12 replies to this topic

[Bursk]

I've been using one of Hathor's Viconia edits for a while now, but I've recently got back into BG and have noticed that the row of pixels on the far right of the image is the wrong colour.  Mostly it's a black line, but towards the top there's some white.  You'll see what I mean if you zoom right in and look at the right-hand side of the image.  I'm surprised I hadn't noticed this before, since it seems really noticeable in-game, especially if you're browsing through the available portraits during chargen.

Anyway, I was wondering if there's anyone out there who could fix this row of pixels somehow.  I suppose copying the colour of the last but one row of pixels and then pasting that might do it.  Sadly, I only have MS Paint available to me, so I don't think I can do such a thing myself.

Attached Files

•  NVICONL.bmp   203.73K   389 downloads

[vilkacis]

Simple enough.

Attached Files

•  NVICONL.bmp   203.72K   315 downloads

[Bursk]

Thanks. I notice you've made some changes to the original other than just re-doing the line of pixels at the far end (don't know if you meant to do that). It's noticeable if you flick between the original and your one, but it's definitely better without the black line.

Might I ask what you did, exactly?

Oh, and I think a friend of mine has photoshop, so maybe I can practice on that for how to do this myself in future. Is it possible with photoshop to zoom right in, copy the colour of one pixel and use that colour on another pixel?

[vilkacis]

I used the smear tool, which is basically treating the image like wet paint.



I figured it'd look more natural than having two columns looking exactly the same. It shouldn't have affected anything other than a few pixels in from the right, so any other changes would have to be due to my cheap and ancient photoshop knockoff messing it up when I saved.


If all you want to do is copy the colour of a pixel and paint it in in a different location, you don't really need anything more advanced than Paint. In fact, Paint is excellent for things like that. It's only when you need things like blending, transparency and such that you need a more advanced image editor.

You don't have to buy Photoshop, either, there are several similar but free programs you can use instead. For example:
http://www.getpaint.net/
http://www.gimp.org/
...neither of which I have actually tried, but I hear good things.

[Bursk]

Thanks again, vilkacis.

I've borrowed my mate's copy of Photoshop 7, and have spent about 5 hours playing around with the Liquify filter, and I simply cannot get the part where the edge of the cloak disappears off to the side to look right. I either have the angle of the cloak all wrong, or the edge of the cloak doesn't look right compared to the rest of it (I see you had a similar problem).

I think I'll just send Hathor an email and hope that he/she can do this edit for me.

I hope I don't sound ungrateful, vilkacis, and appreciate your help.

Edit: I've sent the Email. I've decided to have another go at editing the remainder of the picture, but will leave the edge of the cloak alone for the time being. If Hathor does pop in, then hopefully by then only the cloak will need doing.

Edited by Bursk, 28 January 2008 - 02:15 PM.

[Bursk]

For anyone who's interested, here's what I've managed to do so far. I did have some trouble doing the highlighted areas, as even the smallest Liquify brush size is still a little bigger than the area I want to use it on. Still, after carefully checking each of my changes against the original, I'm pretty happy with the results. It's not exactly the same, but it's pretty close I reckon.

I'm going to continue working on it tomorrow.

Attached Files

•  NVICONL.bmp   203.73K   380 downloads

[Yovaneth]

You don't have to buy Photoshop, either, there are several similar but free programs you can use instead. For example:
http://www.getpaint.net/
http://www.gimp.org/
...neither of which I have actually tried, but I hear good things.

I use GIMP and PSP CS and have used GetPaint. GetPaint is probably the easiest to get to grips with but the print options are pure crap. The GIMP gives PSP a real close run; strangely I use GIMP at work and PSP at home! The learning curve is awful but I'd recommend the GIMP; I just happened to be locked into PSP with various publishers for historical reasons.

-Y-

[Miloch]

@Bursk - what exactly is wrong with vilkacis' edit and how is it so different from the original? I'm not seeing a big difference between any of them, except for the black column to the right, but then I don't exactly have an eye for detail I guess.

If all you want to do is get rid of that black line, that's dead easy. Just clone a column (or draw a tall thin box around it) and move it over and down a pixel. At that scale it'll look pretty seamless. Any tool should be able to do that - even Paint, as vilkacis said.

[vilkacis]

Add to that, the fact that it won't really be visible when it's shrunk to the size the game uses for the profile pics and portraits on the right, even if there's a pixel or two out of place.

I gave mine a quick polish, but any more than that is a waste of time for a portrait that will only show up in the epilogue for all of 20 seconds anyway. (Of course, don't let me stop you if you want to keep working to practice your 'shopping skills. Although, it'll probably be more helpful to work on the smaller versions, since you'll spend a lot of time looking at them as you play the game.)

Attached Files

•  NVICONL3.bmp   203.72K   316 downloads

[Bursk]

Hey, that new version is really good!

I agree that there's no practical reason to spend ages tweaking the portrait, but I've actually started enjoying doing this. I think I'll spend a little while working on your polished version, vilkacis, just to make sure that all the lines are as clean as possible (like I said, more for fun than anything). I'll upload the finished version once it's done; may not be for another week or so.

Thanks again for all your help.

[vilkacis]

No problem. Have fun, and good luck.

[Rabain]

Why didn't you just crop the image to remove the same amount on either side (and top and bottom) and then resize back the correct dimensions.

[khay]

Or you could use the clone stamp tool in addition to liquify.