If so, maybe you will recognize my latest creation.  I have done nearly nothing in modeling the past couple of months, but I just watched the Star Wars movies again and got me into the mood.  :D

Anyway, this is my rendition of Luke Skywalker's lightsaber from Return of the Jedi.  I bought a prop replica off of eBay and used that as a guide for the modeling, trying to get the measurements as close to correct as I could.  I am going to try and make more, although it will be trickier since I don't have any other replicas to use as guides.  Comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.  

As usual, modelled in Blender, rendered in Daz, and touched up the blade in Photoshop.

How did you do the material for the laser part?  It looks good!

You have just joined the ranks of the Jedi ;P 
You might want to extend the blade, though. A "real" lightsaber blade is just over 3 times the length of the blade.

It is better to do one thing well, than to do many things and excel at nothing.

DramaKing, thank you sir.  My lifelong dream has been fulfilled. lol
The blade is longer than it looks in the image.  It's just the angle I had the saber at that makes it look short.    

Haloedrain, thanks.  For the blade I just used a light-to mid color of green for the texture, then in photoshop I blurred it a bit and added some inner and outer glow.  Really pretty simple but it turned out a pretty nice effect.

Quote - The blade is longer than it looks in the image.  It's just the angle I had the saber at that makes it look short. 

 

You're right about that angle. Sometimes it's hard to judge the depth and how long something is in an image like that.

It is better to do one thing well, than to do many things and excel at nothing.

oh, ok.  On second look, you might want to play with edge hardness or add some bevels to get sharper corners on the bottom part, the smooth shading is blurring it an awful lot down there.

I just started watching them with my daughter.  We just finished Episode 2 the other night. 

I was considering a remake / completion of my stormtrooper outfit I made for DAZ Mike before.  It was looking really well then, but my modeling skills have improved a lot since then, so I'm sure I could improve on it.  Maybe even finish it.

You saber looks good.  :)

Reddog9
Tutorials, Samples and Models
www.blender3dclub.com

Haloedrain, I did notice that, I just wasn't sure what I could do about it.  I didn't do smooth shading in blender, I left it as solid, but that's how it turned out after being rendered in Daz.  I still have no idea of everything Blender is capable of so, can I do that edge hardness or bevels in blender, or is that photoshop work?  I know I can do bevels in PS.    

Reddog, thanks.  I would definately be interested in seeing your finished product on the stormtroopers if you decide to finish it.  Did you have any plans on making it available to others?  hint I'm interested ;) hint  A little bit off the modeling topic now but, what did you think of the new trilogy compared to the original?  Personally, the recent one is okay, but the original is infinately better.

Hard edges won't help you if you're rendering in DAZ studio, but you can do bevels in blender.  There's a script in blender called "Bevel Center" that can help you with that.  It works just on the edges you have selected rather than the whole model.  You'll probably want to change the size to something really small like .01 (you'll have to enter that by hand, the slider won't do it, but you can change that after you've hit the bevel button so you can keep messing with sizes :)  The smaller the bevel is the sharper the edge will look.

As for the movies...honestly, I think they're all about the same quality.  All the criticisms I've heard of the new ones I think apply just as well to the old ones (except maybe for the jar-jar thing, but there are other irritating characters).

IMO the acting in the first trilogy was better, and it didn't have that whiney Hayden Christensen.  That was totally ground-breaking back in the 70's too.  I guess it always helps that the original trilogy was also my favorite movies for most of my life.

Anyway, where can I locate this Bevel Center?  I don't recall seeing it before.  

Thanks.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Original 3 again.  The Empire Strikes back is my favorite.  The newer ones have better effects of course.  At times I think it's overwhelming.  I think the older ones had less "Flash" to them so you could focus more on the people and their actions.  If that makes sense.

If I do remake the trooper.. I'd share it.  Just don't let me forget. 

:)

Red

Reddog9
Tutorials, Samples and Models
www.blender3dclub.com

Quote - Hard edges won't help you if you're rendering in DAZ studio, but you can do bevels in blender.  There's a script in blender called "Bevel Center" that can help you with that.  It works just on the edges you have selected rather than the whole model.  You'll probably want to change the size to something really small like .01 (you'll have to enter that by hand, the slider won't do it, but you can change that after you've hit the bevel button so you can keep messing with sizes :)  The smaller the bevel is the sharper the edge will look.

Chage to a script window.  Scripts - Mesh - Bevel Center.

Or the whole mesh while in Edit mode - W - Bevel.

Red.

Reddog9
Tutorials, Samples and Models
www.blender3dclub.com

You probably don't want to bevel the whole mesh, that'll do the edges around the cylindrical bit that you probably want to keep smooth.

This is where you find the bevel center script.

And this is what it looks like.  Hit the bevel button to add the bevel, and change the value in the box to change the size (there's a slider too, but I don't really find it very useful).  I'd avoid the recursive button (that makes bevels on your new beveled edges so it's more rounded), I've had some really bizarre stuff happen on more complicated models and you probably don't need it.  It's more stable now than it used to be, though, so maybe that's fixed too.

Edit: I just noticed you can change the start and end points of the slider--did that used to be there?  That might actually make it more usable...

Thanks a lot for the help folks.  Here is a render of the hilt with the added bevel work.  I think it definately looks better with the bevels.

