The Herald: January 2006 Edition

[Assassinator/Young Everest]

Vector, the art of the moment. It’s what everyone wants to see. Smooth shapes positioned in the right place to give the illusion of a person or scene on the virtual world in front of you. Of course vector isn’t all people and objects. Designs can be created from shapes, also classed as vector. Some artists have developed styles which break away from true vector, adding brushing and textures. But it’s the vector that looks realistic that catches peoples eyes. The fact that people have the ability to pick the right colours and place shapes exactly in the right place, is artwork.

What is a vector? Well, vector images are images that can be expanded without pixilating to 200% upwards. Even at 1600% you can get a clear image. This is due to the fact you have shape layers. The shape layer make the shapes bigger as the image expands. In a raster image the object is stretched and there are the same amount of pixels at 1600% as 100%.

Here is a selection of vector images picked up from DeviantART:

www.deviantart.com/view/25579305/
www.deviantart.com/view/25571036/
www.deviantart.com/view/25876973/
www.deviantart.com/view/25848135/
www.deviantart.com/view/25676525/
www.deviantart.com/view/25875308/
www.deviantart.com/view/25443301/
www.deviantart.com/view/20427758/
www.deviantart.com/view/18171847/

As you can see some images can be a complex array of shapes, others can be simple shapes depicting a simple image. Or in some cases, simple shapes depicting a complex image.

People generally frown upon ‘faked’ vectors. There are two general types of these:
· Raster Vectors. This is where shapes made from the marquee tool are made then filled with the desired colour. A vector, as already stated is made from shapes. It can look like a vector but the edges will often be jagged due to the marquee tool’s lack of being able to bend.
· Filtered Vectors. This is where the cut-out filter is used on a photograph. It blocks out the main colours of the image in shapes. It leaves the creator with a fairly mediocre image which looks fake.

The reason for all this frowning is because vectors take time. Getting all the shapes in the right place and the colours the right shades can be tedious, so for someone else to go and do it in 5 seconds is annoying. But you can tell the difference, it is worth while spending that extra 5 hours of work. It also gives you immense satisfaction when you’ve finished and you know it was crafted and sculpted by you. It is useful when making a vector of an object, person or scene etc. that you find a reference picture so you have some idea of what you are doing.

I have heard a lot of people say ‘That looks amazing, I wish I could do a vector image.’. Well, to be quite frank, you can. It’s pretty easy. You just need Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator and knowledge of the pen tool. It’s the pen tool that frightens people, or if your one of those people, it frightens you. Well don’t be frightened! It’s fairly easy to get the hang of once you start using it. I have found probably one of the most comprehensive pen tool tutorials on the web, you can find it here. Just keep practicing with the pen tool and it will eventually come easy to you to make those perfect smooth curves. It’s just a matter of testing where to put shapes and what colours to use (I suggest the colour picker on the reference photo).

Good luck experimenting. I hope to see some good vector work from you guys in the future.

[Assassinator/Young Everest]

Name: Grace Callaghan
Hobbies: Graphics, Unreal Tournament 2004, Thief 3, music
Favourite website: www.urbandead.com
Favourite school subject: Art or English. Got great teachers for both of them, and they're fun subjects

What brought you to the wonderful SolidsnakeDesigns?
I originally started getting into graphics at a Tomb Raider forum a couple of years ago, and eventually found my way from there to Proboards. I made a forum of my own, using codes from SSD, then started to really get into the graphics side of stuff. I joined Crazy Designs Production v1 on Proboards and stayed until it closed, then I migrated to SSD after procrastinating over registering an account.
Who is your favourite designer? And why?
Designer? No idea. My favourite designer just now outside of our little community is probably H.R. Giger, because his artwork and designs are breathtaking. (He did the designs for the Alien movies). In proboards, probably my pal Edd because he always finds a way to do something simple that I would never have thought of and get an amazing result.
How long have you been a designer?
I can't remember when I started... but it can't have been any more than about two years ago that I started spending a lot of time doing it. Before then, I messed about in 3D a lot, using a cheap program I got free from a magazine cover. So let's just say two years.
What programs do you use now?
Mostly Photoshop 7. I'll occasionally use Cinema 4D, but I'm into 2D design at the moment. I also use Flash MX and Illustrator when I want to work fully in vector.
Have you ever thought about going professional?
Yeah, a lot. I'm planning on taking a design course at college or university, I want to get a degree in graphic design then go do either freelance work or get hired by a professional design company. Design for print is what I'm looking at.
Got any examples of your work?
Musik
Elevation
Guardian angel

