CR-Free Pet Pictures for quest mode

[Chris H.]

We really need someone with artistic talent to create some cr free pet token pics. This would allow us to include then with the project.

If I get some free time between work I'll create some new artwork. Which token frames do the devs prefer (so I know what active area I have for the images)?

I'm not sure what the fonts are for the token title/name, type, power/toughness and artist's name (or any other bits that might have a different font). If someone could please let me know it would be appreciated.

I plan to sketch out rough ideas then post them here so basic concept and layout can be approved before wasting too much time on final artwork that no-one likes. One of the admins might want to move this to a new topic if this is straying from the initial topic now or to make it easier to track.

Now I'll just pray for some free time to work on this (without losing too much actual work and becoming destitute )

[Chris H.]

If I get some free time between work I'll create some new artwork. Which token frames do the devs prefer (so I know what active area I have for the images)?

I'm not sure what the fonts are for the token title/name, type, power/toughness and artist's name (or any other bits that might have a different font). If someone could please let me know it would be appreciated.

I plan to sketch out rough ideas then post them here so basic concept and layout can be approved before wasting too much time on final artwork that no-one likes. One of the admins might want to move this to a new topic if this is straying from the initial topic now or to make it easier to track.

Now I'll just pray for some free time to work on this (without losing too much actual work and becoming destitute )

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OK, I started a new topic and made it a sticky.

I remember Rob and Dennis stating that there was some sort of an application that runs under the Windows OS that can be used to make mtg cards. I am not familiar with the app as I run Mac OS Snow Leopard on my computer.

Rob and Dennis did a good job in quickly creating a few pet pics for us to use. I suspect that they may have used pre-existing CR-ed art to make their job easier and this is the reason that we do not distribute their pics with the forge beta releases.

There may/should be some web sites with non-CR-ed art that could be used instead. Someone with good artistic talents could create their own art for these pet pics.

Either way, this would create a set of pics that could be included in the archive. And it gives a chance to the non-coders to make a contribution to the project.

[friarsol]

http://magicseteditor.sourceforge.net/

[Chris H.]

http://magicseteditor.sourceforge.net/

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Thank you Sol.

Magic Set Editor looks like it will do the job. There appears to be both a Windows and a Linux version available.

[Rob Cashwalker]

The art I had used just came from google image search.

MSE includes the blank frames, which are technically IP from WotC. I had built some generic frames for them, but not enough community interest was generated to include them.

[moomarc]

Thanks.

I'll see what I can do...

[Chris H.]

I had a thought. We have a collection of pics that are used for the quest mode opponents. The images came from google and are CR-ed. This explains why we do not package them with the forge beta releases.

These opponent pics have to be downloaded separatly and then placed into the correct folder by the users. We could use a similar system for the pet pics. They would not come pre-installed but we could prvide a link to a separate archive.

CR-free would allow us to distribute pics pre-installed in the forge beta archive. We can go either way.

[Rob Cashwalker]

There's also no reason why Forge couldn't have an in-game utility to download auxiliary pictures.

[moomarc]

I'll keep working on new artwork in the meanwhile anyway. It makes for some neat portfolio pieces. But for now go ahead with a separate download, then when mine are done you can just include in future packages (and anyone that prefers the current ones can just overwrite them with the pics of their choice from earlier downloads).

[moomarc]

Okay, I got some time to work on this yesterday evening and so far I've finished with the lowliest plant wall token. For each step above this the foliage would be more dense with thicker vines (and simply more leaves and vines) and get little thorns by the time it can deal damage at tier four.

I want each tier to have slightly different images, but each obviously stemming from the base artwork. Its just perfect samples for iterative artwork. With the plant the idea was to have a barely-there vine webbing, which flavourwise, is enough to deter an attacker for a moment but easily brushed aside by even the smallest creatures. Yet by tier 4 it has more substance and thorns reflecting the greater difficulty to get past and the small damage it deals in return.

Any and all feedback is welcome.

Marc

[Sloth]

Okay, I got some time to work on this yesterday evening and so far I've finished with the lowliest plant wall token. For each step above this the foliage would be more dense with thicker vines (and simply more leaves and vines) and get little thorns by the time it can deal damage at tier four.

I want each tier to have slightly different images, but each obviously stemming from the base artwork. Its just perfect samples for iterative artwork. With the plant the idea was to have a barely-there vine webbing, which flavourwise, is enough to deter an attacker for a moment but easily brushed aside by even the smallest creatures. Yet by tier 4 it has more substance and thorns reflecting the greater difficulty to get past and the small damage it deals in return.

Any and all feedback is welcome.

Marc

I like it. And did you create the forge symbol? It's great idea!

[moomarc]

Glad you like it.

And yip, I created the set icon for the forge cards (for the pets for now, but if any more come along - special quest cards or something - it might come in handy again). I'm a designer and illustrator by trade so my eyes bled with the square icon that comes standard with Magic Set Editor. Blame it on the day-job.

Edit: Attached the forge set symbol for anyone that wants to use it on their own MSE cards.

[moomarc]

Are there any opinions as to whether I should change the rarity indicated by the set icons for different tiers of the pets, or just leave them all as commons?

[Chris H.]

Ah, this is nice. It is good to see someone with artistic talent stepping in to help with this ... a lot of us do not possess the talent or skills required.

BTW: Is it possible for MSE to create card images larger than 143 x 200 pixels? At that size the pet tokens will be smaller than the 200 x 285 pixel LQ card pics form WotC.

Ideally, the pet token pics would be created at a 480 x 680 pixel size and this would be compatible with the HQ pics that some people use.

The 480 x 680 HQ pet token pics could then be scaled down in size to the LQ 200 x 285 pixel size.

Rob uses an in between size for the set pics.

The Lanczos 3 algorithm is great for scaling down pics to a smaller size and you do not loose much detail in the process.

[moomarc]

Ah, this is nice. It is good to see someone with artistic talent stepping in to help with this ... a lot of us do not possess the talent or skills required.

Thanks. Glad to be of assistance. I've been wanting to help the project in some way but I have no talent or skills when it comes to programming. So I'm happy to finally do something (other than script basic cheat cards for myself )

Is it possible for MSE to create card images larger than 143 x 200 pixels?

Straight from MSE the cards are 375 x 523 pixels including the frame (which explains Rob's in-between sizes, I'd guess).

I'm creating the artwork at much higher resolution though, so I'll be able to scale up the card. The artwork will then be at optimum quality, unfortunately you'll have some blur on the text. It shouldn't be too noticeable though and I'll do what I can to minimise the damage.

The Lanczos 3 algorithm is great for scaling down pics to a smaller size and you do not loose much detail in the process.

With regards to the down-scaling, I'm not familiar with the Lanczos 3 algorithm. I normally just use my graphics editor and optimise the settings.

I'll post high and low res, and if you feel your method would be better, than just apply to the HQ cards and post the new LQ ones. (Then explain the Lanczos 3 algorithm to me so I can use it in future )