Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum

Main => Artwork => Topic started by: Superdude on May 01, 2003, 10:42:34 pm

Title: 1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: Superdude on May 01, 2003, 10:42:34 pm
This is my first time ever useing photoshop. I am trying to make a marquee.  It looks okay to me but I know it can use improvement.  Please tell me what I am doing wrong or right.  Thanks!!

Cut and Paste Link for artwork

http://www.geocities.com/chi_blackhawks_rule/marquee.jpg

Thanks!
Title: Re:1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: Brax on May 01, 2003, 11:10:46 pm
Be mean huh?  ;D

Ok here goes:

-Frogger is very pixelated.
-I think a background with a little "texture" would be more interesting than the current one.
-It looks WAY too busy to me with all those characters.
-There is no colour theme, it just seems random.

I like the idea of a collage of characters but thats just not working for me..

Sorry but i'm just not liking it.  :-\

I love your font and I like the concept, it just needs more work in my opinion.
Title: Re:1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: Smittydc on May 02, 2003, 10:59:56 am
I won't be as harsh as Brax ;)  BUT I think it would look more balanced and less cluttered if you varied the size of the characters -- some small, some big.  And make the "Balicade" text more prominent.

Of course, resizing the objects is more of a pain in photoshop... if you have the graphics individually, I'd put this together in illustrator instead.
Title: Re:1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: CthulhuLuke on May 02, 2003, 11:04:02 am
Well I definitely like what you got so far.  It's not the final draft for sure, but it's getting there!  So here's what you need to do, and I'll suggest some methods of fixing them up.
-Boring background, a dull blue doesn't work well with so much action in the foreground.  Your work will look much more professional and better if you do something about whats behind the images.
-Hiding the text can be good, but in this case I personally think it'll look much better shrunk down so no characters touch the letters.
-Where's the SNK characters?? ok, thats just a personal preference

So I have a few suggestions you can try, here's an easy way to make a nice marble background, you can use this on the gradient and it'll look really, really cool, ok in photoshop, do the following:
Select the background layer with the gradient
Filter : Texture:Grain...  (doesnt matter much intensity)
Pixelate : Crystalize...
Image : Adjust : Hue/Saturation...
now when the Hue/Saturation window comes up, click the colorize box, notice how the background has now become marble looking.  In the step of crystallizing, the size of the cells can greatly affect how much like marble it looks.  Just find what you like.
After you click the colorize button, change the Hue to what you like, if you give it a nice blue hue, and turn down the saturation.  A very nice background that looks good on almost any image.
   -Luke
ps: if you want some other cool effects, check out www.photoshopcafe.com   I made up that marbelizing affect the other day, but its easy to follow
Title: Re:1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: Magnet_Eye on May 02, 2003, 09:19:15 pm
MEAN!!!!  >:(

The link doesn't work, how mean can one be?
Title: Re:1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: SNAAAKE on May 03, 2003, 12:53:37 am
MEAN!!!!  >:(

The link doesn't work, how mean can one be?
Cmon magnet eye..you could do better..just copy and paste.
As for the topic..the marque looks good except the frogger image kills it.
Get rid of it or find a better looking frooger image.I dont like the font though.I dunno why.Doesnt look right.Get another one.
www.acidfonts.com has like a million fonts !  :)
Title: Re:1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: CthulhuLuke on May 03, 2003, 02:35:08 pm
Alright, here's an even easier way to get the marbelized effect, I was just bein stupid when I was at school:
create a gradient, or use that gradient you have
go to Filter:Noise: Add Noise
then add noise and click the monochromatic noise button
now go Filter: Pixellate: Crystallize
Then ctrl+U for Hue/Saturation, click the colorize button, select your colors and instant marble, very nice effect, I've been using it a lot lately ^_^
    -Luke
Title: Re:1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: Silverwind on May 04, 2003, 10:09:43 pm
Definatly busy :)

basically brax gave some good ideas..
little less busy and maybe change up the background a hair
Title: Re:1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: Superdude on May 05, 2003, 01:10:14 am
Thank you guys so much for helping me.  I am very inexperienced with Photoshop and I am trying.  Your tips have helped me alot.  I think I have created a better marquee.  Please tell me what I did right and wrong again.
Title: Re:1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: Rasher2k on May 05, 2003, 02:14:50 am
Just a few quick tips.

1: You've missed some background space removing, like on the frogger image etc.

2: You have some alternate colour aliasing on images like Mario and such. I assume the images are all on separate layers - one way to fix it is to paste them into a new image with a white background (or whatever colour the aliasing is), and make sure the layers are merged. Then crank the tolerance of the magic wand up a bit and cut them out again.

3: Images like pacman and kong look like they're supposed to have black borders that you may have discarded when magic wanding. An easy fix for this would be to right click on the layer they are on, select blending options and give them a, uh, stroke or something. And maybe a drop shadow while you're there!

4: The selection of company logo's around the top - I dunno how well turbo graphix is doing in the arcade scene, but if you're gonna add familiar logos then you're sure missin a hell of a lot of companies! My advice - scrap the logos and add about 100 more characters!

Other than that, you're on your way, good luck!
Title: Re:1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: Brax on May 05, 2003, 12:48:37 pm
It really looks alot better to me this time. Yeah, you could probably clean a few things up again but really, at the end of the day, it's yours. As long as you're happy, that's ALL that matters.

Art is subjective. it could be critiqued forever around here if you'll let it. Get some friendly advice, but decide for yourself when you're happy with it too.

Good luck.
Title: Re:1st time Photoshopin Critque... BE MEAN!
Post by: Frostillicus on May 05, 2003, 02:34:14 pm
It really looks alot better to me this time. Yeah, you could probably clean a few things up again but really, at the end of the day, it's yours. As long as you're happy, that's ALL that matters.

Art is subjective. it could be critiqued forever around here if you'll let it. Get some friendly advice, but decide for yourself when you're happy with it too.

Good luck.
So true.  Plus there is a big difference between being proficient in a program like photoshop and having the art skills to put together something really nice. Anyone will tell you that it takes time and education to acquire, so don't get discouraged - you're just starting.   Good start, too!