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Lightsaber FX in Premiere and Ulead, also in Photoshop for Stills

Lightsaber Effect Rotoscoping In A Premiere Filmstrip

1. Making the Sabers First, make one or more fake lightsabers. This consists of some kind of handle with a strong rod coming off of it for the beam. I used the plastic tube from the center of a roll of CalComp plotter paper. Then I wrapped blue and black electrical tape around one end to simulate the handle. (I left the blue end-cap on the taped end, to give it a little extra length.) The result kind of looks like a lightsaber already since the tube is white, but this is irrelevant since no one's going to be seeing the rod anyway.
For a really authentic look, figure out some way to affix a strong dowel rod (or PCV pipe) in the central brass tube. That way, you can have some scenes where the lightsaber has no beam (clipped to an actor's belt), and other scenes where it does (brandished and ready for action).
Or, you can buy one from various sites. I found the best bargains (and very high-quality sabers) at ParkSabers. A 0.75 inch dowel can be securely installed in these sabers, by backing out a few screws from the central tube, inserting the dowel, and driving the screws back in through the dowel. The screws aren't wood screws, but they drive easily into a wooden dowel with just an allen wrench.
The rod should extend about 30 inches beyond the end of the handle, and should be somewhere between 0.5 and 0.75 inches in diameter.
I recommend that you paint alternating bands of paint up the dowel, making it look something like a marquee selector. Plus a different color at the tip. This is so when the beam is moving fast and blurring badly, you can still see clearly what area it traverses. It also helps to ensure that no matter what color the local background (black, white, or whatever), you'll be able to see the rod. (Naturally, these goofy-looking bands won't be visible anywhere in your finished film.)
Use different coloration on each saber to make them easily differentiable in closeup shots where the fighters have crossed beams and are glaring/sneering at each other. Otherwise it will be difficult to tell whose beam is whose.

2. Film the actors. Don't try to frame everything neatly in the shot. If the saber goes out of view partially, so what? It happened in the Star Wars movies all the time. Trying to get everything neatly in the shot just draws attention to the fact that it isn't real.

3. Capture To Filmstrip File Next I used Adobe Premiere to capture the clip, and then rendered it as a "filmstrip" file. The clip was only 8 seconds long, but the filmstrip file was huge (around 74 megs). I chose 320x240, 30fps. Lower frame rates don't look so good for a lightsaber effect. If this was a full-blown lightsaber fight, I would have broken it up into little pieces of about 5 to 10 seconds each before saving each one as a filmstrip.

4. Rotoscoping "Rotoscoping" is just a fancy term for doctoring something frame-by-frame. These instructions look complicated, but once you try it you'll find it's really pretty easy.

4a. Make a copy of the filmstrip file, name it "White Beams", and open it in Photoshop. I own Photoshop LE 4.0 which came with my Premiere. There are some serious limitations in Photoshop LE, but it will still work for this project. Make sure Photoshop is at 100% magnification (or more).

4b. Darken the image somewhat: Select Image->Adjust->Levels and change the upper output level from 255 to 191. This will make it easier to see where you've drawn the beam.

4b. Important: Make a new layer by selecting New->Layer from the Layer menu. This layer will default to 100% opacity, draw mode, and visible, but you'll still be able to see through it because it has nothing in it yet. Do not forget to make this layer, otherwise you may do a lot of rotoscoping before you realize that you've been drawing in the filmstrip layer...ouch.

