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Post by bravesirkevin on Jan 9, 2013 14:57:05 GMT -9
I'd say it's pretty solid OldSchoolDM. It's got a friendly, informal tone but does seem to cover all the bases quite nicely. One thing I did notice (because I read a lot of these things) is that they're not at all specific about what constitutes spam and what doesn't. All forums frown on spam, but they tend to have very different ideas of what spam is. A lot of forums allow or even encourage self promotion of products or blogs, as long as they're relevant to the board they get posted in. Others only allow it to be posted in one specific area, and others don't allow it at all. Giantitp.com's forums disallow it, but make an exception if you're linking to art. It might be worth going into a little detail on that point, just because the definition does tend to vary around the internet. Not just for the would be spammers, but for the sake of letting responsible users knowing what they should be reporting, and what they should just let slide. that last bit about breaking the law might need some tweaking since there's an international presence. I don't think the fact that it's international makes much of a difference. The laws to which it's refering are pretty universal in the english speaking world, and the western world in general. I think the message is "if you're thinking of doing something that you know is illegal, don't use our service to facilitate it, and don't encourage others to either."
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Post by bravesirkevin on Jan 9, 2013 11:52:27 GMT -9
I read this thread for the first time today: cardboard-warriors.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=2012submissions&action=display&thread=4159I signed up here back in 2011, but I've only been really active in the last few months, so I completely missed out on this when it rolled around, much to my regret. A lot of what I read there bothered me, and at the same time, I did see a lot that got me thinking in a more positive direction too. I've started a new thread rather than continuing the old one because I don't want to carry any of that baggage into this new conversation. My intention here is just to express some thoughts I've been having, and to invite you all to express yours too, so that we can make things better when we get down to it this year. Some of this may come off as a rant or a criticism, just to be clear upfront, it's not meant to be either of those. Why the Papercut Awards matter:From what I've seen out there, the whole papercraft-scenery/paper-mini scene is relatively small. Within the general papercraft hobby scene, the stuff made for games is like an awkward little brother, and within the wargaming and RPG scene, paper scenery and paper minis just don't get a whole lot of respect in general. With very few exceptions, paper stuff just isn't considered all that great when you've got fancy stuff out there like Forge World, Hirst Arts, Dwarven Forge, and the hundreds of metal and plastic miniatures lines that are packed with really cool things. The paper-scene absolutely should have a place though, and not just as the poorman's alternative to the "good stuff". I think the Papercut Awards are an opportunity to highlight the best in the scene and to show the people outside of this small community exactly what's possible and what really makes the paper stuff we put so much effort into creating so awesome, so that the scene can grow. Further, it's an opportunity to show the people already in the community the best that we designers have to offer. The Categories:I'd like to propose that we consider a completely different set of categories this year based on what I've said above. Firstly, we should have three broad categories, each with smaller awards within them. • The Builder's Category focuses specifically on the fans who download the products and make them. We want to see lots of people uploading their photos of our sets being used in interesting ways. Judges would give separate awards for things like Best Photography, Most Interesting Compostion, Best Story, etc. • The Paper Mini Designer's Category is exactly what it says. Judging is not based on photographs alone, but on the products themselves. Awards would be given based on aesthetic things like Best Artwork, Most Original Concept etc, and on the technical side of things like how easy it is for someone to build without messing it up, and how easy the instructions are to follow. • The Papercraft Model Designer's Category is much the same is the last one, but focusing on 3D and 2.5D stuff rather than just the miniatures. Submissions and NominationsI think it should be easy for anyone to nominate something they think is cool in addition to people submitting their own works. In this way we'd have more contenders for each award. The panel of judges can veto anything that doesn't really qualify. The JudgesThere can be a popular choice award in each category, but I think most of the decisions should be made by a broad panel of knowledgeable judges who are capable of scoring the nominations in an informed way. The judges should have a diverse background so that they can't be said to be biased towards any one particular brand. The AwardsI think the builder's category awards should have prizes attached, and I think the prizes could be simpler things like free products from the designer's ranges, or alternatively, smaller vouchers for a shop like RPGNow so that they can choose their own prize. I think the designer's awards should be something entirely different. I don't know about you other designers but honestly, I'd rather have the right to say my product won the Papercut for Best Art in 2013, than have a five hundred thousand dollar voucher for RPGNow. If anyone has the leverage to make it happen, perhaps we could get one of the major stores to create a dedicated section in their stores to showcase the winners. In ConclusionThese are just some thoughts I've had on this. I know I've said some things that may be pretty controversial, and I'm sure I have said some things that you disagree with completely... Feel free to say so below, and add your own ideas. I think we can do something pretty spectacular if we put our heads together and get involved in making it happen. I know this was pretty lengthy, so thank you to everyone who actually read all the way through it!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Jan 8, 2013 21:33:09 GMT -9
