Topic awaiting preservation: Classic Alien Face

You know those classic alien faces?

I want to know how to make one.

Any help is appreciated.

**keep in mind I SUCK when it comes to Photoshop so Im trying to learn**

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A little jaunt through google caught this link - Create an Alien Face Tut

WebShaman | Asylum D & D | D & D Min Page

I think I know what you mean Black Hat.
I'm going on a round of interviews this morning but when I get back I'll fire up Photoshop and see what we can do. I'm assuming you want one of those long oval faces with the big eyes?
It would help if you have a reference image, if you could find one.
Catch you later.

:::tao::: ::cell::

That's about as broad and vague as could be.

My usual response to such questions, which most certainly applies here -

1) find examples of what you want to create.

2) study them.

3) practice recreating them....

I mean, it really does come down to that. Practice drawing on paper...figure out exactly *what* you are creating before making it a "photoshop" issue.



to expand slightly:

it is important to realize that the way to create this particular thing is the same way to create anything else...it's not like there is a cut and dry way to "create an alien face". There are countless ways to create shape and form, countless ways to add depth, texture, etc.

Being able to do it on paper is always a good start. Knowing how to use your pen tool, make good use of selections, and of course your paintbrush tools are all important steps in the process.

Check out the GN for good tutorials on learning many of those tools.

(Edited by DL-44 on 10-04-2004 16:26)

This links direct to the Tutorial Alien Face Tut

It is pretty simple, and as DL pointed out, there are many ways, to "create" something in PS. This tut is just one of them. To realize the imige in your head, you need to have a good, working familiarity with the tools from PS..

WebShaman | Asylum D & D | D & D Min Page

DL-44: In short: "play, fiddle, learn"

One word... Liquify that's all you need to know!

No practice no experience required just get to it!!

What about the Custom Shape tool? Is there a plugin for this sort of alien-face? Oh yeah here is a example. This isn't exactly what I want but it's damn'd close.



EDIT: Please note that I just finished looking at the tutorials listed above and they arn't what I need.

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(Edited by Black Hat on 10-04-2004 21:05)

Here, here is an example of the type of face I would like to create. I wish there was a custom-shape tool for it.



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I doubt you'll find a custom shape tool for much of what you'll want to create. I think the best advice given here already is to go to Guru's Network and go through their tutorials which offer the basics. Once you have the basics down, or at least an understand of them, you can make just about anything and you won't need a custom shape tool to do it.

I specifically recommend these ones:

Creating Shapes
Adding Depth

I think those two are great building blocks for everyone new to PS.

Amerasu |

Well, considering that all that is there is a series of ovular shapes, arranged however the artist felt like it, and there are no real examples of such an alien to compare with....

Really shouldn't take any particular skill to create such a face. Most of the ones you see look like children's artwork anyway.

{{edit

amerasu posted while I was typing. those two are somewhat outdate, but still rather useful, IMO. Glad you agree =)

(Edited by DL-44 on 10-04-2004 21:46)

quote:

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Tao said:

I think I know what you mean Black Hat.
I'm going on a round of interviews this morning but when I get back
I'll fire up Photoshop and see what we can do. I'm assuming you want
one of those long oval faces with the big eyes?
It would help if you have a reference image, if you could find one.
Catch you later.

:::tao::: ::cell::

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Thanks man - Looking forward to your help.

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quote:

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templar654 said:

One word... Liquify that's all you need to know!No practice no experience required just get to it!!

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Sorry, but we usually try to advocate the opposite of that around here.

Get to know photoshop. Get to know the tools. Get some practice and experience, and then go for the liquefy tool.

I have been saying the same thing for the last 3 years here and I'll say it again.

"A tutorial will only help you achieve a specific effect. However, you can apply the knowledge gained to any project you desire."

For example, most of the interface tutorials I've seen make heavy use of the gradient tool. Why? Because it's an easy way to simulate highlights and shadows when properly masked. Other applications? Any situation where you want to quickly add some type of shading but don't have the talent, or the time, to do so.

But, so as not to sound so completely pedantic, here's a quick example of an alien face.



And the accompanying psd file:

alien.psd ~240kb

The main head shape is a path filled with green. The eyes are that same path shape transformed into teardrop type things. The shading/highlights, which look terrible but give you an idea, are all done with the brush tool and smudge tool.



