boothten

[size=1]I got screwed too! Bah humbug upon both Ninjas, I say, haha. Oh, are we just going to ignore the skipped spots, or are we gonna carry those new spots onto the end of the list?[/size]

[size=1]Of course the transition I had to work with had to be wierd, funky, and awkward as hell. Thanks, Hybrid Ninja. ;D I tried, not my best, but whatever. The hardest thing for me was the transition. On the one I had to work with, on the last pixel of their artwork it suddenly went a dark purple, so it probably looks a lot wierder then it really is. Haha, anyway, enough excuses. It was fun, I hope people don't find that it looks like complete shiz. [center][url=http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/gworm.png]beyond fear[/url][/center][/size]

[size=1]I think bringing back the Image Challenge would really help to increase activity here in the Art Studio. I also think that Hittokiri's suggestion for a Signature Of The Week contest would be fantastic. I know that on all of the other Graphics-related forum boards that have a SOTW contest always get a lot of activity and participation from members on the board. While we aren't a community that focuses solely on the graphic arts, I think that we do have a lot of very talented artists that would contribute to make the SOTW contests a success. There's my 2 cents. ;D[/size]

[size=1]I'm in for sure; I never got around to signing up for the last ones, but I'm ready for this one. =][/size]

[size=1]Well, this is gonna take a while, haha. [b]Bliss[/b]: I'm not a big fan of this one. I think there's too much white space on the left. Your blending looks really good thought, and the smoky look on the back of her hair to blend it into the background looks fantastic. Kudos on that. I think you could do without the smaller text that's in the middle of the larger text, or maybe even the other way around. I also think you should sharpen her face just a little bit more, it's a little too blurry. The depth in it is also pretty good, as is the flow. It's pretty monotoned, but I like it that way. [b]Serene[/b]: The flow is lacking in this one, and it's a little messy. My eye can't really focus on anything for too long, including the intended focal, because it keeps getting attracted to those curves you made/brushed. The blending in this one could use a lot of work, and the depth is ok. Text is ok as well, but I think it would look nicer with an outer glow at maybe 50% opacity or so. [b]Bloodlust[/b]: I really like the idea behind this one, but it needs a lot of work. There isn't any depth, nor is there any flow and that kind of just spoils it for me visually. The text looks pretty good, and so does the stock you used. The blending looks great, but the depth and flow! Gahh.. lol. [b]Beautiful Sin[/b]: I don't like the border or the font you used, they don't really match with the sig. There's no flow, and depth is really lacking. The blending in this one could use work as well. [b]Heartache[/b]: No flow, hardly any depth, but I love the colors you used. A small sharpening could do this some good. Not a big fan of the shapes you used underneath the text, the text itself, or the border, but this definitely has potential. The stock you used is gorgeous, and blending could be better, but I really like this one a lot. [b]Random Bursts[/b]: To be honest, this is your worst one in my opinion. I can see you tried getting more of a flow, but I don't think it came out well. The blending is pretty bad, it looks like you just got some white over his legs then smudged it a little. You need to sharpen the focal on the sprite, especially when it comes to sprite sigs. The colors and font-choice look really good though. [b]Sweet Sacrifice[/b]: I think her face is too blurry, sharpening that up would do it some good. I don't really like your font choice for "Sweet" though. The thing, whatever it is (I'm pretty sure it's a brush you used), behind "Sweet Sacrifice" ruins what would have been some nice flow. The depth looks pretty good, so does your blending. [b]Seduction[/b]: Was everything on this banner's background smudged? If it is, then wow, lol. Those smudge settings look fantastic, I think they're the best part of the sig. The text gets lost in the background a little, I'd suggest putting the text on the bottom left or right corner. Your flow, blending, and depth look really good in this one. I think you over sharpened this one though. [b]Breath of Life[/b]: The blending is good in this one, but I don't like the dot pattern thing or whatever that you used over her neck, it looks weird to me. Depth could use work, and I think you should up the opacity level on the stock. She looks see through almost, it doesn't really look good. Flow could use work. [b]Believe[/b]: Sharpen! Your font choice could be better, but the blending looks nice. Is that a brush or a C4D you used on the left side of the banner? Anyway, I really like the colors you used in this one. Flow is definitely lacking, as is the depth on the right side of the sig. [b]Fin[/b]: I really like what you did with the text in this one, and the bars on the top-right look really good. Sharpen the focal, and whatever you used to colorize the face should be removed. It doesn't look good. Was it a photo filter, or was it a gradient map you used to colorize it? Or maybe something else, I dunno. The "J" looks really out of place there. Depth and flow could use work. [b]Dream[/b]: The blending in this one is ok, but the flow just isn't there. The depth is ok though, and the text looks really nice. The colors look really good though, I like that it matches her eyes. [b]Memory[/b]: Are the pixelated diamond shapes a brush, or did you use a clipping mask for that? Anyway, they add some nice flow, but the depth could use work. I also don't think that the black diamond things don't look good in there. I don't think the focal needs to be sharpened, it looks good without it. [b]Shadows[/b]: The blending looks good, but the depth, the flow, and the shapes you used behind the text are pretty bad. The text isn't good either. [b]Kazuko[/b]: The blending looks good, but there isn't any flow and I think the text would look better somewhere else. The depth is ok, and I think the colors look great. Overall, I think the banners look really nice but there are still some parts your missing. In a great majority of them, you aren't sharpening your focal, which (in my opinion anyway) doesn't look very good. Sharpening your focal makes it stand out more, and doesn't just make it look like another thing in your background. Depth is also lacking, and your flow could use A LOT of work in almost all of them. I suggest you find some free effect C4Ds, in packs or not, and use them on banners to make for better flow. Set the layer style that they're on to either "Lighten," "Screen," or "Overlay" and erase some of the parts that are over the focal and that make the sig look bad. You don't use C4Ds, do you? It looks like your mainly using brushes and smudging. I'm in love with your smudging by the way. I can never get my settings to look good, so I usually either try to avoid or I set to opacity to that layer I smudged on to a lower opacity so it isn't as noticeable. Your lighting and lighting sources could also use some work. I suggest you make two layers early on in the making of a sig and set them both to soft light. On the first layer (the bottom of the two new layers you made), get out a soft brush and use black as your color. Brush over what isn't being hit directly by light. On your second layer, get out a white brush and brush over where the light hits directly on the stock/render you're using. As you're creating a banner, I think it's a good idea to use Black & White gradient maps every now and then and set the layer style on them to either "Soft Light" or "Luminosity," whichever you think looks better. I know I'm no expert by any means, but those are some techniques that really helped me. I could send you some links to tutorials and what not, if you wanted them of course. ;D And now I'll stop rambling, I've no doubt I probably bored you half to death with what I wrote, haha.[/size]

