Archive for » 2011 «
I recently upgraded to CS5 (finally), and just noticed this excellent and long-overdue button at the bottom of the Layer Styles window:
If you are ever using drop shadows, please set your default to “straight down” (90 degrees) and definitely no more than 50% opacity. Dark drop shadows are distracting. A good drop shadow is barely seen; it should pull your text off the background just a bit.
@iPhonig asked me to make an icon for their upcoming dogfighting game, Sortie. They had 3d files of their fighter jets, but I wanted the icon to have more of an illustrated look to it (as well as be infinitely scaleable). With some helpful tips from Pete Parisi of @fuzzycube, I used a technique I’ve never tried before: using a 3d render as a reference for perspective and lighting in a 2d vector drawing.
Here’s the before and after, with a time-lapse video of the process following that:
All the artwork was created in Photoshop; time-lapse video made (effortlessly) using @qrunchmonkey‘s excellent ScreenNinja (Mac App Store link).
There are a couple of ways that icons in the app store get their corner radius screwed up:
- Fringed edges on the corners
- Incorrect border radius
This screencast shows you how to avoid both of these problems.
If you haven’t checked out Casey’s Contraptions for iPad yet, you really should. @noel_llopis and @mysterycoconut have created a really wonderful puzzle game. Each level can be solved in many different ways, and the beautifully-integrated solution sharing really helps you see other creative ways that your Game Center friends are doing things.
The puzzles are excellent, and the difficulty ramps up really smoothly. But the level editor is the icing on the cake. Create anything you can imagine and easily share levels with friends via email. Definitely give it a try; young or old, everyone will like this game.
I am arguably one of Disc Drivin’s biggest fans. I started a tournament for cryin’ out sakes. I love this game. So when @cannos came to me and asked if I wanted to work on a new UI and splash screen for the iPad version, I was… excited.
They asked for a comic book style splash screen with lots of character, and the UI was to resemble an ESPN or FOX Sports score HUD.
Click to enlarge.
Concept sketch:
Final splash screen and UI bar:
Welcome screen:
This is a time-lapse video of the creation of the splash screen. It was recorded with ScreenNinja, available on the Mac App Store. Highly recommended. Music by @wblackall.
I was chatting with Craig Sharpe (@TeaRascal) about GDC and iSketchADay, and he mentioned that I missed out on some impromptu sketch sessions. This got me thinking of doing some kind of live art-based performance session at @360iDev this fall. We’ve been talking a bit about it on Twitter with @LordBron and @arielmichaeli. It was starting to become a “more than 140 characters” conversation, so I thought I’d jot down some ideas here, and get more feedback from the rest of you.
Picture this
In an auditorium with several projectors, a game artist at each one, armed with their Wacom tablet. Through audience participation, a game theme is chosen (I really liked Owen’s method of choosing a location, an object and an adjective, but I’m open to other improv ideas).
To a loud Daft Punk soundtrack, the artists sketch, as quickly as they can, as many game elements as they can. Environments, characters, objects, obstacles… anything they can think of. While watching, the audience could shout suggestions or comments — though unlike the theme, these do not need to be drawn!
A game jam for artists
Why would we do this?
- To explore and expand the creative process of creating game art (and even game ideas) that you wouldn’t normally create.
- To witness and participate in part of the visual creation process involved in creating a full game’s worth of art.
- To have fun!
Afterwards any or all of the artists could be available to talk about game art, in whatever capacity.
I’d also love to have each artist’s screen recorded for the span of the session, and create a video out of it afterwards. If you know me you know I love time-lapse art-creation videos!
So what?
John (the 360iDev organizer) was saying it might be possible to do it at lunchtime one day, but this is about as far as we’ve come.
Here’s where you come in:
- If you’re coming to 360iDev, would you be interested in coming to a session like this?
- Would you be interested in drawing in a session like this? The number of people we get signed up for it will determine a number of things, primarily the amount of time given to each set of artists, and the physical space we’ll need to have — projectors for everyone may not be possible.
- Do you have any ideas for how to make a session like this += awesome? We’re making this up as we go, so all feedback is welcome!
As has been known to happen, something extremely cool has been created out of nothing more than a Twitter conversation. @mysterycoconut, @LordBron, @tearascal, @rje, and @chaoticbox were talking about sketching more, and #iSketchADay was born.
It’s a casual, no-rules way to encourage all of us wannabe artists to sketch more, and share it with everyone. Draw whatever you like, post as often as you want, and don’t worry about it looking “good”. We want to draw more. Join us.
Here’s my first entry. I hope to see many more of my own, and all of yours.
I’ll post more sketches as I do them, after the break:
