[tuto} Hi-Res effects, Ilu's style :)

O Ilusionista

Captain 100K
Hi guys,

taking a look to a topic in MugenBR forum, I've remember that I have a way to make "high-res" (its a fake) fx that is kinda different from the other ways around. Its my fault that I had this tutorial for AGES lying on my HD

That was the first image I ever made with this kinda of fx, for the old DOS mugen to a project called SFTM vs MK. something that I've done since 2002 (but never released, its true)



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Then, back to the bussiness.  :rules: I will be using Photoshop, but any similar program will do the job. I will put some dirty tips on bold, they are my little secrets :)

1 - Choose your image to add the new fx. Different kind of images will be using diferent types of effects, lets pick a horizontal projectile. A good thing to do is add some extra space (i.e. to make the canvas bigger) so the fx won't be cutted.

f1ee0.gif


2- Go to IMAGE> MODE> COLOR TABLE if your image is a INDEXED COLOR one or just exchange the pink bg for a black one and turn your image into a RGB (ALT,I,M,R or IMAGE>mode>RGB)

TIP: to go fast to color tabel hold ALT and press I, M and T, in a sequence. Yes, I'm a PS shortcut maniac, hehe

3 - Now, its good to double your image size, to give it a more high-res looking. Hold ALT and press I two times (or SHIFT CTRL I) and choose 200%. If you want some pixelated look, you can choose NEAREST NEIGHBOR where is written BICUBIC. If you wanna a more smooth looking, choose BICUBIC SMOOTHER or SHARPER

f4oj3.gif


4 - Now is where lies one of my tricks: a lot of people loves to convert the image to black and white, something that PS and other programs do weirdly if you let they do as they want. PS versions before CS3 simply can destroy the image contrast if you hit DESATURATED (SHIFT+CTRL+U). Photoshop CS3 has a better tool called BLACK and WHITE, under IMAGE> adjustments. But it could be difficut to handle to people that aren't on image retouching.

So, on layers pallete, click on the white/black circle on the footer and choose GRADIENT MAP

f3me4.gif


See? the image's contrast was kept INTACT.

Remember to choose a black to white one, or your image will have your foreground to background colors instead. Besides, this can make some nice effects, but lets keep going.

5 - This step can change depends of which kind of effect are you making. You can go Gaussian Blur, motion Blur (remember to match the angle with the image angle), Box Blur, but I do prefer Radial Blur (FILTER>BLUR>RADIAL BLUR)

Take a look at the image:

- we need to set the blur method to ZOOM (spin could do some nice effects too)
- I do prefer to move the grid almost to the all right (or the image 'head'), so the effect will act like a trail
- Choose a amount that matches your image better


f5ha1.gif


6 - Now your image will look something like that:

f6yc4.gif


Cool, but we have a problem: and If you don't want a BW effect? You can change it now with two ways (there are others, but that are the best)

TIP: you can FADE the effect by hitting CTRL+SHIFT+F. Play with the transparency and the overlay modes.

Press CTRL+E to merge your layers, so you can continue

A) IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > COLOR BALANCE (CTRL+B) and choose which color do you want

Remember to put the color into the midtones and the highlights (but don't go over on the highlights or your image will have a glow)

f7ff2.gif


B) IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > VARIATIONS

This method let you choose visually what kind of color do you want. Just keep pressing "more magenta" or other until you're happy with

f8oi1.gif


Good! But if we want to make...a Fire effect? This kind of colorization doesn't fits, right?

Now its my dirty tricks time, hehe

With you BW image, goto to IMAGE>MODE>INDEXED COLORS. Then, after that choose CUSTOM then GREYSCALE and hit ok.

f9zo0.gif


Nothing has changed, right? Don't panic...the magic is gonna happen now

again, got to IMAGE>MODE> COLOR TABLE and choose BLACK BODY




Voilá! burn baby, burn :)

This works better with image with smaller white zones.

now, you convert it to a indexed color image and put into your Mugen and be happy :)

oh, just one more thing: you can scale the image back to 100% if you want on PS or you can scale it on mugen. The first method makes lighter images, but the second one makes smother ones. Its your choice.


Finish, fim, finito :)

Any questions, drop me a line.

For more info, look at the original topic: http://www.infinitymugenteam.com/Forum_345/index.php?topic=20286.0



 
Very nice. Moved to the graphics board, since this is a universal tutorial on creating visual resources.

DC
 
Thanks!
Side tip for mugen: When you make HR images, make it at double size then use
scale = 0.5,0.5

This will make it HR, or it will be just a blurried image
 
very cool tutorial, but what if i want to make an Hi-Res effect for openbor? i have many hi-res images but i cant use them for the problem of the background color.

i'll try to explain it better: if i convert an hi-res image in gif for openbor, i have to set the first color of the palette as background color.
the problem is, if i set, let's say, color PINK, when imported in openbor, and my char use the hi-res effect, you can see the pink border around the image.
 
I don't see what you mean Pierwolf, Mugen has to have a transparent color too. You just apply the same principal. The "high Res" effect is applied before you finalize the palette; you reserve one color of your choice for the transparency slot (0, 0) and the rest go to your image.

O Ilusionista can certainly explain better than I though given this is his tutorial.

DC
 
at the moment i don't have a computer with photoshop installed (wich i use to make sprites) so i don't know how to explain it better.  :'(

when i will return home tonight later i will try to be more clear.
 
i'll try to explain it better: if i convert an hi-res image in gif for openbor, i have to set the first color of the palette as background color.
the problem is, if i set, let's say, color PINK, when imported in openbor, and my char use the hi-res effect, you can see the pink border around the image.

That is the trick: Black background color + transparency. To use this kind of effect, you NEED to use black as background color. After we make all the effects, you can use pink as background color, but this won't effect the image (just it size in kb)

I am total noob in BOR, but I know we have a transparency thing at the sprites ( I can't find the link in the wiki). When you set one of those modes, its like overlay in photoshop: the black is not show. This is done by shifting the order of the RGB colors on a image, or alpha channel when the engine supports it.

It works almost the same way of a Alpha Mask here in BOR: the most dark is the color, the most transparent it will be. White is the opposite.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I am not a native english speaker, but I will try my best.
 
Here is what I was talkinb about. Dunno if it can be used to non-shadow sprites:
http://dcemulation.org/index.php5?title=OpenBORManual#Shadow_.26_Effects

Keep in mind I had posted this at Mugen section, I don't know how it works on OpenBOR.

It is possible?
 
in the header of the object you want  :)

name sueproj
type none
alpha  1
shadow 0
nolife  1
speed  36
candamage enemy obstacle



anim idle
delay 19
seta 1
loop 0
offset 83 135
hitflash bflash
hitfx data/chars/sue/chpower.wav
attack 64 19 53 98 10 1 0 0 0 0
frame data/chars/sue/p1.png
 
ok rafhot, i think that was what i intended. so you use the black background as a simple color of the 256 aviable, and then use the "alpha" command? thanks everybody!
 
yes, but beware to not use pure white as the first color, in case of BOR, or the last one, in case of mugne, or it will be the transparent color
 
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