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pipes!
Jul 10, 2001
Nap Ghost
I think the thread title is pretty self-explanatory. Basically, ask any quick little questions you have here, be it about writing, painting, drawing, clam-digging, or any of the other creative pursuits. I'll start:

I recently received some chalkboard paint as a Christmas gift, and I'm looking to paint one of the walls of my apartment with it. Has anyone had any experience working with the stuff? I'm wondering if there's anything I should do differently than painting a wall with normal paint, and if there's any special considerations for removing it. I'm basically looking for some firsthand experience, as all the google searching seems to tell me the same general thing ("Use painting tape to make straight lines :downs:").

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Imgonna
May 16, 2004

What use is Thursday?
In for a penny...

We are planning to run a photo competition at the school where I teach (physics). The idea -- theme of "Life" or some other broad based idea. The competition to be open to students 10-16 ish.

Q: I get the idea of model release and copyright, but what about them submitting a photo that shows some random person or brand in the shot -- say a COKE bottle. Where would we stand in getting the winning picture enlarged and sold?

Cheers

Yip Yips
Sep 25, 2007
yip-yip-yip-yip-yip
I have a question about Flash (CS3, if it matters)

I've exported a flash movie as a .swf with sound. I'm trying to embed that .swf into another flash movie by simply importing the .swf into it, but when I do there is no longer sound for the original .swf. Meanwhile, the sound in the rest of the flash movie works fine.

Thoughts?

brad industry
May 22, 2004

pipes! posted:

chalkboard paint

I painted a couple of walls at my old place with that stuff, it works pretty well. I put a couple of coats of magnetic paint down first, then chalkboard stuff on top of it so that I could stick magnets to it.

I would get one of those ledges to put underneath it, otherwise you are going to have chalk dust all over your place.

quote:

Q: I get the idea of model release and copyright, but what about them submitting a photo that shows some random person or brand in the shot -- say a COKE bottle. Where would we stand in getting the winning picture enlarged and sold?

For what you're doing you don't need to worry about releases/trademarks or any of that stuff.

adnam
Aug 28, 2006

Christmas Whale fully subsidized by ThatsMyBoye
Illustrator question:
I"m trying to use the Blend tool to morph from one line to another, but everytime I try to do so, my Blend tool turns to a typical blend tool but with an x over it. Any help?

Neven
Nov 6, 2005
Atomic Powered
Does anyone know how to draw a cube in 2 point perspective? I know this question sounds easy but it's been a long time since I was in art class. I'm having trouble getting the width and depth correct to the height of the cube.

Neven fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Dec 30, 2008

Imgonna
May 16, 2004

What use is Thursday?

brad industry posted:

For what you're doing you don't need to worry about releases/trademarks or any of that stuff.

OK -- do we need to be tactful with images that might show a brand in a negative way. Say we did "decay" and showed an item of litter that had a recognisable brand on it?

Slashie
Mar 24, 2007

by Fistgrrl

Imgonna posted:

OK -- do we need to be tactful with images that might show a brand in a negative way. Say we did "decay" and showed an item of litter that had a recognisable brand on it?

If Coke or somebody tries to sue a bunch of schoolchildren over something like that it would be a PR nightmare. Nobody but Disney is that oblivious. A kid at my school once did a science project calculating volume of trash by brand, so if she can get away with saying there are X billion cans of Coke in the landfills and they're going to kill us all, you'll probably be fine.

A Nice Big Dinner
Feb 17, 2006

I've been drawing for a while now, and I've been pretty eager to try my hand at painting, but the problem is, I have zero experience. Could anyone recommend me a book that's like Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, except for painting? Something for the absolute beginner?

Dvega
Aug 2, 2006

The most magical song of all.
Are there any good figure pose websites out there? I've been using posemaniacs.com, but as handy as it is, I'm wondering if there aren't any good sites with actual human models?

