#SE4 Speaker #2 - D. E. Gervais Topic : Graphics and Graphic Tools Questions [Archive]

tesco samoa

June 25th, 2003, 09:56 PM

Time July 2nd 17:00 hours Pacific Time. 8 pm Eastern Time.
Guest D.E. Gervais
Topic : Graphics and Graphic Tools.

Hi this thread will be used to post questions for Mr. Gervais to answer ahead of time. An abbridged Version of this thread will be posted with the minutes from the session on #se4 on the gamesnet irc server.

Those who cannot make it please post your questions here.

This thread will also be used for any follow up to the session on #se4.

Please do not ask away about SF or SEV... As these will be future topics that will be dicussed when the programs are released and will not get Mr. Gervais or the other members of the community in trouble with Aaron.

But you can ask away about the tools used for creating 2-d and 3-d graphics.

Questions about SEIV graphics in general.

We will be having a future topic on how to create planets etc... On a topic called Modding the Universe. Natually Mr. Gervais will be invited back to that topic with other guest speakers. As it will be a panel dicussion.... ( a hint at something coming up )

So ask away.

As this will be a great time to learn some stuff about graphics.

I wish to take this time to thank Mr. Gervais for his time and all the work he has done for the community.

Take care all.

Tesco.

Will

June 26th, 2003, 01:17 AM

Should be interesting... I've been meaning to get some tips on improving my rather limited 2D/3D artistry skills.

Stone Mill

June 26th, 2003, 01:50 AM

Questions:

1. Do you start with a canned set of tasks / filters when creating avatars, that you use in order; (i.e., blur, resize, sharpen)... are there effects that you use most often?

2. I see you often use .gifs; I was taught that .jpgs were better for photo/picture art. What is your opinion on these graphics formats?

Thanks to tesco for arranging these sessions...
and to David Gervais in advance!

[ June 26, 2003, 00:51: Message edited by: Stone Mill ]

David E. Gervais

June 26th, 2003, 02:15 AM

Originally posted by Stone Mill:
Questions:

1. Do you start with a canned set of tasks / filters when creating avatars, that you use in order; (i.e., blur, resize, sharpen)... are there effects that you use most often?

2. I see you often use .gifs; I was taught that .jpgs were better for photo/picture art. What is your opinion on these graphics formats?
A1: This pic will tell you exactly how I make my avatars from images I find on the net,.. (using my favorite art program, ArtGem)

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1056586019.gif

A2: When dealing with avatars here at the intel forums I'm limited to .gif and .jpg as the accepted file formats. jpeg's are a 'loss compression' format, and although in many cases very good with 'pictures' it tends to fuzz out compared to the original .bmp format that I usually work with. It has been my experience that a gif with an 'optimized' palette is much better for the small pic size of the avatars. (48x48) the avatars are able to retain most if not all of their 'sharpness' when saved.

I hope this answeres your questions to your satisfaction.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Stone Mill

June 26th, 2003, 04:11 AM

Wow! Awesome response!

Many thanks... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Taz-in-Space

June 26th, 2003, 06:02 AM

David, what did you use for the animated gif's?

Also how did you make that cool sunken look for my avatar?

[ June 26, 2003, 05:04: Message edited by: Taz-in-Space ]

David E. Gervais

June 27th, 2003, 01:22 AM

Originally posted by Taz-in-Space:
David, what did you use for the animated gif's?

Also how did you make that cool sunken look for my avatar?A1: I use Gif Movie Gear v2.6 to create the final animations. GMG has the ability to load what it calls a gif filmstrip, (an elongated gif with all the frames placed side by side vertically or horizontally.) I do all the work in ArtGem and then save a strip then simply import it and play with the timing and of course optimize the anim to make a smaller gif.

This is what a small 4 frame Filmstrip looks like,..

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1056626798.gif

A2: Simple, draw a 48x48 black frame, fill with a gradiant, add noise, smooth it out, add a band of shadow to the upper left of the box, add something interesting to the box, brighten the lower right edges of the box, and Lastly add that familliar highlight to the upper left corner. Voila!

..and here is a visual aid to show you the process,..

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1056626491.gif

[ June 26, 2003, 12:35: Message edited by: David E. Gervais ]

Rojero

June 27th, 2003, 05:38 AM

I would like to do one on myself http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif where can i get that program:P

David E. Gervais

June 27th, 2003, 12:51 PM

Originally posted by Rojero:
I would like to do one on myself http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif where can i get that program:PWhich program? If you mean ArtGem, unfortunately it's no longer available.

If you mean Gif Movie Gear, you can find it and many other 'animation' programs here,..

Gif Animation Software (http://www.5star-shareware.com/Graphics/Image-Animation/Image-Animation1.html)

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

David E. Gervais

July 1st, 2003, 02:54 AM

FYI: I'll have a message from Aaron to post during my Chat session Wednesday. I'll also post the message here after the chat. It's about SF, SE4 and SE5.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Fyron

July 1st, 2003, 02:58 AM

David, you are such a tease.

David E. Gervais

July 1st, 2003, 03:04 AM

Tease? I thought I was posting 'Bait' http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Muahahahahaha.

Ragnarok

July 1st, 2003, 03:14 AM

Originally posted by David E. Gervais:
Tease? I thought I was posting 'Bait' http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Muahahahahaha.Dang...I thought you might have been telling the truth. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif But nonetheless, I will be present (if nothing comes up) for the chat. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Rojero

July 1st, 2003, 06:36 AM

David is doing the chat...yeah...oh Avatar ...oh Avatar...I cant wait to hear your great words of...wis..do.i mean kno..wl..i mean hear ya talk Heh

Atrocities

July 1st, 2003, 07:34 AM

Could someone please post the #se4 chat info again. What server, etc.