~edit~ spelling

(Edited by silence on 10-04-2004 23:42)

Ok, let me be a little more detailed as to what I'm looking for:

I'm looking for a 'face-to-face' view so to speak of about 500x500. In other words, I want the alien's face to look as if he's starring at you. Next, I am looking to pillow-emboss his face so he looks like its set into the background.

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So do it!

then come on back when you've got something, and you can get some more help from there.

But christ.....we're not gonna sit here and do all your work for you.

Ok, I tried. I used the raindrop custom-shape, rotated, yada, you get the idea. This is the extent of my skill. This even took me awhile. I know, I suck



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that's a start.

Now go try more.

And then some more...

(Edited by DL-44 on 10-05-2004 02:45)

you say you rotated? turn them thar eye point in toward each other if you have the rotating down, that'll help.

mmm... radioactive pizza!

*you have a hard edge on that bevel... try making the bevel on the eyes much larger and softer. Look up tutorials on glass spheres. Docs is not the best to start on, as it is a bit advanced... look up his other HandsOn tuts first. That will give you a leg up like nothing else.

*the eye is usually shaped more like a diamond than a triangle. Get in there with the pen tools and muck around until you get it.

As far as taking a while. Yeah. It will. Lots of it. No sympathy here. Sorry. One day some one will ask "how do i do ___?" and you will know the answer because you spent so much time with the program. Its true!

ummm....



(Edited by eyezaer on 10-05-2004 03:25)

Ok, I rotated the eyes, ridded myself of the layer styles... But I have a curious question.

How do I make the jaw rounded without screwing the image up?



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Are you using the pen tool to manipulate a path?

I think you'll be needing to try to "Free Transform" instead of "90 CW/CCW" - that'll let you turn from the corners at whatever angle instead of hard rights.

baby steps

quote:

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eyezaer said:

Are you using the pen tool to manipulate a path?

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Haven't figured that out yet...

quote:

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JKMabry said:

I think you'll be needing to try to "Free Transform" instead
of "90 CW/CCW" - that'll let you turn from the corners at whatever
angle instead of hard rights.

baby steps

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Free transform?

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edit > free transform

look it up in the help files... as well as paths.

I see... Ive been working on it.. Do you guys think its looking better?



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I think it's looking a lot better.

One thing to remember though is that once you shrink it down to sig size you'll lose a lot of detail. This is good because it will hide minor errors, but you don't want to go all out on the detail just to have it disappear.

A quick way to add depth without using bevel is to use lighting effects with a height map channel. Check out the Hands-On tutorials at the bottom of the page.

quote:

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silence said:

I think it's looking a lot better.

One thing to remember though is that once you shrink it down to sig
size you'll lose a lot of detail. This is good because it will hide
minor errors, but you don't want to go all out on the detail just to
have it disappear.

A quick way to add depth without using bevel is to use lighting effects
with a height map channel. Check out the Hands-On tutorials at the
bottom of the page.

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Well this isn't for my signature. See, I'm creating an area-51 section on my site and this is going to be the splash/entrance. That part of my site is where I'll be developing my skills and whatnot. So.. yeah... As for a signature image.. I never even considered that. But I will now.

Silence, could you please explain this a little better by chance: "..lighting effects with a height map channel.."

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quote:

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Black Hat said:

Silence, could you please explain this a little better by chance: "..lighting effects with a height map channel.."

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When photoshop renders lighting effects on a 2D object, it needs to know some 3D information such as depth. A height map channel is just a grayscale channel where the values or shades of grey determine how high or low a particular part is.

Go through the HandsOn tuts, they explain it much better.

And since you're going with the image at that size, just ignore my comments relating to shrinking it down.

Ok, I'll do that now then. Also, I will be shrinking it down from it's current size in the end after I finish it and such...

-continues on to the tuts-

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I've just returned and noticed WebShaman answered while I was writing my initial post with a much better suggestion of following that tutorial. That and all the other help you have received here should be all you need Black Hat.
What you have done so far is looking much better.
Tao

Lighting effects is also covered rather thoroughly in the 'adding depth' tutorial that Amerasu posted above.

Just a quick doodle

All i used to make this shape was the elipse tool. Yeh yeh, i know it looks crappy but it shows there are many ways to create the same effect.

The cowboy one is hilarious. Tao - You rule!

The one above is... weird....

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