4c. (the actual rotoscoping) This is the only step you have to do for every frame in the filmstrip. (The aura stuff is done on all frames simultaneously.) Make sure the foreground color is pure white (255,255,255) and then draw a line over the rod in every frame using the line tool. Choose a line width that is slightly larger than the thickness of the rod when it is still. Use this same line width in every frame. If the beam is fanned (moving), then use multiple lines to cover it up solidly. Do not try to make it blur or fade when moving--that's just too much trouble and it won't look authentic if you do. It may be necessary to select the frame using the marquee selector tool before drawing, so as to ensure that you don't go outside the frame since the beam will often go out-of-frame. If only part of the beam is visible (such as when it's partially behind a person), then only paint white over the part that is visible (use the paintbrush when necessary). However, if the beam is behind the beam of another saber, draw over it anyway, even though the beam you're painting now is behind the other one. IMPORTANT: If there is more than one beam in the shot, do only one beam right now, then go back later (as mentioned in step 6) and do the other one. Do not do both at once! This is necessary to ensure that the beams can be different colors, but even if they are the same color you should still do just one to ensure that the auras are properly shaped.
The marquee is being used to avoid drawing outside the frame. Three lines have been drawn to form the shape of the fanning beam, but the interior has yet to be filled in.
In frames where the beam is still, you may want to use the paintbrush tool to give the end of the beam a slightly rounded appearance, but be careful not to make it any wider than the beam itself.
Thanks to the layering of Photoshop, if you botch a frame up, you can just erase the white paint with the eraser and the filmstrip layer shows through.

5. Generating The Auras Although a lightsaber beam is always white, it has a soft, colored, transparent aura around it which suggests the color of the beam.

5a. Select the "background" (filmstrip) layer from the layers window, then choose Levels and this time knock the top output level all the way down to zero. This will make the filmstrip turn black and just the white beams show. Not too impressive, eh? Well, we're not done yet.

5b. Select Layer->Flatten Image, and then save the file (already named "White Beams").

5c. Save the image again, but this time with the name "Colored Auras".

5d. Select Filter->Blur->Gaussian Blur, and do a blur with a radius about equal to your line width. Since my line width was 5, I will do a Gaussian blur of 5.0 pixels.

5e. Open the Levels window again, and this time reduce the upper input level to a really small number like 10. The auras will flare to a larger size.

5f. Do a Gaussian blur again, but this time twice as much. Since I blurred 5.0 in step

5d, I will now do a Gaussian blur of 10.0.

5g. Go back to the Levels window, and select "Red" from the Channel menu. Then change the upper output level to zero. Switch the Channel to "Green" and then change the upper output level to 127. The auras are now a nice, soft blue. If you wanted a red saber, you would leave the red channel alone, but knock out the green and blue channels completely.

5h. Save the image (already named "Colored Auras").

5i. Open the "White Beams" file, Select All, Copy, close the file, then Paste into the auras image you just made. This will create a new layer. From the layers window, double-click this layer and set its mode to "Screen". The white beams and blue auras are now composited together.
(NOTE: Photoshop LE 4.0 which comes with Premiere does not allow you to set the mode of a layer! Argggh. But luckily, there is a way to get around it, using the "fake screen". It works like this: (a) Set the opacity slider of the top layer to 50%, (b) flatten the image, (c) in the Levels window change the upper input level to 127. Presto! About the same results as the real "Screen".)
(Optional: Before compositing these two layers, you may want to apply a small amount of blur to the top layer--the white beam layer--to soften up the edges of the white beam. This is an especially good idea for extreme closeups of actors faces which also include the beam nearby.)

5j. Flatten the image, if you haven't already from the previous step.

5k. Make sure the background color is set to black (0,0,0), and then use the marquee tool and "delete" key to destroy any aura fringes that might inappropriately invade adjacent frames.

5l. Save the image as "Beams Ready".

6. Compositing The Final Results Now, simply composite the "Beams Ready" file onto the original filmstrip file, using the "Screen" method described in step 5i. Then flatten the image and save it with a new name. You can now open it in Premiere and use it in your movie.
Optional: If your scene contains a lot of really bright areas (like bright sky), especially areas that might be pure white and would make a saber beam turn invisible, then before compositing any saber beams onto the original filmstrip, darken it slightly by reducing the upper output level from 255 to 223.) Not quite as good-looking without the all-black background, but that's life. Your audience won't know the difference.

Multiple Sabers: If you have multiple sabers visible in this particular clip, then now is the time to go back to step 4 and do it all again for the other beam. But when you get to step 6, composite your new "Beams Ready" into the results of the first step-6 composite, not into the original untouched filmstrip. Note: When two saber beams cross, their white centers merge and there is no visual cue as to which one is in front. This is normal--view any of the Star Wars movies and you'll see that's how it's supposed to look.

