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Trying some laser effects

C

CrazyFrazee

Hey all.
So now that I've finished my props, I need to test out blast effects. I want to create an effect like a beam that has burned into your retinas, and is fading away as your eyes adjust. Of course, all I have is trusty premiere 2.0... yeah, I'm indie as hell.
I threw together three different tests, tell me what you think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUYQvlcfr18
 
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That's a good start. I see you used 3 different textures for your beam. I like the last one best. I also noticed that you "flashed" the background plate. The question that comes to my mind is "does an energy weapon have a recoil?" I believe the common practice is to give plasma rifles and such a recoil like a projectile weapon. I'm just not sure that is realistic. If E=MC^2 then if the energy beam had enough mass to cause a noticable recoil, it would have enough energy to destroy a continent! ;)

Doug
 
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I agree, the recoil makes it look a little strange, unless you add maybe some kind of energy wave effect as well, like a donut shape that expands from the barrel of the gun around the beam, moving outward, kind of like a muzzle flash. If it distorts the background some that would be a bonus too.

There's some examples of that kind of effect in a couple of the video co-pilot tutorials...
 
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Good call on the recoil. What you don't see out of frame is the entire world, blown up. I don't mess around when I build props.
Good thought on the distortion too... wouldn't be too hard to do. I'll play with that. I kind of like the last one best too.
 
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Okay, went on location last night and shot some more footage. It's a little too sloppy (I clearly dind't even whitebalance), but it was enough.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wRUwWUbgMY
The distort helps a lot. I may go for a colder look for the beam when the aesthetic of the frame matches it, but because colors were so warm, I dodged the beams. I think it works nicely.
 
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