Just thought I'd weigh in here, even though the questions kinda old... On a windows machine:PrtScn key alone, or Cntl + PrtScn Key: takes a screenshot and adds it to the clipboard. To get it out you need to open a document in your painting program of choice and paste it Alt + PrtScn key: takes a screenshot of whatever window is open and adds it to the clipboard. As above, you need to paste it somewhere. On a Mac:Command-Shift-3captures a screenshot of the entire screen and drops it as an image file on the desktop Command-Shift-4does the same, but allows you to select a portion of the screen to capture. There are some limitations that have been deliberately installed because of copyright paranoia and stuff. You will typically run into a few problems if there's a movie file of some sort playing in a Media player that's open when you attempt the screen shot. Some media players will disable the key completely, and some will cause the output to be useless garbage by stripping bits from the data, others will just black out the viewport of the media player while leaving the rest in tact. Because of this, it's best to not watch movies while you're busy making tutorials! If you need to take a lot of screenshots and the process of creating new documents and pasting them would be impractical, then it's best to download a utility like FRAPS which allows you to choose a destination folder and send captures directly there in a few formats including BMP, PNG, JPG and Targa just by hitting a single key. FRAPS also allows you to capture AVIs if you need a movie, rather than a still, but the AVIs are uncompressed and limited to 30 seconds in the free version, so you'd need to do some post processing to get the most out of them. Fraps is available here. I hope that was helpful!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Jan 8, 2013 20:56:30 GMT -9
Yeah... My friend's been using GIMP at the office cos his boss wouldn't shell out the cash to get him a working copy of photoshop, even though his job description entails doing top level web design and promotional materials. When I read about it, on lifehacker on monday, I sent him right there and then Adobe realised they'd buggered it up...
Must have been a PR nightmare for them. To be fair, I don't think they have anything to lose by making CS2 readily available as a free legal download. It'd certainly cut down on the piracy of their products and take market share away from GIMP for the non-linux users. CS2 is powerful, but it definitely doesn't compare to the currently available toolset
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Post by bravesirkevin on Jan 8, 2013 20:49:37 GMT -9
Thank you! I'm not sure it's the world's most usable calendar, but who uses calendars these days anyway? ;D I just wanted it to look as awesome as possible so that it'd make for a good desk decoration
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Post by bravesirkevin on Jan 7, 2013 18:51:19 GMT -9
Well, here you go! I changed it to the more standard format, instead of the fold method I use for my usual bases. First time I'm submitting something here, not sure if I'm doing this right.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Jan 7, 2013 1:42:53 GMT -9
Should I add my Flaming Skeleton from the calendars? Does it fit the Chaotic theme?
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Post by bravesirkevin on Jan 7, 2013 0:54:12 GMT -9
OK - some changes / corrections applied Gun is changed and slightly differently positioned => looking better or not? I think I actually prefer the way he's holding the gun in the first one. It makes it look heavier. In the new pose it looks more like he's holding the gun that way for comfort, while in the original it looks like he has no choice but to hold the gun that way. It kinda reminds me of Roadblock from GI Joe and his habit of shooting from the hip with an M2 Browning. ;D Good job either way though Mesper!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Jan 5, 2013 8:02:03 GMT -9
When you create the textures do you use texture fills at all? I'm not sure if you can use texture fills in photoshop, but if you use "Live Paint" in Illustrator you could just use a texture fill and it might make texturing your models easier and faster. If I understand your process right, you are creating individual textures for each piece of the model. Is that correct? Instead, you could create a repeatable texture using your same methods but then just fill the relevant areas with the paint bucket tool with your custom texture fill applied. Photoshop actually has some pretty powerful options when it comes to quickly laying in textures. Doesn't really save you the hard work of creating the texture though. 2. Take a picture or find one in the Public Domain. Remove as much lighting shadow as possible, you add that back later. Then run 2-3 filters over it to remove the "photo" look. Scale and Slice it into base components for use. So in the case of the steel plate this left me with 2 parts a Rivet and a large flat plate, I replicated the plate up using the clone tool in patches so I had a large piece without to much pattern repeating (this is more cheating but gives a good result). Quick tip to eliminate the obvious repeat in tiled textures: 1. Lay in your texture layer. 2. Lay in a second layer with the exact same texture, but at a different scale (150% rather than 100%) 3. add a layer mask to the second layer 4. with the mask selected apply a black and white clouds filter This works best with grungy textures and dirt. Not too good for things like bricks or gravel, for obvious reasons. It should save you a lot of time on things like the metal plates though.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Jan 4, 2013 19:49:46 GMT -9
