zahntron

Hey all. An update. I finally had some time to make a good DIY scanning set up. It still needs some tweaks but here's a shot of a first test. 

http://imgur.com/CNK2O69

As you can see this is TPM and not Revenge of the Jedi. My TPM print is really beat up so I'm using that as the test reel as I work out the issues.

I'm using this method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIPnB1GcwqU

Except instead of a 5D mk II I've got a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. It's capturing in 1080p but I'm recording in RAW CinemaDNG so I'm seeing that I can really control the color, contrast, exposure of each capture. 

Sorry it's been so long. Making progress quickly. More to come soon. 

Hey all,

I've been screening my 25 minute documentary "Fair Tomatoes" to many colleges across the U.S. and I'm happy to announce that the whole film is now available online for free!

It's the story of a community of tomato farmworkers in Southwest Florida who: got organized, formed a coalition, and got the biggest names in the food service industry to rethink how they do business.

If you have a chance please take a look at it. Leave a comment if you can! Every hit and comment makes a huge difference! Thanks for reading!

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBDkTCKAGBQ

That was fast. Ok. I just dropped the film into Cinema Tools and conformed it to 23.98 and now everything seems to be ok. 

That was weird!

I guess that's an important tip for others that might use FCP and hit this issue. 

I decided to work on my first fan edit and I've never tried editing something that was sourced from a delivery format. 

I'm on a Mac. 

I ripped the BluRay, exported to MKV with Make MKV, converted to .mp4 with handbrake, then converted to ProRes422 in Compressor to use with Final Cut Pro. 

The video plays fine on its own using Quicktime Player but when I drop it in FCP the audio sync falls out. And it's not out of sync in just one place, it's out of sync in a myriad of places. I think something may have happened to the frame rate. But I can't be sure. Editing something that came from a consumer facing codec it hard but I know it's not impossible. 

I tried exporting the soundtrack only as Aif and dropping it back in. It lines up from beginning to end, perfectly and yet there is still a sync issue. 

It is falls out of sync in so many places that I couldn't possibly push them all back into place without making this a months and months long project. 

I've been using FCP for 9 years and it's what I use for my day job. I'm not really interested in learning a new NLE just so I can edit this movie. 

Does anyone have suggestions on how this can be resolved in a way that will let me still use FCP? I really fly through projects on this system because I've been using it for so long. And I could put this together quickly if this issue can be resolved. I'm considering Premiere Pro CS6 as a last resort. 

Anyone do fanedits on FCP?

Hi all. Sorry I haven't posted an update yet. Things have been pretty busy. 

I should have something ready in the next couple months. I know that's a long wait for just a trailer but I've just been bogged down with a few things. It's coming! 

Thanks for the link to your 35mm scan! It looks nice. Mine actually looks different. The trailer is cut differently and there some of the footage is different. 

I have a few analog preservation projects I'd like to work on that are Laserdisc and VHS. I have the Roxio Video Recorder USB. I wouldn't mind the MPEG-2 compression on it but at only 8mbps it looks really blocky and dismal. 

Can anyone recommend one that will work well for a Mac?

I have a MacPro (pre-garbage can tower) with a damn good graphics card. I also have a 13" MacBook Pro that can still hold its own in 1080p Apple ProRes. 

Any suggestions? 

Hi all!

My first preservation. This trailer was recently rereleased on the Star Wars YouTube channel but I want an HD version with high bitrate. I personally don’t mind the fact that it’s from Super 8.

I was just going to make it for myself but I want to get an idea of interest in this. If there is enough interest, I wouldnt mind upping my 'spleen ratio!

What: HD scan of Revenge of the Jedi trailer

When: Early March 2014 (but will have firmer date soon)

About the print: It’s an LPP scope print. Nice and sharp too.

Post-Process: I will likely not alter the image much. Im going to try and find the best audio source as the mag soundtrack is not stellar.

Output: Frame by frame scan to Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)

Delivery Format: .mp4 High 4.1 20mbps 1920x800

Let me know if theres any interest.

Thanks!

NeverarGreat said:

It would be cool to see a young Han Solo movie where Han turns from a decent guy into a rather villainous dude who looks after only himself. It could work if they made it clear that he was once a hero but had to bury that part of himself in order to survive in the galaxy. I'd say animated would be the way to go, as this isn't James Bond; Harrison is Han.

 A younger Han movie would be a diff actor anyway since the character would be younger. But that's not a fan edit anymore. 

Ah you know what I mean. He made the version he wanted. 

That looks pretty good. Meshes well with Aliens. 

What's the aspect ratio? The original is 2.35:1

Haha that's what artistic innovation is all about! There will eventually be a version for everyone. Lucas started it with his own fan edits aka the SE. 

