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RotoScoping: Lightsaber Effect (fun fun fun)


DarkAgent

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Hi All,

 

Thought you might like to check out something cool. A while ago I was doing a search on the net and stumbled accross this website that shows you how to create the "Lightsaber" effect from the StarWars films.

 

http://freeweb.pdq.net/smokin/rotoscope/

 

You can alter still images (ie jpeg, bmp, etc) or make your own videos (mpeg, avi, etc).

 

I tried it out on the "Gladiator" movie poster (gave Russel Crowe a lightsaber :) )

 

Gladiator (as is could have been :D )

 

gladiator_blue.jpg

 

(CorelDraw PhotoPaint 10 - Blue Saber)

 

gladiator_green.jpg

 

(Adobe Photoshop 5.0 - Green Saber)

 

The effect looks totally genuine! All you need is Photoshop (and Premier if you want to make a video - Corel PhotoPaint also works well).

 

Give it a try and post some pics here. Have fun!

 

DA :slsaber:

 

Update:

 

I can't seem to link my images to this forum. They are viewable at the following address:

 

ca.geocities.com/stellarorange

 

DA :D

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Yeah, that's pretty much the standard technique for creating lightsabre effects (can be used for lasers, as well) - in fact, it's basically what they do at ILM. Take the footage of guys fighting with sticks and overlay the effects frame by frame.

 

I did this pic quite a while back.

 

jedi_purge.jpg

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BTW, in regards to green being brighter, do you mean the white "core" of the blade appears more intense, or the colored glow appears brighter? I haven't really noticed that, and I can't tell that any of the colors in my picture are brighter or darker than one another.

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I think maybe the shade of green they use in the films actually is brighter than the blue, although I haven't seen ROTJ or Episode I in a while. I can't think of any other reason why one would appear brighter or darker. Any primary color can be bright or dark. Like I said, in my pic none of the sabre blades seems brighter than the other to me.

 

I do know in ROTJ they made Luke's new lightsabre green because they needed a color that would stand out well against the blue sky during the Sail Barge sequence. Lots of people like to speculate that green represents good and red represents evil (and perhaps there is a grain of truth in the red thing as all the Sith in the movies have had red lightsabres), but the most important reason for Lucas choosing to make Luke's lightsabre green was simply that he had to have a color that stood out.

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Highlander (as it could have been :D )

 

highlanders.jpg

 

This is the pic that convinced me that the green blade was brighter. To create I used equal lighting levels for each color. Is it just my imagination or does that green look brighter?

 

Maybe its just me ;)

 

DA

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Ok...

 

I have no idea how to properly link my images to this forum so I'll post the URL instead. All my rotoscoping attempts are viewable at the following address:

 

http://ca.geocities.com/stellarorange

 

Enjoy

 

PS could someone post instructions on how to link the images inside a message? I tried it using the "IMG" button but had no luck with it.

 

thx

 

DA ;)

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