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Post by jeremyhartillos on Sept 19, 2017 15:58:53 GMT -9
Hi guys. So here are my first two characters in various colors with wide black outlines. Right away I noticed on some of my figures that due to my usual heavy shadows/chiaroscuro style of line art that the heavy black outline was going to cause some problems. I'm working on ways to remedy that. I also need to work on having blocks of color. I tried to do my shadows, base and highlight in separate layers but got a bit confused and eventually just collapsed them down into a single layer. Now I'm debating on using the smudge tool to make the few attempts I made at blocking color more subtle. Any advice on color techniques and palette selection? All in all though, I think these turned out pretty alright. Hopefully the others come along as easily. Please feel free to let me know what you think. I will need to choose two color sets for my Patreon campaign, so votes on that aspect are especially welcome.
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Post by chiefasaur on Sept 19, 2017 16:49:48 GMT -9
Dude, you don't need to collapse your layers. Don't use smudge. Smudge is gross. Anything done with smudge looks like it was done with smudge.
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Post by cowboyleland on Sept 19, 2017 19:24:02 GMT -9
I don't see a problem with the borders, but some people ( bravesirkevin being a good example) put a hairline of white between the figure and the black border. In case that helps.
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Post by jeremyhartillos on Sept 19, 2017 22:35:26 GMT -9
Dude, you don't need to collapse your layers. Don't use smudge. Smudge is gross. Anything done with smudge looks like it was done with smudge. LOL. Perhaps easier said than done. I'm still thinking in monochrome. I'll do some studying after I finish this Patreon drop. Here's my Rogue for this set in various colors. Any ideas for basing? I'm trying to break out of the A-Frame. I noticed that stuartdraws uses slitted foam and then slots his minis through like an upsidedown T.
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Post by jeremyhartillos on Sept 20, 2017 0:35:59 GMT -9
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Post by cowboyleland on Sept 20, 2017 5:00:41 GMT -9
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Post by nolabert on Sept 20, 2017 6:32:06 GMT -9
I, too, like the bases by bravesirkevin , but these days primarily use Litko clear plastic bases for ease of use, stability, and I don't have to worry about trying to find a base with a pattern that fits the terrain since you can see the terrain through the base.
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Post by Vermin King on Sept 20, 2017 6:39:43 GMT -9
If you look at my specter in the Halloween Hoard, I did the base tab so that if you glue the tabs together, it can be used with One Monk or Litko bases, or if you don't glue them together, they will work with the Kev's Lounge style bases
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Post by bravesirkevin on Sept 20, 2017 6:46:00 GMT -9
As a designer, I find it's not really worth worrying too much about the basing style as people are going to use whichever one they're already using anyway... As long as you actually supply a simple method for basing to cater to the novices it's all good.
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Post by jeffgeorge on Sept 20, 2017 18:47:02 GMT -9
I, too, like the bases by bravesirkevin , but these days primarily use Litko clear plastic bases for ease of use, stability, and I don't have to worry about trying to find a base with a pattern that fits the terrain since you can see the terrain through the base. Here are the Litko bases in action with figures from Trash Mob and Cardhunter; notice how they pretty much disappear, as nolabert says: The Litko bases take the same 20mm x 4mm black tab format that fits the onemonk.com paper bases, which is the standard used by Okumarts and Permes as well. This design has the advantage of storing absolutely flat, so they can be sorted into sheets of trading card sleeves and kept in three-ring binders. One Monk offers really effective, easy-to-assemble cardstock mini bases for a dozen or more terrain types for free download. That's what I used before I found the Litko bases. Printable Heroes and Trash Mob Minis both default to a permanently-attached round cardstock base. This is a great solution for cost, but it makes the minis three-dimensional for storage, and vulnerable to crushing in transit to the gaming venue. However, it is easy to adapt these round-based minis to the One Monk tab style at the time of assembly, and that's what I do with all my cardstock minis (which now number a few thousand). The Kev's Lounge bases--which are customized for each figure--are swell, but look like they'd add a lot of design and development work to the process of prepping a mini for distribution, so I'd weigh that time commitment carefully before committing my figure line to that style of basing. My suggestion is that you download one set from each of those publishers and look at how they do it. Just about all of them offer free, introductory sets at DriveThruRPG or Patreon that will tell you what you need to know, if you're on a budget. Then pick the style you like best, and go with it.
