How Should I Choose My Avatar to Maintain Image Quality at Small Sizes?

[hitssquad]

Hm, is that Adam Daniel?

Yes.

. .

 

[honestrosewater]

Sorry, I'm moving very slowly - rough day.

Thanks, hitssquad.

If you like one of them (even if just temporary until you get Photoshop up and running), I don't know if you can just save it to your computer from the post, but if not, I can either email you the image or upload it to image shack and provide the URL. If you want it emailed, send me a PM.

That's very nice, I appreciate the gesture, really. I pretty much have to do it myself - long story short: I'm just quirky. It helps to see some finished ones though.

As for not getting a square avatar, they don't have to be square, as long as the largest side is 64 pixels or less. Or you can fill in the rest of the square with a solid color.

Yeah, I just hate to waste space. I'm not new to image editing, so I should be just fine on my own. It's the decision process that's the biggest problem for me. But it looks like Gw/PE is the winner. Woohoo!

 

[honestrosewater]

And before anyone else (loseyourname) beats me - yes, I saw the movie, I know Scarlett Johansson was LYN's avatar and played Griet, who posed for the painting.

 

[zoobyshoe]

zooby,
Okay, say you want the Mona Lisa's smile as you avatar. If your avatar must be square, you either lose the corners of the smile (the best part, IMO) or end up with a huge chunk of nose and/or chin invading the picture and throwing it out of whack. That's what I mean by the parts I want not being square or not being able to get a good frame.

Actually, no. If you want to focus on the Mona Lisa's smile and you're resricted to a square, you need only make the smile the size you want it to be in that square, and center it there. Let the nose and chin fall where they may, they aren't going to strike the viewer as "invasions" as you predict. People's eyes go to the center of focus, and the brain automatically understands things at the periphery are not important.

I don't know what feature of the Vermeer you want to focus on, but I thought the way Moonbear cropped it made an excellent avatar image.

You can practise cropping any image you can get up on your screen by throwing together an expandable square
Get, like, 4 business envelopes. Tape two of them together at the ends forming a right angle. Do the same with the other two. Then, holding one of these in each hand you can overlap the other ends to make a square window. This can be made smaller or expanded as you need, and you can hold it over any part of the painting on the monitor you want, to see how it would look cropped that way.

 

[quasar987]

Just pick the pokemon or DBZ character that you like best from the list of "proposed" avatars. They're cool. Just don't pick Mr. Popo, he's mine!

 

[hitssquad]

Sorry, I'm moving very slowly - rough day.

Try some vinpocetine.
http://store.yahoo.com/iherb/vinpocetine3.html

 

[loseyourname]

I love Chuck Close.

It's funny you should discover they work well as "small avatars", though. The originals are like, 3x larger than life.

I know. That's why they're so good, even when reduced to small size. The detail is incredible. Seeing one 'in person' just throws you on the floor.

 

[loseyourname]

I always saw it as little lamb. I don't know where the little part comes from though. Both of my grandfathers were pastors, and my siblings and I all have Biblical names: Jason, Rachel, Rebecca, and Nicholas.

My first sister's name is Gaelic (which makes sense, since we are half-Irish). I suppose she's the only one whose name is not biblical at all - her name is Tara. Jessica is originally derived from the Hebrew "Yiskah" (transliterated through the Greek "Ieshka" and Latin "Jesca"), who was a daughter of Haran in Genesis. Danielle is simply the feminized version of Daniel.

Hm, is that Adam Daniel?

Yes. The full name, including surname, would be "man formed from the ground, God is my judge, of the coast." The surname is Spanish.

My middle name is Diane, BTW. I think it's from Diana, the Roman's Artemis.

Diana was later associated with Artemis, probably by Ovid, but was originally the Roman goddess of virginity and hunting.

Interestingly enough, my two old neighbors (who were sisters) were named Cynthia and Diana. Diana was said to have been born on Mt. Cynthus and both names are associated with the moon (Cynthia literally translates to "moon").

There are two great sites for finding character names:
http://www.behindthename.com/
http://www.kabalarians.com/cfm/surf-by.cfm?Baby=Yes
Eh, it looks like the second one is now requiring subscriptions for something, I don't know. They were my favorite.

Thanks. I'm not interested in names so much, but etymology in general fascinates me (in case you couldn't tell by now).

 

[honestrosewater]

Actually, no. If you want to focus on the Mona Lisa's smile and you're resricted to a square, you need only make the smile the size you want it to be in that square, and center it there. Let the nose and chin fall where they may, they aren't going to strike the viewer as "invasions" as you predict. People's eyes go to the center of focus, and the brain automatically understands things at the periphery are not important.

Okay, I let the smile determine the width and centered it:
http://xs41.xs.to/pics/05324/smile.jpg
Sure, I focus on the smile first, but then what? The rest is just 'there', or at least, it seems that way to me. There's nothing pleasing about the image as a whole, unlike, say
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/vermeer/little-street/little-street.jpg
(well, that's not really a fair comparison but it's in the right direction.)

You can practise cropping any image you can get up on your screen ...<snip>... to see how it would look cropped that way.

I've seriously done that before. I was going to make one for the avatars, because the editor I'm using doesn't have a grid or any way to measure anything other than going into resize it. But I didn't feel like measuring it myself.

 

[honestrosewater]

Yes. The full name, including surname, would be "man formed from the ground, God is my judge, of the coast." The surname is Spanish.

