Help for someone who is determined but pretty hopeless.

Chelonia, I suggest that you go to the Ivory Tower. It's an in-world, self paced tutorial. (I'm not at the computer that has links and stuff on it, but I'm sure you can find it in Search.)

You can just skip the places where Lumi talks about furniture, and just pick up what prims are, how they work, and all the stuff you need to learn about flexi-prims.

Ummmm... Everyone, if you can produce legible handwriting, you can draw.

I used to teach drawing classes, and I only ever had one student, out of hundreds, who truly couldn't draw at all; and he had a neurological problem.

The problem is that there is a myth that it takes "talent", which is rare. That people who have Talent come out of the womb with full-blown drawing skills, and if that's not you, then you can't draw, and there's no point in trying.

But this is totally false. Virtually everyone can learn to draw. It's a skill, not a gift; and if you have normal (or correctable) vision and co-ordination, you can do this. You just have to be taught how.

Short course in drawing:

The main difficulty in drawing is learning to see. You see, you have what are called "schemata" in your head, carefully instilled in grade school when you were taught to draw things a certain way. Basically, they are shorthand symbols for stuff. This is an eye, this is a tree, this is a flower. You all know what they look like.

But real eyes, trees, and flowers don't look like that at all!

Before you can draw, you have to break your schemata. You'll read some places that you should do this by turning the paper upside down and so on, but in my experience that doesn't really work.

What does work (really) is tracing. Lots and lots and lots of tracing. So, get yourself a ream of really cheap tracing paper (that's 500 sheets,) or just use your mouse and computer, and start to trace pictures of whatever it is you want to draw.

For this purpose, it's okay to download pictures from the web, or to use catalogs or magazines, or just about anyplace you can get the pictures. (This is education, and you won't be keeping these, or showing them to anyone.)

Trace the outlines of whatever you want to learn to draw, and the major features.

For instance, if you are doing a face, trace the shape of the head, the eyes, the iris, the pupils, the edge of the nose where the contrast is highest, the nostrils, the shape of the lips where there is high contrast, etc. Anyplace that there's not a lot of contrast, skip.

For clothing, trace the lines of the wrinkles, once again where the contrast is highest. Don't worry about shading at this point, just follow the line taken by the darkest part of the folds.

Trace a different picture for every single sheet in the ream, or for 500 different drawings on the computer (or a combination, if that's what you are doing.)

When you are finished, your schemata will be shattered. You'll know that eyes have many different shapes, depending on the angle from which they are viewed. You'll have an intuitive grasp of how cloth wrinkles. You'll know how flower petals curve and flex.

You will have learned to see.

When you're done, throw the paper away, or delete the files. They will have served their purpose.

Now start again, but this time, buy an inexpensive sketchbook, and carry it with you everywhere. Whenever you have a minute and your hands free, sketch something that you see. Don't make things up at this point, that will tempt you to return to your schemata. Draw real stuff, any real stuff. You're training your hand to follow your eye, so it really doesn't matter at all what you draw.

Do that for several weeks, or until it's pretty easy. You'll find that it does become so, and gets easier and easier the more you do it.

And that's it. At that point, you've learned to draw.

Your eye and hand will be trained to work in concert, and that's all that drawing is.

Now you can take it in whatever direction you want to go. If you want to improve your skills in any area at all, you can get a book, or follow a web tutorial, or take a community college course, or hire a model, or whatever.

The important thing is that you will now have the skills to get the most out of the next step. You'll have mastered the roll over, sit, crawl and stand stages, and you'll be ready to walk and then to run!

Hope this helps!

Thanks Robin, that's encouraging =)

Thanks all for sharing your advise.
Robin do you have site online with your art lessons?
Because something you said reminded me of this site I was at and joined but I haven't had time to get back there.
On good day I can mouse draw Cezanne with psp 7 yet on bad day the most I can do is collages.
When I get frusterated with the learning and creating I have to remind myself to just step back and enjoy the process of being creative even if it doesn't turn out well, keep doing it again and again until I get the images the way it is.
Another thing I forget to do sometimes is save the stages, because sometimes I get bit carried away and the images just don't look right and often I find I can only go back so many times which ends up frusterating the heck out of me.
I got a couple books on psp 9 and 7, but I am still struggling with getting myself to move beyond the basic tools and explore layering and how to do mask but I will get there.
I use artrage for tracing its free but tricky with a mouse.

Hi FD!

No, I'm afraid that I don't have it on line. But, as I said, I've used it with an awful lot of people since I developed it about 20 years ago. I'd be kind of surprised if it hadn't spread all over by now.

