Licia
09/10/2006, 05:27 PM
I've received numerous questions in the past weeks about some of the artwork you can see on the DnT forums or more precisely my signature. I'm no Photoshop Guru but I will try to answer your questions in order to help you create your own images and signatures.
Before we begin, I want to thank all the people who complimented our work. It means a lot to us.
Artwork:
Signature: Sigs have been disabled but you can look at them by checking a member's profile. Made by me.
BWL/MC / AQ40 / Naxx banner: original concepts, Licia. Enhanced by Slaven :)
http://www.marcgraveline.com/wow/logo-mcbwl.jpg
http://66.250.45.101/~dtguild/dkpAQ/listmembers.php
http://www.dtguilds.com/dkpnax/listmembers.php?
Forums banner: Screenshot by pro photograph Cherrie. Enhanced by Slaven
Random artwork: I'll be making public other artwork I made, soon. They are basically experiments though. Some are nice, some are...less nice.
Avatars: Many avatars here we're made by Litania :) Thanks alot!
Recent videos: Many questions have been asked concerning our videos...
1- All videos made by DnT are out there for the public. Yup, they're are not that many.
2- What music was that? Check the credits at the end of the video.
3- Who did what and how? Check the credits :)
I did not participate in the videos (haven’t touched AFX in years) but if you have questions after checking the credits you can post em here.
Videos:
DnT Nefarion kill: http://files.filefront.com/DnT_vs_Nefarianwmv/;4105039;;/fileinfo.html
4 horsemen /Saph preview: http://www.dtguilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4042
DnT Saph kill/ Kel'Thuzad preview: http://www.dtguilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4215
These are the ones I remember on top of my head.
Thank you for your support, if you have questions/comments or want to share your tips about image creation and stuff, post them here.
--------------------------------------------------
Many questions are regarding how I made my sig. This is in no way a complete walkthrough. These are just some steps to help guide you and such. Like I said, I'm no guru and I do not pretend to be an amazing artist, this is just to inform people and give general steps.
"How or where did you learn to make this awesome stuff?":
Experiments. When I receive photoshop files for a web site, I get to play with some of the basic tools. Since I've canceled my subscription to WoW, I passed more time experimenting with those tools and see how far I can push myself. Another thing you need alot of is patience. Sure you can be talented but this will only bring you so far.
Here are the basic steps I took for creature my signature.
First, draw up on a piece of paper what you would like for result. Plan ahead. You don't need to be great at drawing, these will be your notes.
You will need screenshots of your character or, you can use WoW Model Viewer. WMV is simple to setup, easy to use and will allow you to create a character and dress it up the way you want. You can also animate your character the way you want.
http://www.curse-gaming.com/en/wow/addons-2090-1-wow-model-viewer-updated.html
In-game shots: Let's say you want to cut a character from an in-game screenshot. Open your SS in Photoshop and zoom in close (usually 800 to 1000%). Then use the magnetic lasso tool with a feather of 1%. The feather is so that the cuts don't look too artificial. Do the outlines of you char this way. This step can take some time depending on your skills and patience. Best way to do this is to be patient. That's how I get the best results.
If you use WMV shots then it's much easier. Since those shots come with a blue background, just use the magic wand tool with a low tolerance (about 5) and remove the background. You may still have some blue like in the glows from a weapon. This i find harder to remove so I go with a soft brush eraser with low opacity and work my way until I’m satisfied.
Once you have your char cut out and clean, I will start placing my char and props around the way I like them. Once I placed my stuff I play with the background.
Concerning backgrounds, if you don't know what to do, just put it white >< I suggest googling image galleries for some high res abstract pictures. Once you got one you like, place it. You can create nice effects easily by playing with layer effects and opacity. Don't be afraid to create many layers and put them on top of each other. Sometimes you get results that are nice and unexpected. Photoshop purists may prefer to do their effects from scratch but I am no master of pshop so, go ahead and use filters :)
Another method that I use to create backgrounds is by using fonts. Type stuff in really big letters (like 72 pixels big) and just have fun with it. If you want different fonts for free, go to www.1001fonts.com (pretty much the one site I use cause it's the only one I know!)
So you got your chars, your props and your background. You experimented with filters, layers and such but, it doesn't feel right... Happens to me all the damn time, especially when I put many characters I took from WMV. Here is the trick I use. Copy the character's layer and put it under. On that layer I apply a 2 pixel gaussian blur to create a faint glow. Then I go into Layer -> layer style-> stroke. Use a 1 pixel stroke, color black and an opacity of about 50 to 75%. I usually do this with all my WoW artwork because I think it goes well with the style. So by doing this, it makes your character "stick" better with its surrounding.
Before I'm done, I go play with the overall brightness and contrast of the image (Image -> adjustments). Small values are best here... stuff like -5 brightness and +5 to 10 contrast can make your colors more "alive". You can also play with the levels (Image -> adjustments -> Levels or CTRL+L) to make your highlights or shadows stand out more.
