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Series Art

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
TropeReboot.jpg



This isn't really a cover but a piece of artwork for an article series I'll be doing on the home page. I did the background and the text myself and had an artist do the crystal ball. But I think there's something that still strikes me as off about the crystal ball and I'm having trouble figuring out how to fix it.

The series is going to be about taking old tropes and finding ways to reboot them and do something new with them. The idea was supposed to be a "crystal ball" that's like a computer and needs to be rebooted. Is that what comes across?

Help me out.
 

Nimue

Auror
I think the issue is that the ball isn't transparent enough, or needs some bigger/shinier highlights. If I were doing this I'd play with lighting filters on transparent layers instead of keeping solid color around the edges (i.e. the blue)
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
If it's a computer-related effect you're going for, could you have some faint circuitry extending along the inside of the glass of the ball, maybe just over a small portion?
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
I think the issue is that the ball isn't transparent enough, or needs some bigger/shinier highlights. If I were doing this I'd play with lighting filters on transparent layers instead of keeping solid color around the edges (i.e. the blue)

That's a good idea - I can tinker with that.


If it's a computer-related effect you're going for, could you have some faint circuitry extending along the inside of the glass of the ball, maybe just over a small portion?

I wish I had that idea earlier. It's too late for me to go back to the artist with something like that. I will try it myself but I might not get something that works.
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
Having read Nimue's post, I agree re: the transparency. I didn't put my finger on that when I first saw the image, but having read her response I think that would make a positive difference.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
Trope_Reboot_Background1.jpg


I don't really know if this looks better, but this is what I came up with playing with the transparency and the filters.

There really isn't much behind the crystal ball to actually see through it.

((edit))

I get the impression I made things worse. Here's a softer difference.

Trope_Reboot_Background_2.jpg
 
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skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
Maybe try going away from blue. I keep seeing a planet.

Also, the base looks awfully plain. Something more ornate, holding the globe up on supports, rather than having the globe sitting in the thing. Makes it look a bit like a snow globe. And the symbol is reminiscent of a power switch symbol.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
Also, the base looks awfully plain. Something more ornate, holding the globe up on supports, rather than having the globe sitting in the thing. Makes it look a bit like a snow globe. And the symbol is reminiscent of a power switch symbol.

The power switch button is deliberate, you push the button and reboot the magic of what you're seeing in the crystal ball (hence, Trope Reboot). The problem, which I think your post shows, is that the message isn't coming across well enough.

I can keep tinkering with the Crystal Ball and eventually get the colors to look right with the background. I was also thinking about engraving something on the base - I figured out how, but I don't know what. But both of those are aesthetics, and I need to do something to help get that key point across.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
A power button for something rebooted works. I don't get the crystal ball, but danged if I can thing of anything better.

Can you put a power button on the farm boy? <gdr>
 

Foah

Troubadour
I've done lots of work and editing in 3D programs over the past years. If you want you can send me the BG and text that you did yourself, and I can have a go at the ball piece and see if I can come up with something great looking :) Send the stuff to [email protected] if you wanna let me fiddle with it a bit.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
I've done lots of work and editing in 3D programs over the past years. If you want you can send me the BG and text that you did yourself, and I can have a go at the ball piece and see if I can come up with something great looking :) Send the stuff to [email protected] if you wanna let me fiddle with it a bit.

I think I might take you up on that. Do psd files (from Photoshop Elements 11) work for you or should I convert things to jpeg?
 
I think that maybe surface glossiness/reflectivity may be what's missing. Shiny glass ball.

Also, I'm not sure what that image inside the ball is supposed to be? At first I thought it was a top-down view of a map or fantasy land. If it's actually the colors behind the ball (seen through it), then I think that the image is usually reversed and upside down. Well, here's a quick render from Daz Studio showing a little of what I mean. (I've been fighting with the lighting and other things so this is very rough and actually horrible, but it should show the reflectivity and the image inside the ball reversed.)

HN64gHh.png
 
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Maybe because the crystal ball and background don't have the same appearance, like one is computer drawn and the other is hand drawn? That strikes me as the problem, but I have no experience whatsoever in this stuff, lol.
 

Foah

Troubadour
I think I might take you up on that. Do psd files (from Photoshop Elements 11) work for you or should I convert things to jpeg?

.PSD works just fine, I use the Adobe Suite alot along with the 3D programs I mentioned :)
 

Reaver

Staff
Moderator
TropeReboot.jpg


I don't know why but this reminds me of the Okama Gamesphere from South Park.


okama_gamesphere.jpg
 
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Foah

Troubadour
test_1_for_devor.jpg


difference_showcase_1_for_devor.jpg


DISCLAIMER: No effort was put into the second image, it's just for reference with the rest of the bits with base and text :p

I played around a bit with what you sent me Devor, and worked a while on getting the right transparency and shine on the sphere. Something like this makes for a more "realistic" ball of glass I think. Do note that I chose a completely transparent and non tinted glass type for this reference image. If you want a blueish tint that's just a few clicks' difference. I played around with a quickly made scrap background I did just to try out some 4K rendering (the background you sent was 600x400 yea?).

Thing that was missing in the first globe was all the lighting, the reflection and the bending of it. As it stands now, it could use some extra flashy shine on top of what I've done. Something to make it pop a bit more. As for the base, I could model something more ornamental aswell if you'd like. Feel free to mention stuff you'd like to see tried out! No charge or anything obviously--I need to practice on building 3D stuff and all that nonsense for work ^^
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
Thanks Foah, it looks good and that turnaround was fast. I think I just need to keep tinkering with it myself.
 
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Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
Trope_Reboot_Background_4.jpg


^Does something like this work better? I'll keep tinkering with the text, I just want to know if people think this is on the right track.

I've overlayed Foah's version into this and I think it helps with the 3D effect.
 

Laurence

Inkling
Maybe because the crystal ball and background don't have the same appearance, like one is computer drawn and the other is hand drawn? That strikes me as the problem, but I have no experience whatsoever in this stuff, lol.

It's this for me. Only the stand, too. The ball itself and background look great to me. The top line of the stand, however, has obviously been drawn by hand.

I feel like the stand's top line should be almost parallel with its bottom line, and should cover a bit of the ball, as though you were looking from dead on, as it's not immediately obvious at what angle we're looking at it from at the moment.

It's also worth noting that I would either move the main text either further away or so that its overlapping. With the distance they're currently at, the eye doesn't know whether to see the image and text as a whole or separately. I'd also steer clear of text inside the ball personally.
 
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