#they blended 2D and 3D WAY better than most

[kn-rainbowblood]

So anyway I watched the Slam Dunk movie today and it was SO GOOD.

The animation level was INSANE

[obscure-entity]

your shading is AMAZING specially when its conveying organic forms..... do you have any tips for people who dont know wrf going on (with shading)

ok so HI. hi. my old tutorial pisses me off so i will make a new one

i made a guy whose sole purpose is to be shaded so dont worry he likes it. and his name. his name will be mr. Boob. mr boob does not have to be blue

theres probably way better explanations of how to do it but unfortunately trying to "emulate" shading does ask you to somewhat understand ur character in a 3d way. like what would the 2d shape be if you "sliced" it? mr boob is made of so many circles. his tail also does a kind of weird perspective foreshortening thing because its pointing at you. is this being conveyed

you obviuously dont have to draw a horrendous grid on your characters skin to do this . BUT it helps you put down (or at least envision) the lines of the form shading :

dont worry about cast shadows or the shading color because this is FORM SHADOW time only. think about what surfaces of the character are obviously facing away from the light source and put down the "separation line" of the shading based on that. thr most important thing is that youre trying to separate light from dark

im going to pick the first one for cast shadows bc it will be the most obvious to me

ok so. his ears and snout are blocking other surfaces of his body from the light, which means a shadow is cast!!!! bam. i saw someone describe cast shadows as what the light's pov "can't see." his entire body is putting down a cast shadow on the ground too

im impatient so i blended the form shadows now. its usually the easiest to just NOT blend cast shadows as a way of conveying that they are still cast shadows. but you can still blend them if you want to show "distance" between the obstruction and the surface its blocking. but its just a way of saying form and cast shadows should not be treated the same even if their softness coincides

im going to lump reflection and ambient light together because theyre like. similar. reflections dont just happen in mirrors

since the sky is blue, making the ambient lighting, i tinged mr. boobs existing shadow to be a bit blue. (*this is kind of important because it can help you decide a shading color, which should USUALLY be based on the environment) (unless your character is just in the transparent void then it doesnt matter)

since the ground is pink, i made pink light bounce off of him. pointed and labelled. i dont rlly know how to go more in depth than that

contact shadows are literally shadows formed from direct-touching contact. very little light can reach in there, even from how reflections disperse, which means youre free to use the darkest color available (black). in this case mr. boob is making contact with the floor. because he is sitting on the floor.

i touched him up a bit and wow!!!!!!!!!! look at mr. boob!!! he is so beautifully sculpted.

and one more thing

thats right. i made mr boob PINK. hes fucking ruined now. just kidding i would never say that to him

what im trying to convey here (its the easiest with really light colors) is a transitional color. this can also show subsurface scattering depending on how you use it which is fun to look at. the mistake i made on my last tutorial was "Just pick a warm saturated color!" which is really wrong in examples like Blue mr boob. because it would be weird to use a warm color to transition from blue to blue.

if you have a character that isn't bright enough then obviously the shadows wont be as visible. its BEST to bring more attention to highlights and reflections to reveal the form a bit. they play the biggest role with darker colors

thats all i can think of. fun things to look up:

structuralization + contour lines + foreshortening etc. 3d lingo

form shadows

cast shadows

ambient light

contact shadows

subsurface scattering

im also just speaking out of my ass otherwise. i didnt look up any of these terms until the end now im inferring and hoping i got them right

and remember every time you shade mr boob will be rooting for you

[thewickedbohemian]

Dream Animated Movie Musical Tournament Seed Round Group F

For information on this tournament as well as the seed poll for group A go here

Why these musicals should be animated movies (in my opinion)

Once On This Island: it's basically a fairytale (so kinda feels like a Disney musical without really being one) and animation would be the only real way you could capture some of the things this show tries to do on film (just imagine "Mama Will Provide" alone and see the potential here)

The Music Man: classic old-fashioned musicals always seem like they could work well as animated movies to me and The Music Man seems to be one of the most still-beloved from that era (also the closest thing it's had to a movie recently, that 2000s one with Matthew Broderick, is kinda not well liked among fans of the musical so, like Harold Hill, this could deserve a chance at redemption)

Newsies: on the one hand it's a successful Disney musical adaptation of a successful Disney movie so some cynics might say the next step is to make a movie of that musical for even more money, on the other hand due to things like the addition of Katherine the stage musical does feel like enough of a unique entity it could be made into an animated movie without feeling like Disney's doing that kind of recycling (also one of the closest things Disney's ever done to a project with a pro-labor message, we could use that right about now)

City Of Angels: due to the dual-world nature of the story this could either blend live-action and animation (but animation less goofy than what Who Framed Roger Rabbit did) or black-and-white and color animation, either way this would definitely push some boundaries

Venice: although to some the book could use a few touch-ups (but that's what the second look a movie'd give a show like this is for) I still think at its best it's an underrated powerful show that deserves a way to reach a wide audience and as for why animation it'd help provide a layer of distance between some of the content both for soft-hearted viewers when the plot, y'know, Goes There, and for those in positions of power such that they might feel its political content hit dangerously close to home otherwise

Spring Awakening: the messages of this show are timely enough for it to deserve a movie and animation would both help the distance like with Venice and play into the whole dark romanticism of the show's aesthetic otherwise (if I had my druthers over how this would be an animated movie it'd (even if it had to be "drawn" via computer animation and would have to be 3D-animated as long as it could look close to the 2D vibe) do that thing Batman: The Animated Series did with the black backgrounds but have a more "flowy" sort of style like a dark version of certain Disney movies' aesthetic)

Caroline, Or Change: this is another one where it just feels like it'd work better animated but I don't quite know how to say how but this powerful story does deserve to get more notice

[amalgamgooze]

the enigma of (art) blend modes, and how doing brain research taught me how to better utilize them

(DISCLAIMER--I'm not actually going in-depth on different blend modes; there's other resources for that sort of thing! Rather, I'm just planning on talking about how they've been captivating to me in the past.)

I've been working with digital art programs for quite some time now, mostly for my game development pursuits, but also more recently just for fun.

Whatever program I'm using, be it Aseprite, Krita, or Paint.net, there's always this goofy little feature referred to as "blend modes". Really, all it refers to is how new colors should be made when two colors overlap on an image--particularly from different layers.

Back when I was young and naive, those layer blend modes hardly did more than just exist. Maybe I'd pull down that drop-down menu and switch around the modes every once in a while, but this was never used to help me during the creation process.

There's something about starting to use a new art program and getting overwhelmed by all the buttons on the UI. Of course, it takes time to master those menus, but when you do, it's nothing short of rewarding.

Which brings me to one of the most interesting programs I've worked with: Fiji.

Fiji isn't an art program--it's anything but. Instead, it's open source image processing software, designed for life science related analyses.

I've had the (mis)fortune of becoming acquainted with this software through my internship. When it was introduced to me last year, it was... overwhelming, to say the least.

This is what it looks like when you open it:

Not too overwhelming yet, right? Wrong. Here's what the dropdown menu for "Analyze" looks like.

(I like how it starts with normal sounding words, before devolving into things like "Helmholtz Analysis" and "Multi Kymograph".)

If any of you are already super-mega-brain-nerds and know how to utilize all of these options, then good for you, I suppose. For the vast majority of the people who are unacquainted with neuroscience (such as myself), however, this is INCREDIBLY daunting to navigate. Imagine something just as confusing as this for the other menus.

Hell, even just importing imaging data proves labyrinthine:

Okay. I'm done fussing over how convoluted Fiji's menus are.

I've worked with them for long enough to understand them a little better, though I still couldn't tell you what half the buttons do.

...like most of the art programs I use.

Yes, I've used Paint.NET since, like, 2018. No, I still have no idea what the "Clone Stamp" button does.

(by the way, if you're still using Paint.NET yourself for art, 1. what are you doing, and 2. Krita is much better for what I needed from an art program, so I might recommend trying that out if Paint.NET is getting on your nerves!)

Anyway, loading imaging data into Fiji usually gives you a video you can pan through. Most imaging data usually either represents a z-series, t-series, or both.

A z-series is imaging done on several layers of the subject's brain at a single time point, to create a 3D stack of images with time substituting for the depth into the brain.

