Commonwealth of Marathon

io_bg · May 17, 2009, 01:59:53 AM

Loos much better now!

And thank you for the greetings (did I use the right word?

), Dustin!

Sciurus · May 17, 2009, 04:14:43 AM

It's very beauitful, I love this city Dustin, congratualtions!!

Guillaume

nrmn67 · May 17, 2009, 04:53:48 AM

Now it has a more human scale. I like it very much!

danielcote · May 17, 2009, 08:30:06 AM

Wow its coming along great. You must of put so much effort into this!

bat · May 17, 2009, 09:17:30 AM

Looks really great there, Dustin!

JBSimio · May 17, 2009, 10:39:04 AM

The square looks great, Dustin!

I'm glad to see that you ended up using buildings a bit more... it was definitely close to what I had pictured when you first started to describe this area. The Paris style buildings worked out wonderfully. Then again, how could they not? They're such a great set that you really can't go wrong!

Congratulations on the Hall of Fame nomination! I didn't even realize it was that time again... but now that I've stopped in here for my daily fix, I can go and throw some votes around too!

Hope all is well...
JB

Jmouse · May 17, 2009, 02:05:59 PM

Amazing turnaround, Dustin. This is turning out to be a huge success and has been an interesting project to follow. There's been a lot to see and learn here!

Later...
Joan

KoV Liberty · May 17, 2009, 03:21:08 PM

This is BY FAR the best MD I have seen in a long time! I am voting for you now! Best of luck.

Alex

turtle · May 17, 2009, 04:24:13 PM

I think you made the right decision. It looks right and beautiful. Great job!

Luke09 · May 17, 2009, 07:45:19 PM

Hey nice 2 updates

,you could create your own parisian set and show to us!

thundercrack83 · May 18, 2009, 01:18:20 AM

io_bg: Thank you, my friend! And that's the perfect word. I hope you had a great birthday!

Guillaume (Sciurus): Merci beaucoup, Guillaume!

nrmn67: Thanks, my friend! I like it much better now, too!

danielcote: Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

bat: Thanks so much, bat!

Jon (JBSimio): Hey, Jon! I'm happy you like the new layout. I should have gone with the buildings in the first place, but sometimes you have to try something that doesn't work in order to find out what does, I guess. And you're right on the Paris buildings, too—they're simply amazing, aren't they? Hope to see you again soon, my friend!

Joan (Jmouse): Thank you, Joan! I've learned a lot from this section, and I'm glad to hear that you have, too, my friend!

Alex (Driftmaster07): Wow! What a wonderful thing to say, Alex! Thank you so much for your comments, as well as your votes, my friend! Take care!

Thomas (turtle): Thanks, Thomas! I think it looks much better now, too.

Luke (Luke09): Hi, Luke! Thanks so much! Though, I didn't make the buildings, I just used them. Take care, my friend!

Gazing around my Photobucket account, I realized that a great deal of the most recent pictures have been dedicated to our diagonal square exploits. So, I thought I'd go back to something a bit simpler...

...just an old-fashioned, mid-level, low-income neighborhood with a bit of Photoshopping. It's been a bit since I've played around with one of these, and it felt good to take a break from the square! I hope you like it!

Oh, and Happy Victoria Day to our Canadian friends!

Back to the grindstone...

Nexis4Jersey · May 18, 2009, 03:21:32 AM

great small neighborhood update , Happy Victoria Day

calibanX · May 18, 2009, 08:33:09 AM

I like the square. I think you made the right decision. Those old American tourists would never have been able to walk it's massiveness. Congratulations on your nomination. You most certainly deserve it.

Geoff

KoV Liberty · May 18, 2009, 01:10:49 PM

I like it! That is some pretty great photoshopping as well! It really is nice to take a break from the square.

Alex

Luke09 · May 18, 2009, 05:00:42 PM

Cool!Wich Photoshop do you use?And can you make some tutorials to do things like you do?

sithlrd98 · May 18, 2009, 05:43:09 PM

I must admit...I like Porkissimos buildings just like everyone else , but I think there is a little too much repetition. Of course this is my opinion , but I really think it would be better suited to mix in other styles , at least on a few of the quads. Of course with all of the Parisian buildings , the trees don't quite fit as well. The remainder of the square(Triangles

) look very nice . Again , these are my opinions , and I hope that you don't take offense to my "critiquing".

