15 ms·

Project 4K77

216 points by podiki 5y ago

podiki 5y ago
See also: https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k80/ https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k80/ https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k83/ https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k83/
kaminar 5y ago
These guys are geniuses...can't wait for 4k80.
beezischillin 5y ago
This looks like an amazing undertaking, especially seeing the comparison to the bluray version. I was planning on watching the trilogy on bluray but I guess I have better plans now. :) Thank you! Being a child of the 90s and of the digital era I am always endlessly amazed at the quality and potential of film. Every time I hear a story about how something more modern won’t even be released in 4K because they don’t have a high enough quality source because it's all digital I’m kind of saddened.
- skhr0680 5y ago
  > Every time I hear a story about how something more modern won’t even be released in 4K because they don’t have a high enough quality source because it's all digital I’m kind of saddened. I think it depends on the movie, 28 Days Later was shot on digital potatocams and looks awesome.
  - KaiserPro 5y ago
    > 28 Days Later was shot on digital potatocams and looks awesome. I'll have you know they like to be called canon XL1s ;) But I'm not sure how much was actually shot on those. I know a fair wedge of the action was, as it meant that they could do multi-cam shots (low budget, more realism, etc etc), I thought that they used ARRL something or others for slower shots. But I could be misremembering.
- someperson 5y ago
  Even digital video created with low-resolution cameras will eventually be viewable in 4K, 8K and beyond because AI upscaling technology is just so great. See Anime4K for examples. https://github.com/bloc97/Anime4K https://github.com/bloc97/Anime4K Yes it "guesses" what the missing information is and populates it. Similar approaches will work for live action media too. And successive video frames encode so much extra resolution that a single frame doesn't capture, so there's a lot of information to pull from.
  - beezischillin 5y ago
    That's pretty cool, anime seems to be the perfect material for doing that upscaling on. I tried the upscaling stuff newer video games have implemented and the real-time version of it can sometimes be glitchy. I'll be happy to see higher res versions of digital stuff even if it means AI upscaling but as someone who loves messing around with photo and video gear for fun I will never not find film endlessly fascinating. Somehow the fact that that they had to do all effects practically meanwhile they had the technology to film it that was so detailed that it's still up to our current resolution standards is amazing to me.
mkaic 5y ago
Such an inspiring project! Having been born well after George decided to make his original work completely unavailable, the janky early-2000s DVD was what I grew up on. I've never even seen the real original Star Wars, so I'm looking forward to sitting down and watching this sometime!
- GOONIMMUNE 5y ago
  If you'd held out until 2006, there was a DVD release containing the unaltered versions of the films- referred to as GOUT (George's Original Unaltered Trilogy). As far as I know this was the last time the unaltered versions were released. GOUT was my go-to for when I wanted to watch Star Wars, until 4k77 came along :) Can't wait for them to finish 4k80, as DVD resolution is pretty garbage.
  - skhr0680 5y ago
    Harmy’s despecialized trilogy is 99% as good as the real thing
    - zucker42 5y ago
      Having watched 4k77 and 4k83 as well as Harmy's ESB I have to say I prefer the 4kxx versions and am eagerly awaiting 4k80. Harmy is amazing for doing what he did. However even besides the obvious issues inherent in stitching different sources together, I find the color palette of Harmy's a bit unnatural in places.
      - skhr0680 5y ago
        I too consider the 4kxx releases to be the “canonical” OT now, but there’s such a huge gulf between Harmy’s and GOUT and whatever the f**k Lucasfilm did to the colors for the DVD that I’m willing to forgive its shortcomings.
    - doctorhandshake 5y ago
      I found it strange that the 4K77 summary page doesn’t mention the Harmy Despecialized project at all.
schleck8 5y ago
I had no idea something like this existed, very interesting
brutus1213 5y ago
Wish I could just pay Disney a tax, and download these easily without going through newsgroups or torrents :(
- theelous3 5y ago
  Ew. I instead wish creative works entered public domain _way_ sooner. Like mb 15/20 years.
  - egypturnash 5y ago
    What’s your plan for supporting the people who made those works if nothing they do in their later life ever reaches the size of that one big hit that they would have been earning money off of?
    - ad404b8a372f2b9 5y ago
      Is 20 years of earnings not enough? If they can no longer produce any other works or if their new work is culturally significant but not monetarily rewarding then it's a safety net issue, not a public domain issue.
    - magpi3 5y ago
      If they have the ability to create something like Star Wars, my own personal plan is that they don't sit on their ass for twenty+ years reaping the benefits of a single achievement. Really, given all the need there is in the world, this is a genuine concern of yours? EDIT: And I should also note, the people who actually created the film are not the ones who reap those benefits for twenty+ years. It's only the people who control the IP.
      - egypturnash 5y ago
        I’m an artist, I made something ten years ago that has continued to sell better than anything else I’ve done. It is nowhere near Star Wars big but it is the creative equivalent of a “lifestyle business”. This is, indeed, a genuine concern of mine that affects my own finances.
weinzierl 5y ago
I admire this enthusiasm so much, and it is so sad that it all has to happen in illegality.