On the other hand, a t-series is imaging done (usually) on a single layer of the brain throughout several time points. (Data I've worked with has ranged from 15-minute-long t-series to 100-minute-long t-series.) This again creates a 3D stack, though this time, time represents, well, time. (This is how most video is stored--even if the video itself is 2-dimensional, you're still "technically" viewing 2D slices of a 3D stack--though only super-nerds call video 3D.)

A zt-series can also be imaged by making several z-series over time, which can be processed into a 4D video. (Usually, though, the slices have to be processed through software to order them properly.)

Last year, I worked with zt-series a lot. This year, however, I've got easier work--I'm just working with t-series this time, to analyze calcium activity.

They're nicer to work with, to say the least. I've worked on automating the collection of calcium activity data by comparing the minimum and maximum values of each pixel throughout the whole t-series in order to determine where there's potentially calcium activity happening.

...in fact, once you get an image of the minimum and maximum values of each pixel across the whole t-series, you then work with those images as layers and use different functions to extract a mask that shows only potential calcium activity regions.

...

So it's adjacent to blend modes in a way.

Specifically the "Multiply" and "Divide" modes.

...

It's a bit of a stretch, of course, but working with these black-and-white images has helped me better grasp what's going on under the cover when I use those same blend modes for art.

Of course, I'm not using them masterfully yet. Really, I'm just using them to add blocky-ish shading to translucent objects.

...I'd show an example, but I can't find any pictures right now.

...

Sorry about the tangent.

I just feel like somehow this contributes to the intimate interconnectivity of everything.

Art and brain research being related on a software level.

[4dmc]

I'm so late to Arcane LOL

I did know it was going to be a wonderful series just based off their art and animation alone!!

But such a gut-wrenching, powerful series.

I didn't binge watch it though! I wanted it to be so special! I just finished episode 8😭

I am also just inspired by the specific way they've drawn the characters, they look like they're from the pages of graphic novels! It isn't just this spiderverse-like blend of 2d and 3d. Literally there's this consistent drawn streak over their skin, like color marker pens! And all their sparkly eyes, but it's not exactly anime. They're bright, sparking and colorful!

The OST is blended in to the situations and events so seamlessly!! I know Imagine Dragons gets a bad rep from most online voices, and while I think they're an okay band, their contribution to have such a good song that does tell a very cold story fits the series. And its orchestral version is MUCH better than the one on the radio, at least I'm assuming the intro song is a different version. I personally love Ekko vs Jinx's sound track!

100/10 would put amnesia on myself and make me "watch" it again

[agentnico]

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) Review

The film debuts a new DreamWorks Animation logo: the child in the moon sails the moon around the cosmos and encounters characters from various DreamWorks films. However I noted some major absences like no characters from Madagascar or Croods or even any of their Aardman fare. Yet folks from The Bad Guys and the bloomin’ Boss Baby are front and centre. I’m all about looking towards the future, but DreamWorks needs to take a page from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and remember to appreciate and respect the past. Especially Madagascar - they’re silly but significant films of DreamWorks Animation legacy.

Plot: Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll: he has burnt through eight of his nine lives. Puss sets out on an epic journey to find the mythical Last Wish and restore his nine lives.

Is it simply me or DreamWorks has been on fire recently? The Bad Guys wasn’t too bad but Croods 2... has anyone actually seen Croods 2? Me and the fiancée have recently watched it and gosh golly if it wasn’t one of the funniest animations I have seen in a long while. The energy, the joke rate and the colourful visages all made up for a great family adventure, and the movie also made me once again obsessed with the banger “I Think I Love You”. Croods 2 is great and if you haven’t seen it then do yourself a favour. Anyway, now we have a sequel to the 2011 Shrek spin-off Puss in Boots, which by the way the fact that that movie came out over a decade ago makes me really ponder and worry how quickly that time had past. Yet again I find myself leaning towards saying the useless observation - gosh golly. Regardless, the new sequel has now come out and you know what - it’s pretty good. In fact, it may even be better than the first one.

The first Puss in Boots always felt like a spin-off. I mean, it was literally a spin-off too, but it also felt like the younger more forgettable brother to the Shrek films. It was enjoyable and Antonio Banderas’ Zorro-inspired vocal performance of the titular character never gets old, however as a whole was a forgettable outing. However the decade long time to make the sequel seems to have paid off, as the writers and animators really spent the time to actually cook up a more unique and original title to the DreamWorks Animation collection. For one they take inspiration from the recent Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse by blending 2D and 3D animation to create a very slick comic book feel that, in the case of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, really amplified the fairy-tale feel. As such the world is full of popping colours and the fight sequences are both exciting and bombastic, which is perfect for a family feature. I must say though that this fast paced animation style can at times be too jarring, as even my fiancée began getting a little headache from so much imagery being slapped into her lovely little face. But nevertheless it made for an exciting animation, and one that sticks out among the rest.

As for the narrative itself, as with most DreamWorks titles this film is filled with hilarity and stupidity, however it also handles surprisingly mature themes on mortality, childhood trauma, need for identity, companionship and the fear of trusting others. The mortality element especially is handled really well, as Puss is on his final of his nine lives, and he feels it. He’s afraid of death which causes him to have real panic attacks and truly question if he can still be the legend that he has been all the time. Granted his fear of death is very well founded, as in this film death itself is personified by the Big Bad Wolf, who truly is one of the most creepiest animated creations I’ve seen in a long while, from his slow motions to the red eyes to that whistle. My gosh that spine-chilling whistle. DreamWorks just casually bringing nightmares to every child around the world. So yes, Puss being afraid of Death/Big Bad Wolf is perfectly understandable, and again this is a great way to bring such a mature thematic to a younger audience. 

What I’ve also been enjoying about recent DreamWorks movies is their focus on having a big ensemble of characters, however managing to make each and every one of them stand out. Croods 2 did it really well, and The Last Wish also succeeds. Naturally the return of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek as Puss and Kitty Softpaws is both wonderful and nostalgic seeing them two works together again, but it’s the new characters that really steal the show. Florence Pugh, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo and Olivia Colman play Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and they all feel like these gangster geezer types that have just walked in from a Guy Ritchie flick, and their family dynamic and Goldilocks’ inner conflict of not being able to fit in became one of the more powerful side-plots of the whole movie. Also Olivia Colman has the most perfect maternal voice ever. Like every mother in the world would gain points from having Colman’s vocals. Then there’s John Mulaney as Jack Horner and for the life of me I cannot recall what fairy-tale/children’s rhyme he’s from, however Mulaney as always is on fire with the jokes due to his stand-up comedy background, and also visually they made Jack Horner looks like, dare I say it, Boris Johnson. Only with purple hair. The resemblance in uncanny and I’m having serious suspicions that it must have been intentional. I’ve also already spoken about Wagner Moura’s Big Bad Wolf - holy frijoles that was one big bad wolfie! And finally there’s Harvey Guillen’s Perrito. At first when this little dog character appeared, I was worried he’d be that type of cartoon over-the-top inclusion that would get annoying very quickly. Instead however he ends up being that voice of goodness, purity and innocence, and one that helps our main characters make the right decisions and as such he was both useful and super adorable. 

Look, I am as shocked as anyone at how good Puss in Boots: The Last Wish turned out to be. Easily better than its predecessor and in fact taking a run for the money at the better Shrek movies. By the way the film features quite a few delightful Easter Eggs from Shrek, and one especially will excite fans about the future of that franchise. As for Puss, this is a joyful animated romp with some poignant themes and fun characters, and distinguishes its titular cat as indeed a favourite fearless hero.

Overall score: 7/10

[dans-den]

Demon Slayer Season 3 Review

Hey everyone how's it going? Dan here and today I'll be reviewing Demon Slayer season 3!

Spoiler Warning (if you wanna watch it, just do the free trial for two weeks on Crunchyroll)

Now I've been looking forward to this season after season 2 which I thought was a near masterpiece thanks to the animation and the story as well as the characters. Season 3 has been hyped up for the last year and people have been frothing at the mouth (myself included honestly) waiting for this to drop. Though I will say I'm sure some people weren't happy it was exclusive to Crunchyroll only whereas Season 2 was on Hulu and Crunchyroll. Either way, people were ready to watch season 3 and I will say it's great but I think season 2 was slightly better.

