Lightsabers:
As I mentioned in the first post, something happened when they produced the home version of the film. As a result the color highlight are washed out in the more darker scenes, effecting most notably the lightsabers but also making planet glows dim. I dug up and checked my TPM VHS, and the lightsaber glows seem little brighter there but on DVD and Blu-ray the brightness has been reduced. Other problems are twisted colors and size of the blade among others. One of my biggest priorities was fixing the lightsabers in the most erroneous shots, and they were plenty.
So here are some examples:
Below are samples of dim saber blades that also sometimes slanted the color to dark green with Qui Gon’s blade and to purple with Obi- Wan’s.
Sometimes the blade core was very thin and dim.
Other times the glow was there but the core and part of the glow was too dark.
Qui Gon’s sabre in the forest has always looked too stumpy relative to his hands.
In the beginning of the end battle blades lack length and glow.
When the lightsaber fight moves to ”reactor beam area”, the errors are really bad. On the top left screenshot you can see through the blades and Maul’s blade is faint pinkish grey. I also added brightness to background beam pillars.
On some rare occasions you can see the physical probe blade in the shot, that probably isn’t lined up anymore after all the clashing with the other actor’s blade.
Also in the Obi vs Maul fight, the tips of the blades are missing most of their color and luminescence.
I also added holes to the hilts where the blades are coming out and a little lens flare effect to the saber ignitions. Most of the shots were done with vanilla After Effects, drawing a mask around the blades and adding new glows. I found about saber plugin later that I used mostly to enhancements, like adding core flicker to some shots. Manual masking made it possible to make the blade shapes very close to originals though, only bring back the lost core brightness and glow. Saber plugin was the main method used in only two shots. I also added a slight distortion to the blades when Obi- Wan and Maul clash them before Maul pushes him to hang on the ledge. Also sharpened and lit Obi’s face a little.
