Star Wars Lightsaber Duel

goshep wrote on 3/2/2004, 4:57 PM

I know this has been done a million times but I want my shot at it. I want to re-create a lightsaber duel but I have a few questions. All methods I've seen involve rotoscoping with various paint or animation packages. Since I'm a newbie to Vegas, please don't flame me for the following potentially stupid questions:
1. Is Vegas capable of performing the same effects?
2. What about chromakeying instead of frame-by-frame animation? Would it be possible to chromakey the "sabers" and avoid having to animate each frame?

That's it....be gentle!

Comments

theigloo wrote on 3/2/2004, 5:07 PM

You should really use After Effects for this.

Vegas' chroma key is a joke. Also, you'll need the higher quality effects that AE offers.

This guy explains how to duel quite well.

goshep wrote on 3/2/2004, 5:25 PM

LOL. I've seen his short films. While he is goofier than most, he is also BETTER than most (IMHO.)
Thanks for the tip. Aside from your issue with the quality of Vegas chroma, is my idea feasible? I could've sworn I saw Lucas using this approach in Phantom Menace. Maybe not. With an army of animators at his disposal, I'm sure he could afford detailed frame-by-frame animation.

JohnnyRoy wrote on 3/2/2004, 7:31 PM

Get a copy of AlamDV. It does this very well. I’ve done light sabers with it and its very convincing and easy.

~jr