The Okonokos Project Visual Companion

[luke.c99]

Hi all! Happy Friday! I'm super excited to announce a project I've been working on since August - the Okonokos Project Visual Companion   

My Morning Jacket
November 11th & 12th, 2005
The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA

A Running Joke Production

Folder Size: 8.6 GB

Artwork included. Made by yours truly via Photoshop.

Inspired by MMJ forum member Croweyes1121's original "Okonokos Project," which was a complete re-edit of the multiple audio releases of Okonokos & Acoustic Chorale combined into a cohesive concert experience, I decided to do the same thing with the DVD versions of Okonokos and the Acoustic Chorale myself. I ripped my own personal copy of the Okonokos DVD to my computer and used the image file of Acoustic Chorale that MMJ forum moderator JohnnYYac so selflessly shared on the forum. I also used the MP3 files of Croweyes' original Okonokos Project as buffers for extra crowd noise whenever it was needed.

Sources:
-Okonokos DVD ripped to my laptop as an MP4 file. 720x404p. 512kbps/48kHz stereo audio.
-Acoustic Chorale image file via JohnnYYac. 710x480p. 476kbps/48kHz stereo audio.
-The Okonokos Project MP3 files. Brief seconds used sparingly to fill in audience edits.

Completed Project:
Edited entirely on Vegas Pro 17.0. Exported as 1280x720p MP4 file. (Yes, I upsampled. I couldn't get the audio options I wanted with lower resolution options.) 509kbps/48kHz stereo audio.

Total running time: 2:25:46

I'll give the details about my editing below. Here's the setlist.

Setlist:
0     Intro (The Party)
1     Wordless Chorus (N2)
2     It Beats 4 U (N1)
3     One Big Holiday (N1)
4     I Will Sing You Songs (N2)
5     Lowdown (N2)
6     The Way That He Sings (N1)
7     Golden (N1)
8     Sooner (N1)
9     Xmas Curtain (N1)
10    What A Wonderful Man (N1)
11    Gideon (N2)
12    Bermuda Highway (N2)
13    Where to Begin (N1)
14    Lay Low (N1 -> N2)
15    Off the Record (N2)
16    O is the One That Is Real (N2)
17    I Think I'm Going to Hell (N2)
18    Dondante (N2)
19    Steam Engine (N2)
20    Run Thru (N2)
   ENCORE
21    At Dawn (N2)
22    Strangulation (N2)
23    Anytime (N1)
24    Mahgeetah (N1)
25    The Attack
26    Outro (Cobra Edit)


It is free to share and download for your viewing pleasure. This was a passion project of mine and I'm thrilled to share the final results with you guys on this wonderful forum. Please go support the band, buy their merch, buy concert tickets when they're back on the road. Both the original Okonokos DVD and Acoustic Chorale DVD are long out of print and therefore hard to come by, so I'm hoping this fan edit can be shared freely by a fan, for fans. Details below. Enjoy!!

https://mega.nz/folder/jIpXDS6Z#Ae4khjvWtD1KYKtkwDAZ7w

[luke.c99]

Here's some specifics on the details of my editing process. This is all copy and pasted from the Info.txt file included in the folder in the MEGA link above.

I wanted to follow the Okonokos Project setlist to the best of my abilities, but after breaking up all the songs and watching what's happening on screen, I had to make a few deviations to make it flow better. To explain his logic, Croweyes wrote "To this end, order priority has been afforded to night one for songs shared by both performances. Songs unique to one performance or the other were added where they were performed in relation to the shared tracks."

Due to his project being solely audio, he could cut and paste to arrange as he liked, but with a visual companion, I had a bit more of a process to follow based on which night we're watching on screen. I learned that most of the songs were edited in pairs, so it would alternate between N1 and N2 every two, three, four or so songs. Because of this, the songs that visually flowed from one to the next (that is, you can cohesively watch the entire gap between songs and see guitar swaps and pauses) got priority over aligning the setlist to N1 or N2. What the final result is, then, is a hybrid setlist that flows between nights. So, for example, Off the Record -> O Is the One -> I Think I'm Going to Hell are all from Night 2 and flow one after the other, so that was made priority. Another example arises with Lay Low. The first half of the song (before the dream sequence) we're watching Night 1, which immediately follows Where to Begin. We can watch them transition from WTB into LL. So that was kept that way. After the dream sequence cuts back to the band, though, we're watching N2, which should go straight into Dondante, which is also from N2. If I kept that sequence, though, we'd have nowhere to put Off the Record -> O -> Hell, so I had to split up the Lay Low -> Dondante to put in those three songs. This creates a setlist neither night necessarily had, but the show still flows beautifully.

A few more notable edits involve Bermuda Highway and what encore I should chose. Night 1's encore was as follows:
Into the Woods
I Think I'm Going to Hell
Picture of You
Anytime
Mahgeetah

While Night 2's was:
Bermuda Highway
At Dawn
Strangulation!
Mahgeetah
Anytime

The only part of Night 1's encore we ever get to hear/see is the Anytime -> Mahgeetah closer. Acoustic Chorale gave us Night 2's Bermuda Highway -> At Dawn -> Strangulation! trio. But, because of editing limitations, I had to make due with what footage I had to make something that looked natural. There's no footage of just Jim walking out to start the encore of N2 with Bermuda Highway, so I had to use the footage Okonokos gave us of the entire band walking back out to start the encore with At Dawn. Bermuda Highway was placed in its relative location in the setlist of Night 1, following Gideon and preceeding Where to Begin (we have no version of Hopefully, which followed Bermuda N1). So, for our encore, what we're watching is At Dawn and Strangulation! from N2 followed by the Anytime -> Mahgeetah closer from N1. Croweyes places I Think I'm Going to Hell in the encore on his audio version, following N1's structure, but as noted above, we're watching N2, so it's placed in realtive position to other songs from the same night.

