Post by Admin on Feb 15, 2016 14:10:14 GMT -5
A Padawan's Guide and Glossary/Dictionary to a lightsaber
Lightsaber hilts are available in 3 main types:
1) Custom - hand made custom built hilt (from parts not specifically designed to be used for a Lightsaber hilt: pipe tubes, PVC, etc.)
2) MHS parts - MHS refers to the Modular Hilt System. An online program on "The Custom Saber Shop" webpage. The Custom Saber Shop (TCSS) has a program called the MHS which will allow you to buy premade lightsaber parts that are designed to fit together to build your own Lightsaber. You can put customize your own lightsaber - the pommel, the body, the blade holder, the switches... everything.
3) "Factory" builds - these lightsabers are sold by various manufacturers either as empty hilts only, hilts with a light up blade only (also known as "Stunts"), or complete lightsabers with light up blade and sound (the Hasbro company is a good example of this).
Besides the hilt, for a functioning lightsaber, you will need:
1) Some kind of blade electronics to make your blade light up
2) Sound (if you want)
For Blade Electronics, there are basically 3 kinds:
1) EL (Electro Luminescent) - generally thought to be older technology, it is a wire that lights up when electricity is applied to it.
2) Single LED (Light Emitting Diode) - Basically a powerful flashlight. A single "bulb" (an LED), is in the hilt that lights a tube (the blade). Also known as a Luxeon style.
3) Component LED - A string of LEDs in the blade itself that lights up. Generally, because the blade is composed of a string of individual LEDs, you can have a powering up effect (the light will move up the blade) and a powering down effect (the light will move down the blade). Also, these are thought to be somewhat more fragile than a single LED blade.
For Sound, there is basically the:
1) CF (Crystal Focus) - made by Plecter Labs, general consensus is that this is the top of the line sound board.
2) PC (Petite Crouton) - also made by Plecter Labs, some have called this the "Baby" CF. (v3.5)
3) Prizm - a single cell version of the PC, designed to run on a single 3.7V Li-Ion battery
4) Nano Biscotti (NB) - an "Entry level" sound card, designed to run on a single 3.7V Li-Ion battery
5) Hasbro or Master Replica boards - taken from Hasbro or Master replica factory lightsabers.
Of all the components above, the Sound board is probably the most important
The proper sound board will not only offer you different sound options, but it can also drive the way the blade works.
Some features that you should consider for the electronics/sound/blade are:
1) Sounds the saber can make: boot sound (the sound the saber makes upon turning it on), ignition, de-ignition, clash (when the saber hits something like another blade), swinging, lock up (the sound the saber will make when crossing another saber blade), blaster deflecting sounds. The last two sounds, the lock-up and blaster deflection, are usually controlled by an auxillary button on the saber if your sound board supports this feature.
2) Blade ignition/de-ignition: does it fade in and dim out, or just turn on like a light switch, or scroll up and down (LED string blades can do this)
3) Blade flicker: does the blade light remain constant, or flicker like in the movies
4) Flash on Clash: does the blade light flash/flicker when it hits something (clashes).
5) Sound boards can support the functioning of accessory LEDs - LEDs (lights) that blink, or indicate something like power, battery level, etc.
Power
You will need some kind of battery pack to power the lights and sound:
1) Some kind of disposable over-the-counter battery (like AAA or AA)
2) Rechargeable battery pack: either take the batteries out and recharge them, or have an in-hilt recharge system (called a recharging port, usually 2.1mm standard size, a port in the saber that you connect to a recharger to recharge the saber). Most commonly used rechargeable battery packs use Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) batteries that are sized as 14500 or 18650.
Some really nice features to consider:
- Blade effects, such as: flicker (shimmer), Clash/Flash, ignition brightness fade in/out add greatly to the realism of the lightsaber effect.
- Some sound cards allow you to change the sounds the saber makes, you can load different sounds into the board. A definite plus. They call these loadable sounds, "Fonts", and there are a bunch of custom fonts out there. DO NOT PIRATE THESE - A LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE WORK HARD TO CREATE THESE, SO GIVE THEM THEIR DUE.
- Some sound cards allow you to change the sensitivity of the settings (when to clash, when to give the swing sounds, etc).
That's what makes the CF (Crystal Focus made by Plecter Labs) so desireable, it has all of the above customizable features.
NOTE: A SPECIAL THANKS TO SANJURO ON THE FX-SABERS FORUM FOR MAKING THE ORIGINAL LIST AND GLOSSARY!
