SlyOwl

And my entry is up ;-)

A simple entry from me; more like the Brig than the Chamber, though... X-D

ROFL! X-D That's great; I love Brikwars *wub* Did you play with someone else or on your own?

I would say no "structure" should overlap, so no buildings or floors, but minifigs and machines e.t.c. can, as long as they are partly in the 8x8, but it's a vig contest, so it doesn't really matter... ;-)

I've built it already, so I'll photomograph it tomorrow, so the deadline is fine, assuming it's GMT, that is ;-)

Are you a psychologist? That was very persuasive... ;-)

*sing* :'-( I'm not going to be able to enter :'-( The only idea I had is unexectuable :'-(

I like this, but it seems more of a WIP to me - where are the people? Furthermore, there are studs amongst the tiles, which leads me to believe that the creator intends to put people on these. And yes, it's a Pirate MOC, hence the telecope ;-)

This article is simply for reference. If you want to ask questions or comment, please PM me or you can visit the original thread here. If you can't see it, you will need access to the Eurobricks Reviewers' Academy, which you can get by requesting it in this thread. OK, so you want to add a stunning background to your MOC or review? Well, I'll show you how, using the Skull's Eye Schooner as an example! N.B. This is a relatively difficult task, and requires practice and patience. Don't expect to do it perfectly first time Preliminary steps - 1) You'll need a decent image editing program. -Adobe Photoshop, Jasc Paint-Shop Pro and Corel Draw (which recently bought Jasc) are the main - and best - ones out there. Use one of these if you have it, but they're not free. -Paint.net is the best free alternative. It offers a wide range of functions, and you can complete this whole tutorial using it. Just click the download button and save the Zipped Folder to desktop. Right click > Extract All, and open the application (.exe) file that is inside. Follow all the steps, and bingo! -Gimp is another free programme. However, you can't insert backgrounds, so it's only useful for giving solid-colour backrounds (like here). -You can just about do it using Paint, although it'll be very difficult and probably sloppy. -I've used Jasc here, but the tools feature in all the rest, although they may be under a different name. I've used bold in brackets for notes on the differences in Photoshop. I've used italics in brackets for notes on the differences in Paint.net. Bold and italics applies to both of them. 2) You'll need a decent photo. I take mine outside on a standard digital camera, but decent lighting inside works just as well. Make sure it isn't blurred or anything obscures your MOC. Also look out for reflections on chrome parts, heavy shadows and "light spots" on bricks. The bigger you take the photo, the better, although it'll take longer if it's bigger, but it'll be more accurate. I take mine at 1600x1200 pixels, but you should be able to work out a balance. The background you take the photos against is important. I use A4 paper stuck onto cardboard, but any purely white(ish) background should do. If your MOC is largely white/silver/light-grey/yellow e.t.c. (light colours), a blue background works well. Hinckley has got a tutorial on this here. Actual steps - 1) Lighten and sharpen the image. You may want to adjust the levels to sort out the colour balance, but it isn't normally necessary. Choose a random colour that is totally different from the outside borders of your MOC - I chose green as there aren't any greenish bits around the edges. Using a large paintbrush (make sure that hardness, opacity and density are all at their maximum, and the step is at 1 or 2 (flow at 100%)(Disable antialiasing - the button to the right of "Solid Color")), do a roughish outline of it - don't try and be accurate, or you'll end up painting over it... 2) Zoom in. There are two main methods from now on - a) Painting. Reduce the brush size, but keep the hardness, density and opacity at maximum still. Simply draw around the outside of your MOC. Don't be afraid to change the brush shape - the best ones to use are the circle, square, and left and right slashes (These aren't as easy to find in Photoshop - using a flattened oval or circle is best)(These don't exist in Paint.net). And don't be afraid to resize the brush frequently. A helpful trick is to hold down shift before clicking again. This draws a straight line between your previous brush click and your current one. This is very helpful for long straight edges and large curves (e.g. sails, hulls, masts, baseplate edges). This is the most accurate method (and the background colour/consistency doesn't matter as much)(This doesn't exist in Paint.net - use the line tool instead, pressing ctrl+D after drawing each line, to prevent the curve function enabling). b) Colour-Replacing. This is where the background comes into play. The colour-replacer tool (Color Replacement Tool, right click on the paintbrush and the select from the drop-down menu)(Recolor Tool) changes all pixels of a certain colour into another (the random one you chose earlier). Hold control and click to select one colour and control and left click to select the other (the random one you chose earlier). Next step is to change the tolerance. This means how much variation between pixel brightness/colour is allowed. If it is at 0, this means only pixels of exactly the selected colour will be colour-replaced. If it is too high, you risk colour-replacing your MOC, and if it is too low, you will get a fuzzy outline (like below). This can be remedied by trimming the edges with the paintbrush (see 2 below). I generally use a tolerance of anywhere between 20 and 60 (10% - 25%), depending. This is the fastest method for cutting out a MOC, but not necessarily the most accurate. N.B. Do not use the fill tool. It will fill where you don't want it to, no matter what you try. 3) Patience and practice are the key. Know where you can use the colour-replacer easily, and where it is easier to use the paintbrush. 4) Set the feather on the magic wand to 1 (select all in Photoshop first, then go Select > Feather)(Feather doesn't exist in Paint.net, but the magic wand does) and the tolerance to 0 (0%). This means it will select a semi-transparent 1 pixel outline around your MOC, which removes any sharp/rough edges. Remember to click on every bit of your chosen random; hold down shift to do so (click the Add to Selection button)(Selection Mode > Add; however, in Paint.net, the magic wand often selects over "boundaries" (other coloured bits), even if it can't "flood" into it.). colour. Go to Selections > Invert Selection (Select > Inverse)(Edit > Invert Selection), to select your MOC instead of the background. Choose a background (Mister Phes has done some great ones here), copy it and paste it into a seperate sub-window. Copy your MOC (Select All (ctrl+A) and paste it onto the background as a floating selection: Edit > Paste > As New Selection (Edit > Paste)(Edit > Paste into new image). You may need to resize it to fit. You can now edit the brightness e.t.c. of your MOC without affecting the background (DON'T do this whilst cutting it out - it'll muck up your original chosen colour). You can also invert the selection again and edit the background seperately from the MOC. Deselect your selection: Selection > Select None (Select > Deselect)(Edit > Deselect). 5) (This step is impossible in Pain.net) For adding waves, use the freehand selector tool (slice select tool), with a feather of 2/3. Select a random(ish) area incorporating the bottom of the boat and some water... ...And go to Effects > Geometric Effects > Wave (Filter > Distort > Ocean Ripple) and set the horizontal wavelength (ripple size) and amplitude to 0. Adjust the vertical ones to make it look realistic (Doesn't exist in Photoshop) 6) Deselect and bingo! (Remember to resize )

