Learned a few new tricks. Critique Please.

[MEANTREE]

Well I was reading some tutorials online the other day for GIMP (open source image manipulation software) and found a cool effect that I liked. So I made the warrior first and then decided to bring that effect home. Tell me what you like and dislike please. Or what you would change and how you would change it. Anyway, here they are






Also a small one for a signature line:

[DropZedFred]

The splashing drops need some work, but the rain is freakin' awesome.

[DropZedFred]

...and the top dot in the ":" has rain in it - just saying...

[Dietrich]

The white dot parts are a little busy, but overall what a cool effect!

[DrGonzo]

It would be perfect for a sparkly vampire in a "Twilight" fan pic.

Still pretty cool though.

[WmHorus]

eeeeew hes got a soggy Colon :

[CitizenZ]

If only you could make the characters look more soaked, sun light deprived and holding a Starbucks cup it would be totally realistic.

[nimdabew]

Rain, cool. Dots, Twilight?

Needs moar cowbell.

[Dietrich]

Needs Moar Vuvuzela.

[MEANTREE]

OK I came up with another one today. I haven't put in any "sparkles" yet because I haven't had time to mess around with how to make them look less like fairy dust and more like rain splashes. So tell me what you think. It will take a while to load. There are 32 layers to make the effect smooth enough. I posted the smaller one but I gave the link to the larger one. Here it is:



And the link:

Larger Image

One other note. I am still trying to decide on a good quote for the pic. I was thinking something along the lines of "weathering the storm" or "fighting the storm". So if you come up with any gems please post them and let me know.

[Istvan56]

I let the larger one load up fully and watched it for a few minutes. Here are my thoughts:

1) The picture doesn't look stable. The ground makes a jump right after the lightning effect. Well, the limited lightning effect. (Can we have a bolt go across the sky when the zombies light up?)

2) The Zeds are standing on what type of ground? The ground is featureless looking fake when they are lit up. It would be nice to see some details when the ground is lit such as asphalt with a discarded bloody dressing, a broken doll (missing an eye) and some empty shell casings littered about.

3) Okay, so that is too much work for a small pic that will only appear in someone's signature. Speaking of that, are you looking for a banner line in the upper left that says something like ZS:005 "Weathering the worst" or "Weathering the Onslaught" or "Seattle without Coffee" ??? But if you do the last one put in a small Space Neetle behind the Zeds!

[DropZedFred]

Agree with all, especially:

Okay, so that is too much work for a small pic that will only appear in someone's signature...

But hey - it rocks!
Not sure I want to see the lightning bolt - Florida? Kansas? Yes! Seattle - I normally only see the background flashes, and rarely hear anything (except when it splits a 14" branch that misses the house by a few feet and scorches the tree!).

[Dietrich]

I don't want to sound nit-picky, because in light of how overall cool it looks, it's sounds petty; but since others have already broken the ice. ..
1) the reddish sky looks cool, but we don't get skies
like that often, and when we DO, it isn't raining. How about a more grayish color scheme?
2) that one zombie on the left looks more "Tolkein" than "Romero. " Just sayin.
3) Bring back the SPARKLES!!1!1! LOL! (Not really ).

[MEANTREE]

OK. Thanks everyone for the thoughts. I am not really sure that the lightning across the sky will look very good, especially with the limitations of my abilities. So I think that I will leave that one out. I really do like the ground litter idea though and the space needle idea. I will try to get them in there for the next iteration. I also agree about the zed on the left but they were the ones I had on hand and could work with the fastest, I will see if I can come up with some better subjects for the next round also. Two things though:

1. The color of the sky - is the red really all that bad? I know it looks nothing like the sky we usually have and I know when we do get a sunset coloring like that it is usually not raining, but I though it looked very cool. So give me more feedback on that.

2. The lightning effect - is it weak? Would you like to see something changed about it other than the actual bolts cutting the sky?

Thanks for the input. Keep it coming. All critiques are welcome.

[Istvan56]

About the red skies. They are fine. This is not "normal" PNW rain. This is the Zed Apocalypse. When the sun will fail and moon will turn to blood and all that bibical stuff (i.e. Joel 2:31, Isaiah 13:10, Revelations 6:12). It kinda looks that way there, huh?

Whether you see the lightning it does get seen here and pics of it appear on the TV weather reports now and then. But we don't need it for this. The Space Needle is too Seattle centered, btw. I only brought it as a joke about coffee deprived Seattle zombies. We include all of the Pacific NW except for Orygun so let's have a few evergreens in the background instead.

[DropZedFred]

1. The color of the sky - is the red really all that bad? - I'm all for the "Blood Red" skys.

2. The lightning effect - is it weak? Would you like to see something changed about it other than the actual bolts cutting the sky?
- I like the "distant flash", very PNW.

Ground littered with bloody gauze, 5.56mm casings and AR mags - pure WIN.

[THRILLER 1]

I think the red sky looks awesome.

Is there any way to maybe see a little bit of the lightning bolts ?

[Black November]

I think the red sky looks awesome.

Is there any way to maybe see a little bit of the lightning bolts ?

Congratulations Thriller, You submitted the 8,001st post in ZSC:005. You win +100 internet points

[DropZedFred]

Wow, aren't we the chatty bitches!

[THRILLER 1]

I think the red sky looks awesome.

Is there any way to maybe see a little bit of the lightning bolts ?

Congratulations Thriller, You submitted the 8,001st post in ZSC:005. You win +100 internet points

How would you even know that? I hope you didn't count them all...

Now, what to use my 100 internet points on

[DropZedFred]

Click on the "ZS Chapters" in the top right and it gives you a breakdown by chanpter:
ZSC:005 Forum for the Pacific Northwest chapter members. Moderators: Black November, DrGonzo, Seanwins
397 Topics 8004 Posts Last post: Fri Jun 25, 2010 3:28 pm by THRILLER 1

[THRILLER 1]

Well, learn something new every day.
Now, back on topic, can I use my 100 internet points to see a little lightning ??

[ZedMikey]

Well, learn something new every day.
Now, back on topic, can I use my 100 internet points to see a little lightning ??

Sorry, lightning costs 150 internet points.

[THRILLER 1]

Well, learn something new every day.
Now, back on topic, can I use my 100 internet points to see a little lightning ??

Sorry, lightning costs 150 internet points.

oh crap,,,, I have wait another 8000 posts?