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FX-Sabers Discussion - Including a Gallery of custom sabers. => New Ideas and Technologies => Component Blade and Non Component blade comparisons. => Topic started by: JediWizard on January 11, 2015, 12:32:49 PM
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cfls is the way of the future, may scorpion and i have empties so we can add cfls boards;)
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Might not make a difference, but just throwing out my interest for a CF-LS version as well. Blade would not have to be included.
But don't worry. I'll be pouncing on this regardless. As long as it doesn't stretch my wallet too wide...
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You guys do understand it isn't as simple as using a different soundboard right? The machinework has to be totally changed to account for the din connector instead of an led, and, the connector from the blade to the din connector also has to be made. The purpose of a run like this isn't to have 3 different sets of parts made, nor is it to have them all made the same, and then manually machine all of these extra pieces.
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To be honest I didn't consider the LS when we started working with this design. Right now it is too late in the game to try and change the design to accommodate the LS...sorry guys I just didn't think about it and really wanted to stick with one thing anyway to keep cost lower.
I am also not that familiar with the LS and thought I remember there is an issue getting foam inserts for the 7/8th blades. That may have been solved since I read that though.
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There is only one saber you can get the 7/8" foam from, that's the problem. For 1", you can use any of the mr blade foams but 3 of them (yoda, windu, and maul).
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yeah the male din will go where the led,heat sink and lens go,we can fit the female din to the blade ;) be grand :)
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But what will hold it there? The air?
If you want to buy a fully installed one and gut it to put a cf ls in, you can do that.
Also, a din connector takes up more space than a tri cree/rebel led, so it can"t go in the same spot regardless of where the led is in the hilt.
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Not to rain on anyone's parade here, but CFLS is hardly "the wave of the future". You do realize that string blades have been around since the very beginning? Not just with MRFX, but Hyperdyne was a huge player at one time. Makoto moved into the vacuum he vacated. There was a demand for Plecter quality sound with a stringblade and so CFLS was born and it is a great product and an excellent option for someone who wants primarily a showpiece. But, the tech that sells overwhelmingly is in hilt LEDs. There have always been stringblade solutions and they have their place in the hobby but because of the fact that people like to smack around their sabers ^-^ it will always be just a segment of the hobby.
As ANAKIN mentioned, different space considerations have to be taken into account during the design phase. This saber is designed to be as close to screen accurate as possible and the neck is very thin just like the prop. Without a redesign or major modification I do not see how you would fit an LED blade in there.
This is going to be the definitive Obi ROTS to date! I think it is going to be more than grand just as it is :)). I look forward to seeing these come to life!
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ah we'll make it fit,check out hotwingz00 obi etc,its awesome,its accurate and its cfls, in hilt led is useless if the blade is any longer than 2 ft long, if you like a huge flare at the botton and bit of colour in a tube at the top for dualing thats cool but i like the flare at the bottom that continues to the top, anyone wanna go in on a hilt, you can have the internals haha ;)
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I don't know what blades or sabers you have but that is simply not true of all blades and all sabers. Base flare is characteristic of certain manufacturer's products not all sabers ;).
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it doesnt have to be a din it can be done with a small quick snap connector that would sit inside the blade
similar to how mr did it,
id say if you want to go for cfls it will need installed after we receive them
i too would have liked the option but its cool
on the brightness side of things will the led be in the emitter or behind the neck section?
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ive a gladius with pc2 done by GG,obi tpm with cfv6 done by LB,shock le with ignitor n z6 by IAC and many others but my cfls's and makotos are much better brightness wise;)
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It depends on the type of LED used and the blade. The X-4 that comes with the Gladius and the z6 both have central LEDs that go under a single lens not designed for that purpose. That can cause base flare and dimming as you go up the blade. You might try some other LED options because I promise you it is possible to have a bright even 3 foot blade with an in hilt LED. I do agree though that LED Stringblades can be incredibly bright and I do love the scrolling effect :).
I have complete confidence that MH, LDM and Orbital machining will produce a saber that is a must have, that will have a bright even blade that will be a cherished item in any collection :).
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i dont think general grievous uses the x4 when he put in the LEDEngin 10W RGBW
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Split off so this can have its own topic and not clutter someone's sale discussion.
String blades will obviously look different than in hilt LEDs as they are different things. However it is completely possible to have a bright even blade with an in hilt LED.
Quick example of one of our Combat Class, 32" blade on these:
(https://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi136.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fq169%2FAJFenderBender%2FCombat%2520Class%2F014_zps7a20cf46.jpg&hash=c042df4b024f1f4aa9ec53c9d6e6c485ce305989) (http://s136.photobucket.com/user/AJFenderBender/media/Combat%20Class/014_zps7a20cf46.jpg.html)
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Wow....I must say I'm experiencing a bit of deja-vu here....I thought we had this discussion about 7 or 8 years ago.
