The Avatar Project

[Markstar]

Alright, although I have much better stuff to do, because of the whole team logo/avatar discussion I loaded up my pics in PSP and here are the options. Problem is that some just don't look that good when they are small (<100px).

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624151014_Marauder Blueprint 100.gif ... http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/20056250628_Marauder2 106.gif ... http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624151030_Marauder100.gif ... http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624142740_MadCat100.gif ... http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624173316_MadCat2 110.gif ... http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624151819_Timberwolf.jpg ... http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624151736_MC100.gif ... http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624152359_Draconis100.gif ... http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624152328_Tango100.gif ... http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624151833_Bowl.gif

[Markstar]

Sadly some pictures are don't look good when making them too small:

This one for example:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624155147_marauder2.jpg
23.37 KB

With edge enhancement, etc I can get it to 200px, but that is really it, after that all you can see is some lines...

200px:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624155441_Marauder Mk-II.jpg
14.37 KB

100px:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624155643_Marauder Mk-II 100.jpg
5.49 KB

Also not looking good when too small:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624161413_avataralphastrike2.jpg
42.08KB

This one would also be nice, maybe even with some animated effects, but again, too messy for an avatar (even when just concentrating on the main object):
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624155926_madcat.jpg
26.88 KB

[Markstar]

Another one that doesn't look good when too small but is a nice wallpaper:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624162133_BLOW.jpg
32.96KB

Anyways, how about this one?
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624162157_Raise.gif
8.96KB

[Whomp]

I'll bet Mistfit can do wonders. Maybe let him touch them up a bit.

[Markstar]

I would appreciate any ideas! [^]

Here another one (very similar to the 3rd one on top):
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624173316_MadCat2 110.gif
5.65KB

Interestingly not all avatars seem to be 96 pixel maximum. Some are even 120 pixel. [eek]

[Matrix]

What program do you use to resize those images? I use Paint Shop Pro and do a 'smart' resize instead of a 'pixel' resize and get this result for that large one:

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Matrix/2005624182636_marauder.jpg
5.23KB

That's not that bad, don't you think?

[Markstar]

quote:Originally posted by Matrix

I use Paint Shop Pro and do a 'smart' resize instead of a 'pixel' resize and get this result for that large one:

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Matrix/2005624182636_marauder.jpg
5.23 KB

That's not that bad, don't you think?
Wow, that is great! [yeah] I never noticed the different resize options! Thank you!!! [goodjob]

I'll try that with the other ones as well...

Btw, Matrix, what about the sim moves game? Any interest?

[Matrix]

quote:Originally posted by Markstar

Btw, Matrix, what about the sim moves game? Any interest?
Whowhatwherewhenwhy?!?

I'd like to, but it really has to fit in my agenda [sad] and is in any case not possible before july 4th.

[Markstar]

Hmm, well, now the pictures themselves look a lot better, but the problem is that the eges, which are semi-transparent, will always influence the background color: [sad]
Download Attachment: icon_paperclip.gif TangoTmp.zip (http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624192338_TangoTmp.zip)

Is there any way to "promote" all those semi-transparent pixel to "full" pixel or better yet disregard them? Because otherwise I could make gifs for this page with grey background, but those gifs would have greyish edges with other backgrounds like black or blue.

[Matrix]

In the left bar click on "Selection", then in the "Tool Options" box, deselect "Antialias". Then redo the selection.

[Markstar]

Alright, maybe in July then. ;)

... [confused]:
I don't get it. On the left bar I select the "Selection Tool". Anit-alias is unchecked. Then I select the image, copy it to another background (yellow, for example). Now still some pixel are greyish with yellow, meaning the semi-transparent pixel were also copied. :(

[Beam]

For avatars in the size 100ish are you als might consider manual correction (yes, pixel by pixel) if it is black & white.

For example this is a source pic I used for the Deathmatch IV mod:

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Beam/2005624212059_skull-yinyang.jpg
24.51 KB

Which resulted in this (magnified!) entry in the buildings-large.pcx file.

