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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2016 1:47 am 
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My lighting set up.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7144/2719 ... 6528_b.jpg

You could also do this with a white seamless background sans the black flag/scrim on the left.
But yeah! It's that easy. LOL

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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2016 2:42 am 
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Very nice setup. Much nicer than my two 4'x3' white poster board stuffed between sofa cushions with Vader in between them.

It would make a fun competition to try to replicate the exact lighting used in a given scene.

I've already found that if I use my typical DPDLX ESB lighting setup with a bounce board below and in front and from the side with this eFx ANH, it doesn't look right. It looks more like an ESB, especially if I move the eFx dome higher to expose the too-reflective-and-grey eyebrows.

The ANH typically is better lit with overhead lighting which typically causes the mask eyebrows to be in shadow or partially illuminated because of the dome overhang.

George kept the lighting simple. Kersh had lighting coming from everywhere! And I don't think Marquand thought much about it at all.


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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2016 3:44 am 
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From what I've seen in terms of reflections, Kersh used some uplighting to catch the highlights just right - especially the eyebrows under the dome. You could have painted Vader all black, and Kersh would have made it work.

Marquand was using reflectors instead of lighting, and depending how far away the reflectors are, many times, they're not doing to shit. ROTJ was just awful at lighting Vader.

Lucas? I believe he was learning on the fly - kinda like they received the Final (hero) Vader helmet the day of the first shoot, and had to run with it. Not sure they had time to study how lighting affected Vader's helmet too much prior to the movie. ...at least that's the way it seems in the movie, and as they discovered during filming, he was a blackhole in the frame, so they adjusted the paint to make it pop.


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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2016 11:14 am 
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Excellent reviews and photo's lads :thumbsup


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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2016 6:19 pm 
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Now that the PCR version of the EFX Vader is shipping, you have to think the price of the EFX Limited Edition (Fiberglass) Vader is going to drop.

Even two or three months ago, this might have been snatched up within a day.

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=261659

Also have to think those EFX LE's on Ebay asking $2,000+ are NOT going to get a sale anytime soon.


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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Sun May 29, 2016 1:06 am 
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craigjohn wrote:
Now that the PCR version of the EFX Vader is shipping, you have to think the price of the EFX Limited Edition (Fiberglass) Vader is going to drop.


I agree and wrote the same in a review I submitted to baitme.com where I bought this helmet. But it hasn't been moderated, or it was rejected. I titled it "Shhhhh... do you hear that?" and continued in the body of the review, "it's the sound of ebay resale prices of the eFx Limited/Legend falling like a rock!"

One thing I don't like about this helmet is the default dome positioning. Fortunately, it's easy to remove the dome ring (no need to pull out a Dremel). In the following topic I show how to remove the dome ring, which is pretty obvious, and some pictures with different dome positions:

http://thepropden.aokforums.com/vt4925.html


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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Sun May 29, 2016 1:46 am 
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Anyone wanting to see more photos of this helmet, including close-up feature details, can go to my flickr account album where I'm storing all the ones I've been taking (lots of repeats because I often use 1 second burst mode, and mostly unedited). There's 357 photos in this album currently... and counting! Most recent should appear first.

This is also a test of flickr photo sharing versus photobucket (which often causes my browser to hang and doesn't allow for easily reorganizing photos). With flickr it's easy* to share an album, but I haven't found a good way to share individual photos to a forum.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/134823489@N04/T3myPx

*easy to share the album, but will be empty for public viewing unless you perform a batch edit of all the photos in the album and change the permission on all photos contained in it to public.

The above link should work on web browsers and with Tapatalk using Web View.


Last edited by banthapoodoo on Sun May 29, 2016 5:34 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Sun May 29, 2016 2:20 am 
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All the of the individual photos I've taken myself, I share through Flickr. It's super easy.

Click the photo you want to share, go to the downloads icon, and select "see all". A new window opens with a bunch different sized options. Click the size you want to share, open the image in a new tab, copy the URL, paste it between this [img]and%20this[/img].