- dotancohen 5y ago
  I believe that nothing is illegal about the vast majority of these projects. They are using legally-obtained source material and performing legal alterations of it. You could argue that redistribution of the material violates copyright. However, so far as I remember the distribution channels insist that this is material for license-holders only (those who have bought the original DVDs or other media). And honestly, the people interested in these projects really do already have at least one copy of Star Wars on legal media, and sometimes far more than one! I'll even take it a step further and state that with merchandising ties (toys, video games, new films) that the market of people willing to throw money at Disney (I cry) only increases when exposing people who don't have licensed media to this material.
  - fho 5y ago
    Would my legally obtained version on Netflix count as a source for that? ;-)
    - dotancohen 5y ago
      Probably not. Maybe I'm overestimating the amount of people who watch on streaming services vs those who encountered Star Wars when physical media was dominant. I wore out that Star Wars tape, and still kept watching it.
fidesomnes 5y ago
This is a good thing. Every new edition of SW has been made worse than the original and it is inarguable. The newest editions are unwatchable distraction filled messes that add nothing and detract greatly from the original version.
newsbinator 5y ago
I looked at the comparison video and perhaps it's my untrained eye, but the 2011 Blue-Ray version looks best to me (not as green/brown tinged): https://youtu.be/P1b47UP6ZGI https://youtu.be/P1b47UP6ZGI (MacBook Pro 2015 Retina screen)
- KaiserPro 5y ago
  the 2011 version has been re-graded, and that grade isn't static. That is to say, they were willing to change the colour cast from the original print to make it more consistent. There has also been a whole load of re-painting and restoration to get that extra detail. The 4K77 version is literally just a scan from the print. The colour correction is almost static.
- 0-_-0 5y ago
  The 2011 version has its problems (crushed blacks, magenta flashes, a bit to cool color temperature) but I still prefer it over the rest
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
867-5309 5y ago
DNR (Digital Noise Reduction in this instance) has in the medical world another meaning of Do Not Resuscitate. I'm sure this will tickle those opposed
darepublic 5y ago
The quote from George Lucas about how the older versions of SW will be lost to time and the blueray will emerge as the canonical version reminds me of historical criticism of the New testament gospels.. we only have the four, other versions having been excised or otherwise just lost and the current gospels being borrowed from older lost texts
- azalemeth 5y ago
  Looking at the link they posted of the comparison (https://youtu.be/P1b47UP6ZGI https://youtu.be/P1b47UP6ZGI) I cannot believe how much worse the blueray looks. The whole frame turns bright magenta during every laser rifle burst in the opening sequence! I also think it's very telling that a bunch of fans made something better than the professional effort, with a small fraction of the budget, and are distributing it almost as a public good to ensue that it remains accessible in pereptuity.
Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
I too can't stand the new 'special edition' versions. They are so much worse. As if a talented director has turned into a teenager with no taste and restraints, and I am very happy that this and Despecialized Edition exist. Bring my shuttle.
- cpcallen 5y ago
  I would have agreed with you until I saw _How Star Wars was Saved in the Edit_ (https://youtu.be/GFMyMxMYDNk https://youtu.be/GFMyMxMYDNk). Maybe George Lucas had _always_ been a teenager with no restraints? EDIT: Of course in the process of looking up the URL for HSWwSitE, I discovered _How "How Star Wars was saved in the edit" was saved in the edit (sort of, but not really)_ (https://youtu.be/olqVGz6mOVE https://youtu.be/olqVGz6mOVE) which is a really rather thorough (if laborious) rebuttal of the overall picture the original video sought to paint, and and quite justifiably takes the original video's creators to task for extremely selective reporting (and in several cases fairly woeful research). But boy does it go on at some length (nearly 2h!). If only someone would save _How "How Star Wars was saved in the edit" was saved in the edit (sort of, but not really)_ in the edit.
nicolas_t 5y ago
I came across it a few months ago and I'm amazed at the great work they've done. By the way for those interested, they are currently raising funds for a better scanning station, it's in their forum at https://forums.thestarwarstrilogy.com/threads/crazy-proposal-2-buy-a-scanstation.629/ https://forums.thestarwarstrilogy.com/threads/crazy-proposal... Just figured I'd post it here given the great work they've done and how many people here seem to have enjoyed it.
- Qub3d 5y ago
  It looks like the post is behind a login, and registration requires an invite code. I wish them luck, though!
  - podiki 5y ago
    They have open registration last I checked, with an invite code available in the publicly accessible part of the forum (sorry, don't have a link right now, but probably they prefer you go directly there anyway).
    - Qub3d 5y ago
      Ah, I found a link. Gracias!
  - Qub3d 5y ago
    Update: Here's the direct donation link if anyone else wants to chip in. They have just over 20k of the ~33k needed. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=EDZSS68C4CHWU https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=EDZSS68C4CHW...
HungSu 5y ago
> So far this restoration (including money spent on 4K77 and 4K83) has cost TN1 a little over $16,000, but sadly there can be no box office receipts or DVD/Bluray sales to refill our bank accounts when it’s all done. If you're looking for a cause to donate to, this seems like a good one.