All at deviantart, sorry. Three examples, three different styles I work in.

[Assassinator/Young Everest]

It seems to be everybody’s ambition at the moment to make a successful design forum, so I have come up with this short guide on how to accomplish this.

First off you have to have a unique idea. There’s no point in just saying ‘I want to be like SSD’ you just won’t. That area of the ‘market’ has already been covered. I see a lot of up and coming design forums trying to be like SSD and they’re failing. The same threads are being made at each forum by the same members to get maximum views of the members that go to SolidSnake Designs. A couple of examples are Studio Zero and E1Designs. E1D has completely failed even though it had a blindingly good template which made me want to stay, but I got bored there. Even when offered a mod job (which I accepted) I still didn’t visit. Studio Zero is looking promising but there isn’t much that separates it from SSD, boards and member wise. So you need an idea, something unique that people will flock too. This magic idea has obviously failed to bless anyone yet but I’m sure it will come.

Secondly, don’t use Proboards. Proboards already has SolidSnake Designs, it doesn’t need another. If you want your magical idea to work you need to try it out on a different host to be that little bit more different, say Hyperboards or even Invision ProBoards. If you're so intent on using Proboards then don’t advertise to Proboards users. Advertise in Hyperboards and other hosts which potentially don’t know about SSD and are new to Proboards. That way it’s a special board that Proboard members don’t know about and that other host members do. It makes it more unique.

Thirdly, the design. It needs to be aesthetically pleasing. Not over the top but easy on the eyes, ie. SolidSnake Designs. I don’t think that there is too much more to say about this section, but it will take a few tries before you get the right design, don’t settle for your first one.

You need a dedicated team of staff to kick off the board. An energetic productive staff that input their ideas into the board. Obviously that would be in a very ideal world. It may take a while before you find these people, patience is the key. Don’t expect these people to come to you, you have to go and find them.

Don’t start with a too wide a range of boards. Make them if it seems necessary and that a board is needed for that certain subject. This way the forum is shaped by the members, not you. Don’t try to create a mold for them, that’s not what they want. If they shape the board they feel more at home and hence stay at the forum, it will then grow and populate.

Another thing to think about is how you treat you members. Do not intimidate them. Come down to there level and interact, take part in the community, make them feel at home.

I think that is about it, if you want any more advice (please no one ask me for the unique idea for I haven’t a clue either) then feel free to PM me.

- Assassinator

[Assassinator/Young Everest]

In this edition of 'Helpful Graphic Hint' I will show you how to load your brushes into Photoshop.

1) First off you need to actually download some brushes that you want to use. Try the brush section on DeviantART for some free brushes. Choose the brushes you want and download them, be careful choosing if you don’t have the latest version of Photoshop. If you have PS7 then .abr files work. Also check the description, it may tell you the compatibility of them.

2) Once downloaded you now need to install them. If they are zipped then un-zip them onto your desktop. Right click the brush file and select cut. Now open up Photoshop (if not already open) and select the brush tool. Now all you need to do is look at my picture, it sort of speaks for itself.



