Saber customizations, that make them look more like they do on screen.

[Dauntless Seven]

Hi.  I'm starting to wonder if you are ever going to purchase a saber.  Why don't you get even a stunt one or with the LITE Obsidian soundboard and FoC to get a better idea of the quality of an US saber.  Then you can decide if spending the amount that you have been suggesting for multiple loaded sabers is in your best interests.   

Best wishes for this year also sent to you.

[BlindJedi]

I'm sorry I kind of changed topic there.
Some one suggested I write a screenplay using the US Sabers and I have been talking with animators, editors, sound engineers, and the like, trying to come up with a good story, and figure out the effects.
Due to the number of characters in my story I needed a way of changing the color of the sabers, so everyone has a different color, thus the questions about Emerald.  The animator and I got talking about what would happen when the sabers clashed, and thus we started talking about Flash On Clash.  We have sense dropped the idea of the sabers flashing when they make contact, due to the havoc it can cause the cameras.  So we are going to settle for the pulsing that the Emerald driver can provide.  Along with the ability to use the Emerald Driver to dim the blade, because a blade at full power can cause havoc with the exposure on the cameras.
So when I do order the sabers for my production, they will all have Emerald Drivers.  Although the blades will be animated, the light from the Emerald Driver will provide a nice reflection on the environment and the characters themselves.

[Dauntless Seven]

Other members have made films and if memory serves, stunt sabers were used and the blade illumination and effects were then photo shop enhanced and sound added.  Anyway, best of luck with your endeavor.   

[BlindJedi]

Are there any sabers in US's line up that would cause trouble for me, if I use them in my film?
If so what can I do to change them to make them ok to use?
Thanks for all of your awesome answers gang.

[ithekro]

Why would they cause you trouble?   Lucasfilm generally has good relations with fan films and the like, and as far as I know Disney hasn't changed Lucasfilm's policy in that regard.

All ultrasaber are Ultrasabers made, rather than entirely accurate replicas of Star Wars props.  The Chosen One, Graflex, Councilor, and Guardian are probably the closes to looking like their props, but really don't, or are not quite the right scale.  The Archon is similar, but also not a replica.

[BlindJedi]

The thing is, my film is not related to SW in any way.  The sabers won't even have a solid blade.  It is being animated to look more fluid in nature.  Like Plasma, or some form of energy we have yet to discover.
Not even the laser guns reflect that of SW or anything that exists today.  Think of my film as a combination of SW, SG, and ST.

[ithekro]

If you aren't using ST sounds (or the Obsidian sounds) I don't think Lucasfilm will be that much of an issue since lots of shows (especially anime) have used beam sabers and flame swords for years since ST came out.  Credit to Ultrasabers for the props might be warranted though.

Sound is needed to get Flash on Clash.  If you need that than you might need to spend more for an Obsidian v4 soundboard, as you can mute them while still having the light effect on the saber work.  You can do this with the Obsidian v3 soundboard as well, but you'd have to replace the original sound font with a silent font in the computer first.  (I did an experiment, there is no Flash on Clash option when ordering an Emerald saber without sound).   

But since you are doing effects in post, Flash on Clash might not be important outside of lighting the surroundings or faces of the actors on set with a flash from impacts.  Sound on all those sabers would jump your expenses a bit depending on how many different sabers you need for the number of actors on set with one at a time.  With the Emerald one saber can stand in for many with just a color change, but you'd still need enough for everyone on set with one lit.

An alternative would be to get empty saber hilts with no electronics to be just props hilts if you have scenes where the actors mostly just wear them in numbers, as oppose to actual use of them.  To save cost if you have extras that need to look like that are armed.  This can also cut down cost is you decide to limit the scenes with the number of lit lightsabers to a few and just do camera tricks to make it look like more in post.

[BlindJedi]

I have concidered using empty hilts for some of the background characters, and also a scene where one of the Knights falls into water.  Can't damage electronics in an empty hilt.
Each character in the film is getting a different saber stile.  And in some cases the character will have multiple sabers.  Some even have two single blades and one double.
In one case there is a character with four singles and two doubles, but not on him at all times.
The point of the emerald is that the characters change the colors of their blades depending on their status.  Leader, soldier, recruit, etc.  In some wierd way the colors became a sort of ranking system.
In the case of the good guys, the saber color reflects their abilities.  Healer, mechanic, strategist, etc.  I haven't figured out all of the skills yet.
All of the characters with sabers use them at least twice in the films.  As of right now there is going to be a trilogy.