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LOL at how this escalated. Here is the thing...I have nothing against LS and it has its place just as the regular LED does. Both are great technologies and everyone has their preferences. There is nothing at all wrong with that. I like both though I do not personally have any LS sabers anymore.
The problem is we did not design the hilt for LS and we are keeping things as simple as possible to make it more affordable and easier for installs as well. The only option this run will have will be the color of the FoC you want...no CS, no PC...just CF 7.5 and a tri-LED.
While I completely understand people wanting an LS it is just not an option for the said run. I am really sorry that I cant accommodate everyone with this run as much as I would like to...I just cant. If you want to get it, sell the CF7.5 and LED and put a LS in then that is your prerogative and you will probably come out about the same in the end had I offered it but it will not be an option from me. I do not want to dissuade people from buying on the run but I am just not offering them in an LS format.
on the brightness side of things will the led be in the emitter or behind the neck section?
When designing the saber with the machinist we had some options. We could have larger blade depth or a brighter blade. I want to keep this 100% accurate but I also wanted brightness. I decided to put the LED in the emitter and lose some blade depth because the hole for the neck on this saber is really small and I felt it would be dim especially with a tri LED. We also decided to keep the blade holder at the correct length for accuracy so it reduces depth there. The blade depth is roughly the same as the MKIII so it shouldn't be an issue at all but with the LED being right under the blade it will be plenty bright.
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on the brightness side of things will the led be in the emitter or behind the neck section?
When designing the saber with the machinist we had some options. We could have larger blade depth or a brighter blade. I want to keep this 100% accurate but I also wanted brightness. I decided to put the LED in the emitter and lose some blade depth because the hole for the neck on this saber is really small and I felt it would be dim especially with a tri LED. We also decided to keep the blade holder at the correct length for accuracy so it reduces depth there. The blade depth is roughly the same as the MKIII so it shouldn't be an issue at all but with the LED being right under the blade it will be plenty bright.
Well, the other thin neck saber, the Mk VI has the led in the neck, not the emitter. That one is plenty bright, but of course, I don't think it's a tri LED.
Of course, these aren't really dueling sabers, so blade depth isn't that big of a deal. Even so, the emitter LED is probably the right choice.
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on the brightness side of things will the led be in the emitter or behind the neck section?
When designing the saber with the machinist we had some options. We could have larger blade depth or a brighter blade. I want to keep this 100% accurate but I also wanted brightness. I decided to put the LED in the emitter and lose some blade depth because the hole for the neck on this saber is really small and I felt it would be dim especially with a tri LED. We also decided to keep the blade holder at the correct length for accuracy so it reduces depth there. The blade depth is roughly the same as the MKIII so it shouldn't be an issue at all but with the LED being right under the blade it will be plenty bright.
Well, the other thin neck saber, the Mk VI has the led in the neck, not the emitter. That one is plenty bright, but of course, I don't think it's a tri LED.
Of course, these aren't really dueling sabers, so blade depth isn't that big of a deal. Even so, the emitter LED is probably the right choice.
You are correct that the MKVI is very bright even with the tri-LED but the neck on this is much smaller than the MKVI and the hole for the light is not large enough to give the same light as the MKVI.
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I think if you use the correct blade it will be just as bright as string blades.
Certain blades look great in some sabers I have and not great in others.
This one cloudy white blade I have looks bad in most sabers but just excellent in my JQ hilt with a Tri Rebel.
My Jango blade is spectacular in some of my sabers and the other day I was just thinking how my Anakin hilt with a Tri Rebel LED (1 Inch blade) looked just as bright and even as a string blade.
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Seeing is believing and I have never seen an in hilt LED outshine a good string blade. Haven't had a chance to see a CFLS in action, but that makoto's. WoW. Then again with the many blade connections I don't see a string blade holding up as well as a single point blade. So I doubt a string blade will ever make it into any of my personal sabers. Plus I havent felt a well balanced string blade, too top heavy.
I haven't seen a 40w led powered saber like sunriders in action though. Tris,x4, cree, X4, Z6, 10w LED yes but not a 40w or 20w.
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Seeing is believing and I have never seen an in hilt LED outshine a good string blade. Haven't had a chance to see a CFLS in action, but that makoto's. WoW. Then again with the many blade connections I don't see a string blade holding up as well as a single point blade. So I doubt a string blade will ever make it into any of my personal sabers. Plus I havent felt a well balanced string blade, too top heavy.
I haven't seen a 40w led powered saber like sunriders in action though. Tris,x4, cree, X4, Z6, 10w LED yes but not a 40w or 20w.
Oh I am always surprised how light in weight Makoto's string blades are. Even the V4 with 4 strings in it seems very lightweight. But my favorite is the V3 plus with the two strings because the weight doesn't feel like any more than a regular blade with plastic wrap inside. One day I will get a scale to weigh them and see. I don't own a scale right now but they always felt light to me. Maybe because Makoto uses the 3mm leds the blade ends up being very light.
