glow/lightsaber effect?

Scripting Issues
1

I was wondering how you would make something like a lightsaber in panda, i want to make a fan made star wars game and i need to know how to make that glow. anyone know how?

2

Have you seen the “Glow” sample program?

3

earlier starwars games used a set of billboards to make up the light-sabers. some used even simpler things like fixed geometry ( star-shaped)

4

yes i have seen the glow sample program but i dont understand how they figure out what part to make glow.

what do you mean sets of billboards and fixed geometry?

5

panda3d.org/manual/index.php/Billboard_Effects

My solution to this problem was to build the lightsaber in pieces: A blade, a blade halo, and a blade Hilt. What I did was set a white ambient light on the blade, and a colored ambient light on the halo. The halo had a billboard effect an was a simple texture of a white blur with an alpha channel falloff.

The cool thing was I could make the lightsaber in any color I wanted. Including black.

                lsHandle = Actor()
		lsHandle.loadModel('/Lightsaber_handle.egg')
		lsNode = render.attachNewNode('lsNode')
		lsHandle.reparentTo(lsNode)

		lsBlade =loader.loadModel('/Lightsaber_blade.egg')
		lsBladeNode = render.attachNewNode('lsBladeNode')
		lsBlade.reparentTo(lsBladeNode)
		lsBladeNode.reparentTo(lsHandle)

		lsBladeHalo =loader.loadModel('/Lightsaber_halo.egg')
		lsBladeHaloNode = render.attachNewNode('lsBladeHaloNode')
		lsBladeHalo.reparentTo(lsBladeHaloNode)
		lsBladeHaloNode.setBillboardAxis()
		lsBladeHaloNode.reparentTo(lsBladeNode)
		lsBladeNode.setLightOff()

		aLight = AmbientLight('aLight')
		aLight.setColor(Vec4(0,0,0,1))
		aLightNP = render.attachNewNode(aLight)
		lsBladeHaloNode.setLightOff()
		lsBladeHaloNode.setLight(aLightNP)

Granted this is a little more complicated than it needs to be. I have since learned that I can pick the blade out of the lightsaber model. The halo however, I’m not sure if you could leave it packed in the full lightsaber model and still achieve the billboard effect.