Author Topic: My first artwork (Back to the Arcade) (Read 6842 times)

tsaylor · « **on:** January 12, 2011, 02:47:24 am »

I'm working on my first cabinet, and finally making progress on the hardest part for me: choosing a theme and developing artwork. I've never been artistic, and had never used Photoshop before, but I've started learning and I've finally got something to show for it. If anyone has suggestions on how to make my work better, especially any artistic tips or suggested Photoshop techniques, I'd be happy to hear them!

After a few false starts I decided to go with a "Back to the Future" theme, and attempted to make the control panel look like the rear deck of a DeLorean time machine. That panel contains a joystick and 5 buttons for each player with a trackball in the middle. Then the design wraps down to the front panel where it should look like the tail end of the DeLorean (with the player 1 and 2 buttons partially hidden there). Picture a fold in the middle where it says "Panel curves here".

The cabinet I'm MAME-ing was a broken NBA Jam, which had previously been converted from a Centipede. For the control panel art I used some high resolution time machine scans (although they weren't quite high-res enough as I still had to stretch them a little to get the correct size).

tsaylor · « **Reply #1 on:** January 12, 2011, 03:05:04 am »

For the Marquee I'm trying to make a time-travelling DeLorean action scene. For the name I was thinking about "Back to the Classics", but I thought most people (i.e. the people I would show the cabinet to) would relate better to the name "Back to the Arcade". The down side of that name is that I see it has been used here before, so not original.

Again, I'd be happy for any artistic or Photoshop suggestions to make this better. It took me awhile to get a motion blur and explosion/lightening effect that looks decent, but I'm sure there is room for improvement (did I mention I'm not an artist?).

For this DeLorean image I used a rendering found on the 'net.

fallacy · « **Reply #2 on:** January 12, 2011, 02:30:16 pm »

cool have you seen this 1 yet.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-MAME-tm-Arcade-Machine-4-Player-29-Monitor-/300349812510?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45ee3e6f1e

if you want to also build a flux Capacitor as they coin door you can buy it at ThinkGeek
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/collectibles/9fc6/

tsaylor · « **Reply #3 on:** January 14, 2011, 02:12:45 am »

Thanks fallacy. I had not seen that BTTF machine yet, cool. I've thought about those flux capacitor units but they are a little pricey for an add-on. It looks sharp, though.

I've been considering the idea of covering the side panels with a faux stainless steel laminate.

fallacy · « **Reply #4 on:** January 14, 2011, 02:45:15 am »

That would be cool! the sheet metal should cover the entire cab! Take that same metal and build those 2 big exhaust vents on top of the cab, place some red strobe lights in the vents. Stick the Mr fusion on top of the cab next to the vents.

tsaylor · « **Reply #5 on:** January 30, 2011, 04:05:25 am »

Any suggestions from the artists out there on how to improve this project? (either the control panel or the marquee) I've learned a lot about Photoshop Elements but still feel like a noob. Are there any areas that just look wrong, and should be approached differently?

For a comparison, here's a version of the marquee where I've added a grid and nebula effect to the right side. I did this to try to balance the left side a little, but also because a marquee will be backlit so I don't want too many dark areas where light doesn't show through. But at the same time I worry that I should keep things simple, and I may be making things overly busy.

SammyWI · « **Reply #6 on:** January 30, 2011, 10:19:58 am »

Looks nice! I'm an art newb myself, so take anything I say with that in mind. I started with a vector program so that things would scale well. I assume you've taken that into account.

The concept is great, the wrap down to the tail lights should look nice. I love your exit and pause labels - a nice touch.

The marquee could use something on the right side. The grid is OK but looks a little out of place. How about a picture of Doc and Marty similar to the side art of the linked cab?

tsaylor · « **Reply #7 on:** January 31, 2011, 03:09:40 am »

Thanks SammyWI! I'm glad that got the exit/pause part. As for resolution, I'm working full size and 300dpi so I think the marquee is ok, but I have some concerns about the control panel. The art I used for that (high resolution scans) still weren't high-res enough and I had to stretch them a bit to get them to the needed size. Hopefully the blurring won't be too bad. I'll need to do a full size test print in color to see how it looks. Maybe the "sharpen" tool will be able to help me out a bit there too.

I'll think about what else might go on the right side. I want to keep it simple though, hopefully not distracting from the time travel part on the left too much.

SammyWI · « **Reply #8 on:** January 31, 2011, 09:18:31 pm »

Hmm, simple.... How about a pic of the license plate spinning on it's corner after the Delorean has jumped?

tsaylor · « **Reply #9 on:** February 05, 2011, 03:04:47 am »

Quote from: SammyWI on January 31, 2011, 09:18:31 pm

Hmm, simple.... How about a pic of the license plate spinning on it's corner after the Delorean has jumped?

That could look nice. Not sure if the scale would look odd though, since it would likely be quite a bit larger than the plate on the car.

BadMouth · « **Reply #10 on:** February 05, 2011, 10:10:31 am »

Odd personal preference, but I would replace the license plate on the car with one of these:

I had one as a kid, there are pics of them all over the internet.
There are always a few on ebay if you want an actual plate.

On the marquee, I think the name is kind of small.
I'd shift the car to the left. Make the words bigger and put them behind the car.
That would also fill in the dead space to the right.

Just my $.02

tsaylor · « **Reply #11 on:** February 06, 2011, 01:56:31 am »

Quote from: BadMouth on February 05, 2011, 10:10:31 am

Odd personal preference, but I would replace the license plate on the car with one of these:
I had one as a kid, there are pics of them all over the internet.
There are always a few on ebay if you want an actual plate.

On the marquee, I think the name is kind of small.
I'd shift the car to the left. Make the words bigger and put them behind the car.
That would also fill in the dead space to the right.

