Topic awaiting preservation: One Ring to Rule Them All: The Evolution of a Ring (Page 1 of 1)

OK, to avoid clogging up the contest thread, I'm moving my entries here for the time being. When I've gotten things worked out and I settle on a final image, I will post that once in the contest thread. Below are the two original posts which contained my first two efforts, followed by my third effort, inspired by DL, reitsma, Raptor, etc.

******

(posted 01-14-2003 06:33 AM)

I wasn't going to enter a sig in this month's competition because I figured someone would surely latch onto the idea before me. No one has done it yet, though (perhaps because it's too obvious?), and you all know what happens when I get an idea in my head--I can't rest until I get it out, for better or for worse. So, here is my attempt at jewelry. It's not nearly as nice as some of the other entries here, but I think it's fun. I think you will all recognize the inspiration...



The script is in Tengwar cursive, a freeware font inspired by the script used on the Ring. The text itself says "master suho"--I never thought I would put that moniker on a sig of my own making, but it seemed appropriate here ;-).

And for those of you in the "where the heck is your name" crowd, I present to you version two:



Personally, I like the first version better; it just looks cleaner and nicer (and more true to the spirit of the Ring), but since this is a sig (and very few people can read tengwar, yours truly included), I decided to carve the English version of the text into the inside of the Ring.

This way I can cover all the bases, no matter what the judge's preferences may be. :-D

[Edit: Yes, I know it looks big, but it's only 113 pixels high...

Hmm... I also don't like the way the text curves, now that I look at it. Well, I still have some time to work on that.]

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 01-14-2003).]

*****

(posted 01-14-2003 07:48 AM)

Ah, OK, I got it--and I think I understand what reitsma was getting at. Time for more messin' around.

[Edit: And in the interest of saving space, I'll just slap my new versions down here...

- and -

I messed around a bit with the text distortion, fooled around with some layer blending modes, didn't like the result, and ended up doing it the old fashioned way--applying a gradient to the text with 50% opacity. Let's see how it looks.]

[Edit2: I think we have a keeper(s). :-)]

[Edit3: *sigh* OK, now we have a keeper (fixed some ugly stuff...)]

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 01-14-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 01-14-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 01-14-2003).]

*****

OK, that's the story up until now. When I first whipped these up, I thought they looked pretty good. I now realize that they look like crap. Following some of the advice I received in the contest thread (and elsewhere), I present to you version 3 of the Rings:

- and -

The major changes are 1) an attempt at a more realistic gold color and 2) major text revision. I finally realized that I had to skew the letters to get them to look right, so I did that. I also changed the font on the "Master Suho" version and redid the Tengwar text so it actually looks like it's glowing.

Please feel free to rip apart my latest efforts. I won't be making any more changes to this for the rest of the day, so have a ball.

[Edit: Heh... I just noticed that the rings got a bit flattened at the top and bottom in the shrinking process. I'll have to get to that tomorrow.]

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 01-15-2003).]

Ok...first of all, go here. There is a lot of Gold graphics there...so you can get an idea, of why your gold is not working (which it isn't).

Also, the ring is too thick...that is, the edges should taper off more...and maybe come to an edge, though a rounded one.

I really like how you did your name in the last example.

Well, not to be argumentative, but I don't think a single one of those images on that page looks like real gold (they look like really poor uses of layer effects, actually). The colors I have in these rings are based on photos of real gold. When it comes down to it, though, I'm not aiming for a photo-realistic ring--it is going to be rather stylized. As long as I get something that approximates gold I'll be satisfied.

As for the thickness, well, I want it to be thick, not thin and tapering. I guess I like the way it looks. I know what you're getting at--that the edge should be more rounded--but that's not the way I want to make it. Not all rings have rounded edges (in fact, the ring I'm wearing right now has a flat edge), and the flat edge conveys a heaviness and a thickness that fits what I'm looking for. Incidentally, I got the idea for this from a reproduction of the ring, and that ring had fairly flat edges. Not that I'm slavishly sticking to the model, but I just like the way it looks.

So, I guess I'm just going to chalk it all up to artistic differences.

The only thing I might consider changing is the color, but not now. It's a vast improvement over what I had, and I think I'm going to stick with it for now.

The One Ring.

But if you wish to do it differently, that's ok, too.

Yup, I wish to do it differently.

It's kind of a blend of the One Ring and my wedding ring, to be honest with you. I was watching the LOTR DVD, though, and apparently the ring in the movie was based on the assistant producer's (I think) wedding ring, so at least there's a precedent for it. Heh.

Yes, it is an improvemnet, and I very heartily agree that the images on that page do not look a bit like gold.

I don't really have a problem with the thickness, or the lack of a tapered edge - I agree that it does fit well enough.

I think what it is lacking at the moment though is deeper shadows - I think the gradient should darken near the edge (not *at* the edge!) and again on the inner side it would be darker underneath the outer part (<-if taht makes sense).

The text is much improved as well. I will add that I also would like to see something a litle darker in there (a combination of the glow you've got and the indentation that the "master suho" text has would work nicely).

But anyway, yes - much better on the last one.

=)

Sorry Suho, but this is what it should look like.



The File size is huge (221 k to be exact), but I did not take the time to keep it small. I might do it with a smaller file size and submit it for the January sig contest.