I love Tanjiros journey and how he's slowly becoming a stronger swordsman and demon slayer and how we got more background into his ancestors and how they knew Yoriichi as well as more background into the dance that was passed down to them. I also liked that we finally got Muzans backstory animated and how he became a demon. If you've read the manga you already know how it goes but even so I always enjoy when we get these scenes in the pages animated since I love the medium. Speaking of animation, I also want to point out how they used 3D animation as well and I'll admit it, it looks well done. Doesn't clash badly with the 2D style and it blends well enough to be a pleasant visual experience.

Now the demon slayer cast this season was interesting. Instead of the main cast which consist of Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inosuke, we get two Hashira's and someone from Tanjiros class Genya. Tanjiro and Nezuko are still the main protagonists and I did enjoy the Hashira's in this season. Mitsuri and Muichiro had great backstories but the one I think I liked most was Genyas backstory (though Muichiro was a close second) and explains why he is the way he is and why his brother Sanemi is the way he is as well. The upper moon demons this season were pretty insane. I thought the last seasons Upper moon was insane and to be honest, upper moon 6 was definitely better than the upper moon 5 demon. Upper moon 4 however, that was a complete unit themselves. Its a shame Muichiro spent almost all his fighting on Upper moon 5 who I thought was a bit underwhelming compared to upper moon 4 and definitely compared to upper moon 6. Though I will say the backstories for the Upper demons were near nonexistent. Upper moon 5 didn't get one and Upper moon 4 got a little bit of backstory but compared to last seasons Upper moon, it's not as significant but still decent.

Now my main complaint here is the absence of Zenitsu and Inosuke. Inosuke is my favorite character of the demon slayer cast while Zenitsu is my least favorite. Even with that as the case, I still feel they should have been in the swordsmith village arc. To me, Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inosuke are a package deal. I enjoy seeing them train, go on adventures and battling demons together. They only appeared in the first episode and that's it, they made a little post credit cameo but that doesn't count in the main story. I'm sure they'll have a huge part in the next season but I felt it was the same without these two fighting along side Tanjiro and Nezuko continuing to get stronger as they battle upper ranked demons.

Overall I enjoyed season 3 and the ending to it. Despite my nitpicks here and there, this is still a great anime and a great season. Now I'm excited to see how things go in Season 4 with Muzan plotting to take Nezuko to complete his goal of being the ultimate lifeform. I hear the Infinity Castle Arc will be the best Arc in the entire series and with what's suppose to go down, I am once again ready for it!

Rating this I will give it:

8.5/10

I like it just like I like the other seasons, each one has its strengths and weaknesses but overall its still a great anime series and I highly recommend watching season 3 as well as the other seasons and movies of Demon Slayer.

That's all I got for today.

See ya!

[iolaussharpe-24]

I was not prepared.

Let's talk.

I was expecting Addams Family 2019 to be bad. I really was. My expectations were on the floor. I'd seen clips and I knew the cast. I knew the general breakdown of the plot. I wasn't expecting there to be so many parts that I would actually like.

Don't get me wrong, the thing is terrible. One of the worst Addams Family movies I've ever seen. (It's above Addams Family Reunion because that one put me to sleep five minutes in three different times over the years and I have yet to watch it all the way through. Also, I haven't seen Addams Family 2.)

The thing is, there were a lot of moments, jokes, and even plot points that I actually really liked, but the execution for most of them was 💩. I think a good half of it or so could potentially work on paper if not in an animated (or even live action) movie.

My favorite joke (that is to say, "the one that made me laugh the hardest") was the cotton candy bit.

Then you have the "lime in the coconut" nonsense.

The spider bridge followed by "surfing the web".

WTF.

Also, I'm saying this as an Addams Family fan and not a crazy fan of any of the cast specifically, even though I love so many of them, these guys were WASTED on this thing. Oscar Isaac was probably the best part (cause he's the only one who consistently sounded like he either gave a shit or was just trying to have some fun with terrible material) and I hate that he was in THIS version. I think that Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Bette Midler would be really good in live action as the same characters they voiced. Also, Finn Wolfhard was pretty good as Pugsley, but I can't see him trying to do it in front of a camera.

As an Oscar Isaac fan I'm gonna say that my boy got done DIRTY.

Before I wrap this up, I just want to talk about the character designs.

I can get behind using the original comic designs for an animated movie. It's been done before. I think that's a pretty neat idea. HOWEVER, that works a lot better with 2D animation than 3D.

The arms and legs on the kids are so pencil thin that there were times I couldn't see their limbs as they moved. They just blended into the background.

Like so much else, the idea was good, the execution was not. Everyone is too thin, too smooth, and too weirdly simple despite clearly being complex at the exact same time. They look like clay balanced on pencils and toothpicks. Basically, give these guys some carbs, and add more details like Wednesday's noose braids. As is, they make Vivziepop characters look heavy and healthy by comparison.

Like I said earlier, it's not the worst Addams Family movie I've seen, but it's right next to the bottom. If Addams Family 2 is anything like this first one, it might get bumped up a notch though. I can't say. Have to see it first.

Going from worst to best (movies only):

Addams Family Reunion (1998)

The Addams Family (2019)

The Addams Family (1991)

Addams Family Values (1993)

ONE OTHER THING!

If I had a nickel for every time an actor I thought could be a good Gomez Addams ended up in a terrible version, I'd have two nickels. It's not a lot, but I think it's funny that we've failed both Tim Curry and Oscar Isaac.

[iriushoothoot]

My fascination for strange games #1: Red Tape

It’s no secret that I am drawn to the weird, the mysterious and strange, the things nonsensical and beyond any reason. I admire the stuff that just exist, because the creator thought: “There’s no reason why this should exist but I can make it exist!”. This mindset is something I can’t help but to hold it in high regards. The pure determination, the will with which the creator created the thing in question, the level of not caring, not having any regards of what the world will think of the result; this is something any artist, creator, and maybe everyone should have.

Not that people only should care for themselves; no, quite the opposite actually. People should do stuff just because they can, because it makes them happy, and not change their thing, creation or personality, just because it could make them popular or rich. The best things in life are true, unfiltered and often unrecognized by the general public and yet they create so much joy not only to the creator, but to other people too.

This approach is lived by many indie game developers. Sure, a calculated AAA can be fun, but does it really have a soul? How much personality does a big title by EA, Activision or Ubisoft really have?

Before I drift off too much into the current state of the gaming industry, a state that isn’t too glorious and unfortunately is dominated by predatory microtransactions, countless sequels that change almost nothing and unpolished releases, because companies care about their investors more, rather than releasing a good product for their customers, let’s look at some strange games, as this essay-esque post exists because of those.

Whenever I see a weird game, there’s a huge chance I buy it. If you ever asked yourself “Who would even buy this game?!”, the answer is most likely me. One of the most recent examples would be Red Tape, a pretty new release by DreadXP developed by Pollaris Studios. DreadXP often publishes niche horror games with often outlandish concepts. 

Red Tape was their first release of 2023 and sends the player to the scariest kind of hell; corporate hell. You play as an angel that happens to land in hell due to an error in some paperwork and to escape hell, you need to ascend through the 9 levels of hell, or rather descend if you look at the hierarchy of the corporate hell the same way as the layers work in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, where the deeper the layer, the more severe sinners are located in. So I don’t know if you ascend or descend in your career.

Anyhoot, the game comes in a charming style, where PSX-style 3D environments are blended with 2D paper characters. You start the game as mentioned before, as an angel. I really appreciate the fact, the developer used a biblically accurate angel, an entity that defies anything a human can comprehend.

Soon enough though, you get turned into a demon, so you can work better for hell, your new workplace. Hell becomes a mundane office space, where those who were doomed to spend their life in hell, fulfill trivial tasks or take part in meaningless conflicts with their coworkers. It seems purely comedic, but if you really think about it, wouldn’t that be a terrible fate to suffer? There’s a reason why so many people are unhappy with their jobs, and doing that for the rest of eternity, being forced to interact with people you can’t stand, all what you do are pointless, unfulfilling tasks. This is truly depressing in my opinion, perhaps even more as it is such a fantastic satirical comment on work culture nowadays, If Dante wrote the Divine Comedy in the 21st century, Red Tape is most likely how the result would lookl like.