Here it is, the finished thing! X-D Shark attack! :-P Cabbage Slam Dunk! :-D If you go onto the roof today, you'd better go in disguise, for today's the day the old men have their picnic! :-/ .......... Ye olde thatch... ;-) Friends will be friends! When you've lost your hat and need some help in the sewer, friends will be friends, right 'til the end! X-D Someone's angry about ye olde socks! Thanks to Jipay and "Twit Person" 8-| .......... Soup kitchen explosion! Where are you Yoda? :-P .......... Poverty in the midst of plenty; yes, I'm doing my history revision as I type this... X-O .......... Welcome to the most spectacularly wonderful, absabloominlutely spectacular spectacle of worldly merchandise, the Wonder Emporium! :-P Any similarities to any other media are completely coincidental. Idols from the East, golden tablets, the key to Helen of Troy's heart...it's all here... ......... Upstairs now, with someone rather familiar having fun flushing the toilet...anyone been to the Science Museum in London? And the cast, 24 minifigs! X-O And a better view of the witch doctor skeleton... Enjoy!

Awesome film! X-D It's so cheesey but loveable! :-P The contraptions the Pirates use in the big land battle will influence some of my future MOCs, but not the current ones ;-)

Drawing on RC's Steampunk Impulse contest, perhaps a Pirate Impulse contest, where participants build a Pirate MOC with less than 50 pieces. Prizes could include the standard Piratical bonanza, maybe a little less. This would generate a lot of interest as you don't need extensive time, parts or troops to enter, but you can still be really creative. A system whereby you lose a vote every 2 pieces you go over the limit (51pc = -1, 53 = 2, 55 = -3...) could allow people to build larger but with forfeits... ;-)

Nope, it was in the Viking line, I think, although I got it off BL... ;-)

Hey! *y* Will you be entering the Battle Contest on CC? I will hopefully, providing I have time; I've still got to enter Hinckley's Block-Block contest, and the UB's Build the Chamber contest... 8-| I would like you even more if you liked Pirates... :-$ Edit: Ooh, I just realised that you have got the same avatar as Jifel... X-O

Thankyou sooooooooo much, Hinckley for extending the deadline, so I can enter this weekend! *wub* I might even say I love you :-$

Yeah, I kind-of threw the engine together as I needed to get it out of the way because of an overloaded schedule :'-( Thanks, but I don't do SW :-P It's called a compass... ;-) Yeesh! Not again X-D

And done! But what does Egad mean? :-$ I haven't got any of them 8-|

Firstly, it's an awesome set! Here in England,

The Yanks have it easy; more sets around, so therefore cheaper. |-/ Old School! :-P X-D

Who? A big orange eye? Wraiths? Saruman? Denethor? Old Man Willow? The Balrog? The Witch King Of Angmar? Shelob?

I'd first ask where in the world you're from; what sets you can get and how much they cost varies hugely. Here in England, you can get the second biggest ship, the Black Seas Barracuda, for around

Here's my entry for the Reasonably Clever Steampunk Impulse Contest. Well, I've never done Steampunk before, so be nice to me *sweet* I decided to use the elephant head piece for more than an elephant head piece, so I used it as the body for the Elliecopter, hence the name X-D Another view: And the back, with a gauge for the boiler and exhausts: Side view... Front... The pilot...I tried to steer him a little towards mechanic and away from crazy inventor... The parts, all 48 of them (contest maximum was 50)... You like? :-)

Aye, but people will buy them all the same ;-) AFOLs for parts and minifigs; they don't care too much about the set, on the whole. KABOBs don't care too much about the set, as long as it's got plenty of playability. Take, for example, Black Falcon's Castle; AFOLs love it, but kids prefer the newer ones; it's just a difference in taste, but I'm sure that their profits will increase as a result of satisfying playability and new factions :-D My two cents :-)

:'-) Really? I'd have thought that it could generate increased buying amongst AFOLs as they all want the new sets and as they come faster, they'll buy more. It also means KABOBs can buy what they feel like, and it may generate panic buying if the sets won't be available for that long. Anyway, I'm sure TLC has plenty of people working this out ;-) So no more Doomsday bells from you, laddy buck! X-D