Choosing your palette - Revision history

Egallager: some spellchecking

2024-10-10T03:35:35Z

some spellchecking

Vyncyn at 17:17, 15 May 2023

2023-05-15T17:17:20Z

Vyncyn: /* Highlights */

2017-04-22T16:28:35Z

‎Highlights

Vyncyn: /* Shadows */

2017-04-22T16:25:13Z

‎Shadows

Vyncyn: /* Shadows */

2017-04-22T15:38:06Z

‎Shadows

Vyncyn: /* Highlights */

2017-04-22T15:37:41Z

‎Highlights

Vyncyn: /* Shadows */

2017-04-22T15:25:17Z

‎Shadows

Taptap at 09:10, 19 April 2017

2017-04-19T09:10:51Z

Vyncyn: /* Reusing shades */

2017-04-18T16:10:12Z

‎Reusing shades

Vyncyn: /* Same colours for different surfaces */

2017-04-18T15:51:07Z

‎Same colours for different surfaces

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 == Analysing existing art ==
 Some of the newer mainline sprites use a lot of shades you (at first) wouldn't expect. Before creating your own images it is good to look at and analyse them.
-Good examples are the Firedragon(green and purple shadows) and Elvish Outrider(yellow highlights on metall)
+Good examples are the Firedragon(green and purple shadows) and Elvish Outrider(yellow highlights on metal)
 http://units.wesnoth.org/1.12/pics/core$images$units$monsters$fire-dragon.png
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 == Reusing shades ==
-I'd generally advise '''against'''  using the same shades in the same image on different surfaces as it can make later edits more difficult and look confusing, but sharing the palette between different units can be useful to indicate unity (eg. units from the same faction).
+I'd generally advise '''against'''  using the same shades in the same image on different surfaces as it can make later edits more difficult and look confusing, but sharing the palette between different units can be useful to indicate unity (e.g. units from the same faction).
 Nevertheless here are three units, who use only 12 shades of brown, to show you how to reduce colour count
@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 These units create different materials and colours by using variating shading method (see above) and quantity of a colour.
-The fist one has a lot of orange in his trousers to distinguish it from his skintone. His weapon uses browntones with a hint of purple and green to create the illusion of a natural wooden branch and beige for dry leaves. The golden ornaments are mostly yellow with white as higlights and orange/brown in the shadows.
+The fist one has a lot of orange in his trousers to distinguish it from his skintone. His weapon uses browntones with a hint of purple and green to create the illusion of a natural wooden branch and beige for dry leaves. The golden ornaments are mostly yellow with white as highlights and orange/brown in the shadows.
 Nr.2 has a darker but shiny skin, so the contrast is higher (white highlights to brown skin)
@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 The last one has a lighter skin with mostly beige shades. On his shoulders are bronze plates with a lot more orange than the gold ornaments of Nr.1. His skirt and breastplate have nearly the same shades as the skin, but a lot more white (skirt) and brown (armor) to distinguish.
-Most of the time the shape of an object can be decisive for the apperance of the material.
+Most of the time the shape of an object can be decisive for the appearance of the material.
 == Shadows ==
 Darker shades can be replaced with different colours to create a higher contrast or to give the material an undertone.
-The default shadow for wesnoth is purple. It works best on orange or brown shades, but can be used for almost every colour with good results.
+The default shadow for Wesnoth is purple. It works best on orange or brown shades, but can be used for almost every colour with good results.
-Non-reflective surfaces (e.g. normal clothes) should have just darker shades of the base colour, grey, or the default purple in the shadows. Metall and other reflective materials can use a larger variety.
+Non-reflective surfaces (e.g. normal clothes) should have just darker shades of the base colour, grey, or the default purple in the shadows. Metal and other reflective materials can use a larger variety.
 Complementary colours (e.g dark green shadow for orange materials) let the surface shine a little brighter.
-To create the illusion of reflection green (grass,forest) and blue (sky) shades on metall work best.
+To create the illusion of reflection green (grass,forest) and blue (sky) shades on metal work best.
 Other colours can be used to characterize a faction/unit (e.g. blue shadows for units with a water theme, red for a fire theme...)
-Additionaly the number of shades you replace can have a large effect:
+Replace only one shade for a hardly noticeable undertone. It's an easy effect with little effort.
-Replace only one shade for a hardly noticeable undertone. It's an easy effect with little efford.
+Replace multiple shades with different colours to create properties for the material (e.g rusty surface, magical aura, unique (magical) metals like mythril). It has to be carefully crafted, otherwise it will look very strange.
 Replacing multiple shades with the same colour will change the colour of the material. It is only good when desired.
@@ Line 89: / Line 88: @@
 == Highlights ==
-Highlights are bright shades with a different colour than the material. They will mostly be used for metalls, but can also give textile a shining ability (-> silk).
+Highlights are bright shades with a different colour than the material. They will mostly be used for metals, but can also give textile a shining ability (-> silk).
 If you don't want to change the whole colour of the material, they should only be used very sparely (single pixels). Only use them as replacement for the brightest shades, otherwise use shadows (see above).
@@ Line 100: / Line 99: @@
 From far away the colours haven't changed too much.
-The material is still clearly recognizeable as metal or fabric, but thanks to the colors in the highlight/shadows, it has given it a special kind of glow.
+The material is still clearly recognizable as metal or fabric, but thanks to the colors in the highlight/shadows, it has given it a special kind of glow.
 Instead of a dull grey/black the units have a unique color scheme that gives more character to the faction.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:17, 15 May 2023
Line 95:		Line 95:
	Theoretically you could use any colour (with high brightness) to highlight, but bright green and yellow works best most of the time.		Theoretically you could use any colour (with high brightness) to highlight, but bright green and yellow works best most of the time.
	Similar to shadows, a hue with higher saturation will be more invading than a grey colour.		Similar to shadows, a hue with higher saturation will be more invading than a grey colour.
		+
		+	== Results ==
		+	https://forums.wesnoth.org/download/file.php?id=75000.png
		+
		+	From far away the colours haven't changed too much.
		+	The material is still clearly recognizeable as metal or fabric, but thanks to the colors in the highlight/shadows, it has given it a special kind of glow.
		+
		+	Instead of a dull grey/black the units have a unique color scheme that gives more character to the faction.