216 points by podiki 5y ago

See also: https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k80/ https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k80/ https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k83/ https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k83/

kaminar 5y ago

These guys are geniuses...can't wait for 4k80.

beezischillin 5y ago

This looks like an amazing undertaking, especially seeing the comparison to the bluray version. I was planning on watching the trilogy on bluray but I guess I have better plans now. :) Thank you! Being a child of the 90s and of the digital era I am always endlessly amazed at the quality and potential of film. Every time I hear a story about how something more modern won’t even be released in 4K because they don’t have a high enough quality source because it's all digital I’m kind of saddened.

skhr0680 5y ago
> Every time I hear a story about how something more modern won’t even be released in 4K because they don’t have a high enough quality source because it's all digital I’m kind of saddened. I think it depends on the movie, 28 Days Later was shot on digital potatocams and looks awesome.
- KaiserPro 5y ago
  > 28 Days Later was shot on digital potatocams and looks awesome. I'll have you know they like to be called canon XL1s ;) But I'm not sure how much was actually shot on those. I know a fair wedge of the action was, as it meant that they could do multi-cam shots (low budget, more realism, etc etc), I thought that they used ARRL something or others for slower shots. But I could be misremembering.
someperson 5y ago
Even digital video created with low-resolution cameras will eventually be viewable in 4K, 8K and beyond because AI upscaling technology is just so great. See Anime4K for examples. https://github.com/bloc97/Anime4K https://github.com/bloc97/Anime4K Yes it "guesses" what the missing information is and populates it. Similar approaches will work for live action media too. And successive video frames encode so much extra resolution that a single frame doesn't capture, so there's a lot of information to pull from.
- beezischillin 5y ago
  That's pretty cool, anime seems to be the perfect material for doing that upscaling on. I tried the upscaling stuff newer video games have implemented and the real-time version of it can sometimes be glitchy. I'll be happy to see higher res versions of digital stuff even if it means AI upscaling but as someone who loves messing around with photo and video gear for fun I will never not find film endlessly fascinating. Somehow the fact that that they had to do all effects practically meanwhile they had the technology to film it that was so detailed that it's still up to our current resolution standards is amazing to me.

mkaic 5y ago

Such an inspiring project! Having been born well after George decided to make his original work completely unavailable, the janky early-2000s DVD was what I grew up on. I've never even seen the real original Star Wars, so I'm looking forward to sitting down and watching this sometime!