[size=1]Wow, I'm not gonna lie, people are taking a really long time to complete just one submission. I think that the rules should have been more strict about completing your submission on a deadline, because at this rate we'll be getting one submission every one or two weeks. The person that signed up to do it after Goodbye, Face has had 9 days to complete it, so.. I think a 3-day deadline or something should be more than enough to complete it. I know it's not up to me, and it's just my opinion, but yeah.[/size]

[size=1]To be completely honest, I'm not a fan of any of them. All of them feel just way too messy, and there's no focal point in any of them so my eyes are just constantly moving around looking for something to rest on. They're all a little monotone as well, and your text choice (especially in the first image) is pretty bad. Try looking for other fonts other then the default ones that are available. I also get the feeling that you're only using brushes, because in the last image I've actually owned those brushes at one point in time. It looks like you just get a new image opened up in Photoshop and splat some nice looking brushes wherever they look nice. Try using other images and incorporating them into your image, such as C4Ds, and experiment around with layer effects to get different results. If you haven't been using Photoshop for a few months, then the images are pretty good, but if you haven't been using it for maybe two weeks or so I suggest you read up on some tutorials. They all have potential though, and while a bit messy and over-brushed, they do look nice.[/size]

[size=1]Ok, I've finished them. I made two versions using the last image you provided. Like I said, I made one before you gave me a new image to work with, but I don't think I did very well on it. So, I'm not going to post it, haha. Unless you'd really like to see it, then I can send you the link in a PM. Just let me know. As for the other two, there are some slight differences between the two. In the first one, there's a blending difference between some of the layers. Like I said though, the difference is really unnoticeable unless you saw the layers by themselves in Photoshop. There's also a 1 Pixel gray border, which I thought looked nice. lol On the second one, there's a different photo filter used but I only set the opacity to that photofilter at like 15%, so it's not gonna look like much but it's there. There's no gray border in this one, just white. To be honest, I've been having a little difficulty with text placement and just typography in general, but I think it came out looking nice. I'll stop blabbering, haha, here you go. Just let me know if you'd like anything changed and I'll get working on it right away. =] [center][IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/kinoban01.png[/IMG] [b]Version 01[/b] [IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/kinoban02.png[/IMG] [b]Version 02[/b][/center] Enjoy![/size]

[size=1]Haha, ok, thanks. I was actually just finishing the banner I started with the first image. I'll save it though, and let you see it, just in case you like that one more. One more question about the new image you linked, did you still want Hermes to be in the banner? He isn't part of the focal, and I didn't know whether or not you still wanted him in it.[/size]