Humboldt Squid
Jan 21, 2006

Dvega posted:

Are there any good figure pose websites out there? I've been using posemaniacs.com, but as handy as it is, I'm wondering if there aren't any good sites with actual human models?

I use this site a lot

Roleplaying Larry
Dec 5, 2008
If I were to post my writing here in the Creative Convention or on deviantArt or something, will that cause any difficulty if I were to go and actually try to publish it?

I do crave the feedback, but I'd like to know if there are any issues I need to be aware of.

Slashie
Mar 24, 2007

by Fistgrrl

Mystic_Squid posted:

If I were to post my writing here in the Creative Convention or on deviantArt or something, will that cause any difficulty if I were to go and actually try to publish it?

I do crave the feedback, but I'd like to know if there are any issues I need to be aware of.

There's a thread asking that very question right on the front page here. The short answer is no. Post away. :)

Giga Gaia
May 2, 2006

360 kickflip to... Meteo?!
Does anyone know of decent free texture resources? I'm aware of CG Textures and intend to grab my allotted 15 a day. I can't afford an account right now or I'd pay for one, so any other free resources would be great. Thanks.

Edit: oh, and any tips for scanning to get textures. It might just be the scanners I work with, but most of the times the scans come out really terribly. Maybe I have the settings wrong or something for getting the detail I need.

Giga Gaia fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Jan 6, 2009

Defenestration
Aug 10, 2006

"It wasn't my fault that my first unconscious thought turned out to be-"
"Jesus, kid, what?"
"That something smelled delicious!"


Grimey Drawer
I have a 4-page grid thing I made in indesign (cs4) to serve as my course calendar. How do I:
1. Shrink it so that it prints two formerly 8.5x11 sheets landscape on a single slice of paper?
2. Merge the resulting pdf it so that it is part of the word document which contains the rest of my boring syllabus boilerplate? (office 07)

many thanks, pixelistas!

Power Walrus
Dec 24, 2003

Fun Shoe
I'm trying to scan a bundle of drawings and paintings that are slightly larger than 8.5x11.

For the life of me I can't find a place that offers that service aside from high end super professional and super $$$ places. And why the hell do flatbed scanners jump from $200 to $2,000 when the read area gets larger than 8.5x11?

I'm in LA if any locals have tips on where to go.

Soapy Joe
Apr 4, 2008

I'm working on a production of David Hare's "The Blue Room", an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's "La Ronde". The play contains a song of the same title and we're having trouble finding music for it. I know that when the show opened on Broadway the music was composed by Paddy Cunneen, but I can't find a copy of the song or the music anywhere. Anyone know where I can find it and find it?

Slashie
Mar 24, 2007

by Fistgrrl

Soapy Joe posted:

I'm working on a production of David Hare's "The Blue Room", an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's "La Ronde". The play contains a song of the same title and we're having trouble finding music for it. I know that when the show opened on Broadway the music was composed by Paddy Cunneen, but I can't find a copy of the song or the music anywhere. Anyone know where I can find it and find it?

I don't think it's available to the public, sorry. If you have deep pockets you could try contacting Cunneen's agent and negotiating the rights.

gmc9987
Jul 25, 2007

Seven Hats posted:

I'm trying to scan a bundle of drawings and paintings that are slightly larger than 8.5x11.

For the life of me I can't find a place that offers that service aside from high end super professional and super $$$ places. And why the hell do flatbed scanners jump from $200 to $2,000 when the read area gets larger than 8.5x11?

I'm in LA if any locals have tips on where to go.

I can get an 11" by 14" drawing scanned at Kinko's for about $1.50. I live in New Mexico, I imagine it would be a little bit more expensive in LA, but is that what you consider too much? How many drawings are you needing to scan?

oh dope
Nov 2, 2006

No guilt, it feeds in plain sight
Hopefully this is the right place for this question. Is poetry worth publishing, and if it is, how does one know if one's poetry is worth publishing?

