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Id love some CNC


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#1 fs_iamjokeri

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Posted 17 March 2012 - 22:11

Well i recently got given the adobe CS5 package by a friend and i saw here that people are really talented with making avatars, signatures and what have you,

Anyway i thought id give it a try, downloaded a few renders, C4D's stock images, sat and played with Photoshop for like half an hour and came up with this,

Constructive criticism would really be appreciated as this is the first time ive made anything in photoshop

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#2 fs_iamjokeri

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Posted 18 March 2012 - 09:50

Just thought id add, im in the process of trying out a few TUTs, but i wanted to hopefully get some CNC on my raw attempt before moving on,

I think the one thing ive noticed myself (and i think you'll agree) if that the text needs to be more visible and maybe better placed,

Thank you very much in advance if anyone has the chance to comment

#3 chianty

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Posted 18 March 2012 - 11:30

Well as far as I know anything about graphics(not much) you need better lightning,..your avata is pretty dark needs some blending.
As for text try the rule of thirds when you place your text. :mrgreen:
:)

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#4 MyCurse

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Posted 18 March 2012 - 11:36

It's really good if this is your first graphic, mine were way worse.
Chianty has pretty much explained what was missing, what I'd like to add is that it looks really "busy"..this happens when you try to do too much, and it was a very prominent trait of my early avatars...try and keep it simpler. :)
Good luck.

#5 fs_iamjokeri

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Posted 18 March 2012 - 12:51

Hey guys,

Thanks a bunch for the feedback, not quite sure what you mean by rule of thirds, BUT ive been playing around again with a few ideas, I tried following a few TUT's for some inspiration but as im not entirely up to date with how photoshop works i just confused myself, so i decided to do it by eye

I made this avatar again, my aim was to try and use the colors from the render in the background, use a C4D to create some flow and make the avatar more bright, I know i still need alot of work but i think im starting to get a feel for what photoshop can do

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#6 athdenald

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Posted 18 March 2012 - 13:26

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In response to your message in game asking for CnC it's a nice concept but as Mycurse says, it's a little too busy and there is too much going on in the avi. Also the lighting is off. If you look at the render (the guy with the scarf) it's clear from the shadows that the lighting is going top left to bottom right so the light source should also follow this direction, you've got it come from all kinds of places atm. Is it some kind of window in the background? The image is over sharpened as well. I don't think it was rendered like that so you probably did it while you were making the avi, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong :)

Borders can help pieces stand out and I always add a 1 pixel border around my work at a minimum but I rarely put it behind the render unless it's to add depth to the image, you appear to have a 3 pixel (?) border around the outside that is on an early layer and again it's made it look messy. The text is off as well, try not to make it look like you've stuck it on as an afterthought. This CnC I did yesterday for kisoku may help point you in the right direction:

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Apart from that it's a good effort, much better than some of my early pieces!

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This one is much better, it's a bit too red for my taste but the lighting is right this time which makes a big difference to the image. You could do with blending the render into the image more though. Try using a soft eraser brush at 15% on the edges of the render or a soft brush using the colours of the BG to brush over the render in key areas, again at low opacity. The text is better as well although it would benefit from being moved up a cm or so imo.

Nice work again though, just keep practicing and you'll get there in the end :)

#7 fs_iamjokeri

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Posted 18 March 2012 - 13:36

Hey thanks for the CNC Athdenald, Its really appreciated!

I made the newbies error of saving both of the avatars as flattened images so i cant make changes to either of them, BUT i intend to make a 3rd avatar before the end of the day incorporating all of the CNC ive received,

Thanks very much for that image from Kisoku's CNC Thread it makes the "Rule of Thirds alot easier to understand and should hopefully keep me on the right track!

#8 fs_iamjokeri

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Posted 18 March 2012 - 14:30

Made myself a Sig to use for the time being, Just trying to get more practice in :D :D

#9 fs_narael

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Posted 20 March 2012 - 18:42

First, i wanted to say that the above advice are pretty good, keep them in mind as well... :)

Knowing that my first pieces were way, way worse than yours, i'll have to congratulate you, especially on the 2nd one you made (the red one)...

