Shego

I am puzzled here. If you are only looking for an Avatar of your character.. why take it from some low-rez video at all? Why not just do a quality in-game Screen-shot, crop and re-size it?

Trying to make an entire avatar animated .GIF video from that entire display and squeeze it all the way down into some 80x80 display field just to get all the Titling in, will be ummm... a challenge for viewing to say the least. They'll be calling him, "Tiny TankerBot."

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I actually don't like the change. The softer features are something I'm fond of, the way I draw myself. The lines to me make her look rather boney in the face and mean.

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I agree with this. Besides: Fangs? Fangs?? She's a Witch, not a vamp. Whatever.
I guess that's more of the price to be paid when the Subject is part of some greater conceptual imagery.

Another thing about the hat? The hat's brim seems a bit too wide in relation to its own conical height.
I had first thought it was a subject with Dumbo-ears till it hit me that Nymie would never draw such subjects. Then the light from the screen settled down (or my eyes adjusted to it) and I could see the problem up-close. The hat also seems to ride 'above' her scalp-line, instead of sitting nestled on her head. More witch-magic?

On a different note, the subject's Right eye (camera-left) and brow, seems placed a tiny bit off-center horizontally... from the proper proportion to the rest of her face. You may wish to consider reigning it in a little, so the left-right symetry is more balanced and there is a tiny bit less nose-bridge spacing. This small problem may be contributing to the notion that the face seems a bit 'flat.' But any human-head that is drawn near or exactly perpendicular to the camera-lens faces the same challenge.

PS. I have no problem with the double-leather choker around her neck contributing to the fullness of the look. I am sure after some coloring, it will become clear as to what that choker (same material used as accessories on the hat, wrists and ankles) does in relation to the neck's width overall. It also sends the long-standing traditional message about a witch's devotion to life: "Forever bound by Nature, free of Her constraints."

Well done.

Retitle it: 'Wishbone.'

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Point is, while critiques are welcome, I'm not asking for them...

4) Marvel Maiden

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Okay, I am only going to mention this as a *minor* nitpick with the characters I have seen, such as the one above, so far:

The style of body outlines in these are thin. While that normally isn't a concern if the Artist chooses to draw this way, it DOES have a negative effect on the viewing-screen (especially CRTs) that I think you should be aware of, as I have seen some great full-length shots get ruined by it.

What the impact is that there are thin-line *jaggies* all the way around the body when the picture is compressed in viewing size. This is of course a result of the use of thin-line outlines jagging with the monitor's raster and interlace-scanning system. It makes the image seems weak only because it makes the character *appear* to have been *cut-and-pasted* into the background...or keyed-in, instead of solidly appearing there. Even the very outline of the cape suffers from this effect here, when the picture is reduced at all in size.

I am sure if you can reduce the size of the image with your browser's graphic settings you would see what I am saying here. I have 22" Princeton CRT monitors on some of the workstations here and they all exhibit this effect with the drawings linked to your post... once a different, smaller size from the picture's default is selected. I also viewed the same problem on a 24" LCD setup but it was worse on the CRT.

And again, it's the pencil-thin sized draw-lines around the outline of the subject that is the cause as it interacts with the monitor's ability to display them. Many animators for TV productions know of this problem and it is one reason they chose a stronger (heavier) brush-stroke for production work meant to be aired on NTSC television. But that is their choice of style (which also stems from the 'old film days' when they needed to provide bumper-room for the cell-paints to settle in).

This is minor, but noticible. I am sure you might want to make some adjustments to future project based on what you might see locally. I felt it important enough to say something now, before your gallery of stars grows exponentially.

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keep 'em coming!

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"Who put that blue wall there!??"

"Watch me do this!..."

Simple answer...

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4 - (THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP) Select Image > Matting > Defringe. I usually use a setting of 1 pixel.

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One slight correction to this which I have on my copy of PhotoS:

Layer > Matting > Defringe.

Use Defringe often. Make it your bestest layering friend evah.

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Okies Photoshop question

I have a bunch of indvidul Charater pictures or lil toons , but I want to merge them together in a group shot (some standing behind others )


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Aside from the many digital-mechanics of doing this as mentioned above, there are some more basics to keep in mind:

1. Have the camera shots that closely match up in /size/ and /framing/ for each of the characters you plan on creating a montage compilation with. Nothing looks funnier than a giant headshot matted-in standing next to a dimunitive body shot of the person in front. ALL the subjects standing in the frame should be a complimentary size to one another.