So in a nutshell, this is pretty much it. Hope these general and very simple steps help you in creating your own sigs and such. If you want more detail, go ahead and ask. If I cannot answer, maybe other members can.
Before we begin, I want to thank all the people who complimented our work. It means a lot to us.
Artwork:
Signature: Sigs have been disabled but you can look at them by checking a member's profile. Made by me.
BWL/MC / AQ40 / Naxx banner: original concepts, Licia. Enhanced by Slaven :)
http://www.marcgraveline.com/wow/logo-mcbwl.jpg
http://66.250.45.101/~dtguild/dkpAQ/listmembers.php
http://www.dtguilds.com/dkpnax/listmembers.php?
Forums banner: Screenshot by pro photograph Cherrie. Enhanced by Slaven
Random artwork: I'll be making public other artwork I made, soon. They are basically experiments though. Some are nice, some are...less nice.
Avatars: Many avatars here we're made by Litania :) Thanks alot!
Recent videos: Many questions have been asked concerning our videos...
1- All videos made by DnT are out there for the public. Yup, they're are not that many.
2- What music was that? Check the credits at the end of the video.
3- Who did what and how? Check the credits :)
I did not participate in the videos (haven’t touched AFX in years) but if you have questions after checking the credits you can post em here.
Videos:
DnT Nefarion kill: http://files.filefront.com/DnT_vs_Nefarianwmv/;4105039;;/fileinfo.html
4 horsemen /Saph preview: http://www.dtguilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4042
DnT Saph kill/ Kel'Thuzad preview: http://www.dtguilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4215
These are the ones I remember on top of my head.
Thank you for your support, if you have questions/comments or want to share your tips about image creation and stuff, post them here.
--------------------------------------------------
Many questions are regarding how I made my sig. This is in no way a complete walkthrough. These are just some steps to help guide you and such. Like I said, I'm no guru and I do not pretend to be an amazing artist, this is just to inform people and give general steps.
"How or where did you learn to make this awesome stuff?":
Experiments. When I receive photoshop files for a web site, I get to play with some of the basic tools. Since I've canceled my subscription to WoW, I passed more time experimenting with those tools and see how far I can push myself. Another thing you need alot of is patience. Sure you can be talented but this will only bring you so far.
Here are the basic steps I took for creature my signature.
First, draw up on a piece of paper what you would like for result. Plan ahead. You don't need to be great at drawing, these will be your notes.
You will need screenshots of your character or, you can use WoW Model Viewer. WMV is simple to setup, easy to use and will allow you to create a character and dress it up the way you want. You can also animate your character the way you want.
http://www.curse-gaming.com/en/wow/addons-2090-1-wow-model-viewer-updated.html
In-game shots: Let's say you want to cut a character from an in-game screenshot. Open your SS in Photoshop and zoom in close (usually 800 to 1000%). Then use the magnetic lasso tool with a feather of 1%. The feather is so that the cuts don't look too artificial. Do the outlines of you char this way. This step can take some time depending on your skills and patience. Best way to do this is to be patient. That's how I get the best results.
If you use WMV shots then it's much easier. Since those shots come with a blue background, just use the magic wand tool with a low tolerance (about 5) and remove the background. You may still have some blue like in the glows from a weapon. This i find harder to remove so I go with a soft brush eraser with low opacity and work my way until I’m satisfied.
Once you have your char cut out and clean, I will start placing my char and props around the way I like them. Once I placed my stuff I play with the background.
Concerning backgrounds, if you don't know what to do, just put it white >< I suggest googling image galleries for some high res abstract pictures. Once you got one you like, place it. You can create nice effects easily by playing with layer effects and opacity. Don't be afraid to create many layers and put them on top of each other. Sometimes you get results that are nice and unexpected. Photoshop purists may prefer to do their effects from scratch but I am no master of pshop so, go ahead and use filters :)
Another method that I use to create backgrounds is by using fonts. Type stuff in really big letters (like 72 pixels big) and just have fun with it. If you want different fonts for free, go to www.1001fonts.com (pretty much the one site I use cause it's the only one I know!)
So you got your chars, your props and your background. You experimented with filters, layers and such but, it doesn't feel right... Happens to me all the damn time, especially when I put many characters I took from WMV. Here is the trick I use. Copy the character's layer and put it under. On that layer I apply a 2 pixel gaussian blur to create a faint glow. Then I go into Layer -> layer style-> stroke. Use a 1 pixel stroke, color black and an opacity of about 50 to 75%. I usually do this with all my WoW artwork because I think it goes well with the style. So by doing this, it makes your character "stick" better with its surrounding.
Before I'm done, I go play with the overall brightness and contrast of the image (Image -> adjustments). Small values are best here... stuff like -5 brightness and +5 to 10 contrast can make your colors more "alive". You can also play with the levels (Image -> adjustments -> Levels or CTRL+L) to make your highlights or shadows stand out more.
So in a nutshell, this is pretty much it. Hope these general and very simple steps help you in creating your own sigs and such. If you want more detail, go ahead and ask. If I cannot answer, maybe other members can.