Slashie
Mar 24, 2007

by Fistgrrl

Bakke posted:

Hopefully this is the right place for this question. Is poetry worth publishing, and if it is, how does one know if one's poetry is worth publishing?

If an editor asks to publish it for you, I guess. Poetry is in no way a profitable endeavor, but I assume that's not your goal. Research poetry magazines and start sending in submissions.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

Ever get right in the middle of writing something only to pause, read back three pages, and stare at the He said-she saids?

Example:

' "Mark, we'll never make it!" She cried as the car revved. "We have to try." He replied. "This is all about her, isn't it?!" Her voice raised enough to carry to the police behind them. "Shut up, woman. This is all about you," He snarled as he slammed the car into gear-'

That sort of thing. Where characters are just talking for whatever reason and you stop and go "Holy poo poo, this sucks." and drop all creative interest in it?

Any suggestions for beating such a thing (other than the obvious one of not looking back)?

Slashie
Mar 24, 2007

by Fistgrrl

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

Ever get right in the middle of writing something only to pause, read back three pages, and stare at the He said-she saids?

Example:

' "Mark, we'll never make it!" She cried as the car revved. "We have to try." He replied. "This is all about her, isn't it?!" Her voice raised enough to carry to the police behind them. "Shut up, woman. This is all about you," He snarled as he slammed the car into gear-'

That sort of thing. Where characters are just talking for whatever reason and you stop and go "Holy poo poo, this sucks." and drop all creative interest in it?

Any suggestions for beating such a thing (other than the obvious one of not looking back)?

Well, you're never going to completely get rid of that writerly neuroticism, but one thing that jumps out at me is that you aren't actually using the word "said" all that much. The plainer the word, the more it recedes into the background. Also, you pretty much never need to say "he replied." Trust your reader a little. If you've given them an "establishing shot" paragraph at the start of the scene, they know who's there. You don't have to constantly remind them. And if somebody's saying "Mark!" we can assume that's not Mark talking. And I would get rid of that bit about the voice carrying far enough for the police to hear. If you've set up that the police are within earshot, you can let that be background tension without reminding us like that. Bring "the police can hear her" in when the police actually do something. Right now the cops aren't "in frame."

I hope you don't think it's presumptuous of me to rewrite it, but I wanted to throw in some different examples of handling the "saids." One trick I love is to throw it into the middle of the sentence like I did in the fifth line here. Also if you go straight from "character's line" to "character did x" the who-said-what is implied without you having to actually connect the dots.
code:
Establishing sentence here (include names, location, mood, action, etc.).
"Mark, we'll never make it!"
"We have to try," he said, revving the engine.
"This is all about her, isn't it?" she said.
"Shut up, woman," Mark snarled. "This is all about you."
He slammed the car into gear and...
Eh, it's not great, but you get the idea. Mix it up and don't resort to adverbs.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

Slashie posted:

Well, you're never going to completely get rid of that writerly neuroticism, but one thing that jumps out at me is that you aren't actually using the word "said" all that much. The plainer the word, the more it recedes into the background. Also, you pretty much never need to say "he replied." Trust your reader a little. If you've given them an "establishing shot" paragraph at the start of the scene, they know who's there. You don't have to constantly remind them. And if somebody's saying "Mark!" we can assume that's not Mark talking. And I would get rid of that bit about the voice carrying far enough for the police to hear. If you've set up that the police are within earshot, you can let that be background tension without reminding us like that. Bring "the police can hear her" in when the police actually do something. Right now the cops aren't "in frame."

I hope you don't think it's presumptuous of me to rewrite it, but I wanted to throw in some different examples of handling the "saids." One trick I love is to throw it into the middle of the sentence like I did in the fifth line here. Also if you go straight from "character's line" to "character did x" the who-said-what is implied without you having to actually connect the dots.
code:
Establishing sentence here (include names, location, mood, action, etc.).
"Mark, we'll never make it!"
"We have to try," he said, revving the engine.
"This is all about her, isn't it?" she said.
"Shut up, woman," Mark snarled. "This is all about you."
He slammed the car into gear and...
Eh, it's not great, but you get the idea. Mix it up and don't resort to adverbs.