Most of us have "bad days' where drawing just doesn't work well. I can't draw worth beans when I'm sick, for instance. The perspective gets all warped.

So take heart! This is something you can do.

(By the way, everyone's stuff will always look better to you than yours. Artists are like that. It doesn't really mean that there's anything wrong with your work.)

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement.
I am dealing with chronic illness issues and I go through periods where I can create really great textures and images with very low end, not current art programs. I bought psp 7 and 9 for very little after years of using "borrowed" programs.
On bad day everything goes wrong but I keep persisting.
I often feel incredibly frusterated when I can't do exact duplicate of image I see. There has been periods I created content for the sims and such, then I hit wall stop drawing, stop creating for long periods because of insecurity.
So I definitely relate to feeling very judgemental of one's own skills.
I have been trying to create my own textures by mouse with few of the tools with very few to no borrowed textures but still sometimes borrow cloned or tube now then. Some people don't have problem with borrowing or using copyright free or non copyright images that they didn't create themselves but I feel like that sort of cheating often find if I can't create my own version of image that gave me inspiration then its not worth making but sometimes. Yet sometimes I will find great tree from old master and it works better in collage that I can recreate even if its just for practice of being creative even if i haven't drawn every single image.

I loved Robin's post. Someone else from these forums referred me to a book called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain which spoke to me about drawing in a way I could actually connect with for the first time in about 15 years

(Although the schemata thing can be painful. I actually gave myself a physical headache when I tried to draw something and got a constant internal dialog going: "Ok, draw a line there." "Hang on, there isn't actually a line there. There's a division between two things, but it doesn't look like a line. You're just saying it's a line because it's your mental division." "Ok, well, maybe draw a line here instead then." "No, that's not a line either..."

If I can offer one other piece of advice.. you can always cheat Instead of going for something like PSP or Photoshop, search around the internet and download Texture Maker or Genetica. If you don't mind relatively abstract textures, you can make them quite nicely with those without having to worry too much about the difficulty of having to draw something with your mouse that looks like something in real life. Genetica's especially handy because, due to the way it works, it can resize textures to any resolution with no pixelation or blurring.

Thanks for the information there is something else I heard of but keep forget name its actual images black and white graphic line images that google has that could be retexturized and used within SL for textures.
I really enjoy having something I can color that is black and white.
I usually recolor black and whites of old masters when I can't actually draw dot by dot the actual image I want to create but sometimes I can't find exact image I want as sort of already traced image.
Does anyone know of where I could find copyright free black and white sketches I could play with of gardens, scenery or rooms?
Sometimes I do abstracts like without trying I made this texture that can be either black lace or velvet if mixed with certain colors in the game.
Right now I am frusterated because I want to create specific object related textures that add the illusion of another place with in a place.
My season changing room is example of it.
Depending on where you are look you see portal rooms of beach, forest or outerspace, or ice and waterfalls.
I want to create textures that create virtual rooms within virtual rooms without adding more prims or to be used on prims like garden, like toys,etc.

Hello
I just read you post and it seemed like I was reading my own thoughts. I am a hands on learned also and would understand how to do the clothes making part with the templates much better after only seeing it once, i'm sure. Most of my so called friends inworld, when I ask them about things like this, they give me the run around like if I learn i'll take away from their business or something. So I truely know how you feel and would love to learn. So if you have learned since you poasted this almost two minths ago, be a sport and teach me now. Otherwise if you havent Ill keep you in mind for when I learn to teach you.

Just know you're NOT alone with knowing how to make pretty much anything else BUT freakin clothing. FRUSTRATING!!!

My best suggestion is goto non royality websites and search for the images you want or take a camera and shoot them yourself.

As for prim clothes, I am staying away for them because a: I am not sure how to do it either.
B: I will have to learn soon because I have to make a cheerleader uniform from Heroes (well, I don't have too but it is cool, so I will. It aint hair.) So when I figure it out I will share.
People aren't sharing with you because they are afraid you will be better and steal their business. I am here for fun. I know it isn't going to make much money. But it is relaxing and looks good on a resume.

I don't frequent the building tips forum, it's the one above this in the forum list, but it's about all things primmy, and you should be able to find people willing and able to share their tips in there for making prim clothes etc.

Whilst I can happily teach you the rudiments of building, I'm not a great builder, and there are doubtless tricks, tips and shortcuts to better building that I don't know. I do, positively, know I'm not the person to ask for tips about making prim skirts, because it's not something I do, nor have ever done.

