Topic: RON stuff (re-touching)

[vertigoaddict]

Yes I debated the title in my head for like 20 seconds, I have a headache.

While I'm supposed to be studying, I decided to take a break and re-touch Claudia from R.O.N as I plan to use her as the main character in well,  the R.O.N. game I've been thinking of doing.

I'ma try and make it a cannon game (discussion on that will turn up in the near future in the appropriate forum).

BUT FIRST!!



I started off with this:

Then I put it through a "celeb look alike generator" and morphed her pic with the celebrity, so I got this:

I touched it up and that sums up the steps. Why did I ever decide to do it this way? 'cause I was bored  :

Claudia is described as"An attractive redhead, but she is so desperate for a boyfriend that she turns most men off".

So I hope this speech sprite (and upcoming walkcycle) fits the description, and I did make her colouring a bit lighter 'cause to be honest dark skin and red hair just feels awkward to me. And her clothing is more pinkish orange so it won't mix too much with the lighter colour of her hair.I added the hair clip, just cause I thought it'd be cute  

Now for the walk cycle:

Is it okay? It still looks a bit weird to me in some parts, I've been re-doing it again and again but now my head hurts  

The walckcycle sheet (the last one with the "0" underneath is the stand frame):

x2

Now of course, where would Claudia be if not...

Richy's Record Store is described as "Failing"

But I didn't want it to look too empty, what do you guys think? I hate shading 'cause I suck at it.

Obviously, I'd love some C&C

Thank you beforehand.

++++++++++++++++++++

Progress:

(31/05/10)

(6/06/10)

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

IMG WIDTH= HEIGHT= will allow you to resize.

As far as the portrait goes, I see a lot of mirroring in the face and lower body.  This is something you should avoid because faces don't have 'perfect' symmetry and perfect symmetry makes faces look unnatural.  For example, you'll see even on celebrity photos a person's lips stretched to one side or their nose bent slightly left or right and various other subtle but IMPORTANT imperfections that make a face believable.

Here's a recent example of a quick portrait I made based on Tom Savini, the style somewhere between realistic and cartoony:





You can see where I reproduced some of his facial imperfections (lines and discoloring) while leaving his hair fairly undetailed.  This is the middle ground area between trying to be hyper realistic and not paying attention to proper facial structure, and for me it allows me to get a reasonably realistic looking character without going overboard. 

Straight on portraits (like yours) I would avoid because you'll rarely see people take photos like that (it's not dynamic/interesting enough).  If you look at most rpgs you'll see the portraits of the characters are at all sorts of interesting angles to best promote their current mood or situation. 

The best advice I can give you is start with an oval shape but then freehand in the rest as well as imperfections to the shape itself (saggy skin, jutting chins, etc).  Using a photo reference that approximates the character you have in your mind will help you greatly in the beginning with getting more realistic shapes, so I recommend it.

[Monsieur OUXX]

I'd say the major issue of the walkcycle is that she looks like the left arm is going forward simultaneously to the left leg, and the right arm simultaneously to the right leg.

[vertigoaddict]

Okay tried fixing the portrait:


I changed the perspective and tried to make her at least resemble the previous attempt. I tried to do simpler shading on the hair but I ended up making it look a bit awkward, the few strands looked better to me, but if anyone feels there still might be something wrong with the hair please do tell.

Here's a line drawing in case anyone would like to make a paint over or re-draw some of the lines:


As for the walkcycle, I'll try to fix the arms or switch the legs or something. Thanks guys.

[Jim Reed]

Fixed the mouth a bit and removed those hard lines so she doesn't look so old.

[Mad]

I really dig ProgZmax sprite and tried my hand at a similar approach:



I guess the shading still needs quite some tweeking, but I think for the resolution your aiming at with your sprite this is the size and style you should be going for.

Maybe ProgZmax finds the time to give this a better shot...

[vertigoaddict]

Was traveling for a while, done my exams and the third thing I do after landing is re-do this portrait.



x2


If you were wondering where the light source is, it's above her and slightly to the side at a slightly tilted angle  

[Mad]

I really like your latest version!

Methinks there are only some minor things you could improve on:
The shading on her forehead is a bit off, I don't think the shadow over her left brow is quite right.
The skin colours could do with more contrast.
And finally, the eyes are too blue in blue, she looks like a Fremen.

But you're nearly there!

[vertigoaddict]

x2


How's this?

+tried to give more contrast

+tried to fix lighting

+made the whites of the eyes a little less blue.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

It's important not to make the highlights of your image TOO bright or they draw attention from the whole.  Also, your colors could use some adjustment, primarily the hair color (which is too red to be natural, I've made this mistake myself in the past) and the skin tones could be brought towards more natural pinkish-reds (or reddish-brown if you want a more tanned look).  I've made an edit with this in mind as well as some other corrections.


1.  Adjusted shading to look more natural overall.

2.  Adjusted colors, shifting the reds more toward orange and the skin tones toward red while reducing overall brightness somewhat.

3.  Adjusted shape of the face, bringing the ear down somewhat and making the neck more prominent.

4.  Altered the shape of the nose, eyes, and mouth somewhat to try and create a more realistic result.





Hopefully this will help.  My advice is still to draw from a photo reference until you have all the concepts solid.  You can find the reference I used for some shading fixes and for the neck here:

http://www.webphotoschool.com/all_lessons/free_lessons/Simple_Head_Shot_With_Two_Umbrellas/1153777758_350x350_header2.jpg

[vertigoaddict]

Will heed advice (is that the right word? heed?) I'll try harder. Will work more on Claudia later sometime but at  the moment I think I need a bit of rest from that girl.

I decided to do another RON character who will appear in my game:





Esmarilda's original sprite had more detail than Claudia's original sprite, I hope I got the general 'idea' of how her face would be like, I tried to calm it down a bit more so it would fit a little better with Cladia's speech sprite style (not fit exactly, as I want to keep a bit of her cartoony-witchness).

reference pics I used include:

http://clouddragon.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/witch-of-the-west.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RyLXU4GPzEk/RqfMLDVLMhI/AAAAAAAAApI/50rnIFyZwuU/s400/WitchFaceWO184.jpg

+++++

EDIT:

Here's the recent version of Claudia



x2



+softer, more 'blended' colours

+more realistic hair colour

+face is a bit rounder, just by a few pixels, moved the ear down a bit like you suggested.

clothing and accessories lighter so it won't stand out too much. Eyes are more grey-ish for the same reasons.

reference picture:
http://www.celebutopia.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/belle.jpg

personal note:

I really liked the very red hair, I've seen it on some people and it's probably dyed but who's to say Claudia didn't? Well I tried a more orange-ish colour anyways to try it out. I think I suck at choosing colours.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/really%20red%20hair%20short/hannahasprey/Hair230308A.jpg

I wanted to keep the thick eyebrows, personally I love it when girls have thick eyebrows. Heck one of my favorite actresses *is* Jennifer Connelly.

I think Camilla should've spread her foundation maybe a bit on her chest, the reflection is making her head look separated from her body =P

Now that I look at it, maybe the next time (possibly) I'm gonna do a paint over of Claudia- that be the 10th *sigh*- I should remove some of the outlines from her hair like in Prog's.

PS: I think I'm gonna go crazy, I feel like strangling her.