Who doesn't want a gigantic d12? It's the biggest damage die you get in most games, so why not make it the biggest die in your collection? This downloadable papercraft kit allows you to make a d12 that's about 10cm or 4 inches in diameter. It doubles as a 2013 desk calendar, so it's got an excuse to sit on your office desk in case you ever need to work out how much damage your barbarian's great axe would deal in the middle of a week day afternoon! The d12 comes in 6 different colour styles, so you can choose the one that suits you best! This free set, which I mostly made just for fun, also includes some cool bonuses: • A really nifty paper mini: This one's a Flaming Skeleton armed with a deadly pair of fiery swords • 3 Power Circle markers for use with Kev's Lounge Dungeon Tiles, with all the floor textures available in our various sets. Get it at Papercraft Dungeon now! It's completely free!Let me know if you like the paper mini guys. If there's a positive enough response, I might do a set of them along the lines of the Skeletal Scallywags.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Jan 4, 2013 19:47:50 GMT -9
Who doesn't want a gigantic d12? It's the biggest damage die you get in most games, so why not make it the biggest die in your collection? This downloadable papercraft kit allows you to make a d12 that's about 10cm or 4 inches in diameter. It doubles as a 2013 desk calendar, so it's got an excuse to sit on your office desk in case you ever need to work out how much damage your barbarian's great axe would deal in the middle of a week day afternoon! The d12 comes in 6 different colour styles, so you can choose the one that suits you best! This free set, which I mostly made just for fun, also includes some cool bonuses: • A really nifty paper mini: This one's a Flaming Skeleton armed with a deadly pair of fiery swords • 3 Power Circle markers for use with Kev's Lounge Dungeon Tiles, with all the floor textures available in our various sets. Get it at Papercraft Dungeon now! It's completely free!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Dec 28, 2012 12:08:11 GMT -9
Thanks for doing those cutfiles OldSchoolDM! Looks like that pirate captain's going to need to roll a few natural 20s to get avoid becoming a skeleton himself
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Post by bravesirkevin on Dec 28, 2012 12:04:25 GMT -9
Skeleton Scallywags is the first paper minis release from Kev's Lounge. This set features detailed and beautiful high resolution artwork for fronts and backs and includes 5 unique figures with removable bases. Get your Skeleton Scallywags at Papercraft Dungeon now! $1.49 before December 31st, 2012OldSchoolDM's been kind enough to do some cut-files for this set. They can be found here.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Dec 26, 2012 7:39:31 GMT -9
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Post by bravesirkevin on Dec 25, 2012 21:02:02 GMT -9
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Post by bravesirkevin on Dec 25, 2012 18:04:30 GMT -9
Time for another update on what's going on with this project! I've gotten pretty far with the artwork here. In the picture above, I have several of the possible combinations achievable with just one of the poses. I've got 6 of the 11 right hands and 6 of the 10 left hands and all 6 of the outfits. There are also another 4 poses that aren't displayed here. Each option also has a back that's every bit as detailed as the front! Right now I've got almost all of the initial line work complete... There are just a few components that I'm not entirely happy with right now that I want to put a little more effort into. The main snag I'm running into is with the colouring. There's quite a lot of that to get through and with my current workload in my "day job" I'm not really getting enough spare time to move quickly on that. It may still be a few weeks before I can get it out. In the mean time, however, I present the Skeleton Scallywags! This set has 5 Skeleton Pirate miniatures. They aren't customisable like the skirmishers will be, but the quality is still there and they're a fraction of the price. The artwork for these is based on the Seadog style of skirmishers but has been modified and dramatically recoloured so this set will add to the other one, rather than just duplicating it. The Skeleton Scallywags are available at Papercraft Dungeon now! $1.49 until December 31st 2012
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Post by bravesirkevin on Dec 3, 2012 17:14:43 GMT -9
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 30, 2012 5:59:05 GMT -9
Thanks for the advice guys. The impression I'm getting is that most people just use which ever bases they're most comfortable with, so I'm thinking the most important thing here is that the minis work well the most popular ones. I might do something completely new for my own bases if that's the case. Perhaps try a different take on Reivaj's base idea.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 25, 2012 13:09:21 GMT -9
Just a quick update on this. I've got the basic skeleton artwork sorted, as you can see. I'm busy working through all the alternative weapons and outfits at the moment, and am making great progress. I am hoping to get this set ready for release within the next 10 days or so. One thing on my mind right now is the base. How do you guys usually handle that? Is there a standard style that you all use?