3- Once you’ve clicked on ‘Load Brushes’ it will pop up the traditional windows explorer window. Make sure your in the Photoshop brushes area. If not follow these directions. Local disk>Program Files> Adobe> Photoshop> presets>brushes. It may be different for different versions but it will be roughly along those lines. Now when in the Brushes folder simply paste in the brushes then highlight the file and click the load button. Bingo. Your brushes will be added to the list you can also see in that print screen for quick and easy access. Don’t worry if you can’t see your brushes, simply scroll down in the brush selection box, they will be there.

There you go, happy brushing!

[Assassinator/Young Everest]

Reedy

Reedy’s artwork often has a nice sense of simplicity expressed within in it. He makes good use of often very positive colours. Looking through his gallery you can see some familiar styles each of which has been made his own. Over the last year and a half Reedy has improved his artwork dramatically, it’s well worth a look.

DeviantART: reedyevolved.deviantart.com/

Edd

Edd’s progress has been very rapid, within the first few months of getting started with Photoshop, he’s picked up a great deal of artistic talent along the way, a shining example of some perseverance. Edd’s art has even gone as far as the back page of a national web design magazine.

DeviantART: eddybiel.deviantart.com/

C130

When looking at C130’s work you can often see that each image has something strikingly different about it, something that sets it apart from one another. You can find some vibrant vector work to a swish looking web layout.

DeviantART: c130.deviantart.com/

UrbanCinderella

UrbanCinderella has a very large collection of photo manipulations in her gallery, whether surreal or minimalist in style. The selection of pieces above is just a few of my personal favourites, I’d recommend taking a further look into her gallery. You may pick up some new ideas or may want to see something that is a little different.

DeviantART: urbancinderella.deviantart.com/

Dyeeo

[/center]
Finally the last artist I chose for this selection is one that is lesser known to many of us at SSD, some but after all its not fair just to select those who have been here the longest. Dyeoo has produced a wonderful collection of digital paintings some of which have been featured in show off.

DeviantART: dyeeo.deviantart.com/

[Assassinator/Young Everest]

This month's Coding Hint is a little generic and can be applied to any programming language you use. Code Reusability is this month's subject. It's extremely important that you make sure your scripts/programs are as reusable as possible. I'll explain why.

First off, it has been said that the greatest programmers are lazy. Why? Simple: lazy people don't want to reinvent the wheel all the time. Also, if you get into programming for a living you'll need to be lazy. Time is money and a corporation will want you to get the job done as quickly as possible. So, always rewriting code will add to the time it takes to complete a project. However, if you create reusable code then that won't be so.

There are various ways to write reusable code. The most popular and agreed upon way is through OOP (Object Orientated Programming). There are other ways though, such as the reuse of functions alone. OOP still maintains to be the best route.

If you aim to create reusable code remember to generalize everything. Anything can be reusable; you just need to make sure it doesn't become so specific it only applies to one application. Keeping in mind that you may not even use the function for the same type of application again will help you write appropriate code. The best reusable coding can be used for any type of application.

Well, that's all I have to say on the subject. Just remember that you can save yourself tons of time by writing fair and reusable code. Time is money and nobody wants to pay out more money when they can put out less.

Code Reuse and Extension- A member submitted article by Eric
The reason I am writing this article is that I feel people are not reusing code or extending it enough. There is plenty of free and open source codes out there for people to use, but people become prideful and want to be “professional” and make their own codes. While it is true that it might “look better” to the average user, is it not better to save yourself the time of writing the code and debugging it?

With objects it is easy enough to use code that has been pre-made. Often you can use an object without having to understand how it works. In PHP the Smarty class is one of the most complex classes out there. The majority of people that use it have probably not gone through the code and read it, but rather read the documentation and a tutorial here and there. Complexity of the code really is not a problem if the person who made it knew what they were/are doing.

The rest of this article will go to teaching users how to write their code in such a way that it is reusable by A) themselves and B) other people as well as how to make it easily extendable so that other people can modify it to their needs.