2. Choose the same 'time of day' for each subject... or as close as you can get, so the lighting and direction of those key lights closely matches for each character. There is nothing good about having a mixture of both day and night shots of each subject standing together. It just won't look right and even the color-temperature will be off. Keep in mind that Co* has 2x the speed of a Day-Night Cycle as of most other MMOGs. ie: Most MMOG Day-Night cycles are 72 RL minutes to complete one cycle. For some reason the Devs for CoH chose 2X this pace or 36 minutes(!) for one cycle. So your optimal timing-window will be smaller. And ALWAYS insist upon using /Day/-Cycle photos and /Day/-Cycle backgrounds whenever possible. Nighttime is horrid on lighting-levels for this game!

3. Place and frame your subjects complimentary to each other in terms of direction. That is... if you have any standing in straight-on positioning, those subjects should stand in the center. If they are eighth or quarter-turned ot the left, they need to be on the LEFT side of the frame. Eighth or quarter-turned to the right.. the RIGHT side of the frame, etc. Think of it as how you would stand your subjects in one giant group shot so all are facing the direction of the camera lens.

Good luck.

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A better shot of the hospital pic here

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omg... half of them have their eyes closed. Don't they know that at the count of "3" is when the shutter and flash is supposed to go off??

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http://www.getpaint.net/index.html

might need .net framework.

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Not a bad little Paint program. What MS Paint *should* have been.

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Agred, a couple of places are a bit too soft (ie. boots and such). But I kind of wanted the emphasis to be in the face region anyway and am scared to put too much into the other areas.

(FYI, did a couple of minor changes for ya NN)

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Does it really need all that augmentation? As it sits now, the look of the picture suggests that this is an actual painted porcelain 'figurine' ...especially with the soft-edged curves and overhead lighting falling around the boots and so forth.

You could sell the idea of it being so, and I bet you weeks down the road... someone would swear they saw that exact 'hand-painted statuette' selling on eBay.

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Only the Giant Monster can be in the photo – no player characters. Photos that contain player characters will not be considered. Background imagery is fine, but it cannot take the focus off the Giant


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No people in the picture? Guess this one's out too.

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I know THIS one is out, then.
** WHAMMMM! **

By the same token, this should be out as well.
** Kick! **

Yesssss,
Even this one, too.

Hmmm. I wonder if the Pumpkin-Bomb alone could score any Brownie-points?

No Pumpkin Kings?? Well, there goes 60 entries from the collection.

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did something I never see with these, which is use demorecord to tell an actual story!

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Yes, it is a good one. And if you like Co* videos which 'tell a story'... you can certainly get that feeling from This recent Gem.

I dunno the program you are speaking about, but three quick thoughts would be that:

A: It doesn't like OpenGL 3D rendering and the program wants to capture DirectX screens and video overlays only.

B: It will work with OpenGL but only at certain screen resolutions so you have to match the settings to what it requires.

C: It is a hardware capture/playback issue with your gaming Video Card.

I have a Hard Drive filled with the Rommie/Shego lucky-classics collection, such as:

"Momma mia... that's a spicy meatball!"

"Baaaaaby! How I love ya... How I love ya...!"

"He go BOOoOoom!"

*Squish....*

*WhOooOOsh!* "Cutting my problem down to size..."

X Marks the Spot...

Substantial Penalty for early withdrawal...

Meat-hook...

WHAAAMM!! Down for the COUNT!

*Squish*....again

"OooooOofff!" "Well, waddaya know? It really *IS* a bowlful of jelly!"

"Hmmmm... wonder what's in the Funnies section...?"

"NooOOoo... I will NOT Train you... today!"

Annnnnnnnd... *Squish* one more time....

"We zil cast da fire upon all des Zuper-Heroes!" "Yahhh!"
"Ummm, you always go overboard with ze attacks." "....yah...."

Le Squish... ... .. again.

"No, ma.. like I said, Nothing exciting ever happens in this town..."

I haven't had the time to go through all the replies in this thread, but I wanted to report that the recent changes made to the "V" pattern Belt now breaks the look of the belt altogether.

Because of the change in the "V" Belt styling, it no longer rides cleanly around the top of any skirt which might be worn underneath. Instead the belt now rides High over the hips on both sides... and dips way down into ANOTHER "V" shape in the back of the model. Talk about overkill.

