Star Wars Episode I: The Rise of Naboo

[Eyepainter]

eye1a.jpg

• ArtisDead
• Jun 11, 2022

Fanedit by Eyepainter
Art by ArtisDead

eye1b.jpg

• ArtisDead
• Jun 11, 2022

Fanedit by Eyepainter
Art by ArtisDead

eyepz.jpg

• ArtisDead
• Jun 11, 2022

Fanedit by Eyepainter
Art by ArtisDead

You are being so generous today, ArtisDead! Thank you!

The top one looks fantastic! I like the font choice for the title, and I think it compliments the rest of the artwork and the logo quite well! The only nitpick I have is that Anakin look slightly distorted horizontally, but it isn't severe enough to warrant a redo. Between the three, this one's my favorite!

The middle one is great, but it gave me some serious Freddy Krueger vibes on account of Darth Maul. I want to say that's a bad thing, and I want to say that's a good thing too. I'm so confused! I mean, I like it, but I'm confused!

The bottom one is also good, but I think it pales in comparison to the other two.

 

[Eyepainter]

Did some showcasing on the three posters on my originaltrilogy.com thread! My friends, GMatias and NotTheDri0ds, both like the top one (or 1a) as well! I'll leave things open in case any other users want to chime in, but I think things are starting to sound unanimous.

 

[ArtisDead]

I can run a trilogy theme in that scheme.

 

[Eyepainter]

I can run a trilogy theme in that scheme.

I like this idea! Let's give it a shot!

 

[ArtisDead]

Who do I need to emphasize in each episode and who do I need to deemphasize?

 

[Eyepainter]

Who do I need to emphasize in each episode and who do I need to deemphasize?

I'll send you a PM either tonight or tomorrow! I hope I can send it tonight, but I've got several very busy early opening workshifts starting tomorrow. I'll do what I can, and thank you!

 

[Eyepainter]

Just started color grading the Tattooine scenes! Almost on Coruscant for the commentary track! Progress is slow, but steady!

 

[Eyepainter]

Now at the halfway mark on the color grading! Here's some stills demonstrating what I've done to the first half of the edit!

 

[Eyepainter]

Just completed the second half of the color grade! Here are some more examples:

 

[Eyepainter]

Just finished commentating on the Coruscant senate hearing!

 

[Eyepainter]

I have some bad news on the color grading.

Over the course of the last week, I’ve been trying to export my edit so that I can test the color grade on my 1080p HDTV. Trying, because every time I’ve attempted to export the file, my editing software keeps crashing in the middle of the export. I’ve tried a lot of things. What’s even weirder is that it’s only crashing when I export Episode I. I did an export for my Eyes Wide Shut fanedit, which is a much larger file than my Episode I edit could ever hope to be (in GoPro Cineform, no less), and it exported the file without any problems. I’ve tried exporting my Episode I file to my external hard drive. It crashed. I tried exporting it using a brand new USB flash drive. It crashed. I looked up a bunch of YouTube tutorials to stop the export from crashing. It crashed. And I’m at that point where I believe the culprit is one of the Resolve FX features I used for the color grading. I don’t know which one it is (I have a faint suspicion that it has something to do with the luminance), but this means that I’m gonna have to go back and work on the color grading again.

I will do what I can to keep the color grade from being changed a lot, but I can’t guarantee that until I’ve figured out why Resolve keeps crashing for “this” specific edit, and none of my other edits. My apologies for the inconvenience this may cause. If anyone has some troubleshooting know-how, I would appreciate it very much at this time!

 

[theomega]

Possibly you already thought of this solution, but maybe you didn't, so here's an idea.
You could possibly narrow it down by, maybe, cutting the edit halfway and exporting the first part on it's own? If all goes well, it's in the second part. You might then cut the second part halfway and repeat until you found the culprit.

The question is, if the edit will export with all the effects disabled. There is a slight chance it's in your source files.
Does it crash at a specific percentage?

Just two suggestions.

 

[Eyepainter]

Possibly you already thought of this solution, but maybe you didn't, so here's an idea.
You could possibly narrow it down by, maybe, cutting the edit halfway and exporting the first part on it's own? If all goes well, it's in the second part. You might then cut the second part halfway and repeat until you found the culprit.

The question is, if the edit will export with all the effects disabled. There is a slight chance it's in your source files.
Does it crash at a specific percentage?

Just two suggestions.

I have entertained the idea of dividing the edit in two halves. The problem, however, lies in the aftermath, and how to bring the two halves back together. I have no idea if there's a program out there I can use for something like that.

Because the color grading was done using Resolve FX features, turning off the effects pretty much means turning off the color grading too. So the only way that would work is if I gave up color grading or decided to try a different, less crash-inducing grade.

I would say there is a specific place where it crashes, but alas, that isn't true. Usually, my software crashes at around the 55-65% mark. It varies, but it's interesting that it usually crashes in this specific area of the export. My best guess is that the cause is somewhere in Coruscant.

 

[theomega]

I'm sorry, I had to elaborate, my fault.

I assume you're using Davinci Resolve because of the Resolve FX. I'd start with making a copy of your project in the project manager and work on the copy, that way you'll chance nothing on the original.
What I ment was, while you can physically divide your timeline in to two or more timelines, you can also just use the in/out marks to export portions of your timeline. See if by dividing the timeline with in and out marks and exporting only the first half, if the problem occurs or not. And so on.

My advise about turning of color grading was to try and see if the error is in the grading process. I'm not suggesting to disable or alter your grading. By reading your posts I can see grading is a pretty important part of the story you want to tell, so don't change it. I'd suggest first trying to isolate the problem.

