Nostromo remix start I think

[dimichan]

Well, computer finally stopped rebooting at will for a bit here... what I'm trying to do is preserve the detail in this, if anything, I'm adding more detail, but changing some of the component buttons and pulling some of the detail into higher relief - not sure if this is even "remix" since I've never done one of anything! I'm on what would be considered the "ground floor" with this right now, but this is the basic idea...

[Mr_007]

Very beautiful wood skin!:D :winamp:

[e-raser]

this could be very interesting, if your going to go for a wood texture with a metal architecture it would look like tribel ingravings or something ritualistic

[dimichan]

gotten a little farther, changed some more, started bringing out detail a bit, comparison shot this time... still trying to think of what I'm going to do for pl stack buttons

[e-raser]

there is something real nice developing in this skin

[dimichan]

Thanks - lol, I wanted a challenge :p

Any ideas for a name for this sucker?

EDIT: a friend of mine said he can see the grain like it stands out instead of being a texture, anyone else have this problem? ;_;

[e-raser]

[edit] posted in wrong thread

[J_Bloggs]

Originally posted by dimichan
EDIT: a friend of mine said he can see the grain like it stands out instead of being a texture, anyone else have this problem? ;_;
It doesn't really look grainy, but it doesn't really look textured ether.
Of course, (nothing personal), I don't like it or the colors, so that could be why it looks like that to me.


EDIT: I can see the texture now, it actually looks quite good, but I think the texture dosen't show as well as it could because of all the detail.

[StillWater]

To me, it has a very 'dirty' look to it at the moment. I guess this is partly due to to the inherent 'messiness' of the skin, the rusty colour (which I don't like either :(), but also to the graininess of the texture. The texture doesn't look like anything specific to me, which perhaps kind of bothers me. waaay to low-saturation and too purplish to be wood (I just can't see the wood at all), and too light and, again, purplish to be rusted iron (which it kinda resembles).

I like the drip stains you've put in places. Overall, I think you need to tame some of the various elements and give them all some more concrete purpose, as it looks a bit random and there is little 'dynamic' - by that, I mean there aren't strong parts and weak parts, it just looks like all the pixels are trying to show off and outdo eachother; extraordinary amount of energy, but not being very acutely directed anywhere in particular. This I guess is more a criticism of the original, but I just wonder whether, and where, you will direct that energy. I'll stop crapping on now. :)

[dimichan]

Still trying to draw out some elements and add detail, I know, seems like there's too MUCH detail, but the options were to add more to draw attention to pieces or simplify it, and the detail was something I wanted to preserve.

Adjusted the color/sat a little, trying more for an organic/earthy tone to most of it, think I need to deepen some areas though... or might add some rooty things growing in strategic places to draw attention to the functional buttons etc... lol, not quite sure yet, only had the base in mind when I started this one.

[e-raser]

i can give some good input for the contrast of your skin cuz i'm working on a printing out-put computer right now, and it has a very, very well callabrated monitor. the contrast of the skin could use a 10 to 15% incress,

[dimichan]

ok, adjusted 15%, also experimenting with adding stuff lol... contrast help any?

[StillWater]

I'm liking where this is going. The colour is warmer, though perhaps still a bit too sterile for some reason (kill the pinks maybe?). The roots/branches look great - Are you going to have heaps of them, so the skin is really quite overgrown? I think that would look cool. The ones on the cbuttons look the best. And yes, I think the contrast definitely helped (how does it look with a touch more?)

[e-raser]

now alllike it alot more....here is some color hue alterations i mde to show you what i think could help bring out the skin abit more.
hue +25%
sturation -50%
contrast +40%

[immortal]

wow, amazing dimichan..... thats about all i can say...

eresers lil update looks really good, do that or at least lighten it up a little more.

[dimichan]

ok, made the changes though not quite as extreme, more like 15-30-25, and changed the tendril/root coloration - better or worse? Think it looks more like weathered cement now kinda with stuff poking through the gaps?

db - yep, planning on making more tangles around the main control areas as soon as I get this ironed out here. :D

EDIT - oops, forgot to say thanks e-raser - where are my manners? Thanks!! :D

[StillWater]

attachment? ;-)

[dimichan]

Blah!!!! Oops!!! *takes idiot prize again*

[StillWater]

oh yeah. the new colour contrast between the tendrils and the rest is great. I'm liking it more and more.

[dimichan]

added some fallen/dead leaves, inspired or trashy? :p

[StillWater]

Inspired. I love the leaves

The ones that look better attached (eg. the oens near the balance and volume and stacks) look better than the ones that at the moment are still 'floating' there a bit (eg. lower corner of eq, auto button, right corner of mb)

[e-raser]

how about this concept for further direction in the skin. "abandoned technology is home for new life as nature retakes its roots"
yummmmmm, poetic :p

[Xerxes]

Originally posted by e-raser
"abandoned technology is home for new life as nature retakes its roots"


But as the leaves are obviously dead, it means that the posionous quality of the technology has won in the end- Nature has been repelled and creation of humanity wins.

