Help?

[HeroFan]

Hi guys and ladies,

I’m fairly new to this HM, and I’m having trouble with a cpl of things. Try as I might, I don’t know how to do it.
1. I can’t get an insignia to come up as the first thing on a character. Like on a character’s top for example. I wanted to put the insignia on top of a jacket.
2. How do you mirror image something? I’d found a few tops that are just a half.
3. I’ve seen items on here that look like they have lens flares, or glow. How is that done?
4. Finally, how in the heck can I post something here? I have a couple of chars that I’d like comments on, but I just can’t seem to find out how.

I’m not asking for drawn out help or anything, but if someone can point me to the correct thread or something, or explain something so even I can do it, I’d appreciate it very much.
All my characters look like standard biographical images, like in the ol’ Marvel Universe, or Who’s Who’s in DC, I’m looking forward to trying to get them to look like they’re moving lol.

I wish I’d found this site long ago, I’ve been looking for this sort of thing for a while. I really enjoy trying to put different things together. Many thanks to the creator(s) of HM!

[Hammerknight]

1. Go to the “Transform” button, there you will find arrow buttons that allow you to move stuff forward and back.
2. Also there you will find two buttons, one points left/right and the other points up/down, these let you flip items. Plus you need to make sure to check the button to the right of the category buttons, to use the piece more then once check “multiples”.
3. There are how-tos within the forums that give step by step instructions.
4. Go to the Art Gallery part of the forums and open a thread to post your art. In the Art Gallery there is a limit to no more then three threads. Use the “upload attachment” to load your characters. There are also step by step instructions here in the forums.

Welcome to the forums. Make sure to read the forum rules before posting.

[Kaldath]

Ok,

1) to change the layer of the insignia you have to make sure that, the insignia is the item you currently have selected. When you first add it to the drawing it is automatically the selected item until you click on or add something else. To re-select the item just click on it on the canvas. Once it is selected click on the transformation tab ( #1 in the picture below ) and you will see the layering control ( #2 in the picture below ) There is a button to move move the layer up one layer at a time and one to go down one layer at a time. There is also a button to move the item to the very top layer and another to move it to the very bottom layer.

2) To Mirror image an item, if you want two or more of the item, make sure you click the multiples button on each category of items you want muliples if you want just a single item leave it or change it back to single ( #1 on the picture below ). Then to Flip it you will again need to go to the transformation tab and you will see the flipping tools ( #2 in the picture below )

3) The lens flare and glow effects are done with variations of highlighting and shading, we affectionately call zyping around these parts. Here is a tutorial on highlighting and shading done by the HM Guru AMS: http://www.heromachine.com/forum/tips-tricks-how-tos-and-guides/how-to-highlightshade/ … Once you get the hang of it you can start to play around with the size and shape of the highlights to create different effects.

4) and Lastly here is a tutorial on how to post your characters by yours truly! http://www.heromachine.com/forum/the-heromachine-art-gallery/how-to-post-your-character/#p2302

[HeroFan]

Kaldath,

Thanks for the reply! Question..I’ve seen some capes for the shoulder, but is there a separate section for them?

How many chars can fit onto the screen to try to make? I want to do a group shot, I’m trying to make a team but I wasn’t sure if there are other templates with more poses to use. I’ve seen others so I know there exist, but are they custom, or is there another place to look for them?

I wanted to make a char that was part MMPR, and part Iron Man-esque. (Not dead on, but the idea..like pieces of an armored suit. Is their such a thing?

[Kaylin88100]

Look in the ShoulderRight section for shoulder-capes. As for poses, there’s a Custom Poses section of the forum, or you could always try making your own poses out of body parts. I think there’s a tutorial somewhere on “The Articulated Man” or something, that is supposed to make your poses better. It looks a bit tricky to me, though, so it’s probably best to stick to standard-ish poses.

If you want to make a group shot, save each character separately, move them to where they need to be for the group shot, and then put them together. You’ll probably need to use widescreen view. I’ll just go make a tutorial for it.

[Kaylin88100]

OK, tutorial done. Here’s a link.

[HeroFan]

Kaylin,

Thanks so much for your tutorials! I come in and I see all the really great stuff being done, it makes me want to stay here creating as much as I can lol. I appreciate the tutorial about group shots, and I’ll look for the articulated characters thread. I don’t think I can create convincing custom poses myself, but if some are for anyone, that might help me.

Thanks again.

[HeroFan]

Kaylin,

I apologize if it seems I always ask for your help, but you were one of the first to help out, so I thought I’d try once more and hope I don’t bother you. I remember asking about what the .png was for, but I can’t find the bookmark I made for it. Could you let me know what its for and if can be used to make new chars from them. (again.)

Sorry, and thanks.

[Legatus]

PNG is a data format for images.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Network_Graphics

[WMDBASSPLAYER]

Any tips on masking? I’m just starting to get the hang of it, but have a heck of a hard time when the item, usually a hand, is covered by what I want to place in it. I’ve experimented with enlarging the hand then resizing it, or moving the item away and putting it back in the hand. I just can’t seem to get it right.

[Kaylin88100]

Moving the item is a good idea, and it’s what I usually do. Use the movement buttons on the transform tab to move it a specific distance, so you can get it back in position more easily. A couple of clicks on the 20px setting usually does it.

[WMDBASSPLAYER]

Thanks for the tip, Kaylin. I’ll give it a shot. While I’m here, I’ve been saving my characters as image only and have lost a few when either the server resets or some other reason. I don’t fully understand the concept of ‘cookies.’ Is it possible to come back later and save the text for a character I originally saved as image only before I loose any more? My original thought was that I can just recreate them by looking at them. That worked with Classic and 2.5, but HM3 is too advanced for that.

[Kaylin88100]

No, the only way to get a text save is if you still have the character saved on the program. Make sure you do the saves at the same time with all your new characters – it might be tedious and take a lot longer than the normal save, but it’s much less frustrating in the long run!

[WMDBASSPLAYER]

Thanks, again. I just saw what I’m doing wrong. When I clear my history, I forget to check the option regarding cookies. I still have all the images saved in my laptop, but I’m finding it’s harder than I thought to recreate a character by just looking at an image. I’ll have to pay more attention to those things in the future when I do a save. Thanks Kailyn.

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