April Theme: Arch-Villains & Superheroes

[Zeta Vandyke]

Hope I got the resolution thing right, Poison Ivy for the magazine

 

 

Edited April 2, 2019 by Zeta Vandyke
adjustment

[Catrie]

5 hours ago, BelindaN said:

If so where do I find a big black background?

BackDrop City has a large black background area, if you want to do it there. 

[Catrie]

Lady Death

[Stephanie Calavera]

7 minutes ago, Catrie said:

BackDrop City has a large black background area, if you want to do it there. 

Love that place. It's where I took this. 

 

[Zennessa]

6 hours ago, BelindaN said:

If so where do I find a big black background? 

ummmm at home? lol

[Sagadin]

And of course Harley Quinn!

This one is proportional to 768x1024, so shrink as needed. And yes this one is for the mag!

 

[Chic Aeon]

Well I am confused too and not much in favor of "solid black background" LOL. So here is my "entry" for the magazine.  Had fun doing it anyway and that's what counts.   Correct ratio - four times the size stated so should be clear enough :D. 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2019 by Chic Aeon

[Rachel1206]

 

Laundry done…  my entry for the magazine - 1024x768

 

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Gwen Stacy (Earth-65). AKA Spider-Gwen

[Laika Ravikumar]

Not sure what mine is hero or villain

 

[Laika Ravikumar]

And oops for magazine 

[BelindaN]

3 hours ago, Laika Ravikumar said:

And oops for magazine 

Looks really good in world Laika, well done whatever side you're on...…..  

 

[BelindaN]

Oh and this image, which I posted when I did it, is probably my favourite of everything I've ever taken in SL...……...

I tweaked the colours in Flickr, but nothing more than that. I just love how it turned out. At Lutz by the railway line...……….

[Alyona Su]

Okay, so I have the understanding that we can do two pictures (I suppose a main and an alternate (or a text quip, etc.)) - if so then I proffer my "facing page" in this magazine with this one on black:

And if I'm wrong then just disregard and we'll call it "just for fun".

Now, this one really is just for fun. Is when Batwoman faces the villains without waiting for Batman backup ~cough, cough~ :

 

[Talligurl]

On 4/2/2019 at 2:22 PM, BelindaN said:

If so where do I find a big black background?

I usually go to a sandbox where i can rez, then rez a box, make it black, stretch it wide and tall, and use that. The fact that you are in a place you can rez, means yo can also rez poseballs.

[Amanda Dallin]

I'll go back to the one I posted in January.

The Crescent City Cat.

for the magazine

 

Edited April 4, 2019 by Amanda Dallin

[Marianne Little]

A few shots of a power couple. I have them large on flickr. They are for the magazine. I took 2 different ones, one with solid black and one with background. So you can compose them as you see fit.

A bit "Guardians of the Galaxy" theme here.

I logged in my male alt as he is - he already had a theme going.

All I had to buy was our weapons, a 1 L green skin for me, a headset and a breast top for a bit more modesty.

Our weapons were too medieval looking, and the headset here is so cool.

Oh, and the background that's free and here: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/CK-Elite-Studios-Tunnel-Backdrop-GIFT/14636372

Fits a superhero or a space theme.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2019 by Marianne Little
More info and link.

[Alyona Su]

3 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

one with solid black and one with background

Based on"likes" it seems the black background is the better (though I suppose it could be the pose I chose). I think I'll stick with black (or white) backgrounds from here on, mostly for the edit-flexibility for @Orwar and Magazine people. Because I do this kind of stuff in RL all the time and when I do Duck searches for pix, I always look for solid black or white backgrounds (easy to do knockouts if wanted). So, I mean it when I say I can feel their pain.

11 hours ago, Talligurl said:

I usually go to a sandbox where i can rez, then rez a box, make it black, stretch it wide and tall, and use that. The fact that you are in a place you can rez, means yo can also rez poseballs.

This is what I do, though I've been using this "Light Me" studio that I bought (and thought it was an attachable system like Lumia (too pricey for me)) and turns out it's not. It came with this backdrop thing and that's what I've been using. But definitely simple is as simple does, Giant black box hollowed and cut to make a backdrop, set to black, sun to midnight - all set. (Well, then you'll want the lighting - which I and others here are happy to give to anyone that asks)

[Marianne Little]

4 minutes ago, Alyona Su said:

Based on"likes" it seems the black background is the better (though I suppose it could be the pose I chose). I think I'll stick with black (or white) backgrounds from here on, mostly for the edit-flexibility for @Orwar and Magazine people. Because I do this kind of stuff in RL all the time and when I do Duck searches for pix, I always look for solid black or white backgrounds (easy to do knockouts if wanted). So, I mean it when I say I can feel their pain.

This is what I do, though I've been using this "Light Me" studio that I bought (and thought it was an attachable system like Lumia (too pricey for me)) and turns out it's not. It came with this backdrop thing and that's what I've been using. But definitely simple is as simple does, Giant black box hollowed and cut to make a backdrop, set to black, sun to midnight - all set. (Well, then you'll want the lighting - which I and others here are happy to give to anyone that asks)

Black backgrounds is tricky with black hair and dark clothing, but I feel it turned out ok here. Enough contrast. I am not sure if I can do it so well without materials in the outfits. We'll see.

I admit I haven't read the long thread 100%. I thought the magazine could use both as they saw fit.