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Post by jeremyhartillos on Sept 20, 2017 23:27:00 GMT -9
Probably my last set of color proofs. I'll need to choose two color variations for my Patreon drop. So, what do you guys think are the best of the Minotaur, Warlock, Sorceress, Rogue and Warrior.
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Post by migibb on Sept 22, 2017 4:28:53 GMT -9
Probably my last set of color proofs. I'll need to choose two color variations for my Patreon drop. So, what do you guys think are the best of the Minotaur, Warlock, Sorceress, Rogue and Warrior. Minotaur - 1 and 4 The Warlock - 3 and 4 (the blue doesn't work for me for his belt and bracers) Sorceress - 1 and 3, I do like number 4, but she looks more like she should be in the X Men than in a D&D game... Rogue - 1 and 3 (I prefer the less extreme colours, though I'm not sure having his whole outfit one colour really works in any of them....) Warrior - IMHO the best of the bunch - 1, 3 and 4 are all my favourites for different reasons. 1 makes an excellent ceremonial warrior/temple guardian, 3 a cool construct/living statue type and 4 as a "regular" warrior. 2 is great too - but 4 edges it in the "regular warrior" stakes.
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Post by jeremyhartillos on Sept 24, 2017 6:17:38 GMT -9
First cut proofs. Ghetto bases. I don't think I like the printer quality. I will try to find a place with a better setup that hopefully will cut them out for me too. My black and white proofs looked way better, but the colors seemed to run quite a bit in my smaller figures. Is this a problem with my art or the printer? Any suggestions for suitable art DPI, printer resolution (HD?) and paper weight? Do you think angular silhouettes would be better for cutting? How's the scale? Human is at 32mm from boots to helmet. Minotaur is 64mm from hooves to horns.
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Post by pavaro on Sept 24, 2017 9:52:46 GMT -9
I have question about DPI. What size are you using DPI? Printing and drawings.
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Post by chiefasaur on Sept 24, 2017 12:04:20 GMT -9
I have question about DPI. What size are you using DPI? Printing and drawings. Anything you intend to print should always be a minimum of 300dpi.
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Post by jeremyhartillos on Sept 24, 2017 15:59:25 GMT -9
Yeah, they're 300 dpi. I think a lot of the blurring is due to the ink/printer. It was a very small local shop. I'll post more soon.
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Post by jeremyhartillos on Sept 24, 2017 20:20:06 GMT -9
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Post by jeremyhartillos on Sept 24, 2017 22:01:57 GMT -9
*Marketing Experiment* This mini is now available on OBS. I have the full version ready to go for my Patreon supporters but am uploading a basic mirrored line art version as PWYW for non-patrons on OBS. If the mini gets $3 of support I will include the colored version. If it gets $6 of support I will include a version with a back view. If it gets $9 of support I will include a Photoshop file of the figure. www.drivethrurpg.com/product/222421/Minotaur-E-Solo-Paper-Mini
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Post by jeffgeorge on Sept 24, 2017 22:05:24 GMT -9
jeremyhartillos , I can't speak to the quality of your prints or printer, but there's an easy way to make your photos look better. Open them up in Photoshop, GIMP, or your favorite image manipulation program, and use the Levels control (found under the Colors menu in GIMP) to adjust the levels in your images. Here are two of your images for which I adjusted the levels: Open the Levels dialog box ( Colors > Levels in GIMP), and drag the arrows to the ends of the histogram in the Input Levels box. Here is how the image and the Levels control look before you make the change: And here is how they look after adjusting the levels. Note the new position of the black and white arrows under the histogram (graph) in the Input Levels box: What this procedure does is assures that the darkest tone in your image is rendered as 100% black, and the lightest tone is rendered as 100% white. Digital cameras often get this wrong, compressing all the tones in an image into the center of the histogram, resulting in a flattened-out picture with greyish blacks and whites. With a little practice with the Levels and Curves controls, you can really improve the vibrancy and realism of your photos, and you can sometimes repair flaws in the original subject, such as weak black or shadow tones.
