Star Wars Conversions-Hit me with your best shot...

[dphirschler]

So, the complete list of "official" fonts would be:

- Logo text: Trajan Bold
- DVD slipcase lettering: Albertus MT Bold
- Subtitle text: ITC Franklin Gothic Demi Bold

Thanks MJPollard for your font research.

I bet there are quality equivalents on the Corel Draw CD - good enough for on-screen menus that is. One of the things I've always liked about Corel Draw was the sheer number of good quality fonts that come with it. The drawback is that you have to visually match them to the "official" fonts because the official name is usually trademarked. Fortunately, Corel Draw comes with a nice font viewer utility.


Darryl

[MJPollard]

So, the complete list of "official" fonts would be:

- Logo text: Trajan Bold
- DVD slipcase lettering: Albertus MT Bold
- Subtitle text: ITC Franklin Gothic Demi Bold

Thanks MJPollard for your font research.

My pleasure. If you want to add the info to your site, be my guest. I tell you, MyFonts.com is a great site for both buying and researching fonts. The neatest part of the site is a tool to analyze a font sample (from a BMP, GIF, JPG, etc.) and search for the closest matches. That's how I found Trajan and Albertus MT.

[c_hernandez32]

I had a question. I am going to buy Star Wars on LD, but I wanted to know the differences between the different versions.

I know that the first versions, with the 70s artwork is full screen, right?

The THX "Faces" version is Dobly Surround and widescreen, right?

The Definitive Collection is the same as the "Faces" version, just with more extras (book, nice hard bound set) and Dobly Surround or is it DD? Very nice but about $100 on ebay.

And the Special Edition Definitive Collection are the new Special Edition versions of Star Wars in DD (same as soon to be release DVD's).

Is there any differences in content and quality between the "Faces" and original Definitive Collection LDs?

[flaninacupboard]

the definitive version is on CAV wheras faces is CLV. as to whether that makes a real difference, it's a very subjective viewpoint. not sure wether "faces" has the 9 missing seconds from ESB like definitive does though?

[MJPollard]

the definitive version is on CAV wheras faces is CLV. as to whether that makes a real difference, it's a very subjective viewpoint. not sure wether "faces" has the 9 missing seconds from ESB like definitive does though?

If you're referring to the part where Leia is welding on the Falcon (as mentioned in a previous post), then yes, the "faces" version (which I have) does indeed have it.

[Mythos2002]

Darryl,

Thanks for the clarification on the bad frames. I haven't seen anything like that. So, I guess your script will still be necessary to correct the parts that get confused during the IVTC process we talked about earlier where it looks like things go into slow motion.


For DVD-Lab users, 1.4 beta 2 just came out.

Thanks.

Mythos

[vhelp]

Hi gusys..

I seem to be loosing my e-mail notfications every now and then, again on this
great thread 8) anyways..

Just an update to my LD player progress..

@ mythos,

I think I finally know what you mean by those hatches you see in RED areas.
I'm seeing them too, on my LD's. I don't have SW's yet, but on my other LD's
they are definately present (during capturing) and show up on movies like
Top Gun and Show Girls for instance. Is driving me crazy too.
I also got basinstink, and it truely sucks in quality. That movie was done
really bad. oh yea.. back on target..

FWIW..

I've received my 2nd LD player, Pioneer CLD-D701. and in my OP,
my CLD-V2600 is outperforming it far better. Weather I use the RCA or
the S-Video, the V2600 is definately better quality - bar none. I don't get
it, and I'm stumped (the V2600 is a cheaper model, though profesional)
Oh, and the S-Video on the CLD-V2600 DOES produce better qualiity than
it's RCA plugs. Definately use the S-Video if you got it.
.
.
I'm having lots of fun w/ my new toy/hobby on these LD's. A new adventure
for me.
I'm currently testing my ATI-TV Wonder card on it, and I like the quality I
am getting (s-video) but now, I have to test the ADVC-100 w/ the V2600
to see how it stacks ups :P

Can't wait till I get SW on LD's :P
Yeah, I do't have the vhs tapes anymore's, as I've returned it. But, I'm
definately looking forward to getting the LD's soon.

What a great hobby
-vhelp

[dphirschler]

Darryl,

Thanks for the clarification on the bad frames. I haven't seen anything like that. So, I guess your script will still be necessary to correct the parts that get confused during the IVTC process we talked about earlier where it looks like things go into slow motion.