[BlindJedi]

With the Emerald driver is the LED inside a Quad LED, or four single diodes.
A QUAD LED for those who don't know has four colors on the same diode.  RGBA or RGBW.
A TRI LED has three colors on the same diode. RGB.

[Vyk]

Emerald uses a quad LED; you can choose either RGBW or RGBA.

[ithekro]

Another option I've seen used is get a saber in Adegan silver and use color discs or filters for other colors.   You can get it with a flash on clash but not on one with a Tri-Cree LED as Ultrasabers sells those in single colors.  Flash on Clash still needs a soundboard though.

With a saber in silver you can get some of the v3 hilts with sound are still able to change the colors on them via the Lee filters or color discs.  This could save the production money that can be spend in the soundboard if that is desired.  The Obsidian v3 or v4 will allow you to have a saber with sound that can have the sound turned off.  This allows for the flash on clash to remain in place without having to worry as much about the sound on set.  The Obsidian v4 is more versatile than the v3 as it has more memory and comes with more functions, meaning you don't have to reprogram it to be silent.  It comes with that feature already.  The v3 version would need to be changed in the computer to be silent, and then changed again in the computer to have sound again.

[Vyk]

Another option I've seen used is get a saber in Adegan silver and use color discs or filters for other colors.   You can get it with a flash on clash but not on one with a Tri-Cree LED as Ultrasabers sells those in single colors.  Flash on Clash still needs a soundboard though.

I've done a fair amount of playing around with filters on Adegan Silver sabers.  The problem with them is that you're never going to get much better than a pastel, and that only works ok for some colors.  If you want yellow, orange, cyan, or lime green you're set.  Red and blue, on the other hand, are just not going to happen; the best you'll get are pink or baby blue, which are only good if you want your saber to look adorable. 

If getting Adegan Silver for the purpose of using filters on it, I would skip Flash on Clash and get a Tri-Cree LED.  For one thing, FOC is going to mix oddly with some filter combinations.  For another (and more importantly), the Tri-Cree gives much broader color options while still being bright enough to look good.  The filters that I usually use in my Tri-Cree Initiate make for a very dim blade in my non-Tri-Cree Aeon.  (It helps that you'd save a bunch of money because you wouldn't need the sound board that you were only going to use for FOC.)

Finally, I'd like to remind you about RGB sabers; they've kind of been forgotten since Emerald came out, but they do have their uses.  If you don't need sound or FOC, you can get RGB on an Aeon or Dominix V2 for $155, fully $75 cheaper than the least expensive Emerald option.  Also, RGB lets you do on-the-fly color changes without plugging into a computer; this could come in handy both on-screen (to show somebody changing rank or status) or off-screen (to save you a saber--possibly even to the extent of having somebody run off the screen with a red saber and hand it to somebody else who then runs on with a blue one!).  Of course, the color range is limited compared to Emerald, so you would still need Emerald or single-color sabers for colors that RGB can't do (orange or a deep purple, for example), but it's something to remember.

No matter what way you go, I think you're probably going to want to skip Flash on Clash.  After all, the reason we put FOC on our sabers is because, in real life, we can't do it in post-production like the films do.  You're making movies; you can do it in post-production, which both looks more dramatic and guarantees that you get the effect you want.

[Klutzaber]

is there a rham kota lightsaber? I know the bellicose is starkiller's but is there a kota?

[Vyk]

is there a rham kota lightsaber? I know the bellicose is starkiller's but is there a kota?

Ultrasabers doesn't sell any sabers with wrapped handles, so the short answer is, of course, "no".  You could probably take one of the other slanted-emitter sabers and wrap it to get something close; the Prophecy or Standard Issue come to mind.  One big problem for a Rham Kota replica is the activation switch; I believe it's very close to the emitter on Kota's saber, while that's an impossible position for a pushbutton switch on any saber using a LED-in-hilt design (which is what Ultrasabers uses).  You'd probably need to have a fake activation switch on the upper side--perhaps a knob that is actually one of the blade-retention screws--and the real switch hidden on the opposite side and tucked among the leather wrapping.  (As it happens, that is pretty much the Prophecy's design.)

[Kouri]

is there a rham kota lightsaber?

Standard Issue's a good start. I've got a decent start on a Kota build, and just got my tri-cree ordered this morning. Original concept art doesn't really show a switich anywhere, so the existing switch location could be made to work if you're not intent on heavy modification.

http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=27286.msg412539#msg412539