Thanks.

Ragnarok

July 1st, 2003, 11:33 PM

I think for the lineup on guest speakers that Stone Mill should be included. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif He could give tips and answer questions about how he kept the crown so long on the Hill and how he researched to start games off. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif

David E. Gervais

July 2nd, 2003, 01:56 AM

Here's the IRC Info taken directly from a post made by Fyron when he was the first guest speaker..

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
... on #se4 on gamesnet IRC at 1700 (5 PM) Pacific Standard Time (or 100 (1 AM) GMT).

To get to the channel, go to http://www.gamesnet.net (http://www.gamesnet.net) and go to Java under Chat on the panel of links on the left side of the page. Enter in your nickname and #se4 for the channel. Alternatively, if you have mIRC (http://www.mirc.com), Trillian (http://www.trillian.cc) or another IRC client, you can use them to go to the channel. It is on the gamesnet (s, not z) server group.This Wednesday, It's my turn to share my wisdom.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

P.S. Thanks Fyron, you saved me alot of typing http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[ July 01, 2003, 13:01: Message edited by: David E. Gervais ]

narf poit chez BOOM

July 2nd, 2003, 10:04 AM

what latitude is that time at?

Jack Simth

July 2nd, 2003, 10:32 AM

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
what latitude is that time at?You may want to ask which timezone - it isn't a simple formula; see World Time Zone Map (http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/world_tzones.html)

narf poit chez BOOM

July 2nd, 2003, 10:40 AM

ok, which time-zone.

they should just go by latitude. the world is round.

Jack Simth

July 2nd, 2003, 10:53 AM

It's usually more convienient if a region has it's own time, rather than being split down the middle; on land, timezones tend to follow political borders. In areas of the ocean (where there aren't islands to worry about, anyway) timzones are set by longitude.

narf poit chez BOOM

July 2nd, 2003, 10:55 AM

it would help everybody learn geography. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif

Atrocities

July 2nd, 2003, 11:32 AM

David I am very sorry but I may not be able to attend the chat today. 1700 is 5 pm here and I already committed to help a friend. If I can I will try and make it. Your Posts regarding this topic have been very intuative. Thank you.

David E. Gervais

July 2nd, 2003, 12:38 PM

Atrocities, that is why this thread was created, for those who would like to ask me questions but can't make it to the chat.

Also, I'm sure a transcript will be posted after the session, so everyone will be able to see what they missed.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

P.S. Tonight's the night. The target time is 8pm Atlantic time, (ie: Montreal/New York) 5pm Pacific, (ie: California/Vancouver) and 1am GMT (parts of europe.) The chat session is slated for approximately 1 hour, but you can bet I'll be there much longer. (I cleared up my schedule to give me the whole night free.)

Fyron

July 2nd, 2003, 07:15 PM

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
it would help everybody learn geography. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif The problem is that if timezones were set strictly by latitude, you would end up with cities that were divided between timezones, so you would have half the city an hour ahead of the other half. That would be a nightmare.

Suicide Junkie

July 2nd, 2003, 07:20 PM

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
it would help everybody learn geography. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif The problem is that if timezones were set strictly by latitude, you would end up with cities that were divided between timezones, so you would have half the city an hour ahead of the other half. That would be a nightmare.<hr /></blockquote>Yeah, it takes me an hour and a half to walk to school, but negative half an hour to get home.

Erax

July 2nd, 2003, 08:38 PM

Regarding time zones : do any of you use Internet Time ? (http://www.swatch.com/fs_index.php?haupt=itime&unter=)

Fyron

July 2nd, 2003, 08:54 PM

What gives a watch company the right to go about making new time systems?

tesco samoa

July 2nd, 2003, 10:32 PM

please go back on topic here.... Ask David questions.. Do not debate about time.

P.S. metric time rocks... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

tesco samoa

July 3rd, 2003, 01:33 AM

Reminder.... 20 minutes

narf poit chez BOOM

July 3rd, 2003, 02:04 AM

AND IT'S ON!

David E. Gervais

July 3rd, 2003, 02:05 AM

Here is a new main.bmp for se4. Be sure to rename the old one first.

1057190668.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1057190668.zip)

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Rollo

July 3rd, 2003, 02:13 AM

woohoo! new spiffy buttons http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

tesco samoa

July 3rd, 2003, 03:45 AM

Here is the log files

1057196658.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1057196658.txt)

Another sucessful guest speaker....

Thank you very much Mr. Gervais. I enjoyed it very much.

I would really like to hear more about your days with steel panthers.

I enjoyed playing that game very much.

Ragnarok

July 3rd, 2003, 04:22 AM

Man, I missed it tonight. I had prior arrangments that I had to fulfill. So I will be reading the transcript later. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Rojero

July 3rd, 2003, 04:43 AM

Dammit i overslept http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !

Will

July 3rd, 2003, 05:24 AM

Damn, I missed it too... completely forgot about it until I logged on (!) Sorry David.

And just a side note... time zones more closely follow longitude lines (eg. Prime Meridian) than latitude lines (eg. Equator)... you all really do need to bone up on geography! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Captain Kwok

July 3rd, 2003, 06:08 AM

I missed tonight's speaker but I read the transcript and there was some good info in there. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

I'm up and running on the new computer so I should be good to go for 16th July if Tesco's gives the thumbs up. I was going to do the 'Kwok Skool of Planet Design'... does that sound good to you guys?

jimbob

July 17th, 2003, 04:33 AM

Hey, yah, just started reading the transcript... learned a bunch already! Went over and downloaded a whole swack of Adobe plug ins that Dave suggested. Thanks Dave. Oh, and really liked the info you fed us from Aaron, a new patch hey? (yah, I know, I'm way behind on that one)