Hi Mythos,

Just to clarify, the glitched frames I get occasionally are completely seperate from the IVTC operation. I do the IVTC manually and nothing "gets confused" since it is not an auto tool. The glitches are only happening because my harddrive is barely fast enough to keep up during capture. I wonder if there is some motherboard driver update that will speed things up. Nobody else seems to be having this problem. My captures are 704x278 using Picvideo set at 19.

As for the "slow down", it is a separate issue, but not really an issue. It related to a part where laser rot was very prominantly obscuring Darth Vader's grand entrance. It was easy (but tedious) to edit that frame by frame in Photoshop. Virtual Dub would momentarily slow down when it got to that part (about 60 frames) because it was overlaying entire frames (not just a subtitile) into the video. But there was no real slowdown, only when framing back and forth in Vdub.


Darryl

[Gorgoloch]

Hi guys,

Just got my hands on the Definitve Colection Laserdiscs and an LD player. I've done soem mucking around with converting to DVD but I'm no expert. Hoping for some help. I've ben scouring the boards here and learned alot but I'm still having some issues.

My main problem in converting to MPEG-2. I use TMPG to convert from AVI and all of my video is blocky. I captured the LD using Scenelyzer and then joined them in VDub. The AVI quality is great, but the DVD results are sketchy. I'm using Ulead DVD Workshop to burn.

Is there a preferred codec to use for the AVI? One taht gives better results? Is the problem this compression? I know yu guys have been doing this for a long time, so I figure there are some ideas.

Also, is ther a good way to capture direct to MPEG-2? It seems this would be a great tool, but alas, not available.

I appreciate any and all help. I'm still bopping around the forums and guides to see if I can fix it, but I've been reading this post for awhile and figured I'd join the family And if any of you guys are in the Boston perhaps a viewing is in order? It seems some sort of gathering is called for.

Thanks.

[vhelp]

Hi guys.

@ Gorgoloch,

I think that you should capture in AVI format, but if you got a good HW (or
even a Software) real-time MPEG-2 setup, then go for it and see how you fair
with both methods - quality'wise.

The one good (no, GREAT) thing about LD source quality, is that there are,
NO macroblocks in them Just like VHS. These medias do
not go through the stupidity of encoding to MPEG-2 and burning to DVD disks,
but rather then go through another recording format to LD disks
.
.
And, the fact that there are NO macroblocks in these soruce means
that quality'wise, you limit is only the sky - (for what that's worth)
.
.
So far, I can't find any macroblocks in any fast seens, even car scenes,
where you see lots of green bushes passing through the passinger window.
There is ZERO blocks on these LD disks.

Also, what unit did you get ??

I have two:

* Pioneer CLD-D701
* Pioneer CLD-V2600 - - this is the best quality (better than above model)

However, I have only one issue, that is "hatches" and I'm still trying to
get rid of them. But, that may be due to my capture setup.

-vhelp

[Neil1970Poole]

I happen to have Starwars 4, 5 and 6 (special editions) on DVD - These were taken off the Japanese Laser Discs and come complete with Dolby Digtal 5.1 Sound - They are all 4.36 Gig in Size and all totally excellent, also they are in WIDESCREEN.

So you can get on them on DVD if you know where to look or know who to ask....lol

[Gary Lightfoot]

Except they're not anamorphic, and more importantly, not the NON SE's which is what this thread is all about - had you bothered to read it.

You'll also find the SEs are too bright and lose highlight detail. The Non SE's that are available have lip-sync errors too, so all in all, the ones you can buy aren't as good as they would seem - especialy as you have the single layer versions and not the better dual-layer versions that are available.

Seems you don't know the right people after all.

[Mythos2002]

Gorgoloch,

Can you post a picture of the macroblocking or tell us what settings you are using in TMPNG? Now do these macroblocks appear on your PC if you view one of your MPEG-2 files or only after you watch a DVD on your TV? If they appear in your MPEG-2 files on your PC, then it is probably a problem with a TMPNG setting. If they only appear on a burned DVD, then I think it would be a Ulead issue. I used to use Ulead, but I switched to DVD-Lab. Check the tools area. There are several DVD authoring tools there that have free 30 day trial periods where you can test and compare.
Hope that helps.