@@ Line 93: / Line 93: @@
 If you don't want to change the whole colour of the material, they should only be used very sparely (single pixels). Only use them as replacement for the brightest shades, otherwise use shadows (see above).
-Theoretically you could use any colour (with high brightness) to highlight, but bright green and yellow work best most of the time.
+Theoretically you could use any colour (with high brightness) to highlight, but bright green and yellow works best most of the time.
-Like shadows, a hue with higher saturation will be more invading than a grey colour.
+Similar to shadows, a hue with higher saturation will be more invading than a grey colour.

@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 The default shadow for wesnoth is purple. It works best on orange or brown shades, but can be used for almost every colour with good results.
-Non-reflective surfaces (e.g. normal clothes) should have just darker shades of the base colour, grey or the default purple in the shadows. Metall and other reflective materials can use a larger variety.
+Non-reflective surfaces (e.g. normal clothes) should have just darker shades of the base colour, grey, or the default purple in the shadows. Metall and other reflective materials can use a larger variety.
@@ Line 85: / Line 85: @@
 .Replacement-shades should have (roughly) the same brightness as the original shade.
-.Replacement-shades for non-grey colours should have will be less noticeable if they have (roughly) the same saturation. Can be desired or not.
+.Replacement-shades will be less noticeable if they have a low saturation or a similar saturation as the original shade. Can be desired or not.
 == Highlights ==

@@ Line 85: / Line 85: @@
 .Replacement-shades should have (roughly) the same brightness as the original shade.
-.Replacement-shades for non-grey colours should have will be less noticeable if they have (roughly) the same saturation (greyness). Can be desired or not.
+.Replacement-shades for non-grey colours should have will be less noticeable if they have (roughly) the same saturation. Can be desired or not.
 == Highlights ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:37, 22 April 2017
Line 88:		Line 88:

	== Highlights ==		== Highlights ==
		+
		+	Highlights are bright shades with a different colour than the material. They will mostly be used for metalls, but can also give textile a shining ability (-> silk).
		+
		+	If you don't want to change the whole colour of the material, they should only be used very sparely (single pixels). Only use them as replacement for the brightest shades, otherwise use shadows (see above).
		+
		+	Theoretically you could use any colour (with high brightness) to highlight, but bright green and yellow work best most of the time.
		+	Like shadows, a hue with higher saturation will be more invading than a grey colour.