What might also be a solution, though a pretty hefty solution, is to move all your files to another computer/laptop and see if it can render on another pc.
I know how frustrating it is when you have to make concessions on your work, just to make it work, while you know it should be possible.

 

[Eyepainter]

I'm sorry, I had to elaborate, my fault.

I assume you're using Davinci Resolve because of the Resolve FX. I'd start with making a copy of your project in the project manager and work on the copy, that way you'll chance nothing on the original.
What I ment was, while you can physically divide your timeline in to two or more timelines, you can also just use the in/out marks to export portions of your timeline. See if by dividing the timeline with in and out marks and exporting only the first half, if the problem occurs or not. And so on.

My advise about turning of color grading was to try and see if the error is in the grading process. I'm not suggesting to disable or alter your grading. By reading your posts I can see grading is a pretty important part of the story you want to tell, so don't change it. I'd suggest first trying to isolate the problem.

What might also be a solution, though a pretty hefty solution, is to move all your files to another computer/laptop and see if it can render on another pc.
I know how frustrating it is when you have to make concessions on your work, just to make it work, while you know it should be possible.

My main issue with copying the project is that the copy is often lower in quality to the original project. I once tried this out while working on an idea for my Last Jedi edit, and there was a significant drop in quality. I never used the copy beyond reviewing my idea.

My other computer is my old laptop which I used at the beginning of my prequel edits. It's gone through a lot of wear and tear and it couldn't handle anything beyond Resolve 16. So I'm also kinda reluctant to take it back to my laptop. I don't know. If push comes to shove, I'll give it a try.

 

[theomega]

I see, more weird errors with Resolve. One would suspect that a copy is exactly that, but a drop in quality is really not good.

I understand. I do hope you can sort it out and still be happy with your edit.
Good luck, I'm going to follow your edit.

 

[Eyepainter]

I think I've made a breakthrough on my current editing woes!

So, after my announcement that I was going to change the grading again, I bought Jeff Bartsch's book, Edit Better, and I skipped over to the chapter on color grading. I took some of the advice and set on grading the edit using only the shadow, midtone, saturation, and contrast and pivot options on Resolve. I also added in my favorite film LUT onto the timeline.

Well, after I graded the whole thing again, I tried exporting the file, and it still crashed. Then I realized that the only other possibility is video track 3, which contains my film grain overlays. I disabled that track, and presto! The file exported! Then, I thought to myself, what if it's the film grain overlays? I went back, changed the color grading back to my previous grade, and while it did crash the first time, it got to 96%. I tried again, and it worked!

So, it looks like the main culprit is the film grain overlays. I'm not sure why Resolve is having a hard time, because my Eyes Wide Shut fanedit also has film grain overlays. My best guess is that I used dirtier overlays for my Eyes Wide Shut edit, and for some reason, my computer can take those grainier, dirtier overlays better. The overlays I've been using so far for Episode I are cleaner.

So this leads to my biggest issue right now. What to do about the film grain. I could choose to get rid of the film grain entirely. This option would probably be easiest on my computer, but the drawback is that the grading suffers from looking so soft and clean. The other option? Go for grainy and filthy. Now admittedly, I like that kind of aesthetic. However, I'm not sure Star Wars fans would agree, especially since a lot of fanedits opt for a cleaner, light grain look. HAL9000's edits are a perfect example of this. I should also note that as of this post, I haven't gone back to do anything with the film grain yet. So I have no idea if I'm right about dirtier grain overlays being easier to export. It's currently a theory.

I guess I'll ask for others opinions on this. What do you think? Should I skip the film grain, or go all the way with it?

 

[Eyepainter]

I have another update. I finally tested my theory out. I redid the film grain overlays, replaced the cleaner overlays with filthier ones, and changed them around to see if my luck would improve if I exported again. And to my sadness, it crashed again. So, for whatever reason, it looks like I may have to sacrifice the film grain if I want to get a good export.

I've been asking myself whether to try again with the color grading or not. Ideally, I don't want to. I've gone through a lot of trouble to get this edit looking good. But at the same time, I'm not a fan of making it look soft and overly clean.

I've been entertaining a few ideas off the top of my head on what to do next. One is to throw in a film look LUT. This would compensate for the lack of grain, but I would have to go back and re-adjust the Resolve FX features all over again due to the change in contrast such a LUT would add. Another idea is to use the techniques I've learned from Jeff Bartsch's book, Edit Better, but I think those techniques are designed for someone who is more of a professional colorist than I am. It would also require me to start the grade all over again too, since it doesn't utilize Resolve's FX features, which my current grade does. Third option? Same as option two, but with a LUT. Fourth option? Get over it, and stick with the grade as is, warts and all.

I guess there are a million possibilities for the color grading right now. I'd love to hear some more thoughts on this, as I'm not sure what to do next.

 

[GelflingHand]

Could you export in ludicrously high quality (whatever you've got the disc space for), then use that as a base for adding grain in a second pass, re-encoding down to a more reasonable file size?

 

[Eyepainter]

Could you export in ludicrously high quality (whatever you've got the disc space for), then use that as a base for adding grain in a second pass, re-encoding down to a more reasonable file size?

I decided to try this out. I exported the file in GoPro Cineform, put that file in a new project for the grain, copied and pasted the overlays, and exported yet another GoPro Cineform file. I then deleted the original file to save my disk space, and converted the grain file to mp4 via Handbrake. All in all, the first file was about 87gb, the grain file, 127gb, and the converted Handbrake file 10gb. It's not my favorite way to export a file, but it did work. The downside is that the final result is very bare bones. Only one audio track, no chapter markers, no commentary, etc. It's just the edit itself in 5.1 surround, and nothing else. So, those issues need to be taken care of before I can be satisfied with this. But it did work, so this option is worth keeping on the table.