The Official Lightsabre Competition

poll over in 2 hours I think

 

Yikes!
I thought I had another day!
(I too registered to vote here (partially))

Edit: Aha! 15 hours it says.

Edit: I suck at typing.

 

Does it close at midnight tonight? Or does it go all the way to the time the poll was first posted?

 

I voted F. I like the thin core.

 

Yeah.. What do you guys got against the thin core style anyway?

 

Well, it looks like the poll extends to 3 after all!

 

Last couple hours, guys!
Vote if you haven't.

 

One more hour

 

Fans are running onto the pitch, they think it's all over.....
it is now!*

When I set the poll date I had no idea that it was so close to the release of the latest Attack of the Clones trailer. I don't know whether this is a good or bad thing.

Thanks to everyone who entered, I hope I've got all of the information correct on the final page, if not, I'm sure you'll all tell me pretty fast. It was really close between Clip 'B' and Clip 'I' throughout the competition, although Clip 'B' did surge ahead towards the end. Congratulations to the winner, and for everyone for entering. Once you realise who did which clip it may be worth re-reading a few of the posts, it made me chuckle to read them throughout, seeing the contestants commenting on their clips in the third person, gently trying to influence the voters

I must say there where a few clips that I thought where really good, but to my surprise they didn't pick up many votes, the thing that is really nice is to see the overall quality of the entrants, very impressive stuff folks.

So without further ado, I give you the results of the poll, the winning clips are revealed, and all of the methods used. Click here to see the results.










*The most famous peice of commentary in British Sporting history.

 

Hey, where's your clip Daft?

 

Ah! I had figured pretty close as far as who did what.

 

Ahh, now that it's all over, i can talk in the open.

my apologies for the original quality of clip "K". I was folowing the finley method to the letter and didn't actually compare it to original footage to see if it was even close. it wasn't, and the initial voting surge reflected that. After i pulled myself together and wiped away the tears (kidding), I gutted the finley method and put it back together with altered settings, to make it more closely resemble Star wars footage (and i used B and I as guides as well, hehe). So for all of you who initially downloaded clip K and said "ahh, this blows", I urge you to take another look at it. I'm quite happy with the results now, and it only took about 40 minutes to do the whole clip (p3 900, 512 RAM).

Daft: the original clip K was finley method, but the second one was modified, and my name is Kevin Duda.

Everyone else: take a look at the new clip K and PM me if you like the way it looks now and if you'd like me to post the method somewhere.

thanks for reading, guys.
Cheers.

 

side note:

Shall we have a "contact flash" competition now? distribute the winning clip and get people to put in flashes with various programs? heh heh
or is that too much work, Daft?

 

Well, now that it's all over I feel like I should say something.

In a big way, the real winner is Ryan W, the man behind clip I. I used his (and Link's) AE method to create the glows, so depending on how much you want to factor in the artist, there's no denying Ryan definitely deserves his credit for his brilliant method. I never would have thought of it by myself.

I found it interesting that after I pointed out the rounding of the tips in my clip (because I'm a whore for votes), more people noticed it, but it actually COST me some votes as a result.

Most people out there jumped into fan films because of the lightsaber. It kickstarted the current revolution (arguably). Clay Kronke's original saber tests (again arguably) are the ones that started many of us, certainly myself, and we're all nitpicky as hell about sabers. I'm glad I've been able to put my roto where my mouth is considering I'm usually about the first to nit on sabers.

So among such nitpicky folks, to be one of two clips with the farthest lead, and at that in the company of the guy who "wrote the book" so to speak, it's definitely made my week, and made the past almost-three years of working on this stuff all feel worth it.

That being said, I once more want to say: it was Ryan W's AE method. Blurs and color adjustment. Ryan's the man.

And now that you know what the masses want sabers to look like, get out there and do it right!

M. Scott

 

wile everyones here i thought i would ask a simple question about curving the ends of the blades. whats the best way to do that in AE right now i just play with the little bezier handles until it looks ok, but but i like the line command from photoshop is their any way to get one into AE? like a plugin or something? also whats the best way to round the blade down by the hilt, for some reason i can never make it look right,it allways looks to flat.

thanks guys

 

A few things.

First of all, I did not try to influence anyone, I openly said that mine was the worst. =)

2nd, I'll kill whoever put my name up as "Melvin" unless it's changed within 24 hours.

And lastly, could my "take 3" clip be put up as a "Further example"? I need some way to redeem myself after the last clip. =P

-Melvil

BTW, I was right about a lot of clips! "B" and "I" I got right, and a few more. Oh, and in case anyone cares, I voted for clip "F"

 

There's nothing better than a classy winner; well said. Congrats Dorkman and Ryan!

 

Yup, Link's right. (did I ever mention you have great taste in video games, Link? )

Ryan's method is great. I just started using it, but I love it. It's so easy.

Not that I've tried any other AE methods before...

-Melvil

 

Haha, not many people pick that up.

 

My favorite one is Type J its really good... jk my favorite is Type B.

 

Actually, if I remember correctly, I mentioned your name the first time you posted at Blenderwars.

Though now I have to think it wasn't Blenderwars at all, but somewhere else, as your not a a member of blenderwars...heh, I'm losing it.

-Melvil

 

I would just like to say Congratulations to the winner, and thank everyone who participated . It was a fun little thing to do, and I hope this sparks more ideas for similar effect "competitions" such as this one . I also hope it helps all the incoming *n00bs* for deciding which program to choose!

 

UltraJedi: I use the Bezier handles.

M. Scott

 

Hey Melvil, sorry about that! Melvin isn't quite so cool I guess. Anyway, I've updated your name, and put your latest clip up there, what programme did you use for your second clip? If it was still Axagon you've improved amazingly in a short span with that programme.

For the people that entered I was really impressed by the quality of the work overall, some of the entrants said it was their best rotoscoping ever which is good to hear. With few exceptions all of these style/techniques are certainly good enough for a fanfilm, and won't 'stop you' when you see them being used onscreen. The health of lightsabre rotoscoping in fanfilms is looking pretty good right now. (Thanks is no small part to Ryan's Tutorials)

Now we've just got to work on the rest of the stuff the Clone Wars trailers gave use

 

How do I find out what I voted for? I can't remember.

Pete