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

[FulciLives]

marco:
love the cover! have you made the other two yet?

i made a few a month or so ago. maybe i'll put them up for download.
ANH(1) (2)
ESB
ROTJ

my old ones from about a year ago.

Very sweet ... I would love to download them

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Marco33]

marco:
love the cover! have you made the other two yet?

i made a few a month or so ago. maybe i'll put them up for download.
ANH(1) (2)
ESB
ROTJ

my old ones from about a year ago.

Very sweet ... I would love to download them

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

I second that. Fork'em over.


grimby:

The other two are at cdcovers. Someone else made them. I wanted all three from cdcovers but for some reason the "Empire " cover was not there so, I made it. It's probably there somewhere but not labled right.

[dphirschler]

I was able to find ANH on cdcovers.cc, but not Jedi. Help me out man. What's it called?


Darryl

[grimby]

found it! it's called "Star Wars Return Of The Jedi" near the bottom of the star wars list.

link

[Marco33]

Somehow I though the "empire" was the one right next to the jedi. Kinda labled the same but, alas... it was not.

Got to be labled wrong.

[dphirschler]

Link doesn't work. And I STILL cannot find it. Geez! How hard can this be? Am I going blind??


Darryl

[dphirschler]

Finally got it. Man! I was going crazy there for a second.

Darryl

[grimby]

Well, I went through my entire definitive set today to figure out which discs were good and which had too much laser rot to even bother with. It turns out that sides 1 & 2 of ANH, side 3 of ESB, and sides 3,4, & 6 of ROTJ all are pretty much useless to capture from. I'm a little bummed at the moment, but since these discs were borrowed I guess I don't feel too bad. Anyway, I guess I'll just have to find another set to finish the job.

Is anyone else finding lots of noise on certain discs like this?

[grimby]

On the other hand, I seem to be getting some decent captures with what I have...



(Winfast TV2000 expert @ 720x480, cropped & resized) :P

[flaninacupboard]

not bad at all.
APART FROM THE BIG WHITE ROT SPOT!!

Seriously though, looks pretty good we'll have to put up a compendium of that paticular frame from different users.

[grimby]

That would be awesome! I'd love to see what sort of quality everyone else is getting. Compared to yours, mine is a bit less colorful. Mine's not a SE capture though.

[Mythos2002]

I was wondering if someone who added the commentary tracks to their conversions could explain the process of how you did it from start to finish. I know that you have to capture twice since the commentary is a second audio track. I was just wondering about a couple of things like how you keep the commentary track in sync with what is going on. Since the commentary tracks are only in certain places, do you capture only those places, or capture the whole film again, or add blank spots to fill in between? How did you edit all of this together? Could you input both audio tracks in Virtual Dub? Did anyone who added the audio commentary tracks use DVD-Lab. I know it doesn't natively support two tracks, but there is a workaround I've seen.

I also have another question about TMPNGEnc Plus. I know version 2.5 didn't have dual layer in mind when it came out. But, will it complain if I take one of the films and use the highest bitrates possible? I plan to use PCM as well, but I don't do anything with audio in TMPNGEnc. I know it might give a warning, but will it tell me what size this file is going to be? I just want to make sure I don't go over 8.5 Gb. I know I can use the calculator to figure this out and plan to. I just want to make sure TMPNGEnc is accurate enough to give me the same result as the calculator. I wrote to Pegasys about updating 2.5 to support dual layer encoding because I don't want to upgrade to 3.0. They wrote back and said they will look into it. I'm not holding my breath though.

I don't have a dual layer burner yet, but I plan to recapture the films again and gear everything for dual layer. I plan to use PCM for the main audio and AC-3 for the commentary.

Thanks.

Mythos

[dphirschler]

I was wondering if someone who added the commentary tracks to their conversions could explain the process of how you did it from start to finish.

My method?

Captured the audio in Virtual Dub using the smallest frame size possible. I used the video frame to splice it back together and save the wav out from Virtual Dub. To get it to start at the right place, I used an avisynth script to display both the movie and the "audio capture movie" in the same frame. Then I used the Trim command to remove frames until it synched up.

Then I edited the wav in Cool Edit. Specifically, I shaped the volume. This was a tedious process since the levels were SO bad. They would spike in mid-sentence. After I got the levels adjusted, I normalized it.

Next, I mixed in the movie audio. During the long parts with no commentary, I ramped up the volume of the movie audio to 100%. When commentary was happening, then I lowered the volume of the movie audio to about 20%.