Vhelp,

I didn't notice the cross hatches when I captured with composite cables. I did see then when I captured with S-Video cables. However, they are only visible on my PC monitor and not on my TV. However, they may be visible on an HDTV since it has much better resolution.


Mythos

[Gorgoloch]

@ Mythos, the oldest of the immortals...

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking part of my issue is with ULEAD, but I think my big problem was not doing a direct stream copy in VDub. I think that degraded my AVI file. So I'm going to try again and do it the right way.

I'll check out some of the other burning software later. Try and isolate the issue.

I think it's amazing that this thread has been going on so long. Has anyone finished and really happy with their results? I'm serious, if anyone is in the Boston area I'd love to get together and actually talk and get some good advice and knowledge. I'm learning a ton (thank you unemployment) but still behind the curve. This site is the best.

[dphirschler]

On the subject of dot crawl... Has anybody tested the AVIsynth plugin "GuavaComb"? It claims to address dot crawl among other things. I will probably test it out tonight unless somebody else already has.


Darryl

[Gary Lightfoot]

I'd be interested in the dot crawl results too..

I've almost finished the menus foe Empire. Once they're done, I'll make a start on ANH....

At least now I've got the hang of it (ish), the next one should be easier..

Gary.

[flaninacupboard]

just thought i'd mention dot crawl.

obviously i am from a PAL perspecyive, so mileage may vary,

capturing from my digital cable box on compostie (no S output) i could see plenty of dotcrawl, and i can see it live on the TV too. the box does have RGB out as well, so this is ok, i never watch the compostie. however, once encoded to mpeg2 and played back on the TV via the DVD's RGB, i no longer see dot crawl! eh?! same applies to my LD's, logos etc that have obviosu dotcrawl when watched, it disappears on the DVD. the same is true for things like the stars that flicker in SW, when watching in anamorphic instead they are much stabler (i suppose because of the increased reolution)

so for me dotcrawl is a non issue. now if anyone can tell me how to avoid blocking in the scene where luke looks up at the two suns, i'd love to hear from you!

[Gary Lightfoot]

Here's a pic of the mpg2 settings I'm using. I don't get any blocking at all, so it may be usefull for you. Hopefully the others will chip in and give some other settings which may be better. I kinda guessed at these so I doubt they're optimal.

Once I've encoded the movie/menu's etc, I use DVDShrink to get it all down to the correct size. It's a lazy way of doing it without having to calculate bit rate and menu sizes etc.



HTH

Gary.

[dphirschler]

BTW, you could half your encoding time if you just went with 8000 CBR. It's the same result as what you have there. I mean, c'mon; the avg and max bitrate are 8000, so what do you expect but a constant bitrate of 8000?


Darryl

[Gary Lightfoot]

Cheers Darryl,

I'll give that a go.

If I wanted to keep 2-pass, what settings would you recommend?

Gary.

[Mythos2002]

I agree. If you want 2 pass VBR, your should set it to something like 8000, 5000, 0. I like 2 pass VBR myself as I had some stability problems with CBR for some reason. CBR is faster, but it makes a slightly larger file than VBR.

I would also choose Motion Estimate Search Highest Quality (Very Slow). It's going to add a lot more time, but I like the results a lot better.
You can try a short clip out to test it. That's what I keep doing until I hit on the settings I'm happiest with.


Mythos.

[Gary Lightfoot]

Hi,

Thanks for the suggestions.

I used to have the slow motion estimate, but changed it after reading a guys in-depth set-up. I used the pan-down shot of the star destroyer at the beginning of Empire as a test, along with the first transport escape, and couldn't see any difference, so that's why I use it now.

Gary.

[Gorgoloch]

Well, I fixed my macroblocking issue. It was the AVI file that I merged together. My first try I didn't have it set to Direct Stream Copy. Rookie mistake. Just finished ANH with a new AVI file and it looks great. I get some motion problems but that's most likely due to a single pass encode. I'll do it again with 2 pass and let it run for the 20 odd hours or so.

Also, I'm using a Pioneer LD-V4400, not sure how good the model is. It's a borrowed model. SHould be getting another one soon (also borrowed so I won't know what it is till I get it, but I can't argue with the price.)

On the subtitle front (for Greedo in ANH), has anyone used ULEADS subtitles? Not sure if I should do that or put them in some other way. That's been a backburner issue, but now it's moved it's way up the ladder.