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 25, 2012 9:28:30 GMT -9
Looking good Mesper! BTW: is "Props" a correct word or it's some kind of specific jargon? Prop is jargon. It's short for "theatrical property", which is what all the bits of scenery and items on stage are. It's drifted away from the original meaning, to just a generic term for an item of scenery or equipment that gets interacted with in the course of telling a story. Now you know, and knowing's half the battle!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 18, 2012 13:03:48 GMT -9
Kevin, you're really skilled and you know very well the hand weapons. Thanks! I'm actually having so much fun doing them too! I may have gotten a little carried away. Currently I have 10 right hand options, 8 left hand options and 5 sets of apparel (6 if you count the naked skeleton). I also have a couple optional detail layers for things like glowy red eyes. About this paper mini ... Is there the possibility of some other, few, poses or slight mods of this? Yes! In fact there are 4 other poses... here's just one: If I don't cut any of the options (and I really want to keep them all) then this set will allow someone with a lot of cardboard and patience to create 9600 (5 poses x 10 Right Hands x 8 Left Hands x 6 outfits x 4 detail combinations) completely unique skeletons!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 17, 2012 0:09:40 GMT -9
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 14, 2012 20:54:19 GMT -9
Wow! The response has been amazing! Thank you all very much for your interest and advice ;D I've contemplated the delicacy issue quite a bit, and I've tried thickening up the black lines and filling in the gaps to make it a little less weak, and while it definitely did help the physical strength, it did hurt the aesthetics a bit. I do get the impression that some people do like the current look, and aren't too perturbed by the difficulty, so the easiest way to deal with that is to just put multiple versions of the PDF into the final release set. I'm thinking: • "expert version" - basically like it is now, but with a little more black in the gaps to thicken things up. • "easy-cut version" - much thicker black outlines. No deep concave negative space. • "token style version" - as OldSchoolDM suggested. • secret 4th option that I'm not willing to reveal yet This isn't a lot of work for me to do, cos it's basically just a matter of changing minor things before saving out the final PDFs. So, I suppose I should reveal just a little more of my master plan here:
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 14, 2012 7:18:48 GMT -9
In case any of you were worried that that statue looked too fiddly, the set includes an alternative simpler build option. The simpler build is also customisable. Those statues are simply amazing--and beautiful. Thanks!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 14, 2012 0:45:48 GMT -9
So, the bulk of the last few months has had me very busy doing some crazy detailed anatomy illustrations for a client who produces kits for medical education. All that practice drawing bones and stuff got an idea going in my head, and here's the first glimpse of where that idea's going. The folks over here at Cardboard Warriors have been pretty good to me, so you get to try out the first Kev's Lounge paper mini for free!* You'll want to make sure it's at the right scale before printing it out. The image should be 50mm x 77.3mm at 300dpi (1.97 x 3.043 inches). It will be a little delicate and tricky to work with, but I am looking at ways to deal with that. In the mean time, I'm looking for your opinions and feedback on how I can make it better! If you do build it, I'd also love to see pics! * Well, first one of this style. There's the Gelatinous Cube, and the Rat Swarms and Snake Markers in the Ominous Storeroom and Hero's Hall.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 12, 2012 12:02:53 GMT -9
Thanks to all of you for your support! For some reason, the checkout process won't let me go beyond Step 2 (Billing Information) Had a look here, and it turns out that it's a problem with our One-Page Checkout module. It's currently pushing the "proceed" button off the bottom of the page if the list of items is too big to fit on one screen. We're working on it and it should be sorted soon, but in the mean time, a work around is to spread the items over a couple of carts instead of taking them all at once. Edit: Should be fixed properly now. We're pretty embarrassed about it, and you have our humblest apologies. Thank you all very much for your support though.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 12, 2012 1:17:46 GMT -9
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 11, 2012 20:36:07 GMT -9
This set contains brand new Kev's Lounge papercraft dungeon tiles, and markers, along with 3d papercraft pillars, doors and a fantastic statue to add a third dimension to your dungeon delves! With the various layer options this set will allow you to create hundreds of completely unique pieces that can be arranged in nearly infinite combinations. Perfect for table top war games, skirmish games and RPGs. Kev's Lounge Dungeon: Hero's Hall available for download at Papercraft Dungeon. $4.49 before end of November, 2012, $4.99 thereafter.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Nov 11, 2012 20:34:37 GMT -9
Brand new set from Kev's Lounge just released! This set contains brand new Kev's Lounge papercraft dungeon tiles, and markers, along with 3d papercraft pillars, doors and a fantastic statue to add a third dimension to your dungeon delves! With the various layer options this set will allow you to create hundreds of completely unique pieces that can be arranged in nearly infinite combinations. Perfect for table top war games, skirmish games and RPGs. Kev's Lounge Dungeon: Hero's Hall available for download at Papercraft Dungeon. $4.49 before end of November, 2012, $4.99 thereafter.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Jun 6, 2012 4:06:35 GMT -9
Got a new set on its way. Should be arriving in the next 3 weeks. I've got a small preview of it on my blog over here. This one got sorta sidetracked for various reasons, but I'm getting back to work on it.
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