Sideshow ESB/ROTJ Darth Vader

[anwe]

Just measured them and they're both 14" tall from bottom of boot to top of dome. Where are those numbers coming from?

People appear to be getting all sorts of differing heights. Surely everyone can't be right.

There's even pictures in the thread with the figure and the ruler measuring 13,5" as well as 14" so I don't know what to make of it. If you lay the figure down or stand him up next to a ruler I wouldn't think a measurement could be off that much.

 

[Snake Plissken]

The dark lord is here. Took some with and without flash.

 

[paramoremcr88]

Looks great!

Can't wait for mine, tomorrow hopefully

 

[GearheadSS]

Please forgive the lighting and camera angle at times. This is the first video with the new camera.

 

[Sidious-66]

Congratulations Snake, Lord Vader is looking great in your collection mate.

 

[Snake Plissken]

Looks great!

Can't wait for mine, tomorrow hopefully

It's definitely in the top 3 figures I have, truly astonishing. You'll love it

 

[Snake Plissken]

Congratulations Snake, Lord Vader is looking great in your collection mate.

Thanks Sid! So pleased with it. I can't believe how tall he is, he's like a half inch taller than my Predators

 

[Pixelpiper]

It's exactly the way they appear in they movies. The glow blurs when the sabre moves to make them look wider at times. But the source is thin and tapered normally.

No. The sabers are always uniform thickness when they're stationary. Just like Vaders in that image.

Look at Luke's which is almost stationary in this shot. Vader is moving his which makes it glow wider..

No. That's called perspective. Things in the distance seem smaller than things in the foreground, therefore Luke's saber tapers into the distance, just like a road into the horizon. Same for Vader's saber in the second image.

SS got it right before IMO, as did HT..

No. It was for stylistic purposes only. You may like the tapered sabers more, but they're by no means closer in appearance to what's used on screen.

 

[King Darkness]

pixelpiper knows best?


Didn't see that coming.

 

[Rambler]

Final flex finally charged yesterday....now to wait for my shipping notice. Hopefully they'll ship today.

 

[Rorywan]

pixelpiper knows best?


Didn't see that coming.

Of course he does.



Your new sig and avatar make me want to burst the Legend Blu-ray out.

 

[Rorywan]

No. The sabers are always uniform thickness when they're stationary. Just like Vaders in that image.



No. That's called perspective. Things in the distance seem smaller than things in the foreground, therefore Luke's saber tapers into the distance, just like a road into the horizon. Same for Vader's saber in the second image.

No. It was for stylistic purposes only. You may like the tapered sabers more, but they're by no means closer in appearance to what's used on screen.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I never quiet grasped the whole perspective thing until now.
You have been a great help. Now could you explain motion blur to me as well? it's another thing I have difficulty focusing on.
thanks in advance.

 

[King Darkness]

Of course he does.

Does he ever not?

Your new sig and avatar make me want to burst the Legend Blu-ray out.

 

[Pixelpiper]

(RE: Topys Studio LED sabers) I have to say, this looks bad. … There are incredibly bright LED's now.

And they will only look much worse in person. You can't create a convincing saber by lighting only one end - it doesn't matter how bright the LED is. Light travels only in a straight line, so you will see some initial glow at the base, but the brightest part will be the tip - when looking straight down on it. Like he's holding a flashlight.

You can create facets or other imperfections inside the plastic to diffract the light to try and give it a more uniform glow, but that might be a tough little piece of plastic to manufacture. It still doesn't solve the problem of the whole thing being brighter at the base however.

I know where to buy what are called 'chip LEDs', which have no plastic case- they're just bare chips, VERY tiny in size. It's only a matter of time before someone finds a way to harness the power of the new super-bright LED's into the perfect, BLAZING light saber, as bright as the CC's. Even if it means soldering the tiny LED chips together into a double back-to-back strip, then encasing that strip inside opaque colored plastic, for diffusion. I'll wait for that day.

If the plastic were opaque, then it wouldn't, by definition, allow any light to pass through it. I think you mean translucent. And what you call a chip LED is a surface mount LED. Super common, used absolutely everywhere. You would also never wire them like you suggested in your other post, and wiring them correctly it would be almost impossible to put them all right up against each other for a number of reasons, including that they'll need resistors and spacing for the circuit traces. Potentially the resistors could be sandwiched on the inside (between) two strips. Running them in series results in unworkable voltage requirements and poor performance, with voltage drop toward the end of the circuit, plus the potential to knock out the entire circuit with the smallest damage to a single LED or trace.

There are examples out there today of columnar smt LED arrays used to replace traditional light bulbs for automotive (and other) installations. No one makes a 1/6 Lightsaber model yet.

 

[Pixelpiper]

pixelpiper knows best?

Nope, I just know what everyone else also knows - but I was the first person to point it out in this case. Those images are perfect examples of how sabers don't actually taper.

 

[Asta]

No. That's called perspective. Things in the distance seem smaller than things in the foreground...

Instantly made me think of Father Ted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8vbd3E6tK2U

 

[anwe]

If the plastic were opaque, then it wouldn't, by definition, allow any light to pass through it. I think you mean translucent.

I would guess the poster meant opal plastic which is white but translucent when lighted up. the white plastic between the lights and the print on light boxes uses it.

 

[Pixelpiper]

I would guess the poster meant opal plastic which is white but translucent when lighted up. the white plastic between the lights and the print on light boxes uses it.

Yeah, I've installed a bunch of that, including in my own office, and just recently designed two floor-to-ceiling light boxes for a feature wall in a friend's newly built lounge - I'll be helping him to build an outdoor coffee table out of the stuff this summer. The plastics suppliers all call it "translucent white" - opaque lets through zero light.

 

[Rorywan]

Nope, I just know what everyone else also knows - but I was the first person to point it out in this case. Those images are perfect examples of how sabers don't actually taper.

The original trilogy light sabres were straight rods. The practical spinning bar covered in Scotchlight reflective material. No tapering at top or bottom.

However when the rotoscoped light effects were added, the FX artists pointed and tapered the animated glow effects in different ways from shot to shot. Sometimes in completely the wrong perspective.

So:
Thin Bar: Check. SS got it right.
Tapered end: Check. SS got it right.

Perspective: Following your laws of perspective, the lightsaber blade (which was indeed completely straight) would get bigger and thicker when it's closer to us. And thinner when pointing away.

Near = Big, Far = Small, yeah I think I get it now.

Explain this shot then? Where Vader is obviously pointing the blade towards us. If it's not tapered then why doesn't it get BIGGER closer to camera?



The answer: the animators did all kinds of incorrect perspective changes with the sabres in the OT. Including tapering the ends, consistently though they had THIN blades.




"I like my Sith blades thin and tapered"

 

[Rorywan]

Vader: "ah at last.. Obi-Wan..my old master, ...erm...why the hell is your lightsabre getting narrower at the end considering you are pointing it at me?"

Kenobi: "I don't know Darth..maybe you should ask Pixelpiper.. He knows everything, even more than Master Yoda"