Jayson

thundercrack83 · May 18, 2009, 09:48:23 PM

Corey (Nexis4Jersey): Thanks, Corey!

Geoff (calibanX): Hello, Geoff! Great to see you here in Marathon, my friend! Thank you for your congratulations, and I'm happy that you like our square, too. You're definitely right about the tourists, too! Hope to see you back again soon!

Alex (Driftmaster07): Thank you, Alex! I think I needed a bit of a break from the square, too. But don't worry, I'll get back at it soon!

Luke (Luke09): Hi, Luke! I'm using Photoshop 7. As for you're question about tutorials? Hmmm...

Jayson (sithlrd98): Hey, Jayson! Thanks so much for your input about incorporating other styles into the diagonal sections, my friend! I actually tried doing that with some of the great diagonals made by prepo, but I just couldn't come up with a medium that I thought looked right. I guess it's the nagging obsessive-compulsiveness haunting me again! I do appreciate your opinion, and I take absolutely no offense at all to your critiques. They are most welcome! Take care, Jayson, and I look forward to hearing from you soon, my friend!

UPDATE XXXVIII
Q&A on Some Trial and Error
19 May 2009

Above, our good friend Luke (Luke09) asked the following:

Quote from: Luke09 on May 18, 2009, 05:00:42 PM
Cool!Wich Photoshop do you use?And can you make some tutorials to do things like you do?

Well, Luke, as I answered above, I am using Adobe Photoshop 7. As for a tutorial, well...how's this?

Here's a "quick and dirty" on how to create something similar to our last teaser. The obvious first move is...

...to open up the image in Photoshop! When in the program, the first place I head is...

...Image / Adjustments / Brightness/Contrast, where you can make the image brighter, darker, etc. For this particular application, we'll go...

darker, with a Brightness of -26, and more contrast, with a value of +17, giving us...

...this.

Next, we move to Image / Adjustments / Color Balance, which can also be found by hitting [Ctrl] + B...

...and fiddle with the settings here as well. I added red and yellow to simulate a sunrise or sunset feel, but you can go anywhere you'd like with it.

That gives us...

...that!

Next, we open a new layer by hitting [Shift] + [Ctrl] + N, then...

Filter / Render / Clouds, which gives us...

...a whole screen full of clouds! But not to worry, all we need to do is...

...adjust the Opacity, found at the top-right in the image above, to the desired value, giving us our clouds.

For the final step...

...I always change go to Image / Image Size and change to...

...800x600 so as to keep things within reason for the forums.

As a comparison, here's the original...

...and our enhanced...

So, that's the quick and dirty, Luke! It's basically just trial and error using the tools that I've shown as examples, or other ones in the vicinity. If you just play around with things, you'll get the hang of it. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

More from Marathon to come!

Pat · May 18, 2009, 09:56:38 PM

Dustin looking real great here wow and I do soo agree its soo a boss addiction there my bad lol!!! Sorry missed abit here busy little bee tonight setting up and trying to get my new paper weight to run lol....

rooker1 · May 19, 2009, 05:55:32 AM

Hey Dustin,
I have no computer at home as you already know, but it seems you take this to your advatage and make a bunch of fantastic update and a super tutorial. I have just spent the last 20 minutes or so going over everything and it all looks great. I really hope I have my computer back really soon. I found myself going down to where the computer is suppose to be and than remembering that it's not there.

I really like the lastest layout of the Parisian square....except for the break in the biuldings. I sort of wish there was no break, it does look a little out of place and I am no expert in this area, but just my opinion.

Robin

JBSimio · May 19, 2009, 09:09:41 AM

Hi Dustin,

Very nice picture in the last update! I like those rowhouses with the bay windows towards the left hand side of the image. I'm sure I've seen them before, but I can't place them at the moment. Either way, they fit perfectly there. What really caught my eye while studying this one yesterday though was the way you've arranged the city blocks... many of them are "one sided!" Rather than have a wider block with buildings backing up to each other in the middle, you've run another street along the backsides of all these buildings as well. The end result is subtle, but very effective in my opinion. It is still a densely developed area, but those extra streets seem to open it up just a little more... which in turn lets us see a bit more of the buildings than we normally would be able to. I love it!

As for the photoshopping... well, you remain a master. To be honest, the clouds were done so subtly that I probably would not have ever picked them out had you not given the secret away. I noticed a softness to the image... but that was all I would have known.

See you next time,
JB