WarLocke's Micro Hero Army Thread

[DeeBye]

Actually Dee, I have a copy of the GIMP (it may be outdated by now, though, I suppose), but I don't find it as intuitive to use as PSP.

Your version is probably outdated, and will be even more so when GIMP 2.0 comes out within the next few months (which will address the horrible Windows interface).

I've never used PSP, so I can't comment on it. I CAN say that every entry I've seen for SomethingAwful's Photoshop Phriday composed using PSP would look 100% better if it was done using The GIMP (500% better if using Photoshop :)).

The comment you quoted was about the 'DUH' on Captain Obvious' shield; it's relatively easy to make recognizable letters at the pixel level, but it's a different matter getting them to look halfway decent.

Here's what I whipped up using Photoshop. I could have done the same using The GIMP. I used the Impact font, but I'm sure that there are many better fonts for this.


Steps:
1. Create BG layer (R:41 G:32 B:11 for this forum's colour scheme).
2. New layer. Draw circle. Fill with white.
3. Select circle.
4. Stroke the inside of the selection with X pixels of red (I cannot recall how many pixels I set the stroke to :)).
5. Create new layer.
6. Draw a horizontal red line X pixels wide (whatever looks good; preview it as necessary). Be sure the stroked circle is a visible layer so you can constrain the boundaries of the line to within the border (red stroke) of the circle.
7. Rotate the line 45° clockwise. Move as necessary to keep the line within the red stroke of the circle.
8. Flatten the circle and line layers into a single layer.
9. Use the Lighting Effect filter (available in both The GIMP amd Photoshop) to create some depth.
10. New layer. Type text. Move text and center it.
11. Save as a suitable image file format (.png worked for me here) and upload to webspace.
12. Post reply on LL.

The text part was the easiest :)

[WarLocke]

But... But that's cheating!

The whole point of Micros is that you do it in individual pixels. If you start using Photoshop you might was well get a CG or comic scan and shrink it down. Or something. :huh:

tl;dr: I = n00b

[DeeBye]

But... But that's cheating!

The whole point of Micros is that you do it in individual pixels.

Ooops! Sorry, I didn't realise there was a "Micro code".

I'm hip to the pixel-editting thing though -- I once created an entire set of Mahjongg tiles for the colour-monitor-impaired.

My laptop at the time (many years ago) could only do EGA graphics with four shades of orange. I liked playing Mahjongg, but I hated the default tiles. I created and shared a nifty set of B&W tiles as freeware.

As I recall I used the alphabet, the numerals, and a few special characters (like ! and ?) to make a complete set. It was black-on-white, and looked pretty awesome if I do say so myself :)

tl;dr: I = n00b

B&

[WarLocke]

Ooops! Sorry, I didn't realise there was a "Micro code".

Actually, I don't know if there is. Personally though, I want to stick to pixels, if for no other reason than to teach myself how to do this stuff without relying on all the fancy gewgaws available nowadays.

And EGA in four shades of orange? Eww, just eww...

B&

o snap

[LochnarITB]

... You really want it done with that obese template??

Okay...  Don't know if I can get the arm right for you, and some sort of reference for the "ZZ Top beard" would be nice.  Any specifics for the costume, or just 'green'?

Yep, I did say the art reflects the model.

For examples:

The ZZTop beard would best be depicted in the sketch here for the guy farthest right.

The glowing green orb (the Lochnar or Loc-Nar) would best be imagined by this without the little metal pieces and with it being semi-opaque and a glow emanating from inside.

The costume would be the same brilliant emerald green without the glow. The only possible embelishment would be a smaller version of the orb, possibly depicted mounted at the top of a scepter or short staff such as the staff held aloft in the lower pic here.

Have fun!

[AtomicKitKat]

Something struck me about the No Duh Shield, and then, I realised what it was. The No should overlap the Duh, partially obscuring the letters. :)

[AtomicKitKat]

http://sliver_queen.tripod.com/images/lochnar.gif

It's not exactly what you wanted, so feel free to make comments. :P

[Obi2Kenobi]

I'm going to have to show this one to my friends. :) Especially the ones who refer to me as "Captain Obvious". :) One (actually, two) small request(s): Could you replace the red on his outfit (not shield) with green?

And secondly: How about making Landru? :o

[WarLocke]

Wow, I'm getting backlogged. :ph34r:

I'm in the middle of doing Goldbrick on a better template.
Got to do P.E.T.E.
Lochnar, of course.
And now LANDRU. Hrmm, going to have to think up a central concept for him. ;)

I can redo the colors on Captain Obvious, no problem. You want the reds on his costume green (just green? not dark or bright or emerald?) but the shield still red?

EDIT: AKK, that's pretty good. The green-all-over bodysuit looks kind of funky, but I think it's just the big stretches of a single color that are messing with my eyes. That scepter's pretty good, did you freehand it? And did you manage to find a template with the arms like that, or did you add those yourself?

[AtomicKitKat]

I got a bit lazy and just cleaned off the pixellations on the body so that the shadows and light were in big swathes(after doing that beard about 3 different ways, you don't really wanna have to spend 1/2 an hour painting the Middle-Aged Mutant Sumo Turtle :P FYI, I started with an alternating pattern beard, joined them into brown crosses on ochre backing, then decided to make it a lot darker by linking the horizontals on the crosses) I did in fact free-hand the scepter. I used the Line tool to make a brown bar across his hand, copied and pasted his head to make a sphere, then put in patches of white and pale blue(very hard to notice this latter one against the white) After that, I free-handed the fingers and thumb to approximate a grasp(one gaffe you may notice is that the scepter-hand has one extra finger over the empty one)

[LochnarITB]

http://sliver_queen.tripod.com/images/lochnar.gif

It's not exactly what you wanted, so feel free to make comments. :P

It's close to what I was picturing. It did bring a giggle though. It seems that he must have experienced some sort of meat cutting accident, like a finger or three getting inbetween the steak and the steak knife? :P The beard looks like a mask too. Now that you've given me something to work on, I'll make some changes and see what comes of it. War, I'd still love to see what you come up with too.

