Lightsaber effect in Combustion

[datter]

Hey folks,

I'm wondering if anyone knows of a good way to make a lightsaber in Combustion. I've seen it done, and done it myself in AfterEffects but being very new to Combustion I just can't seem to get a workable effect going on.

In AfterEffects I basically create a beam effect (point to point line) and add various glows, color and some motion blur to it to get a very nice looking light saber blade I then rotoscope over my footage. Seems to me there should be a relatively easy way to do this in Combustion but I have yet to figure out what it is.

I tried creating a line in paint and adding a glow to it, which worked but wasn't very believable. Using two or three lines, with various glows and subtle color differences gave the visual effect I want but I I can't seem to animate the various layers together.. keeping in mind I need to animate the *points* in order to rs it properly on my footage. I end up animating one layer at a time that way.

I've also experimented with particles a bit, but am way out of my element there until I get up to speed with C*.

So, if anyone has any tips or suggestions I'm certainly open to them.

Thanks,
datter

[JackP]

Hi..

I personally haven't done this effect, but I DID find a website link that may help you a bit.... There was a user that created such an effect using Lightwave and Combustion, and then posted a kind-of tutorial webpage.. Check it out at:

http://www.morten-moen.net/tutorials/lightsaber/lightsaber.html

I hope this helps you somewhat....

Regards,

jack

[Stephan]

I'm not a Combustion user but If I were you, having trouble animating several layers at once, I would composite the light saber light saber glow into one image (with alpha) and then animate that single layer.

I understand that it might be a bit trickier but it's a workaround... :?