This helps create the correct perspective. Vary the start and end widths of the beam as it is pointed towards or away from the camera.
That's basically all there is to it, except a few more tips. I then added a couple more swooping lightsaber sounds where the beam moves more. In my example I started with an "ignition" sound effect, then looped a background hum throughout the rest of the file.
We have some basic sounds you can download here. Once the visuals are finished you need to add the lightsaber sound. Set both the start and end points of the beam at the base of the stick, then create a few keyframes with the beam steadily extending. To do this, drag the in-point of the beam layer to the point where you want the effect to begin. Note: My example begins with the lightsaber being turned on. For fast action and smooth movement you will probably want keyframes at least every few frames - often every single frame. You will find that in some places you need to set keyframes more often than others. Keep doing this throughout the composition.Click the Starting Point button in the Effects Control Panel and move the beam's starting point to the new position.Hit your keyboard Page Down key a few times to move the composition forward a few frames (until the stick moves a little).It's actually very easy - it just takes patience. In the same way that we set the start and end points above, we need to do this every few frames as the lightsaber moves. Click the Outside Color selector and choose a more saturated color for the outside of the beam.Click the Inside Color selector and choose a color for the inner beam.In this example the settings are 55 and 40 respectively. In the Effects Controls panel, adjust the Starting Thickness and Ending Thickness until the beam takes the correct shape.However we can change these settings later if we want to. We only need to do this once - the settings will follow the animation. Now with the beam in the right place, we can adjust the color and width. Click the Ending Point button and then click the end of the stick.
Crosshairs appear in the Composition panel - click the base of the stick to make this the starting point of the beam. This sets us up for animating the beam later.
Add the beam effect to this layer (it's in the Effect & Presets panel, under Generate > Beam). In our example the video file is called raw-dave1.m2t.Ĭreate a new black solid and name it Beam. In this case we will use the stick as a guide and superimpose the beam on top of it.īegin by importing the video file and making a new composition. I shot the footage using a stick for the lightsaber. The example I'm going to use is a very quick and simple effect featuring a person turning on and waving a lightsaber. There are a couple of different ways to do this but the best results involve setting regular keyframes for the start and end points of the beam. The part that takes the time is animating the beam. With only minor adjustments you can make a convincing lightsaber in whatever color and size you like. This effect creates a short beam somewhat like a lightsaber by default. The easiest way to make a lightsaber in After Effects CS3 is with the Beam effect.