My type of poetry. ;)

[StillWater]

but for all those roots and leaves to overtake the machine in the first place, they must have long ago grown over the decrepit machine. The leaves may be dead, but they died recently, while the technology has lied in ruins, slowly being consumed by the plants, for much longer

[dimichan]

Damn, still seems to be missing something, and I canNOT put my finger on it... grrrr... any suggestions are welcome... :p

Added some maple seed pods - you know, the helicopter thingies, and MIGHT try to have a rather ambitious animation on the eq bars with those rotating around and dropping... not really sure yet :p

[dimichan]

Seeds are sprouting - nature wins :p

Any other additions to suggest?

[e-raser]

insteed of matal part moving for the buttons have things blooming, even pushing the poetic side of the skin further

[dimichan]

Cool cool, compromised on labels, I know they're really hard to see, but when I raised the color to contrast more, they kinda drew more attention than I wanted, but since they're THERE, I can play with animations of plant-y things for the buttons :p Added some of those annoying (well, when they're decorating your car they are) oak pollen thingies, unless there's anything else I can come up with to add, I'll be working on animations over the next few days ^_^

Thanks for all the input, keep it coming!

[dimichan]

argh, forgot SS again... :mad:

[StillWater]

I think I'd like to see more colour variation in the tenrils: light-coloured young tendrils, dark brown, dry, brittle and dead tendrils - and even a couple of different species of plants' tandrils, each with their own unique appearance.

[dimichan]

hmm, more like this?

[Xerxes]

Ack. If there is one thing me and Piet Mondrian have in common, it is our loathing of the color green and all it represents. :p

(BTW Technology will eventually win- one of the plants is bound to awaken the robotic weedwacker that lies within... human genius is supreme!)

[StillWater]

Originally posted by Xerxes
human genius is supreme!) but its supremacy is nothing compared to that of human naivete.

dimichan: I think that looks pretty good. The main thing that strikes me now is the over-similarity of many of the tendrils, size-wise. For instance, where you have several yellow ones in the "The Hollow" area, you could have one that reaches right down (in between the gap between "The" and "Hollow" so that you could still read them).

[dimichan]

yep, gonna start working on this again today, needed a break from tendrils before getting into making new ones

Xerxes - green? Where green? Except for like a couple tendrils have a greenish cast? Or you just referring to the "growing thingies" representation? :p

[skinme!]

Green is quite possibly the bestest colour ever :D Seriously. And as for technology, nature beats technology in most respects, except those which involve self-annihilation, and even then there's always the chance the Sun'll just decide it's bored with the Solar System.

[Jellby]

Have you ever heard about "apoptosis"? :D

I don't have anything interesting to say about this skin... I'm mostly with ¤db¤ :up:

[zaeger]

man this skin is cool.:up: :up: :up:
i really like how its progressing.

[FooMonkey]

I don't have anything constructive to say, but it looks very nice.:)

[skinme!]

Disintegration of cells into membrane-bound particles that are then eliminated by phagocytosis or by shedding. :igor:

[dimichan]

Well, the major animations are done I think, though I'm not thrilled with the transition in the volume yet -_-. Now I'm trying to come up with something cool for stack ideas; the shuf/rep and mono/stereo aren't done either but they'er not as big an issue.

Progress so far attached as SS

[Krynis]

ooh ahhh

[dimichan]

Ok, I desperately need input on the completed animation pieces, so if anyone wants to shred them *cough* lol feel free :p

The ones I've done so far are the cbuttons, volume, balance, equalizer, and first two pl stacks (minus labelling, still wondering how I'm gonna swing THAT -_-;;;) and the main winshade is done, the buttons however (shade and close) don't have the pressed states as of yet, I usually do those last.

(video, avs, library, etc not done yet either -_-)

link might be a nice thought!
http://www.dbzoa.net/vgf/the_hollow_almostbeta.zip
thanks in advance! :D

(EDIT -fixed missing seed glitch in PL stack #2)

[Mr_Tough_Guy]

Looking pretty sweet, animations so far are great

Only found one bug, volumebar looks a bit messed up, I think it's supposed to be a leaf twirling around but it looks like the background is showing through, in some of the frames

[dimichan]

it's supposed to start behind it and "roll" over it close to the end, but I'm not sure that's the effect it manages, which was what I was afraid of -_-

[e-raser]

looking good, look forward to the finnished skin :up:

[Mr_007]

Very good skin!

[J_Bloggs]

I'd test the animations, but I can't see the buttons! very confusing...

[dimichan]

I crop out the buttons, never use 'em, just animations for the moving parts (vol, bal, etc) That I had buttons for the equalizer is unusual even, I usually eliminate those as well.