RPG Appreciation Thread

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  • MADMANMIKEMADMANMIKE Posts: 407
    edited December 1969

    Ah, good for you.

    The preferred output for print graphics has always been .tiff at a dpi of at least 300 (my publisher prefers 600 so they can reduce it if needs be). So transparent background doesn't work.

    That said, I use a four point light setup, and render the front, then turn the lights off and render again so that I get a perfect black mask to separate the image from the background. With matching front and back cameras this mask can be flipped horizontally and work for the back image too.

    I've automated the post-work process with a series of actions, so if I have the three renders it only takes a couple of minutes to make a mini.

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,401
    edited December 1969

    Ah, good for you.

    The preferred output for print graphics has always been .tiff at a dpi of at least 300 (my publisher prefers 600 so they can reduce it if needs be). So transparent background doesn't work.

    That said, I use a four point light setup, and render the front, then turn the lights off and render again so that I get a perfect black mask to separate the image from the background. With matching front and back cameras this mask can be flipped horizontally and work for the back image too.

    I've automated the post-work process with a series of actions, so if I have the three renders it only takes a couple of minutes to make a mini.

    Actually,you can get a transparent background with Tiffs; at least if you're using Adobe Photoshop. and have your "background" layer set as "Layer 0" and not "Background".
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,517
    edited December 1969

    ...in Gimp you can also set a transparent background.

  • MADMANMIKEMADMANMIKE Posts: 407
    edited December 1969

    There are artifacts around the edges of your render if you render with a transparent background. But by all means, do it your way.

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,401
    edited December 1969

    There are artifacts around the edges of your render if you render with a transparent background. But by all means, do it your way.
    I'm not talking about rendering a transparent background, although DAZ 4.7 is supposed to be able to render them without those "artifacts". I typically don't render too many pics without any scenery. I'm strictly talking about Photoshop itself, and being able to create TIFF files with transparent backgrounds.
  • MADMANMIKEMADMANMIKE Posts: 407
    edited December 1969

    That's great, but it's entirely irrelevant to the process I use. When you create a set of actions (that in this case take 30 minutes of layer processing down to 30 seconds), you need the layers to have the same names each time. So when I describe the process I use to make paper minis in order to get base files from someone so I can do that for them, suggesting it be done differently is the opposite of helpful..

    I'm a published artist who uses Photoshop daily, I'm aware of it's capabilities..

    Also, as an autistic person, I've learned the hard way that more often then not, starting a sentence with the word "Actually" is rarely helpful and more often then not annoying to the other people in a conversation..

  • jestmartjestmart Posts: 4,449
    edited December 1969

    The latest version of Studio can render TIFF and PNG with transparency with no artifacting, best of all it even does semi-transparent properly too.

  • MADMANMIKEMADMANMIKE Posts: 407
    edited December 1969

    Back on topic, a commission I just did; a RIFTS Lemurian Gene-Mage on it's Panther Shark.

    GeneMage01DS.jpg
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  • MADMANMIKEMADMANMIKE Posts: 407
    edited December 1969

    The second commission piece I did for the same customer, a RIFTS Lemurian Oceanic Guardsman wearing Coral Armor on her Shadow-Serpent war-mount.

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  • 12rounds12rounds Posts: 25
    edited May 2015

    Oh the horror! This illustration is of a semi-corporeal ghost-like undead creature for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game setting. Sometimes intrepid investigators need to enter shunned or abandoned locations – such as derelict mental institutions waiting for their own demise – in hopes of securing some obscure tidbit of information. Sometimes the locations are not that abandoned after all.


    Image: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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    Post edited by 12rounds on
  • 12rounds12rounds Posts: 25
    edited December 1969

    Yet another one for the Shadowrun role-playing game setting.

    Image: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,517
    edited May 2015

    ..Nice. Can never have too many Shadowrun works.


    My sassy little decker Violet.

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    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • 12rounds12rounds Posts: 25
    edited December 1969

    Keeping the thread alive ... this time a Call of Cthulhu character illustration.

    Cassandra Wake
    Cassandra Wade, an Actress by Kimmo Mäkinen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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  • MADMANMIKEMADMANMIKE Posts: 407

    And the dead rises again.. I've stayed off this forum for lack of interest for some time now, thought I'd see if I'm the only one still doing RPG art.

    I went to GenCon the week before last and attended The Gamers Live event, which is an improv done by the actors from Dead Gentlemen Productions The Gamers Series; they get the audience to participate in building the characters, then they improv a game session.. When the GM rings a bell everyone jumps up and becomes their characters on the other side of the stage, and audience members come up to be the monsters attacking them.

