|
Title: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: Spirax on November 04, 2011, 01:26:34 AM How do you customize the PCB on an ultrasaber to produce the fade in/out effect shown at about 3:55 in this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHFgz09Kz7o# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHFgz09Kz7o#) Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: Vex on November 04, 2011, 02:50:41 AM You can't. The Force FX lightsabers have LEDs in the blade to make the extension and retraction light effect, UltraSabers have a single LED in the Hilt of the saber. The LEDs in the blade tend to break when the saber is dueled with. UltraSabers are combat ready and do not have that issue. Hope this helps.
Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: Darth Wraith on November 04, 2011, 03:27:31 AM You can't. The Force FX lightsabers have LEDs in the blade to make the extension and retraction light effect, UltraSabers have a single LED in the Hilt of the saber. The LEDs in the blade tend to break when the saber is dueled with. UltraSabers are combat ready and do not have that issue. Hope this helps. Vex Is Absolutely Correct... You Can't Have The Scrolling Effect On Any Lightsaber With Only One LED In The Hilt, However... I DON'T MISS THE SCROLLING EFFECT AT ALL ;)!!! Ultrasabers Product Is Vastly Superior To The Standard Force FX Product ;)!!! They Are Fully Duel Worthy (Without Worrying About Busting Out The LED's In The Blade...) And It Makes It Look Really "Short Bus" When They're All Busted Out... Not To Mention The Fact That An Utra Force FX Conversion Has A Detachable Blade, and Looks Massively Better On Display, Than Having One Displayed With A Blade Just Hanging Off Into Nowhere... Long Story Short... Forget About the Scrolling Effect ;)... You Won't Miss It... The Blade In The Ultra Converted Saber Is About 10 Times Brighter Than The Standard Force FX Saber's Blade... Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: Spirax on November 05, 2011, 01:08:36 AM Thanks for the insight, and here I was thinking they used high farad capacitors to slowly discharge electricity to the LED's at the hilt, but that wouldn't make sense as light would be visible throughout the blade on activation.
By any chance Vex, are you the same person [VeX] who is an absolute expert player in regards to the Heroes of Might and Magic series? Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: Vex on November 05, 2011, 01:11:25 AM Negative, sorry.
Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: Baevar on November 09, 2011, 01:34:37 AM I would certainly prefer the ability to duel over having any flashy effect like that. Without the ability to really go at it, it's just a mantle piece and would not sufficiently stimulate my boyhood fantasies :(
(why did that sound dirty?) Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: Master Nero Attoru on November 09, 2011, 03:49:50 AM I would certainly prefer the ability to duel over having any flashy effect like that. Without the ability to really go at it, it's just a mantle piece and would not sufficiently stimulate my boyhood fantasies :( (why did that sound dirty?) We won't go there... I agree with you though, the scrolling effect is nice but when you look at what you get in return - a brighter and VASTLY more durable battle weapon - it seems like a no brainer. At least to me. Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: tiger salamander on December 08, 2011, 02:08:39 AM I have a suggestion to approximate the fade in/out effect.
Adding a constant current driver to the LED should give it a fade on/off effect as opposed to an abrupt on/off. Adding a central core of fiber optic film inside the blade will exaggerate that effect. Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: ThreadJack on December 09, 2011, 05:42:20 AM I have a suggestion to approximate the fade in/out effect. Adding a constant current driver to the LED should give it a fade on/off effect as opposed to an abrupt on/off. Adding a central core of fiber optic film inside the blade will exaggerate that effect. That sounds good to me(but what do I know. lol) If someone could explore this further.... Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: Qui-Tom Helms on December 09, 2011, 05:44:17 PM I think it would look something like a light being turned on by using a rotating dimmer switch.
Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: tiger salamander on December 10, 2011, 01:44:41 AM TCSS sells two types of constant current sources. One of them you can configure the output current using on board DIP switches. The other type the output is specified upon ordering. Both these drivers have ramped power up/power down (that's going to give you a fade on/off). They also sell a blade that contains a fiber optic film that gives the appearance of a central core. Coupled with the constant current driver, the saber will "sort of" look like it has that scrolling effect. I've seen it before, the fiber optic film enhances the fade on/off. The light does seem to travel up/down the blade but the effect is subtle.
Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: tiger salamander on December 10, 2011, 01:55:34 AM I forgot to add in how feasible this would be......It should be straight forward wiring.
I'm not sure about the newer version obsidians but the 1st version of the obsidian just passed the input voltage (that is the battery voltage) though the board to the LED's , hence the LED's still need the current limiting resistor. To use the TCSS constant current driver, the LED resistor would be removed (no need for a resistor because the driver will drive the LED at where it needs to be and will maintain that current). The Vout +/- from the obsidian would connect to the Vin +/- of the constant current driver. The LED would be connected to the LED +/- pads of the constant current driver. Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: empty on December 14, 2011, 08:15:01 AM I have the MR Force Fx Construction Kit and it does have that subtle effect, not so much a scroll but more a "ramping up" of brightness. Despite being a Force Fx the construction kit uses a single RGB LED in the hilt. I do think the blade has something to do with it. It is noticeably dimmer towards the top and people who have changed the blade have said that the LEDs are plenty bright and can evenly light an ultra blade. it's the white diffuser that is dimming the light.
Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: SOTJ on December 14, 2011, 06:15:17 PM Vex Is Absolutely Correct... You Can't Have The Scrolling Effect On Any Lightsaber With Only One LED In The Hilt US have the scrolling effect! It's just at the speed of light ;) Title: Re: The signature fade in/fade out of a light saber Post by: empty on December 18, 2011, 02:58:01 AM US have the scrolling effect! It's just at the speed of light ;) It's a good thing MIT just made a camera that can capture images of moving photons. http://news.sky.com/home/technology/article/16129688 (http://news.sky.com/home/technology/article/16129688) Anyone here from MIT that can get them to take a video of an Ultrasaber powering up? ;D |