 

Edited April 4, 2019 by Marianne Little

[Talligurl]

 

[Orwar]

54 minutes ago, Marianne Little said:

Black backgrounds is tricky with black hair and dark clothing, but I feel it turned out ok here. Enough contrast. I am not sure if I can do it so well without materials in the outfits. We'll see.

   Yes and no. It depends a lot on the hair - even black hair has lightness and contrast in it that makes it easy to pick out if you allot enough light to it. Unless you're using a completely black hair, with no contrast or grey in it - but then it wouldn't make very convincing hair to begin with; it'll look like... Well, old prim hairs with blank textures.

   In both my pictures, Neph wore more or less black, and in one of them she has black hair with red tips. Due to the variations of colour within the textures, along with the materials that help by reflecting the light in her outfits, picking them out was no problem - sure, her back which is turned away from the light source smelts into the backdrop, but I like that effect.

   In the end, it's more to do with how you approach it, and what your aesthetic preferences are to begin with.

1 hour ago, Alyona Su said:

This is what I do, though I've been using this "Light Me" studio that I bought (and thought it was an attachable system like Lumia (too pricey for me)) and turns out it's not.

   There's Backdrop City and Backdrop Cove, at least Backdrop City has all-black backdrops. Both locations allow you to rez (I think both want you to be in their free groups, though). But any sandbox will do (there's the platform at the Forum Cartel Hangout, for example!). My process for throwing up a quick backdrop is very simple:

• Rez a cube, stretch it on the X and Y axis to 4 meters (or larger, if needed).
• Drag the cube, make sure you have 'snap to grid' enabled, and put it any whichever position is favourable - make sure it's snapped on all 3 axis though (X, Y & Z).
• Shift-click & drag the cube to copy it, in either the X or Z axis. Drag it, along the grid snap marks, until it is aligned edge to edge against the first box.
• Drag the second cube up to whichever height you want - I usually make it 4 m tall, and squish it at the back to .5 meters in thickness, and move it up .5 m to align edge to edge with the first box (although there's no need to do so, really; I'm just finicky like that).
• Select both cubes in the edit mode, go to the texture tab, open the texture selector and press the 'blank' button - the plywood will turn to a plain white. Close the texture selector and go to the colour picker, select black.
• If you want it bigger, simply extrude the cubes in any direction. If you want a third wall, do the same as you did for the first wall.

   And yes, that may 'look' like a lot of to-do's - but the process takes me 10 seconds. It can also be used for Chromakey shots (simply select green in the colour picker - or whichever colour you want to edit out - and set the textures to full bright).

   As for lighting, I almost always shoot with the WL: Phototools- No Light (complete darkness), using local lights only. I have a projector light that I can rez or wear/attach (it's on my MP along with some more in-depth instructions - much cheaper than Lumia!), or I simply throw together a new one (making a new one is usually quicker than navigating my inventory - it's what, 4 button clicks? Ctrl + B, left-click where I want my cube, click to Features tab in the edit menu that pops up, tick 'light'. 4 clicks, for a point light - two more clicks to make it a projector!), then simply play around with the lighting details and move the light around as normal.

[Alyona Su]

6 minutes ago, Orwar said:

it's on my MP along with some more in-depth instructions - much cheaper than Lumia!)

Oooh, thank you! I'll go have a look-see! (Cheating at work on slow-day is often MP-shopping day... ugh, my poor wallet LOL) I hadn't realized that was the MP in your signature (Gothic-style font and teeny-tiny don't often mix well on a really crappy high dot-pitch office display, so there's my excuse)

[Orwar]

1 minute ago, Alyona Su said:

Oooh, thank you! I'll go have a look-see! (Cheating at work on slow-day is often MP-shopping day... ugh, my poor wallet LOL) I hadn't realized that was the MP in your signature (Gothic-style font and teeny-tiny don't often mix well on a really crappy high dot-pitch office display, so there's my excuse)

   To be fair, it's a glorified face-light prim. But, it does the job - and it doesn't contain any of those laggy scripts or cost an arm and a leg. It's nothing magical, the price is wholly for the instructions that come with it in a neat little note card.

[Alyona Su]

4 minutes ago, Orwar said:

   To be fair, it's a glorified face-light prim. But, it does the job - and it doesn't contain any of those laggy scripts or cost an arm and a leg. It's nothing magical, the price is wholly for the instructions that come with it in a neat little note card.

That's good to know, because I made my own and don't really need yours, but I got it for the instructions, you know. Because authored by (Expansive orchestral triumphant-sounding introduction music) *ORWAR*.  

I'm what they call a whale, I think... I often buy shi... er... stuffs, because it's sparkly. And unicorns. Always forced to by anything Unicorn.

AND... back on topic for others:  There are many comments on lighting here in the forums and out on the Internet, the main trick is at least two points of light - one that lights you "proper" and one that is called a "back-light" - THAT is the light that will help separate you from the background. If you look at many pictures (RL and SL) that are against a dark background, you will often see a "halo" or lighting along the edges of the subject - that's what the back-light will do.

Just experiment and play around. That's the wonderful thing about SL: you can do *anything* (Doesn't mean you should always do it, though ~whistles a random tune as eyes roll around the room innocently~)

[Laika Ravikumar]

Were we supposed to post credits in second shot?Mine were Outfit Brii Underground Fallen Angel, XO opera gloves, Euphoric Blair Make up, Pose ROQUAI

If we were not apologies i got it wrong lol nothing new there.