Now, given the chaotic and messy style i make my graphics, i'm not sure if any advice i can give can help you, but here goes :

I personally never knew the rule of threes, so i always tried the placement over trial and error. I copied (and hid) each render and background i used on every avatar and resized it and replaced it until i felt it looked good... On the aftermath of countless tries in the past i'd advise to keep the focal not centered to the middle of the avatar but 20-30% to the side (check Athdenald's CnC image and imagine i'd place the focal usually centered on either one of the vertical lines)... That helps me especially when i want to use background details and visual tricks as it gives more free space (if that makes sense at all XD). Also, i prefer the focal to cover more area than Athdenald's CnC, but that's entirely up to each artist and the focal to be used :)

Colors are covered almost perfectly, just keep in mind not to over-saturate your image in the end as in most cases it reduces the details of the work and may strain your eyes... again though, up to you :) (a good trick is to add a gradient map layer (layer-> new adjustment layer -> gradient map) and play with both the colors and the blending options of it - that way, even if the background you really wanted to use doesn't fit the color sceme or the render looks a bit odd over it, you can adjust your result to your liking) :)

Text... So far, i've changed over a dozen text styles and i'm still not good at it... Athdenald's advice are the best i think, keep it simple and clear... You don't want people to first notice the text and then the work you made, so i'd add keep it a small font size as well.
On my chaotic makings, I also try to avoid to place the text over the focal at all if possible... I don't use colors on my text (most hate me for it XD) i just add a 1px 30% opacity black border (right click the layer, "layer properties") and i change the text layer's settings to "overlay" so that it takes after the colors of the overall picture directly below it... if not to visible i just duplicate the layer, rasterize it (again via right click) and use a soft eraser at various opacity to erase parts that stand out...

Last advice i have, also brought up above, is to make your focal look more natural with your background... many ways to make that possible, soft brushing the edges as Athdenald said is a really good and clean one... :)
Some more chaotic are to duplicate your focal if it's a render, then on the bottom layered render do a slight radial zoom blur (filter -> blur -> radial blur remember to select zoom instead of spin) at best quality (amount depends on the render size, i'd say a minimum of 30 maximum of 60?), then gaussian blur it (filter -> blur -> gaussian blur : no more than 3 pixels i guess?) and then erase of the top layer render the edges with a soft brush.... Then you can try playing with other ways, just gaussian, just radial, radial lightened (either ctrl+u or through the lighten filter), smudge, etc... :)

Overall, check other techniques used in tutorials, and try to mix the as you like them :)

I'm looking forward to see what you will be able to do in a month if those are your first tries :)

#10 athdenald

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Posted 20 March 2012 - 19:54

I'm AthDenald - athenald is a different player altogether :P

#11 fs_narael

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Posted 21 March 2012 - 10:43

lol, my apologies... :) edited my post above :)

#12 fs_iamjokeri

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Posted 22 March 2012 - 23:21

CNC on this please,

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#13 kisoku

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 00:17

CNC on this please,

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I like what you did with the background and font, The render kinda is to bright in my opinion. Coulda been darker to blend just abit more :) but very good.

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#14 fs_narael

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 09:00

You've overworked the focal i think... it still looks great, but it has lost a lot of detail (glove, muscle tone).. a bit too bright for my taste as well, but i think it made it look good... nice background and love the font :)

#15 fs_iamjokeri

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 15:11

Thanks again for the feedback :) its always appreciated and im definately improving, Ima see what else i can come up with and no dought post some more :D

#16 fs_iamjokeri

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 16:48

Made this for a guild mate:

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#17 Godblade75

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Posted 27 March 2012 - 21:19

Wow, pretty good for one of your first few. I can see you're improving. I'd suggest working more on your depth and your text.

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#18 fs_iamjokeri

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Posted 27 March 2012 - 21:22

Wow, pretty good for one of your first few. I can see you're improving. I'd suggest working more on your depth and your text.


Thanks! Im trying to get the hang of this whole "Creating depth" thing, Ive downloaded hundreds of texts, again its getting the hang of text placement and blending,

But im getting there :D


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