Lightsaber hilts are available in 3 main types:
1) Custom - hand made custom built hilt (from parts not specifically designed to be used for a Lightsaber hilt: pipe tubes, PVC, etc.)
2) MHS parts - MHS refers to the Modular Hilt System. An online program on "The Custom Saber Shop" webpage. The Custom Saber Shop (TCSS) has a program called the MHS which will allow you to buy premade lightsaber parts that are designed to fit together to build your own Lightsaber. You can put customize your own lightsaber - the pommel, the body, the blade holder, the switches... everything.
3) "Factory" builds - these lightsabers are sold by various manufacturers either as empty hilts only, hilts with a light up blade only (also known as "Stunts"), or complete lightsabers with light up blade and sound (the Hasbro company is a good example of this).
Besides the hilt, for a functioning lightsaber, you will need:
1) Some kind of blade electronics to make your blade light up
2) Sound (if you want)
For Blade Electronics, there are basically 3 kinds:
1) EL (Electro Luminescent) - generally thought to be older technology, it is a wire that lights up when electricity is applied to it.
2) Single LED (Light Emitting Diode) - Basically a powerful flashlight. A single "bulb" (an LED), is in the hilt that lights a tube (the blade). Also known as a Luxeon style.
3) Component LED - A string of LEDs in the blade itself that lights up. Generally, because the blade is composed of a string of individual LEDs, you can have a powering up effect (the light will move up the blade) and a powering down effect (the light will move down the blade). Also, these are thought to be somewhat more fragile than a single LED blade.
For Sound, there is basically the:
1) CF (Crystal Focus) - made by Plecter Labs, general consensus is that this is the top of the line sound board.
2) PC (Petite Crouton) - also made by Plecter Labs, some have called this the "Baby" CF. (v3.5)
3) Prizm - a single cell version of the PC, designed to run on a single 3.7V Li-Ion battery
4) Nano Biscotti (NB) - an "Entry level" sound card, designed to run on a single 3.7V Li-Ion battery
5) Hasbro or Master Replica boards - taken from Hasbro or Master replica factory lightsabers.
Of all the components above, the Sound board is probably the most important
The proper sound board will not only offer you different sound options, but it can also drive the way the blade works.
Some features that you should consider for the electronics/sound/blade are:
1) Sounds the saber can make: boot sound (the sound the saber makes upon turning it on), ignition, de-ignition, clash (when the saber hits something like another blade), swinging, lock up (the sound the saber will make when crossing another saber blade), blaster deflecting sounds. The last two sounds, the lock-up and blaster deflection, are usually controlled by an auxillary button on the saber if your sound board supports this feature.
2) Blade ignition/de-ignition: does it fade in and dim out, or just turn on like a light switch, or scroll up and down (LED string blades can do this)
3) Blade flicker: does the blade light remain constant, or flicker like in the movies
4) Flash on Clash: does the blade light flash/flicker when it hits something (clashes).
5) Sound boards can support the functioning of accessory LEDs - LEDs (lights) that blink, or indicate something like power, battery level, etc.
Power
You will need some kind of battery pack to power the lights and sound:
1) Some kind of disposable over-the-counter battery (like AAA or AA)
2) Rechargeable battery pack: either take the batteries out and recharge them, or have an in-hilt recharge system (called a recharging port, usually 2.1mm standard size, a port in the saber that you connect to a recharger to recharge the saber). Most commonly used rechargeable battery packs use Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) batteries that are sized as 14500 or 18650.
Some really nice features to consider:
- Blade effects, such as: flicker (shimmer), Clash/Flash, ignition brightness fade in/out add greatly to the realism of the lightsaber effect.
- Some sound cards allow you to change the sounds the saber makes, you can load different sounds into the board. A definite plus. They call these loadable sounds, "Fonts", and there are a bunch of custom fonts out there. DO NOT PIRATE THESE - A LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE WORK HARD TO CREATE THESE, SO GIVE THEM THEIR DUE.
- Some sound cards allow you to change the sensitivity of the settings (when to clash, when to give the swing sounds, etc).
That's what makes the CF (Crystal Focus made by Plecter Labs) so desireable, it has all of the above customizable features.
NOTE: A SPECIAL THANKS TO SANJURO ON THE FX-SABERS FORUM FOR MAKING THE ORIGINAL LIST AND GLOSSARY!
