There are a tonne of tutorials regarding creating lightsabres for your fanfilm, using a myriad of programmes. This tutorial is pretty simple, and required Photoshop to implement. I used Photoshop 6, but the technique is identical to earlier versions. As well as a tonne of tutorials there are also a huge variety of opinions on what make a good looking lightsabre. I won't go into any of that, I'm just showing you an easy way to create them.

First you need to create a FILMSTRIP file. To do this open your footage in an image editing programme (Adobe Premiere and Adobe After effects are perfect) and save your footage as a .flm file (one of the many options you have to save in) A filmstrip basically converts the footage into a load of frames, one underneath another. Don't get to greedy and try to make a 30 second filmstrip file all at once, as this will create a very large, very unweildy file. Keep the file to a few seconds at a time.

Once you have created your filmstrip, open it in photoshop and it will look similar to the one above. With your footage open in photoshop click on NEW LAYER to begin.

For neatness rename this layer so you don't get confused later (obviously you will probably have more than one blade in frame, and carefully labelling your layer will help later on). You are now ready to begin the wonderful world of rotoscoping.

Click on the lasso tool to start rotoscoping. Making sure you are in your 'Green Blade' layer, click and drag the lasso tool around your first lightsabre and close the marquee at the end.

Once you have closed the marque, fill it with white. then move down to the next frame and repeat this operation, then the next etc.,

The more accurately you do this the better the end result. Enlarge the image in frame in order to increase your accuracy, and take your time. This is the only tricky part of the operation, from here onwards it's a breeze.

Once you have completed filling all of the marquee areas you have completed the hard part. It's easy street from here on in. Now go to FILTER > BLUR > GUASSIAN BLUR and type in a figure for the central core (usually about 1.0 or under, but this depends on the size of the sabre in the frame, experiment with this to see what you like)

Now make a duplicate of your 'Green sabre' layer. Highlighting this new duplicate layer, again go to FILTER > BLUR > GAUSSIAN BLUR and this time type in a higher number, say about 6.0 (again this depends (a) on the size of the sabre in the frame, and (b) on personal taste) This new layer will form part of the green glow of the sabre.

Now you are really in the home straight. Simply drag this new green layer underneath the original white 'core' layer and it's finally beginning to look like a lightsabre, if you like your sabres bright, duplicate the new green layer so there are two. Go to FILTER > BLUR > GAUSSIAN BLUR and this time type in an even higher number, say about 8.0 This will increase the intensity of the sabre. But there is still one thing missing....

Turn all of these newly created layers from NORMAL to SCREEN (in the area circled in red) this will make them appear natural when again light areas (especially when one sabre blade crossed another one, the crossover area will appear white as the two colours 'add' together). Repeat this process if you have more than one sabre in the shot at once. Once you have completed all the rotoscoping, go to FILE > SAVE AS and again choose FILMSTRIP pull this new file into your image editing programme and render out, add your sounds effects and Bingo! You are fighting with a deadly lightsabre, not a plastic toy you bought from Toys'r'Us.