Premade Custom Avatars

[joespaniel]

Originally posted by King of Camelot
[BHmm, after trying I have decided that there isn't enough to work with on the knight, unless you want the horse black, but I think I would get confused with all the black [/B]

Understood. If you are so inclined, just do what you think looks good.

In fact, I would be happy with the plain un-modified knight or better yet cavalry, if it looks as good as your avatar.

 

[Flatlander Fox]

Nichts ist los...

Ich bin nur hier, in scheiss New York!

Anyway, I think the custom avatar thing is pretty nifty! And the people resizing get a pat on the back from me! *pats*

 

[starlifter]

Original:

This one of JoeSpaniel's was fairly difficult to fix up, due to the more complex and dark image. After several tests, I think it looks better without the background, and a transparant rendering thru the feathers and head area. It is 3.35 KB, in GIF format.....

 

[anarchywrksbest]

Here is a evil looking one suitable for any evil poster on the move:

 

[anarchywrksbest]

And another spooky avatar:

 

[starlifter]

This is a test. Incomplete Avatars will appear here just to see how the are looking...

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[joespaniel]

Thanks Starlifter. Looks better without the background.

That inspires me to ask a question: How did you remove the background?
I hope you didnt have to do it pixel by pixel...

 

[Alcibiaties of Athenae]

Wish the size could be a bit more, my pics have a bit of haze being shrunk so much.

 

[dannyevilcat]

A of A, dear God, bring back George Peppard!

 

[Matrix]

I also liked Hannibal more, AoA.

On the other hand, this one does show your attitude as mod.

 

[starlifter]

Thanks Starlifter. Looks better without the background.

That inspires me to ask a question: How did you remove the background?
I hope you didnt have to do it pixel by pixel...

You're welcome. You come up with good pictures (e.g., yours and Becka's). Yours took more time because I'm learning as I go. It goes without saying that with crude software (which I prefer because it's fast and the Avatars are only 65^2), background removal is a pixel by pixel task. I used the green screen trick though, and a fat brush to paint everything bright green, close the the outline. What made yours hard was the elbow, left side, and helmet area. I had to do some trial and error, make guesses, and use visual trickery (the eye does not always see what is really there, as you can notice if you zoom your avatar by 8x). I also messed up and applied rendering AFTER the green screen, which shades the green to an undetectable (by the eye) but digitally different value. That meant transparancy left lots and lots of green (nicht zer gut). So I had to re-color it again. New rule: apply all digital enhancements to final form BEFORE doing transparancy .


@ AoA: I sure did like your George Peppard (aka Hannibal!). Peppard also played another memorable character earlier in his career, the dude in the movie, The Blue Max (can't remember his name).

 

[starlifter]

by AoA:

Wish the size could be a bit more, my pics have a bit of haze being shrunk so much.

Use a better mathematical model for reducing size, like the Lanczos method. Even the Mitchell function or B-spline is better than straight Box, Triangle, or even Bi-Cubic methods for most pics.

I like to use Lanczos, and the do sharpening and despeckling as necessary. But even with that, almost every Avatar needs at least some work to make it look good. Flatlander Fox's, for instance, took a lot of individual Pixel work because of artifacts produced, and dithering in the lettering in the "genius" text.

Post a bigger pic of your Hannibal and I'll try shrinking it with a better function.

 

[joespaniel]

Sharpened.

 

[joespaniel]

Work in progress.

 

[Fez_Monk]

..

 

[Fez_Monk]

...

 

[Fez_Monk]

This one is rather small, but it is, er, unique.

 

[Becka]

Originally posted by Fez_Monk
This one is rather small, but it is, er, unique.

Who is that? John Brown?

 

[Fez_Monk]

Nope. Its Jeff Davis pimped out with gold chains. Mr. T's gold chains to be exact.

 

[Becka]

Originally posted by Fez_Monk
Nope. Its Jeff Davis pimped out with gold chains. Mr. T's gold chains to be exact.

Ah. I didn't see the gold chains. Guess I figured it was an afgan or a vest or something.