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:25, 22 April 2017
Line 56:		Line 56:

	== Shadows ==		== Shadows ==
		+	Darker shades can be replaced with different colours to create a higher contrast or to give the material an undertone.
		+
		+	The default shadow for wesnoth is purple. It works best on orange or brown shades, but can be used for almost every colour with good results.
		+
		+	Non-reflective surfaces (e.g. normal clothes) should have just darker shades of the base colour, grey or the default purple in the shadows. Metall and other reflective materials can use a larger variety.
		+
		+
		+	Complementary colours (e.g dark green shadow for orange materials) let the surface shine a little brighter.
		+
		+	To create the illusion of reflection green (grass,forest) and blue (sky) shades on metall work best.
		+
		+	Other colours can be used to characterize a faction/unit (e.g. blue shadows for units with a water theme, red for a fire theme...)
		+
		+
		+	Additionaly the number of shades you replace can have a large effect:
		+
		+	Replace only one shade for a hardly noticeable undertone. It's an easy effect with little efford.
		+
		+	Replace multiple shades with different colours to create properties for the material (e.g rusty surface, magical aura, unique (magical) metalls like mythril). It has to be carefully crafted, otherwise it will look very strange.
		+
		+	Replacing multiple shades with the same colour will change the colour of the material. It is only good when desired.
		+
		+
		+	As general rules:
		+
		+	1.Replacing brighter shades will most of the time be more noticeable than replacing dark ones.
		+
		+	2.Replacement-shades should have (roughly) the same brightness as the original shade.
		+
		+	3.Replacement-shades for non-grey colours should have will be less noticeable if they have (roughly) the same saturation (greyness). Can be desired or not.

	== Highlights ==		== Highlights ==

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Some of the newer mainline sprites use a lot of shades you (at first) wouldn't expect. Before creating your own images it is good to look at and analyse them.
 Good examples are the Firedragon(green and purple shadows) and Elvish Outrider(yellow highlights on metall)
-https://forums.wesnoth.org/download/file.php?id=75019.png
-https://forums.wesnoth.org/download/file.php?id=75020.png
+http://units.wesnoth.org/1.12/pics/core$images$units$monsters$fire-dragon.png
 Those colours, sparingly used, can create contrast in the picture without breaking the whole image.
@@ Line 26: / Line 29: @@
 == Shading depending on material ==
-Metall is usually shiny and therefore should be white where light hits best. It reflects its surroundings, so many different colours could be used. Metall surfaces usually use more shades than other materials
+Metal is usually shiny and therefore should be white where light hits best. It reflects its surroundings, so many different colours could be used. Metal surfaces usually use more shades than other materials
 Skin and leather aren't (very) reflective. Oily skin is very shiny (-> high contrast), while dry or dirty skin has a lower difference between shades.

@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 Nevertheless here are three units, who use only 12 shades of brown, to show you how to reduce colour count
-https://forums.wesnoth.org/download/file.php?id=75041.png
+https://forums.wesnoth.org/download/file.php?id=75046.png
 These units create different materials and colours by using variating shading method (see above) and quantity of a colour.

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 .-8. About 2-4 Darker shades of the base-colour (can be replaced with other colours; more of that later)
-== Same colours for different surfaces ==
+== Shading depending on material ==
-The first lesson to learn is, the same colours can be used for various different surfaces.
+Metall is usually shiny and therefore should be white where light hits best. It reflects its surroundings, so many different colours could be used. Metall surfaces usually use more shades than other materials
-https://forums.wesnoth.org/download/file.php?id=75016.png
+Skin and leather aren't (very) reflective. Oily skin is very shiny (-> high contrast), while dry or dirty skin has a lower difference between shades.
-I'd generally advise '''against'''  using the same shades in the same image on different surfaces as it can make later edits more difficult, but sharing the palette between different units can be useful to indicate unity (eg. units from the same faction).
+Textile isn't shiny or reflective at all. As result white can only be used for bright fabric. It also creates folds on its own, so light shades and shadows often alternate.
 == Shadows ==
 == Highlights ==