It's not as difficult as it may look. The hard part was shaping the levels for the commentary. It was horrible! The guy would be talking so low that you cranked up your volume on the TV, only to have your speakers blown when one word is way too loud.

Oh yeah, lastly, I resampled the final audio to 48 kHz.


Darryl

[tedkunich]

Well, I went through my entire definitive set today to figure out which discs were good and which had too much laser rot to even bother with. It turns out that sides 1 & 2 of ANH, side 3 of ESB, and sides 3,4, & 6 of ROTJ all are pretty much useless to capture from. I'm a little bummed at the moment, but since these discs were borrowed I guess I don't feel too bad. Anyway, I guess I'll just have to find another set to finish the job.

Is anyone else finding lots of noise on certain discs like this?

We are in the same boat... Disc 2 side 3 of ANH is miserably deteriorated... been working on a filter script to remove them, but it will be a conditional filter to apply only on scenes that are bad... the Despot filter from Frizic (sp??) works a little too well - any scene with star fields come out noticably absent of stars!!!!

T

[Eandtc]

"I was wondering if someone who added the commentary tracks to their conversions could explain the process of how you did it from start to finish."

First of all, I did a capture of my Faces set. I captured the video, analog audio, and digital PCM all in one pass. Vegas automatically groups the video and analog audio, and I use the analog audio to line up the digital PCM soundtrack (you can see the waves on the timeline, and I assign each soundtrack to either of my stereo headphones.) Once the PCM stereo soundtrack is created, it's easier to create and line up the 5.1 soundtrack that I create later.

Next, I do a video/analog audio capture of the Def. Col., and put this directly under the Faces set. I can visually spot where the commentaries are on the soundtrack, and then cut and move them (for better chapter breaks, if necessary.) Since Vegas allows me to watch different soundtracks and video streams simultaneously (I lower the opacity of the main stream, so it's like a super-imposed ghost image), I can make sure that the commentary track aligns with the appropriate video track for both versions of the film (it's a little overkill, but I wanted to do a good job.)

Then I save the commentary track as a DD 2.0 file, and drop it, the 5.1 file, and the video file into DVDLab Pro. Since they are already synced together in Vegas, and subsequently rendered, they stay synced when remuxed by DVDLab pro.

"It's not as difficult as it may look. The hard part was shaping the levels for the commentary. It was horrible! The guy would be talking so low that you cranked up your volume on the TV, only to have your speakers blown when one word is way too loud."

My set did this as well. ANH had a few spots, but ESB has it almost all the way through. Vegas allowed me to control the threshold, so that the volume couldn't rise above a certain point. Levelled it out nice and easy for me.

BTW, I've been using the stand-alone MainConcept encoder, rather than the one built into Vegas, since the stand-alone allows for far more options. Excellent stuff!

[Mythos2002]

Thanks for the information Darryl and Eandtc.

I'll have to see what I can do. I wish Vegas wasn't so expensive or I would try that. What version of Vegas is recommended for this process? I may even try AVISynth. I was getting okay with it the last time I used it, but that was over a year ago and I've forgotten most of it.

Mythos

[Eandtc]

Well, you can download Vegas and use it free for 30 days. If you want to use it beyond that time limit, let me know.


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[IG-88]

Well thanks to everyones help and this amazing thread I have started work on the ANH captures. I have been using a Sony TRV220(?), Pioneer LD/DVD player, and the NTSC faces LDs. Here are a few samples of the captures and converstions that I have done. All have already been cropped and converted into mpeg2. The captures were taken directly from the DVDs using WinDVD.

I've done a slight color correction to the capture and I have put together a before and after comparison

here and here

The color correction was to get rid of some of the washed out look that I am seeing from the captures. My fear was that I would loose detail in the picture but from what I can tell they look virtually identical



Greedo talking

Vader in Death Star

and finally Leia

Hopefully ESB and ROTJ will go just as smoothly.

Thanks,
Chris S.

[Eandtc]

"I have been using a Sony TRV220(?)"

Copycat! :P (Isn't it sooooo easy to do it this way, though? Much better than having to add a video card and messing with drivers.)

Otherwise, they look very nice. I'll have to post some of my pics sometime.

[gshelley61]

it's possible to get a beautiful set of Definitive DVDRs for $25, and not on ebay.

http://www.prillaman.net/starwarsdvdreview-bootleg3.html

i have them, and they are great. saved a lot of time & frustration.

dk

I also have seen the TR47 OT set, and they do look very good. An excellent letterbox capture - the best I've seen, really. I have a 46" DLP, and the PQ is actually pretty decent, even when zoomed to fill the widescreen.

