Anim8or Community

Artwork => Finished Works and Works in Progress => Topic started by: thecolclough on September 12, 2008, 12:23:55 pm

Title: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: thecolclough on September 12, 2008, 12:23:55 pm
earlier today, after noticing how messy the welcome screen is on the Anim8or 0.97c preview, i started wondering, "what would the welcome screen look like if i was responsible for the anim8or GUI?".

when i tried to answer the question, the first thing i thought of was, "that robin should be in there somewhere...", followed quickly by "robin is red... yeah, red would be cool."

anyway, i started doodling in anim8or and GIMP.

and an hour or two later, here's what i came up with... what d'you think?

i've also attached a preview of what the piccy would look like in situ within the program, and you'll notice the text at the bottom of the window has been removed, as most of it has been incorporated into the image.  makes it all look a bit tidier, i think.

- colclough
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: RnDr FOX on September 12, 2008, 07:11:58 pm
I love it!
Maybe in the background you can have various shapes that have attributes to show off the new art renderer
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: falloffalot on September 12, 2008, 07:14:17 pm
That would be a great comp
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: onespirit5777 on September 12, 2008, 07:27:27 pm
Yep - some shapes in the background with attributes.

Still good either way!

Nice stuff!
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: headwax on September 13, 2008, 05:17:18 am
I'll vote for that first one. Very nicely done.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: Tanzim on September 13, 2008, 10:27:17 pm
I wouldn't, no offense thecolclough, but it's a very simple image, showing Robin (I believe that's its name), and fog in the background.
An image with more complex objects (or at least a more complex Robin) would be better.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: RnDr FOX on September 13, 2008, 11:22:57 pm
Raxx made a pretty sweet robin interpretation here http://cg-nation.com/repository/ (http://cg-nation.com/repository/)
this would be a good robin. Yes you can download it  ;)
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: headwax on September 14, 2008, 06:54:52 am
Tanxim wroteth:

Quote
wouldn't, no offense thecolclough, but it's a very simple image, showing Robin (I believe that's its name), and fog in the background.
An image with more complex objects (or at least a more complex Robin) would be better.

I can see whare you are coming at but I think the beauty is in the crisp simplicity.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: ChristopherT on September 14, 2008, 05:48:55 pm

I like it!  It's simple but shows off Anim8or's advanced capabilities too.  (At least from my level!)

    ChristopherT

Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: Mikesly on September 14, 2008, 07:44:39 pm
Anim8or is the best 3-D making... uh, thing... that I could find!
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: thecolclough on September 15, 2008, 09:21:12 am
i agree it's quite simple, but i was aiming for something... maybe not simple as such, but perhaps a bit cleaner than the current one.  however, i do like rndrfox's idea of having some objects in the background (i think a row of spheres would do) with various materials that show off ART properties.  only prob with that idea is, i can't remember if steve's fixed fog in ART yet (can't find it mentioned in the bug fix lists for 0.97b and 0.97c... maybe i'm not looking hard enough!), and i want to keep the fog.

i'll try and get round to doing an upgrade with the ART objects sometime ;)

anyways, thanks for the feedback everyone!

- colclough
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: Steve on September 16, 2008, 02:51:37 am
Someday, you never know when, I'll get around to making a new spash screen.  The current one is a bit old, I know.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: Tanzim on September 16, 2008, 06:32:37 am
Hey Steve, why not have a competition or something?
The best splash screen is used in the latest version of Anim8or.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on September 16, 2008, 08:39:46 am
Someday, you never know when, I'll get around to making a new spash screen.  The current one is a bit old, I know.

