Highslide for Wordpress Plugin

Software Review #1 – Wisdom Softwares’ ScreenHunter 5 Free

ScreenHunter has been one of my favorite pieces of software for a long time. Though there is a paid version (ScreenHunter Plus and ScreenHunter Pro), the free version is still an excellent piece of software.

ScreenHunter 5 Free in action ScreenHunter is an upgrade to windows' default print screening program. It can be configured to any button (I use F2), and then when hit, it brings up a zoom & crop feature so you can accurately select only what you need. It then outputs to either a file or the clipboard.

ScreenHunter is perfect for designers or just typical users, as you'll never have to take a screenshot, then crop it, then save it again. It's one of those little time-savers that stacks up. I use it on average multiple times per day.

Download it for free here: http://wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter_free.htm

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Low Spec Model in Maya Tutorial

So I have figured out how to make Low Spec Models in maya. These are not just Low-Poly models, but low-resolution textures as well, usually pixel art. It's not too popular of a craft, so it's semi hard to find other people that do it. There is a forum called Pixelation, and one of the sub-forums is called Low Spec Art, and one of the things that people post there is stuff like this. People use lot's of different programs, but I chose Maya, since it's what I know best. I used the 2012 version. You can get a 3 year Maya license if you're a student, which is what I've done. Here's how:
  1. Make the texture.

    Low Poly House by Kenneth Fejer Making the texture first isn't required, but it helped me with my first model. Be sure to account for every side. I decided to make mine perfectly cubey. When doing not cubey stuff, rather than trying to pixel the edges, pixel them as if the face is going to be square. Notice how the house is slanted, but the texture is still square.

  2. Maya Modeling.

    Maya Sizing For the Modelling, create each cube, and adjust the size with the controls in the attribute editor, making it as many pixels wide as you did on the texture. Place them this way too. Because maya calculates position by the very middle of an object, when you place things that have an uneven number of pixels, you will need to use half numbers (13.5, 0.5 etc.). Once you've created all the pieces and arranged them into the model, group them by going to Mesh > Combine at the top.

  3. UV Mapping.

    Skip ahead if you've UV mapped before. UV mapping attaches the texture to the model. First you must add a new texture RightClickDrag on your model and release on Assign New Material. Pick Lambert as the material type. Then Click the little black and white checkered box to the right of color in the attribute editor. Click on File in the popup.Maya Material Click the folder next to image name and select the texture you created earlier.

    With your model selected, go to Create UVs > Automatic Mapping. You want to optimize for less distortion. Then Edit UVs > UV Texture Editor, and the UV window should popup. RickClickDrag and pick UV to enable you to play around with the UVs. Select them all and drag them out of the square in the center, so that you can see your texture.

  4. Disable Filtering.

    Before you begin, you might notice that the pixels have been blurred, which you probably don't want. To get rid of this in the UV window, go to Image and check Display Unfiltered. To do the same in the 3D viewport, click Shading(in the viewport menu) and then the options box for Hardware Texturing. In the popup, select the unfiltered Texture Filter. Disable Maya Filtering

  5. UV Map

    Now back in the UV editor, we have to first figure out which piece is which. Select a corner of one, and go to Select > Select shell. You should now have a square selected. You can then look in maya on the 3D model so see which points are selected, to figure out what face it is. Move the piece over to roughly where it is on the map. Then go to Image > Pixel Snap. This makes your selected pieces snap to the pixels on the texture. So select 1 point (or the 2 points of an edge) and snap them the where they should be on the texture. Do this 4 times, so it matches the texture. Turn pixel snap back off, and do this for each piece.

And that's it! One tip I have is to start with a model that is just boxes. It will be easier by far. Another thing, when you're UV mapping, it might be easier to move them all onto where they should be, and then align them to the pixels after, so you don't have to keep turning pixel snap on and off. Check out my creation below!

3D Pixel Character

Posted in Game Art | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

How To Implement WordPress Into Your Website Easily

So I've implemented wordpress into a lot of websites. Three. So I'm pretty much an expert. Here's how to put wordpress into your site, the lazy, but still 100% effective way.
  1. Download WordPress.

    I'll even give you the link: http://wordpress.org/ Now all you've gotta do is click download. See? Easy. We're like halfway done.

  2. Install WordPress.

    Just Unzip the file to your desktop or something, and then upload the whole folder to your website. Then go to your website and type in "/wordpress" at the end (or whatever the folder you uploaded was named). It will ask you to create the configuration file, and go ahead and do that. Carry on with the WordPress installation until it's done.

  3. Create A New Theme.

    Go into your web server and into the wordpress folder. Navigate to

    wordpress/wp-content/themes

    Make a new folder named whatever you want. I just used my site name. Then go into your wordpress admin area and click "Appearance" and then "Themes". Then on yours, click Activate.

  4. Create the Files.

    Next you need to create the following files, the can be blank for now:

    • index.php
    • header.php
    • sidebar.php
    • footer.php
    • loop.php
    • style.css

  5. Prepare your site.

    If you haven't already done this, then split your site's layout into two files. If you've designed any blog pieces, like a post or the sidebar, take them out. The center should be clear.So put everything up until the opening tag for the middle of your site, everything that comes before the content, in one file, name it something like header.php, and the for everything after the content, put it in footer.php. Just throw these on the root of your server.

  6. Edit Those Files.

    Copy these, make modifications where obvious, like if you used a different file name.

    index.php
    <?php 
get_header(); 
echo '	<div id="blog-center">';
get_template_part( 'loop', 'index' );
echo '	</div>';
get_sidebar();
get_footer();
?>
    header.php
    <?php
    include ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/header.php');
    ?>
    footer.php
    <?php
    include ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/footer.php');
    ?>
    sidebar.php
    <?php
echo '<div id="blog-sidebar">
Archives';
echo '<ul>';
wp_list_categories('show_option_all');
echo '</ul>
<ul>
Archives';
wp_get_archives('type=monthly');
echo '</ul></div>';
?>

    Now, for loop.php, go back to the themes folder, and go into the twentyten theme. Open loop.php in that folder, and copy everything in it into your loop.php.

    Leave the css sheet blank and never use it ever.

  7. Do some CSSing.

    Copy the following CSS into your regular style sheet. 

    #blog-center {
	width: 520px;
	float: left;
}

#blog-sidebar {
	float: right;
	width: 220px;
}

    And then all that's left to do is customize your CSS to your liking. WordPress has lots of classes you can customize, use firebug in firefox to figure out what they all are.

And that's it! You're done. Good job. You're like an expert now!

Posted in Web Design | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Blog is Back

I've brought my blog back, this time using actual blog software, so it should work better with my site.
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