[size=1]Ok, I could take a stab at the banner, but I have one quick question before I go making this because I'm a little confused. Alright, I don't watch this anime, or any anime for that matter, so I wouldn't know about the characters or anything. But, you do mention two characters in the banner image, and if I'm not mistaken there's only one character. Is the motorcycle named Kino or Hermes? And just one more thing, haha. Sorry. That stock you gave me is gonna be murder for me, the scanlines are gonna be a pain, but I'll see what I can do with it. =][/size]

[size=1]I have a 30 GB iPod Video. I'll follow Boo's example and say the following: I have 1,649 songs, which is equilavent to 7.76 GB of music and it would take 4 days to listen to it all. As far as videos go, I have 8 of them which include Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Dane Cook's Vicious Circle, and Trigger Happy TV: The Best of Season Four. It would take 6.4 hours to watch all 8 videos, and they take up 1.49 GB. Clearly, I got my *** handed to me my Boo, haha. ;D! Anyway, is it just my computer/iTunes, or is there less GBs of available space then what was advertised? Example, as I said, I bought a 30 GB iPod Video but in reality whenever I hook up my iPod and it shows me that page that shows me all the statistics about my iPod and what's on the iPod itself, it says I only have about 28 or 27 GBs of available space, somwhere along those lines, I can't remember the exact number. Haha, false advertising, I say![/size]

[size=1]I took a shot at making the banner, I don't think I did all that good a job but hey, I'm not pro, right? Haha, anyway, you'll be the judge as to just how well I did or not. I made three versions, one completely different from the other two. I made the first one, but wasn't really happy with it, so I started over again, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to let you see it in case you like it. I didn't have time to make an avatar, but if you liked the banner I'd be more then willing to make one for you that would be ready tomorrow morning. Anyway, enough chit-chat, here are the banners. Enjoy! =] [center][IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/gokuban001.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/gokuban01.png[/IMG] [b]Version 01[/b] [IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/gokuban02.png[/IMG] [b]Version 02[/b][/center] [b]EDIT[/b]: DAMMIT. I forgot to add borders. Haha, ok, let's make a deal, if you choose any and would like a border on it, just let me know in a post, and I'll edit it and put a border on the banner you choose. If you don't want a border, then.. well, we have no issue I guess. Haha, ok, deal? Deal. =][/size]

[size=1]Who's last in line? Is it Sirius? I wouldn't mind taking a stab at this. =][/size]

[size=1]I don't think I'm going to be able to make one, I can't find a single good quality stock to use for the banner/avatar anywhere. They're all really sketchy drawn pictures with a lot of JPEG artifical noise and what-not. If you could provide a stock, that would actually help me out a lot, but if not I won't be able to make you one, not one with good visual quality anyway. I hope to hear from you soon.[/size]

[size=1]Thanks a lot to the both of you, it really does mean a lot. @ Amnesiac: Yeah, for the last one I tried making it have that darker feel, for whatever reason. The colors are a bit dull because that's the way I thought the looked best. I especially like how Sora's eye turned out so blue, when compared to everything else. Like I said though, I'm still in my trial and error stage, so things will probably be mediocre at best. Thank you for the criticism though, it's greatly appreciated. @ Retribution: I don't know what happened with my other versions, but your right about the white space. I added text to the last one because I thought it somewhat balanced the image out to a certain degree, but yeah. I'll be sure to work on it. And the compliments mean a lot, especially from you, haha. I'll be sure to post all of my future banners on this thread from now on, so be sure to check in every once in a while to give me some constructive criticism. =][/size]

[quote name='Retribution'][font=Arial]Not many people here use C4D, so that'll be a step not many can follow up on. But I'd still like to see more tutorials from you, if it's not too much to ask.[/font][/QUOTE] [size=1]Quite the contrary, it's actually pretty easy to find C4Ds that are available for use. DeviantArt has plenty of packs that are available for download, and if you go to any sites that are focused on graphic design many times artists who use C4D will leave packs that can carry anywhere from 3 C4Ds to 150 or so for download. That's the way I've been getting mine and all they ask in return, normally, is a simple thanks. Thanks for the share, I'll be sure to look over your last tutorial especially. That one looks more interesting to me than the others. =][/size]

