Quote

Big Dancing, Small Town

Straight outta Mooresville, Indiana comes this overly cool, feel good video of some big dancing in a small town.

Filed under: News, Xbox Live Marketplace, Video Marketplace

It's another beautiful Summer day featuring free TV episodes and a music download off the Xbox Live Video Marketplace. Just what exactly is free this week? Well, let's pull out our shovels and dig through the Marketplace to find out. Free for download is the premiere episode of Comedy Central's new series "Lil' Bush" as well as episodes one and two of CBS's "Clark and Michael". Also, if we would have mentioned this earlier, LOGO's "Curl Girls" premiere episode was free, but just became paid content and is now 160 Microsoft points. Sorry about that. But there is a newish music video available for download from Ankle Injuries as part of the Zune Ignition sponsorship. That's about it for free downloads today, so fire up the Marketplace and find your free download treasure matey. Ahoy!

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: News, Rumors

Rumor is flying around the internet that Microsoft's secret E3 lineup has been leaked. The news was posted over on the Wii60 forums and is a list of what Microsoft is supposedly going to be showing, info leaked by an E3 floor manager. Games include a new Crimson Skies sequel, Kameo 2 including a bunch of Rare games, a Gears of War 2 trailer, and Dead Rising 2. The rumor goes even further to say that Microsoft will also be announcing that Ninja Gaiden 2 will be a 360 exclusive, Metal Gear Solid will be headed to the Xbox, and that they purchased the rights to Star Wars Battlefront 3. Full list of rumored announcements posted after the break.
Not to be overly pessimistic, but we really feel this "leak" sounds kind of fishy and give it a 35% chance of actually being real. Do all these announcements sound probable? Heck yes. But we'll be cautious in getting our hopes up too much. Though, if it were all true, Microsoft would definitely get all the attention at E3.
[Via Game Stooge]
Rumored E3 Announcements
- Microsoft start first at 6.30pm GMT+0:00.
- New Crimson Skies game to be announced.
- Bungie working on new title/series not related to anything in the Halo/Marathon Universe.
- Epic Games to show some gorm of Gears of War 2 Trailer.
- Microsoft have bought the Star Wars Battlefront 3 rights. Trailer/Demo to be shown.
- Rare to show off Banjo Kazooie 3 (Banjo-Theerie).
- Rare to announce 2 new games.
- Rare to announce Kameo 2.
- Lionhead Studios show more of Fable 2.
- Microsoft to fund a new game based on Jason Bourne. It'll be based on the books and not the film with Matt Damon.
- Team Ninja to show off Ninja Gaiden 2. Labeled 360 Exclusive.
- Apparently there's news of a MGS Game for the 360. May or may not be the 4th Installment.
- Dead Rising 2 to be shown. May not be ready.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: News

What's that smell? It's the unmistakable aroma of exclusive content coming to the 360 ... lovely. Yesterday, gameindustry.biz confirmed with a Take-Two representative that Grand Theft Auto IV will feature episodic content that will be exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform. Yup, you'll only be able to get such episodic content on your lovely white box and no other console. Life is great isn't it? No other details were confirmed about such content other than its exclusivity.
GTA IV is huge game and if the 360 version is going to get content that no other version on other consoles has, it's a big deal. Now we just hope that such episodic content doesn't cost us anything or, if it does, it doesn't break the bank. Our fingers are crossed.
[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

This tutorial is for everyone who wants to learn how to make custom GFX and designs. I will assume if you are reading this, then youve at least messed around with the Livery editor, so you know all the basic shapes, and how to change colors and stretch and skew. If you dont, just practice with it, you'll learn quickly enough. (I apologize about the resolution of some of these pics, i used my camera phone)
First of all, you need to know that you can't upload pics to the game.All of the designs you see are hand made using the in-game livery editor. But its not too complicated to make graphics using it, and like anything else in life, the more you practice with it, the better you will be.
For this tutorial, i will be making a graphic of Harley Quinn, the Joker's sidekick in the Batman series:

Before you even get started with the game, if you are using a picture (as opposed to drawing free hand with nothing but your imagination to go off of), sketch out a simple plan of attack...basically draw up what shapes you will need, basic shapes. You dont have to get complicated, just make sure the angles and proportions are correct. When you sketch it out, it should look something like this:

