Help me with my beloved ''Star Dress"!!!

[AnnitaSims]

Yeap, this is the "Star Dress", a dress that took me a lot of time and turned to be the best work i've managed to do with a low mood!
While i've worked hard on it i'm afraid that it looks blurry in the strass webs and i dont want to be get rejected.. :(
Pliz, tell me people what do u think about it because my eyes will never see something wrong in my own creations! ;)
Here's the dress:

http://i47.tinypic.com/2wh105u.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/24xi6fc.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/2m2cmm9.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/2h7qn35.jpg


Always thank u. :)

[Jaylo]

ooh this looks good. The texture is a bit blurry though. The webs are blurry on the bottom of the skirt and the border on the top especially around the armpits. I would also work on the seam on the left side of the dress and top right side of the dress. The sparkles don't match up fully on both accounts.

It's really pretty and I would definitely download it if I still played TS2

[AnnitaSims]

Oooh thank u!!!!I've tried everything for this blurriness, i got pictures with strass to paste them, and i sharpened it too much but nothing..the strass it's own is a texture that seems blurry because of the little many strass pixels and that seems unavoidable for me.. :help:

[harryishere]

By the way, it seems all your pics look quite blurry, are you graphics the best they can be because that might make a little difference

[Jaylo]

try putting more sparkles in each area. smaller and denser sparkles in all the areas pointed out. That may work...

[AnnitaSims]

Yes i have put them on the maximum.However my pc is very old...

[JavierMC20]

I agree that the stars and star fields are very blurry. I would get a set of star brushes, you can find a set for free by googling for them. Remove the current star fields and random stars and brush them on yourself. Do the stars on a separate layer so you can sharpen and make them just a bit opaque. I think you will be very happy with the results and it would solve the blurriness issue.

I've attached a pic of just a quick swatch of what I was able to do with the set of brushes I have. Of course yours would look much better :lol: I did that pic in 3 minutes just as an example.

EDIT: I meant to say a bit less opaque :blink:

[AnnitaSims]

Wow thank you, that would really work for me!I'll look for the brushes but i'm afraid that the star brushes are only in the photoshop 7 and i have 6..

[Peppermint]

I agree with everybody before. And I would work on the sides of the dress. The strass lines on the right doesn't match with the lines on the left. But I think it's a great idea and the dress would look very nice!

[AnnitaSims]

Thank you @Peppermint, yes i've seen that fault too, but at the moment i'm trying to improve the strass..

[AnnitaSims]

Thak u, but what do you mean ''hemlines''?(sorry i'm from Greece)Bump mapping?

[AnnitaSims]

It's ok, yeap i can understand now, indeed that part of the dress does not seam so realisticit needs fixing..

[mustluvcatz]

About the brushes: if you google 'star brushes for photoshop 6' you should be able to find some. I'd post a link, but I'm not on a computer and don't know hoa to.
About the bump mapping: While it's true that it will enhance details, if someone's computer isn't capable of “seeing” them- they won't matter. So don't rely on bump maps alone for details/a 3-d effect.

[AnnitaSims]

Thank you very much, yes i've searched for some star brushes but i found some loosy ones all the good was for the 7.0 version...

[JavierMC20]

Annita,

Try these brushes and see if they will work in 6.0, I think they should. Let me know if they work, k?

NOTE: These brushes were free and are available for download on the net. Just can't remember where I got them from, but I never pay for brushes.

EDIT: Removed brushes since they didn't work for you.

[AnnitaSims]

Thank you very much @Javier,however nope,they dont work and i've searched everywhere...Photshop has some starbrushes on it's own but i don't know if they're suitable..

EDIT:What a pity i've saved them! :P
-->I wonder how good can you be at times.. :-P

[JavierMC20]

Thank you very much @Javier,however nope,they dont work and i've searched everywhere...Photshop has some starbrushes on it's own but i don't know if they're suitable..

O.K. I made 9 brushes for you that you can make on your own. Open and save the attached photo. Open the image in photoshop. Use your rectangular marquee selection tool and draw a selection around one of the stars. Go to the menu bar in photoshop, edit > define brush preset, a box will pop open, you can give the brush a new name, press the ok button, and you now have that star as a brush. Do the same on each of the other 8 stars and you will have a set of 9 star brushes you can use.

Hope this helps!

[AnnitaSims]

Oh THANK U!!!You're really cool, indeed that is a good solution!How didn't i think it ?I will thank you.

[AnnitaSims]

That way i can make many other brushes too!!!

[Peppermint]

Maybe I can make a strass texture for you if you need?... :)
I made one for an unreleased Madonna project and I still have it somewhere on my pc.

[AnnitaSims]

Yes please because the star brushes are far too enormous for these little areas in the dress...:-S

[Peppermint]

Please wait a few minutes, I will search it...
My bodyshop is still loading and it take usually a moment...

[Peppermint]

Here I am! I found a picture I used for a dress with a nice strass line. The other one is the texture I used for some shoes for a Madonna Outfit. It is not very big but the elements on the picture are active and you can copy them out with pulling them into your texture.

[AnnitaSims]

THANK U PEPPERMINT!!!!!(I always do like this :-S)It will work i'm sure yes!!!

[JavierMC20]

Yes please because the star brushes are far too enormous for these little areas in the dress...:-S

You can change the brush sizes down as far as just one pixel...how can they be too big for what you want to do? But oh well, I tried...

Good luck.

[AnnitaSims]

Hey don't leave!Don'y misunderstand me, i've used your brushes, not all was big but i'm a dummie i dont know how to small them..

