Best saber for duel video

[EmCee]

Hey There

I'm new to the saber world and quite overwhelmed :o. Ok so I wanna do a saber duel clip (e.g. like the one Ryan did) with visual FX etc. Can anyone recommend what kind of saber/blade is best for a) dueling (I guess without sound and less is better) and b) what color/led the best option is, so it's possible to add FX in the post production.

Thank you.

[Greenie]

Hello there. If you mean Ryan & Dorkman, I would assume ,by the way they're smashing lightsabers about, that they are carbon fibre duelling blades with all lighting fx done in post :)

[EmCee]

Yeah exactly. Question is if there are also other option, because the only saber with carbon I found is the one Ryan offers himself.

[Cire Yeldarb]

TCSS has a Carbon Fiber option here (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Carbon-Fiber-C125.aspx) if that is what you are looking for.

[Ty_Bomber]

It will save you a ton of time rotoscoping if you skip carbon fiber and just use an led saber with a poly c tube.

They can take it.

[Tom Starkiller]

Though you'll still need to rotoscope, if you're going for the movie look. Lit up blades certainly make it easier, but they still look like lights in tubes unless you over expose the shot. Problem there is you'll blow out everything else as well. You'll need to play around with your camera to find out what exposures work best, and that'll probably vary from shot to shot. They have used lit up props for quite a few shots in The Force Awakens to get the light casting.

[EmCee]

Though you'll still need to rotoscope, if you're going for the movie look. Lit up blades certainly make it easier, but they still look like lights in tubes unless you over expose the shot. Problem there is you'll blow out everything else as well. You'll need to play around with your camera to find out what exposures work best, and that'll probably vary from shot to shot. They have used lit up props for quite a few shots in The Force Awakens to get the light casting.

So you're saying that both works, carbon with a color tape or a lit up blade? I thought a lit up blade would be more difficult to rotoscope, since the light radiates so it's more difficult to mark where you want to add the effect. But I haven't done it myself, so I have no idea :).

Thanks!

[Saber Rake]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkBeIWqfuA8
There is no currently available quick-twist lightsaber coupler that is MHS compatible. I know of one company that recently made one, but until they're MHS compatible, it's not fair to TCSS to share the link.

[Tom Starkiller]

The thing with carbon fibre blades, or any non-lit prop is that you can't see the tip of the blade when it's moving fast. The top half of it tends to blur out. The lit up blades are easier to see because of the light. Just make sure you shoot at the right exposure so that you don't get any blow outs, and you'll have know problem. If you shoot in brought daylight, even with lit up props you may still get the tips of the blade disappearing at times.

[EmCee]

The thing with carbon fibre blades, or any non-lit prop is that you can't see the tip of the blade when it's moving fast. The top half of it tends to blur out. The lit up blades are easier to see because of the light. Just make sure you shoot at the right exposure so that you don't get any blow outs, and you'll have know problem. If you shoot in brought daylight, even with lit up props you may still get the tips of the blade disappearing at times.

Much appreciated, thank you!

[Mineral]

Last time I did it, I got the best results with wooden dowels with reflective white tape just above the hilt and again at the tip, and nice bright conditions so you can always find the two important points for painting in the blades later. You could even paint the dowels black except for the hilt and tip, because you only need those two points.
The only draw back to this is the lack of light being cast by the blade itself. For that you'd need an LED saber blade (which I didn't have last time I made a lightsaber movie).
Perhaps some combination of both?