SPECIAL FX TUTORIALS

TUTORIAL 1 : Creating Lightsabers with Adobe After Effects 3.0

• 1. Part A : Animating Lightsaber ignition
  2. Part B : Rendering one Lightsaber in a shot
  3. Part C : Rendering two different Lightsabers in a shot
  4. Part D : Rendering the light flare when the Lightsabers connect

• One of the most rewarding parts of a making a Star Wars movie is creating a convincing lightsaber on screen. After much toiling and experimentation with such programs as Media Studio Pro Video Paint 6.0, Autodesk Animator, and the cumbersome Adobe Photoshop, I found that Adobe After Effects produces the most believable and most efficient results. I did almost all the lightsaber in THE CURSE OF DARTH MAUL in Adobe After Effects 3.1. The others I created in Adobe Photoshop 5.0 and you can see the difference. Here is a comparative chart of Photoshop and After Effects.

• I hope that it does not take much argument to convince you to use Adobe After Effects for your movie. Now chose a tutorial above that will help you complete your movie. Good Luck!