I was inspired by this tutorial:
http://www.freeonlineclasses.net/photoshop-tutorials/photo-effects/high-tech-swirling-aurora/page5.html
To alter
http://300pockets.deviantart.com/art/EmoXCore-113385365
into
http://300pockets.deviantart.com/art/Fire-Wire-113709289
I was lucky because I have a Wacom tablet, even though it's a simple Bamboo Fun. However, I don't like the way the eyes turned out and the fact the image is too red. I tried erasing parts of the red on my skin and eyes and lips, but I ended up looking clownlike. My hair also looks too brown. I think I'll try this technique on another photo.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Coraline: An Animator's Review
I just saw Coraline at the Berkeley 7 with my younger sister. I'm not going to bother to review the plot (at least right now), but I'm going to review the animation.
Good:
The cat's tail was great. It bounced (not realistically) but it didn't just bounce, it flowed. I'm still wondering how they did it, because working in Creative Art last year, I was unable to make creatures with tails using clay because the clay would weigh down the wire and destroy the whole creature, however, in this movie, the tail was nice, long, and furry, but it wasn't just limp. It was gorgeous.
The lighting was nice. It wasn't over the top, and the lighting effects really made the difference in mood between different kinds of scenes. The lighting always fit the attitude, and they didn't go over the top by making lights super-bright or a pure color.
The use of fabric was great. It gave the movie a texture and stopped it from feeling too plasticy. I especially liked how it was used as a lawn.
I liked the integration of digital effects to the claymation itself, such as when the world fades/collapses (not going to give many spoilers) and how subtle it was. It was very simple, especially in the last scene with the 3 angels.
Not-so-good:
In the beginning, the cat's fur moves even when he's sitting still. However, he had a fabric coating (some sort of velvet, I think), so whenever he was shifted, fingers adjusted the fur. It would have been extremely difficult to make the fur move realistically because they were working with physical materials, however, I think the texturers in digital effects could have fixed it with a simple clone tool. The cat's face could have also been less primitive, but it wasn't terrible.
The buttons could have been more varied, rather than the same-old black buttons for virtually every character.
The metals weren't very shiny, but then again, most metals aren't, except in the the movies. However, they weren't grungy, they just looked rubbery.
Good:
The cat's tail was great. It bounced (not realistically) but it didn't just bounce, it flowed. I'm still wondering how they did it, because working in Creative Art last year, I was unable to make creatures with tails using clay because the clay would weigh down the wire and destroy the whole creature, however, in this movie, the tail was nice, long, and furry, but it wasn't just limp. It was gorgeous.
The lighting was nice. It wasn't over the top, and the lighting effects really made the difference in mood between different kinds of scenes. The lighting always fit the attitude, and they didn't go over the top by making lights super-bright or a pure color.
The use of fabric was great. It gave the movie a texture and stopped it from feeling too plasticy. I especially liked how it was used as a lawn.
I liked the integration of digital effects to the claymation itself, such as when the world fades/collapses (not going to give many spoilers) and how subtle it was. It was very simple, especially in the last scene with the 3 angels.
Not-so-good:
In the beginning, the cat's fur moves even when he's sitting still. However, he had a fabric coating (some sort of velvet, I think), so whenever he was shifted, fingers adjusted the fur. It would have been extremely difficult to make the fur move realistically because they were working with physical materials, however, I think the texturers in digital effects could have fixed it with a simple clone tool. The cat's face could have also been less primitive, but it wasn't terrible.
The buttons could have been more varied, rather than the same-old black buttons for virtually every character.
The metals weren't very shiny, but then again, most metals aren't, except in the the movies. However, they weren't grungy, they just looked rubbery.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Photoshop Project: My Insides All Turn to Ash, So Slow
"My insides all turn to ash, so slow"
- Linkin Park, from the song Valentine's Day, off of the album Minutes to Midnight
It's a song I like a lot, and I listened to it on Valentine's Day while playin around with Poser 7, which comes packaged with some skeleton models. I use them for everything, and thought, "I like these lyrics, let's see what I can do with them".
I listened to this song, and at first, I was going to do a piece in Corel Painter with my Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet, but I decided not to. I could do what I wanted to do even faster in Poser. I was at first going to make two shots: one of a female falling, and one of a female skeleton falling, then, in Photoshop, layer them, with the female on the top, apply a gradient layer mask, and make the skeleton layer's outermost side partially erased with an airbrush-type tool to erase parts of it with a layer mask (in case I mess up and want to erase it differently), but I ended up just wanting to do the female skeleton.
I posed it with a universal pose and rendered it, then I put it into Photoshop, and created a cavern of sorts. http://www.thedesignworld.com/photoshop-tutorials/texture/aurora-scene/ was the tutorial I used, by applying the aurora effect on 4 sides.
After I create the image, I'll use particle Illusion to add the smoke effect, with some falling ash.
UPDATE:
http://300pockets.deviantart.com/art/My-Insides-All-Turn-To-Ash-113711077
Finished image.
I chose not to do any smoke or particle effects for this picture.
- Linkin Park, from the song Valentine's Day, off of the album Minutes to Midnight
It's a song I like a lot, and I listened to it on Valentine's Day while playin around with Poser 7, which comes packaged with some skeleton models. I use them for everything, and thought, "I like these lyrics, let's see what I can do with them".
I listened to this song, and at first, I was going to do a piece in Corel Painter with my Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet, but I decided not to. I could do what I wanted to do even faster in Poser. I was at first going to make two shots: one of a female falling, and one of a female skeleton falling, then, in Photoshop, layer them, with the female on the top, apply a gradient layer mask, and make the skeleton layer's outermost side partially erased with an airbrush-type tool to erase parts of it with a layer mask (in case I mess up and want to erase it differently), but I ended up just wanting to do the female skeleton.
I posed it with a universal pose and rendered it, then I put it into Photoshop, and created a cavern of sorts. http://www.thedesignworld.com/photoshop-tutorials/texture/aurora-scene/ was the tutorial I used, by applying the aurora effect on 4 sides.
After I create the image, I'll use particle Illusion to add the smoke effect, with some falling ash.
UPDATE:
http://300pockets.deviantart.com/art/My-Insides-All-Turn-To-Ash-113711077
Finished image.
I chose not to do any smoke or particle effects for this picture.
The Veld - Laws of Escape
My friend Loop sent me a link to this band. He's friends with the lead singer and the cinematographer. Check them out, I like it a lot, the lead's dreads are really nice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bBcx2W9y4c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bBcx2W9y4c
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How I do adore you so
You make me happy
Like a barrel of cookie dough
Making me happy
With updates so sappy
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www.twitter.com/300pockets
How I do adore you so
You make me happy
Like a barrel of cookie dough
Making me happy
With updates so sappy
You are like
Status message glitter
www.twitter.com/300pockets
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