User talk:Well-rested/Archives/2008/June

Copyediting request
Hi. I'm trying to get the Insane Clown Posse article to FA quality and status. Would you mind taking a look at it and check for any poor grammar or anything else that needs to be cleaned up? Thanks. (Ibaranoff24 (talk) 20:28, 20 June 2008 (UTC))
 * Sure thing. Will take a look and post comments on the article's discussion page.-Samuel tan85 (talk) 03:42, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Hi. I made some changes based on your suggestions. (Ibaranoff24 (talk) 08:15, 23 June 2008 (UTC))

Awards graphics
Thank you for volunteering.

By the way, they're not barnstars. We need some non-barnstar awards for a geography-related "Around the World" collaboration.

There are 3 awards we are working on:
 * 1) A globe in a globe stand, with a Wikipedia passport laying on the surface beneath it
 * 2) A medal (we can't figure out how to carve the words and the map into the surface of the medal)
 * 3) A trophy: a pedestal with Atlas kneeling on it, holding the World on his shoulders - the World is also a puzzle globe, without the symbols (unless you can figure out how to carve the symbols into the surface - black symbols just don't do the image justice).

The globe in globe stand

 * We've got the globe - it's the Blue Marble with Wikipedia's puzzle globe superimposed upon it. Looks cool.


 * We've got the passport. The symbol on the passport is a gold puzzle globe


 * What we need is a globe stand to insert our globe into. We had one that I extracted from another pic, but then we learned the pic was copyrighted, so we couldn't use it.  We need a fancy globe stand.  This requires two tasks:
 * 1) Finding public domain pictures of globes in globe stands - the more the better
 * 2) Picking the best one
 * 3) Extracting the globe stand from the picture so we can use it or extracting the globe and inserting our other components into the picture

The medal
We've got a prototype medal, but I'd like to see what it would look like with the words and map replaced by the same CARVED out of the medal.



I have a layered version of the above pic, with the map and the words in separate layers, so they can be easily removed and replaced.

Do your programs support layers?

Here's the map I'd like carved into the medal:



Of course it shouldn't have any color of its own - just shadow and lighting in the contours it creates in the medal itself. (By the way, this is the same map used in the medal above - it was stretched (scaled) vertically to fit).

The trophy
The trophy will be Atlas, on a customized pedestal (replacing or covering up the pedestal below), holding up a puzzle-ized golden Earth on his shoulders.



The canvas needs to be increased in size (more size above Atlas) to make room for the globe he will be holding up.

A pedestal needs to be created, and inserted below Atlas (reaching from him to the bottom edge of the canvas. The existing pedestal fragment needs to be removed or covered over.  I left it in to provide a guide for perspective (viewing angle).  We can't show the surface the pedestal is resting on, because the perspective of the image is that we are kind of looking up at Atlas.  The perspective of the pedestal needs to match.

The pedestal could be onyx with gold inlays, or it could be textured marble, or any number of cool alternatives. It should look impressive, and complement the subject (Atlas) well.

We need a golden sphere, with shading and lighting to match Atlas above.

Then the following can be overlayed onto the sphere:



I'm not sure which would look better: lighter oceans with darker continents, or darker oceans with lighter continents. Both shades of gold, of course.

I'd like the continents raised above the surface of the sphere (that is, rising up out of the oceans). Sort of like what has been done for the continents on the prototype medal above.

Superimposed into the globe should be the puzzle globe, without the symbols.

Erasing the symbols from Wikipedia's standard logo has been a bitch, as the shading of the puzzleglobe needs to be retained. It's easy, but tedious. I'm working on it, but the task can be shared (hint hint).

Then the part of the sphere and continents that fill in the missing part of the puzzle globe need to be erased, to complete the puzzleglobe effect.

Here's a quicky image I threw together to demonstrate the proportion I'd like between the globe and Atlas:



Keep in mind that's just a garbage pic - it's got the wrong wikiglobe (wrong lighting, unwanted symbols, etc.), wrong canvase size, no layer support, etc. It's for demonstrating size differential between Atlas and the globe only.

Re: rough draft
Concerning the rough-draft you sent:



You've got skills! I'm impressed.

A few things...

It looks like you modified the garbage pic. Most of the errors in that pic are in the new one.

The continents are raised nicely.

The lighting and shadow on the globe don't match those on Atlas.

The trophy is "made out of" gold (shiny metal), not gold-colored stone. We could sure use some sort of stone effect on the pedestal though.

The continents need to be set onto a sphere that we make. The continents should be one base color (plus lighting/shading), and the oceans should be another (plus lighting/shading).

Then, after the continents are in place, the following image can be integrated into it (overlayed):



My guess is an overlay is done by adding a layer and reducing its opacity.

For example, to go from something like this:



To something like this:



That modification has some problems we won't have (like filling in the branches in the background).

Some things that need to be cleaned up on Atlas are the water marks. (On his right shoulder and chest).

I guess the next step is to create a golden sphere to place the continents on. I think its lighting will carry through to the puzzle globe when the latter is overlayed.

Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing your next draft.

The Transhumanist 20:51, 29 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Hey there! In response to your comments about the draft, I'll be away for a few days this week on training with my company (audit training - I'm mentally preparing myself for boredom), so I won't be able to work on this for a while. I'll take another look at your comments when I get back to see if I can do it. If you find some really pro graphics designers to help you in the meantime, feel free to let them handle it :)--Samuel Tan (talk) 00:01, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Getting up to speed
If the above tasks are beyond you, I can provide some instruction on the free programs The GIMP and Inkscape.

They are surprisingly powerful.

Though I have no idea how to carve things out of surfaces. If you do, that would be a tremendous help.

What graphics programs do you have (and know how to use)?

I suggest you download and install the two programs I just mentioned, to tackle tasks that you have no idea how to do in the programs that you have. (I can explain how to do some things in the above programs).

I look forward to your observations, ideas, suggestions, help, etc.

The Transhumanist 02:33, 29 June 2008 (UTC)


 * In response to your question, I have adobe CS3 (InDesign, PhotoShop, Illustrator), so I should have all the tools you need. I'll take a closer look at what you require once I'm done with a few edits for my latest article. Cheers! -Samuel Tan (talk) 03:13, 29 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Hey I've taken a closer look at what you need and I think I can help (or try to).


 * Medal - yes I can work with layers and I'm willing to give this carving a shot. Send me the layered file? I'm at ''(e-mail address removed by User:Samuel Tan on July 5, 2008, to stop the spam).
 * Trophy - I can definitely help with the texture of the sphere, although it won't be perfect without some sort of 3D editing software. Do you know anyone who does? I have a free version of the Daz3d software but I've never found the patience to sift through the maze of menus to learn it :/ And I think light continents and dark oceans will look better, but it depends on the lighting and perspective. What I won't be able to do is the pedestal, 'cos I'm terrible (read: absolutely horrendous) at making real-life-looking objects from scratch.-Samuel Tan (talk) 03:57, 29 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm sending you the xcf file of the medal in case you want to try out The GIMP. I'll also convert it to psd, so you can work on it in photoshop.


 * Inkscape is a free vector graphics program. It's pretty cool.  You can create spheres with it.  See this. The key is to modify a solid circle using the gradient tool (and its options on the tool bar at the top of the screen - which show up after you click on the gradient tool).   Hold the cursor over each tool to see what they are called.


 * If you get stuck on anything, let me know, and I'll see if I can do some blockbusting.


 * The Transhumanist 04:13, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

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