Digital Art: Fantasy Worlds

Digital Art: Fantasy Worlds

Many 3D digital artists are taken with the design of virtual worlds. Naturally, these online, game and other worlds often take elements from fantasy and science-fiction scenery and backgrounds, while more rarely centering on the real world. While mostly seen in Web based, interactive, multi-player (multiple, simultaneous users) games, such artificial, sot to speak. Societies are likewise visible in other segments of society. For example, the Goth subculture or Medieval-character themed undertakings such as the Renaissance Fair are other examples. The Middle-Ages have very often been the main historical context in fantasy tales, just as the Victorian era is associated with Gothic art and literature and apparel.

A world full of fantasy. As can be seen from the picture. Image: Megan Jorgensen

Star Trek presents a series of worlds, including even additional dimensions and continuums (such as the one inhabited by the alien race in Voyager or the Q from The Next Generation). Middle Earth from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as the surrounding of the Nibelung accounts and the legend surrounding not only knights of the round table, but also as it applies to magical actors, such as the Lady of the Lake, Morgan le Fay and Merlin. Another view of virtual life is in such Websites as SecondLife and its of use of avatars. Just as in Cameron’s movie, Avatar, avatars allow one to vicariously experience (as one’s own) an entity’s existence in an alternate world.

Fantasy Worlds. Photo by Elena

Cimmeria

Cimmeria: From the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology

By Theodora Goss

«Cimmerians don’t recognize twins,» said Lisa. «That has to be the explanation. Do you remember the thirteenth-century philosopher Farkosj Kursand? When God made the world, He decreed that human beings would be born one at a time, unique, unlike animals. They would be born defenseless, without claws or teeth or fur. But they would have souls. It’s in a children’s book – I have a copy somewhere, but it’s based on Kursand’s reading of Genesis in one of his philosophical treatises. Milw would know which. And it’s the basis of Cimmerian human right law, actually. That’s why women have always had more rights here. They have souls, so they’ve been allowed to vote since Cimmeria became a parliamentary monarchy. I’m sure it’s mentioned in one of the articles – I don’t remember which one, but check the database Mike is putting together. Shaila must have been a twin, and the Cimmerians don’t recognize the second child as separate from the first. So Shaila is one girl. In two bodies, but with one soul. »

« Who came up with that stupid idea? »

« Well, to be perfectly honest, it might have been you. » She leaned back in our revolving chair. I don’t know how she could do that without falling. « Or Mike, of course. It certainly wasn’t my idea. Embryologically it does make a certain sense. Identical twins really do come from one egg. »

« So they’re both Shaila ».

« There is no both. The idea of both is culturally inappropriate. There is one Shaila, in two bodies. Think of them as Shaila and her shadow. »

Cimmeria. Photo by Elena

I tested the theory once, while walking through the market with Afa. We were walking through the alley of the dog-sellers. In Cimmeria, almost every house has a dog, for defense and to catch rats. Cats are not sold in the market. They cannot be sold at all, only given or willed away. To sell a cat for money is to imperil your immortal soul. We passed a woman sitting on the ground, with a basket beside her. In it were two infants, as alike as the proverbial two peas in a pod, half-covered with a ragged blanket. Beside them lay a dirty mutt with a chain around its neck that lifted its head and whimpered as we walked by.

« Child how many in basket? » I asked Afa in my still-imperfect Cimmerian.

« There is one child in that basket, Pati, » she said. I could not get her to stop using the diminutive. I even told her that in my language Pati was a woman’s name, to no effect. She just smiled, patted me on the arm, and assured me that no one would mistake such a tall, handsome (which in Cimmerian is the same word as beautiful) man for a woman.

« Only one child? »

« Of course. One basket, one child. »

Shaila’s shadow followed her everywhere. When she and her sisters sat with me in the room wit the low divans and the large-screen TV, studying American slang, she was there. « What’s up! » Shaila would say, laughing, and her shadow would stare down at the floor. When Shaila and I walked through the gardens, she walked six paces behind, pausing when we paused, sitting when we sat. After we were married, in our apartment in Arizona, she would sit in a corner of the bedroom, watching as we made love. Although I always turned off the lights, I could see her : a darkness against the off-white walls of faculty housing.