Maybe I look too far into a silly game that was only made for comedic purposes but that feeling stuck with me during my entire playthrough. I can only highly recommend playing Red Tape for yourself. The game doesn’t have too much gameplay besides walking around corporate hell, talking to characters and going from one point to the other, but the entire experience, the historical and mythological characters you meet along your journey, the way hell is portrayed creates an interesting experience for sure.

[kaydeeartworks]

IFY Project 5 Week 1 - Proposal

Overview

For our final project, we were given the task to do... well, something. Something we wanted to do, but possibly related to our course next year. For me, that's game art. I was told to keep my sights and hopes not too low but not too high, as I'm expected to push myself but not overscope and attempt something way out of my ballpark.

What do I want to do?

3D Diorama

My pitch for my final project is meant to be something that will not only help me push towards my Game Art degree better, but also help me find my more unique voice in my own personal works.

Firstly, I want to improve my 3D modelling skills, as our course is centred upon that as the forefront in most aspects. I really enjoyed the texture work aspect of Project 4 that I had taken up as one of my tasks, as I thought deconstructing the materials I had gathered and slowly building them up was interesting.

I had thus landed on the idea of making a diorama landscape, to create a little snippet of land that I could shape and form into something of my own creation to work on my UV Mapping as well as general modelling skills. To make it more interesting, however, I want to include characters within it and as I have been nudged to implement it within Unreal Engine 4, some possible interactivity.

The reason I want to make this within UE4 is due to lighting and interactivity obviously being much easier to make within that engine than trying Maya. This will also allow me to use the other half of my project - 2D illustrations and objects. I've enjoyed a lot of RPGs and similar games that have a blend of sprites and 3D geometry, typically low-poly and it has always interested me as quite a beautiful style even if it may come off simple. Maya obviously wouldn't be as friendly with this type of content so combining the two in a proper game engine would be the best move.

I'll need to figure out how to create this diorama, make it interactive, give it good lighting and possibly some camera shots. This will make me also learn culling and billboarding as techniques, then I'll have to figure out fully how to implement this into an exhibition space.

First Draft Proposal

First Draft Time Management

[rohitgurumith]

REFLECTIONS ON OTHER ANIMATED WORKS #2

I would like to share and reflect my thoughts on an animated short film "Plague" (Mazumaro,2021) ,that was one of the most underrated films and deserved alot more recognition than it originally got. i would even say that it looked better than some big budget animation films.

This film is about the main character catching a flu on the bus and having a nightmare about spreading it to other people and causing chaos, and how he decides to take responsiblity for having the flu.

I loved many things about this film, be it the dynamic shots, the blending of 2d and 3d giving it an anime styled look, and just executing the visuals and moving the plot in a way that keeps us engaged throughout. i would say the black and white concept was a really good touch since it then made us focus on the color and understand the stakes even better. an example would be the scene where the main character just ends up wildly sneezing and spreading it to everyone. the visuals almost made it seem like there was a massacre. The artstyle in this project is exactly what i wanna achieve, but with a very vibrant color palette. im making progress by being able to work with 2d characters in 3d backgrounds and i hope to learn more and take more inspirations from more of these projects

REFERENCES :

Mazumaro (2021). Plague . 28 January. Available at : https://youtu.be/CAYDRIbXFAc [Accessed: 13 Jan, 2023]

[collisiondiscourse]

Rant about Tiger & Bunny please

THANKYOUUUUU SM !!! I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ABT THIS SHOW!!

for a show made in 2011... Tiger and Bunny holds up SURPRISINGLY well. when i first watched it, there were so many times i had to remind myself that the show itself was relatively old. its certainly not perfect and there are some parts you can see that dont age very well, but overall? its a pretty! damn! good! show!

first on the animation — it should be said that tiger and bunny is laughably VERY explicit with their sponsorships. its a very tongue in cheek joke that all the companies sponsoring/working on the tiger and bunny anime are actual companies within the universe of t&b and thus also sponsor the heroes themselves. every superhero has a logo emblazoned SOMEWHERE on their suit like a funny take on formula 1 racers

i mean, talk about being loud and proud am i right?

stylistically speaking, tiger and bunny uses a very very good blend of 3d and 2d animation to get its action scenes across. the matching suits that tiger and barnaby wear are completely 3d animated, which makes them a DELIGHT to watch as they duke it out. the anime also does this thing where occassionally, their helmets will be flipped up in order to see their expressions which are completely done in 2d and very very interesting to look at.

is it the best and most highquality animated thing i've ever seen? no. not by a LONG shot.

do i think the animation quality and style enhance the way the show is watched? FUCK YES.

t&b's style is extremely fun and dynamic and i could NEVER get tired of the way they make kotetsu move whether he is in the suit or out of it.

MORE THAN THAT — its extremely cheesy! but in a good way!! THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS IN THIS SHOW like classic hero catchphrases, kinda-cringy hero poses, and EXTREMELY funny hero move names that make this show so damn fun to watch and so very nostalgic. its about the funny announcer voice when tiger and bunny do their special! the way fire emblem's flames literally spell FIRE as they shoot it out of their hands! the way a character designed after a samurai and named origami cyclone is some white dude when kotetsu, an actual japanese man, is right there! the director of herotv is literally a girlboss french woman! blue rose has bracers with pepsi branding! both nothing and EVERYTHING makes sense in tiger and bunny and i am here for every wild, wild second.

not to mention they constantly subvert my expectations by going against what i thought was the norm for shows like this! despite the whole HEROTV having a points system and all... the bond between all the heroes and supposed competing companies? is very wholesome! they all love and respect each other by miles and trust one another to a degree that they work out together, know each others addresses, and never feel the need to hide their secret identities. all the heroes are genuinely good and caring people who believe in justice and doing right by the people before the points themselves.

whats more is that the media and journalists? aren't an enemy!!! they work with heroes! respect their privacy! hell, theyre the ones who are clearing the heroes names whenever someone attempts to sabotage their reputations. the herotv producers literally WORK to give communication and act as the eyes in the sky for the heroes and ping them whenever they spot crime! if a mission needs privacy? if a hero accidentally reveals who they are? if a fight suddenly gets personal or too bad that the heroes are about to get beaten up live on tv? THEY CUT THE CAMERAS!!!

Not to mention! all the citizens are nice and reasonable! they evacuate when the heroes tell them to. they respect the heroes and dont badmouth them without reason. HELL, when tiger underperforms? messes up a little bit while saving people and causes a little more property damage than needed by accident? they dont boo him or jeer or ask for his resignation. they laugh and tease him and tell him to do better next time! the people of stern bild are FUCKIN AWESOME!!!!

as you watch the show, youll realize that it was probably the point of inspiration for SOOOO many other pieces of media! mha is heavily inspired on everything about tiger and bunny. voltron legendary defenders has a few obvious points of inspo here and there. its such an unsung but persistent piece of media that really makes you step back and think "oh. so THATS where it came from." and it makes you fall in love w the show all over again.

i could rant about how kotetsu is such a good character for DAYS. or the parallels between him and bunny and bkdk that have me screaming. OR the fact there is a literal nonbinary african-american character who is so fucking badass and totally has their moments. OR anything about every single other character BECAUSE I LOVE THEM ALL. but i wont bc that would take too damn long and i wouldn't even know where to begin.

my tldr is this.

tiger and bunny is a DAMN good show and will make you hyped for every episode you are on. you'll be left thinking abt it for DAYS, mourning the lack of content on the internet it has.

its fun. its sweet. its heartfelt. and its so so so so COOL. watch the first 2 episodes and i guarantee, you'll be hooked.

[genderhoax]

I used to want to be an artist but then i stopped drawing for like 7 years. I want to go back but i'm scared and dont know where to start. So yes, i am interested in those drawing videos can you post them if you dont mind? ^_^

Of course!! I am in the same situation as you actually. I used to draw a lot in middle school (2010-2012) but my depression worsened during high school and in college, I’d only draw as a distraction, never seeking to study or improve. I decided to get back this year, since I decided drawing was the only thing I could see myself doing professionally. I felt very lost, because how do you get back? How do you know what’s your actual, current, art skill? What are your weaknesses? Your strong points?