I'm pretty sure, from the flexi-skirts I own there isn't a single "right" way to do it. I've got a variety of differently structured skirts. Some are very low prim (2/3) some have dozens of prims, one has about 100 (I don't wear it often, it reduces my client fps by about 6 on it's own). Because I've never analysed them to build I can't really suggest where to go from there for building your own I'm afraid, apart from checking out the building forum.

I'm fairly new to SL (1 month?) and I'm VERY interested in learning how to make cloths - mostly for fun but I would like to open a shop too.

Though I'm uneducated in this whole process, after reading this thread I think I know enough now to know that I don't know anything.

I'm sure there's a lot of great information in this thread. I just don't understand it. Does anybody speak English? lol.

I think I may be a hopeless case.

This is in English... but admitedly in jargon versions of English.

Without speaking further it's impossible to be sure precisely where you're struggling. There's basically a chunk of information in this thread and also in the stickies at the top of this forum which will help if you already know your way around your image manipulator software.

If you're not sure of the software you're using (GIMP, Photoshop, PaintShop Pro are the big favourites, there are a few others around) in sufficient detail to follow what's being said then this forum probably isn't the place. There's a load of online tutorials (google them) and/or books that can help. I went from PS6.0 to 9.0 (CS2 if you rather) in a rather big jump all in one. That convinced me to go and get a book to help, I like the SAMS Teach Yourself in 24 Hours books, so got that one, and it was a big help.

With a different hat on... there are things I still really struggle with that are mentioned here. Some of the people that discuss things are top-line professionals and their advice is amazing, but often not immediately relevant to my need. Knowing they're there and that I can come back when I do need them is an immense help. Learning things like making clothes isn't all about learning it all, like your times tables say. Have a play, have a look for help on the things that don't make sense, play again, correct again etc. If you want to be posh you call it experiential learning with experimenting. The point is more that reading about the techniques, for 99% of people will leave them going "Huh, what?' fairly quickly. Trying it, seeing what it actually does helps you learn and consolidate your learning, so you can do it next time.

Let's choose an example from the stickies: There are several ways to make an alpha channel from your clothes. If you've never tried making clothes without an alpha channel you're saying "So what?" Once you know why they're useful (try using the sliders to make a simple top with a circle cutout in the belly, or a keyhole above the breasts for example) you can understand why you might need one. Then you can play with the techniques it lists until you find one that you like for your purpose. Build on your experiences and apply the techniques you're reading about to something that's relevant for you.

Good luck with it all!

And remember we're all here to try and help. Although most of us will say learn the basics of your software elsewhere, most of us have occassionally asked depressingly simple questions, certainly including me!

Thank you, Eloise, for your thoughts.

As I'm a "blank slate" I find much of the terminology and references to various softwares stumbling blocks. For example, you mention an "alpha channel." I haven't a clue what one is so when trying to apply your well intended example to my ability to understand I get lost.

Is there a glossary (or, at the very least, an FAQ section) anywhere related to this forum?

I really do appreciate your help. It's my fault totally that I don't understand.

As you suggested in your post, I'll keep reading these forums, books, and google and play.

Thanks again!

I'd suggest hitting the books first...

This is the kind of level of knowledge you'll need to be at least moderately comfortable with to make many kinds of textures and certainly any clothes in Second Life.

However, to answer the specific one... an alpha channel is a channel that carries information about transparency. I'm not sure why it's called alpha, but it is.

If you think of a picture, and look at it in most decent graphics programmes, it will have a red, a green and a blue channel (hence RGB). The image you look at is a combination of those different intensities of colour, a bit like putting coloured gel in front of a torch and looking at it. The information they contain is a number between 0 and 255 for how much red or green or blue at each point... thus they're usually shown in grey scale, black for 0, white for 255, mid-grey for 128 etc.

The alpha channel is constructed in the same way, 0-255 shown as black-white, but it contains information about how much to show. Anything black isn't shown, anything white is drawn solid, anything in between is drawn translucent.

Consider a clubbing top for the young and gorgeous (we almost all are in SL after all). You'll have transparent bits, translucent bits and (perhaps not in SL) solid bits IRL. The alpha channel will let you control which bits are completely transparent, which see through (and just how sheer) and which bits are covered up.

It is called alpha because the math formula used to blend-in the channel uses the Greek letter "alpha" to represent the amount of interpolation between two channels.

Strictly speaking, alpha measures opacity, so 100% alpha would be fully opaque (matte), not transparent. However in usual "lingo" this interpretation has been reversed.

-peekay

Thank you for the explaination, Eloise! Believe it or not, what you said maid complete sense!

