TOPIC: Brightness

This depends on a lot of variables. Let me first preface this by emphasizing that all of SaberForge's sabers are VERY bright.

Here are some things that affect the brightness of the blade...

-LED color (the lumens (measure of brightness) is brighter on some colors)
-LED wattage (6W, 12W, or the new 12W+)
-Length of blade
-Whether the hilt is a thin-neck
-How charged the battery is

So, that's a lot. The 6W and the 12W do have some base flare issues, however this has been resolved with the new 12W+ which is not only brighter but makes the blade much more evenly lit.

The reason SaberForge doesn't use mirrors in the tip, IIRC, is that the blades are built to be used for dueling. To allow for a more durable blade when fighting, SaberForge uses a threaded tip with no mirror to avoid tips breaking.

This is not to say, however, that if brightness matters to you, you can't just buy an UltraSabers blade. Compared to an UltraSaber with the same blade, SaberForge's sabers are in general much brighter.

All of SaberForge's sabers are bright from what I've seen, so don't let that be a detractor in your decision making.

Also, I highly recommend reading the FAQ which has a lot of great information, answers to your questions, and some you probably din't even know you had!

Hope this helps!

wagner wrote: Saber Forge sabers aren't AS bright as Ultrasabers they are BRIGHTER, WAAAAAAY brighter. The 12w+ LEDs are especially bright, have you ever seen the new Frost white LED? That thing can blind you if you stare at it for too long. Saberforge does this by moving the DIES closer to each other for a more focused lens and in so doing reducing base flare.

wagner wrote:
Yes, red is a great color. Because of the fact that it's just x4 red dies, it tends to be very bright.

The thin-necks do tend to be slightly less bright, but not by much. It's not really that noticeable. If brightness matters to you a lot then I'd recommend the 12W+ upgrade.

As stated above, SaberForge's sabers are amazingly bright.

Here's a great example of just how crazy bright SaberForge's lightsabers are. (this is not my video)

When he turns off the saber you see that he was in a room with lights on. They are ridiculously bright. And that's the 12W, not the 12W+.

With regards to the Exhalted (or thin-necks in general), with the 6 and 12w LEDs, they are a little less bright than their non thin-neck peers. Simply the result of having to pass the light through the thin tube of that thin neck. However, since the new LEDs (12w+) are closer together, that problem is much less noticeable. I have a 12w Exhalted, and I have been very happy with it. However, I will be sending it in for a 12w+ upgrade ASAP, if that is any indicator of my sincerity on the subject.

I have a 12W + red LED in my Venom and it is very bright. I have both 37" and 32" blades and both are very evenly lit when installed in the hilt. If you're looking for the brightest blade that SaberForge offers, then I would definitely recommend going with the 12W +

First -- actually we DO have mirrors in the tip of the blade. They're just designed so the light can still go AROUND the mirror and still fully illuminate the tip, unlike Ultrasabers.

In several direct comparisons, SF sabers are definitely brighter than US blades. And that's comparing thick-wall blades to thin, as well.

That being said, let's avoid the US vs SF arguments and overall comparisons/arguments that can sprout from this, please.

Knytiri wrote:
Right on Knytiri. I have many blades from different vendors including the V4, and while I won't get into comparisons, I will share why I REALLY like the Saber Forge V4. When you're making a fan film or home video, you really have a couple options on how the sabers appear on film. The more difficult way is to rotoscope each frame of footage in something like Adobe After Effects or HitFilm Pro. With enough understanding and practice, this can give you a movie quality look.

Another option is to use really bright LED hilts and set your camera settings to 24fps, and dial up the exposure. By slowing down the frame rate to 24fps (vs 60fps) you get GREAT motion blur from the LED's that can mirror some of the best frame by frame rotoscopes. By dialing up the exposure, you're allowing the sensor to capture more of the light coming from the LED, which will give you a uniform white core, while the surrounding scene/set will have real colored light cast on it as if it were a real blade. This gives much more realistic lighting effects in the overall scene. One of the problems though is that many brands' blade tips always appear unlit on film and you continually have a dark spot or fade on the blade, which gives the blade a squared tip effect on film.

In testing this with a V4 blade, I've found not only do I not get a dead spot near the tip of the blade, I also get a pointed blade tip which looks great with these camera settings. I tested this with a 6W setup just to be sure I could do this with my older hilts.

It's all a matter of preference, and what your objective for the saber is. You can duel with any blade, although the V4 is VERY hard and durable. If you're filming a sequence and your actors blades are bending around every clash, it shows up in the footage, and that can create a scenario where the audience "suspends belief", meaning you break the illusion in the audience's mind. It takes away from the overall experience.

For this reason, I've given away a pile of other blades and replaced them with V4s.

Darth Malik wrote:
This is a fantastic example that Darth Malik shared.

Knytiri wrote:
I stand corrected. Sorry for the misinformation.