Notice how i only used basic circles, ovals, squares and triangles. This will come in handy once you get into the livery editor, since you have to use those shapes.
Now, you dont have to draw the design on the car you want to place it on, in fact, sometimes this makes things more difficult since some cars have odd shaped roofs, hoods, and side panels. Its best to use a blank canvas like the Mini Cooper roof, which is large and square. After you finish your design, you can save it to your design catalog and then place it, resize it, and spin it on any car you wish. For this tutorial, i am painting on the roof of the Nissan Skyline GT350
Also, when you use a blank canvas, paint the car a color that wont blend with your design, because it will be hard to keep track of shapes if they are hidden because they match the same color as the car. For this example, i know that the main 3 colors are Red, Black and White, so i chose to paint the car a champagne color. (after you finish a graphic, you can always go back and repaint the car whatever color you wish)
Now that you have your basic sketch, and you selected your canvas and canvas color, we can begin placing basic shapes. You dont have to be super accurate here, because its just the base design that you will be working off of. Just make sure you pay attention to angles and proportions. Those should be as accurate as possible.
If you know a certain section of your design is going to be intricate, you can always do that portion first as large as possible, save it, then resize it to fit the overall design. in this case, i notice the head is the most complicated portion to do because of the fine detail, so i am opting to do the first, as large as possible, then i will save it, and add it to the body to finish the design. After placing the basic shapes, i get a rough outline of the head:

I painted the shapes different colors to show that you dont neccesarily need alot of shapes when making the outline, save the details for later.
But now i want to make them all the same color, so i go into the livery editor and select the "Highlight all Layers" option. this will highlight ALL the layers on the current side of the vehicle:

Now that all the Layers are highlighted, look on the bottom of the screen and you will see all your options, if you hold down the left thumbstick, a different set of options appear:

You can de-select all the layers by chosing the option in the livery menu, or if you hold down the left thumbstick, you can select only certain layers, so if you wish, you scroll to layer 1, hold the left thumstick and press A, let the thumbstick go, scroll over to layer 8 do the same thing, scroll to layer 12, do the same thing, and then you can manipulate only those 3 layers, and the rest of the layers will stay where they are. You can deselect individual layers by clicking and holding the left thumbstick and pressing A again.
Now that i have all the layers highlighted, i change the color to green, and all the layers are now the same color:

This is just my rough outline, im not going to try and fill it in piece by piece, it is just here to guide me as i add shapes and detail, and once the graphic is done, i will erase the green outline layers. Now i will start by filling in the red. Remember, this system works of layers, so look at your picture and decide which layers are on the bottom and start from there. In this pic, the red is on bottom, with the black on top of the red, and finally the white face and then black mask. So this is the order i will be adding shapes:

I continue using different shapes, filling up the red left side of her face, this is the time where you are trying to get it as accurate as possible, at least on the edges:


Now that i have the red portions filled in, i am going to start filling in the black sections using shapes, using the same method as before. Remember, you have a thousand layers, which is A LOT, so dont be afraid to use more shapes if one isnt quite cutting it:

One helpful thing to remember-after you select your shape, you have to pick its color, at this color selection screen, if you hit the right trigger, it will bring up a list of the previous colors you just used, and this is VERY helpful when you are trying to match colors, since you dont have to play the guessing game and keep changing the color til you get it right:

Now that ive used shapes to fill in the black portions, i can move on to the next layer which is the white face:

 Notice how the design doesnt quite match up with my original layout, this is perfectly fine, since the original layout was just a guide. Now since i have the basic shape of the face done, i can delete the green outline layers. I dont have to do it at this point, but i am satisfied with the face, and the only thing left is the interior and then details and shading:

I add some more black shapes to make the mask of the face, and now all the basic layers are done. The only thing remaining is shading and details:

I start with the pompoms on her headress, these are small and quite easy to do. I start with a dark gray circle:

Next, i go into the gradients menu to select a circle gradient and then i make it white, shrink it, and place it on top of the grey circle layer:

Now that that is done, i start shading the red portions of the headdress. You dont have to use gradients to make gradients!! I used the circle gradient for the pompom because it was simple, easy and effective. But the gradients are very limited in their uses. Its best to make a shape with the primitive shapes, then make it black for shades or white for highlights and then adjust the transparency. You can create a gradient effect by layering different shapes with the transparencies. Since this design isnt heavy on shading and lighting, i wont get into that in this tutorial, but i can do it later if anyone is interested. For the design, i select a curved primitive, and make it black, placing it on the top of the red:

Next i simply drop down the transparency:

I continue to work around the red areas, making small areas of shade, its hard to notice them in this picture, but they are there. Shading and lighting is crucial in designs because it makes the images 3D. By using the primitive shapes, and adjusting transparency, you can make all kind of shaded angles. I also add a bit of white, using the same exact process to add highlight to the black portion of the head:

Using primitives for shading instead of gradients is key. Lets say you have a red square. All you need to do is is hold down the left theumbstick, copy that layer, go to the next layer, paste it (now you have 2 layers), and then change the color of the new layer to white or black, and adjust the transparency. Move it around to get it where you want, and presto! you have a shaded square.
Now that i have the shading done on most of the outside, i begin shading the white face. There is a portion on her cheek that is actually a blue-ish color (which is common for shades on pure white), and its small enough and in the shape of a gradient, so i go into the gradient menu, pick it out and make it blue:

