BR Set [WIP][EXPERIENCED AND NEW ARTISTS WANTED!]

[Ameecher]

It's not too much work, it's just that other liveries are harder. Also nobody has yet drawn any of the trains that FGW actually use (apart from the HST). FGW will definitely be in the BRSet.

[SkeedR]

Whoop! I can crash FGW trains too then! Whoop!

[jvassie]

If i can help at all guys, just give me a shout, pixel work, website work or coding work. Im all for it

[Ameecher]

Well any artwork is always greatly appreciated James,

Now then, just to shut Weirdy up for a bit. A class 158 in FGW livery (no 158s actually have this livery but I'm sure they will soon). Very quick drawing so there is no texture and lighting will probably be wrong but you get the idea.

[Ben_K]

James... Ive noticed you are registered on the set forum. Just dig in and see whats needed. The graohics we have are posted on there so you can see which ones need doing or not. If you can code, then Ameecher and I have a few that are near enough complete that can be coded.

Chuck a post on the forum with your abilities and we'll fill it with more jobs that you can manage
Thanks for offering though! We need as much enthusiastic help as possible at the moment!

[WWTBAM]

May I convert the Signals grf to DOS and post it here?

[jvassie]

Ive posted asking for access to the forums. In the meantime, here is a bit of my pixelwork for you lot to look at

Class 180 Adelante in FGW Livery.

[Ameecher]

I think we've got that on the development forums somewhere but didn't know it was yours. Looks really good but the | view looks a bit strange but I can't place my finger on what is strange about it... I think it is that it's too pointy and that the window is too narrow.

[Ameecher]

Just thought I'd try drawing a steamer, this is the first one I have ever drawn so I'd like some feedback on shape please.

An example of the loco is: LMS 4-6-2

Let me know what you think please, constructive critiscism would be most helpful.

[AndersI]

I think it looks like a good start, with some problems in the diagonal view.

/ view
This one seems a bit short, I can only count 12px along the side. As the _ view is 27px, I'd suggest making that 28px instead which should give you 14px for the /.
The chimney seems to be missing and I think the headlight would look better as a single px.

General
Black sprites are quite difficult to get any details into, maybe you should lighten it up one step?
On the picture, it does look like the chimney is higher than the dome, you have it the other way around.
The large wheels are not really visible/indicated in the sprite, maybe you should lift everything up one px and get some more wheel details?

I find making diagonals for steamers very difficult, so I applaud anyone that makes a stab at drawing them.

[michael blunck]

I find making diagonals for steamers very difficult, so I applaud anyone that makes a stab at drawing them.

Yes, that´s right. It took me a long time too to tackle steamers successfully. Nevertheless, when achieved eventually, a steamer isn´t harder to draw correctly than any "box-shaped" electric, it´s just a matter of expertise.

IMO, there are generally two ways to draw a steamer successfully,

- one is to learn to compose/decompose a steamer into its constituting parts (wheel base, boiler, cabin, ...)

- the other is the "holistic approach", i.e., after having studied hundreds of photos and drawings of steamers and after being able to recognize them "blindly" and to recognize the differences between them you´ll be able to draw them as a whole.

For the programmers between us, method 1 could be described as bottom-up and method 2 as top-down.

regards
Michael

[Ameecher]

Thank you for the comments, that was exactly what I was looking for. I'll try lengthing the sprite a bit more, I've decided that drawing steam locos is particularily hard because there is too much detail that it isn't possible to fit into the drawing, I think I'll redraw the / view completely since it just looks a bit like a heap of pixels at the moment.

Incidentally Anders, that is not a Headlight (to the best of my knowledge, no british steam loco carried a headlamp in regular service) but is instead the identification number of this loco, I will tone it down a bit to make less prominent though.

Michael, I went for the "working from the top down" method by getting a scale standard and cutting away all the bits that didn't look like the 2-6-4 but it wasn't quite as succesful as I initially thought.

Thank you both very much for your feed back. I'll post another version later.

[michael blunck]

Michael, I went for the "working from the top down" method by getting a scale standard and cutting away all the bits that didn't look like the 2-6-4 but it wasn't quite as succesful as I initially thought.

Yes, that "holistic approach" needs time.

I've decided that drawing steam locos is particularily hard because there is too much detail [...]

Yes, that´s why a wrote "learn to decompose" (bottom-up method). You´ll have to let go all the details and concentrate yourself on fundamental questions like

- "what is a boiler?" (just a round shaped thingy) which then develops into "how to draw best a round shaped thingy", or
- "how are the wheels arranged?", ...
- "what about the rods?", ...

In this way, try to compose the engine from its parts and add as much detail as you like in the end.


I prefer the other approach but I confess it needs much more study until first success rushes in.

Anyway, the only way to success is "practice, practice, practice".

regards
Michael

[Ameecher]

May I convert the Signals grf to DOS and post it here?

I haven't seen Ronstar about for a long while so I don't see why not, you could just convert them for your own personal use, you don't have to post it here but I think it would be better for the community as a whole so I'd say go for it.

EDIT: Well then, I've tried redrawing the 2-6-4 with the building blocks method and I must admit, it looks a damn site better and a lot more like a steam loco but obviously needs some more tweaking. Comments please as usual. (oh and excuse the mess, that was just how I drew it

[AndersI]

It's better, yes, but there are more colors in the palette
(And I'm still missing the chimney in the / view)

By using more nuances, you can hint at the form of the engine, make diagonal lines smoother, and also hint at line directions that are difficult to get with a few pixels only. 'Antialiasing' is a proven technique for smoothing diagonal lines, and it works for TT sprites too. See picture. Remember to zoom out to real size often, to see how the sprite really looks.

[AndrewA]

Ive posted asking for access to the forums. In the meantime, here is a bit of my pixelwork for you lot to look at

Class 180 Adelante in FGW Livery.

It would be much appreciated if you didn't claim my, albeit fairly poor, work as your own.
Thanks.

[Dave]

AndrewA - please take this discussion to the brforums (you registered recently and I've bugged csuke to get you full access), and we can talk about this there.

[lws1984]

New stuff!

Well, not yet. This is just a work in progress of a possible addition to a possible UK Stations set.
This station is modeled on your average Leslie Green-designed London Underground station building, although this station is mostly based on the world-famous Mornington Crescent station.

The blank tiles next to it will have a little plaza featuring things you typically find in London, namely phonebooths (that red thing next to the palette), stolen Tesco shopping carraiges, policemen, a small parking area, newspaper boxes, commuters, and even a police box.

The way I want to draw the stations is that it has walls that cover up the stone foundations you get with the buildonslopes feature, that will look like your typical Tube station wall, but with less human urine.

Yes, I know there's no roof.

Let me know what you think, suggestions are accepted, encouraged, and usually acted upon.

-Lewis

[wallyweb]

Not bad but shouldn't the phone box be closer to the platform?

[lws1984]

The Doctor fixed his chameleon circuit, that's actually the TARDIS coming in for a landing.