That’s how I learned to study the fundmentals of art. Because visual art is not a skill. It is a set of skills, if you are very good at anatomy but not really when coming to painting your art is going to look differently than someone who learned anatomy in how to draw manga books but paint like a pro. I am going to divide this post in categories, Also, all the videos I link I also recommend all the channels they are from! My favorites are The Drawing Database, Sycra and Ganev, Sycra and The Drawing Databse have a little of everything and are great at explaining. Ganev is a bit sarcastic but I like the way he teaches. I took some parts of the text of this post from here.

How do I begin? How do you even get back at art? What tips should you use? These are general tips videos, usually nice to draw along. /the fundmentals and how to get started/ /5 tips for better drawing/ /perfect pratice/  /beginner’s guide/ /5 tips for digital art/ /10 tips to improve/ /why your drawings are stiff/ /what level is your art/ /improve your art fast/ /drawing basics/ /how to hold and control your pencil/ /intuitive drawing method/ /iterative drawing/

The Fundamentals: Proportion & Placement Proportion is relationship between one element and another. In the visual arts proportion relates most importantly to the abstract quality of scale and placement. You know how stereotypically an artists puts a pencil to their eye when looking at an object? They’re mesuring the proportion of the object in question and how to represent it corectly in the drawing. /principles of proportion/ /ways to create illusion of space/ /drawing the human figure/ /how to draw proportions playlist/ /how to use proportion in character design/ /basic anatomy and proportions part one/ /part two/ /part three/ /part four/ /proportion basics/

Form & Construction The idea of form is how we see the 3D objects in or world and transform them into 2D in the paper/canvas. It’s understading that eveyrthing is made up of basic forms. /dynamic sketching part one/ /part two/ /how to draw forms/ /structure/ /building form/ /another how to draw forms/ /how to visualize 3D forms/ /form study process/

Perspective & Depth Perspective is knowing that as things move away from the viewer’s eye, things seem to get smaller. Get familiarized with terms like horizon line and vanishing point. This is the basic that must be understood to learn perspective. Here’s a good article about this. /an intro video on the subject/ /step by step tutorial/ /perspective basics part one/ /part two/ /part three/ /part four/ part five /part six/  /another basics video/ /20 perspective lessons/ /eye level tip/  /linear perspective/  /simple form perspective/ /drawing the figure in perspective/

Anatomy Anatomy is something I think it’s one the most crucials things to learn in order to make your drawing look good. Once you understand how joints work you’ll be able to see how bones and muscles move. And this goes for anything with a skeleton. It’s one of those things of you learn the rules before breaking them. I am linking different playlists, since linking different videos on various parts of anatomy would take forever. Just study a body part at time: head, eyes, nose, lips, ears, shoulders, neck, hairline, breats, torso, hands, feet etc. /how to do an anatomy tracing/  /playlist 1 /  /draw the head from any angle/  /anatomy for artists/ /draw facial features/ /how to draw and paint/ /playlist 2/ /draw 3/4 head with loomis method/ /playlist 3/ /drawing a head in 3 hours (this one is great to draw along with the artist)/ /how to draw a body/ draw a head with loomis method part 1/  /part 2/ /part 3/ /decipgering bridgman’s anatomy/ /anatomy quick tips/

Gesture Gesture drawing is a method of capturing figures in exaggerated poses, usually drawn quickly. It is important to undersand that the goal of all gesture is to study the figure and see how it moves. I like looking at poses and copying them. Here’s a good article. /how to draw gesture/  /how to draw any pose/ /draw interesting poses/ /a guide on gesture drawing/  /tips for expressive dynamic poses/  /figure drawing tips/

Composition The overall layout of a piece is very important. Artists often consider things like the rule of thirds or the infamous golden ratio. Neither truly defines a composition, but they can both go into your decision making. /composition in art/  /understanding composition/ /10 composition tips/ /beginner’s guide to composition/ /art fundamental: composition/

Value Studying value is very much the study of light and shadow. But there is a technical side of light that you’ll want to pay attention to if you’re going for technical rendering. /guide on rendering/  /seeing light and shadows in daily life/  /10 minutes to a better painting/ /understaing colors and values/ /shading basics/ /ambient occlusion/ /shadow colors/ /tips on how to shade/ /draw shadows on objects and people/ /lighting tutorial/

Color Theory Color theory is understanding which colors go good with eachother, and knowing the pyschology behind it. (what are cool colors? what colors make someone feel comfortable?) It is fundamental in art for you to understand the relationship between colors and what makes them look good. Best color theory books. A comprehensive guide to color theory. /hue value saturation in photoshop/ /color theory for noobs/ /understanding color/ /what you should know about colors/  /warm and cool colors/  /the basic elements/ /choose colors that work/

Traditional Media If you draw in traditional media, all videos above can be used easily. These are just videos for general tips in traditional media, there isn’t many since my focus is digtal ^^’ /watercolor tips/ /draw with colored pencils/ /blending colored pencils/ /4 how to draw lessons/ /Block in colors/ /holding the brush/ /

Digital Media Digital art is how everyone’s been doing art these days. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing with your phone or your computer. I don’t do art on my phone, I know the most used app is mediabang for android and procreate for apple, and I think anyone who is able to do art with their finger is very skilled. If you are like me and prefer doing art on your computer, you probably have your tablet. If not, well you should have. Not having a tablet is not an option if you want to get better at art ^^’ Best tablet for beginners in 2020. Or you can just buy an old used one, if it still works, and you are a beginner, a small intuos is all you need. When talking about softwares, the three big ones I see people using are: Photoshop, Clip Paint Studio and Paint Tool Sai. The best one is CPS, but I find Sai easier to navigate, but CPS is extremely complete and I hope to be able to master it someday. CPS Tutorials. I don’t have much to say about photoshop, people use it mostly because they’ve been using it forever lol I divide my digital painting process in steps: Sketch/Lineart/Color Blocking/Shading/Blending/Color correction. Sketch is the basics, draw your idea. Lineart is to clean your sketch. Color Blocking is to color your drawing one color, so it’s easier to work in it. Shading is to understand where the lighting sources are coming from and apply them. Blending is to blend the colors of your drawing with brushes. Color correction is when I use filters of hue/saturation and others to make the drawing more appealing. These require understadings of the software of your choice which I am not very good at the moment so I can’t give you more tips than that ^^’ Hopefully these videos can help. /perspective grid/ /clean line art/  /coloring process/ /make lineart interesting/ /best brushes for digital painting/ /skin shading tutorial/  /lineart vs painting/ /art in clip studio paint/ /hair tutorial/ /3 tips for improving/ /10 digital art mistakes/ /color block tutorial/ /shading skin/ /from lineart to painting/ /cleaner lineart/ /add texture to your art/ /improve your art with better shadows/ /the importance of brushes/ /use layer modes/ /improve your lines/ /how to blend colors/ /another blending tutorial/  /color blocking/

Exercises It’s no secret that to improve on art, you must pratice. Everyday, even if it’s just a little! A great way to pratice is make use of youtube picture in picture function to draw along in your software of choice. /pratice drawing forms/ /proportion exercises/ /perspective exercises/ /value studies/ /creative drawing exercises/  /simple drawing esercises/

Resources Senshi stocks, a deviantart page full of poses photos. Quick poses,  pictures of models, contains nudes. Character design references DesignDoll, create a personalized sketch doll and make it pose.

