PT PT Era Lightsaber Blades

Okay, this thread comes in two parts really.

1. Anyone else think that lightsaber blades seem fatter in the PT than in the OT? The white core itself in the PT seems to be all around thicker, with increase on the amount of colored glow around the white core. In the OT, the lightsabers seem to have a think white core, with a surrounding colored glow that seems to be about as thick as the core itself. The blades themselves in the OT seem to be slightly longer, which increases the effect of the thickness ratio between the blades of the PT and the OT.

OT lightsabers:

Spoiler

PT lightsabers:

Spoiler

Now, the second part of this thread is about the glow itself. Is anyone else put off by the illuminating part of the glow that has been introduced during the PT?


What appealed to me about the lightsaber when I was younger was that it wasn't a flashlight. The lightsaber glowed without illumination, which gave it an alien feel to it, making it seem as if it was produced through a technology impossible to recreate on Earth. It was a literal "sword", not some glow-stick.

 

They look the same to me... and if you'll remember, the lightsabers did glow in the OT, which is particularly noticeable via the blue light illuminating Luke's face during the duel in the carbon chamber

 

Hmmm, I don't recall the glow illuminating Luke's face in the Bespin Duel. Pics?

Though, there's several points in the duel where Vader points his blade right into Luke's face and I don't see the glow:

Spoiler

(and yes I'm capping YT because I'm being too lazy to pop in my DVDs)

 

The PT blades were cleaner, plain and simple. Notice how the above samples are washed out and no longer retain their white core. With more primitive techniques, and add in some shoddy restoration work, the lightsabers of the OT really show their age at some points.

If anything, the PT helped regulate sabers and keep more consistency (no more of the ESB pencil thin sabers, or Vader's extending blade). I think the blades glowing works just fine, it's very subtle, and seems natural. Though the only thing I'm not sure about is the pointed tips introduced in ROTS. But that's really only a nitpick if you're looking for it. Otherwise, the blades look better than ever.

 

Dinos4Ever Hm, it may have been one of the SE additions

 

Which version of the OT are we talking about? In the original version of Star Wars, there are parts where you can hardly see the lightsabers during the Vader-Obi-Wan duel, or Luke on the Millennium Falcon.

So yes, I'd say there's a difference.

 

Prequel.

 

I think, if anything, the PT improved on lightsabers. The only reason they look like they do in the OT is they didn't have the technology to make them look as good at the time of the OT. Though I will say that in the image where Luke's pointing his blade at Vader's face on DSII, the blade looks pretty good.

 

I like how the OT lightsabers often pulsed and fluctuated more. It made them seem more volatile and alive.

 

Or, as I would say, more sub-par FX.

 

I always thought that Luke's and Ben's saber were way shorter and thinner than Vader's in ANH and TESB.

 

PT by far. But it's kinda unfair to say because the special effects were different back when the OT was out so of course the PT would have better lightsabers.

 

Fatter? I would say consistent. Fat lightsaber blades are the ones from RotJ.

The ones from the PT have a pulse as well.

 

I prefer laser swords.





- Only Jedis carry that kind of weapon.
- I don't know where you get your delusions, laser brain.
/LM

 

This definitely has more of a Saga feel to it...but as long as we focus on the PT, it stays.

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I'm not a big fan of "saber-glow" its annoying like to much Lensflare... but I appreciate the sharp, crisper edges of the blades used in ROTS. As much as I love the gif of Luke up above; when compared to the Prequels, that blade looks like an ancient relic that barely works... part of the appeal, I suppose.... but there is something awesome about the way Mace's blade looks when pointed at Palpatine's face that I just can't get over. For me, that's the way they were always meant to look.

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Has anyone that has posted in here, ever tried to replicate laser-sword effects? If you haven't, the best way to explain the difference in their appearance is this.... OT lightsabers were made with the beta version of Microsoft-paint and the Prequel blades were made with Adobe Illustrator CS4 .

 

PT era. They're shinier.

 

I prefer the PT swords.
I remember when I first watched ANH (or "Star Wars," since that's what it was called then), I thought a Jedi's powers were reflected in the size of his lightsaber blade. Obi-Wan's blade was really short (seemed to be practically fizzing out), and Vader's was long, and Vader said, "Your powers are weak, old man." So I figured he was referring to the fact that Obi-Wan had a short saber. (jeez, this whole paragraph sounds so Freudian....)

 

Dang, you serious? That's some good MS paint.

 

W/ Rotoscoping.


Without Rotoscoping.

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And, yes.
Yes it can be done in MS-paint... but it takes forever.

 

The FX were certainly not as good. However, that doesn't inherently mean the results of that are not as good or better.
Especially in an opinionated topic like this one.

I never claimed they didn't. I claimed that the OT lighsabers often had a stronger pulsing effect. None of of the lighsabers in the PT pulsed as much as Luke's did in the gif I posted. The white core in that scene has a much more erratic pulse than any of the perfectly crafted computer generated lighsabers of the PT.

This is a great post Belongs in the misconceptions thread as well

Or you can just use Andrew Kramer's After Effects lightsaber preset! It saves a Star Destroyer load of time, if After Effects interests you at all, that is. http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/light_sabers/

 

I like the ROTJ and Prequel lightsabers. Nice, clean cores. Plus, better coloring too.

 

That's because of the different blade types used for reference.



In TESB and ROTJ, these were the types of metal rods used by Hamill and Anderson for their duels. They account for the thinness of the Lightsaber blades in the final film, as well as the length of said blade. Two sets of rods were created, a standard length for duels and a shorter blade for scenes were something was going to be cut. This carried over to the PT.



For the PT, the actors and stuntmen utilized a thicker blade which created a different type of weight and balance, while still serving the same purpose as before. ILM then crafted the blades based on that look like they do in the PT.

Well, that goes back to what was done in ANH to craft the blades. TESB and ROTJ used similar techniques to what was done in ANH. But by the PT, a lot more could be done to give the blade its shape and definition, thanks to digital technology. Beyond that, for my personal preference, I don't care about the two different trilogy designs.

 

That reminds me, weren't the ANH lightsabers supposed to achieve the effect themselves by reflecting light? Either way, the effect failed, and then the magic at ILM happened.

 

I also like the cleaner, crisp sabers. Though I did kind of like the "volatility" of the originals as someone above posted, but realise that's mostly due to FX.

 

I think the blades in the OT were all over the place, we might as well do a movie-by-movie poll.

I prefer the PT blades, I remember my jaw dropping when I saw Episode I for the first time.