Creating the Lightsaber effect for free on still and moving pictures

• GIMP - It comes in Windows, Macintosh, or Linux versions. I am using the Windows version.
• GAP (GIMP Animation Package) - You can find the download link on the bottom of the page.
• blade-roto plug-in for GIMP - This page also has a small tutorial of how to create the "blade" in still pictures.
• VirtualDub
• TMPGEnc

• Something to simulate the Lightsaber handle. You can build one, use a toy, or even just an old pipe laying around.
• Something to simulate the Lightsaber blade. This is a little more tricky. The item must attach to the handle in some way, and must be no longer than 3 feet (or 1 meter). It also needs to be about 3/4 of an inch wide. The thing most people use are wooden dowels, which you can pick up at most hardware stores for less than $1.
  Of course, if you feel confident in your ability to draw the "blade" without a point of reference, then you will not need something to simulate it.

1. Open the picture with GIMP (File/Open)
2. Select the "Create and edit paths" tool (it's the one on the top left side, or you can go Tools/Paths).
3. Create a "path" around the "blade" of the Lightsaber prop by placing "anchors" around the blade. You can zoom in or out, depending on how detailed you want the path to be.
4. Select the "path" you created (Select/ From Path). The "path" you made should now look like "moving ants".
5. Select Script-Fu/ Lightsabre/ Blade-Rotscope. This will bring up the Script-Fu: Lightsabre/Blade-Rotoscope window.
6. Select your blade color under the "Preset Corona Colours" option or "Use Custom Color" option.
7. Make sure that there are checks in "Emitter Flare" and "Lighten Corona", but not in the "Flatten Image". The "Flatten Image" option is bugged currently, so don't use it.
8. Select "Ok".
   
9. The window "FlareFX" will come up. This window will show the animated Lightsaber blade on a checkerboard background. Just click to place the crosshairs on the area of the blade where it leaves the handle.
   • Note: If the Preview window is all white, yet the "Preview" option has a checkmark next to it, then you did not select the Path correctly. Hit cancel on this and the Script-Fu: Lightsabre/Blade-Rotoscope windows. Then select Edit/ Undo Blade-Rotoscope and start back with step 4.
10. Congradulations! You have sucessfully created a Lightsaber blade on a still picture.

1. Create a folder to put all the image files in.
2. Open the video with VirtualDub (File/ Open video file).
3. Convert the film into image files (File/ Save image sequence)
   • Under the "Minimum number of digits in name" option, I'd recommend anywhere from 2-5, depending on how many images there will be. If you look on the bottom of the window, it will tell you the first and last image numbers. The file I am using for this write-up has 89 images, so I am making the "Minimum number of digits in name:" 2. That way the first image number will be "00" and the last will be "89". If the last file was 100, I'd set the number of digits to 3, making the first "000", and so on.
4. Click on the "..." box and select the Folder you created in Step 1.
5. Click "OK"
6. A small window will pop up showing the progress, while your video plays quickly in the background.
   • At this point, you can also select to "rip" the audio from your movie for later use. Just go File/ Save WAV.
7. Open the first image with the Lightsaber blade in GIMP (File/ Open).
   • There is no reason to open any image that does not show the Lightsaber blade.
8. Follow Steps 2-9 of the "Creating the effect on still pictures" portion of this tutorial.
   • To successfully make the Lightsaber blade look like it's moving, you need to select not only the prop blade but also the blur of the motion of the prop blade. When you look at it still, the blade looks odd because it's too large and not the right shape. But, when it goes together with the rest of the images, it will look like the blade is moving.
9. Select Video/ Go To/ Next Frame. This will prompt you to save and bring up the next image in the sequence.
   • Since the images are in .bmp format, when you select this option on the first frame, a "Fileformat Warning" window will pop up. Just chose the "Save As Is" option.
   • The window that promps you to save is called the "Export File" window. Don't worry about the warning, just select "Export".
10. Repeat steps 8 & 9 until there are no more images that you need to add the Lightsaber effect to.
11. Open the first image in the image sequence with GIMP. This needs to be the first image, not the first image with the Lightsaber blade.
12. Select Video/ Encode/ Master Videoencoder.
13. On the "Video Options" tab of the "Master Videoencoder" window, change the Framerate from 1 to 15. Leave all the other default options alone.
    • Don't worry about the other tabs on the "Master Videoencoder" window.
    • In the "Output" option field, it tells where the video will be placed. By default, it will place it in the same folder as the image sequence.
14. Click "OK". The window will disappear, and you will see the status bar on the bottom of the GIMP screen.
15. Open the video file GIMP created with TMPGEnc. You can do this via the Wizard or by clicking on the "Browse" button next to the "Video source" field.
    • At this point, you can also add in the audio. If you ripped the audio in Step 6, you can add it back in by selecting it in the "Audio source" field.
16. Make sure in the "Stream type" field that the "System (Video+Audio)" option is selected.
    • You can also chose to use one of TMPGEnc's video templates at this point. Just click on the "Load" button, and it will bring up some templates. I usually use the "VideoCD (NTSC)" template.
17. Click on the "Start" button. This will show your video very quickly while it encodes it to a .mpeg file.
18. Congradulations! You have just successfully created the Lightsaber effect on film.

• Short Lightsaber scenes: As you may have found from doing the tutorials, rotoscoping the Lightsaber blade is very tedious work. With that said, unless you want to spend a lot of time rotoscoping (or have a large team), I would limit the time that the Lightsaber blade appears on the screen. That does not mean that you need to limit the fight itself, just the amount of time the Lightsaber blade appears on the screen.
• Lightsaber sounds: To add some "Lightsaber sounds", you can try a multitude of different options. To make my two test movies, I tried two things, searching the internet, and using the sound from my Master Replicas' Anakin Skywalker Lightsaber.
• Shadows: Lightsaber blades should not give off shadows, so before shooting or taking a picture, make sure that the lighting is set in a way that it does not cause the blade prop you are using to cast a shadow in the shot. If it does, you will have to remove the shadow later, which can be a very big pain.
• Lightsaber blades should give off light: In the movies, most Lightsaber fights are shot in well-lit areas. But, with the fight scene in Episode II: AotC with Count Dooku, the scene is in a dark area. This presented an issue with Lightsaber blade props, because they don't give off light like an actual Lightsaber blade should. So, what the special effects team did was have the actors use neon or florescent tubes during certain non-fight scenes so their prop blades would give off light. Of course, I would highly recommend not using the neon or florescent tubes to "fight" with because they are very fragile. I used my Master Replicas' Anakin Skywalker Lightsaber in one of the movies I made because it had a "light-up" blade, and just rotoscoped over the blade. I also would not use the replica in a fight scene.