[quote name='Goodbye, Face'][font=arial][size=1]I can help you out with following BTBAM's members, haha. They're local so I'm kind of sick of hearing about them. Tommy Rogers did vocals with From Here On, well, him and another guy. Paul Waggoner (I think that's your lead guitarist) was in a really amazing band called Prayer for Cleansing. and Blake Richardson plays drums in Glass Casket, also, he played for Advent. The first two bands have albums on Tribunal Records, and Glass Casket and Advent have MySpaces, they'd be the ones based in North Carolina, in case there's a million Advents.[/font][/size][/QUOTE] [size=1]Yeah, both the guitarist and the drummer are in Glass Casket, which is also an insane Progressive Metalcore band. I knew Tommy played in another band, but I couldn't remember the name for the life of me. What genre is Prayer For Cleansing? I've heard of them, but never taken the time to actually check them out on MySpace or anything. Has anyone here heard of Gojira? I recently just found out about them through a friend on another forums board and, while a little hesitant at first, decided to check them out. What I discovered seriously blew me away. They're a really heavy Death/Trash Metal band from France, who have some -core influences (which I really like, haha, nothing like a nice breakdown). Anyone interested should check out their MySpace and listen to the song "The Heaviest Matter," cause it's insane. It's up there on the "heaviest songs I've ever heard" list. It was fantastic, and I really loved the beginning. That nice breakdown near the beginning of the song was just incredible. It wasn't a cliche breakdown, which would be really slow and whatever, but it has a nice tempo to it and I liked it. I could see a fat mosh pit opening up, it was nice. So, has anyone heard of them?[/size]

[size=1]Lately, I find myself listening to [b]Between The Buried And Me[/b] a lot. I'm sure they need no introduction, and if you do need one then for shame! Here's one anyway, just in case you're one of the few unlucky ones: they're insanely good. On their CD, "Alaska," the guitarists do their part in making ears melt and eyes.. bubble, I suppose, haha. They have crazy solos, especially in their song "Selkies: The Endless Obsession." If I'm not mistaken, it's a 7 minute song with [i]at least[/i] the last three of those 7 minutes being a really good guitar solo. They guitarist is crazy good at sweeping, I can't think of who their lead is, but he's crazy good at everything guitar related, lol. Both guitarists are, but anyway. They have breakdowns aplenty, all of which are really nice and not always the cliche slow tempo breakdowns typically done by bands of the hardcore/metalcore/-core genres. The drummer I think is one of the best out there, hands down. Not only is he a jazz drummer, which I find to be awesome, but I'm seriously considering the idea that he may be a robot with at least 4 arms and maybe like an extra leg or two. He's incredibly technical, and the technicality of the drums and the guitars makes for an incredibly good combination. Not to mention how good the vocals of Thomas are, it's just a really good band. If you take nothing else away from what I've typed, take a listen to "Autodidact" on their CD "Alaska." Be prepared for a mind-blowing finale. Not even joking around, the ending to that song has to be the single greatest breakdown I have EVER heard. I'm done for now, but I'll be back with another band. And if anyone feels I've made a mistake with what I've typed, feel free to correct me on it, if it is correct that is. =][/size]

[size=1]Is there any stock/render you'd like to be used in particular? I'd be happy to try make you one, but I wouldn't know where to start as far as images go.[/size]

[size=1]I've recently really been into making new banners using a lot of different techniques. I used to be the kind of person that liked just a nice looking, high quality image along with a nice black/white border. But lately, I've really been trying to further my capabilities and see what kind of images I can make. Each of these consists of at least 15 layers, if not more. I made them all in Photoshop CS2, and read up on some tutorials before and during the making of each banner, but I didn't follow the tutorials exactly. So, I present to you, my latest banners. Oh, and just as a side note, I go by boothten on other forum boards. I'm thinking about getting it changed here too, haha. Anyway, here you go. [center][IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/sig001.png[/IMG] Note: I was having trouble blending the render into my background. I was fairly new at this, so it only figured seeing as how this was my first banner made using these new techniques. As you can see, it looks like I just got a nice abstract background, then pasted a render onto it. Pretty lame, I know, lol, but whatever. I did this one about four days ago. [IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/samusbanv4.png[/IMG] Note: I was still having trouble blending, but I was beginning to get more comfortable with it. I think the problem I had with blending was that it involved erasing bits and parts from a good looking render, and all the renders I had chosen I really liked. So, I guess I saw it as defacing a nice image. haha, whatever. I actually made three other versions of this one, but this one was by far my favorite. The other three were different in small ways like different photo filters and gradient maps. Here they are in case anyone was interested: [url=http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/samusbanv1.png][u]V1[/u][/url], [url=http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/samusbanv2.png][u]V2[/u][/url], [url=http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/samusbanv3.png][u]V3[/u][/url]. These were all made two days ago. [IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/LanHikari/sorasig.png[/IMG] Note: This is my best one in my opinion, which I know isn't saying much considering I've only made three, lol. I was still a little uncomfortable with blending, but I think it got better. Not much I an say about this one, other then the fact that I really enjoyed the outcome of this one. I made this one just this morning actually.[/center] So, now that you've seen them, what do you guys think? I know I haven't posted any of my images here on OB in a while, nor have I posted here in general for that matter, but I wanted to become active here again so I though this as well a time as any. I'd love to hear the goods and bads of what you all think about my newest banners. Cheers and thanks in advance! =][/size]

