Day 36 - Sony Vegas - Masking

What I did:
Today, I learned how to mask in Sony Vegas. Masking is used to separate an image from the background so if you have someone standing in front of a house, you can mask them and have the same image of the person in front of a beach or something. In my case, I took a picture of a warlock in Destiny and cropped out the background to make it look like he was standing in front of beach/ocean area.

These are the steps:

1. First, I loaded in the picture to the composition.

2. Next, I went to "event pan/crop" and clicked the mask button on bottom left.

3. Then, I learned how to mask, by clicking around with the anchor tool. 

4. Finally, I added the background. I dragged it to layer that was under the warlock so it would appear.

What I learned:
Today, I learned some new things about Sony Vegas. I learned that you can mask in it like you can in Photoshop. In Photoshop, it's obvious that masking would be a thing because it has everything to do with pictures. However, Sony Vegas can also remove backdrops off photos by masking. I also learned that you need to connect the all the dots when you're masking to have the background be removed. This process took me a while because I kept messing up and I finally figured out what I was doing wrong and that was that I wasn't connecting the dots. I also learned that if the dots are too close together while anchoring, it will start another layer of dots so that also messed me up because I couldn't connect them to the first layer thus having me restart multiple times. Finally, I learned that you need to be using the anchoring tool to do this or it won't work. The anchoring tool is the tool that creates the dots so you can mask.

What I plan to learn tomorrow:
Tomorrow, I plan to continue with my English Project and my goal for tomorrow's class is to create the character known as Kenan. Kenan is one of the main protagonists like Arrow and Dragan and he is who I'm creating tomorrow. The thing I plan to learn is how to skew. If I'm just creating a character, there is nothing to learn because I've already done that so I plan to learn about skewing just like I learned about warping. If I can't learn to skew, then I plan to learn something else  tomorrow.

Day 35 - Sony Vegas - Freeze Framing

What I did:
Today, I learned about Freeze Framing. I created a freeze frame in one of my Destiny clips and I've seen people do freeze frames before but I didn't know how to do it or what it was called. Freeze framing is when you have a clip and freeze a specific frame from it for however long you want. This is used for comedic effect or emphasize a certain thing in the clip. I used one of my Destiny clips and freeze framed the part where my character starts dancing. Rather than just doing a freeze frame, I also added a colour fade where its all black and white then it changes back when the freeze frame happens.

The Video:

What I learned:

Today, I learned about Freeze Framing and it involves something that I've used before and that is the velocity feature. I learned that freezing framing involves just using one frame to use as a still picture for the duration of the clip. I also learned about the "Set to" feature on the velocity function where you can set the velocity to a certain speed and if you change it to 0, you get a frozen frame thus "Freeze Frame." So here are the steps that I learned to creating a freeze frame:

1. First, you need to split the clip at the point where you want to create the freeze frame.

2. Next, you need to right click on the clip you want frozen, so in my case it was the right side. Then go down to "Insert/Remove Envelope" and go to "velocity."

3. After the velocity, there will be a green dot on the left side of your desired clip. This is where I learned how to freeze frame. I went to the green dot, then right clicked and went to "set to" where the velocity gives you an option to change it from 100 to anything you want. I changed the velocity to 0 and then it gave me a still frame starting at the point where i split it. 

What I plan to learn tomorrow:

Tomorrow, I plan to learn how to mask in Sony Vegas. This is a technique where you have an image of something and you want to change the background so you can remove it and add your own background to the image. This is something I might do for my English project but since I've made the sprites transparent, there is probably no need for that. This will be helpful in the future for my Youtube videos for sure though so that's why I want to learn it. 

Day 34 - Sony Vegas - Colour Fading

What I did:
Today, I learned how to colour fade in photoshop. I made one of my clips black and white and split it. One side was black and white while the other was colourized. I learned how to use the keyframes to animate the colour fading so it wouldn't abruptly just change to colour but would rather ease into it like a fade thus: Colour Fading (WOW). Then, I rendered the clip so I could show it here. The reason I wanted learn how to do this was because of my montage that I am beginning to create and It will make my montage look better. I want the montage to have a lot of different elements in it such as the things I've learned so far so that's why I'm doing this.