Phew!!! This took forever to make and is way more than you asked for, but I decided to go all in so I can have a masterpost for me too and for anyone else interested in art. As soon you can understand the fundamentals, you can do your own research and study, youtube is really great for this. I hope this helps, let’s get better at drawing together!!! Ganbarimashou (ง •̀_•́)ง

[gally-hin-phantom]

Tutorial/Step-by-step/Tips 4

I will this time mainly talk about how to create coherent Characters Design, break down my thoughts process and give additional general tips

Since it's Concept Art, I won't do a "clean" lineart (I will mainly use my usual comfort textured brush and won't go further than a clean 2nd Sketch) nor add any shadings/effects (to not alter the color palettes)

Those characters are my friend pages_of_altaire's OCs, Vlad Masters's employees

I’m not a professional and nothing is “rule”, just an art nerd sharing what they learn in their free time

Long post !

xxx

Step 0: Collect Information

It’s tempting to straightly jump into the drawing but I really don’t recommend it

I usually make a tab with a part including basic information like : Name, Hair color & type, Eyes color, Skin color, Height, Body type And a part with : Cloths, Particular Accessories, Personality

If your characters are good with themselves and not hiding personality traits nor secrets, their personality and what they do in life/where do they live should be reflect in their clothing (however it’s interesting to make contrast if you want to create surprise, like a ruthless evil character with childish traits, or a very kind and sweet muscular tall man)

Pages_of_altaire made me a tab with all the information + mood boards 👌💚

Tip: We artists are often confront to same-face syndrome, but I will add that same body type syndrome is also very common while less talked about (even in the professional world like comics, or mangas) I highly recommend you to try going outside the “perfect standard body type” we usually start our drawing journey with if you want to vary your characters and give more depth to your world & stories (manly to feminine, thick to thin, tall to short, muscular to frail, old to young...) Tip: Like changing eyes types, varying hair is also very interesting to give your characters more personality (long, short, straight, waivy, curly, coily, braided, tied, messy, clean) Tip: Including a little personalized accessories and details really make a character stand up and more “unique” (a ring, a watch, glasses, jewelries, freckles, make up, a printed t-shirt...) Tip: If you don’t have any ideas, searching clothes and fashions references on Google or Pinterest could help

.

Step 1: First sketch

This is just a really rough sketch to choose the eyes types and what poses would reflect each characters’ personality best

Eyes and face are the reflect of the character soul, it’s what we tend to look first and focus on (it’s biologic) so obviously we will have to be careful about the face

If the eyes are the soul, the hands are the spirit Don’t neglect how important hands are in a pose, are they showed ? hided ? crossed ? opened ?... A good pose includes good hands poses

Ask yourself, is your character cheerful ? grumpy ? confident ? cool ? shy ?...

Tip: The spin also shows how confident a character is, they could rise up or bend Tip: To make an interesting character sheets composition don’t sort the characters by height smaller to taller, try to vary and make height “waves”

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Step 2: Second sketch

I’m usually don’t bother doing a second sketch, unless I really want to have a clean final result But the cleaner your sketch is, the cleaner your final lineart will be

Since I’m still not totally comfortable with my anatomy (still working on my memories library) to make clean final product I generally use 3d models with the free app Easy Pose and adjust my sketch to give them the height & body type I want (changing the hips, busts, shoulders, muscles etc...), correcting the pose if necessary

There is nothing wrong with tracing a pose as long as you trace responsibly, it’s really common in industries (like Disney or Ufotable) to use 3d models to speed up the work and make artists’ lives easier Good tutorial and explanations by @pesky-poltergeist under @the-stove-is-on-fire‘s art tutorial => https://pesky-poltergeist.tumblr.com/post/646558144390119425/wing-drawing-hack-trace-a-photo-no-seriously

Tip: Use a dark blue instead of pure black to draw to rest your eyes, you will focus better this way and could still change the line color after :) Tip: To make a lively lineart, vary the line weight; thick for separate shapes & intersections, and thin for details & textures Tip: We tend to draw the eyes first, but try to draw the eyes at the very end of your sketch/lineart As said above, us human are social creatures, we are biologically programmed to search eyes and faces, by drawing the eyes first we tend to unconsciously search the eyes of our characters and then are distracted from the whole picture

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Step 3: Silhouettes

The silhouette help to understand how strong a character design is, iconic characters like Sonic or Cloud have very distinguished figures A silhouette also help to see how confident a character is If the silhouette is still clear the pose is strong and the character confident, on the contrary if the silhouette is more blurry the character is more shy

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Step 4 : Values + Textures (useful for greyscale comics like mangas)

The most important in a drawing is values (brightness), before saturation and color/hue (if you don't know value/saturation/hue, I recommend you to search some tutorials about the color theory on Youtube) I always start with choosing my values before adding any saturation or colors

Values could drastically change the mood of a piece (calm, drama, tension etc...) and for character design, artists use a full range for clarity; from high key to low key

There my example with bad values, as you could see cloths, hair and skin blend together and make the visual difficult to read

My final values, with define separations between the different parts

Tip: When you are drawing a group, try to vary where the darker and lighter values are between each characters to make an interesting and harmonious blend Tip: Adding textures/patterns give more life to a flat 2D drawing, especially for clothes or backgrounds; you could hand draw it or use premade brushes

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Step 5: Values / Hue / Saturation (Finished Concept Arts)

The value “rule” for clarity is still there for a colored drawing, you will just have a bit more values to consider

Since I was working on a group, to not clash characters I decided to give each of them a different main color based on their personality

Abby - Green : Youth, Energy, Freshness (bonus: green go well with redheads)  Nate - Blue : Serenity, Stability, Wisdom, Reliability Jolie - Red : Passion, Danger, Importance Angel - Purple : Independence, Nobility, Bravery Brad Yellow : Joy, Optimist, Enlightenment

While adjusting my hues I adjust at the same time the saturation to make something harmonious to the eyes, I usually choose to saturate one/two piece(s) of clothes or accessories by character to make it pop, usually the main cloth or the hair

To finish I just blur the line a bit, a bit of blushes, eyes lights and a paper texture on the whole piece Tada it’s done !!

Bonus: Step-By-Step gifs

Thank you pages_of_altaire for the character design exercise opportunity

I haven’t draw braids nor curly hair for a while now and it’s good to challenge ourselves a bit sometimes It’s help me go back on art after some rough weeks, and force me to go outside my comfort zone and comfort characters (aka Danny & Dani)

If you have any questions don’t be scared to ask me, I’m not a professional but I like to nerd about art ^^ 💚

[youarerageandserenity]

Borderlands Foam Wig Tutorial (Tyreen)

I was chatting with the lovely @void-noises-exe​ and it eventually circled around to offering to make a wig tutorial because you don’t see too terribly many, just thought I’d throw mine out ( especially because It was next to impossible to find good references of a foam version of Ty’s hair.) So this will be for foam wigs in general but Tyreen’s hair specifically (with a few pics of my Fiona wig from tales as well because they better accentuate my points) I didn’t plan on making this so I am missing a few pictures that might be helpful but here we go. This will not be short.

Supplies: 

-Craft foam (ideally, in small and XL sheets, but you can make do with whatever size you have available) 

- Spray paint as close to the BASE color of the wig you need (for Ty I used white, for Fiona a medium brown) ideally in a matte. 

- a FUCKLOAD of paints (i use cheap acrylics from the craft store ) in Black, and then several shades of the colors in the hair. (For Fiona i used i think four browns? Tyreens shaved sides have three browns, and the top had an additional yellow-brown i mixed) try to vary them in darkness levels to add depth.

- multiple paint brushes. I like to use around four or five of varying sizes and hardness levels.

- plenty Hot glue, and a hot glue gun (note: you COULD use other typres of adhesive, I like hot glue because its got great hold on foam, it sets FAST and worst case scenario I can take a hair dryer to it and melt it again if I need something to be undone.)

- scissors

- duct tape

-plastic wrap

-sharpie

-wig head

-Plenty of reference images

(optional supplies include a rotary cutter and or exacto-knife [trust me, itll make your life so much easier] ,  and patience. )

SO to start

1) Put your hair in a wig cap or however you plan on wearing it under your wig. Wrap your whole hair bit of your head in plastic wrap. Make sure you get over your ears and the baby hairs on your neck if you want to keep them. 

2) Wrap all the plastic covered bits in duct tape. This is easier for a friend to do on you, but not impossible to do alone, just make sure to get it all. It should be snug. Make sure you get as far down the back of your neck and down your sideburn area as you can. (Most characters have a bit of fringe hanging down in the back so its not the BIGGEST concern for them, but Ty’s got nada so you’re gonna want some good coverage for your hair line.) 

3) Take your sharpie and draw an outline of where your ear is, and along the hairline you’d like your wig to have. For short haired characters you dont want to cut too far behind the ear or your hair will peek out, so I like to underestimate how big my ear is and adjust as needed later. Dont make your wig hairline too high either, particularly if you’re making a wig for a character who has no fringe in the front. 

4) Take that bad boy off and cut along your outlines. Try it on again, adjust lines as needed. rinse and repeat. 