You should almost always write the most code that you can in objects when practical. This means grouping parts of your code into sections and putting in functions of code that is commonly reused. Let’s start off with a simple code that is completely against these ideas:

Code:

---

/* This code maintains a group of people.
Each person has several things that define them */
var personAName = “jack”;
var personAAge = 35;
var personBName = “suzy”;
var presonBAge = 30;
var personCName = “bob”;
var personCAge = 25;
document.write(personAName + “ is “ + personAAge + “ years old”);
document.write(personBName + “ is “ + personBAge + “ years old”);
document.write(personCName + “ is “ + personCAge + “ years old”);

---

Now let’s make this code better:

Code:

---

/* This code maintains a group of people.
Each person has several things that define them */
function Person(name, age)
{
   this.name = name;
   this.age = age;
   this.tellInfo = function()
   {
      document.write(this.name + “ is “ + this.age + “ years old”)
   }
}
var personA = new Person('jack',35);
var personB = new Person('suzy',30);
var personC = new Person('bob',25);
personA.tellInfo();
personB.tellInfo();
personC.tellInfo();

---

Notice the differences:

• In this example it is slightly longer, but would normally be much shorter due to the size of the functions.
  
• It has been made into an object, and can easily be called without understanding what anything inside happens.
  
• It is able to be reused and extended. Say for example someone decides to make an address book, you simply have to add a new property, and change the function slightly, and there you have it! Your new address book object.

[Assassinator/Young Everest]

Name: David
Age: 18
Interests: Mainly spending time on the computer, but I like playing my guitar when I'm bored.
Favorite Website: I have so many favorite websites that I can't even list them all.

What do you think you are best at?
I don't like these kinds of questions. I don't like judging myself, lol. But I guess I'm good at everything overall.

Do you prefer graphics or coding?
Depends on my mood. Sometimes I am in the mood to make graphics and sometimes I'm in the mood to code.

What caused you to get into web design and web development?
The main thing overall would be Proboards, but SSD was a contributing factor to this. When I was new to PB I was linked to SSD to look for codes and graphics. I was amazed at how good it looked and that's what inspired me to try to be something like that.

What resources did you use to become a better coder?
MSN, Google, and SSD.

Where do you think the web will take you in the future?
I've been interested in coding and computers for many years now. I've already learned so much from just a couple years on the web. The web could probably take me far if I work hard enough.

Was there any specific person or people who influenced you into becoming a web designer?
Not specifically, it is mainly a group of people that I meet on ProBoards or the Internet.

Can you link us to your favorite graphic or code you made?
I like all my codes and graphics that I've ever made. I don't really have a favorite one but I thought that the code I made for the Studio Zero coding contest was pretty good. It was an admin editable forum simplifier which removes "Hey, X" and "<< home >>" by just going to the admin panel so that you don’t need to go to PB Support just to get the code. I haven't released this code yet though since there are some bugs to fix.

What advice would you give to someone inexperienced in the web in general who wants to become an designer or a coder?
I would advise them to learn from other artists/designers before actually trying to make something. Make sure you "master" the basic concepts before using it to help someone with requests or anything. I would also recommend asking as many questions as you can. It may help you learn more than just making a sig and leaving it at that. You won't really be able to improve.

[Assassinator/Young Everest]

The January edition of Program Review! This month's program is a file-sharing program and one which hasn't received nearly as much heat as the likes of Kazaa. Yet. Anyways, the program is Limewire and it's one of the better (I must say) P2P programs available on the Internet.

Program Name: Limewire
Program Creator: Limewire
Download: - Click Me -

Limewire is reknown for it's remarkable speeds. If you've used Kazaa or Shareaza you'll know what I mean when I say: unreliable, jumpy, and slow. However, Limewire doesn't fit any of those descriptions. When you're shown all of the available downloads you're also given the source's connection type. So, you have the ability to choose downloads from T1 and higher, T3 and higher (what I always choose), Cable and higher, and etc. The speeds are then very reliable, don't jump nearly as much, and you have an amazingly higher chance of actually completing the download.