Touch-ups: Before you use your final result filmstrip in Premiere, you'll probably want to use Photoshop to touch it up with a few flashy effects. For example, whenever two beams strike each other, there should be a very bright white/yellow flare at the point of contact. This flare should subside over the next 1 or 2 frames.
When you show a close up of the actor holding his saber at the ready, with just the lowest part of the beam showing, add a little bright spot at the base of the beam, using radial gradients.

Making your saber extend/rectract: I haven't done this, but for any scene where the saber simply extends or retracts, I would just have no rod present, and draw it in as if there was one. Use some reference point in the picture to make sure you're aiming each piece in the same direction. Faster extension looks cooler and is easier to fake convincingly. If you want to have an actor extend his beam and immediately go into a fight without cutting to a different view, then consider airbrushing out the part of the rod that doesn't belong during the beam-extension frames.

Making your saber slice through things: I would use a short rod--say about 9 inches past the handle--and have the actor swing it just past the other actor. Then when you rotoscope it, simply draw the beam at it's full length, using the short rod as a guide.

Sound Effects A silent lightsaber is just no fun. Get some sound samples and incorporate them into the Audio track. I found some of the original 1977 "Star Wars" sounds on somebody's website. They worked fine.

Creating Lightsabers in Ulead
by Clay Kronke of "The New World: Final Training"

This is for the Video Paint section of Ulead MediaStudio Pro (v. 5 or later). There are probably other ways to do lightsaber effects with this software, but this is the way I do it. Being the artist that I am, this is the method I prefer, but if you know of a better (or easier) way, by all means go for it (in other words, play around with the software - I'm not aware of its full capabilities).

This is just a general procedure for a lightsaber blade. I usually tweak mine a little more with more subtle layers, but this'll get you started (and when I say layers, I'm referring simply to layers of paint, not any kind of application setting - people who are used to Photoshop use an entirely different type of layer). You may already be familiar with the program (as in where all the tools and such are), but I'm going to assume you aren't, that way I don't leave out anything you might need. But first let me tell you that this method involves hand painting everything (no masks or object layers or such). In some instances (like when the blade is still), it's quicker than the Photoshop method, but for more complex frames, like with a motion blur or such, there may be a bit more work involved.

Open your clip up in Video Paint (File - Open - Video File, or the folder icon with the filmstrip in it). Pick the frame you want, maximize the window, then zoom in until the blade is large enough to see well (drawing itty bitty lightsabers is a pain in the ass).

Start with the white core of the blade. Use your brush tool (the default brush is what you want - no airbrushes or markers or anything like that), and open up the Brush Panel options box (the icon up top that looks like a folder with a paintbrush across it). On the first page is the size, shape and feather settings, and the second page has the apply method, brush type (freehand, line, etc) and transparency settings. I never use any of the stuff on the other two pages.

Make the brush really thin, and feather it about 45 - 50 (play around with the size, as it's dependent on the size of the image). Use the "Always" apply method (this is opaque), and use the straightline brush. Then just paint the blade where it needs to be. If it needs to be thicker (as in a motion blur or something)then just draw the shape you need and overlay more lines until you get it the right thickness and shape.

If you're making the blade longer than the saber you're using for reference (such as the Hasbro toys, like I used) then use the Onionskin mode, as this will allow you to see the paint layer of the previous couple of frames while you're working, so you can keep the blade length consistent. (there's an icon for it up top, or you can go to View - Display Mode - Onionskin)

Once you get the core painted (I usually do all the white first, that way I don't have to keep switching colors and apply methods), then you need to do the glow. I don't know of any glow effect, so I just paint the glow myself, that way I don't have to mess with masks or any of that other stuff.

Make your brush about three times as big as you did for the white, feather it about 70 - 75, and use the "Addition" or "Inverse of Multiple" apply methods (Addition will brighten the background color with the chosen color. This is best because it reacts like actual light would - in that when you have the blade over a really light area, if the glow is red, then it won't be darker than the background. Only problem is when the background is totally light, like an outdoor scene or in a white room, the color of the blade tends to disappear into a whitish color. Inverse of Multiple is similar to Addition, but it doesn't strictly add to the background, it changes it into the chosen color. It still won't make the glow any darker than the background, but it works a little better than Addition for really light backgrounds. Play around with both until you get something you like). When you get a good size, paint over the white blade with the color. You should get a semi decent glow (play around with the transparency depending on the color - you don't want it too bright). This is where I just start. I then go back, increase the size by twice, up the transparency about 10 or 15, then paint another layer. I do at least two layers of glow, as this feathers it out more, and makes a smoother transition from glow to background.

