Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - gamingjustin
Pages: [1] 2 3

1
Just sent you guys an email. Thanks for the opportunity.

2
Pixel Art / Re: a mug shot
« on: March 18, 2009, 02:49:19 pm »
Wow, that's a tremendous help! It always bothered me how the first, rough grayscale version looked more like me than the final. I was so focused on getting a smooth look with the palette and placement of pixels that I sort of filled in the likeness with my imagination instead of looking closely at the reference. Another funny thing is how the final is too tall and thin. When I draw for fun (I often draw cartoon-like) I draw my characters this way; longer exaggerated face, larger lips, bulbous nose... it sort of bled into my self portrait.

It's reassuring to see I wasn't too far off when it came to eye, nose, mouth, etc. placements but at the same time unsettling that I truly could not see the differences between my picture and the final pixel. Interesting! So, thanks for the fresh set of eyes, Mathias, and as for the cropping... It's just a weird thing I do; an arbitrary, forced restriction. It looks to be a habit I should break.

Rough edit: old vs. new



Eyes are still a bit droopy among other things (actually, that whole area is still funky), but I'm glad it's turning out better. I worked from Mathias' file so the colors changed a tad (although it's tough to tell on an iMac lcd monitor)? Ah well, if anything they look better.

3
Pixel Art / Re: a mug shot
« on: March 17, 2009, 10:32:01 pm »
thanks for the input! yeah, i guess those ears wing out a bit and looking at the reference they're a bit more tall and straight. i took note of the poor dithering on the neck and realized there are other problems as well (thickness and such). i'll pick at it some more.

4
Pixel Art / a mug shot
« on: March 16, 2009, 10:45:17 pm »


I'd never done a pixel from reference, so I figured a cut and dry self portrait would be a good place to start. I feel it looks inconsistent in its current state, but I'm unsure of how to fix it-- the ears and hair especially. Is it possible the palette is affecting this? I can get a smooth look on the face, but the darker areas are more difficult. So, if anyone can lend a hand-- any tips/suggestions at all-- it would be much appreciated! I want it to look polished, but it still looks incomplete.

Also, I was all over the place when I worked on this. I started in an old version of Photoshop Elements, roughing in values and line work. Then, I shifted gears to the recently discovered Grafx2 which is wayyyy beyond my understanding at the time being. I mucked around with colors for what seemed like an eternity until I settled on the pale red/purple look. Afterwords I shrunk it down and chopped it a bit; 128x128 was too large for me. I hacked at it to make it more defined, then flipped back to Photoshop to jack up the contrast and seriously work on the individual pixels. Whew. So, now I'm stuck. :(

5
Pixel Art / Re: [WIP] Mathilda
« on: December 24, 2008, 07:40:50 pm »
Excellent progress made so far-- big improvement! However, more can be done regarding the facial structure. I whipped up en edit for you to look at. Mine is far from perfect but what I mostly did was fill in the face. The nose and lips are much bigger now, I gave her more of a chin and made her head/face thinner and taller. I think I picked at the hair as well. Your color palette right now is "punchy;" light and dark. I think this is okay, except when I was drawing the lips I was struggling with their shape because there is no real "middle" color. I see three light shades, and two dark shades. Maybe add a middle color and getting the face right will be much easier (and closer to the reference).



I noticed you said you mirrored the image to "see it freshly." You are definitely on the right track (fighting how your brain "wants" you to see)! Another tip when drawing would be to take note of where parts are positioned; check where things are relative to each other, check angles. one specific example would be the lips relative to the tip of the nose. In your most recent WIP the nose extends farther to the left than the edge of her lips when, actually, it's the opposite. Things like that.

So, overall, great stuff. I would only suggest you add a middle color, add more diversity to the lighter colors and darker colors, and check where facial features are relative to each other.

6
2D & 3D / Re: Official OT-Creativity Thread 2
« on: November 09, 2008, 10:55:43 pm »
Lucas, of Mother 3, drawn a bit differently... For those of you who like thoughtful, honest, self-aware games with razor-sharp plot flow I can't recommend it enough. Most of all, this game will stick with you. This is not an RPG about good vs. evil, wrong vs. right; it has gray areas and asks you to think. It's a breath of fresh air, this game is.

I just used Photoshop Elements 3. So, that explains the nice blurry black lines. Elements 3 does not have any kind of ink tool... :(

7
General Discussion / Can someone explain the use of non-square pixels?
« on: October 12, 2008, 03:54:24 pm »
So, as my name denotes I like to play games. For years I have been playing arcade games via MAME and emulation, but never questioned until now the pixel aspect ratio of many of these games. A good example are ones for the CPS2 (Capcom Play System II). On the left is Pocket Fighter's native resolution at 384 x 224, on the right is Pocket Fighter mashed into a 320 x 240 resolution.


Despite the distortion and the ugly bicubic filter, I think the picture on the right looks more correct. The native resolution makes everything look wide. How come so many older games used unusual resolutions? Was it a trick to simulate higher detail when squished on a screen? Was it the nature of the technology they used to draw the graphics? I've tried looking into this and I've seen these kinds of pixels (in CPS2 games) described as being "oblong." Other resources I've found were a bit too technical, never really explaining why non-square pixels were used. Seeing how it's all about pixels here I figured this would be the place to ask. ;D If anyone knows feel free to share, I'm pretty curious. Thanks.

8
Challenges & Activities / Re: Mockup Frenzy #8: Megaman!
« on: October 01, 2008, 05:20:03 pm »
Such great designs, everyone. Anyway, here's a wip of the "real" Mega Man we all know and love from the ever-popular boxart...


Yeah, his crotch isn't quite lined up yet but, hey, it's better than Mega Man's backwards ass from the first game!  ;D ......  :(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:MegamanBox.jpg

9
Pixel Art / Re: Plotting Revenge
« on: September 30, 2008, 11:07:12 pm »
Very effective final palette; thoughtful piece overall. It makes the old one look like he was lit under a florescent bulb. The tallpixels give it a very rustic, gritty computer-graphic feel and it fits the subject. Also, since it was tallpixeled I had to do this...

Fake scanline edition:

10
General Discussion / Re: How does one go about pixeling something like THIS?
« on: September 18, 2008, 08:00:22 pm »
Interesting, thank you for the succinct explanations! My curiosity is now satiated. So, as I suspected, this is closer to a digital painting rather than actual pixel art.

Pages: [1] 2 3