Level Background Design with paint.net (Vanilla and Plugins)
Mar 2, 2019 7:27:49 GMT
DeathKnight likes this
Post by Elder God of Salt on Mar 2, 2019 7:27:49 GMT
Hello there person, I have made this guide in hopes of new modders taking advantage of paint.net!
Today, I'll cover some background design, specifically making specific themes and some tips!
Will be updated when i feel like it I guess??
Themes - Vanilla (No Plugins)
1. Background
1.1. Grasslands
Grasslands are the most "cliche" thing ever, but it won't hurt to make one.
1.2. Water (not underwater)
Sometimes, an aquatic level just fits.
1.3. The closest thing to a rocky area
You can't just rely on a gray area of grass.
1.3. Dirt
Ew.
2. Paths
Now is the time for the path, assuming you've made up what your path for said level is!
Remember that spheres are 32 pixels (although thinner paths are acceptable) and be mindful of the 500px area!
2. Effects - Plugins
The plugin pack I use is the pyrochild plugins pack.
1. Outlines / Stroke
No, not this kind of storhgytfvluoijkmjhnytgfkhbfdfohotrehyekerhnyiernyterntnfnfnf.Don't post on reddit pls or I steal your karma What i mean is an outline around the object. Let's say you want to put an outline in our path.
3. Tips
Today, I'll cover some background design, specifically making specific themes and some tips!
Will be updated when i feel like it I guess??
Themes - Vanilla (No Plugins)
1. Background
1.1. Grasslands
Grasslands are the most "cliche" thing ever, but it won't hurt to make one.
- Find a shade of green you like!
- In the Effects tab, select Noise and select Add Noise.
- Set the Intensity to around 60-75, Color Saturation to 0 and Coverage to 100.
- In the Effects tab, select Distort and select Dents.
- Experiment with said effect!
Sometimes, an aquatic level just fits.
- Find a shade of blue you like!
- Scribble some white, blue and aqua lines.
- In the Effects tab, select Distort and select Dents.
- Experiment with the values.
- In the Effects tab, select Blurs and select Gaussian Blur.
- Give it around 70.
You can't just rely on a gray area of grass.
- Pick a primary and secondary color that are gray. (Feel free to make it darker, de-saturated hues of orange and yellow!)
- In the Effects tab, select Render and select Clouds.
- Set the roughness to max and experiment with the scale.
Ew.
- Find a shade of brown you think suits dirt the most.
- In the Effects tab, select Noise and select Add Noise.
- Set the instensity around 50-60, the color intensity to 0 and keep the coverage.
- Duplicate the layer.
- In the Effects tab, select Stylize and select Edge Detect.
- Set it to a good angle.
- Click the highlighted icon to modify the layer settings, such as blending.
- Set the mode to Negation or Additive, and set the Opacity to around 140.
Now is the time for the path, assuming you've made up what your path for said level is!
Remember that spheres are 32 pixels (although thinner paths are acceptable) and be mindful of the 500px area!
- Add a new layer, and draw out the path using the Paintbrush (to the left of the Eraser, or press B). The color matters!
- Set the Paintbrush layer to be translucent, then select the Line / Curve Tool (to the left of the the Text tool, or press O)
- Set the width to 32 if you haven't already, and set the style for the edges to be Rounded.
- Trace the path using the tool. After that, you can delete the old Paintbrush layer. If you plan to have overlapping parts, it's your choice if you want them to overlap or not. (In my case I overlapped them)
- Get another material background image and copy it. (If you followed this guide - make sure when copying it, the layers are flattened.)
- Now paste the image into a new layer and hide it afterwards.
- Select the Magic Wand tool (to the left of the hand tool, or press S) and set it to Add (Union).
- Select any transparent pixels in the layer. (Remember to set Layer as the Sampling!)
- Show the layer that is the second material, and paste the transparent pixels.
- In the Effects tab, select Blurs and select Gaussian Blur.
- Keep the blur somewhat low so the details don't lose much.
- Gaussian Blur the other layer so it has somewhat of an outline.
The plugin pack I use is the pyrochild plugins pack.
1. Outlines / Stroke
No, not this kind of storhgytfvluoijkmjhnytgfkhbfdfohotrehyekerhnyiernyterntnfnfnf.
- In the Effects tab, select Object and select Outline Object.
- You will see this menu. Experiment with it - don't go overboard. (The left arrow on the colors area resets it to your current primary color)
- Experimentation is key. Try different effects that you think go well together. However, avoid making eyesores like this. [eyesore warning]
- Go search for plugins! However, this doesn't mean that a huge amount of effects and plugins that doesn't look really good doesn't mean it can pass as a great looking background.
