AAS 18th Century Recolors

[katalina522]

This one is for fellow history nerds. (I know you're out there!) I bring you six recolors of the 18th century "maid" dress by Besen from All About Style. (Link to the original is here (http://www.all-about-style.com/themes_18thcen2.html), first item on the page.)

I know I need to fix the spots where there's patterned fabric peeking out from under the apron when it shouldn't be. Beyond that, any/all advice is welcome -- especially on how to get more natural-looking shadows/highlights.

And for the curious, the navy blue one with the bits of photoskinning is based on this dress (http://www.memorialhall.mass.edu/activities/dressup/notflash/images/1700woman_5.jpg).

[AnnitaSims]

They are lovely!I LOVE that century's trend..:-D.Do u have a little problem with your graphics?Cause many-aspecially the white-pixels of the textures are somehow mixed with others and the texture shapes are not so clear..Oh i can feel you..

[katalina522]

They are lovely!I LOVE that century's trend..:-D.Do u have a little problem with your graphics?Cause many-aspecially the white-pixels of the textures are somehow mixed with others and the texture shapes are not so clear..Oh i can feel you..

Thanks. :)

If you mean around the apron/skirt area, some of that is the mesh itself. The original apron strings are partially on the torso, but the V of the apron is on the skirt and it looks distorted when the sim is standing still. If you mean the kerchief area, that is partly my graphics card and partly my lack of ability to shade properly. :lol:

[AnnitaSims]

Don't worry, it is clear that you've done a detailed work and that means that you have little probs to solve now..
If i were you i'd put my graphics settings to the maximum only in the photographing time(as i do), then you will know for sure which parts need more work to be clear.

[Vampire_of_Death]

So, I see a few things that could use some improvement, I am start with the tan dress on the left.

Tan:
-Overall, looks pretty good. The texturing, light shadows and highlights, need to be enhance more, you can barely see them
-The area where teh dress lays on the skin could use some shadowing to give it a 3-d look. (this goes for the sleeves and necks on all the dresses)
-The area under the apron straps on her backside needs to look more raised, apart from the dress. I am guessing this applies to all ofthe aproned dresses.

Blue:
-The brown corset/strings on the top should be a bit more even, now it looks like your texture is off center.
-The pouch thing looks really out of place. Usually pouches are as close to teh body asb possible to prevent someone stealing what you have in it, so it would be tucked inside the skirts, some even had small modified pocket things. It you really want it, the texture needs help and it should be RIGHT on the belt.
-The belt needs a bit more shadowing to make it loo like its not flat on the dress

Peach
-The v on this (and the rest of the dresses) is a bit uncentered, if you just schooch t over to the left just a bit, it should fix it.

-Plaid
-Th plaid was an expensive fabric that most peasents wouldn't be able to aford, just so ya know :)
-The bows on this (and the following dress) look very flat and cluttered. I suggest just keeping the one at the top, where the knot is, and really deatiling that bow.
-The blue panel under the apron looks too light for the blue that is in the plaid, so I would darken it o it is only slightly lighter than the blue.

Dots:
-On this one, again with the bows and I would slightly lighten the panel under the dress.

Green:
-Other than things already mentioned it seems the green textue is bleeding into the white panel below.


Overall, these are great, they just need a few tiny tweaks. I really love that you stayed with natural, muted colors that most servants would have had. :)

[katalina522]

Thanks for the detailed feedback! Any suggestions on what shades to use for the shadows? I have tried black and greys and on some of them it comes out way too dark and looks horrible. (That is partly why the green dress has "bleeding" issues, it is the grey highlighting in a few spots along the skirt)

On the navy blue dress, the X strings on the stays are photoskinned from the source dress. Should I scrap that and just make my own? (And the hanging pouch is actually a sewing kit! With the way the mesh works at the waist I can't put it quite where it needs to be to hang properly - thanks for pointing out that it looks funny.)

Other thing: there actually *are* shoes hidden underneath all this fabric. (Just plain brown, but they're there.) Should I edit the alpha so that they occasionally poke out a bit or no?

[Vampire_of_Death]

No, I would keep the strings on the stay, use this as a base.

http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad130/JavierMC20/Help/strapholes.jpg

I would use the burn and dodge tools on a low setting for highlights and shadows.

I would only edit the dress to show the shoes it you have a good shoe texture.

[katalina522]

@VoD: thanks for the image there, I was going to grab it over from annita's thread. :)

Here are some revisions... I am going to stick to altering one dress so that I have a "correct" template for the rest of the recolors.

As you can see, I still need help figuring out how to shade the strings on the back so it looks like there's a knot. I am literally sitting here with a set of drawstring pyjama shorts on my desk trying to work out the layers of shadow and I am failing miserably! :lol: :help:

Also, shadowing does not seem to appear in some spots no matter what I do and there is no way to alter it on the alpha. :cry:

[Vampire_of_Death]

I forgot to add, the image from up there, it should be modified to fit your dress, more of a V shape.\ instead of the square that it is no.



There is always a way to edit the alpha. Send me your textures and I'll have a look to see what the problem could be.

The knot needs a bit of work, but you have a really good start.

If you take this picture and trace the shadows on it, it should translate well to your dress.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-qkLRaT-Gzc/SbfIbDiYFTI/AAAAAAAADwc/mbxy5nswqhs/s400/Canning+apron+006.jpg