I concur! Both previous posts were very insightful.

~Ari

(Mine not included, of course because my spelling took a hike!)

tehehe....

I am slowly learning but still hitting road blocks.
I am just taking it slow and enjoy the process.
Sometimes its all bit overwhelming.
I haven't yet figured out how to make alpha's with paintshoppro or how to use gimp yet.
Adobe seems way out of my budget
So I am experimenting with the stuff I can do and taking it slow.
For week there I tried to do custom texture orders but I realized it was way too soon that I need to focus on the basics first and just slow down and enjoy the process.

I use GIMP and am learning it more and more each time a fire it up on my computer. I, too found Photoshop more than just little out of my budget to make clothes and textures to put on my "Paperdoll" in SL. GIMP was the alternative as it's free.........it's also very good at what it does for me. But, to be totally honest, that program sat on my hard drive for months after I read the help manual I downloaded wih it. It's scarey to say the least to someone who's total experience with imaging programs was Windows Photo and Fax viewer. But I finally sat down one day and launched the thing and started playing with it.......tried every tool, used photos I have on my HD to stack layer upon layer and cut and pasted, selected, deleted added alpha channels, color to alpha, etc, etc till it started making sense to me what I read in the help manual. That took a good part of an afternoon and into an evening.........but it gave me a little confidence to try something useful. Now I can make some clothes for my "Paperdoll"...........give to my friends and even some that I feel are worth selling!

My suggestion is: Don't let your imaging program(s) just sit taking up hard drive space...break them out and play till you get a feel for what they do and how. Then jump in there and try to make something useful. It doesn't matter if it's good or bad......it's something you made and it's a step in the learning process. It's also fun.

I download Daz and Gimp got frusterated with it and I think I uninstalled it LOL
I download Maya 3d Learning Edition couldn't get past the key window because key they sent me didn't work.
I download another program Blender with offline builder I couldn't see the tools but I did glance and attempt to read some tutorials.
Right now I just been matching different colors and textures that I have been making to see how they look in the game, using slider, building basics with rotations, tool exploration of the game but I am constantly running out of prims.
One thing I am running into is some colors within psp 9 look for example like the color peach or lighter shade of brown tan but in game they look more grey or another color all together then peach or brown tan.
I am not sure if I am seeing the true color of the texture or its rezzing thing.
I also found a face slider java program in the forums so that I can study face shapes so that I can "mouse" draw avatar faces better.
Over weekend I have been doing recolors of male avatar face just for the fun of it not sure if I can just upload avatar head and use it yet though.
One thing I am running into is when I do want to cheat and use royal free images with cloning like hair textures or actual surfaces is the images don't always come out exactly right.
Either the perspective is all wrong, occasionally I run into white lines in places I don't want them to be. Yet when I made textured cork looking skin for my parcel board elf it turn out very well so did his strange orange yellow hair.
Certain textures turn out better then one color textures I have discovered from exploring.
Also sometimes I find creating lines and shapes for 3d room textures bit daunting which takes hours and hours only to mess up or I over design so now I am saving every step as way to go back since I can't undo with my art program more then certain amount times.
On bad creating days I just have to remind myself when I get really, really frusterated and feel way to stupid that we all have to start somewhere and best ways I have learn thing is just exploring the tools and what they do, just to continue exploring and just create.
So far I have created something I really like maybe it was wrong size or didn't turn out exactly way I wanted them but that's a part of learning and creating sometimes too.

I live in a small village in Central America and don't have access to a bookstore of any kind. (No bookstores in the whole country, even - especially not bookstores that have books on Photoshop, etc.)

So, I have to depend on the Internet for teaching aids. I've looked and looked for good basic tutorials on Photoshop, but can't seem to find any fairly complete ones. Does anyone have any suggested on-line resources?

Also, I'd be willing to invest in buying a book and having it shipped (a fairly expensive proposition). I've looked at books on Amazon, but can't really tell which would be the best one. I'd hate to order something and then have it not be appropriate (or very good) when I finally do receive it.

Assuming I really don't know anything about Photoshop, what book would you recommend? I only have Photoshop 7 - can't access anything else from here.

Thanks in advance!

http://www.yellowpipe.com/yis/tutorials/ps7/photoshop7.php

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/photoshop/l/bllps5out.htm

http://www.trainingtools.com/online/photoshop7/index.htm

And just in case because you said u were in Central America- in case Spanish is easier;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg2cM4Mg1D8

http://www.vtc.com/spanish-titles.htm

Thanks so much for the links - I really appreciate it!