GOONIMMUNE 5y ago
If you'd held out until 2006, there was a DVD release containing the unaltered versions of the films- referred to as GOUT (George's Original Unaltered Trilogy). As far as I know this was the last time the unaltered versions were released. GOUT was my go-to for when I wanted to watch Star Wars, until 4k77 came along :) Can't wait for them to finish 4k80, as DVD resolution is pretty garbage.
- skhr0680 5y ago
  Harmy’s despecialized trilogy is 99% as good as the real thing
  - zucker42 5y ago
    Having watched 4k77 and 4k83 as well as Harmy's ESB I have to say I prefer the 4kxx versions and am eagerly awaiting 4k80. Harmy is amazing for doing what he did. However even besides the obvious issues inherent in stitching different sources together, I find the color palette of Harmy's a bit unnatural in places.
    - skhr0680 5y ago
      I too consider the 4kxx releases to be the “canonical” OT now, but there’s such a huge gulf between Harmy’s and GOUT and whatever the f**k Lucasfilm did to the colors for the DVD that I’m willing to forgive its shortcomings.
  - doctorhandshake 5y ago
    I found it strange that the 4K77 summary page doesn’t mention the Harmy Despecialized project at all.

schleck8 5y ago

I had no idea something like this existed, very interesting

brutus1213 5y ago

Wish I could just pay Disney a tax, and download these easily without going through newsgroups or torrents :(

theelous3 5y ago
Ew. I instead wish creative works entered public domain _way_ sooner. Like mb 15/20 years.
- egypturnash 5y ago
  What’s your plan for supporting the people who made those works if nothing they do in their later life ever reaches the size of that one big hit that they would have been earning money off of?
  - ad404b8a372f2b9 5y ago
    Is 20 years of earnings not enough? If they can no longer produce any other works or if their new work is culturally significant but not monetarily rewarding then it's a safety net issue, not a public domain issue.
  - magpi3 5y ago
    If they have the ability to create something like Star Wars, my own personal plan is that they don't sit on their ass for twenty+ years reaping the benefits of a single achievement. Really, given all the need there is in the world, this is a genuine concern of yours? EDIT: And I should also note, the people who actually created the film are not the ones who reap those benefits for twenty+ years. It's only the people who control the IP.
    - egypturnash 5y ago
      I’m an artist, I made something ten years ago that has continued to sell better than anything else I’ve done. It is nowhere near Star Wars big but it is the creative equivalent of a “lifestyle business”. This is, indeed, a genuine concern of mine that affects my own finances.

weinzierl 5y ago

I admire this enthusiasm so much, and it is so sad that it all has to happen in illegality.

dotancohen 5y ago
I believe that nothing is illegal about the vast majority of these projects. They are using legally-obtained source material and performing legal alterations of it. You could argue that redistribution of the material violates copyright. However, so far as I remember the distribution channels insist that this is material for license-holders only (those who have bought the original DVDs or other media). And honestly, the people interested in these projects really do already have at least one copy of Star Wars on legal media, and sometimes far more than one! I'll even take it a step further and state that with merchandising ties (toys, video games, new films) that the market of people willing to throw money at Disney (I cry) only increases when exposing people who don't have licensed media to this material.
- fho 5y ago
  Would my legally obtained version on Netflix count as a source for that? ;-)
  - dotancohen 5y ago
    Probably not. Maybe I'm overestimating the amount of people who watch on streaming services vs those who encountered Star Wars when physical media was dominant. I wore out that Star Wars tape, and still kept watching it.

fidesomnes 5y ago

This is a good thing. Every new edition of SW has been made worse than the original and it is inarguable. The newest editions are unwatchable distraction filled messes that add nothing and detract greatly from the original version.

