Novastar's Staged Combat Tutorial

[greytale]

NOTE TO ANYONE WATCHING:

This tutorial is now available as a "standalone" CD product via Ultrasabers.

Visit the Ultrasabers website to purchase it, for only $10. :)

--Novastar

[MSCDstagecombat]

Looks great! Good speed, and the lightsabers look great.

[alancomp]

looks like red is your color novastar!

[EmperorLjas]

Polystyrene makes a loud noise when hit... Isn't there anything that could soften the sound, like a soft, transparent layer of.... tape or something?

[greytale]

The blades are actually polycarbonate, but... you are right that most objects make a lot of noise when they collide! :)

If you discover something that works better... hmm, my guess is that it'd be worth a fortune--or at least help hundreds of folks who "need" that for performances. :)

[EmperorLjas]

Did I say polystyrene? Uh, that's not a very good blade material, now is it? :P

Has anyone ever tried to coat their blade with normal see-through tape? How much would it affect the brightness and loudness of the saber?

[greytale]

Tape will not lessen the sound of impact... a good example for testing would be... coat a hammer with something--like a rubber "boot", and then strike it against another surface...

...you will still get the "impact" noise. This is just physics and the properties of sound and friction... :)

[AltShiftSmoke]

@EmperorLjas Or what about thin layer of silicone calking the clear of course was painted on?

[lightsaber1138]

whoa... that looks fun- its to bad that the plastic makes so much noise but pretty cool

[masterninjalord]

nice man how long have you been in fencing

[greytale]

Thanks... and although this is not really "fencing" in the video, I've fenced over a period of about 7 or 8 years, although only more "competitively" for 2 or 3 of those... :)

[kyle7936]

so it looks like you can hit those sabers pretty hard are they ones you made?

[greytale]

Right. Those are the "Flange III" sabers--in this video, both were housing Crystal Focus version 2.61... although they are now both more heavily upgraded.

[ihasforce]

Now thats epic!

I see that your ally is in the Force. And a powerful ally it is...

[ArtAndAtrocity]

The blade blur at the end makes it look like you're holding a white and a red in the same hand.

Can I be your Padawan?

[greytale]

Interestingly enough... since the sabers actually "flicker", there are moments when the camera catches a frame when they are "off" (or at least in a dimmer moment)... and yup--you got it right, it can look as though the saber is both colored and white at the same time.

Keen observation!

[SonOfAdam94]

Peace be upon you,

Right on! Fight on!

I love it.