Hello Everyone! Do yall mind if you can help me out with my image(s)

[evolvedbullet]

I'm new here and I kind of feel excited because this is the first photoshop forum that I've ever joined. So Hello

I've been working on this image here:
http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/1...copyds1.jpgegg
But I found out some flaws in the design. How can I make this image more... breathtaking to say the least. (That is, to the average person)

Here are some stock images if you would like to view them (all tagged for full view):
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http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/4...001mh0.jpgeegg
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http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/645...0004np2.jpgegg
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http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/9...0002mi1.jpgegg

Any help with effects, photo-touching, brush suggestions, you name it, are all welcomed with open arms. Thanks for the help

[steve.ledger]

Are these entirely your creations? They looks like screenshots from a PC game.

[evolvedbullet]

Your correct, it is from Half Life 2 to be certain. I wanted to tune up my skill in photoshop by using poses as a tool to work with. Make the screenshot look better, you know, stuff like that.


I made the screenshot, the angle, the pose, everything. I didn't create the models and such from scratch though. They were already in the game to start with. I posed them and freezed them so I could get a good picture.
I hope this doesn't discredit me from my picture .

[Mchilly]

The character looks good already but if you want to make it breathtaking, probably you can change the background it looks dull or might as well add more details in the character

[steve.ledger]

I hope this doesn't discredit me from my picture .

Posting someone elses work which you've edited is hardly credible don't you think?
Or are you feeling ok about this because as it was you who hit the PrtScrn button at the frame you wanted, it now somehow becomes your creation?

What you are doing is fine for your own private learning experience, however here at TalkGraphics we prefer to see and discuss original work.
I'm sure you already have some skills worth showing - right?

Credit where credit is due I say.

[evolvedbullet]

Yes, the game takes alot of the credit; the graphics, everything. But I used a mod on which ragdolls exist and can be frozen to do any kind of position you please. I know it kind of sounds lame but I thought this mod could help me with my photoshop skill (well, maybe at a very slow development but nonetheless learning) since you can make characters from other games look and do what you please (there is no AI in them at all so it's very simple to get done). I take full credit for the scene however; it's posing, camera angle, the facial expressions, the sword on her back (if you didn't notice ), and some other factors. I don't take the credit of the level that I played it in, I'm not the origin of the models, and some other factors.

I apologize to forget mentioning such creditablies; I'm used to people knowing where my poses are from . This is basicly a stock image that needs alot of touch-up and cool effect; that's why I make pictures for this mod, so I can do stuff like this. In previous forums, (this might be alittle more different since this is a photoshop forum) people have told me that I shouldn't even be editing pictures like these and go for the gold. It was said that I could learn many more things faster if I did so; seems like a good trade-off; I drop this Garry's mod thing because it's only slowing me down.

If you guys want to see this kind of work in the practical sense, I will use such skills to make posters and such for my father. He is a music man in his late 50's, he's a great manager and says that my kind of work could be very profitable if I worked with him. He doesn't really lie to me that much and this sounded like a good deal because I need money desperately! I'm just trying to, also, build up my level of commitment and personal responsibility so that when things come my way, I can handle them because I had prier experience of such a thing.

I get used to being flamed for my work . I did alot of work to make the screenshots, 2 to 3 hours actually for the entire scene (alot of it isn't seen on the thread, if I showed you, it would look really awkward). I'm just giving you folks examples on what I do to try to get better at photoshop. I need help with my training, I can't really do this on my own. *Without a direction and without a guide, one only walks blind in an unknown cloud.*

[remi]

There is no problem in asking your questions in this forum.

The only problem is, that you are not the original author of this game and this models. Unfortunately that's a copyright infringement, if you post these pictures in the Web, because the copyright for this game (models, environment, ...) lies by the software company (I'm sure they said that in their license agreement you accept during installation or in their manual). Therefore, please remove these pictures from the post above.

I could be wrong. Perhaps you're able to find the right chapter in your license agreement and the copyright owner of the game has nothing against using and posting such scenes in the internet.

Remi

[handrawn]

Agree with Remi.

Thing is - if you wantto be an animator or a gamesmith I can see some merit here perhaps - but you still have to abide by copyright rules in a public forum at the very least.

As it is - learning Photoshop techniques for posters and such doesn't require this - there are lots of genuine unrestricted images that you can use, and help available when you need it.

[remi]

A better way to create a 3D scene without copyright infringements, is to use a 3D graphics package with some free 3D characters. Take a look at DAZ Studio - it's free, together with some 3D models.

Remi

[handrawn]

absolutely