Cover Art and Computer Graphics

**Radthorne** · May 24th, 2005, 12:01 AM

Standing on a grid is boring, so let’s make up a scene. The gate and the walls are individual models by SkyGirl. I’ve imported them and started moving them around, using different perspectives as shown here to get things lined up while checking the result from my original camera position.

Almost there. I’ve added one of SkyGirls’ ground terrains, and a sky backdrop by Ayla. Last thing to mess with is the lights. Lighting can make all the difference in how something looks. This set of lights by Ayla goes with her backdrop, and really set off the character nicely. You’ll note that the right hand wall, though, is too washed out. So what I did was to render the whole scene as is; then I turned off most of the lights and re-rendered it with just that wall. I then cut and pasted that portion of the wall in Photoshop over the original.

And that's it! That's pretty much how I create all of the pictures, with some easier and some a lot more complex.

**Radthorne** · May 24th, 2005, 12:03 AM

Just so you don't have to go all the way over to my site to look at it, here's the finished image.

**alison** · May 24th, 2005, 12:36 AM

Kevin, thanks for that little walk-through - it looks like a lot of fun! The sort of thing that would have me pecking at a screen for hours (as if I didn't do enough of that already...)

**KatG** · May 25th, 2005, 10:01 AM

You're taking all the mystery out of it, dude! You're suppose to make it all very mysterious and difficult-sounding. And of course, you're leaving out the eye for color, form and design stuff.

**Radthorne** · May 25th, 2005, 11:11 AM

Well, I thought it would be good to show which bits are "me" and which bits are "others". I certainly don't want to take credit, for example, for the design of the people's clothes. But I will accept the credit (or blame!) for the "color, form and design stuff".

There's also a great deal of tweaking going on here too, of course; it's not quite such a slam dunk as the way I laid it out up above. Each of the scenes I've done took a couple of hours or so to do - various experiments with this and that until things all come together.

However, if you prefer to keep it mysterious - consider that I could have also made all those screen shots up, by hand, to make it look like there was a program at work underneath... (I'd have to not have a day job to spend that much time at it, but it's possible...)

**Radthorne** · May 25th, 2005, 02:16 PM

The other thing going through my mind was that I hoped I might inspire others to follow along the same path. Other than a semester of art class in 7th grade, I've never had any artistic training at all. The power of these tools allows me a creative expression that I could never have otherwise had - the skill level required in traditional media to replicate a picture like Rogue White would take lots and lots of practice. As it is, I can go straight to the creative vision (more or less, or at least with a lot less practice than one would need with pencil or brush). So I'd like to encourage people who feel creative to have a go at it. All you need is a reasonably peppy PC and a little spare time.

**Radthorne** · May 25th, 2005, 11:28 PM

This one I called Wild Ride.

**Rocket Sheep** · May 26th, 2005, 12:01 AM

You see there's so many things about the picture of the girl that are odd. Perfect ruins on a perfectly flat and immaculately swept floor... or is it a garden, but if it is... why polished floor and where's the leaves and grit? Then there's the fact that she has a sword and yet something as complex as lycra has obviously been invented (knitted stockings never clung like that!) so why isn't she carrying a gun? And the collagen in her lips... women with noses that small shouldn't go around putting collagen in their lips and I'm not even going to mention the practicalities of white boots... or how close she is to cutting off half her hair.

No... she seems all dolled up to go to a ceremonial affair. Too much perfection all round (apart from her undersized nose and overplucked eyebrows) and that is where you lose the heart of your character.

Muck her up a bit, Kevin. Throw some dirt on her, give her a practical outfit in a non-space age fabric, tumble down the walls a bit, throw some rubble on the floor with plants and moss growing out of it and a few leaves in the corners, give her a normal nose and show us how she looks then.

Can your program do that?

**Radthorne** · May 27th, 2005, 12:32 AM

Ah, Sheepie, Sheepie; always with such a jaundiced view of life... There really are those who seek escape from reality, you know...

Well, just because you asked so nicely. (No foilage - I haven't downloaded any tree models into DAZ Studio, as they're all in Bryce, and I'm still working on getting the characters over there in a decent fashion. )

**Rocket Sheep** · May 27th, 2005, 02:35 AM

Woah! Bonus slayed knight. Makes up for lack of veggies. I especially like the scraggy hair and the big hips. Her feet are a bit petite tho.

Call that book "Girls Who Bite" I'd buy it.

Scuse my manners. I scare myself sometimes.

**Radthorne** · May 27th, 2005, 08:32 AM

I was thinking of maybe calling it "Aussies with Attitude"...

Sorry 'bout the feet. The terrain is too high and her feet have sunk into it; didn't notice until just now.

**Rocket Sheep** · May 30th, 2005, 07:38 AM

Spongy terrain... oooh, bouncy bouncy...

(I'm teaching worldbuilding to 9 & 10 year olds tomorrow... at least one will come up with spongy terrain... if not terrain made of marshmallow)

**Radthorne** · June 2nd, 2005, 11:31 PM

I've been upgrading my PC to a new one for the last few days. Mucho faster! Makes creating pictures much more fun! Here's one I did tonight. The render took a little over 3 minutes. With the old machine it would have taken about 15 or so.

**Radthorne** · June 3rd, 2005, 11:12 PM

Argh, you scurvy scum! Go shiver yer own timbers...

I had purchased a sailing ship model a while ago, but I had to wait for the new PC to be able to use it - it's quite a memory hog. But I soon as I got it loaded up, I just had to make some pirates...