[NintendoLover13]

Hey don't leave!Don'y misunderstand me, i've used your brushes, not all was big but i'm a dummie i dont know how to small them..
You're using gimp right? I'll upload a picture for reference :]
http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/20581_100617205900help for you.jpg

I love the dress by the way!

[JavierMC20]

@AnnitaSims: Just in reply to you from your response to my post. I have no idea how you have been using photoshop 6 for so long or for even one day without ever being able to change the brush size, it almost seems an impossibility, however, the [ key decreases the size, and the ] key increases it. Also, you can increase and decrease the brush size in the brush palette. Cheers.

[AnnitaSims]

Who told you i had too?Photoshop it's own has many brushes in many sizes and they help me enough so yes, i've been using it since september and i am very good at it now.I don't need to rezize brushes as there is a big variety.If you think that is a loss of time to inform an ''impossible'' person like me, thanks to god creator feedback has many other threads for you to help. :wtf:

Thank you very much nintendolover but as you can see i'm using photoshop and i'm satisfied with the way i do.

[AnnitaSims]

And i'm informing you that the [ or ] key does nothing with your brushes, only photoshop's original brushes will increase or decrease that way! :P

[JavierMC20]

And i'm informing you that the [ or ] key does nothing with your brushes, only photoshop's original brushes will increase or decrease that way! :P

Um...wow, I did not say you were an impossible person. I said it's seemed an impossibility to use photoshop without being able to resize brushes. I've been using photoshop in many versions for over 7 years and was trying to help you with making the stars for your dresses. Somehow I regret having even attempted to do so considering your reply.

I will not bother you again in this thread or any other thread. Good luck with your current and future projects.

[AnnitaSims]

Ok that's right, you've been using photoshop for many wears and i saw it for first time 1 year before.It's logical to know fewer things but i'm not bothered your help is precious for me and i kinda like your brushes.So i'll try to resize them and when i'll finish the dress i'll post it there.I hope you'll see it too.(:

[AnnitaSims]

Tommorow stardress will be ready!(or tommorow of tommorow)I just need some time to make it even more perfect!

[AnnitaSims]

Remember Stardress?it's high time it got updated..i was thinking that it's not right to abandon my good projects so i put it in my long list again.:-D
Ok i have problem with the strass in the top of the dress.They have to be more clear?That is torturing me and
though i've tried everything i don't know what to do.I used the star brushes but i don't know if mods consider this a ''good texture''.Any help...?

http://i26.tinypic.com/2v0xy7d.jpg

[MistyBlue]

It's looking better, but, you're right, the texture on the top seems blurry. Another thing, those corset laces need more definition. Try defining their edges, to make them look more 3D.

[AnnitaSims]

What are...the laces?Do you mean the strings in the back top of the dress?i've never though about them..What if i bamp mapped them?

[MistyBlue]

Yes, I meant those strings on the back of the dress. I think bump mapping would help. But their texture lacks some definition itself, they look very flat. Also, you could add little holes to make it look more realistic, like this (http://www.farthingales.on.ca/images/9769_p3.jpg). I know it's a minor thing, but it would add a lot to the overall quality of the dress.

[AnnitaSims]

No, it's not minor at all, a dress has to be as much as perfect to be a real good piece in all the dresses that exist!!!Thank you!The link doesn't work...:-(

[MistyBlue]

I'm glad you think that way :) And the link works fine for me...hm. Here's another one (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/2834068217_9c433810df.jpg) then. It looks really nice, it has little hooks instead of holes, something like that would look lovely on your dress.

[AnnitaSims]

Oh my, that's...difficult..Of course i can alpha edit it but i have to find a very good image like that..

[JavierMC20]

You could also try beveling/embossing the straps like I did in the attached photo.

[AnnitaSims]

Wow how did you do it?I have no idea on how i can do this...:-S
Well, my basic problem is the strass that are blurry but and i need to replace them with a such texture that will be giving shine..

[JavierMC20]

Wow how did you do it?I have no idea on how i can do this...:-S
Well, my basic problem is the strass that are blurry but and i need to replace them with a such texture that will be giving shine..


Make your straps in photoshop on a transparent background

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

Right click on the strap layer and choose the Blend Options

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

Check the Bevel and Emboss section and set your settings as shown in the photo

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

You can also add the holes for the straps to go through using your round paint brush on a separate layer. I used white, then click on the eraser tool and use a round brush, reduce the size to be smaller than your white circles and erase the center. Bevel and emboss this layer also. This is the result I got.

EDIT: The straps hole layer should be below the straps layer for the effect of the straps going into the holes.

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

HOPE THIS HELPS!

[AnnitaSims]

It helps but i can't understand am i going to copy the laces from the dress and then paste in the trasparent background?Or am i going to make them myself in the background and then paste to the dress?

[katalina522]

I think what he is suggesting is:

make a new transparent layer in your project. either cut/paste the original straps into this layer or draw new ones using the pencil or the paintbrush. (at this point, I would make the other layers invisible so they don't get in your way.)

once you have the straps, follow JMC's directions on how to emboss them.

when you are all done, make your other layers visible again. make sure you select the layer for the straps, then use the move tool and line the straps up with where they should be on the full dress.

then make another new transparent layer and follow JMC's suggestions on how to make the holes.

[AnnitaSims]

Oh the laces are not shown in my texture bmp they are overcolored only in the alpha they are shown..

[katalina522]

? if you recolored them in the bmp, that is where you edit them.

[AnnitaSims]

never mind ok i will re-extract the previous texture and ''steal'' the laces.Then i will make all these.