It's faster than it sounds. LOL


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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Sun May 29, 2016 8:17 pm 
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Well, talked myself out of it, then back in to it. Should make a good display piece so figure I'll get one before folks snatch them up and start inflating the prices on them.


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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2016 4:17 am 
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These don't sound like a limited run - so the price should stay pretty steady for quite a while. Except for the boner EBay add asking $460 - though I'm not sure if that's USD.


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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2016 4:26 am 
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Yeah, saw that asshat while I was searching. This lid will definitely be displayable while I work on a more accurate cast.
Doing an ESB 1:1 so this won't do for that, BUT I could always get another and modify to ESB....


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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 2:31 am 
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Some nice detailed comp pics between eFx Legend and PCR were submitted by a user on rebelscum. It confirms to me that the PCR was indeed made using the same reference model, same scale as the Limited/Legend.
http://forum.rebelscum.com/showthread.php?t=1127224&page=7&p=19807191&viewfull=1#post19807191


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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 3:38 am 
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Thanks for sharing, Bantha.

The PCR may be from the same reference material, but the PCR is lacking the soul from the resin/fiberglass props.

I would almost compare it to film photography vs. digital photography. Digital images captured with these new hyper resolution multi-coated lenses are so precise and clean, the files are rather sterile. It's one of the reasons I've gone back to using old 1970's manual focus film lenses - it just softens the "digitalness", and gives the files character.

...Film (especially when captured with old lenses) images are imperfect. They have character. They have a soul.

When you see the PCR next to the legend, you can see the difference...

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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 4:23 am 
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Interesting. What the heck is up with their site by the way?! I mean - weeks to fix???????

I guess maybe some computer programs are like that huh


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 Post subject: Re: New ABS Vader helmet efx - no pictures yet but...
PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:28 am 
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darthjones wrote:
Interesting. What the heck is up with their site by the way?! I mean - weeks to fix???????

I guess maybe some computer programs are like that huh


From the stack trace error page I see they are using a really old version of the Microsoft .NET Foundation libraries, so it wouldn't surprise me that an update to their storefront software didn't go so well. But it does surprise me that they didn't leave the operational site intact and test it on a separate system to confirm it works before deploying it live. And a few speculate that it being down for so long could be intentional. Conspiracy theorists! http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=157451&page=35

craigjohn wrote:
Thanks for sharing, Bantha.

The PCR may be from the same reference material, but the PCR is lacking the soul from the resin/fiberglass props.

I would almost compare it to film photography vs. digital photography. Digital images captured with these new hyper resolution multi-coated lenses are so precise and clean, the files are rather sterile. It's one of the reasons I've gone back to using old 1970's manual focus film lenses - it just softens the "digitalness", and gives the files character.

...Film (especially when captured with old lenses) images are imperfect. They have character. They have a soul.


Oh I agree. And that's why I called this a "reference helmet." I've already found it quite useful to see more clearly the differences in shapes, angles and surface areas that make A New Hope unique. If you were to map out the location of every point on the helmet compared to the original it might match up 95%... Limited/Legend 97%-98%. And that last 2% most difficult to obtain sub-millimeter accuracy relegated to authentic casts. (% just guesses)

Ah the analog vs digital debate. I imagine in your living room stacks of seventies 33 RPM LPs, a vacuum-tube amplifier, and 5 foot tall stereo Kenwood speakers on either side of the room :P But I get it - the quantizing, pixelization, and how camera software and print media often get in the way of getting the picture you want.

Because it's a timely reference, I'll mention that the late music artist Prince insisted that in all his recordings or live performances that no sequenced tracks be used. This after exasperation from his initial use of MIDI sequencing and editing and the unavoidable quantizing effects. It sounded artificial. He required that all instruments must be played live, all vocals sung live, which truly distinguishes the real performers from the button pushers and lip syncers.


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