And if you're painting around a large shape, like in a motion blur, if it's small, one line ought to work. If it's a big triangle shape, then just draw around the edges. This usually works for me.

And once you get all the blades painted, you then need to do the contact flash. This is the only part where I wish I had Photoshop's plugins (namely, the lens flare). You can probably get by with a video filter, just brightening the frame a lot, but I prefer to paint mine freehand. Switch from line to freehand, make the size as big as it will go, feather it 75 and make the transparency about 65-75. Use the Addition apply method. I usually use the same color as I did for the red blade, as it brightens everything to a nice yellow, making it look more like light (I used white once, but that looked really fake). Then just start painting a blob around where the two blades come into contact. The more you paint, the brighter it will get, so make it really heavy around the blades, and progressively lighter towards the edges of the frame. Then do it again on the next frame, only half as much. Then do it again on the next frame, only do it really subtle so you almost can't see it.

Because you'll be working with so many separate elements (namely, all the frames), a good thing to do is to maximize your undo history. Go into File - Preferences, then under General, click "Enable Undo", and set the levels of undo/redo to 99. This will take up a little more of your memory, but it's worth it, as it allows you to go back and undo a lot if you find a mistake or an inconsistency without having to start over from your last saved project.

Creating Lightsaber Blades in Adobe Photoshop 5.5
by Michael Hobson

Here we will go step-by-step through my method of creating lightsaber blades on existing photos using Adobe Photoshop Version 5.5. I'm not very familiar with the other versions of Photoshop, so the technique here may not work in whatever version you have. If you're using 5.5, however, this is just what you need. Chances are a lot of you know Photoshop quite well, but I've written this so just about anybody can pick up a mouse and do it.

Now, the first step we want to do is add a new layer. Go to the Layer menu, select New, Layer. Choose a name (Layer-1 works fine). The picture will remain unchanged.

What we've done here is basically create a transparent sheet over the top of the picture. This layer is where we will be doing all of the saber work. You'll see why later.

Now what we want to do is draw the blade itself, the white "core" of the saber. Very simple, just use Photoshop's Line tool. The blade in this picture is 10 pixels wide, but this will vary from picture to picture, as well as personal preference.

In my pictures, I've chosen not to use a plain white core, but rather a very pale blue color, to try to get the point across that the blade is blue, and it's glowing very brightly. When drawing the blade, the idea is simply to cover up the old plastic blade. I start at the hilt end, and draw up until the line will come just shy of the tip.

The next step will be to finish the blade off. As you can see above, it looks kinda� well, fake and drawn in. Use the Zoom tool to zoom in an insane level to the tip of the blade. Use the Paintbrush tool to add the rounded end of the blade. The Paintbrush tool should be drawing only one pixel wide.

You can also use the Zoom and Paintbrush tools to patch up the end of the blade coming out of the hilt, if necessary.

Now comes the part that makes the blade look it's best. The Glow. Every lightsaber needs one, right? This is perhaps the simplest part of the process. We've been using the layer to draw on, and here's why. Go to the Layer menu, down to Effects, and select "Outer Glow". A small dialog box will pop up with the glow options. Set the color to a shade of blue (personal preference here), Opacity to 100%, Blur to roughly 20-25 pixels, and Intensity to about half (roughly 250 or so). The Blur and Intensity can be adjusted to your personal preference. You'll be able to see the changes happening to the picture behind the dialog box. Basically just play with it until the blade looks the way you want it. Click OK and you're done! Picture-perfect glow effect.

And if you like, you can add a small lens flare (105mm, 50% brightness) to the base of the blade, where it exits the hilt. This just looks cool, and I like to throw it in there for no other reason than that.