How To: Make lightsaber effects using after effects

Did you ever want to know how to create Star Wars style lightsaber effects for your own home videos? Youtube user Comphelper225 has a way make this little bit of movie magic come to life using Adobe After Effects. Once you have a video of yourself or a friend swinging a base for your sword, the next step is to download Andrew Kramer's lightsaber presets from the Video Copilot website. Once it's installed, open up your video in After Effects to begin. Within the program, click Layer, New, and Solid. Once the dialog box has appeared click the Make Comp Size button. From the Effects & Presets menu drag the Andrew Kramer lightsaber preset onto the main video window. Go to the Effect Controls panel and pick a color and adjust the thickness to your liking. A glowing saber should be on the new layer. You can move the lightsaber onto the point where the base is in the video and keyframe each spot where the base is. You can also add motion blur effects from the Layer options. Now you'll have a fun saber effect to show off to friends or family.