271 replies to this topic

[Big Poppa]

That aerie pic looks a little too desaturated though, unlike the others. Maybe that's what you are shooting for. Here's just a version with modified selected colours though that seems to bring it in to the edwin brightness and contrast region.
Not that I want to get scolded again for messing with someone elses art. I just wanted to see if this kinda helps or see if you wanted that desaturated, light look.

Edited by Big Poppa, 07 December 2007 - 03:18 AM.

[Miloch]

Here's just a version with modified selected colours though

[DLed before it gets taken away] That's what I've been on about.

Not that I want to get scolded again for messing with someone elses art.

What do you mean "again"? Which thankless wretch rebuked you for just offering some constructive feedback? (It happened to me a while back, so I take a dim view of such things...)

[vilkacis]

I think I said this before, but I do like that Edwin. It's very... Edwin.

Mazzy is cute (...even though she'd stab me if I told her that), but I think with the way her head is turned, the bridge of her nose needs to be a little further to the left. Also - I'm less sure about this - maybe the forehead should "curve in" a little more?

<- überhax!

[princesspurpleblob]

I've got only men left now. And I still don't like Jaheira. I've tried fixing her and making another portrait but nothing helps. Maybe I'll just leave her be.

Really? I think Jaheira is the best one!

[berelinde]

You know, I liked the washed-out Aerie, but I like the color-saturated version better. Very nice!

[berelinde]

And loving the new Mazzy and Edwin!

[Miloch]

überhax!

Maybe my eye for detail ain't so good these days, but I'm not really seeing a difference. What exactly did you change?

And I like the Jaheira too. She has that slightly bitchy expression I've always imagined her to have.

[Ilmatar]

überhax!

Maybe my eye for detail ain't so good these days, but I'm not really seeing a difference. What exactly did you change?

I was just wondering the same thing.

I've been staring at Aerie and thinking of trying to do something in between of my very light version and your stronger one. I'll see if I can come up with anything better. Thanks for the comments.

[vilkacis]

'kay, maybe this will help:




Man, that looks weird.

[whatbrick]

I didn't see anything wrong with the "lightness" of the original Aerie portrait, it just needed some dark areas to make it pop off the screen more. Lack of contrast is something that plagues everyone at one time or another.

Here's an example:



Two key elements that I paid attention to were to intensify the shadows a bit (under the chin, the hair behind the head, and the eyes) and also to added a bit more specularity to some key spots on the face, such as the chin, cheeks, nose, and lips.

Ignore the whole reshaping of the face thing I did. I lost track of what I was supposed to be doing and went a little overboard.

[Miloch]

'kay, maybe this will help:

O...kay... so you moved her nose a little to her left? I only noticed that after swapping back and forth between the two several times, and I guess I don't see what's wrong with the original.

Man, that looks weird.

Eh. I won't ask what your dirty mind is imagining off-screen...

I didn't see anything wrong with the "lightness" of the original Aerie portrait, it just needed some dark areas to make it pop off the screen more.

That's what I said originally, but Big Poppa also pointed out the desaturation, or washed-out colour. Take a look at her clothing and necklace for example on his version vs. the original. The original colour looks a bit unnatural, almost as if she's a ghost. Your version does improve the contrast, but somehow she ends up with mottled-looking cheeks.

[SpAE]

NIIIICE, thank you for the mass post on them. I gotta say - you have really turned up the Sex factor on all the men (good LORD Cernd! And Yoshimo! Where does he get his hairgel? And can I look as hot as him when I get badly scarred on my face?) You've got pretty great characterisation on all of them, although I will admit Nalia is a little bit hard to recognise (honestly, compared to the great expressions on all the others, she comes across as being somewhat blah to me)
In terms of expression and characterisation, Imoen, Viconia, Aerie and Cernd are my absolute favourites. Did I mention I love your colour schemes? And your painting? The only crit I'll make on the painting itself is try to intensify things even more (although Mazzy's armour is an especially excellent example of clearly defined bits).

Also seriously love how you've got Edwin's shiny things glinting against his dark and sinister rawr background. Yellow light too, awesome.

One thing I can suggest about Jaheira is that her clavicle seems a little high to me - try drawng the line from it to the shoulder, that might help a bit. I'm not sure what I can suggest to help though - I'm really awed that your picture of her matches up, character-wise, *exactly* with the image of her in Belles. Brillo.

Re: Aerie picture - Possibly, instead of the (Very pretty and appropriate) white light, maybe you could use something tinted to tone down the 'ghostly' look?
On that note, Whatbrick, awesome edit - the defining looks brill - although the intensified shadows seem a little black to me (also, man neck!). The texture on the cheeks is plenty fun though
[*desperately tries not to tread on anyone's toes*]

Miloch - I think Vilkacis brought the bridge of Mazzy's nose forward, which I think looks marginally more natural considering the angle her head is at. The end of her nose depends on what shape Ilmatar's going for.

vilkacis - eXtreme makeover! raaaaar!

[Lathander]

How do you get these in the game? I have tried to resize the Jaheira one to the small and large sizes but so far only the small one works!

[Ilmatar]

Oh Lathander, don't sweat! When all of the portraits are done, this will be turned into a portrait mod! I will most probably also make all the needed .bmp's of each portrait and make them available in my portrait site.

[Miloch]

If you're impatient in the meantime, you can do this:

1. Save the portrait in bitmap (.bmp) format, call it njaheirl.bmp. Should be 210x330 - save it in your portraits or override folder.

2. Resize the portrait to 110x170 (may need to crop a few pixels off top and bottom as it'll resize to 110x173 unless you're distorting it), save it to portraits/njaheirm.bmp.

3. Resize/crop the portrait to 38x60. At this size, you may want to apply a Sharpen filter too, as it'll be a bit blurry. Reduce it to 256 colours and save it to portraits/njaheirs.bmp.

If you're using Tutu, the filenames are jaheiral.bmp, jaheiram.bmp, _aheiram.bmp, jaheiras.bmp, _aheiras.bmp.

The readme.txt file in your game folder documents this process (sort of). I am surprised the smallest one is the only one that worked, as that involves the most steps.

But as Ilmatar says, you probably want to wait until she releases this officially, because the files here are JPEGs, which means they'll have lost some resolution from the original bitmaps.

[Lathander]

Thanks for the help! Cant wait to see the rest of these portraits!

[Galsic]

An odd observation, perhaps, but I feel that, somehow, that new version of Edwin doesn't quite match up with that sniveling, nasal voice he has goin' on, heh. Like I said, an odd observation, and one you need not take too seriously. It's pretty cool, otherwise .

Edited by Galsic, 16 December 2007 - 03:52 AM.

[Leila]

The only thing that bothers me when seeing them all together, is that Viconia, Nalia, and Edwin don't have as much as a closeup as everyone else. But it's really trivial.

Should Mazzy's nose be rounder? I thought halflings' features were very soft and round, but her nose resembles Jaheira's a bit.

Viconia is gorgeous! And I actually really approve of the lack of contrast in the Aerie portrait. She's just someone I don't associate with dark shadows at all.

[KedorLao]

My favourites actually line up in a column. Cernd, Jaheira and Viconia are easily the best (in my humble opinion) of the bunch. I'm not sure why you don't like Jaheira's, but I think it looks fantastic!

[Mephala]

Jaheira and Mazzy are really cute   Aerie... I think, she should be... more naive =) bigger eyes, maybe?

Edited by Mephala, 15 January 2008 - 08:16 AM.