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I am trying to repaint light sabers in PS and I am having some trouble. I know theres better ways to do this and alternatives and what not but I want to use PS.

I created an image sequence using Virtual Dub mod saving the files as .tga's

I imported the first frame (.tga file) into PS and created a new layer with a mode of "screen" and checked the box "Fill with screen-neutral color (black)"
I'm following the tutorial from TFN

This is where the toruble starts
I select the the line tool (or pen) and when I select the light saber instead of the selection Ive just made being drawn on the new layer I created ( which I know I have selected and is on top of the image file) a new layer I guess you would call it is created for some reason. Here is what I get after I roto the saber.

I don't know what is going on I hope someone could help me out with this

Thanks in advance guys

"The Empire can't stop us now..now its our turn" -Luke-

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If you have Adobe After Effects I have away that is really fast and involves no keyframes or frame-by-frame painting. If you want I can post the tutorial.


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Alright let me take a look at it, I really appreciate you doing this for me


I was wondering if, along with the light saber painting tutorial, you could detail what method you use to import a video file into After Effects. i.e. do you import it as an avi file if so how do you convert the original video to avi? And also how to revert the corrected video file back to the original format to be used in an edit?

"The Empire can't stop us now..now its our turn" -Luke-

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I use virtualdubmod to create the avi, and I use TMPGEnc. to convert the avi back to Mpeg2. Here is the tutorial that Andrew Kramer over at Video Copilot.net made:Andrew KramerLightsaber Tutorial

Also you will need these presets made by Andrew himself to make this tutorial work:Andrew Kramer Lightsaber Presets

Open up the tutorial video and it will explain to you how and where to install the presets. Dont install them before he shows you how to in the tutorial, this insures that you put them in the right place.



P.S. Here is his websites turorial page that has alot of very useful tutorials for After Effects:Andrew Kramer's Tutorials


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I tend to view TFN tutorials as a bit of a guide and then go off and experiment. My methods are probably not the best but I get results, If a like I can help you out with a step by step guide. At least on the way i do sabers. Generally I create some fresh layers and assign them later [ie: screen] and I don't really use the line tool for anything, I'd highlight the original core [white area] with the magic wand and use that as a guide.


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Originally posted by: Johnny Ringo
I tend to view TFN tutorials as a bit of a guide and then go off and experiment. My methods are probably not the best but I get results, If a like I can help you out with a step by step guide. At least on the way i do sabers. Generally I create some fresh layers and assign them later [ie: screen] and I don't really use the line tool for anything, I'd highlight the original core [white area] with the magic wand and use that as a guide.



This tutorial was made by a guy who experimented with multiple turorials and made his own. I like this tutorial because the blade is already made for you, and it is completely adjustable. But I would love to see your tutorial, because it may be better than this one.


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Skip post. I messed up and posted too amny times.


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Originally posted by: Marvolo
I use virtualdubmod to create the avi, and I use TMPGEnc. to convert the avi back to Mpeg2. Here is the tutorial that Andrew Kramer over at Video Copilot.net made:Andrew KramerLightsaber Tutorial

Also you will need these presets made by Andrew himself to make this tutorial work:Andrew Kramer Lightsaber Presets

Open up the tutorial video and it will explain to you how and where to install the presets. Dont install them before he shows you how to in the tutorial, this insures that you put them in the right place.



P.S. Here is his websites turorial page that has alot of very useful tutorials for After Effects:Andrew Kramer's Tutorials


Holy Jeez this looks fantastic...I cant thank you enough for this. I haven't tried it yet but this looks like its going to be amazing, again thank you so much I really appreciate all the help Marvolo.

"The Empire can't stop us now..now its our turn" -Luke-

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yeah it looks pretty good with the presets he's done. Might be worth playing around with.
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I do have one question. What do you do when there are two light sabers in a scene ?

"The Empire can't stop us now..now its our turn" -Luke-

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Originally posted by: GhostAlpha26
I do have one question. What do you do when there are two light sabers in a scene ?


