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Stella at 20: DVD Release Petition


jaybird3rd

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It's nowhere close to the finish line. Not sure where you heard that.

 

It's like any homebrew project. It gets worked on when or if time, interest and money allow. There's no potential profit to be made from it, and so any motivation has to come from within. It's strictly a volunteer project. At the moment I'm without editing software, since my old version of Final Cut Pro will not work on my current Mac, and I'm not inclined to pay for a new version right now (and given the current state of FCP, I'd just as likely switch to Avid Media Composer anyway).

 

A couple of people had expressed interest in taking on the project, but that never materialized, and since the project belongs to Glenn, any such change would have to be done with his permission. It's not up to me to simply pass it along to someone else.

 

That said, if Boulder Dash can see the light of day, then Stella at 20 certainly could. It's not dead - just hibernating.

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I understand it's a heck of a lot of work to go through the original footage and find the bits that were used in the final cut. And that using any additional footage to add more value would be even more labor-intensive. Especially when there's 14 hours (!) of footage to go through. I haven't seen Stella at 20 so I don't know what the final product looks like. Are there a lot of post-production titles/graphics/color-correction/etc. that need to be considered as well? Would it help to crowd-source this project? Maybe someone can work on titles, another can go through the footage and delete the unusable stuff (bloopers, etc.), another can bookmark the footage (finding the used portions in the final and noting the file and time/duration of the source), another can take those bookmarks, extract the footage, and line it up in the timeline, etc.

 

I'd like to offer up my abilities but I'd need to know a little more about the scope of the project and where it stands.

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It's nowhere close to the finish line. Not sure where you heard that.

 

It's like any homebrew project. It gets worked on when or if time, interest and money allow. There's no potential profit to be made from it, and so any motivation has to come from within. It's strictly a volunteer project. At the moment I'm without editing software, since my old version of Final Cut Pro will not work on my current Mac, and I'm not inclined to pay for a new version right now (and given the current state of FCP, I'd just as likely switch to Avid Media Composer anyway).

 

A couple of people had expressed interest in taking on the project, but that never materialized, and since the project belongs to Glenn, any such change would have to be done with his permission. It's not up to me to simply pass it along to someone else.

 

That said, if Boulder Dash can see the light of day, then Stella at 20 certainly could. It's not dead - just hibernating.

 

What version of FCP do you need?

 

-B

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What version of FCP do you need?

 

It would have to be FCP X, since 7 is no longer available (and is effectively a dead product as far as Apple is concerned). But I have no familiarity with the new version yet, and am not willing to pay Apple for the privilege since by all accounts it's unfinished software. At some point we may adopt it at work, but we may also go to MC6 instead. We're in the process of making that determination since the cost is a wash. Either way though, our licenses don't extend to home use.

Edited by Nathan Strum
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I understand it's a heck of a lot of work to go through the original footage and find the bits that were used in the final cut. And that using any additional footage to add more value would be even more labor-intensive. Especially when there's 14 hours (!) of footage to go through.

 

That's really the trick here. The plan isn't to merely re-create the VHS version, but expand it. There's a lot of really good unused footage that needs to be worked in. So effectively, the whole thing will need to be re-edited from scratch. The footage was never logged very thoroughly, so it needs to be gone through in depth to find out what all is really there, and then put it into usable clips that can be worked with.

 

Post-wise, there's not much to do. A few titles and graphics here and there, but that's the easy (and fun) part.

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How about releasing 2 versions? One could be a basic version that is transferred from VCR to DVD and be sold for $20. The second one could be titled deluxe or collector's edition that could include a photo gallery, behind the scenes of the creation of the DVD, Easter Eggs, etc. it could come on 2 DVDs or perhaps on Blu-Ray for about $50. Just a suggestion.

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Glenn doesn't want it transferred from VHS - the quality would be unacceptable. We could do a DVD re-issue of one of the volumes since we still have the master tape for that, but the other would have to be reconstructed from the source material. The other master tape was lost by the company that did the original VHS run.

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Perhaps it could be uploaded to Youtube? Part one is already up there and it would be a nice 'preview' of the potential DVD release.

 

I tried contacting Glenn himself to plead but I haven't been able to make any in-roads... :)

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  • 6 months later...
  • 5 months later...
  • 3 years later...

