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  1. Member
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    Hey all,
    Have any of you that've watched the original Terminator on DVD notice that it contains "restored" footage that wasn't in the theatrical release? However, when they show it on TV, it's the theatrical version, except for where it needs to be censored, of course. Why did they put those shots back in? I'm assuming the studio probably thought audiences would find it to be a cool "feature", but did they ever consider the fact that "purists" might prefer it to remain as it was in the theater? ... they did the same with The Exorcist, but if you don't want that restored footage, just don't buy that version of the DVD; buy the original DVD release. The problem here is that this footage isn't selectable as a bonus feature or such; it's added in, whether you like it or not... why?
    Second question: I ripped the film and tried editing out the shots I'm talking about, which is what I meant by kind of "retro-editing". However, I have no idea how to keep the soundtrack in sync. That is, you can easily hear where the cuts are. I know it's not anything complex, but for some reason I'm having brain farts - I can't figure out how to make the audio transitions seamless. I've actually done it before a couple years ago, without any problems, to show to a friend. Though at the moment I can't seem to get it right/wrap my mind around it, which is sad, 'cause I recall from last time that it's nothing all that difficult.
    Thanks in advance for any help you can provide,
    Justin
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    Why? Sometimes they think that more is better. If it adds to the understanding of the movie, then it is good. If it adds nothing but "filler", then it is not so good.

    To keep everything in sync, rip the movie and convert the audio to wav. Frameserve the sync'ed video and audio, cutting out the scenes you don't want (the corresponding audio will also go). Once everything is to your liking, encode the video and save off the audio wav. Convert the resulting wav back to AC3, or, use the resulting wav as a template for cutting the original, multichannel wav, then convert back to AC3.

    This is the way that I have done this in the past.
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  3. I'd do it similarly. First I'd do the cutting using VobBlanker with the source DVD on the hard drive. That removes any possible problems with the synch:

    http://jsoto.posunplugged.com/guides/VobBlanker/prevcut/index.php

    If there are problems with the audio after the cutting (jarring transitions between scenes, background sounds ending abruptly, etc.) then I also see no alternative to working on the audio in a WAV Editor such as Audacity. Demux (PGCDemux) and convert the AC3 audio to PCM WAV audio. Open it in Audacity or some such. You can do fadeout/ins, mute short sections, or whatever is needed to make the audio more 'seamless' at the places you cut out. Reencode to AC3 when all done, remux (Muxman) and stick the 'new and improved' version back into the original DVD (VobBlanker).
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    I'm terrible with quoting people on forums, so I'll do it this way...

    SLK001: Literally every shot is filler. None of them are in any way, shape or form necessary... kinda p*sses me off. I like to think that I know a lot about editing, then a term will come along that I'm unfamiliar with. With is "frameserve", or what does that mean?

    Manono: I use Audition. I think what I did the last time was use calculations, as well as fade ins/outs to determine when each cut would "work" the best and overlay properly. It worked very well. Now, I know I can just click on the link and see, but (specifically) what does VobBlanker do? What's its main purpose?

    I appreciate your replies. Thank you both, as I had doubts that anyone would even answer.

    - Justin
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  5. What does VobBlanker do? Lots of things. You want to cut stuff out, so here it'll cut stuff out, while at the same time keeping the DVD intact, changing what has to be changed so the DVD and menus and everything else work as they did originally. Just click on the name-link to see an overview of what it does, and below are guides to doing things with it. I just pointed you to the one about cutting stuff out of a DVD. Anyone that works regularly with DVDs knows (or should know) about VobBlanker. Of course, you can only cut on I-Frames (roughly every half a second), but that shouldn't be a real problem since I-Frames will occur on scene changes. Doing it this way will also allow you not to have to reencode the video.
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    Well, I tried using the guide, as well as just plain old tinkering with the app and I don't know what the heck I'm doing
    I've noticed one thing that might be a problem: When previewing, the progress indicator will work fine, but the video doesn't move... it just stays at the first frame. As for the audio, I hear nothing :/
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  7. You won't hear any audio. But you do see the time, so that'll have to do - that and the video itself - to help determine where to cut. I was just fooling around with it and it seems to work OK. When doing it, rather than doing it on the main screen with the whole movie, I'd suggest hitting the 'Cells' Button so you go into the new Cells (Chapters) screen to help narrow down better where you'll be making the cuts. In the main screen you can select which chapter you want to work on, but I find it easier to find what I want with them all laid out sequentially. With the OCD of PowerDVD on while playing the DVD it's fairly easy to find the parts to cut.

