Issue 245: what's your sign?

[damnzombies]

This question is not just to Hawk but to those that have tried using Hawks method of using flats. I attempted to follow your steps as closely as I could, and found the results most pleasing however when i created a duplicate of the flats layer and tried to use the magic wand it had selected everything that was created in that layer as opposed to the individual pieces that I had created i.e. the arm from the hair. Is there something that I am missing out or could it be something that I have done incorrectly. My thanks in advance for those that can shed some light on this small hurdle.

You're supposed to go to the flats layer, make the selection for the area you want (like the whole sleeve?  bam), and then go back to the color layer and do all your fancy tricks.

I may have misread but I'm pretty sure that's what you're looking for.


If THAT is wrong... you did flat with different shades of gray right?

[Rose]

I just wanted to mention that I really like the backgrounds in this issue. They really bring out the environment. <3

[Nicap]

I just wanted to say THANK! this tutorial is awsome. I am looking forward to the PDF download.

Thank you again, the comic Rocks!

[animeboyz]

... woot



SMALL HEAD BIG BODY!

[silverbane]

This question is not just to Hawk but to those that have tried using Hawks method of using flats. I attempted to follow your steps as closely as I could, and found the results most pleasing however when i created a duplicate of the flats layer and tried to use the magic wand it had selected everything that was created in that layer as opposed to the individual pieces that I had created i.e. the arm from the hair. Is there something that I am missing out or could it be something that I have done incorrectly. My thanks in advance for those that can shed some light on this small hurdle.

It sounds like your problem is that the colors next to each other are too similar, set the sensitivity of your magic wand and for flats, if possible, try to not put close shades together so the tool does not get confused.
Its a great method i've used for a while, once you get the hang of it, it becomes hard to go back to other methods of coloring.

http://www.applegeeks.com/steps/issue245c.jpg
Note his shades are pretty different next to each other.

[Hawk]

This question is not just to Hawk but to those that have tried using Hawks method of using flats. I attempted to follow your steps as closely as I could, and found the results most pleasing however when i created a duplicate of the flats layer and tried to use the magic wand it had selected everything that was created in that layer as opposed to the individual pieces that I had created i.e. the arm from the hair. Is there something that I am missing out or could it be something that I have done incorrectly. My thanks in advance for those that can shed some light on this small hurdle.

It sounds like your problem is that the colors next to each other are too similar, set the sensitivity of your magic wand and for flats, if possible, try to not put close shades together so the tool does not get confused.
Its a great method i've used for a while, once you get the hang of it, it becomes hard to go back to other methods of coloring.

http://www.applegeeks.com/steps/issue245c.jpg
Note his shades are pretty different next to each other.

also make sure your magic wand tolerance is set to 0.

[cra5hovride]

My appreciation to those who did answer. Incase for those that run into the same issue the tolerence being set to 0 was my problem. Still getting used to Photoshop. I have to say it is indeed an insight into the different methods employed in this tutorial.

An interesting question for you Hawk would be in terms of how you decided upon your method of colouring of using the lasso tools and flood filling. I have seen some amazing pictures, and have been baffled in how to achieve that kind of quality. For example if you have seen the art work for a particular anime called "speed grapher" you can see the smoothness of the colours as if they melt together. Does anyone actualy know how to employ this style of colouring?

[JBruce]

Hawk,

I'm just wondering. You make particular note that the colors all appear on one layer is there a "special" reason you do not seperate highlights, darks, and base?

Also, I have not had a chance to do this myself (so I do apologize if the answer comes from application), in the "combined" speech bubble there are two curves leading between the elipsis and "woot". Is this something that has to be done by hand or do the bubbles meld together automatically?

Thanks.

J

EDIT: I would've asked earlier but I wanted to wait until the end.

[Hawk]

My appreciation to those who did answer. Incase for those that run into the same issue the tolerence being set to 0 was my problem. Still getting used to Photoshop. I have to say it is indeed an insight into the different methods employed in this tutorial.

An interesting question for you Hawk would be in terms of how you decided upon your method of colouring of using the lasso tools and flood filling. I have seen some amazing pictures, and have been baffled in how to achieve that kind of quality. For example if you have seen the art work for a particular anime called "speed grapher" you can see the smoothness of the colours as if they melt together. Does anyone actualy know how to employ this style of colouring?

i was reading an article about how colorist in the comicbook industry color, i got some hints here and there. Some of them color in the channels instead of the layers.

[Hawk]

Hawk,

I'm just wondering. You make particular note that the colors all appear on one layer is there a "special" reason you do not seperate highlights, darks, and base?

Back in the day, I use to have shit load of layers. everything is was divided into shadows, highlights. Now I feel comfortable having the colors in one layer. I'm not saying that's the right way to do it...it's all about preference.

Also, I have not had a chance to do this myself (so I do apologize if the answer comes from application), in the "combined" speech bubble there are two curves leading between the elipsis and "woot". Is this something that has to be done by hand or do the bubbles meld together automatically?

Thanks.

J

EDIT: I would've asked earlier but I wanted to wait until the end.

Like i said in my post, the layer effect takes care of it. so yeah it meld together.

[craigeth]

also by holding down the shift key when making the selection, it ads on to the previous selection, so when you hit option-delete to fill, the layer fx with merge them together.

hawk, when using the magic wand tool do you have it set to select all layers?

[Hawk]

hawk, when using the magic wand tool do you have it set to select all layers?

no.

[Kakaze]

What gamma level do you calibrate your monitors to?  I've read in various places that PCs and Macs display at slightly different gamma levels, which could better explain this problem.

Also, a friend on IRC had a question that he was too lazy to sign up for the forums to ask, so: (=p)

"Why not export from Flash in Illustrator format, and import into Photoshop? That saves the vectors as paths, and then you'd have shapes you could floodfill."

Mac gamma defaults at 1.8 and PC gamma defaults at 2.2.

[Silent Slaier]

I've read several other "How To" tutorials for various web comics, and many of them mention that they ink all of the seperate characters in seperate layers , so that when it comes time to add speech bubbles, they can move each person in order to make extra room.  (They also ink in photoshop, although after trying it in flash, I have to agree that it's easier)  Using your one layer method, have you ever run out of room while adding the text?

[darklordofdarkness]

Theres one important question that I see that no one else has asked:

Are the Hawks wearing pants.....