sketches
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Machine-vision algorithms help craft realistic portraits from sketches
Sketching a person's face is difficult even for the most talented of artists. But even though it's an austere task for humans, it's not entirely perfect for computers just yet, either. That's where machine-vision algorithms come in.
Post-apocalyptic L.A.W takes us from sketches to art to screen
Good-looking graphics don't just magically appear overnight in MMOs, delivered by the FedEx equivalent of the leprechaun community. The look and design of a game is a lengthy process full of revisions, abandoned doodles, and brainstorming -- something we end-users tend not to appreciate. Consider today your education, then, as the team behind the post-apocalyptic L.A.W -- Living After War released a whole crate of images with the intent of showing us how the iterative process works. In the gallery below you can check out different versions of the same buildings, vehicles, and mobs at various stages of their making. From sketches to concept art to in-game models, these screens are a great crash course in understanding how involved the development team has to get to make these games a reality. %Gallery-135873% [Source: ProSiebenSat.1 press release]
Alexander Graham Bell's sketchbook reveals ridiculously wonderful imaginings
The image above is a page from Alexander Graham Bell's sketchbook, a self-portrait from the 1870's, is just one page from the large collection of the inventor's papers, now housed at the Library of Congress. Bell's sketches which document the invention of the telephone are the most fascinating of the lot, and happily, the Library has digitized them and made a large selection of them available online.
The Daily Grind: Do you like seeing concept art?
Concept art is a tricky thing. Players love seeing it, naturally, because it's designed to make everything in the game look as cool as possible. The problem is that concept art is under none of the restrictions operating within the actual game, so you can wind up with amazingly cool art that's coupled with a somewhat underwhelming final product. In the most severe case, the concept art actually makes the game look worse in the long run, which is far from the goal. Naturally, getting conceptual sketches down is a big part of the development stage for any game or expansion. You can't start working on finished models without a picture of the end result, after all. But do you like seeing it made publicly available? Do you think it makes the finished art look less impressive? Can you think of any game whose art looked better in the concept stage than the final execution?
World of WarCrafts: Aigie's character sketches
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) -- not-for-profit work only, please.Who doesn't love original artwork that expresses the essence of your character? We were captivated by the character sketch Elnore of Argent Dawn-US sent us to go with her recent profile in 15 Minutes of Fame. As it turns out, the guildmate behind the artwork has just begun to accumulate a small portfolio of simple sketches. "I've been sketching since I can remember, really, but not seriously until I was a teenager," says Aigie. "I enjoy challenging myself with different perspectives and the process at which I got from point A to point B. This is why I use Artpad for most of my sketching. Sure, it's not the top of the line program and it's free -- but it has a replay button, and you can see the logical process in which my work evolves. (And did I mention it was free? Hehe.)"
Sketches 1.7 out now
My favorite iPhone artmaking app, Sketches, has been updated again, this time to version 1.7. It's been made compatible with the iPhone 3.0 firmware, which means you no longer have to leave the app to share your pictures via email, and they've added in a few other bug fixes and improvements which will set them up for the next major release, the big 2.0.This release isn't done yet though: "Redo" has been added in -- when you hold the Undo button down in the app, you'll get a whole menu of different options to go to various points in what you've done so far. And the Zoom function has been tweaked and improved as well, offering a quicker response and a better resolution, even when zoomed in.I'm a big fan of Sketches, and expecially of the app's ability to let you pull in a background from almost anywhere (from your phone's camera to the Google Maps app), and then make your own marks on it. It's more than just an art app -- I've used it as a memory jogger, and even as a way to quickly send directions out to others via email or Twitter. It's available to new users on the App Store for $4.99, or the 1.7 update is free to those who already have it.
World of WarCrafts: Wowatar fills in the lines
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) -- not-for-profit work only, please.Getting started can be the most difficult step for WoW newbies and WoW "WarCrafters" alike. Showing your artwork to other people – or even having the gumption to create any in the first place – can be intimidating stuff. Discovering someone who's willing to show you how it's done or even share his creative process represents a major inspirational coup. Swedish WoW player Jonas at wowatar.com is one of those creative wellsprings. He's created a small drawing site filled with WoW-related nuggets that inspire, instruct and delight.