No, you totally rock for giving said example the revamp like that just in case I was having a braindead moment and couldn't entirely wrap my mind around it. Thanks so much. That actually does help quite a bit.

Slashie
Mar 24, 2007

by Fistgrrl

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

No, you totally rock for giving said example the revamp like that just in case I was having a braindead moment and couldn't entirely wrap my mind around it. Thanks so much. That actually does help quite a bit.

I'm glad! Is that from something you're actually writing?

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

No, that was just sort of 'gently caress, I need an example-okay, random poo poo'.

mcsuede
Dec 30, 2003

Anyone who has a continuous smile on his face conceals a toughness that is almost frightening.
-Greta Garbo
Okay this is really pissing me off: Photoshop (CS4) enter is committing text, not adding a return, so that text typed after enter just appears over the existing line instead of on a new line. I'm on a laptop, using the normal enter button above the right shift. How do I change this!? Currently I'm having to create new text boxes for every line and it's extremely frustrating.

Edit: Even multi-line copy+paste ends up all jumbled over each other on one line! Help!
Edit: Windows XP

mcsuede fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Jan 14, 2009

Aargh
Sep 8, 2004

Neven posted:

Does anyone know how to draw a cube in 2 point perspective? I know this question sounds easy but it's been a long time since I was in art class. I'm having trouble getting the width and depth correct to the height of the cube.

What I typically do is to start with the vertical line which is towards the front, then drawing towards the vanishing points to establish the sides. I guestimate the position of the other vertical sides (they remain parallel to the front one in 2-point) then add the other sides of the cube, drawing them towards the vanishing points.

Only registered members can see post attachments!

pipes!
Jul 10, 2001
Nap Ghost

Defenestration posted:

I have a 4-page grid thing I made in indesign (cs4) to serve as my course calendar. How do I:
1. Shrink it so that it prints two formerly 8.5x11 sheets landscape on a single slice of paper?
2. Merge the resulting pdf it so that it is part of the word document which contains the rest of my boring syllabus boilerplate? (office 07)

many thanks, pixelistas!

One quick and dirty method:
1. Make a new single page document that's a little larger than 22 inches wide, so it can accommodate one calendar stacked next to another.
2. Stack the calendar's pages so it's in a 2x2 grid and then group it.
Shrink it down to 11x8.5 using your proportional scaling method of choice.
3. Make a new 11x8.5 document and copy it over. Export it as a PDF.
4. I haven't used Office in a while, but it should have some sort of import PDF option, probably under the edit menu somewhere. Failing that, you can make Office your bitch by taking your PDF, rasterizing it in Photoshop, and pasting it in as a bitmap.

Yip Yips
Sep 25, 2007
yip-yip-yip-yip-yip

Giga Gaia posted:

Does anyone know of decent free texture resources? I'm aware of CG Textures and intend to grab my allotted 15 a day. I can't afford an account right now or I'd pay for one, so any other free resources would be great. Thanks.

Edit: oh, and any tips for scanning to get textures. It might just be the scanners I work with, but most of the times the scans come out really terribly. Maybe I have the settings wrong or something for getting the detail I need.

http://www.bluevertigo.com.ar/ is a very extensive resource site. It has a subsection for textures in the stock photography section. Hopefully you can find some useful (free) ones.

mcsuede posted:

Okay this is really pissing me off: Photoshop (CS4) enter is committing text, not adding a return, so that text typed after enter just appears over the existing line instead of on a new line. I'm on a laptop, using the normal enter button above the right shift. How do I change this!? Currently I'm having to create new text boxes for every line and it's extremely frustrating.

