YAYZERAMA flamboyance
Posted on: June 17, 2007
Inspired by the Japanese stylings of this Pet Shop Boys video. A lovely ch00n. I took some quasi-graffiti doodles in black, did a live trace to vector-ize them, then extruded the resulting forms. Adding watermelon colors, repositioning, and adjusting layering all worked to my benefit. I was going to leave it with a plain white background, but didn't want to be redundant because I've done that before. I opted to run several Filter Forge filts through the gauntlet, including but not limited to: BloomMonster, Polygon Painting, Vignetted Edges, and Speedliner Lv2. Filter Forge: don't use Photoshop without it! 
A 70% curved outer glow capped off the symbol/glyphs… it almost looks like a language unto its own.
The results were somewhat time-consuming, but turned out better than expected. Oh boy did they ever!
Related Posts
Be my friend!
Stay up-to-date
Enjoyed this article? Subscribe to me and be auto-updated when new stuff is out!
June 18th, 2007 at 10:19 AM PDT
It certainly does look like a language. It looks really cool! I haven't heard of Filter Forge. I have used Alien Skin filters (Eye Candy, Splat and Xenofex) with PhotoShop. I have to check Filter Forge.
What software did you use for extruding it?
I sort of feel like I would like to eat those two little stars at the top.
June 18th, 2007 at 12:49 PM PDT
But your new shoes are worn at the heels and your suntan does rapidly peel and
your wise men don't know how it feels to be …
June 18th, 2007 at 4:20 PM PDT
@starcomber: I had to google those lyrics, I wasn't familiar with them. Jethro Tull eh?
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:03 AM PDT
If you have a significant amount of experience with Photoshop, CS3's new 3d tools really allow you to put anything filter forge will do to shame. The issue I run into with it is, while it has a great deal of quick and dirty trick style tools, it lacks a finesse and precision that can be accomplished with the base photoshop algorithms.
Also, the same technique here can also be accomplished in Maya, using the bevel plus tool, and you can apply interesting color effects and even foreground reflectivity using mental ray rendering techniques and global simulation lighting.
June 25th, 2007 at 12:25 PM PDT
Heh Katarina, you gave me idea to attempt something similar using Blender. Have a look at it here: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/58403761/
June 25th, 2007 at 5:09 PM PDT
@Katarina: Explain more please? Filter Forge is primarily for 2D purposes and has a different (albeit versatile) set of usages than what you're describing, I think. I use some of CS3's stuff in a complementary way, AFAIK.
My bro knows how to model in Maya but I don't yet… useful skills to learn in the future…
@Daedalus: I also wanted to get into Blender but the interface put me off. I do however like your picture a lot!
June 26th, 2007 at 5:52 AM PDT
Thanks Torley
Mine's more like Watermelon fireworks. And I'm not good at organised randomness, so my letters and stars aren't as good as your scribbles.
It took me over a year to even take the time to learn Blender. I had been using OpenFX until then, which was easier to use. But by following Blender tutorials, I not only learned the software, I also got better understanding of 3D objects and their manipulation.
July 1st, 2007 at 3:33 PM PDT
@Daedalus: Ah, the process of learning and applying those skills! I salute you for your progress. In the much longer-term future (when I have time and resources), I'd like to take up Maya. My little bro knows how to use it capably well, and 3D is the logical extension of 2D… for now, I'll keep building in SL when I can.