[quote name='Jakehammaren']Sorry, here I go again. Hardcore isn't metal, it's punk. And all of the bands that you listed that I've heard of aren't really metal either, they're metalcore, which is an offshoot of hardcore (with the exception of Job For a Cowboy, but only their latest album is metal, and even then, it's just generic death metal).[/QUOTE] [size=1]I know, notice I said that I liked metal with core influences, instead of saying just straight out plain metal. Sorry if what I typed seemed to confuse you, Jake. Hahah, dammit. I got my arse handed to me by the Metal God of OB. I feel like a fool. But you must admit that a lot of the bands listed have a majority of their sound rooted in metal over hardcore! Like Between The Buried And Me, perfect example, right? Or not? Haha, I should look into that metal archives more before posting from now on.[/size]

[size=1]I have a really wide range as far as the music I listen to goes. I can go from Frank Sinatra, my favorite artist ever, to Bring Me The Horizon, my favorite band. So, Jazz to Deathcore, haha. Quite a range. But the majority of the music I listen to is Metal. I really like the core sub genres that go with it, hardcore and what have you. I like there to be a beat and the occasional breakdown does tickle my fancy, haha. I really enjoy music from the following: Between The Buried And Me, Bring Me The Horizon, Glass Casket, The Human Abstract, The Devil Wears Prada, Architects, At The Throne of Judgment, As Blood Runs Black, Underneath The Gun, Elysia, Knights of The Abyss, Suicide Silence, and the older stuff that Job For A Cowboy made, just to name a few. As you can see by the list of bands, I like when bands have core influences incorporated into the music.[/size]

[size=1]Bahh, I just couldn't pass this up. I couldn't for the life of me find this video on youtube, then I found out it's because of site that made the video. I guess they put a copyright on it, and youtube couldn't have it anymore. I did find it though, after looking on google and what-not. It was on myspace, but it's ok because the video will still make you cry from rofl'ing in real life. ;D [URL="http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=8948569"][b]The Landlord[/b][/URL] I also found a spoof of that video, which is still very funny. [URL="http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw1yBAd-UCI"][b]The Kegger[/b][/URL] And this is just outrageous. I love it, haha. [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0fWUJosjak"][b]Powerthirst[/b][/URL][/size]

[quote name='Sandy][size=1']Like with all FFs, Ethers and Elixirs are sparse, and the technick "Charge" is too risky to be used in a heated situation.[/size][/quote] [size=1]You know, in that situation it's best to use your Syphon ability. If I'm not mistaken, it's an Arcane Magick, and if you set it up just right, it works out extraordinarily well. I personally have it set up like this: [b]Foe: Character MP < 50%---Syphon[/b] It's pretty simple, if the character that has that gambit [spoiler]uses up more than 50% of his/her MP, he/she uses the magick Syphon which absorbs MP from a foe. It only uses up 2 MP to use the ability, and it's very useful except in certain situations. I found that it didn't work when fighting certain Undead enemies. I haven't tested them on all Undead enemies, so don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work against them. I also found out that it doesn't work when used against quite a few of the Marks, but I'm not sure about all of them.[/spoiler][/size] [quote name='Gavin][size=1']Just OOC do any of you guys by those Grimoire things sold by merchants?[/size][/quote] [size=1]I did, they definitely helped me get better loot, seeing as how I was trying to get a lot of the "Ultimate" weapons in the game. If you get all the Grimoires, and after you complete a certain hunt [spoiler](I can't remember which one it is, but I remember it involves an urn or vase or whatever, and one of the headless turtle things, haha. Gil Snapper? Bah, whatever) Arcanas and High Arcanas are now more common to be dropped and stolen from enemies.[/spoiler] What did everyone think of the quality of the voice overs? That doesn't mean the voice actors or anything, but I found that the actual quality of the recordings wasn't very good at all. Maybe it was just my TV? haha[/size]

[size=1]Personally, I think you're over using those splatter brushes a tad bit too much. A few would have looked nice, but just placing them randomly and in excess makes it look... well, not as good I suppose. Try holding back on the splatters. This is besides the point, but are you printing the shirts yourself or are you having a company make them for you?[/size]