Something struck me about the No Duh Shield, and then, I realised what it was. The No should overlap the Duh, partially obscuring the letters.

When I saw the shield, that was the first thing I thought. Then I looked at it closer and it appeared that the red of the no was done as transparent and that the letters were tinted where it crossed. Maybe it was just an optical illusion but I thought it was intended as such.

[WarLocke]

War, I'd still love to see what you come up with too.

Here's what I have done so far. I haven't been able to put too much time into it since something very interesting has come up...

(EDIT: Final version on page 3)

You said his costume should be emerald green, but I almost think it's too bright. Oh well, whatever you want. The hair/beard is also a placeholder; I couldn't find any templates that would do for the look you want, so I'll have to edit it by hand (btw, do you want hair, or a cowl/helmet, or just bald?).

Maybe it was just an optical illusion but I thought it was intended as such.

It was. The letters are directly overlaid on top of the shield, with no transparency. I'll go back eventually and paint the red back over it, but since I was an idiot and flattened the 'duh' and shield layers, I'll probably have to erase and redraw them. But, I haven't been able to get to it yet due to the aforementioned interesting big deal. B)

[LochnarITB]

Here's what I have done so far.  I haven't been able to put too much time into it since something very interesting has come up...

I do like the hair but, since he is supposed to be a super hero, it feels like a cowl is necessary. I also love the beard but, since the model can't achieve a beard like that, it wouldn't be right. Please don't worry about doing a Lochnar unless you want to do it as practice for your professional micromaning. (That is the something very interesting, right? ;) )

Besides that....

Da da DA!!!!!



I basically started over with AKK's idea, template and color and came up with this. Thanks for the effort both of you.


(OK, the background isn't transparent - now I have to go figure out how to make it so.)

[edit]Now it is transparent - Thanks War.

[WarLocke]

(OK, the background isn't transparent - now I have to go figure out how to make it so.)

Here's how. I use IrfanView for this (don't have a link handy, but google it up, it's free), but I'm sure other programs can do it:

- Open your BMP or JPG or whatever in Irfanview
- Got to 'Save As' and select the GIF filetype
- Make sure that 'Save Transparent Color' and 'Choose Color When Saving' are checked in the little options menu
- Click on the color you want to be transparent when prompted

It's that easy. Note that you'll want the background to be some color that isn't used at all in the image. I like 255/0/255 (pinkish) or 0/255/0 (bright green).

I also love the beard but, since the model can't achieve a beard like that, it wouldn't be right.

You're confusing me. :P This is saying that the beard on him right now isn't right? That's not a problem, it was just the closest to what you wanted, so I'd have a base to start off of. I'll chop off the top part and give him a cowl, too.

(That is the something very interesting, right? ;) )

Nope. I'm not half the artist I'd have to be to do this stuff professionally. I really (really, really) want to tell you what it is, but I can't. :(

[WarLocke]

OK, got off my keister and fixed Cap's shield, then did a second version in green:



Was that the look you were after, Lochnar?

I think the shield still looks a little funky, but that was the best I could do. If I made the stripe any thicker, you could barely tell that was a U under it, and if I made it thinner it just looked wrong. Bah!

[LochnarITB]

I use IrfanView for this (don't have a link handy, but google it up, it's free)

Thanks for the reminder. I used to have Irfanview but it went away when I lost my hard drive and it is one of the things I forgot to grab again. It finally did the trick, but not without some more headaches. I had saved the original as a png file because it was the only format that didn't mess up what I had done. The png format is supposed to support transparency but Irfanview and Paint seemed to offer no way of setting it. I then saved it as a gif to get the transparency but this gave him a bad case of the measles. I went back in and cured the measles and finally got it to where I wanted it.

This is saying that the beard on him right now isn't right?

The color was good. It has been salt and pepper gray with a couple white patches since I was in my late 20's. A guy I knew used to ask me if I had been painting because I must have spilled something white in my beard. <_< The idea behind the ZZTop beard though is that it is kind of long and a bit scraggly. I would love to have a thick enough beard to do the nicely cropped one like you depicted.

I really (really, really) want to tell you what it is, but I can't. :(

So, how's the CoH beta going? ;)

Was that the look you were after, Lochnar?

Captain Obvious? I think you meant to ask that of Obi2Kenobi, right?

[WarLocke]

The idea behind the ZZTop beard though is that it is kind of long and a bit scraggly. I would love to have a thick enough beard to do the nicely cropped one like you depicted.

Well, I've been pounding away at it, and I think I've got the image about where I want it - except for the beard. That's gonna be fun, let me tell you... :lol:

Captain Obvious? I think you meant to ask that of Obi2Kenobi, right?

D'oh! The villainous Brain Fart strikes again! <_<

So, how's the CoH beta going?&nbsp; ;)

I never said that I was in a beta.

( ;) )


EDIT: VVVVV - Good. I aim to please. B)

[Obi2Kenobi]

Was that the look you were after, Lochnar?

Captain Obvious? I think you meant to ask that of Obi2Kenobi, right?

I think he may have meant about the shield.

/edit: But if it was meant towards myself, then yes, I like it. :)

[AtomicKitKat]

*Watch this space* The first Micro villain will be coming in the week. :)

[WarLocke]

The first Micro villain will be coming in the week.

Ooh. :o

Licensed or original?

I've been meaning to make a campy Vampirella-style villain with the female_batwings template, but I haven't had time yet... :angry: