Megaman - COMPLETE!

[GreenKnight37]

----Jump Straight to the Final Image!!----


Well, I've finally made the jump into Vectorizing graphics.  Many thanks to Frostillicus' tutorial of course, for the initial help to get me started.

And with that...Announcing my first vector, Megaman! 

The Megaman series has always been a personal favorite of mine, and there aren't any great Megaman vectors as of yet...so I had to start one.  The images themselves are fairly simple as well, both in terms of nice clean lines and colors, so its a great learning point too.  Double benefit!

I'm working off this image:


And so far I've completed the basic outline of the extended boot...it only took about 30 minutes, so the rest should go pretty quickly as well I hope! 

Either way, any interested Megaman fans watch the thread for updates!

[GreenKnight37]

And after about 2 hours of work...here is what you get!



Any funky/jaggedy-ness is just due to image scaling at the forums...so don't point out any glaring errors just yet

[krion]

so far so good

[GreenKnight37]

Okay....And here is the completed tracing of Megaman!  The image had lots of black outlines, so the tracing was fairly simple to do.  I'd say, roughly 6 hours total.  Which doesn't seem to horrible actually...it kept me occupied and from boredom.

Now I just have to go back and do the colors...that might be a bit tricker for me, but we'll see!

Click on the picture for full size!

[walls83]

looks real good so far

[zorg]

The image had lots of black outlines, so the tracing was fairly simple to do. 

as you mention that the image have a lot of black outlines, may I suggest you trace the black general outilne as one object that will sit on the lower layer, as a backgroud. instead of playing with the thickness of the outilnes

and that you trace the rest on top of this one.

this way it will be easier to resize

[GreenKnight37]

Hey Zorg, thanks for the tip.  I've give that a try on the next one.  I've broken the image down into lots of smaller areas, which sublayers of color.  It might not be the easiest way of working with the image, but it makes the most sense to me for starting out at least.

So far, after about an hour and a half of laying in the vectors for the color, this is what I've got!  I may tweak the color a bit at the end...but for right now I'm happy with it.

[zorg]

hey it look promising, keep on this good job

[GreenKnight37]

Here is the update for this evening!  One more boot finished, both legs done as well as the little metal seperator portions.

I ended up getting a little busy so I didn't get as much of the coloring done as I was hoping for, but its progressing nicely I think!

[Felsir]

as you mention that the image have a lot of black outlines, may I suggest you trace the black general outilne as one object that will sit on the lower layer, as a backgroud. instead of playing with the thickness of the outilnes

and that you trace the rest on top of this one.

I agree Zorg that for this image it's the best strategy.
Usually I decide what strategy to use based on the image. In the Frankenstein image I used the black background strategy. For the Transformers image I use a combination of both strategies. The reason for this: there are colours that 'flow' behind the black lines as one continious area. The lines are added to define the shapes of the panels that make up the body. So when starting to vectorise, take a good look at the image and decide what would work best. I created a quick draft to illustrate what I mean.

this way it will be easier to resize

In fact, my advise would be NEVER let the "line" define the shapes' outlines- I always use line thickness zero and use black polygons for outlines.


Anyway, Megaman is looking great! It's a clean trace! 

[zorg]

In fact, my advise would be NEVER let the "line" define the shapes' outlines- I always use line thickness zero and use black polygons for outlines.

rigth:
don't use lines to define the shapes.
always use lines of thickness zero.

in illustrator always use forms with transparent border.

Anyway, Megaman is looking great! It's a clean trace! 

I fully agree it look's realy clean. keep on the good job

[Ldsfunaz]

you guys are so sick at this, I don't really know where to begin.  If you wanna laugh at my first attempt, check this out.  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=18509.msg351611#msg351611

but otherwise, i just wanted to praise you on how great it  is coming.

-mike

[GreenKnight37]

Thanks for all the positive comments and advice.  After hearing about it again,  and specifically with the reference to the Frankenstein vector, I completely understand what you two mean regarding the black base.  Thats definitely different then my current approach, but I'll try it on my next image.

As for Megaman...progress is slow!  Not due to difficulties, but because I started a new job on Monday(yesterday, the 11th).  So I'm fresh into work, which includes the typical 8-5pm work days, and hence, little free time to spend vectorizing graphics.  Once these initial first days of work quite down I'll finish Megaman off

I've actually got his lower torso/waist area colored in, so I'm a bit ahead of what the current image suggests.  But I'll post the next pic when I've got something major, like an arm done

[GreenKnight37]

Well, its been close to two weeks since the last update.  Getting a new job sure does make a person busy all the sudden  

But here is the latest image/update!  If you look at the previous post, the basic update is the waist area and left arm have been completed.  I just finished the arm right now, took about an hour and a half maybe, and thats probably all I can squeeze in today.  But at least its progressing along, even if its slow.



And on a side note...Working with White Vectors, on a white background, with multiple shades of off-white and gray....is not that fun.  Thankfully it was just that little hand that I had to deal with

EDIT --

If the image dies on you(The free imageshack.us host is buggy today), try this alternate link:  http://tinypic.com/9a3alz.gif

[Felsir]

Looking great! Keep it up!

And on a side note...Working with White Vectors, on a white background, with multiple shades of off-white and gray....is not that fun.

[zorg]

good job, keep it this way.

just a comment, maybee the "legs" will have a better look if you smoth them a little beat.