I haven't tried it with two lightsabers yet. I guess you could load the preset twice or if that doesn't work you could do one lightsaber and render the avi, then load that avi and do the other lightsaber.


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Originally posted by: Marvolo
I haven't tried it with two lightsabers yet. I guess you could load the preset twice or if that doesn't work you could do one lightsaber and render the avi, then load that avi and do the other lightsaber.


Ok, that was what I was thinking I just didnt know if there was another way. Thats cool thanks again Marv this is everything someone could hope for and more

Ok I was messing around with this and I think I figured out how to do 2 light sabers without doing 2 separate renders. You create a new solid then drag and drop the preset (just like the instructions) and animate the one light saber. Then create another solid and drag and drop the preset on that newly created solid and now you have a second blade to work with for the other light saber. I havent tried more than two but I would think you could do this as many times as needed for as many light sabers you have in a scene.

"The Empire can't stop us now..now its our turn" -Luke-

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Originally posted by: GhostAlpha26
Originally posted by: Marvolo
I haven't tried it with two lightsabers yet. I guess you could load the preset twice or if that doesn't work you could do one lightsaber and render the avi, then load that avi and do the other lightsaber.


Ok, that was what I was thinking I just didnt know if there was another way. Thats cool thanks again Marv this is everything someone could hope for and more

Ok I was messing around with this and I think I figured out how to do 2 light sabers without doing 2 separate renders. You create a new solid then drag and drop the preset (just like the instructions) and animate the one light saber. Then create another solid and drag and drop the preset on that newly created solid and now you have a second blade to work with for the other light saber. I havent tried more than two but I would think you could do this as many times as needed for as many light sabers you have in a scene.


I am glad this is working for you, because I know how much of a hassle it is to rotoscope frame by frame. And this method makes rotoscoping into something you can do without dreading.


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Originally posted by: Marvolo
I am glad this is working for you, because I know how much of a hassle it is to rotoscope frame by frame. And this method makes rotoscoping into something you can do without dreading.




It makes the process FUN!

I was wondering about your rendering process in after effects and TMPGEnc. In after effects do you export the finished project as another avi file? And what settings do you use in TMPGEnc to convert the avi file into a DVD quality m2v file? For example what do you choose or set for these parameters; ES or System, Bitrate settings, Interlace settings ?

Thanks again

"The Empire can't stop us now..now its our turn" -Luke-

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To export the the rotoscoped file from After Effects select Composition>Make Movie. This will create an avi file.

And for TMPGEnc. in the project wizard select NTSC (16:9) > CBR MPEG Layer II Audio Audio (MP2) > Next > Browse for Video File > Browse for Audio File > Video Type- Non-Interlace > Aspect Ratio-16:9 Display > Content of Video-Film Movie > Next > Don't select anything on the Filter Setting page > Next > Don't change anything on the Bitrate Setting > Next > Select your output destination > Don't select "Ouput video and audio as individual elementary streams" > OK > A notice will pop up after you hit OK, select OK on the notice, and encoding will begin. Hope this helps.


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Originally posted by: Marvolo
To export the the rotoscoped file from After Effects select Composition>Make Movie. This will create an avi file.

And for TMPGEnc. in the project wizard select NTSC (16:9) > CBR MPEG Layer II Audio Audio (MP2) > Next > Browse for Video File > Browse for Audio File > Video Type- Non-Interlace > Aspect Ratio-16:9 Display > Content of Video-Film Movie > Next > Don't select anything on the Filter Setting page > Next > Don't change anything on the Bitrate Setting > Next > Select your output destination > Don't select "Ouput video and audio as individual elementary streams" > OK > A notice will pop up after you hit OK, select OK on the notice, and encoding will begin. Hope this helps.


Thanks buddy youve been such a huge help, I cant tell you how much easier this process is now because of you.

"The Empire can't stop us now..now its our turn" -Luke-