As a side note, you can identify which night you're watching by seeing what outfit Bo is wearing. The first night, the 11th, Bo is wearing a blazer with a white t-shirt and hoodie underneath it. The second night, the 12th, Bo has the blazer and t-shirt on, no hoodie. They do switch back and forth between nights for camera shots (see Wonderful Man - opening piano part Bo has no hoodie, next wide shot of the band, Bo's got a hoodie), but I estimated what night we're watching/hearing as a whole based on my eyes and ears.

It's quite fascinating glueing Acoustic Chorale back into the Okonokos setlist, because you can see some shots that pick up right where Okonokos drops off. For instance, the tail end of Where to Begin seamlessly slides right into the beginning of Lay Low, which proves they're both from Night 1. O Is the One that is Real also seamlessly glides right into I Think I'm Going To Hell. It was very satisfying putting these songs where they should go.

We have no footage of How Do You Know? and Dancefloors, so those songs have been omitted from this project. N1 or N2 in the setlist I have written above indicates which night I've determined we're watching.

Enjoy guys!

Luke

[ChiefOKONO]

wow... amazing project and what dedication!  Thank you and can't wait to check it out.

How long did it take to do?

[luke.c99]

wow... amazing project and what dedication!  Thank you and can't wait to check it out.

How long did it take to do?

Thank you! I hope you enjoy it, it was a labor of love.

I started this last summer during my downtime between work and exercising. Ripping the DVD, downloading the image file, and uploading the MP3s to Vegas Pro took a little while. In August I started with the editing and reorganizing the performance. School started back up (I'm a senior in college) and this took a back seat until I had more free time over Christmas break. I finally finished the editing up a week or two into January. A few hours of photoshop editing for the artwork and writing up the Info file and here we are. On and off, it took about 6 months, but August, December, and half of January was spent working diligently on this.

[ChiefOKONO]

man that is impressive.  Sometimes I wonder if i can do a huge project like that.

[MPP]

Been meaning to post this for a while, Luke.c99.  This is awesome, thanks so much for posting your excellent work.

I have a copy of the Okonokos DVD, picked up used from Amoeba Records in Hollywood a few years back.  They almost always seem to have one in the bins when I go. Which would be roughly every month if I still lived in CA, love that store and the SF Haight location. 

However, could never locate the Acoustic Chorale DVD, the white whale of MMJ recordings apparently.  I already had Croweyes fantastic mp3 audio project download, where I first heard the Chorale tracks, but the visuals you put together seal the deal. 

Just wish someone would find that Dancefloors video performance from a cutting floor somewhere.  One of my top five songs off Okonokos!  I play it for friends new to the band, think it's an amazing performance.

I second ChiefOKONO, really impressive.  And much appreciated!

[luke.c99]

Been meaning to post this for a while, Luke.c99.  This is awesome, thanks so much for posting your excellent work.

I have a copy of the Okonokos DVD, picked up used from Amoeba Records in Hollywood a few years back.  They almost always seem to have one in the bins when I go. Which would be roughly every month if I still lived in CA, love that store and the SF Haight location. 

However, could never locate the Acoustic Chorale DVD, the white whale of MMJ recordings apparently.  I already had Croweyes fantastic mp3 audio project download, where I first heard the Chorale tracks, but the visuals you put together seal the deal. 

Just wish someone would find that Dancefloors video performance from a cutting floor somewhere.  One of my top five songs off Okonokos!  I play it for friends new to the band, think it's an amazing performance.

I second ChiefOKONO, really impressive.  And much appreciated!

Thank you, bro! I appreciate the kind words and I completely agree about that version of Dancefloors, they're absolutely on fire for that track.

This concert would benefit SO MUCH from a proper BluRay release. The 15 year old 480p DVD resolution just doesn't cut it anymore. Imagine a deluxe version of both nights in whole? I would lose my mind.

[ChiefOKONO]

that would be sick!

I could see them maybe releasing it as a download but probably doesn't make sense financially to re-release an old show on disc, bummer!

[luke.c99]

that would be sick!

I could see them maybe releasing it as a download but probably doesn't make sense financially to re-release an old show on disc, bummer!

Perhaps a 20th anniversary release would make sense... but then again they also said they had a second official live album in the pipes that never saw the light of day... so who knows!

[ChiefOKONO]

who knows is right!  I don't really understand why they didn't release the official live album during this pandemic shutdown?

Maybe the performances weren't as good as they originally thought?  Don't get me wrong, I am elated that Waterfall II came out but it seems like so many groups have dug into the vaults lately and put out a bunch of stuff....

Anyway - To me they might as well release the downloads for us fans who would appreciate it.  They wouldn't have to do all of the work that a physical release would entail as well.  IMHO that would = a win win for all!