SOTW Discussion

[murkar]

Sig Of The Week


Hello everybody,

I've decided to start hosting a SOTW contest here. For those of you who have not participated in one before, SOTW stands for Sig Of The Week. The rules will be posted below for those who wish to participate. Each week the winner is awarded with a SOTW icon which can be placed in their signature. The voting will be done by anybody on the forum who wishes to participate in the voting. I will not be participating, since this is my contest.


Depending on the success of this, we will be in need of Naq and UU prizes. Anybody willing to donate a prize will have their name placed in the SOTW Champions thread as a prize donor.


Rules

1. Each participant may enter only one sig.
2. Sigs entered should be no larger than 400x265.
3. No nudity or profanity may be visible in the sigs.
4. If anybody is found guilty of ripping sigs they will no longer be allowed to enter SOTW.
5. Sigs must follow the theme of the week.
6. Sigs may be animated, but do movie and TV show clips are not permitted.
7. The contest lasts exactly 7 days. All entries must be submitted within that time period.
8. Sigs must be made specifically for this contest: No premades.

The Prizes

1. *The SOTW Winner's tag for that week
2. A surprise sig, from yours truly

*

THIS WEEK

Theme: Freestyle
Closing Date: March 28, 2009

[Skunky]

good idea
count me in,
they have this on a lot of gfx sites.
can you change the size limits from 356pxl width to 400pxl

[minisaiyan]

another great idea from those at ant murkar productions.
hope this works mate.

[murkar]

Thanks =) We'll see how this turns out. I'll be creating an archive thread to record all of the winners and winning sigs as well as prize donors. You guys gonna enter?

[minisaiyan]

opening photoshop as we speak my furry friend

[murkar]

And who you callin' furry?

[Nigatsu_Aka]

Nice ideea.
I know who`s my favourite sig maker.... though skunky is getting better and better.

[Arios]

we will see

[murkar]

lol we won't shoot you...yet.

[xXxsephirothxXx]

Allright. Here`s my entry. Don`t shoot me, i haven`t touched photoshop in 2 years.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Not bad man 8/10 Goes well with the theme

lol we won't shoot you...yet.

[xXxsephirothxXx]

Allright. Here`s my entry. Don`t shoot me, i haven`t touched photoshop in 2 years.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Not bad man 8/10 Goes well with the theme

lol we won't shoot you...yet.

[Nigatsu_Aka]

lol we won't shoot you...yet.

I could add some scratches to this sig, now that i`ve seen how it looks on forums... if that`s not against rules, of course.

[murkar]

You can go ahead =) Edits are fine

[murkar]

I've only started using Photoshop for sigs (used Fireworks for years but it doesn't have the same power as Photoshop and now I'm learning to use Photoshop)

Criticisms/advice is welcome.

Well, since criticism is welcome, I'll do this. I think this will help you improve.

[spoiler]This is for learning purpose only.

I've turned this:



Into this:



Basically all you do is add a gradient map by clicking the little black/qhite circle icon on the layer menu (gradient map, not just gradient) and set the layer blending mode (with layer selected, in the top left corner of the layers panel) to soft light. Add a gradient of two or three colours, then turn the opacity down until it looks good.

Then add a hue/saturation layer (same was as the gradient map, but use hue/saturation instead of gradient map) and turn the opacity of that layer down until it looks good. Add a tech-y looking effect from a brush set (or draw it yourself) and put it beneath the render (or erase it overtop of the person so it looks like it's going behind). Duplicate the render and smudge it outwards using the smudge tool using a brush that you've got at abou 15px wide, 65% pressure and scattering turned on (press F5 to open brush menu on windows XP for scattering). Smudge the render outwards and place it beneath the unsmudged render. Then smudge the unsmudged render into the background a bit (just around the edges), add a border, and voila.[/spoiler]

[murkar]

I've only started using Photoshop for sigs (used Fireworks for years but it doesn't have the same power as Photoshop and now I'm learning to use Photoshop)

Criticisms/advice is welcome.

Well, since criticism is welcome, I'll do this. I think this will help you improve.

[spoiler]This is for learning purpose only.

I've turned this:



Into this:



Basically all you do is add a gradient map by clicking the little black/qhite circle icon on the layer menu (gradient map, not just gradient) and set the layer blending mode (with layer selected, in the top left corner of the layers panel) to soft light. Add a gradient of two or three colours, then turn the opacity down until it looks good.

Then add a hue/saturation layer (same was as the gradient map, but use hue/saturation instead of gradient map) and turn the opacity of that layer down until it looks good. Add a tech-y looking effect from a brush set (or draw it yourself) and put it beneath the render (or erase it overtop of the person so it looks like it's going behind). Duplicate the render and smudge it outwards using the smudge tool using a brush that you've got at abou 15px wide, 65% pressure and scattering turned on (press F5 to open brush menu on windows XP for scattering). Smudge the render outwards and place it beneath the unsmudged render. Then smudge the unsmudged render into the background a bit (just around the edges), add a border, and voila.[/spoiler]