The only problem with it now is the 2nd gray segment (the part with the dark shadows on it) appears darker than the 1st and 3rd gray segments. 

Here is another render to better show the actual length of the blade. 

Hmm..I don't really know the daz studio renderer, but it might be that the segment with the bump thingies has more detail (=polygons) than the rest...  Try adding some extra edge loops, maybe?

I'm afraid edge loops is another thing I don't know how to do.  There is a lot I don't know, heh.
I'll see if I can figure it out, but more advice is always helpful.  Thanks a lot for the help so far.

You'll want the knife tool for that (k-key).  You can either create the edge loops one at a time with the loop cut option in the knife tool menu, or you can select all the edges you want to cut, hit k and select multicut then draw a line through them to make multiple cuts all at once.

I agree with Halo.   I usually model -  add subsurface - then go back and cut in edge loops where I need sharper lines. 

I usually hit "k" then select the top one for edge loop.  (CTRL - R works too).

You've inspired me to start the remake. 

He're the helmet so far:

Reddog9
Tutorials, Samples and Models
www.blender3dclub.com

That is a very nice looking helmet.  I'm glad I have the ability to inspire people. :D
Whenever you finish the stormtrooper, I'll need someone for my lightsaber to cut into pieces. ;)

I totally forgot about adding subsurface.  That seems to have taken care of the problem.  I'll just need to do a little extra modeling to compensate for the subsurf effect in some areas.

Hi all. Great thread happening here. I am currently working on a Star Wars submission for www.cgsphere.com. I posted a thread here recently about the laser bolts. I have managed to get a very dangerous looking laser bolt using a straight path with many points. (Sorry, the FreeHand jargon may need translating into Blenderish.) IOW, create a square and delete 2 of the corners: then subdivide the remaining edge several times. Then enable halos. I have then used a combination of halos and paths to get the effect. This would work equally well for a lightsabre blade. There are 2 problems, though: it has to be rendered in Blender and you have to use the internal renderer- I love Yafray, but it it doesn't do halos. Hint to developers...;-) Probably my all time wishlist priority. I suppose I could post a WIP if anybody want to see it?!  And may the force be with your project!

I would be interested in seeing these laser bolts of yours. :D

Attached Link: Stormtrooper Gallery

Yes... I'm much faster at modeling than before.  It's much cleaner looking now too.  I took more time to roll the edges over so the pieces look thicker.

I think he's ready to rig now. 

Reddog9
Tutorials, Samples and Models
www.blender3dclub.com

Okay... go to http://www.cgsphere.com/gallery/details/?submission_id=3620. I think the piece needs more work, but frankly, I am very tired of it. I must move on to other things.

Quote - Okay... go to http://www.cgsphere.com/gallery/details/?submission_id=3620. I think the piece needs more work, but frankly, I am very tired of it. I must move on to other things.

 

Very nice looking laser bolts, and I love the detail on the tie fighter.  I don't quite understand the gridlines though.  They don't seem to fit with the POV to me. 

Quote - Okay... go to http://www.cgsphere.com/gallery/details/?submission_id=3620. I think the piece needs more work, but frankly, I am very tired of it. I must move on to other things.

I think it looks great.   That's you render from Blender?

You're laser look good.  I'll have to try out your method.  

Reddog9
Tutorials, Samples and Models
www.blender3dclub.com

Thanks. It was completely 100% Blender. Those halos and particles are amazing and totally underrated IMHO. The grid is part of the CGSphere rules:-(

I finally finished making my changes.  Turned out subsurface and bevels were just what I needed.  The first link is the (more-or-less) finished product, the 2nd link is a closer view of the hilt.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/molina00/ROTJ-Luke-Green-3.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/molina00/ROTJ-Luke-Green-4.gif

LMK if there is anything else that looks like it could/should be improved. 

Quote - I finally finished making my changes.  Turned out subsurface and bevels were just what I needed.  The first link is the (more-or-less) finished product, the 2nd link is a closer view of the hilt.

Wow.. That looks really sharp now!   Great job. 

Reddog9
Tutorials, Samples and Models
www.blender3dclub.com

Quote - > Quote - I finally finished making my changes.  Turned out subsurface and bevels were just what I needed.  The first link is the (more-or-less) finished product, the 2nd link is a closer view of the hilt.

Wow.. That looks really sharp now!   Great job. 

 

Thanks a lot!  

I was thinking about trying to figure out how to make it into a poser and/or daz prop and possibly submitting it as a freebie if there was interest in it.   I wanted to make sure it was worthy of the renderosity community first though, so all the help and advice you all have given me is greatly appreciated. 

Lol, someone actually just put a light saber into into poser freestuff (it's still in pending so you won't be able to see it).  I like yours better, so I guess that means it's worthy ;)  But seriously, it looks very nice.  If you do release it as a freebie, it might be nice if you include a help file for how to get it to glow in photoshop (or whatever you used), but not really required.

Quote - Lol, someone actually just put a light saber into into poser freestuff (it's still in pending so you won't be able to see it).  I like yours better, so I guess that means it's worthy ;)  But seriously, it looks very nice.  If you do release it as a freebie, it might be nice if you include a help file for how to get it to glow in photoshop (or whatever you used), but not really required.

 

Thank you.  I'll keep that in mind.  

I'm trying to figure out how to give it a glowing effect in Poser so hopefully I can put it together to glow without postwork.

Oh, ok, even better!