    Shortly after I arrived, they determined Chris Ode's character would be a "Half-dragon, Faerie-mermaid, Bardbarian Sushi Chef".. I immediatly grabbed my laptop and put this image together in the 1.5 hours that were remaining in the show.  So obviously it's not one of my best images, having been started and finished in such a short window.

     

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  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 14,878

    About two years ago I was plodding through a personal RPG supplement project of mine that I considered putting on RPGnow or similar, a D&D 5e thing. But I got stuck on artwork -- public domain stuff was hard to find that really fit what I was doing, so decided to poke at the state of CGI that I had given up on 14+ years ago as too expensive to do anything I wanted with.

    Ended up liking doing artwork way more than writing, so... here we are. But still have done a bunch of RPG-themed stuff.

    Specifically D&D: http://willbear.deviantart.com/gallery/57108958/D-D

    Portfolio I did mainly focused on SSS' Scarred Lands, which I had written a bunch of material for ~15 years ago and had hoped to then do art for it's revival: http://willbear.deviantart.com/gallery/57390886/Scarred-Lands

    (alas, they showed no interest)

     

  • TraceSLTraceSL Posts: 519

    The Elder Morphs for G3

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  • 12rounds12rounds Posts: 25

    And the dead rises again.. I've stayed off this forum for lack of interest for some time now, thought I'd see if I'm the only one still doing RPG art.

    I've made dozens if not a hundred RPG character illustrations since my last visit in this thread.

    Here's a little something I finished yesterday (Poser+Photoshop):

  • Forgot about this thread.  Here's my newest character portrait.  Kebede has a little bit of Cavalier and Hunter, but is actually mostly Rogue.  He's got archetypes that give him sneak attacks with d8's instead of d6's whenever he charges.  And with a lance, it's a very good charge.

    The bird is named Moa.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,517
    edited August 2016

    ...Leela off to a meet for a "job" (Shaadowrun).


     

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    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited August 2016

    This was just a quick character sketch for a Shadowrun character as well, lighting and some materials could have been improved. "Short Stuff", a dwarf.

    shadowrun short stuff.png
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    Post edited by sriesch on
  • TraceSLTraceSL Posts: 519

    another

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  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,517
    sriesch said:

    This was just a quick character sketch for a Shadowrun character as well, lighting and some materials could have been improved. "Short Stuff", a dwarf.

    ...nice, had a Dwarf Rigger named Jillian.  Hated being called "short stuff".  Posted a pic of her on an earlier incarnation of this thread long ago. Had to kitbash her cyberarm and the clothing fit was a pain in the bum as there was no Autofit back then.

  • MADMANMIKEMADMANMIKE Posts: 407

    A commission I did last week.


  • 12rounds12rounds Posts: 25

    Just posting to keep my annual post count above zero. A Shadowrun (or any cyberpunk -themed setting) character illustration.

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 14,878

    Two images of mine made for a nonexistent D&D 5e book...

    http://willbear.deviantart.com/art/Warlock-Celestial-674281825

    and

    http://willbear.deviantart.com/art/Wolfsoulf-673573555

     

    I was trying to go for a style reminiscent of the 5e books. The 'brush' is a little different, a little rougher, than the art in the books, and the coloring a little less saturated. But still.

     

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,517

    ..the Celestial needs a +5 Skillet of Braining.

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 14,878

    I was originally thinking kitchen cleaver, couldn't find that, went with dagger. But yeah. ;)

     

  • tj_1ca9500btj_1ca9500b Posts: 2,047

    Planescape: Torment is one of my fave computer RPG's

    I've been working on a Succubus that is loosely inspired by Fall From Grace from Torment.  Grace isn't your typical Succubus, having turned away from her 'nature'.

    The recently released Dragon Horde Jewelry Daz product includes a choker with a nice eye jewel, and I was looking for a way to incorporate the torment symbol, as a nod to FFG and TNO.  A few quick modifications in Photoshop, and Voila!

    image

     

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  • Hey MADMANMIKE, I was just checking out your paper miniates and was wondering... how the heck do you get the front and back of characters aligned? I have been trying to render images in daz for front and back and they never line up. Even after messing with them in an image editor. Any tips or tricks, special way to set up the cameras?

    Many thanks in advance

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,517

    ..nice to see some life breathed into this thread again.

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