Have you checked your leading?

Kivex
Feb 12, 2007

Hey, I've got an idea... and it doesn't involve high explosives!
WEB DESIGNERS

I'm building my folio and a lot of what I want to do revolves around transparent images. Sure, it'll f*ck out in IE6, but should I be giving a crap? Will people who are potential employers look down upon this at all?

I'm probably being paranoid, because what web firm would use IE6, but still..

Etherwind
Apr 22, 2008
Probation
Can't post for 107 days!
Soiled Meat
Photoshop

Is there any easy way to turn this image into a simple line drawing?



I'm not particularly great with Photoshop, so excuse the dumb question.

griffiti
Oct 6, 2008

a being of pure posts

Etherwind posted:

Photoshop

Is there any easy way to turn this image into a simple line drawing?


I'm not particularly great with Photoshop, so excuse the dumb question.

Etherwind i saw your post in the work thread and I want to help you out, you just didnt have up a thread and I dont have plat, so do you have an email?

Sorry for intruding on this thread

Etherwind
Apr 22, 2008
Probation
Can't post for 107 days!
Soiled Meat
Feel free to hit me up.

Edit: Removed.

Etherwind fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Jul 28, 2011

lostatsea
Oct 23, 2005

Set Yourself On Fire

Kivex posted:

WEB DESIGNERS

I'm building my folio and a lot of what I want to do revolves around transparent images...

I say go for it. If you can create some sort of fallback, that would be a bonus.

You obviously get that it's an issue and if it were brought up during an interview (somewhat likely for a developer position), you'd be able to explain the ins and outs of pngs on the web.

Yeehaw McKickass
Dec 15, 2004
Before I try to learn how to implement jQuery and go through an exercise in pain, I want to know if I can use a slider effect on my current site (roblombardi.net -- I have a critique thread open) like the one found here at https://www.carrotcreative.com.

It uses jQuery.SerialScroll (http://demos.flesler.com/jquery/serialScroll/), and I thought I could put the boxes (not the navbar and banner) in a container and it wouldn't break anything. It seemed easy, but I can't get it to work.

Do conflicts with the other stuff I have, like Lightview, make it so I'm unable to do it? I'd hate to really try to make it work only to discover it's a witch hunt.

edit: Found out my own question, and the answer is that you can get them to play nice. Noice!

Yeehaw McKickass fucked around with this message at 05:15 on Jan 21, 2009

sephiRoth IRA
Jun 13, 2007

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality."

-Carl Sagan
What's a really helpful scriptwriting guide? Is there a definitive one?

Also, if I want to write a screenplay based on an older book, where do I go to ask permission? Do I need permission?

Slashie
Mar 24, 2007

by Fistgrrl

areyoucontagious posted:

What's a really helpful scriptwriting guide? Is there a definitive one?

Also, if I want to write a screenplay based on an older book, where do I go to ask permission? Do I need permission?

Yes, you need permission. You have to buy adaptation rights from the book's publisher, unless it's a public domain work.

Some screenwriting books I like are:

Save the Cat

Screenplay

The Screenwriter's Workbook

You can look up proper format several places online if you don't know it already, and you can ask questions in the screenwriting thread here in CC.

sephiRoth IRA
Jun 13, 2007

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality."

-Carl Sagan

Slashie posted:

Yes, you need permission. You have to buy adaptation rights from the book's publisher, unless it's a public domain work.

Some screenwriting books I like are:

Save the Cat

Screenplay

The Screenwriter's Workbook

You can look up proper format several places online if you don't know it already, and you can ask questions in the screenwriting thread here in CC.

Awesome! I thought that if the book was public domain I didn't need permission. Thanks for the screenwriter's books, too. I expect that they are going to be very helpful.

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Slashie
Mar 24, 2007

by Fistgrrl
Happy writing! I have like 30 books on writing, so come back if you want more recommendations.

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