I don't know what my last name means. Someone said my mother's name, Rawley, was changed from Raleigh when they came to America. But I don't know whether it's true. They're from Virginia. There's a Rawley Springs in Virginia too, I think.

Diana was later associated with Artemis, probably by Ovid, but was originally the Roman goddess of virginity and hunting.

Interestingly enough, my two old neighbors (who were sisters) were named Cynthia and Diana. Diana was said to have been born on Mt. Cynthus and both names are associated with the moon (Cynthia literally translates to "moon").

I think Diana and Artemis were both moon goddesses. Artemis was also goddess of hunting but fertility instead of virginity, which was Athena. I think - I'm not quite with it now.

etymology in general fascinates me (in case you couldn't tell by now).

Yeah, I noticed.

 

[hitssquad]

the editor I'm using doesn't have a grid or any way to measure anything

Bring out The Gimp. It's free (as in beer).
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net

http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/gimpwin.png

 

[hitssquad]

I'm not quite with it now.

Try some picamilon.
easycart.net/BeyondACenturyInc./Neurological.html#4090

http://www.easycart.net/BeyondACenturyInc./images/4090.jpg

 

[honestrosewater]

Bring out The Gimp. It's free (as in beer).
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net

I was just going to search PF for some free editor I remember them talking about - that's the one. One of these days, I'm going to have a problem that you won't be able to solve.

 

[hitssquad]

One of these days, I'm going to have a problem that you won't be able to solve.

No. That is not part of my programming.

 

[honestrosewater]

Try some picamilon.
easycart.net/BeyondACenturyInc./Neurological.html#4090

This time I know what I need: :zzz:

But I'm settling for:

. (I hope that's correct; I know jack about chemistry.)

 

[hitssquad]

This time I know what I need: :zzz:

Aha. Why didn't you say so? Try some Modafinil.
http://smart-drugs.com/ias-Modafinil.htm

I have used Adrafinil, which is related to Modafinil. Adrafinil has the same effects, but is one-third as potent (which makes it 3 times as harmful to the liver since 3 times as much has to be taken). It really works. You don't feel tired or groggy at all. It isn't anything like caffeine and it doesn't make you feel wired.

 

[hitssquad]

Why did you post the molecular diagram for gasoline, Rose?

just kidding[/color][/size]

 

[honestrosewater]

Why did you post the molecular diagram for gasoline, Rose?

just kidding[/color][/size]

We knew you were tricksy.

 

[zoobyshoe]

"Sure, I focus on the smile first, but then what? The rest is just 'there', or at least, it seems that way to me. There's nothing pleasing about the image as a whole..."

I see what you mean. The shadow under her nose is much darker than I recalled and unbalances the composition. The viewer wants the camera pulled up to include her eyes.

I guess if you're going to do a disembodied mouth, you'd have to "airbrush" out all the distractions. I wonder if, in her case, it would then still be recognisable as La Giaconda?

Anyway, I think the Vermeer makes a good avatar.

 

[honestrosewater]

I see what you mean. The shadow under her nose is much darker than I recalled and unbalances the composition. The viewer wants the camera pulled up to include her eyes.

I guess if you're going to do a disembodied mouth, you'd have to "airbrush" out all the distractions. I wonder if, in her case, it would then still be recognisable as La Giaconda?

I've tried mouths before but don't remember ever making them work - even with no restrictions. Everywhere you go - chin, cheek, nose - it's just not a good setup. You don't want just the mouth, but what else do you include? (I don't know.)

I don't recognize her mouth immediately in the image above. I think I would figure it out eventually.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I've tried mouths before but don't remember ever making them work - even with no restrictions.

Ever see The Rocky Horror Picture Show?

 

[honestrosewater]

Ever see The Rocky Horror Picture Show?

No, but I've seen the mouth. I wasn't thinking of a stand-alone mouth. And that's an open mouth, which changes everything! ()

Or did you mean something else?

 

[loseyourname]

Bring out The Gimp.

A Pulp Fiction reference from he who rarely watches movies?

 

[zoobyshoe]

No, but I've seen the mouth. I wasn't thinking of a stand-alone mouth. And that's an open mouth, which changes everything! ()

No, it's a singing mouth. The opening song is done by a disembodied mouth with very red lips.

I suppose they put a black hood on the lip-syncher, and filled in around the lips with black greasepaint, then painted the lips with very red lipstick. All you see is lips, teeth, and the occasional glimpse of tongue, singing the song. It's a closeup shot: the mouth takes up most of the screen.

Science fiction double feature.
Doctor X will build a creature.
See androids fighting Brad and Janet.
Ann Francis stars in Forbidden Planet

At the late night
Double feature
Picture show.

 

[loseyourname]

What about the Mouth of Sauron?

 

[honestrosewater]

Oy, what have I started? And why didn't you guys mention the Stones? Heh, okay, I'm not comfortable calling them the Stones. I mean the Rolling Stones.

 

[hitssquad]

And why didn't you guys mention the Stones?

Because we were thinking of Tap.

 

[honestrosewater]

Because we were thinking of Tap.

The spinal kind?

The Gimp rocks, BTW.

 

[hitssquad]

The Gimp rocks, BTW.

He doesn't say much, though.

http://www.kmlager.com/albums/album01/simp4.jpg

 

[honestrosewater]

Surprise! I couldn't do anything with Gw/PE. I may try later, but I really like this one. What do you think? Do I need to brighten it or such?