Somewhere, out there, there are low fade Super 8 and 16mm prints of this unmasked. The Super 8 is by Derann and I've heard it's stunning. A candidate for preserving? 

Well it's the same distributors. These new Super 8 prints are dupes from release prints so they are a copy of a copy. I dont know if you'd want to shell out the extra $$ unless you really want to project it. 

Derann's were all struck from a pristine negative. 

SidVichyssoise said:

There are aspects of the 1997 Special Edition (but not subsequent DVD/Blu-Ray alterations) that don't bother me at all, so a definitive Star Wars for me would have some but not all of these. Two exceptions would be Greedo not shooting at Han and keeping Sebastian Shaw as the ghost of Anakin. Does anybody else out there fall into this camp?

 I feel the same way. Perhaps not about every aspect. 

I'd actually be interested in making a LOTR style extended cut that even adds in some of the deleted scenes. I'm obnoxious like that :P

All that said, I like the theatrical cuts the most. This hybrid idea would be more like a fun project. 

I know of people who own them. I don't know of anyone who'd sell. If memory serves this is also available as a German print. Don't know if it's still available and it's not up to Derann standards in color or sharpness. I'll let you know!

I have a print of the teaser Revenge of the Jedi. I'm going to try and scan it soon. Not the same I know:P

I'm selling my Derann print if anyone is interested. I'm talking with someone right now but nothing solid. 

Re: the ESB print. It can be had for less than a grand but it's still up there. Maybe ~$750. It has German titles but since it's got a mag stripe, it can be dubbed with english sound. 

Thanks for the insight. So would you say it would be worth digitizing the LD? I haven't seen these HDTV versions. 

Forgive my ignorance but can you point me to it? 

In my searches I've found a show called Haven that has an episode title A Shot in the Dark that has 0% to do with this film. Also found a 720p version of the correct film in Dutch and it's only 4GB o_O

No official BluRay NTSC or PAL release in my searches. 

The sequel to the Pink Panther. This follow up puts more focus on Inspector Clouseau vs the previous film, which was more of an ensemble cast. A Shot in the Dark is generally considered the strongest film in the series and is one of Peter Sellers’ great works. Sadly this has not been released on BluRay as of yet.

**Objective: **Remaster the laserdisc of A Shot in the Dark, fix the contrast, upscale to 720p.

**Why: **There is a DVD of this. The sound mixing on it is good but the visual transfer leaves something to be desired compared with the laserdisc. True, the laserdisc is softer but a transfer at a high bitrate, means you only see the qualities of the analog signal and not the pixel noise of upscaling the DVD.

**What Can I Do: **I can provide the laserdisc, offer my equipment and time to fix the contrast (the laserdisc is slightly washed out but the color is impressive and accurate), do any audio work that needs doing, and upscale the video.

**What I Need: **Someone who has the capability of digitally recording analog signals. I’m a fulltime filmmaker but I seldom work with legacy material. I have an analog to USB recorder for my Mac but it’s really made for home movies. It records at a measly 5mbps in MPEG2. Not suitable for this. Looking for something that will preserve the look of the analog signal, but upscaled without the introduction of pixels.

Let me know if this interests you!

schorman13 said:

I've posted a 720p upconversion of the SE trailers to myspleen.  They use the original Theatrical DTS mixes for the audio.   

They're fairly high bitrate, and they look pretty good, but they are upconversions sourced from LD.

 Excellent job on those trailers. You're right in that I'd still prefer something in HD direct film to digital scan but you've done a superb job here. 

I would love to see the '97 editions of the trilogy from laserdisc uprezed in this way. 

I’ll be honest, I’m on the fence about selling this. But I have a large collection of prints and my philosophy is to always share the ones I don’t use enough so they can circulate and be enjoyed.

It’s a Derann print on Super 8mm in scope and stereo of the original Star Wars. I’ve been told that this is not struck from the 1977 negative but rather, a later ~1980 negative print for the re-release.

It’s on low fade stock so the color is still brilliant and will remain that way for decades and decades to come. It comes with the original boxes, mounted on 4x 600ft reels.

Send me a PM if interested!

Selling off my LD collection, this is the only Star Wars thing I have from it. It’s all three films from the Japanese release of the special edition in the original sleeves and box.

Not sure how much it’s worth. Any LD users out there that know what it’s worth and will offer a price they think is fair, then that’s ok with me!

Sounds great. Thanks. I just requested an invite for myspleen (fingers crossed)

Yes, thanks I've looked through those threads before. There have been efforts to get trailers from previous releases but these aren't HD high bitrate. Unless I missed something. One of the threads mentioned work by team_negative1 for trailer transfers but I can't seem to find them. 

I actually own a few trailers on Super 8 but I have no means to digitize them. 

@schorman13 Thanks! I'll check out your trailers. I don't have a myspleen account unfort:(