5) once you reach a semi-accurate mold of your head, you’re gonna wanna take it off and cut AT LEAST 4 (front, back, and both sides (I like to do 8, it will lay flatter) sections,coming to a point at the crown of your head. It should come out looking something like this. NOTE : they’re all still connected in the middle. If you’re doing 8, cut each of these 4 in half. )

6) Lay out your foam beneath this. If you dont have a piece of foam big enough to trace this bad boy onto, what I do is literally just break out the hot glue gun a bit early, glue a couple pieces together along the edges, until i get a nice big connected surface. Trace this guy on there as accurately as you can, cut it out, and then glue all your sides together. Now you should have a foam version of your duct tape hat. 

(Dont worry if the sides wont stay down, if you’re doing a character like Ty where thats an issue, we’ll get to that part later. ) 

7) (Optional but VERY helpful) Grab your wig head, and your duct tape head. Tape the duct tape back together and put something in it to make it hold shape, I use poly-fil. Tape the head-form to the wig head, and put your little foam cap on top of that. 

8)  Time to get creative. You’re gonna want to start from the bottom layers first. For Tyreen that’s the long fringe and her undercut. The strategy I decided on was to take a few large rectangular strips of foam, and lay them out everywhere I wanted the undercut to be and cut along the edges to match the hairline. I don’t have a picture of this exact point in the process but I have one from the beginning of the next step. Really the only thing to note at this point is obviously, your head is round and rectangles are not, for the curves where it sticks up along the edges, cut down where it sticks up in a little triangle and hot glue the ends together (you can sort of see this at the top left in the picture below). Dont worry about seams at this point, we’ll hide them later. 

9) This was not the case for Fiona who has very flat hair ( especially because of her hat) but Tyreen has a lot of volume especially towards the front of her head. For hair pieces that need volume, such as the ones that are glued down here, cut two of the exact same foam piece (i like to do them in little waves like the side, but also just a little arch is good for volume without flips such as the front piece) and glue the matching edges together. Make sure the hair triangle is facing the way youd like it to! Then Flatten out the top as much as you can, the bottom will keep the volume and the top ill be able to be covered by “2D” hair pieces. 

(NOTE: Honestly, it’s REALLY difficult to end up with an exact copy of cannon, and I ALLLLWAYS get carried away with the spikes. In the end, go by your reference images, but also follow your heart. Cosplay is half about having fun creating. )

10) Once youve started gluing, make sure to keep in mind where your part is (if you have one). For Fiona i didn’t trust myself so I glued in the hair at the part BEFORE anything, and left them ready to be glued down while I worked my way up to them. 

NOTE: All the hair at the parts of BOTH wigs is a single piece of foam.You want a nice wide base whenever possible to cover up the seams of all of the other edges of the hair. For your part, Carefully glue along the very end of your strip of foam and stick it down. It will be the last piece to be glueddown on top of everything else to make it look nice and clean. 

11) Slowly start working your way around the head, gluing down first anything that will need to be covered (3D pieces and bottom pieces) before getting towards the top where youll need to be more strategic about what is going down and what can cover your edges. I’d definitely recommend mixing 2D and 3D pieces if that’s something you want to experiment with, otherwise, such as in the pic below, it is possible to get volume from a 2D piece, simply by gluing it in a way where it wont lie flat against the head. 

12) in the picture above you can also catch a glimpse of Ty’s cow lick. Those are done exactly the same as our 3D pieces from before, only you trace the edges of the open end, and should end up with a triangular third side to be glued in, then just glue along the edges just like the hair part. 

13) Dont feel you have to overdo how many pieces the hair has, remember you may also paint in pieces and designs when it comes to the line-art! 

14) Once you’ve added everything from the bottom that you’d like to, go ahead and glue down your hair-part. 

15) So, obviously, I wasn’t a big fan of Tyreen’s undercut just being flat foam across half my head. So I took an exacto to it for what felt like years. REALLY over-do it on the edges, it’ll get rid of that harsh foam line and give it a little more of a natural blend. Also pay special attention to all of your seams in the foam. The more distressing there is there, the less youll be able to spot lines later. 

16) So once you have the overall structure of your wig and you’re thinking you might be happy with this, its spray paint time. (I’d recommend disposable gloves for this, you’re gonna need to maneuver it every which way to get the pain in every cranny and that paint does NOT like to come off easy.)  Theres really not much advice I can offer on it, just be patient, and do a couple layers, spray it from every angle and let it dry completely before moving on to the next step unless youre as impatient as I am and dont mind ruining a few paintbrushes. 

17) So, like the Fiona pic a few back or this one here, you should have a fairly flat evenly painted foam sculpture. Now is around the time you might start seeing all the inaccuracies in what you’ve made. You gotta push past that it’ll look great I promise. Time to get really creative. 

18) for Ty I started by painting the buzzed bits in a base brown, and started in on the line art and her roots while i waited for it to dry before going in with two more colors of brown for depth. 

19) For her roots I ended up using three colors. Black at the very bottom (which blends into the line art) a dark brown that matches more or less the buzz, and then after the fact, a custom yellowed-brown to blend better into the white and give us a little more texture. For this and the rest of the cel-shading in the hair, dab your brush before painting and try to mostly stick to light strokes in one direction (OR: if you have one, a particularly hard bristled paint brush does wonders for this) you don’t want the ends of your strokes to be too defined. 

20) Outline the edges of the hair and all prominent pieces, particularly the hot-glue seams, itll make them less noticable. (dont forget the little animation squiggles for Ty’s sides) and beyond that-- honestly, black out to your hearts content. These pics are from when I thought I’d finished. I really felt I’d over detailed. The next day I looked at a picture and realized there is always WAY more texture and outlining than I feel like I see. Honestly, you cant really over-do it, especially with fine solid black lines. 

21) The next day I came back at it with the yellowed-brown and LOTS more solid black lines. (Currently in the process of taming down where I got too excessive with the spikes on the side) 

22) Once it’s all dried, time to try on. Here’s where we address if you have a short haired character, and the edges of your wig just wont stay down -- invest in a little theatrical grade spirit gum. It’s not too terribly expensive, and unfortunately, I tried the cheaper halloween makeup kind, and it just wont hold how you need it too (and please for my sake, also make sure you get spirit gum remover) I took some hair gel (you could also use elmers glue) just to glue up as much of my hair as I could on the sides and the back of my neck to keep them from the spirit gum, and dabbed it along all of the prominent edges of the wig (namely, side and back) wait for it to get a little tacky and stick that MF-er down good. 

Aaaaand Voila??? 

Let me know if I missed any steps? Its fairly simple, once you get going -- just time consuming. 

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 65 Poll Results (for Anime Only Watchers)

The poll closed with 98 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Manga Readers’ poll, click here.

Anime only watchers, beware of spoilers if you venture over to the manga readers’ poll results.

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RATE THE EPISODE 94 Responses

Although a bit muted compared to last week, the response to this episode was still overwhelmingly positive, with 96.8% of people giving it a rating of 3 and higher. MAPPA’s on a roll!

Amazing!!!!

i just wanna see more!! 20 minutes is not enough. its too good

Awesome episode! Great pacing and the cgi was not too noticeable.

WAAAAYYYYY TOO HYPE

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 93 Responses

Mikasa and Levi took the spotlight this week! 30.1% of viewers felt most hyped up by Mikasa’s “explosive” reintroduction to the anime, while 22.6% were stoked to see Levi take on Porco to save Eren. 18.3% were most hyped by the Survey Corps taking on the Jaw Titan and the subsequent cliffhanger.

THE CGI CONTINUES TO BE A POINT OF CONTENTION. BE HONEST, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE EXECUTION OF CGI SO FAR THIS SEASON? 93 Responses

Just under 50% of responses seemed to indicate that they thought MAPPA was doing very well with the CGI utilized. A little over 15% stated that although it was not their favorite, they understood that it could be a lot worse. Other responses (in order) were being neutral about the CGI, not liking it, but understanding the need for its usage and folks who adamantly rejected 3D animation. 

I actually prefer CGI titans because of the way their movements looks, it looks almost slower, to me it fits very well with how the big titans are. Im not an anime guy at all so ive never seen cgi in other anime but i really like the way Mappa's CGI looks, it blends in very well. I dont like CGI people though, the shot with Jean throwing the marly soldier off the rooftop i didn't like very much.