Once, I tried to ask Shaila about her. « Shaila, do you know the word twin? »

« Of course, » she said. « In America, if two babies are born at the same time, tey ar twins. »

Twins. Photo of Elena

The Building of the Long Serpent

The Building of the Long Serpent

By Michelle Knowlden, excerpt

While Robyn read over his shoulder, I inspected the nearly stocked shelves against the walls. The room smelled of varnish, thick iron nails, graphite dust, turpentine, and wood shavings. The middle of the shed was crammed with worn worktables. Half-shewn oars lay in the shavings on the tabletops. The door had a heavily padlock, and the one small window was barred. I leaned against a worktable and wondered if the long serpent of Robyn’s investigation would interfere with dinner.

My pager jangled loudly, interrupting my thoughts. On the screen I read: “’Michaela. Call me immediately at 909-555-0444. Helena.”

I accidentally pressed the erase button. “Robyn,” I said. “I’m going to the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back.”

It was difficult to turn the double-wide trailer’s doorknob with gloved hands, but I managed. The first door I opened led to a room where a gray-haired man and a plump blonde woman stood tightly clinched together.

“Excuse me,” I said as they sprang apart. I closed the door.

Building of the long serpent. Photo by Elena

At the third door down the narrow hall I found the ladies’ room. I was washing my hands when the blonde woman eased in, breathing heavily and pink with embarrassment. “It’s not what you think,” she began.

I raised the finger that I was gingerly drying off.

“None of my business,” I said and carefully put the surgical gloves back on my hands.

“No, please, let me explain. You’re one of the fire investigators, right?”

I shook my head. “That would be my cousin, Robyn Cardex. I’m just her assistant. My name’s Micky.”

She frowned.

“Micky Cardex? That sounds familiar. Have we met?

“I don’t think so.” I wound the cellophane tape back around my wrists.

“Well, it’ll come to me. I have a knack with names. I’m Gwen Stockard, the office manager. Don’s my husband.”

“Ah?”

“Yes, that’s right. The man in the office with me was Arne Ruskilde. Don’s partner.”

“Ah.” I said again.

“This has nothing to do with the fire. Don and I are getting divorced, but not because of Arne and me. Don doesn’t even know about us. We’re just waiting to tell him after the boat’s launched.”

“Shame about the delay,” I said and tried to edge past her to the door. She didn’t budge.

“Darn tootin’ it’s a shame,” she grumbled. “This is killing me and Arne. That boat better launch next month because by God I’m not waiting till spring.”

“I’m sure they’ll find the arsonist soon,” I said and tried another sally out the door. She stood like Gibraltar in the straits and her eyes narrowed.

Published in September 2000, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery magazine.

How to Make a GIF Animation Using GIMP and Poser (Tutorial)

How to Make a GIF Animation Using GIMP and Poser (Tutorial)

Une image vaut mille mots – French saying

The purpose of the present simple tutorial is to explain how to make a GIF animation using popular software like Poser and Gimp. GIF, defined as Graphics Interchange Format, are images that used to make small film clips or animations. These images, often small in size and restricted in color pallette available, are looped forever and can keep moving either on the Internet or even, in certain cases, on your computer. While they look like one image, if you download a GIF animation, you will see that the image has several frames. The number of frames may vary from two to so many that it slows down their apparition. Resolution may not be ideal in GIF images, but they remain very catchy and decorate many a Website.

Thus, GIMP – the GNU Image Manipulation Program is a free and open source program similar in its features and capabilities to the professional software produced by the Adobe Creative Suite – Photoshop. Unlike Photoshop, GIMP is free and open source, thus it has a completely different license, its code can be studied and it can be downloaded for free from the GIMP Website or elsewhere on the Internet.