[quote author=GreenKnight37 link=topic=39590.msg366005#msg366005
And on a side note...Working with White Vectors, on a white background, with multiple shades of off-white and gray....is not that fun.  Thankfully it was just that little hand that I had to deal with

tip on.
insert a black rectangle just on the top of the image, and hide/reveal  it (just by clicking on the eye in the layer window), in order to check. it will make the grey/white easily visible.

and as felsir mentionned you can use some different colors while working,

if you are working with illustrator, you can use this tip also.
for this one I eavily use  the "nuancier" palette instead of the direct color tool.
make the first shape the color you want, select it, click on the new "nuance" you want to create, it will grab the selected color. double click on the new nuance, give it a name, and select the global check-box.
now use this "nuance" to fill your object. and when you want to correct the color, you just have to change the "nuance", any change made on the "nuance" will be propagated to all the objects using this one. it's really usefull.

[GreenKnight37]

Ohh, excellent tip on the Nuance tool!  That will certainly come in handy if I ever decide to switch a color halfway through the vectorization process and don't want to track down every usage of the color.  Thanks.

And as for the legs, they actually are smooth, they just look a little jagged due to some image resizing/saving as a gif for a web preview/etc.  So the vector itself is nice and smooth

Thanks for all the good tips and advice so far! 

[Veinman]

Looking good!

[GreenKnight37]

The vectorization of Megaman will continue!

Alright...the last update was July 25th.  What the heck has happened between then and now, and why the lack of updates?  Well, if you had been reading the posts, you'll see I often mentioned how a new job was keeping me from doing a ton of vectorization.  You can blame the job for no updates since July.

My job had me to go to the east coast for 9 weeks of training(all expenses paid, hurray!).  During that long 9 weeks, I only had a 4 year old laptop that had no vectorization software(and probably couldn't even handle it if it did).  So long story short, my trip and lack of resources kept me from updating.

I just got back home last week and I have the Megaman files staring at me on my desktop, so work will resume once again.  It will just be a few pieces here and there cause life is still really hectic, but the vectorization will be finished!

[starnix17]

Really like it, hopefully it will be done soon so I can put it on my control panel  .

[GreenKnight37]

Alright...I've taken my sweet time with this, I know.  But I finally had a few free hours this evening so I'm getting some quality work in!

Here is today's update (Note that image compression on the boards really kills the picture quality, click for large size!)


As you can see from the previous image I've finished off the left arm.  Along with that, I went ahead and added the subtle glare marks on the left arm and left boot (Left from Megaman's perspective that is).  I had been holding off on the glare to see if I really wanted it, and overall, I think it adds to the image.  So its staying

If a few games of Kaillera MAME don't draw me away from Vectorizing, I should have his entire chest finished tonight.  Thankfully that section is nice solid colors and will go quickly.

[GreenKnight37]

And for tonight's update....In between putting up Christmas decorations and lights outside the house, I snuck in a bit of work




Waist and chest - all done!

All thats left is the face and blaster!

[GreenKnight37]

Megaman is 99.9% finished!

Tomorrow I just have to do some minor color fixes (ie, create many many new shades of red and make them look sorta blended...ugh) and then clean-up the vector lines a little bit.  Once thats finished, its all done!

And as a side note, after being away from this project for so long and coming back to it, I realized how crappy I did in the beginning with creating the vectors.  I've stumbled on lots of nice new tricks in the past few days that have really helped me out and sorta shamed my earlier portions of work...lol.

But no worry, I've cleaned up most parts and am going to do even more before I'm finally done.  So the end result will be a nice, clean, easy to use graphic.

Just about half a dozen or more characters to go, then I'll have my artwork set for a cabinet

[GreenKnight37]

After many many months, delays due to life and being out of state with no computer for months, the vectorization of Megaman is complete!

Well, maybe 99.999% complete.  I'm going to tweak a few of the vectors and lines to make the image even better then it is now.  I've learned many handy tricks that I didn't know months prior, so its only fitting that I tweak the image here and there to make it as good as it can possibly be.  Sure, you don't notice any imperfection until you get to 6400 times zoom in Illustrator...but dang it, I know they're there and I'm going to get rid of them

Alright...rambling aside, the image is what everyone wants to see!  So here it is, enjoy, leave comments, suggestions, whatever you feel like!



And just a preview of things to come...I'm think I may be in the mood for some side art. 

[Felsir]

Well done, looks great! Really clean and sharp!

The next image looks very suitable as sideart. Do you have a striking pose for the character in red (sorry don't know the name)? Would be great for 1P / 2P images on the CP 

[zorg]

really a good work.

[skarr]

that's sweet

Where can i find this tutorial ?

I usually have some spare time at work, so would be great time to spend on vectorizing some stuff for my own cab.

[Felsir]

Where can i find this tutorial ?

See the FAQ (also for more hints and tips). The tutorial can be found here.

[GreenKnight37]

Well done, looks great! Really clean and sharp!

The next image looks very suitable as sideart. Do you have a striking pose for the character in red (sorry don't know the name)? Would be great for 1P / 2P images on the CP 

Not the best of quality...but suitable enough to make a vector image out of

[M3talhead]

If no, you could get a shot of Dr. Wiley/Light. I've seen a few floating around the Megaman 'ring that would be perfect for sideart.

[zorg]

did you plan on sharing the megaman vector file ?

AAL is back, and it will be a good place to host your file 

[GreenKnight37]

did you plan on sharing the megaman vector file ?

AAL is back, and it will be a good place to host your file 

As soon as I finally clean up the file, yes 

My life seems to come in busy phases and really dull phases.  During the quiet periods, I can do lots of artwork.  But once things get busy, the artwork goes off the the side.

I just need to sit down and clean up a few lines, merge a few of the vectors together into a single layer, and so forth.  Nothing difficult, I just haven't set aside the time for it.

I do have a few days off for the Christmas though, and especially right before New Years...so you'll probably see it all done then.  Maybe with a surprise second image too