I feel horrible saying this believe me... but I really vibed with the CGI up until this episode. I think maybe because it's the first time its been used on humans (OPM) rather then titans. I'm not massively put off though, I really apreciate the efforts this episode must have taken. TY Mappa

The episode is great no doubt, my only concern is the CG personally, as a 3D artist myself, I think I would prefer an all 2D medium like the battle at Stohess. Using 3D is fine as long as it blends seamlessly to the background, like kengan ashura, it's not perfect but bearable.

I honestly think that 2D will always 100% be better than cgi but I can understand why mappa is using cgi

It was fine in the other episodes, but in this episode, it looked overused and bit bad

HOW WAS EREN’S ROOFTOP SWAN DIVE? 94 Responses

When it came down to Eren’s swan rooftop dive (“Like a fallennn angel…”), the majority seemed to be impressed, with 68% giving it a score of 4 or higher. It was not a monolithic opinion however and many seemed also rated it poorly. Do better, Eren!

WHICH RETURNING CHARACTER’S ENTRANCE WAS YOUR FAVORITE IN THIS EPISODE? 94 Responses

The Survey Corps has returned! Of these reappearances, viewers most enjoyed Mikasa’s (48.9%), Levi’s (31.9%) and Sasha’s (14.9%) the most. Jean and Connie got a little less love, though we’re sure people were still happy to see them!

WHICH RETURNING CHARACTERS HAS THE BEST GLOW UP? 93 Responses

It would appear that the slight plurality sees Mikasa as having the best glow up out of the cast, followed by (in order) Eren, Sasha, Connie, Jean, Floch and Levi. The Old Captain doesn’t like to change up his style, we suppose. 

Eren didn't have a glow up- he had a glow down.

Mikasa can stomp on me please god

OF ALL THE ORIGINAL CAST, WE STILL HAVE NOT SEEM ARMIN, HANGE OR HISTORIA YET. WHICH OF THE THREE ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING NEXT? 93 Responses

In relation to the previous question, we still haven’t seen 3 major members of the cast. Armin, Hange and Historia. When we asked which of the three you were most looking forward to seeing next, the slight majority (52.7%) expressed their excitement for seeing Armin again, followed by 11.8% wanting to see Hange most. Some others have also expressed their desire to see Historia again. 17.2% simply could not choose and 10.8% stated that they simply didn’t care about the 3 characters.

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE WARHAMMER TITAN? 90 Responses

The Warhammer received an overwhelmingly positive response, with the majority expressing much excitement over both its design and powers. 15.6% noted that the design was a bit too creepy for their liking, but the powers were awesome. And on the flip side, 10% noted the Titan’s design was rather cool, in contrast to its rather OP ability. A select few did not enjoy either aspect. 

Would probably enjoy it more if it belonged to someone that likely is not going to be just cannon fodder

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NEW UNIFORMS? 92 Responses

The Survey Corps returned sporting new uniforms to much fanfare. 30.4% of respondents really enjoy the upgrade, finding the suits to be badass. 23.9% couldn’t find the words and just settled for pure hype. 20.7% enjoy the new uniforms just as much as they enjoy the classic uniforms. 12% felt it was a much needed upgrade, though 10.9% don’t care at all about the uniform change.

I like both but I prefer the old design

EREN SAYS TO MIKASA, “YOU GUYS ACTUALLY CAME.” THIS IS FOLLOWED UP BY MIKASA ASKING EREN TO COME HOME. DOES THIS INSINUATE THAT EREN WENT TO THE MAINLAND ON HIS OWN? 90 Responses

The circumstances of the Survey Corps’ presence on the mainland continues to be a mystery. When we asked about whether Eren was there alone or not a few episodes ago, the majority believed that he was either there alongside the Survey Corps or was sent there by them. Overall, the feelings seem to be the same (that Eren came alongside the Survey Corps). 45.6% think that Mikasa’s words may have some other meaning and that things are way too planned out to be coincidence. 18.9% believe that Eren did go rogue, while 15.6% think that Eren didn’t necessarily go rogue, but wasn’t working with them for a while either. The remaining 20% have already been spoiled on this particular plot point.

THE ATTACK ON LIBERIO SEEMS TO PARALLEL THE BREACH OF SHIGANSHINA. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS EVENT IN COMPARISON? 92 Responses

Now that both sides of the conflict have had their rude awakening, we asked how you guys felt about the two events comparatively. 33.7% feel that both attacks were tragic, but still feel more empathy toward the Eldians on Paradis than they do toward those who were raised on Marley. At a tie, 22.8% of respondents felt that the victims of the Liberio attack got what was coming with them, while another 22.8% felt about the same amount of sympathy for the victims on both sides. 10.9% feel this is way worse than what happened in Shiganshina and feel more sympathy for the victims in Liberio. 

I am yet to know the goals behind this attack.

Marley did this countless times so I don’t feel bad for them. I kind of feel for eldians tho bc they are brainwashed from a young age to give up their lives for a country who doesn’t give a shit about them. 

Honestly they deserve what Eren is doing to them. Excluding Falco, no one outside of Paradis has earned my sympathy, even with the additional context.

SADLY, UDO AND ZOFIA DID NOT SURVIVE THE ATTACK ON LIBERIO. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THEIR DEATHS? 91 Responses

Udo and Zofia have joined the ranks of characters who tagged along with the main cast for a while only to be killed off for character development. 25.3% anticipated at least one of them to die, but not both. Another tie on this poll, 24.2% stated that they were disappointed and was hoping to see more of them, while another 24.2% didn’t care about them at all. 14.3% are happy to ditch the focus on them in favor of more familiar characters, and 8.8% feel pure and utter devastation. 

Good riddance Warrior scum

Sad but allows for Gabi’s development 

sad but okay. death is common in this anime.

EREN AND FLOCH’S LAST INTERACTION IN S3 WAS A VERY TENSE ARGUMENT. NOW IT SEEMS FLOCH IS DEDICATED TO EREN’S CALL TO ACTION, SHIFTING THE “NECESSARY DEVIL” STATUS FROM ERWIN ONTO HIM. WHAT DO YOU THINK THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS LIKE NOW? 91 Responses

Eren and Floch were anything but BFF’s at the closing of season 3. Now Floch seems to be wholly devoted to Eren’s cause… What changed? 28.6% believe that nothing has actually changed in terms of their relationship, but that Floch simply just latched onto Eren’s fight in need of a new devil. 23.1% feel that they still aren’t friends, but are in more comfortable “ally” territory. 15.4% aren’t sure what to make of it. Smaller handfuls feel that they either grew to become friends and/or co-conspired to attack Liberio together. 22% are already spoiled on the details. 

Floch is easily persuaded...and annoying 🤷‍♀️

WE SEE GABI GRAB THE GUARD’S FUN AFTER WITNESSING SASHA KILL HIM. WHAT DO YOU THINK MIGHT HAPPEN? 90 Responses

Gabi moves headstrong into the fight, wanting to play her part in defending her hometown. A large chunk of anime only viewers have been spoiled on future developments for her character. But for those still in the dark - 24.4% feel that she will successfully kill a member of the Survey Corps. 21.1% aren’t sure what to expect, while 10% think she will only manage to injure someone in the Survey Corps. Smaller amounts feel she won’t be successful in any capacity or may even die herself.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Epic episode, survey corps come back, OH YEAH, but I wished they didn’t use CGI on humans and bettered the CGI on Titans.

It really makes me sad how Eren is continuing the cycle of revenge by killing innocent Marleyan civilians, but it makes sense for his character. 

Real cool ep but w h e r e a r m i n

It sucks that I like the warriors and the Corp bc both of them are victims in different way so seeing them have to go head to head sucks. They all deserve better

SO great I loved it! However, I missed Reiner, Falco, and Zeke. I hope they're okay :-) RIP Udo and Zofia :-(

I think I need more dialogue between the old crew to really settle back in with them. I kinda believe that Mappa's still trying to 'click', they obviously can't just get it right immediately. Other then that I loved the titan scenes, more than ODM scenes 😔

This was a great episode and I was literally vibrating in my seat from excitement! I think MAPPA is doing a great job with the animation and the music works really well with the action. Can’t wait for the rest of the season!

I miss wit studio

Willy seems to have his first daughter really early, he looks like 30 !

I’d say the episode as a whole is a solid 8-9/10, the cgi in some parts really ruins the moment for me

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 88 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated!