Re: GIMP/Photoshop Thread

[Darman]

I have to decided that I will never figure out Gimp. Well motley I am just pissed off that the speech bubbles aren't working correctly for me.

[Thunder-blade]

To all those who can't figure out GIMP...

I'd recommend thepaint.net...

[Darman]

To all those who can't figure out GIMP...

I'd recommend thepaint.net...

Wait a second you can add layers in paint now?

[Thunder-blade]

Use google. The program is called ThePaint.net.

[Sialboats]

Okay, on the request of Gerrard:

[C]ould you show me a dust tutorial if possible? You know, sort of a "Dusty Room" like in the Cantina Mos Eisley [reference] pic you showed me?

Thanks[!]

I'm just going to do a quick little tutorial on dust in general, the Supernova tool, and lighting. Don't fret, though, I haven't forgotten about that earlier glowie-object tutorial request, and it WILL BE POSTED THIS WEEK. Vendetta won't be, probably, but I'll at least get that tutorial out .

Now, the biggest part of this is gradients. All colored smoke you'll be doing will most likely have to be done through gradients if you're going to be using a brush that is pre-colored. In my case, I'll be using an fire airbrush, set to a custom gradient. Custom gradients can be made by "Editing" the gradient list (accessed at the bottom of that drop-down menu), and then creating a new one. You can change gradients on any tool: paintbrushes (seen here), airbrushes, pencils, paths, anything where colors are being applied.



The room has to be dark, and dingy. This dilapidated, dusty structure in the Hive of Scum and Villainy didn't have brand new ilumnigrids, but grime-covered florescents, and the light that streamed in from the entrance. So let's use the lighting effects tool.

This tool has to be THE MOST useful one for environments. You can darken a setting, lighten it up, create dawn, dusk, deserts, jungles, so forth. Lighting is important, and this tool gives you some very useful options. The color can be changed, the potion can be changed, the overall luminosity, glowing potential, brightness, and other attributes can be manipulated through easy to use sliders under the "Material"'s tab. "Bump Map", and "Enviroment Map" I haven't really used in thoroughness yet, so don't worry about them.



To achieve the fullest range of light location manipulation possible, slide the distance slider to the maximum end, allowing the light to grow, but ensuring that you keep it prominently located in the center of your screen. Then, take that blue dot in the center of the sphere of light, and drag it off the map to the location you want the light to be at. This may not always work (it may crash, or it may go all blue), and if you make a mistake, you will have to set that slider back to zero and begin anew. So, it's advisable you have a pretty good idea as to where you need the point to be, prior to manipulating it's position.


Now, here I've created several transparent layers, and applied varying degrees of textured smoke and Gaussianed smoke using my airbrush, set to a fire brush (you can use just about any brush, but to different effects; diversify your brush set and experiment too!), on different layer settings (an imprecise art, as is most of this, so see what works best for your situation). "Dab" the smoke onto the layer by using brief mouse clicks. Try not to drag most brushes, and keep them large. Be warned, however: On some of the custom made brushes, downloaded from the interwebs, it's electronic suicide to put them on 10.00, as you'll hang the GIMP client due to their massive size at that scale.



Several layers later, and we arrive at the Supernova. The supernova is found under Filters/Lighting and Shadows (I think) and can be applied on any layer, on any setting, providing a wide range of results. It can be used as lights, bombs, blaster flare, sunlight, and can be applied to as many different scenarios you can conceive. In this case, I'm using it to simulate the sunlight streaming into the cantina from a nearby entrance.




I applied more layers of dust, more supernovas, and erased portions of both at my discretion. As I said before: there is not a single set way of going about this all. Just do what you feel will look the best, and work with it from there.




I overdid the smoke a little on this one, but I think it doesn't look half bad .

[Commander Lukas]

Here's some of the suff I did.





There is only one trooper here. Same guy, two guns.


In My opinion a banner can make or break a forum, my old one was ugly ](link) This is my new one:

[/url
Please don't kill me.

This is the logo for an upcoming movie I and a freind are working on:
[url=http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=376&u=13112264]

I made this for some one on FAILpages a while back(2007) I think:

[Zepher]

I don't have the fire brush.

Can someone teach me how to download fonts/brushes? That would be a wonderful tutorial!

but seriously, I have no idea, and it's super annoying.

[Commander Lukas]

Why don't you try to google "fire brushes for GIMP?"

[Sialboats]

I don't have the fire brush.

Can someone teach me how to download fonts/brushes? That would be a wonderful tutorial!

but seriously, I have no idea, and it's super annoying.