Just my $.02

Thanks for that feedback BadMouth! I forgot to mention that I used to own a DeLorean, and that photo was my actual plate (not the car photo, but the license plate section). So you're right that it is incorrect, but for me it is right.

Good point about the text size; I'll try it larger.

BadMouth · « **Reply #12 on:** February 06, 2011, 08:07:59 am »

Cool that the theme of the cab is somewhat personal then.

tsaylor · « **Reply #13 on:** February 07, 2011, 02:57:00 am »

I've added a different variation on the grid that I like better. I also tried a larger logo, but it seemed a little cluttered so I tried moving it to the right. Is it crazy to make the marquee title non-centered?

SammyWI · « **Reply #14 on:** February 07, 2011, 07:26:57 pm »

I like it. Better than the first two options. I think the offset text is just fine.

markronz · « **Reply #15 on:** February 18, 2011, 04:36:40 pm »

Awesome! I will probably be making BTTA my theme for my next cabinet as well. I am probably going to make my own flux capacitor, as shown here!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Flux-Capacitor/

Looks like with a little elbow grease, and about $50 you can make one. MUCH cheaper than $250 off ThinkGeek. Just another option if you wanted to get one.

tsaylor · « **Reply #16 on:** February 19, 2011, 03:15:23 am »

Thanks! That's great info, and a reasonable cost. It would make a great coin door area, although I've got functional coin slots so that location probably won't work for me. Definitely something to consider though.

saint · « **Reply #17 on:** July 11, 2011, 09:33:39 pm »

Fixed?

tsaylor · « **Reply #18 on:** July 12, 2011, 02:42:29 am »

Quote from: saint on July 11, 2011, 09:33:39 pm

Fixed?

It is -- yes, thanks a lot. This thread is again viewable.

shado · « **Reply #19 on:** October 29, 2011, 09:39:09 am »

Awesome ! How did you get on with this, do you have any pics of the finished product ?

tsaylor · « **Reply #20 on:** October 30, 2011, 03:22:43 am »

Quote from: shado on October 29, 2011, 09:39:09 am

Awesome ! How did you get on with this, do you have any pics of the finished product ?

Thanks -- that's actually a timely question as I just got the artwork printed (finally got to that stage). I used Basement Arcade Grafx for the printing and it turned out great! Still some pieces remaining but I'd say the project is about 90% complete now!

I'll post some pics when I get a bit further, in the next month or two. Definitely getting close now.

SammyWI · « **Reply #21 on:** October 30, 2011, 08:46:27 am »

I ran across this:

http://whatculture.com/film/52-reasons-why-back-to-the-future-might-just-be-the-greatest-film-of-all-time.php

and it made me think of this thread. You might find it interesting.

tsaylor · « **Reply #22 on:** October 31, 2011, 01:04:15 am »

Thanks, I can definitely appreciate that. It's really a movie that did a whole lot of things right.

tsaylor · « **Reply #23 on:** October 31, 2011, 01:17:37 am »

I'll add some progress photos here so you can see the artwork I ended up with. Not the greatest photos but I'm very happy with how the art turned out.

yotsuya · « **Reply #24 on:** October 31, 2011, 01:35:16 am »

That looks great! Did you cut the holes for your buttons, or did John do it for you?

Well Fed Games · « **Reply #25 on:** October 31, 2011, 08:55:25 am »

That is really great art!

tsaylor · « **Reply #26 on:** October 31, 2011, 11:07:36 am »

Thanks! I'm no artist and hadn't used Photoshop before starting this project a year or more ago, so I'm proud of the results. Thanks much for the compliments!

I didn't have John cut the holes because I was worried I wouldn't be able to position the drill correctly. On the art I made little center crosshairs to help with drilling -- I positioned the art temporarily and used a hole punch to mark for drilling, then removed the art and drilled. After permanently applying the art I used an x-acto knife to trim out the holes.

But I did make a few "stickers", including decals for my Mag-Stiks that show how to switch between 4-way and 8-way. I had John cut those circles and they turned out great!

gbeef · « **Reply #27 on:** October 31, 2011, 01:50:46 pm »

that artwork is pretty sweet nice work on the the layout

SammyWI · « **Reply #28 on:** October 31, 2011, 07:25:56 pm »

The artwork turned out great. Nice work.

Bare as a Beaer · « **Reply #29 on:** November 10, 2011, 06:24:54 pm »

I love it very clean I think that is an important aspect. You should do this more often you've got a talent.

alecriss · « **Reply #30 on:** November 11, 2011, 12:40:14 am »

The artwork is really great and the most important thing is that it's done with complete finishing...You got a great talent must say...Have you learned this work or it's like this is your natural talent??

tsaylor · « **Reply #31 on:** November 11, 2011, 02:45:10 am »

Wow -- thanks for the compliments, I'm thrilled! It's especially great coming from a talented artist like gbeef (love your Sabrecade design and all your original art).

In my case it is really just a matter of pulling together bits and pieces of art from various sources, combined with reading some tutorials and learning the features of Photoshop and a few techniques (actually I'm just using Photoshop Elements but it still has tons of features). Then I made so, so many revisions over the many months I worked on it, including a few mistakes along the way such as not leaving room for the top/bottom marquee retainers. I can't believe how many Photoshop layers are in the documents now. I've always considered myself to have zero artistic talent, so I'm amazed I was able to do this. I guess it is learned.

So many aspects of this project have been a learning experience. Lots of woodworking components, even though I started with an existing cabinet. Many little challenges along the way needing creative solutions. In a way, I'm almost sad it is nearing completion because it's been a good hobby for the past 2 years.

Including the final artwork here, since it is much easier to see than in the finished photos:


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