The Video:

What I learned:

Today, I learned a lot of new things in Sony Vegas. I learned about colour fading and how you can change it to the music you are using such as making the colour go black and white during a sad part but changing it back when the chaotic part comes on. Now, I also learned a lot about animating the fade so it eases into the transition. It involves key frames and timing them just like you would text or pictures. 

1. First, I split the clip to the point where the colour restores itself

.

2. Then, I moved the black and white effect into the left part of the clip because that's where I wanted the black and white filter to be.

3. Next, I learned  that I could animate a filter so I went to the keyframe section and put a keyframe where I wanted the filter to start to go back to normal (At the 17 second point). Finally, I learned that  I could go to end of the clip and change black and white mode to 0 to make it smoothly go back to regular colour.

What I plan to learn tomorrow:

Tomorrow, I plan to learn how to freeze frame in Sony Vegas. Freeze framing is just when you get a clip and you freeze it in time so you can keep it as long as you like. This is used when someone wants to have a cool transition or just wants to freeze a frame in time for a duration. Freeze framing is also used in acting where actors freeze at that spot and it basically used to emphasize a scene. I just think this would be a cool thing to learn. I don't really plan to use it much other than in small projects but other than that, I just want take a break from sprites. 

Day 33 - Photoshop - English Project (5) - Dragan Character Creation

What I did:
Today, I created the character known as Dragan from "The Cellist of Sarajevo" in Photoshop. I used the same template as I did with the creation of arrow but I changed some things. I extended the body because Dragan works at a bakery so I wanted him to stand out as a baker. I also added buttons on the uniform so it looks like a baker's apron. I did not put on a hat because I do not believe he would be wearing on in times of war (duh). There also isn't too much of a physical description for Dragan so I had to go off of what I imagined it to be.

1. First, I changed the length of the body so it looked like a baker's apron.

2. Next, I coloured the arms and pants and shoes.. I also added buttons to the sprite.

 3. Next, I added the hair and buttons. I also coloured the buttons and shoes.

4. Finally, I added the eyes and coloured the skin the same peach colour as yesterday.

What I learned:
Today, I learned some minor things but I still learned them. First, I learned about how to save using the keys. All you have to do is press "CTRL" and "S" to go to the save options. Then you can easily go and save it. This saves you time from having to go to the drop down menu to save manually save it. I also learned about adding transparent pictures to photoshop. I already know how to add transparent pictures to Photoshop but I learned the difference between importing photos in and pasting them in. If you import, it will upload the picture to a new tab where you can copy and paste but if straight just paste it into your composition, it may sometimes have a black background which it wouldn't have if imported it first. Normally, I import first but I learned today that's the better way anyway.

What I plan to learn tomorrow:
Tomorrow, I plan to take a break from all this English Project business. I am definitely not done by any means but I just need a break from the sprites. I will be learning something new tomorrow and that is... colour fading in Sony Vegas. I've done a lot of colour things in Photoshop and that is the purpose for my montage. Colour fading is when you go from black and white to regular colour and that's what I plan to learn tomorrow.

Time: 30 Minutes

Day 32 - Photoshop - English Project (4) - Arrow Character Creation

What I did:
Today, I created the character known as Arrow in "The Cellist of Sarajevo." This is one of the main characters of the book and I created her first because she is the one that is easily created because she has a lot of characteristics listed in the book, unlike the other two characters. I used the template that I created a few days ago and made the character. I tried to visualize and go back to the book to remember how the characters looked and I created Arrow to the best of my ability. I'm not sure If I will add a mouth to the sprite because a lot of sprites just have eyes for facial features.

1st. I imagined what Arrow would look like and gave her an appropriate colour scheme for clothes.

2. Then, I added hair on to her. In the book, she has dark hair so I needed to give her something dark and it took a while to find but I did it.

