Stroker1

I really hate working with colours sometimes. Complimentary, split-complimentary, and all that jazz. Most of the time it's really hard for me to find colours that work well together. A whole lot of hit-or-miss.

HSV is a great boon. My Colour palette is hardly ever in any other mode. Woo! Even though HSV is good, I still have a hard time visualizing how to move the sliders around to get what I want.

So, one day, I made my own colour wheel.



Upper-Left: Start with an Angle Gradient using the full Hue spectrum.
Upper-Right: Add a Layer and lay a Radial Grad using the default colours. Even though black should be in the middle, I'm more comfortable with white in the middle.
Lower-Left: Set the Radial Grad Layer to Hard Light.
Lower-Right: Radial Grad Layer Inverted (ctrl +i).

I usually make mine around 400 x 400 so I can have a decent spread of colours to pick from. I used to keep one saved, but I haven't bothered since my last format - now I make 'em as I need 'em.

Inverting the Hard Light Radial Grad Layer as needed is good. If you want a wider spread of darker colours to pick from, then put the black on the outside. If you want a wider spread of lighter colours to pick from, then put white on the outside.

It's by no means perfect as it's still 2d, but it has helped me a great deal. If you put your Info palette on HSV and check values all over the place, you'll notice some interesting things.

A simple variation on this has greatly helped me with fleshtones and other tricky colour schemes.

Persophone

Nice job Stroker.
[righton]

It's important for Photoshop users to be cognizant of the color wheel and how color interacts with one another. One area where this information is vital, is color correction.

If we look at Stroker's color wheel, we'll notice that RGB and CMY are complementary colors, meaning they lie opposite each other on the color wheel. Where this comes into play is if one had an image that had too much red - you'd neutralize the red color cast with its complementary color cyan.

Red's complementary is Cyan
Green's complementary is Magenta
Blue's complementary is Yellow

This can also be demonstrated in Photoshop by going to:
Image > Adjust > Variations, as well as Image > Adjust > Color Balance.

Stroker1

I decided to rant about my colour picking travels. Writing this stuff really helps me relax, and I am stressed to the max. There is now a new addition to Tech-Slop.

Custom Colours

Any points made about this discussion might get tossed into the revision. My revisions can take a few days to a few weeks while I maul things over. I am planning on talking briefly about HSV vs HSL. Another thing I'm thinking about is changing the name to "Colour Picking".

Persophone

Stroker:
I've only had time to make a cursory examination of your displacement map guide, but I'm really excited with what I've seen.
[righton]
Is your background math?

Stroker1

Math was my other major. My first major was Comp-Sci Applications - basically programming. They go hand-in-hand rather well. I still write mickey mouse programs in basic to help with grunt work.

Displace is my big thing for several reasons. The big reason is that I am constantly seeing people trying to explain Displace explicitly and getting it all wrong. Another reason is that it's a very powerful filter that is used no where near it's potential. Most people know how to use Displace to achieve a handful of effects, but that's about it - and they do these parlour tricks with no real understanding. Educating the masses about Displace is my Holy Crusade. As a matter of fact, in the next few weeks I will be filliing in some of the Displace gaps in Tech-Slop.

I'm glad you like what you've seen so far. It's good to know that somebody likes Tech-Slop even though its not a spiffy site with spiffy graphics and spiffy what-not. I have gotten negative comments from people crying that they can't learn w/out spiffiness. Fine. I guess they don't deserve to learn what I'm willing to teach. (I'm so horrible, aren't i?)

Jeez. Could I ramble any more?

vogonpoet

I think Tech Slop's design is perfect.

Bacardi

Me tto I've visited your displacement pages and I share the overall exitement.
I confess that, after buying the Bible, McLelland's version that is, I printed the extra chapters on the CDRom. Hey, OK, they're protected, but I bought the book with my own money, and I hate reading from a monitor.
But even he is skating on thin ice. I never felt satisfied because I sensed more. And now I read your explanation and things are dawning...

Good crusade you have there! Finally one that is meant to educate, not to destroy.

Jacques de Molay III

Persophone

Stroker:
You're the Jean Francois Champollion of Displacement maps! (Rosetta Stone)
[righton]

Your work on displacemet maps could be considered like the Rosetta Stone in that it illuminates what was once a mystery. I'm completely excited over your work and can hardly wait to see the gap fill-ins you write about.

You are a Displacement Map Guru!
[righton]

Stroker1

Wow. I've gotten positive comments about Tech-Slop before, but never with such enthusiasm. One of the biggest Displace discussions is going to be about one-channel vs. two-channel -- not an easy thing to explain. I'll be sure to let you guys know when the updates happen.

Picking Colours

I changed the title and added a few things. One of the things I added is Magic Wand and Eyedropper thing. Pretty funny considering that Rick made a post about this. Great minds think alike or something.

vogonpoet

as always Stroker, I am looking forward to more great explanations and discussions regarding D-mapping and the other great subjects you cover.

I am glad to see your getting the recognition you deserve [righton]

Good for you