORT-SW-v2.5
chapter 47
01:46:49 - 01:46:50

there is a very sudden change in the trench after a flash of white light. It seems that the first trench is the original version of the film and the second special edition.

It actually seems like this is a spot where they fused two different model shots (and either two models: a far trench and a close trench) together. It’s that way on the LPP too. If you look at the squares present on the far side of the trench, one of them will have no smaller structures pre-flash, and suddenly be populated post-flash. The flashes were clever tricks to fuse takes. And fortunately they left it alone in the SE. Harmy’s version doesn’t have any color or contrast inconsistency at this point, as far as I can tell.

As for Neverar’s comment on the lighting pre/post SE, I’m not sure. I think the differences in the shadows are mostly due to the fact that these are different (or altered) models, and not precisely the same angle or lighting either. They match decently, all considered.

djchaseb said:

Jaxer said:

So that’s the LPP source you used for V 2.5, huh?

I had no idea it looked like that. I was of the mind that it was in good of condition as -1’s Silver Screen.

They were the ones who gave you the scan, correct?

Cudos to you on all that work. Looks miles away from it’s source.

Did you see -1’s silver screen before the extensive cleanup?

Indeed. The RoTJ scan is of much higher quality, and isn’t a dupe. Plus, if I’m not mistaken, it’s in better shape as far as damage goes.

But none of them are generally pretty until extensive work is done to them. TN1’s samples were very rough for quite some time. 😃

Harmy said:

OK, here’s a comparison gallery for the Rancor scene of RAW LPP scan vs v2.5 vs Grindhouse.

http://picsurge.com/g/ow51Oo

The grindhouse is one set of settings for the whole thing and yes it does have quite a bit more shadow detail but I included a few shots that were sourced from the BD in v2.5 (already brightened) to remind you that that is what I had to match the black levels of the LPP inserts to, so as not to make them stand out like a sore thumb. There is certainly room for improvement and I was planning on starting on this scene from scratch in v3.0 anyway, because it needs manual rather than automated cleanup to avoid artifacts, but the fact that I had to match the black levels of the Blu-Ray source is definitely something to keep in mind when looking at these. 😃

Cool, looking forward to the grindhouse.

Do you mean one setting for this scene? One per reel? One for the film? Is any automated cleanup being done for the Grindhouse (guessing no, given the name)?

The starfield looks good, but I don’t know enough about the 81 field to judge it.

Are you rotoscoping each element then?

solkap said:

towne32 said:

solkap said:

REPORT-SW-v2.5
1:42:27
There is a noticable wobble on the lower left fusal thrust engine of the third X-wing to come into frame.

I searched this thread before posting, but it doesn’t look like anyone else has mentioned it.
I’m not sure if this is an artifact from 1977 or not.

I don’t have the film handy, but I assume this is the first shot of the fleet? I actually thought this was an error in Harmy’s composite too, but then I looked at other original sources (I think TN1’s video) and this is what the original composite did.

Yep, that shot exactly. And huh! What do you know!

If that’s the case, by all means, please disregard my earlier post. I’m in full agreement with this project’s consensus to preserve the original film “warts and all” as someone around here said.

Perhaps I never noticed it, because before you guys, I never had such a high quality copy!

Yeah, just checked TN1’s 35mm transfer and it’s definitely there. It’s funny that it just looks like the kind of error you would see in photoshop/after effects layering, but it is of course a traditional effect. 😃

Skyfocker said:

towne32 said:

Wario64I said:

Public torrent exists, look up Return of the Jedi Harmy on kat.cr its literally one of the first results.

I would post a link but since people of this site deem links to be the root of evil, birthplace of Satan and Justin Bieber’s tour finale, I won’t.

It’s against the rule for obvious reasons, and you’re a new member who only posts disrespectful crap.

👌🏻

You’re a new member who seems pretty cool.

Wario64I said:

Public torrent exists, look up Return of the Jedi Harmy on kat.cr its literally one of the first results.

I would post a link but since people of this site deem links to be the root of evil, birthplace of Satan and Justin Bieber’s tour finale, I won’t.

It’s against the rule for obvious reasons, and you’re a new member who only posts disrespectful crap.

Darth Lucas said:

But of course now I personally feel it’s back to being too yellow, so I’ll probably dial that back a bit for the final.

I don’t think that’s necessary. That one looks great.

Can you show how the start of the shot looks with that setting?

Hal 9000 said:

djchaseb said:

Lapti Nek was the highlight for me. First time in my 33 years really “seeing” it. The detail is amazing!

Hear, hear. We have a beautiful home video release of Return of the Jedi now. It is qualitatively better than v1.0 because it’s more or less entirely HD material.

It’s crazy how big the difference is. I never knew I needed to see detail in Max Rebo, but it’s night and day from the blue blur he was before.

DrDre said:

towne32 said:

Not bad, Dre.

One tricky part about this shot, if coloring Harmy’s version, the source (and to some degree the color) switches halfway through the shot. I imagine this will complicate the use of your tool?

Then you have no other choice then to use multiple frames for reference in a shot.

Well, his switches with a wipe following the grey guy. So, the ideal correction would be two corrections that follows his matte/wipe. Or, a more sane approach would be to just find some settings that look reasonable enough on both ends. 😃

Not bad, Dre.

One tricky part about this shot, if coloring Harmy’s version, the source (and to some degree the color) switches halfway through the shot. I imagine this will complicate the use of your tool?