3. Finally, I gave her a peach skin colour and added eyes. 

What I learned:

Today, I learned about rasterizing and the colour palette. I couldn't edit the layers that I had created before because they weren't rasterized which basically means, to convert a picture into pixels that can be displayed (thanks google). I also learned about the colour palette in that every colour has its own code. I couldn't find the colour peach in the palette so I searched up the code and copied it into Photoshop. That allowed me to get the colour I was looking for:

What I plan to learn tomorrow:

Tomorrow, I plan to create one of the other two characters. I plan to learn more about the transform tools as well so I can give the characters their own look. I will be continuing making characters for the next several days but I also plan to learn something new every day so I can keep my posts' quality rather than being full on quantity.

Time: 30 Minutes

Day 31 - Photoshop - English Project (3) - Refining

What I did:
Today, in infotech, I taught myself how to refine the templates that I created in the previous posts. This involved warping some of the objects that I created. I warped the body and the left arm of the side view of the templates and the body for the front view of the templates. I did this so when I create the actual characters, their faces aren't covered and it looks better than just having rectangles all over the place. It also separates itself from the typical rectangle sprites in a very subtle way.

1. First, I checked out the warp option in the edit section. You go to the "edit" panel and then to the "transform path" panel and go down to "warp."

2. Next, I used the warp tool on the body and the arms.

3. Finally, I moved onto the other sprite I created. This one was the sprite I used to just slightly fix the body of. It's very subtle so you can't really tell but it definitely was worth it.

What I learned:

Today, I learned about refining by using the warp tool in Photoshop. The warp tool is used for slightly editing objects that you have in photoshop. In this case, I used it on the templates I created last class. I learned how to use this tool by just messing around with it. When you activate the tool, you get the option to warp it to your leisure. An arrow appears and you can drag it to wherever you want to warp it. You can concave it or outstretch it. You can even make a rectangle tool become a cape!

So, I learned about the warp tool and this is how it looks when you activate it. It's a really nice tool that I recommend just testing out if you want to mess around

 What I plan to learn tomorrow:

Tomorrow, I plan to start creating the sprites. Although it seems like a simple task, It's not going to be. I have to go back and reread parts of the book to see what the characters look like and I also have to create the eyes and all that. I also need to learn how to make the hair so I will also be doing that in the coming days. But my goal for tomorrow is to start with the sprites. 

Time: 20 minutes

Day 30 - Photoshop - English Project (2) - Sprites Side Templates

What I did:
Today, I made sprites but this time, I created the sides of the sprites rather than creating the fronts again. I mainly did this because the book has scenes of people walking or shooting so the side view will make more sense to use. So, today, I created the same thing as yesterday but just from the sides. This is a template so I decided to make it look like an average person. The steps are right here:

1. First, I created the body and the legs. I made sure the right leg was a little behind the left leg to give it a side view look.

2. Then I made the shoes.

3. Then, I created the arms. The arms in the back were harder to make because only a part of them would have to appear so I had to manipulate the layers so the body would be in front of the arms.

4. Finally, I created the head which also had to be a little behind the body and since it didn't look good when I did it, I enhanced the canvas size to a bigger one so it would like good.

What I learned:

Today, I learned how to create sprites sideways. First, you need to make it look like the sprite is sideways like putting a leg slightly behind the other as shown in the pictures up top. Also, I learned how to make it look realistic but putting the arm behind the body. You have to move the body layer over the arm and hand layer. I also learned how to make the canvas bigger. You have to go to the image drop menu and go down to canvas size and you can make it bigger. I changed my canvas size to 20 width and 17 height. 

What I plan to learn tomorrow:

Tomorrow, I plan to refine these templates that I've created. I know there are a lot of tools that I can use to make these templates better such as the warp tool so that's what I plan to do tomorrow. These templates will eventually be used to create specific characters in the book and that's why I'm making the templates. I want to use templates for the characters and then edit them accordingly to which character is being made at that time. 

Time: 35 Minutes