For those past-Shareaza/Kazaa users I'm about to mention a horrible word, which you're well accustomed to: Pending. Yeah, we all now that word. It absolutely sucks, as you click to download something but what happens on the monitor screen is this: Active... (3 out of 50 sources)... Pending. Then you're left hanging there with nothing to do but to find another download. When using Limewire I have gotten no pending-equivalent messages. I have gotten, however, the no-sources message. But, I daresay, that is inescapable no matter what program you use.

I'd also like to point out that the program was written in Java and is thus platform-independent. That's right my fellow Linux users... this program is for you too! And no matter what platform you're running Limewire under it's just as beautiful, fast, and easy to use.

Overall there isn't any other program I would recommend more for P2P file-sharing than Limewire. While those using the free version may find it worse than Shareaza and the likes we all know there are "ways" of getting the Pro version. Catch my drift? If not, I apologize for your lacking of the ability to read between the lines.

So, get out there and download Limewire!

[Assassinator/Young Everest]

This month's Web Service Review is a blog service called Xigna Blogs. I'll be up front about it this time, I do not recommend this service to anybody. Hopefully this article will explain why and will deter you from using the service. If not, well... that's your problem and not mine.

Name of Service: Xigna Blogs
Type of Service: Blog/Journal
Service Web Site: - Click Me -

First off I would like to mention the owner. Who owns a service is a great reflection on the service itself. After all, they're running it. Luke Dyson is the owner of Xigna Blogs. Put simply, he's unreliable. I will not go into what he has done in the past, for that's out of the scope of this article. However, I will mention that it's within his personality to not listen to other's advice. That doesn't sound horrible though, does it? Well, it would if I had mentioned that the advice he has been given lately has been about security exploits. Sound more serious now? I should hope so.

That brings me to the second reason not to go with Xigna Blogs. Security is practically null with this software. Xigna Blogs is riddled with exploits large enough for you to lose your blog and small enough to cause a huge annoyance. Do you really want to have a blog with more holes in it than Swiss cheese? I should certainly hope not. For most of us security is a huge issue. I know that I lose all respect for a service if there are many noticeable and easy-to-find exploits. And guess what? That's just the case with Xigna Blogs.

Within the service itself (mainly features) Xigna Blogs is fairly average. They do have a fair list of features, though it definitely looks more impressive than it really is. The support at Xigna Blogs is actually pretty good. I would have to give Xigna Blogs some positive points on this one.

On an overall scheme I would most certainly recommend you avoid Xigna Blogs like the plague. It's not worth your hassle and the service is guaranteed to let you down over time.

[Assassinator/Young Everest]

So here we are, another issue of Linux Corner! This month's installment will focus on a specific command: make. I'll also touch on makefiles themselves. If you're fairly new to Linux or have been installing programs using binary files, RPMs, apt/yum, etc. then you'll want to definitely look this over.

Purpose

[/i] command is to aid in the execution of a makefile. A makefile is a file within the directory of a program (that hasn't been installed yet) which contains the directions on how make should compile all the source files. When you are installing a program there are two make parameters you'll almost always use. Those two are: make (alone) and make install. I'll discuss what those two do within this article.[/ul]

Make

Make install

[/i] command. This is usually the last one you'll use, as after you have your program is fully installed. Make install's primary function is to move the newly created executable, library files, help files, etc. to their permanent spot on your PC. The executable will most likely go to either /usr/bin/ or /usr/local/bin/. Library files will likely end up in /lib/. You may also find under /usr/share/ or /usr/local/share a folder for the program you just installed. Within that directory should be resources for your newly installed program.[/ul]

So, that's pretty much it. There are other parameters to the make command but I've just introduced the two which you'll need most. Open up a makefile sometime and look through it. Who knows, maybe you'll be able to understand it?