GIF animation. Created with GIMP and Poser (30 frames/layers, 100 milliseconds delay). Image source: Elena

Alternatively, Poser is a commercial animation, modelling and rendering program, which allows content creation. A similar free program is Daz Studio, but Daz Studio has a completely different commercial proposition, since while it can be downloaded for free, the figures or characters (or actors) must usually be bought separately. Conversely, while several additional bundles are available for Poser, the software comes with an integrated content library, complete with figures, props, scenes, poses, expressions and so on.

Therefore, to make a simple GIF animation it is convenient to use both programs. For example, you choose a figure in Poser, customize it to your liking and add animation. To achieve an animated sequence, you customize the figure on scene 1 (the number of scenes is specified on the bottom of the window). Then, if you want the camera to move, you go to the last scene and move the camera. The rest (the movement) will be taken care by the software itself.

Additionally, to have the figure chosen (the primary actor) move, you may move them (translate/pull object) yourself, or add one of the built-in animations available in the library. Pressing play in Poser will show you how the animation looks. While it is possible to make videos in Poser, the present tutorial concentrates on GIF animations. Hence, then you would go to “Make Movie” and change the settings to Render as Images (make sure the Render Settings are specified as FireFly and not Preview). Depending on the number of frames you have, the rendering of all the images may take quite a while. To save time, it may be wise to change the size to Half instead of Full. The rest is a matter of patience.

Furthermore, part two – GIMP. GIMP is a very user friendly program, simple to use and with many tutorials available on the Web on how make banners and other CGI (computer generated imagery). GIMP is also used to add text, transparent watermarks and, of course, photo editing. Hence, now it is the time to create the GIF animation. Simply open GIMP and open the first image. Then, go to Layers and Open as Layers the second image. The process is repeated with every single frame, or layer as it becomes in GIMP. To view your animation in GIMP, you would go to Filters –> Animation –> Playback.

Once you are satisfied with the result, you Export the image. To save it as a GIF animation, you would manually change the format extension to .gif instead of .png or .jpg. A window will pop up and it is important to check Save as Animation. Depending on whether you want to slow or speed up your animation, you would specify the desired milliseconds between frames. Finally, to verify whether everything worked, you can open the newly generated GIF animation and use the same method described above to play it. Once it is done, it can be uploaded to a Website, a blog or perhaps even to social media, although some social networking Websites only show GIF animations in static manner.

Jewelry

Jewelry

Over time, jewelry has often been associated with courtship, romance and love. Gems and adornments are likewise linked to marriage, through the exchange of first engagement, and then marital, rings.

The most precious metals on planet Earth include rhodium, platinum, gold and silver. As a rule, the more rare the metal in nature, the highest its price (due to scarcity). Interestingly, silver has played protective roles in mythology and folklore, such as being dangerous to werewolves. Also, several accounts exist about the nature of Silver Elves. Additionally, throughout history, gold has been used to back up a country’s currency. When it comes to rhodium, in a post-Charlie Sheen episode of American sitcom Two and a Half Men, the ring that ties Ashton Kutcher’s character to his ex-wife is made of rhodium.

A Gothic porcelain doll wearing a black pearl necklace. Perhaps, the raven’s wing, black hair, apparel and make-up convey a Gothic allure of the Morrigan. Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Aside from metals, there are also precious and semiprecious stones. Customarily, the most valuable stones in the world are diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds. Gemstones amber, aquarium, amethyst, pink quartz, white crystal, onyx and garnet are only semi-precious. Diamonds and quartz are likewise used in industry, such as electric tools, lights or watches. Naturally, watches can be remarkable pieces of jewelry. Precious and semi-precious jewels, as well as other ornaments, have often been of interest in magic (fantasy) literature. Crafted works can gain international fame, like artfully encrusted Faberge eggs.

Finally, diamonds and pearls come in almost all shapes and sizes – white, black, blue, pink, etc. Whether diamonds do indeed cut glass has been suggested as a bad way of testing the rocks. By and large, the value of such a rock coincides with its number of carats, clarity, color and absence of any flaws.