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Post by cowboyleland on Sept 25, 2017 5:07:38 GMT -9
I can use this advice on some holiday shots. Thanks jeffgeorge!
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Post by jeffgeorge on Sept 25, 2017 7:13:11 GMT -9
I can use this advice on some holiday shots. Thanks jeffgeorge ! NP. You can do amazing things to save imperfect images with controls like Levels, Curves, and Hue-Saturation-Lightness--the key is baby steps. Make tiny adjustments and assess, and don't be afraid to Undo changes that don't look right.
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Post by mproteau (Paper Realms) on Sept 25, 2017 7:24:21 GMT -9
It is very good advice to get familiar with these things. When I'm experimenting, I sometimes create layer groups with copies of my original, then I start applying effects, and maintain a text layer that documents how I got there. Just in case I want to get back to it after several iterations.
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Post by pavaro on Sept 25, 2017 9:45:04 GMT -9
I have question about DPI. What size are you using DPI? Printing and drawings. Anything you intend to print should always be a minimum of 300dpi. Yes of course but I wonder over more than 300 dpi. Does that make sense? Both in drawing and printing. In my HP, the default settings are 600 DPI.
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Post by chiefasaur on Sept 25, 2017 10:18:31 GMT -9
Anything you intend to print should always be a minimum of 300dpi. Yes of course but I wonder over more than 300 dpi. Does that make sense? Both in drawing and printing. In my HP, the default settings are 600 DPI. As far as this medium goes, I think working at 600dpi+ would just create unnecessary file sizes, since the end result is intended to be presented at less then 2" tall. I draw my figures at 300dpi around 8" tall, and scale 'em down to minis-size. So far, I haven't encountered any problems with resolution or aliasing.
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Post by pavaro on Sept 25, 2017 11:14:53 GMT -9
Yes of course but I wonder over more than 300 dpi. Does that make sense? Both in drawing and printing. In my HP, the default settings are 600 DPI. As far as this medium goes, I think working at 600dpi+ would just create unnecessary file sizes, since the end result is intended to be presented at less then 2" tall. I draw my figures at 300dpi around 8" tall, and scale 'em down to minis-size. So far, I haven't encountered any problems with resolution or aliasing. And no better to draw at 600 DPI without having to reduce it in future? In 600 DPI can draw in final size eg 28 mm.
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Post by Vermin King on Sept 25, 2017 11:45:59 GMT -9
jeremyhartillos , I can't speak to the quality of your prints or printer, but there's an easy way to make your photos look better. Open them up in Photoshop, GIMP, or your favorite image manipulation program, and use the Levels control (found under the Colors menu in GIMP) to adjust the levels in your images. Here are two of your images for which I adjusted the levels: Open the Levels dialog box ( Colors > Levels in GIMP), and drag the arrows to the ends of the histogram in the Input Levels box. Here is how the image and the Levels control look before you make the change: And here is how they look after adjusting the levels. Note the new position of the black and white arrows under the histogram (graph) in the Input Levels box: What this procedure does is assures that the darkest tone in your image is rendered as 100% black, and the lightest tone is rendered as 100% white. Digital cameras often get this wrong, compressing all the tones in an image into the center of the histogram, resulting in a flattened-out picture with greyish blacks and whites. With a little practice with the Levels and Curves controls, you can really improve the vibrancy and realism of your photos, and you can sometimes repair flaws in the original subject, such as weak black or shadow tones. You should start a tutorial on this. As opposed to having it in the middle of another thread.
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Post by jeffgeorge on Sept 25, 2017 20:53:29 GMT -9
Vermin King--I wouldn't have thought to do that, without you suggesting it. Maybe a more general thread of tips for taking better photos of your minis, and improving them with software, would be more worthy of a whole thread... I'll give it some thought.
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