Heh heh!  Maybe that auspicious moment should be reserved for the much anticipated release of (cue angelic trumpets) "VERSION 1.0"!

thecolclough:  I quite like your design, nice and simple, and with the robin and the checkerboard floor unmistakably Anim8or.  The empty(ish) space to the robin's left (right of screen) could be used to display features from the latest version.  Well done!
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: spicy on September 16, 2008, 08:55:10 am
In all honesty I like it, its simple, good and its cool!
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: 3D Joe Wiltshire on September 17, 2008, 04:05:49 pm
WOW! Looks very professional... hmm... can you give any tips on how to get a good looking uncrowded layout?
I'm doing Graphics in school, gcse, and it would probably help quite a bit.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: startrekfan001 on September 18, 2008, 04:57:08 pm
Steve, could you make an option to turn the splash screen off? Anim8or could start much faster if the splash screen wouldnt delay it (right?). I'd like to start right away, without having to watch at a screen for 2 seconds first.

It's not really an issue, i'd just like the option.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: Kubajzz on September 18, 2008, 05:03:26 pm
If you want to skip the splash screen, click "mode>object" (or any other). You'll jump directly to the mode you selected instead of waiting for the splash screen to disappear.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: startrekfan001 on September 19, 2008, 12:13:49 pm
@kubajzz

i know, and i always do that when im in a hurry, but it would still be nice if it could be skipped altogether.....
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: CowTail on September 19, 2008, 03:32:20 pm
Now you're just being picky. Something like the splash screen serves not just to show off some sort of graphic, it's crediting Steve for his work. It's the least he can ask of you.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: onespirit5777 on September 20, 2008, 01:24:55 pm
Keep the splash screen - After all, it's free with the program. LOL!

He should have random splash screens that come up! That would be cool

Get the art form the users in this forum.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: 3D Joe Wiltshire on September 20, 2008, 01:28:15 pm
Great Idea!
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: mcheccyb on September 20, 2008, 01:29:51 pm
thats what they do on art of illusion.

it's really cool.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: thecolclough on September 20, 2008, 01:46:24 pm
thanks for all the feedback, everyone :)

i'll try and find time to do an upgrade on this someday...

can you give any tips on how to get a good looking uncrowded layout?
I'm doing Graphics in school, gcse, and it would probably help quite a bit.
sorry, joe, meant to reply to this earlier but it slipped through the net a bit...

i find one of the best things to do, to help an image stay looking clean and tidy, is to limit the number of shapes and colours you're working with.  in this splash screen, you can see i've basically got rectangle shapes (including the rather squarish font), contrasting with the sphere which is Robin's body.  that's basically it - rectangles and spheres.  and in terms of the colour, it's all about red, white, and a few shades of grey, with a splash or two of yellow to liven it up.  if you base your composition around 2 or 3 main shapes, and 2 or 3 main colours, that should help a lot to keep it looking tidy and coherent, even if it's actually a bit complex.  the current splashscreen, by contrast, has all sorts of shapes and colours vying for your attention, which makes it harder to pick out a central focal area.  you could write volumes about image composition (people have done, too), but if you want a simple, solid piece of advice to go with for keeping it uncrowded, this is probably one of the best tips out there.  it's the one that does the most for me, anyway.  hope it helps you too ;)

He should have random splash screens that come up! That would be cool
i like this idea.  8)

- colclough
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: startrekfan001 on September 21, 2008, 08:35:06 am
Hadn't tought about the credit thing.......

ah well, he's got an entire community of Steve-fans behind him :-)

I don't think we have to worry about his name getting lost in history. When 1.0 comes out, he will have pioneered free 3d-applications, writing history with it.

But if its for credit-sake, i dont mind the splash anymore ;-)
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: Darkjesture on September 21, 2008, 11:19:42 am
How would you change the loading screen in anim8or?
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: 3D Joe Wiltshire on September 21, 2008, 12:54:41 pm
Thank you, colclough, most inciteful.   :D
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: VBSmiles on September 24, 2008, 09:33:43 pm
In other words, use the K.I.S.S approach to composition, complexities will work themselfs in later, when you are ready.
Title: Re: The [Unofficial] New Anim8or Welcome Screen
Post by: PC3DStudio on September 29, 2008, 05:52:41 pm
Like It :) :) It would be a great change.