Module Art Creation

[ProphetSword]

NOTE:
This topic was moved from the Module Review board, and from a discussion that began in the middle of the review for The Voice of Vengeance.

The new Pics and BigPics found in this, The Voice of Vengeance, are of a uniformly very high standard.  Even among such quality, one, the BigPic entitled "Healer" is a glorious standout, that I would judge as one of the finest I have ever seen.  I don't know if author Ben converted all of these himself (I don't recall seeing any of them before), but even if they were only collected from existing art in our libraries, they demonstrate a canny eye for art that is both striking and effective in the desired dramatic context. 

All the artwork was selected by me from various sources.  I did all the conversion myself, using a tool called IrfanView, which is fantastic for resizing artwork, reducing it to 256 colors and saving directly as a PCX file (one of the only Windows programs that can still do it without an add-on of any kind).

Once it is a native PCX file, I just use UA256 from DOSBox to get it into a format that FRUA can put to use.

[Mechanaut]

I did all the conversion myself, using a tool called IrfanView, which is fantastic for resizing artwork, reducing it to 256 colors and saving directly as a PCX file (one of the only Windows programs that can still do it without an add-on of any kind).

Irfanview is a superb tool; resizes better than Photoshop. 


If you have access to any version of Photoshop, you can load the PCX templates, as 256 palleted art, and paste any (color format) art from the clipboard into it, and it gets adjusted (best match) to the existing palette.

[steve_mcdee]

If you have access to any version of Photoshop, you can load the PCX templates, as 256 palleted art, and paste any (color format) art from the clipboard into it, and it gets adjusted (best match) to the existing palette.

I find I can get much better results in Photoshop by not simply pasting an image into a template and using the existing palette. My process (for standard image types such as pics and bigpics) is as follows: Take an image with RGB/full colour, and resize it to the appropriate size for use with FRUA (I usually use the option but you can use whatever option in your version of Photoshop produces the best outcome). Convert it to Indexed Colour, choosing maximum of 224 colours. Then run UA 256 to create the image with the palette appropriately aligned for use in FRUA. This way the palette that FRUA uses for that image includes the best 224 colours, rather than a whole bunch of default colours that are probably not used at all in the image.

[steve_mcdee]

I'm so sorry, I didn't realise where I was posting. I'm more than happy for it to be moved.

[ProphetSword]

I have moved this topic to the Art Creation section of the boards.  Feel free to continue the conversation.

[hans]

I'm so sorry, I didn't realise where I was posting. I'm more than happy for it to be moved.

 

I mentioned it because having it here, on Art Creation boards, turns it into a lasting and more easily referenced resource on the subject.