    I use the upper slider of the Prev/Cut screen. When moving it around, the time and sectors change. Find the start point and in the 'Initial Mark', hit 'Mark'. Scroll to the end point and in the 'End Mark' part, hit 'Mark'. You have a choice whether between those marks the video is to be kept or cut. Keeping it is default, but I think you probably want to tick 'Cut'. Just agree with any questions or messages. However, when it wanted to split a cell, I answered no. When all done hit 'OK' followed by 'Apply'. After each cut you can go back to the main screen and the size of the video should have shrunk if you did it correctly. Do it as many times as necessary in as many cells as necessary before giving it an output folder and processing.

    There are other programs that can cut video without necessitating a reencode. I think most of them, such as VideoRedo, cost money, but they may be easier to use, I don't know.
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    Originally Posted by takearushfan View Post
    Hey all,
    Have any of you that've watched the original Terminator on DVD notice that it contains "restored" footage that wasn't in the theatrical release? However, when they show it on TV, it's the theatrical version, except for where it needs to be censored, of course. Why did they put those shots back in? I'm assuming the studio probably thought audiences would find it to be a cool "feature", but did they ever consider the fact that "purists" might prefer it to remain as it was in the theater?
    I can't speak specifically about the original Terminator, but every movie from Aliens on that James Cameron has directed, any additional footage was placed in the home release at his request. Cameron has talked about having to make very difficult editing decisions and having to cut scenes he loved. In my opinion in particular the robot gun scene in Aliens was absolutely amazing and while the theatrical release worked fine without it and it really wasn't essential, it really heightened the tension in the film and it was great to see it on the home video. It is possible to make the DVD so that any extra footage can be skipped, so I guess they didn't do that with Terminator. Terminator was made early in Cameron's career and he has no real control over that film anymore, so it could simply be that the producers felt that adding the footage might be good for sales. Terminator has been out on home video in a ton of different releases. You have to do something different to justify putting out "new" versions.
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    Originally Posted by takearushfan View Post
    SLK001: Literally every shot is filler. None of them are in any way, shape or form necessary... kinda p*sses me off. I like to think that I know a lot about editing, then a term will come along that I'm unfamiliar with. With is "frameserve", or what does that mean?

    I appreciate your replies. Thank you both, as I had doubts that anyone would even answer.

    - Justin
    VobBlanker would work, if it allows you to cut individual VOBUs (A VOBU is a Video OBject Unit and is the smallest playback unit of playback - it is approximately one GOP in length and contains a pack of the audio, video, substreams and navigation data). However, I've never used it, since I am mainly interested in re-encoding a video to a smaller size so as to fit on a DVD-R.

    Frameserving is exactly as it sounds. A single frame of video is "served" to my application of choice, whether it be an encoder, or a video player. A frameserving application allows me to manipulate the individual frames, completely transparent to the original source. AVISynth is my frameserving application of choice.
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    It sounds like all (or many) of these apps have the potential, or are maybe even specifically intended to alter the actual DVD's content, rather than a rip's...? If so, I love the fact that you can do that, but I haven't reached that point... yet
    Here's what I've done:
    Used DVD Shrink to hone in on the specific chapter I want, rather than the whole film. I processed the content, then used AutoGK to create the rip. Then, in VirtualDub, I made the cuts I'm referring to. This would be fine if watching it with the audio muted, but the audio cuts are very distinct. Like I mentioned earlier, I don't recall how I made them seamless in the past. I think it had something to do with fading in/out, as well as doing some calculating. Again, I use Audition, I'm really lost this time.
    I'll ask this: If it were your project/goal, how would you do it?
    Thanks again,
    Justin
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  11. Member
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    Hm. After rereading my last post, it occurred to me that it ends with a sort of condescending attitude. This was not my intent.
    When I said: "I'll ask this: If it were your project/goal, how would you do it?", I was being genuinely kind and curious. I hope it didn't come across the wrong way.
    - Justin
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