You can still adjust the transparency, which is good because most of the time you dont want shades to be TOO overpowering (unless you are going for a Sin City look or something). Now that i add the blue gradient, i make some small yellow half circles for her upper eyelids, and add a small shade just above her eye on the right:

Next i use a couple of curved white shapes to make her eyes, trying to match it as exactly as possible. If you are making a human design, the eyes are very important. They need to be exactly proportioned, or it will be the first thing someone notices as being off. I also add a small triangle for her eyelashes:

Next, i add small blue circles for her pupils, and make a small white circle gradient inside those, and i begin the shading on her nose. I start with a solid black primitive again, and i adjust the transparency:

I continue with the small shading around the nose, and i use dark red curves to add the lips:

I finalize the shading by adding a shape covering most of the face on the right, since it is all in shadow, and i will knock down the transparency again:

Finally, i will add the white collar on the neck, add some shading using the same process, go over it one last time to make sure it all looks good, and now it is done.
Something vey important to remember is to SAVE OFTEN!! I had to learn this the hard way since i was 4 hours into a design (this one as a matter of fact), and then i got booted off of Xbox Live and it immiediately exited the livery editor and went to the main Forza menu. Everything i was working on was lost just like that (and i was about 90% done with the entire graphic, not just the head).
So if you are spending more and more time on your design, just save it to the car every now and then. Its in the menu next to take a photo i believe. This will save any possible headaches of lost work.
Ok, now that you are done with the design, make sure you save it!! You are going to want to the save the entire vinyl group so you can apply it to any car you want. Its in the menu right here:

Just enter a name you will remember so its easy to keep track of your graphics later when you want to apply them.
In this case, i am saving the entire head, so when i work on the body, i can just simply load the head, and then resize it so it fits nicely. The head only took 92 layers, so that means i still have 908 layers for the body or anything else.
But for now, i just have a head, and the finished product looks like this:

I hope this tutorial was helpful. If you want me to continue it with the rest of the project and post the finished result, let me know and i can do that.
Good luck to all the budding artists!!!
Update:
So i finished the car, and im gonna skip over the detailed tutorial stuff, since i pretty much used the same methods as before. I started with another outline of the body, using various shapes, making them green:

Next, i begin to use primitives to fill in the Black areas:

After i get the black areas filled in, i start working on the red:

Once that im satisfied with both the red and black segments, i delete the green outline and begin adding the white cuffs:

Next, i use a couple of white gradients, reduce transparency and add them to the black areas as highlights. I also add the red an black diamonds using triangles, and i use black primitives and reduce transparency to add shade to the hand and fingers:

I then do the same process adding shade to the *** and other arm:

I add shades to the other cuff, and add white primitives, dropping transparency to the gun:

After that is all done, i add the white shapes to the collar, give them shade, and save the entire vinyl group. I shrink it a tad, and then load the previous vinyl group (the head), and line up the head, shrink it to size and it is now all finished:

The only thing left to do is paint the car. I go back and paint the car solid black, the rims black, and tint the windows. I then add large red squares to give the car a big Harley quinn pattern, including diamonds, and i place an enlarged head on each rear fender. I move the entire design to the hood, and put a gradient radiant white star behind her. I add text for her name on the front fenders, and the final car looks like this:

Forzamotorsport.net Forums - GFX Tutorial for Beginners **UPDATED**

Microsoft Corporation has unveiled Ignition, a cross-platform soapbox for the world's musical talent. The company has previously proposed a huge network of media, music and gaming that would span multiple devices: Windows computers, Xbox game consoles, and even Zune media players. This new network of music and music videos will be available via any of Microsoft's many devices and platforms in the hopes of leveraging the music industry to bring in new users while helping out budding artists by providing a huge audience.
"The Ignition program is designed to help artists connect with a substantial consumer audience. Consumers are looking for ways to find new music, and Ignition helps connect artists with potential new fans by giving them multiple opportunities to listen to, watch, or read about the artist across Microsoft's online platforms," said Microsoft's director of music marketing Christina Callo.
On the Xbox 360 front, Xbox Live members have enjoyed some occasional music videos via the "Artist of the Month" promotions, but Ignition will likely offer a more expansive offering of content. The UK's Maxïmo Park will be the first group to be promoted; their album Our Earthly Pleasures and the single "Our Velocity" will mark the first available free downloads for the Ignition system and will be available via the Zune Marketplace and the Xbox Live Marketplace.
View: Press Release
News source: Ars Technica
Read full story...