.the loft

A guide to expressions

2008-10-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

Without wasting time, lets begin.

I'm going to start of with this crap photo :

Now like Zara, I'll be using the liquifying tool which can be found here : Filter -> Liquify.

Step one :

Duplicate your image, just in case you want to redo your mistakes later on.

You don't have too but i will just for guidance.

Step two :

Now open up liquify and...

Step three

I dont bother change my brush density or pressure but use the ones set by photoshop. You can change it if you want to but I don't bother. Use the brush and drag bits of skin. You could either drag straightly from the skin or you could cut the eyebrow out first and liquify it separately. Depends on which is more comfortable for you. Avoid using TOO big or TOO small brushes as they drag them out of proportion. Here are some tips for expressions :

Main expressions:

Angry : Eye brows arch inwards (like frowning). Mouth frowning and eyes can get slimmer
Sad : Eye brows are arched upwards like a slanting line from the T zone to the end of the eye. Mouth sad and eyes could get bigger.
Sexy : Eye brows usually arched inwards but they don't go too sharp like anger. They are usually raised towards the end to give that 'Oh yeah?' kinda look. Mouth can be anything from a pout to a mysterious smile.

I suggest you study expressions or real faces. Here are some examples i did ( using the same base photo). They are to hard to explain with words so hopefully you could copy them or copy then modify for practice =D

Photo expressions in order ( i call them these xD) :

Umm :: Bring it on! :: Uh... umm...err :: Awww :: Muah Muah Muah :: Oh really baby!? :: sad :: sad :: Anger

My photos with edited expressions :

The rest of my photos are ingame expressions, then edited slightly. I love ingame expressions. Some great expressions in game :

Mostly, i try any of the hacks. I love using Jaydee's hacks and Aikea_guinea's hacks. Trust me the facial changer n Decorgal and Shaklin's is far useless. They give stoned-stiff expressions if you ask me.
Just keep on trying the hacks and they're great. My favourite angelic smile is the Aikea_guinea's hack -> hangout -> Lie back -> listen. I used that for Mira Rose's beach photo on my Flickr.

TIP 2 :

1. Tilted heads give better expressions
2. Eyes play an important role!! -so make sure you photoshop them according to your expression (eg. don't do a big wide eyes when you're smiling happily, the eyes should be squinting xD)
3. When doing expressions for tilted heads (such as my green angel photo), use the same method but of course, the eye brows should be dragged proportionally as in the eye brow on the outer part is longer than the hidden one.

I hope that helped you! My hands are freezing right now so ignore any spelling errors. Please post your tries and feel free to ask more questions. I'll be happy to answer anything I've left out. =D Cheerios!

Photo tutorials part 1

2008-10-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

Hair brush effects

Okay, so I'll call this the hairbrushing effect. It's really simple actually but takes a lot of time to practice.
Lets take this photo, courtesy from Chantelle. ( click for bigger)

Click on it for full view. Now as you all know, the idea of a great hairbrush is merely to overlapping them onto one another and remember to not always use the whole hairbrush. For example, if it's only the curls of the hairbrush that you want then go for it only and remove the other parts of hair. Remember if you overlap to much then there is a possibility of the hair looking too dark and artificial. If you're using another neutral colour besides black, eg. blond, orange or red. It's better to use the burn tool/dodge tool in photoshop to create highlights to make it look more realistic. One of my personal favourite sites for hairbrushes is www.deviantart.com . Also here's an excellent tutorial by SkoolDaze on creating hair .

Manipulating poses for sim photos

Okay before you go on with this tutorial i suggest you download a few hacks. A few of the ones i recommend :
Decorgirl's posing hack over at Mod the Sims 2
Aikea_Guinea's hack over at Insimenator
and Jaydee's EP boxes at her site.

Since my way of manipulating poses for photos are somewhat, the same, here's an awesome tutorial I found by Lyholy over at SCF : Click here.

