background object.	background object.	background object

One of my favorite tiles is the forest tile #3. This tile I created in the Photoshop program drawing with the vast array of tools and colors. I will walk you through the tools that I used. The final product will be as different as we all are creative. I will start with the back ground and layer on top many times so the detail will only show on the top layers. All layers can be deleted so move smoothly through the steps as it is easy to redo layers without changing the entire project.

• To start I opened a new file and adjusted the size of the tile to two inches square, resolution 72 pixels, mode RGB and contents transparent.
• Double click on the hand in the tool bar and the layer will center and enlarge.
• In windows click on show swatches. Along with color you have brush/ pencil/ smudge size and edge sharpness.
• Click on the paint bucket in the tool bar and select an earthy brown to pour into the back ground layer.
• Now create a new layer from the layers panel by clicking on the black arrow [top right] or click on the icon of a page with the corner turned up [bottom center].
• Using an olive type of green I started drawing palm leaf designs across the layer.
• Edit undo will remove your last action or use the eraser on the tool bar.
• Holding the alt key down turns your paintbrush/pen into an eyedropper an picks up on what ever color you are in.
• Create a duplicate layer.[black arrow]
• Go to Filter/ Distort/ Ripple, say medium.
• Go to Render/ Lighting Effects. Keep the intensity low because this is the back ground. Pull the spot wide so as to lose the shadows but still change the colors. Keeping in mind dark is distance in the background, and play with all the properties and texture.
• Top right of the tool bar is a move tool, use it to shift "layer 2 copy".
• Now in the layers panel, pull the copy down below the original by click and dragging.
• Open a new layer, create some more palm leaves in a different shade of green.
• Go to Filter/ Distort /Wave and put some curves into the scene.
• Now move around the layers to your liking.
• On a new layer start some detailed leaf shapes.
• On a new layer, with a lighter green, draw the veins on the leaves using the pencil.
• Add blur from the Filter/ Distort/ Blur if you wish.
• Now we will create a seamless tile.
• Save a copy so you can go back and adjust the layers.
• In the layers pallet, flatten layers.
• Adjust the lighting effects if you wish. Try focus 20, intensity 79, gloss -84, material -33, exposure -18, ambience 11, texture channel green, white is high and mountainous 30.
• Go to Filter/ Other/ Offset.
• Setting should be 72 pixels x 72 pixels, Wrap Around and Preview.
• Use the tools to blend in the lines in the center careful not to disturb the outer[matching] edges.
  Now let us take a look.
  Animation Animation brings movement or "life" into the page. The top row of animations are hand drawn in Photoshop and then each drawing is moved to the giff construction set and displayed like flash cards. The Truespace animated creatures in the second row are especially interesting because of the three dimensional quality, lights, and shadows, enhancing the movement. I will walk you through the steps to animating the ball catcher.
  1. Start by Saving As, a copy to start your animation in.
  2. Right and left click on the animation tool in Truespace.
  3. In the parameters box click: scene, NTSC and loop.
  4. Change the number in the animation box to 5. Keep an eye on this number as it tends to move back to 0 as you move things around.
  5. Now I moved the ball into the scene slightly.
  6. Moving through the body to the ends of the arms I bring up the object inf. box. Copy down the numbers to bring the animation back to a perfect loop.
  7. Start to move the arms toward the body.
  8. Change the number to 10.
  9. Move the arms closer to the face.
  10. Move to the entire body, take down the object inf.
  11. Move the body back a little as you would catching a ball.
  12. Move back down to the lower arms and recoil them to the face.
  13. Move the ball into the hands.
  14. Change the animation box to 15.
  15. Using the object inf. box return the body to its original position.
  16. Move the ball away from the face.
  17. Change the animation box to 20.
  18. Using the object info box return the arms to their home position.
  19. Move the ball down and out of the scene.
  20. Play the animation using the large red arrow.
  21. I rendered the animation using the render to animation box under the scene.
  22. The render to file information is Resolution window/ Other, 100 x 100. Effects/ off, Animation/ all frames, Frame rate 30, Ratio 1.0, Blur length 1.0, Depth 4, Frames 6, F Dist 15.0, JPEG Quality level 100%

      TrueSpace2 Tutorial		TrueSpace3 Tutorial

      Some links to more tools of creativity. Gif Construction Set is the tool that creates gif files. These are read as a series of images by the internet browser like flip cards. Some general information onGIFand a link to a fancy program for creating special effects in gif animation's. Finally some links to help Mac users.