Not bad Jackal, but I don't know if that is what it *should look like*.

Your top shadow is a little too prominant for my tastes really. That and the glow of the elvish lettering flows *over* the ring. That takes away from the effect IMHO.

How 'bout we all just give The One Ring a go and see what we do

Later,

C:\


~Binary is best~

[This message has been edited by The Jackal (edited 01-15-2003).]

Jackal:

Your lettering follows a non-torus curve, so it's at an off angle. It doesn't look like it's carved into the ring, but rather floating above it on a separate planar curve. The perspective on the lettering is also faked, poorly. You need to look at your horizon and see how the lettering would taper toward a vanishing point, and not angle outward at its top edges.

As for the ring itself...Well it's reflecting a sort of purpl-ish environment..but a completely flat environment with no atmosphere.

Sorry chap..it looks nice for a start..but it's hardly how anything "should look", as right now it looks like a mediocre render with some text thrown over and set the layer effects to glow without understanding the position, perspective, and environment.

That Ring looks like it was produced using a 3D Program!!!

I believe getting a real gold look should be a cake walk doing it that way.

Still like where Suho is going cause of the rawness that he has applied so far.

Now if he would check the (which I believe is a) 3D render and get colors and highlights then Suho is well on his way.


A wise man once said;
"I don't know!?!?"

I decided to take a stab at it, here is what i have accomplished so far.

I noticed about half way through painting that the dang thing was not thick enough at the sides, i tried to doctor that in. I can't seem to get the words to curve and get into perspective. Anyone have a tip on that? I will give an update tomorrow as I have to get to bed now.


[This message has been edited by wilmonkey (edited 01-16-2003).]

I can't seem to get the text right, so I'm giving up for now. Here is the finished product.

-wil

The Jackal's pic of the ring looks great, i love it!

"Trust" is a dirty word that comes only from such a liar but "respect" is something I will learn...if you have faith!!

hehehe, couldnt resist this but its not a sig but a ring i made not so long back



Edit:Yup i made it in a 3d proggy

[This message has been edited by tomeaglescz (edited 01-16-2003).]

Jackal - not a bad effort, but there are far too many flaws to claim that "this is what it should look like".

DG's list is a good start.

Not to mention, what it "should" look like is a very subjective thing - just because the movie made the ring one way doesn't mean that is how it is.

Whoa! I didn't mean to step on anyone?s toes about my comments to Suho. The text does need work, but it was the best I could do in a short amount of time. The ring is not supposed to be a perfect torus either. You'll notice in the link that WebShaman gave that the ring is not a perfect torus. Jewelers do not commonly make rings that are this shape. Thus the reason I did not simply make a torus and squish it to make the ring.

I did use a 3D Prog to get the ring shape MalFunkShun, but the color tones and hues were all altered in PS. I decided not to enter it on the sig contest for this reason. Bryce is good for rendering shapes, but not very good for getting the desired colors and such that you may need at times like this.

I will post my new ring some time tonight or tomorrow.

Here is the final version I am going to do. The file size is much smaller, only 124k. Not as small as I would like, but I have spent all the time on it I am going to.



[This message has been edited by The Jackal (edited 01-17-2003).]

The text still doesn't conform too well with the shape...

Well, I'm glad to see my ring has generated so much interest...

Jackal: I'm very happy for you and your ring, but I like my ring the way it is (although it's not perfect yet). I do appreciate your effort, though.

tom: nice...

DL: I will take your suggestions into account for my next try, although it may be a while before I can get back to it. Thanks for the advice.

Well, I haven't tried to actually use this to make a ring so I don't know how well it will work, but I found this tutorial -> http://www.tiemdesign.com/HOWTO/2000/GoldTextPS/default.htm and the gold it produces looks really nice to my eyes. I'll give it a shot and see if I can come up with anything worth looking at.

Well, I am glad to see the interest I stirred up in the subject, and I did like a lot of the rings presented here. I have finally gotten around to finishing off mine, though, and I thought it would be only fair to post the final product here (in addition to the contest thread). It probably doesn't look how everyone thinks it should look, but I kind of like it. My intention was never to produce a photo-realistic ring; I always had a stylized version in mind. Well, anyway, here are the final two versions (without and with English text):

-and-

At this point I'm not really sure which one I like better. At first I liked the plain version (without the "Master Suho" text), but after some improvements to that text (both in terms of font and carving depth), it doesn't look all that bad.

Suho nice work, playing around with that ring and the one i made for the sig ontest got me back into the mood, forgot how much fun it could be

Could one of you talented artists give a brief tutorial for creating the basic ring shape? I wanted to create my own for my sister's wedding service bulletin cover, but I never could get the right perspective... Reading over someone else's process would likely help me find my mistake... Forget the whole metallic texture bit, my problem was getting the base color to reflect the right shape...
Is it all in the painting or what?

*edit* bear in mind, I am not using a 3-d program, I want to do it in Photoshop. I suppose this question would be better asked in the PS forum, but since this thread exists here, I figured it would be ok.
And I'm sorry I haven't got anything to show you about how I started, I got mad and chucked it all... This was months ago...


Bodhi - Cell 617

[This message has been edited by bodhi23 (edited 01-31-2003).]