Video tutorial part 1

2008-10-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

1. Hacks before we start

Alright to make a great movie, i suggest you download a few of these hacks. These are a few what i use.

Disclaimer : all these hacks are not mine and belong to the rightful owner.

Jaydee's season EP animation box.
Jaydee's Bon Voyage EP animation box
Jaydee's University EP animation box
Jaydee's Nightlife EP animation box
(not that useful, but it helps with flirty facial expressions.)
Jaydee's open for business EP animation box. (The kick out elevator more, that's brilliant)
Paul's reaction tester (Can be obtained by using the boolproptestingcheats.... Cheat or by Shaklin)
shaklin_model_animation_changer ( it's shaped like a flamingo and allows your sim to walk and have a different facial expression at the same time.)
Aikea's animation painting of chaos and doom (the hack of all> it has everything! I love it.)
Aikea's 'Animation Painting of Bedlam & Catastrophe' (not that great, but still good)
A collection of Decorgirl21572's hacks. ( i don't use them though, since they don't work in my game but feel free to try. She has tons of great hacks.)
GunMond's camera hack (the ultimate best camera hack to me!)

Well, these are the ones that i use. Of course, there are hundreds out there to try but these are the ones that i'm really fond of. Also, there's this dancing hack i used to love but can't seem to find it. I'll post it once I come across it. So start getting your movie rehearsals ready and shoot your sim2 video :)

2. Camera rolling and filming UPDATED

For sims 2 :

Before you film a scene in sims 2, make sure your video quality is high.
To do this, click F5, which is the setting tab, then go under your camera settings and click video quality high. If filming is too slow for you, then change it to 'medium' sized instead of large but keep the quality to high.

When filming, try to avoid from having an idle camera. Meaning, try moving with your sims like how you see in movies. Idle cameras are a big NO-NO. For example, when wanting to film an action or thriller scene, try to play around with the cameras ( eg. Zoom, shake, move around whil the sims run) to give an effect to the screen. An idle camera for action scenes will just make the viewer bored and far from excitement.

Use buttons such as the 'Z', 'Q' keys for more stable camera movement. I'll post up a table of keys later but for now, I'll give you an example.

The Q key on your keyboard is excellent when it comes to stable zooming. Instead of using your mouse, which usually will get a little shaky, try pressing the Q for a smooth zoom. It gives a great effec. Try it.

When filming, it is VERY IMPORTANT to click the 'tab' key. This is to give you a better view of the scene and video.

You don't always have to make your video perfect in game. For example, my videos usually start with LONG pauses because I pause my game, then click 'on' video, then tab and it take some time to do that. Thus, don't worry if your video has long pauses or isn't perfect. You could always edit them later in your movie editing program.

There is one awesome video filming effect where your camera will automatically follow your sims. The tab mode isn't allowed though. However, by right clicking on your sim's image icon, you will realise that the camera will follow the sims. This effect is great if you want to follow your sim who's running or walking, without going through trouble using your mouse.

3. Movie editing software for sims 2 and regular videos

As a beginner I suggest you start of with Windows Movie Maker. Hey! Don't feel like an outward newbie just because of that. Believe it or not? but all my HSM videos before the Ryella one were made with WMM. Lame, you might say? But WMM is actually great for timeline because it separates the scenes and thus, makes it easier to edit. Other big programs such as Sony Vegas 8, on the other hand, is REMARKABLE with effects but timeline, sorry. :( It doesn't separate clips for you and I find it easier to sort my LONG HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL clips in WMM first then transfer it to Sony Vegas. Though, if you are using short clips ( 30 mins --) then go straight ahead to Sony Vegas 8 or any other high, effective program you're using.

A few programs I reccomend :

Windows Movie Maker 2
Sony Vegas 8

TIP when arranging scenes : Remember to always cut the scenes and don't leave them too long of it will eventually become a bore. Split scenes numerously and join them creatively.