Sketches updated to 1.5
One of the first applications I used and enjoyed on my iPhone, Sketches, has updated to version 1.5. New in this version is the ability to change the alpha settings for colors (so you can change the opacity of the drawings you make on photos you take), and an edit mode for the corkboard view, to rearrange your drawings with. Additionally, they've moved uploaded photos off of a third-party server and onto their own page, so (for right now, anyway) no ads to get in the way. Not new in this app: a quality, fun, and surprisingly robust photo and image editor designed for the iPhone.We've heard from the devs that there is a version 2 on the way as well, and both this version and that one are free to anyone who's purchased the app. But if you haven't picked it up yet, it is available for $4.99 over on the App Store, well worth it if you often take and share pictures with your iPhone.
Sketches on sale through December 31
The highly-rated and popular drawing app for the iPhone and iPod touch, Sketches, has been on sale through Christmas. Now LateNiteSoft has extended the sale through December 31 to give more people the opportunity to draw on their pocket devices.Sketches (click for TUAW review) is not only fun to let the kids play with, but it's great for creating quick drawings and annotating iPhone pictures. It comes with a bunch of pre-created shapes, you can use photos or a map of your current location for a background, and there's even an eraser available. It's the most drawing fun you can have without a Newton MessagePad (by the way, my MP2100 will be accompanying me to Macworld Expo again next week). Sketches has been a favorite in the App Store (click opens iTunes) since July, and it's now in version 1.4. The App normally sells for US$4.99 / €3.99 in the App Store, but during the sale it is discounted 60% to the low price of US$1.99 / €1.59. Jorge Llubía, co-founder of LateNiteSoft, has stated that there will be a 1.5 release, and then Sketches 2.0 will be released with major new features. Both of the upgrades will be free to registered users.
Sketches goes 1.3, offers discount for those who waited
At TUAW, we love the Sketches application for iPhone and iPod touch. Without a doubt, this app is the best way to draw/edit photos on the iPhone -- and it recently got better with update 1.3. This update gives you some additional functionality as well as providing some major improvements to current features: You can now input text using the built-in soft keyboard. Now you won't have to attempt to read someone's horrible handwriting. Web sharing is now built-in. This feature is found on many other iPhone applications, and it is now standard in Sketches. You will no longer have to email your pictures to your computer -- just browse your masterpieces in your favorite web browser. You can now take one finger off the screen while placing images in a multi-finger gesture. This is handy when you are "zooming" an object and you run out of room on the screen. Additional shapes categories including "Office." The "Fun" and "Callouts" categories have additions as well. If you are a new user to Sketches, the developers have added a tips system just for you -- this displays popups that let you know what each function does. This is handy for the less-experimental people among us. To celebrate the launch of Sketches 1.3, the developer is offering the software for just $1.99 (regular price is $4.99). You can download Sketches from the iTunes App Store today for this special price. The special will last until Oct. 4, 2008.
Flickr Find: iPhone sketches
We knew it was only a matter of time before this would happen. The fun and frivolous application for the iPhone, Sketches, now has a Flickr pool devoted to its users' quirky creations. From the artistic, to the strange, to the fun, this Flickr pool has them all. If you are a Sketches addict and constantly find yourself doodling on your iPhone, then why not share them for the world to see?On different note: We would like to congratulate Giles Turnbull, who is a good friend and former blogger here, on his new gig at Cult of Mac.[via Cult of Mac]
First Look: Sketches
Sketches was one of the apps I picked up the very first day the App Store opened -- in fact, it was the first I ever bought, and I bought it as a mistake: Apple's one-click shopping bit me for $7.99 (the app has since dropped in price to $5.99). But it turns out, as a mistake, it was a fortuitous one, because it's one of the apps I've been most impressed with. There are a few other "Paint" style apps floating around the store nowadays, but Sketches is worth the price of admission for doing exactly what it says: letting you easily and quickly draw whatever you want on whatever you want.The quantity of options in a simple app like this are surprising. Choose from six different kinds of backgrounds, including photos shot with the phone's camera, existing album photos, a solid color, a webpage pulled from an in-app browser, a map of your location or a library of six included backgrounds.Next, select from a bevy of colors and line thickness for drawing or the provided clip art. Finally, save the sketch in the app, export it out to your photo album or send it to Twitter. And even as you use the app, more fun appears -- there's a cool Etch-a-Sketch-like shake feature to erase what you've drawn, and the zoom button can move you in close for even more detail.Text input is missing (and reportedly will be included in a later version), but as a quick sketch creator (you won't be designing the Mona Lisa with this, more like circling something on a map or pic before a quick upload to Twitter), Sketches is a really fun, very professional app. LateNiteSoft has it up to 1.2 so far, and even though I had no intention of buying it when I pressed the "Buy App" button without thinking (weren't we all a little feverish when the App Store first dropped?), I don't regret my purchase one bit.%Gallery-29178%