Also in regards to ULEAD, has anyone used a different soundtrack with it? So far I've been using the sound from the MPEG, but figure that can be improved. Wasn'e sure if anyone has any experience with DVD Workshop 2. Just curious.

Thanks again for the help this site has given me. I think I've got a pretty good DVD of ANH in only a couple of days. Need to do the menus and such, but the initial step of getting a good image is accomplished.

Gorgoloch

A

[Gary Lightfoot]

If you're getting strange ghosting or studder problems in motion, then that may be because you've not used inverse telecine. I had that problem and using IVTC cured it.

For some reason, main stream encoders don't work this out (I guess they need to be told like TMPGenc does), and even Premiere has the same results.

Gary.

[dphirschler]

About the mpeg encoding and bitrates...

There is a great bitrate calc on this website which is pretty much perfect. It's as easy as typing in the movie time (which is something like 2:02x for the first movie), selecting your audio bitrate (AC3 384 or wav which is the highest one). Then it gives you your avg and max encoding bitrates. It's been spot on every time for me so far. No need to Shrink it.

FWIW, whenever I do the calculation with a shorter project (such as a 55 min concert), I check it with PCM wav audio and if the avg and max bitrates are the same, then I go with CBR.

But seriously, check out the bitrate calc on this website. It's nothing too complicated.


Darryl

[Gary Lightfoot]

What about the size of your menus? You'd have to build those first so that you knew the size of them to take that into account wouldn't you?

Gary.

[dphirschler]

There is a field in the calc for "extra stuff" or some such term. You just stick an arbitrary value in there like 100 megs or so and the calc adjusts. There is also a "DVD overhead" field which is set at 30 megs, but you can type anything in there. It's very flexible.


Darryl

[Gary Lightfoot]

That sounds pretty useful.

It's too late for my first conversion - I've already done it all, but I'll try it out for the next two and see how it turns out.

Cheers.

Gary.

[grimby]

vhelp: after concluding my own research and reading your posts, I ended up purchasing a Pioneer LD-V2600 on ebay this afternoon. I hope it performs as well as you say.


I'm planning on converting the definitive's to DVD and I'm now searching for the best capture device. What was the verdict on the Canopus ADVC-100? Is it better than using an analog card and capturing to uncompressed AVI? I've been thinking about purchasing the Prolink XCapture card as well. Any help would be hot.

[vhelp]

Hi grimby,

welcome to the forums :P

vhelp: after concluding my own research and reading your posts, I ended up purchasing a Pioneer LD-V2600 on ebay this afternoon. I hope it performs as well as you say.


I'm planning on converting the definitive's to DVD and I'm now searching for the best capture device. What was the verdict on the Canopus ADVC-100? Is it better than using an analog card and capturing to uncompressed AVI? I've been thinking about purchasing the Prolink XCapture card as well. Any help would be hot.

Well, to tell you the truth, I'm still testing my advc-100 and my LD's. But,
I'm starting to believe that the advc-100 (or other variations) are not the
best device for LD's capturing
.
.
But I need to do further testing before I make the final judgement on this
comment above.

Right now, I'm testing (again) w/ my ATI-TV Wonder (only because its perfectly
tuned w/ my given system) and so far, I like it very much (except for the
line noise, but which are very little, for some reason this time :P )

Unfortunately, I don't have the star wars LD's yet. I'm testing the "show girls"
LD disk. So, I can't be consistant w/ this forum until I have the SW LD's

I also think that quality issues (the ones on the "hatches" ) just might be
due to the LD's themselve, and not the LD player or capture devices. But
like I said, I have to do more research before I conclude, and whatever I
do conclude, I'll be sure to POST them here (or another thread, that I'll
share here soon) So, please all, do keep an watchful eye out for this !!

I'm glad you like the CLD-V2600 model. I can't beleive that its quality is
much better than my CLD-D701. I feel really bad, but the great thing about
the D701, is that it turns the disk over (well, it doesn't turn it over) and plays
the other side :P
I put that one in my bedroom for "nostaglic" reasons, but I may hook it
back up for more testing. I don't like to give up on this - I love adventure :P :P

Good luck with your CLS-V2600 and do let us know WHEN you receive it.
Well, let me get out of here.. see you all later.

-vhelp