#SE4 Speaker #2 - D. E. Gervais Topic : Graphics and Graphic Tools Questions

[David E. Gervais]

Originally posted by Stone Mill:
Questions:

1. Do you start with a canned set of tasks / filters when creating avatars, that you use in order; (i.e., blur, resize, sharpen)... are there effects that you use most often?

2. I see you often use .gifs; I was taught that .jpgs were better for photo/picture art. What is your opinion on these graphics formats?

A1: This pic will tell you exactly how I make my avatars from images I find on the net,.. (using my favorite art program, ArtGem)



A2: When dealing with avatars here at the intel forums I'm limited to .gif and .jpg as the accepted file formats. jpeg's are a 'loss compression' format, and although in many cases very good with 'pictures' it tends to fuzz out compared to the original .bmp format that I usually work with. It has been my experience that a gif with an 'optimized' palette is much better for the small pic size of the avatars. (48x48) the avatars are able to retain most if not all of their 'sharpness' when saved.

I hope this answeres your questions to your satisfaction.

Cheers!

[Stone Mill]

Wow! Awesome response!

Many thanks...

[Taz-in-Space]

David, what did you use for the animated gif's?

Also how did you make that cool sunken look for my avatar?

[ June 26, 2003, 05:04: Message edited by: Taz-in-Space ]

[David E. Gervais]

Originally posted by Taz-in-Space:
David, what did you use for the animated gif's?

Also how did you make that cool sunken look for my avatar?

A1: I use Gif Movie Gear v2.6 to create the final animations. GMG has the ability to load what it calls a gif filmstrip, (an elongated gif with all the frames placed side by side vertically or horizontally.) I do all the work in ArtGem and then save a strip then simply import it and play with the timing and of course optimize the anim to make a smaller gif.

This is what a small 4 frame Filmstrip looks like,..



A2: Simple, draw a 48x48 black frame, fill with a gradiant, add noise, smooth it out, add a band of shadow to the upper left of the box, add something interesting to the box, brighten the lower right edges of the box, and Lastly add that familliar highlight to the upper left corner. Voila!

..and here is a visual aid to show you the process,..



[ June 26, 2003, 12:35: Message edited by: David E. Gervais ]

[Rojero]

I would like to do one on myself where can i get that program:P

[David E. Gervais]

Originally posted by Rojero:
I would like to do one on myself where can i get that program:P

Which program? If you mean ArtGem, unfortunately it's no longer available.

If you mean Gif Movie Gear, you can find it and many other 'animation' programs here,..

Gif Animation Software

Cheers!

[David E. Gervais]

FYI: I'll have a message from Aaron to post during my Chat session Wednesday. I'll also post the message here after the chat. It's about SF, SE4 and SE5.

Cheers!