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i agree space, makotos blades are very lightweight suprisingly at times you would never think ther was a load of leds in them
they spin great also
the reason i want to get cfls sabers is because i miss the ramping fx and the cfls blade features look great and a bit different from the usual cf fx
and also as most of my high end sabers are not for dueling anyway i dont see the need for a single led, back in the day the single led was used so we could duel with our sabers
i think for a non dueling saber the cfls is perfect
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i agree space, makotos blades are very lightweight suprisingly at times you would never think ther was a load of leds in them
they spin great also
the reason i want to get cfls sabers is because i miss the ramping fx and the cfls blade features look great and a bit different from the usual cf fx
and also as most of my high end sabers are not for dueling anyway i dont see the need for a single led, back in the day the single led was used so we could duel with our sabers
i think for a non dueling saber the cfls is perfect
Yes I agree for non-dueling sabers a CF LS is really great. Heck,... I'll even duel with mine... I don't mind 8) They are actually pretty robust. And I agree about the ramping up and down of the CF LS.... that is the effect my soul desires!
A really movie-quality effect. And all the settings Plecter Labs designs into the boards make you able to fully control every aspect of the retraction/ignition speed, brightness, capacity, special effects and more.
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The ramping is okay, but it's certainly not enough by itself to justify the amount of extra work that goes into a string blade. It's not like it has 100 individually segmented leds and can ramp the whole way up. There are only 6 segments.
My energy sword can use each led as its own segment, but there are limits to that tech too.
I mean, for a thin neck saber where your choices are led in the body or led string, i usually pick led string. But, for sabers where the led goes right under the blade, just having a 6 segment ramp doesn't seem worth 20 hours of making a blade plus install and extra machine time.
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the ramping fx is really awesome especially when you have not seen it for a while i had nothing but single led sabers for such a long time then when i got my makoto saber i was like woah cool i didnt think i missed that feature so much (from the MR days) but i did and when you think about it it is a major fx from the movies and looks even better in the dark with that hiss start ignition
for the rest of my sabers where possible to do so i will be going cfls i almost requested that my wat mauls were to be cfls, it was only because of the slim blades that i decided to go single led
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As I'm sure Alex already knows, there are many other cool features to an LS... not just the ramping.
The light trails are different, there's Accubolt TM (On the Plecter board), and the blade really looks more 'alive' to my eyes than does the single LED. Not to take anything away from single LED, as I love those, too and still buy them, still make them, still play with them- very much enjoy them. Also looking forward to custom single LED sabers.
There are just differences to them both. Pros and cons.
ANAKIN is correct absolutely that LS takes more time to make and requires more money. Plus a whole host of other issues such as hoping each LED is the correct BIN so the colors match up the blade, hoping there are no burnouts, and cleanly assembling all that is required into a less than one inch tube including foam. And there are limitations currently such as not really being able to do RGB setups (maybe that will change with technology and next iterations of 'Erv's boards). So if you want a color change saber... its either Makoto or standard LED.
Can't tell you how grateful I am to 'Erv and Plecter Labs for coming out with the LS board. That is literally a dream come true for me and I am so glad that board is available. Since the LS enthusiasts are even smaller in number than saber enthusiasts, I am very grateful 'Erv found the interest high enough to produce this wonderful soundboard/driver.
Short video shows some CFLS features:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC_ybLah-8o (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC_ybLah-8o)
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yeah, I don't want anyone to misunderstand... There is far more to it than just ramping. The simulated bargraph blade is one of my favorite features of the LS, for when you're using isaber.
I was just trying to make the point that making every saber a string blade is a very tedious process, especially when you aren't gaining that much brightness (2 dice of a tri cree is very comparable to a slothfurnace style led string blade when the led is mounted at the base of the blade... The tech has gone further than most realize). Like for my mkvi reveal, sure, it makes sense to do an LS blade, because then you can have full brightness and still be able to take the saber apart. The only other way to do that would be to mount the led in the blade itself, on a din connector so you can take it out to unscrew the hilt and show the reveal. But it's just so time consuming to do, that it's one of my least favorite things to do (right up there with watching fiberglass cure and waiting for paint to dry).
As space mentioned, you have to buy the leds from the right place, in a strip package format (meaning that they come off of the production line in a sequence, and are cut from a tape roll strip and shipped to you in the same order that they came off of the production line). That costs more. And, most people want FoC. I have not yet actually dont a correct FoC blade with a standard one, though I know exactly how I have to do it. It's far more complicated than just making 2 ladders of leds and shoving them in the foam tube. It's tough work, and it's also why even if someone paid me an hourly rate, I still won't make a string blade by itself. Don't mind doing it on top of a crystal chamber commission, but it's just not feasible for anyone to sit around making them to sell. No one wants to pay $500 for a blade.