Topic: Vader's Quest - Chapter 7 "Acts of Treason"

[jlw515]

[Tamer]

Sweet. A new chapter. Let me go get this on the front page and spend my lunch reading it!

[Tamer]

Wow, it was over way too quick for me. Now I have to wait until the next chapter. I think this is a great story.

As for the visual effects I like the vertical flow that works so well in the forums. Your integration of frames around your pictures and integrating the word boxes makes everything nice and neat the way I like it. I would love to know how you did the holographic effects with the briefing too. Excellent work.

[CloneCrazy]

Great work, your stories are always a treat to read!!! I'd echo Tamer and say I'd love to know the way you create the holographic effects, they are amazing!!! If I gave one piece of constructive feedback it would be to work on the look of the lightsabers and lasers. I know it is such a pain to get them to look "authentic"!!! Other than that, another awesome update  

[Mando Assasin]

WOW! This is great! Can't wait for continuation.  

[jlw515]

Wow, it was over way too quick for me. Now I have to wait until the next chapter. I think this is a great story.

As for the visual effects I like the vertical flow that works so well in the forums. Your integration of frames around your pictures and integrating the word boxes makes everything nice and neat the way I like it. I would love to know how you did the holographic effects with the briefing too. Excellent work.

Thanks Tamer!!

Well, as you can tell my photonovel is based on the comic book style. In the genre of photonovel/graphic fiction there are several different "styles" out there. Some authors have more of a book with a few pictures, then there are some that are equal pictures with words - I think Justin (Yak Chewie/Chewie) is  a perfect example of this. Justin has the perfect blend of awesome pictures and dialogue OUTSIDE of the pictures. I'll just be honest here, there are some photonovels I just look at the pictures because it would honestly take an hour or so to read everything they've typed. I know it's hard work, but a lot of time people just don't have the spare time to read all of that - plus to me it defeats the purpose of a "photonovel." The pictures should tell the picture, and Justin's photonovel is a perfect example of what that should be.

My style is "comic book" which means that the text bubbles fill in some of the pictures. This works out great for me, as it covers any flaws to backgrounds; plus it allows for less dialogue which makes for an easier read. I'll explain the holograms in a different post.

Jason

[jlw515]

Great work, your stories are always a treat to read!!! I'd echo Tamer and say I'd love to know the way you create the holographic effects, they are amazing!!! If I gave one piece of constructive feedback it would be to work on the look of the lightsabers and lasers. I know it is such a pain to get them to look "authentic"!!! Other than that, another awesome update  

As far as lightsaber and lasers go, I build my photonovel on Power Point and I simply draw lines, adjust the size/points of the line, change the color to white, and then add the appropriate glow color. Usually for Rebels I use red for lasers, and Imperials are green. I've never seen a tutorial on making lightsabers, so if there's a better way I'd be willing to look into it.

Thinking I may try my hand at a video tutorial on holograms, and other stuff with photonovels. Stay tuned...

Jason

[CloneCrazy]

As far as lightsaber and lasers go, I build my photonovel on Power Point and I simply draw lines, adjust the size/points of the line, change the color to white, and then add the appropriate glow color. Usually for Rebels I use red for lasers, and Imperials are green. I've never seen a tutorial on making lightsabers, so if there's a better way I'd be willing to look into it.

Thinking I may try my hand at a video tutorial on holograms, and other stuff with photonovels. Stay tuned...

Jason

[/quote]

A hologram  tutorial would be awesome Jason, I know I'd love to know how to make mine look that good!!! For your lightsabers and blaster bolts, Chewie and I both use PhotoImpact X3 and it works wonders (the next chapter of Shroud of Darkness benefits greatly from it!). If you're interested message me and I'll be able to help you out... Once again, amazing work 

[Tamer]

I love the sound of a video tutorial on how to create those holographic graphics. Trust me, that one will make it to the front page.

[jlw515]

I love the sound of a video tutorial on how to create those holographic graphics. Trust me, that one will make it to the front page.

I'm definitely going to do it, it's actually WAAAAY easier than one would think. Also going to do a tutorial on "motion blur" which has helped me out in several chaters and especially in the upcoming Chapter 8 "Acts of Treason part 2"

Jason

[jlw515]

Hey, I want to also mention some "easter eggs"/hidden jokes in Chapter 7.

1. There is a running theme of Battlestar Galactica references in this chapter: (Richard) Hatch & (Dirk) Mr. Benedict. Also Saul (Tigh) the XO from the Sci-Fi version, and then a little more subtle is Han's statement of troopers "All along the watchtowers" which "All Along the Watchtower" as the Bob Dylan/Jimi Hendrix song that played a vital part in the Sci-Fi BSG. LOVED that series!!

2. If you look at R2's hologram you will see that it is actually a picture of the vintage Kenner micro Death Star playset (die cast)

3. The scene with Bane and his tobacco is a throw back to Jesse "the Body" Ventura's scene in the helicopter in Predator.

Jason

[Tamer]

yeah, I loved the Tyrannosauras line. I knew right where that one came from. I do like the movie homages you do in these. Great work.

[Luke Sprywalker]

Man, I finally got time to read this! Loved it! Great story telling and I love the classic comic book style and layout. I also love the figures and customs/characters. Thanks for sharing!