newsbinator 5y ago

I looked at the comparison video and perhaps it's my untrained eye, but the 2011 Blue-Ray version looks best to me (not as green/brown tinged): https://youtu.be/P1b47UP6ZGI https://youtu.be/P1b47UP6ZGI (MacBook Pro 2015 Retina screen)

KaiserPro 5y ago
the 2011 version has been re-graded, and that grade isn't static. That is to say, they were willing to change the colour cast from the original print to make it more consistent. There has also been a whole load of re-painting and restoration to get that extra detail. The 4K77 version is literally just a scan from the print. The colour correction is almost static.
0-_-0 5y ago
The 2011 version has its problems (crushed blacks, magenta flashes, a bit to cool color temperature) but I still prefer it over the rest

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

867-5309 5y ago

DNR (Digital Noise Reduction in this instance) has in the medical world another meaning of Do Not Resuscitate. I'm sure this will tickle those opposed

darepublic 5y ago

The quote from George Lucas about how the older versions of SW will be lost to time and the blueray will emerge as the canonical version reminds me of historical criticism of the New testament gospels.. we only have the four, other versions having been excised or otherwise just lost and the current gospels being borrowed from older lost texts

azalemeth 5y ago
Looking at the link they posted of the comparison (https://youtu.be/P1b47UP6ZGI https://youtu.be/P1b47UP6ZGI) I cannot believe how much worse the blueray looks. The whole frame turns bright magenta during every laser rifle burst in the opening sequence! I also think it's very telling that a bunch of fans made something better than the professional effort, with a small fraction of the budget, and are distributing it almost as a public good to ensue that it remains accessible in pereptuity.

Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago

I too can't stand the new 'special edition' versions. They are so much worse. As if a talented director has turned into a teenager with no taste and restraints, and I am very happy that this and Despecialized Edition exist. Bring my shuttle.

cpcallen 5y ago
I would have agreed with you until I saw _How Star Wars was Saved in the Edit_ (https://youtu.be/GFMyMxMYDNk https://youtu.be/GFMyMxMYDNk). Maybe George Lucas had _always_ been a teenager with no restraints? EDIT: Of course in the process of looking up the URL for HSWwSitE, I discovered _How "How Star Wars was saved in the edit" was saved in the edit (sort of, but not really)_ (https://youtu.be/olqVGz6mOVE https://youtu.be/olqVGz6mOVE) which is a really rather thorough (if laborious) rebuttal of the overall picture the original video sought to paint, and and quite justifiably takes the original video's creators to task for extremely selective reporting (and in several cases fairly woeful research). But boy does it go on at some length (nearly 2h!). If only someone would save _How "How Star Wars was saved in the edit" was saved in the edit (sort of, but not really)_ in the edit.

nicolas_t 5y ago

I came across it a few months ago and I'm amazed at the great work they've done. By the way for those interested, they are currently raising funds for a better scanning station, it's in their forum at https://forums.thestarwarstrilogy.com/threads/crazy-proposal-2-buy-a-scanstation.629/ https://forums.thestarwarstrilogy.com/threads/crazy-proposal... Just figured I'd post it here given the great work they've done and how many people here seem to have enjoyed it.

Qub3d 5y ago
It looks like the post is behind a login, and registration requires an invite code. I wish them luck, though!
- podiki 5y ago
  They have open registration last I checked, with an invite code available in the publicly accessible part of the forum (sorry, don't have a link right now, but probably they prefer you go directly there anyway).
  - Qub3d 5y ago
    Ah, I found a link. Gracias!
- Qub3d 5y ago
  Update: Here's the direct donation link if anyone else wants to chip in. They have just over 20k of the ~33k needed. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=EDZSS68C4CHWU https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=EDZSS68C4CHW...

HungSu 5y ago

> So far this restoration (including money spent on 4K77 and 4K83) has cost TN1 a little over $16,000, but sadly there can be no box office receipts or DVD/Bluray sales to refill our bank accounts when it’s all done. If you're looking for a cause to donate to, this seems like a good one.