[gshelley61]

I have been observing this thread with much interest, as well. It is fantastic and I am looking forward to tranferring my Definitive Collection LD's to DVD-R in the near future.

I know this may be heresy, but I have been experimenting with capturing the mid-80's CBS/Fox pan & scan releases with analog audio (for use in my minivan that has a 4:3 screen). I have a JVC DR-M10 DVD recorder and no longer capture decent quality sources to the computer.

Here's a couple of screen grabs from a recent test capture to DVD-RW using the JVC in FR/SP mode and a Pioneer CLD-D704 LD player (composite video out):

[flaninacupboard]

and people dared ask if LD looks better than VHS??

[gshelley61]

Oh, no question about that. VHS is clearly inferior to LD. These are among the worst looking LD's I own, too. The Definitive Collection is a much better transfer.

This 4:3 pan & scan ANH set is actually CAV, which is somewhat rare. Most of the older Star Wars LD's are CLV.

[yoda313]

Hello,
This has probably been asked before in this thread but I didn't want to read every post (probably take a day or two ).

My question is: will it be worthwhile to use the special edition dvds and mix them with the original source? I'm going to buy them in September.

What I want to do is rip the discs and edit out the changes. Then I want to splice in the original sequences. My only problem is I only have the FULL Screen tapes. I'd live with the inconsistensies. OR would I be better off reencoding the unchanged dvd source to full screen so as to better match my video tapes?

Any suggestions would be useful.
Kevin
P.S. By the way, How many in this thread really won't buy the special edition dvds? I mean its STILL Star Wars and the best we've seen in the home setup.

[dphirschler]

Everyone will buy it. Anyways, we discussed this somewhere back around page 25 or so. Ideally, there should be a new thread dedicated to that project, and I am sure there will be when the time comes.


Darryl

[yoda313]

Hello,
Thanks! I appreciate the shortcut. I'm sure the new thread will start about September 21st or so!! . Anyway, I'm glad somebody will buy it here. I have 3 copies on tape and looking forward to dvd (original original full screen, 1st release special edition fullscreen, 2nd release widescreen special edition). Thanks again.
Kevin

[Mythos2002]

Hello,
This has probably been asked before in this thread but I didn't want to read every post (probably take a day or two ).

My question is: will it be worthwhile to use the special edition dvds and mix them with the original source? I'm going to buy them in September.

What I want to do is rip the discs and edit out the changes. Then I want to splice in the original sequences. My only problem is I only have the FULL Screen tapes. I'd live with the inconsistensies. OR would I be better off reencoding the unchanged dvd source to full screen so as to better match my video tapes?

Any suggestions would be useful.
Kevin
P.S. By the way, How many in this thread really won't buy the special edition dvds? I mean its STILL Star Wars and the best we've seen in the home setup.

Hi Kevin,

I would definitely buy a set of the widescreen LD's if you plan to do that. That would give you the closest match as far as quality. The inconsistencies may still exist, but they would be greatly reduced compared to using Full screen VHS. I wouldn't want Full screen as I hate to watch anything that is not in its original aspect ratio. Have a look around around www.originaltrilogy.com There is a lot of talk there about the various Laserdiscs that have been released over the years. I've been hearing that the CAV ones have a better picture than CLV, but I haven't seen a side by side comparison yet.

I'm not buying the September release because I only like the Original Versions of the films (or at least as original as possible, meaning how it was on video before 1997). I'm not rewarding Lucas by giving him more money unless the Original Versions are included. I don't even own Ep. 2 on DVD. Maybe he will make a last minute announcement on that. I doubt it, but one can always hope. It is 67 days before they are released. I believe we were closer to the E.T. release date when the announcement was made that Speilberg decided to have the original version of the film included on the 2 disc set. Also, that link I provided above has a petition with something like 60,000 signatures wanting the Original Versions of the the trilogy to be included. Lastly, there is supposed to be a big convention next weekend where there is supposed to be a Star Wars panel with some news.

Again though, I would use the Widescreen LD's to fill in the changes instead of VHS.

Thanks.

Mythos

[yoda313]

Hello,

Mythos2002- I would definitely buy a set of the widescreen LD's if you plan to do that

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately I don't have a laserdisc player It's not worth it for me to buy it just for this project.

I have signed the petition but I will still buy the special edition dvds. I want it now! I just want true 5.1 sound. I'll buy the original edition dvds if and when they come out. Thanks again.
Kevin
[/quote]

[Eandtc]

"P.S. By the way, How many in this thread really won't buy the special edition dvds?"

I will not. No reason to.