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Beam/2005624212238_skullsmall.jpg
17.57 KB

I don't recall the exact steps but it took less then half an hour according to timestamps and included readjusting the color scheme, resizing and manual pixel reassignment. In the process I also gave the skull a more grim look.

All with Paint Shop Pro 7.

[Markstar]

Old/new:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624152328_Tango100.gif http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/20056250543_Tango100b.gif

Mmh, difficult. Also finished this one:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/20056250628_Marauder2 106.gif

But I think I'm going with the the greenish MadCat (4 from the left). While I do like the Marauder most (the first 2) and I would have preferred something cool/animated, I guess that one is the best one. And the others aren't that great, even though I like the Tango-icon a lot, hmm...

[Matrix]

But why all the trouble? I like this one best, but far. [tongue]
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624151833_Bowl.gif

[Markstar]

quote:Originally posted by Matrix

But why all the trouble? I like this one best, but far. [tongue]
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005624151833_Bowl.gif
Yeah, that one is pretty cool. However it is rather unpersonal and maybe a little annoying to look at after a while. I don't know, I kinda like them all. [ponder]

Yes, I especially like something animated like akots' avatar (which is simple yet intriguing). This one is nice as well (it's an animated cursor so it would not work as avatar):
Download Attachment: icon_paperclip.gif EMPLOGO.zip (http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/200562521117_EMPLOGO.zip)
16.52 KB

[Markstar]

Alright, what do you think about my combination of two of my favourite movies?

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005625154246_Darth101.jpg
4.97KB

[Mistfit]

That is sweet Markstar! You have no need for my help :D You're doing just fine on yer own.

[Mistfit]

One possibility though. I can take no credit for this one I found it online. I did however remove about 1/2 of the frames from the .gif and optimize it down in size a bit, it's a bit choppy but the orginal was 34KB so quite large. This one is considerably smaller than akots in file size.

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Mistfit/2005625221758_maddog1.gif
19.9*KB.

Edit #1
I like this Madcat as well:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Mistfit/2005625222651_Madcat3.gif
8.45*KB


Edit #2
Hey this is kinda fun...


http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Mistfit/2005625223832_Madcat4.gif
6.08KB

[Markstar]

Wow, thank you Misfit!!!!!!!!!! What program did you use for editing/making animated gifs?

The moving Mad Dog (commonly known as Vulture) got me wondering why I didn't find anything like that while I was googleing, especially since I have seen that gif before.

Anyways, found some more animated gifs, sadly no Marauder (my favourite mech). A moving Masakari (aka Warhawk)

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005625233043_Masakari.gif
42.23 KB

and, more importantly, a Mad Cat (aka Timber Wolf)! [dance]

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005625233152_MadCat.gif
20.45 KB

Even though the Masakari is the "better" mech, I like the Mad Cat more, too bad the gif has those annoying red and bright green parts. You think there is a way to modify that?

Mmh, all this mech stuff makes me want to read all the books again (I have them all [smokin]). It's really a shame, the book series is over, the follow-up is rather unsuccessful and I'm afraid this also means it doesn't look good for any more games, not to speak about the movie that was already planned. [sad]

[Mistfit]

I'm not at my "creative" Computer today but I dl'ed a fairly inexpensive .gif animation program from the net. If you give me a chance I will fuss with the "Christmas Colored" mech next week and look for a Marauder as well. Looking at the animation I'm going to guess that it is around 10 different animations and to change the color would involve changing them on all of the separate pic's. This is not difficult it is just time consuming.

[Markstar]

How about this? I removed the red parts and bright green parts with a trial of Ulead GIF Animator:

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Markstar/2005628162827_T6.gif
19.43KB

I like it. I hope you have not yet put work into it yourself, Misfit. Again, thanks for offering to do it!

BTW, the animated GIFs are originally from the game MechCommander. ;)

Edit: Corrected small mistake.

[Mistfit]

Looks good to me

[Markstar]

quote:Originally posted by Mistfit

Looks good to me
Thanks. :)

Looks like I'm finally ready to post is at the according thread then... [cool]