Go to wherever your GIMP is downloaded, the GIMP folder where the .exe is. For me that's:

:C/Program Files/GIMP-2.0.

Once you're in the GIMP folder, your path would then look like:

/share/gimp/2.0/brushes

In the "brushes" subfolder, you download your brushes. Just plop the files in there. The next time you open up GIMP, they'll be in the brushes' dialog box, ready for your usage .

[Thunder-blade]

Or if you have trouble finding the folder, do it the long way.

My computer>Local Disk>Program Files>GIMP 2.0>Share>gimp>2.0>brushes

[Zepher]

That is incredibly helpful Sial! I'm in your debt.. again... and again.

This is perhaps the first time that I've been in your debt three times in one day, so new record!

Can someone suggest a few brushes that I should be looking into?

[Thunder-blade]

Anything from here is good. But overall just start googling.

[Gerrard]

Looks excellent, thanks again man.

[Sialboats]

After inumerable requests, I decided to sit down and write a tutorial on what really is a fairly simple process: adding glow effects to an object.

Firstly, your friend is a New Black Layer, set to SCREEN. Screen is one of the many layer settings GIMP provides us with, and it essentially "screens" all the black from a layer, leaving the remaining light colors. Go ahead and create and screen a black layer over your image, and then set your paintbrush to the diameter of the bolt/light/saber you want to create. Go to the paths tool, make a path in the position and direction of the bolt, and then click "Stroke Path". Make sure you check the second series of options in the dialog box, and set it to Paintbrush.



So, now you have your line. A white, plain, relatively unremarkable line. If it's a little chunky, run a 5.0 gaussian by it before going to the Color Balance tool. In the color balance tool (still with the screened black layer selected) you can manipulate these sliders to cause various colors to be expressed in the white. In this case, I want something blue. Make sure to use all sliders availible for a thoroughly brilliant effect; shadows, highlights, and midtones.



Once you've completed your color balancing, duplicate that black layer several times over. Five should be sufficent. For each one, starting at the first and working to the last, gaussian blur each one in increasing amounts of blur. Fifteen for the first, thirty for the second, sixty for the third, one twenty for the fourth, two fourty for the fifth. But, as I've already averred in other tutorials, GIMP isn't really a precise art, so do what looks best to you. The same screening and gaussianing can also be used for fire, sparks, and holograms to add some luminosity to the mix.




And I think we've all seen the finished product in Zeph's latest comic !

[Dutch]

Thank you so much sail I just love to learn about gimp and its many uses.
Speaking of gimp here’s my newest gimp out Commander Cody.

C&C Welcomed

[Thunder-blade]

Very nice pic! Cody is perfect! (the coloration of Cody contrasting the background is superb!)

[Sialboats]

Rule Number one about GIMP: Color.

It's all about the colors. If the colors don't work, the picture sort of sucks - not that I'm saying this is rotten, far from it ! Now while they're both in warm colors, the background and his armor, both colors aren't represented in each other. Yellow detailing in the pathed bottom, or a greyscaled version of him would be better. Furthermore, I do not like those little... black blotches in the background .

It's nice, though!










Oh, since seeing as only two people saw this in my thread in the "Other Creations Forum", here's a little poster I did .



"Fight The Imperialists"
After Bandomeer's colonial government was overthrown, and replaced with a radical revolutionary as President, the Bandomeerian people quickly needed to form a defense force to stave off the inevitable reprisals that their nationalization of Republic industry on the world, and their cancellation of invaluable mining contracts would bring. Knowing the CIS alone would not protect them, the Bandomeerians made use of the innumerable R2, R3, and R4 Astromech components in mines throughout the planet. Private citizens who were not members of the "Bandomeerian Liberation Front", but who had experience working with droids in their jobs at Ore Processing Facilities, strip mines, and in their private lives, could upgrade the innocuous droids into weapon platforms using whatever spare parts they could find to optimize their AI, reinforce their chassis, and prepare the droid for weapons outfitting. When ready for it's armament, the Militia would work with the civilians to install a suitable weapon back at one of their many headquarters. The "Blastromech" as it was affectionately dubbed, not only served as the poster project for Government-Civilian cooperation, but functioned as a Squad Support weapon for the beleaguered militia units.

[Darman]

Well after a lot of going through boxes and buying a shovel. I have finally found my version of the (What year was it?) 2007 adobe photo shop or Adobe photo shop 4.0. So I am going to see what kick arse things I can do with it. Now I can do what I always have desired.... Scrap booking .

[Zepher]

Please. Not see it Sial. I'm currently working on my very only Blastromech

[Dutch]

Thank you sail and T.B for your commets.

Anyway is this any better?