Sorry for digging up old threads, but I just looked at my dusty old Stella at 20 VHS tapes sitting on the shelf and was reminded of this. I wonder if a Kickstarter campaign for this would help? Maybe there could be enough cash raised to let Nathan take the time needed to do this and be compensated for the time involved? I don't recall Kickstarter really being a thing when this was first brought up eleven years ago. Just a thought!!

 

Later

Buck

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What about cleaning it up and putting it up for purchase on GOG.com? I got Once Upon Atari there. Then people can burn them to DVD themselves if so they desire. I think this project needs to be pushed forward some way. I have Avid, Final Cut etc... as well as Pro Tools for audio editing if you're looking for someone to help with that stuff. I think this film should be out there for the community to enjoy in some fashion.

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I've been approached a few different times with the idea of putting in on VCD or dumping directly from VHS to DVD and I've always resisted.

 

I feel that if it's going to go on DVD then it should be re-edited and something new added to it.

 

I mean, in a couple years it will have been 10 years since I shot the original footage.

 

From a business standpoint it's a waste of time for me to put this on DVD. I didn't even sell out the original VHS tapes. The amount of work it would take for me to put it on DVD would not be worth it. I'd probably sell a dozen DVDs if that.

 

I originally shot the footage with the intention of getting it on PBS or cable TV. But that fell through.

 

I also tried to license it for use in commercial emulation but it never happened.

 

I think something like this is best discovered when channel surfing. It's not something people go out of their way to see. If you want to hear these stories, you can now go to a CG Expo and ask most of these people first-hand.

 

So while the "event" aspect of the birthday cake et. al. at Nolan's place was special, the actual content of what they were talking about isn't that exclusive anymore.

 

I've flirted with the idea of refreshing Stella at 20 by bookending it with interviews of homebrew programmers, to show the legacy. But again, I don't know who would be interested. The homebrew authors are all accessible online so you don't have to buy a DVD to hear what they have to say.

 

 

 

I think I'll put this on Google Video eventually, since then Google handles the streaming.

You make valid points. I think book ending it is a good idea. Possible bundle it with HSW production or something else would add more of a value proposition. As is, I think the audience is limited to the hardcore fanatics. I hate to see this work fade away and/or be relegated to digital as video games are today. Collectors like physical media :-)

 

Just my 2 cents..

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Wow, look at that ... a thread that I started almost eleven years ago!

 

For whatever it's worth, I'm still a big admirer of "Stella at 20", I still have my VHS tapes, and I would still love to see it released on DVD. Of course, in the years since this thread was created, digital distribution has become more popular than physical media, but somehow a physical release seems most appropriate for a documentary about a cartridge-based system. Of course, by now, it's looking more like it will have to be re-titled "Stella at 40"!

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I haven't really thought about kickstarter...

 

It's a curious thought.

 

I was thinking that it would be better to just dump the entire contents of the raw tapes on archive.org and not bother attempting to reedit it. I've already given my permission for Nathan to do that long ago. It's simply a matter of him actually following through.

 

Of course, push comes to shove I could ask him to send the tapes back to me and do it myself. I don't feel the material is that indispensable anymore. The actual information has come out in many ways since, like convention appearances, other books, documentaries, etc... What's more valuable is the human-interest of seeing the reunion at Nolan's house, and the time-capule effect of it capturing the dot com boom era of the late 90s. In that respect, the more time that goes by, the more it kind of ages like fine wine into nostalgia of nostalgia.

 

Anyway, the final VHS cuts are floating around on youtube, VHS noise artefacts and all, whether I like it or not.

 

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I haven't really thought about kickstarter...

 

It's a curious thought.

 

 

I like Kickstarter. If the dollar value you choose for your time and effort is not met, the project isn't funded and you don't have to the work. Nobody is out any cash. No harm, no foul. And it would be sort of be up to the community to make this happen. Kind of like, "Hey, you said you wanted this. Here's what its going to take." It would be up to us as a community to spread the word to make this happen. If it doesn't get funded, you can legitimately say the community as a whole did not want it. Again, No harm, no foul. As others have stated, I prefer physical media whenever possible. I would love to see this happen. Thanks for at least checking out the responses here, Glenn. :-)

 

Later

Buck

 

 

Edit:

 

To get you excited for this, please view this press release!

 

http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/archives/199908/msg00099.html

 

and the CyberpUNKS homepage! (thanks wayback machine.... ;-)

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20011021163858/http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/1698/cyberpunks/

Edited by Buck
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