I don't know if this was intentional or not, but many skirt outfits no longer match the symetry of this new belt design and it really makes the female outfits a bit ugly when wearing the new 'V" belt. Plus it also gives the appearance that there is some 'sharp pointy V' now sticking down into their backside at the rear of the model. It looks like the apex is about to dig into the tail-bone. Ouch!

Is this how the new, improved "V" Belt is supposed to look on a model from now on?? I am happy that the clipping issue has been solved but at the same time... the high-hip styling and deep 'dip' in the back now greatly suffers the ensembled look of various outfits which previously had no trouble with that belt in the past.

Edit: Okay. I notice that 'WillyW' is speaking about the exact same problem with the redesigned "V" Belt a few posts up, which is exactly the visual/design problem I have as well with the characters who currently wear that belt. The sides of the belt are riding too-high on the waist-line and the back-end of the belt is overstated with the second "V" shape dip for all the outfits I am working with. This breaks the seams of the outfit's upper and lower sections.

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Karnal Sin.



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omg... so good and detailed you can almost ski off that mountain!

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here is someone who has no clue what's going on beneath the skin, and here's the work of someone who spent years delving into burial catacombs to examine the bodies and find out what's really going on

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Which artist's work is more famous today?

We all entered the Hospitality Warehouse where our hosts set up shop:
"PunjaTheHut, bids you Welcome... puny ones..."

One of them kept 'insisting' that we all check our weapons at the door...
...so I let him have mine.

We were wined, dined and entertained by the finest performers in their camp:
"Ohhh Baaaaaby! How I love ya.. how I love ya..."

Suddenly, 'Dark-Energy Lass' accidently sets the Holiday Fireworks storage-bins on fire:
She's always so jumpy around strangers...especially ones who try to poison the wonton-soup.

The warehouse was immediately engulfed in bursts of rockets, Roman-candles and a plethora of sparklers!
So naturally, we all pitched in and did our best to... battle the flames.

There is nothing like trying to stomp out a box of burning M-80s with their choking spew of gun-powder...
...underneath the sole of a grass-woven sandal.

Yeah, we tried to warn that guy, saying the foot-stomping routine wouldn't work...
...but by then it was too late, and he passed out upon the floor. Poor fellow.

Another one sought to avert further disaster by *swallowing* a complete stack of lit bottle-rockets.
The heroic effort met...with mixed success.

But then one of the wooden-crates splintered apart and... well...
"Aiiieeee! I have received paper-cut on thumb..." "Quickly! We must get the Mercurochrome!"

Our 'hosts' were suddenly insensed and bade us to take our leave for the evening...
"Ahhhhh, yes! It is I, the worthless Jin... who cut the Big Cheese. Now begone!"

So then it was out of the Hollows and back to the City proper we went...
[i]...where Paragon is STILL too cheap to pay for any building-lights. Le grrrr...[i]

OMG!! Players still playing old EQ and they don't know about the other MMOGs out there??? Well...

Here's a pretty-buff guy doing his thang... ***WHAMM!!***

And let them feel right at home with this 'Paladin'... *Skzzzzit!*

They can come over and Paaaaarty anytime!...

And show them how bad tactics can get them pretty messed up!

But then anyone... big and small can get into the act...

And never know when they would run into famous-celebrities...

And oohhh yeah, they can rob Banks, too...

Don't forget the Holiday Winter-ware...

And finally, if they *still* need more convincing, we can refer them to...
Our Promo-Marketing Department.

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[I think it is a damn fine sketch ya got there man!
Only critique I would have is the left leg looks a little to skinny but beyond that it looks very nice!

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Right. To the OP: I would think that because of the 'forced-perspective' nature of a 'run to the camera' shot, you would wish to make the upper-portion of the left-leg, larger at the upper-thighs, then scale down to smaller proportions by the ankle and foot. Also a bit more work on straightening the angle of the body-torso and trunk a tad... to get that 'charging at j00' feeling while preparing to deliver the 'Cosmic-PUNCH!'

That gives the character more a true *three-dee* apperance along with normal human-body action realism.

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Uhm...I think what you wanna do is record the demo file, then play the demo and record THAT with FRAPS...

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:O, Why did I never think of that!!!!

Thanks PMD, Woot!!! New MOVIE TIME!!! .

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While you are taking care of the UI problem, also take a moment and regenerate the Credit for the 'Hero' to not be in all BLACK TEXT. It made the credit difficult to read, given the way YouTube degenrates the quality of the video file upon playback over the Internet.