User:Bevelup
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Hello!
I'm new to all Wiki projects. I have some ability in a few areas of graphics, and I'd love to contribute in whatever way I can, though the organization, format, guidelines, and "culture" of the project are still pretty daunting to me.
If you think you could make use of any of my skills, I'll happily help, but be prepared for a slew of questions while I'm figuring everything out (mostly about formatting and uploading, and about interacting with other users). I appreciate constructive (or sharp, but fair) criticism. Please don't hesitate to point out any mistakes I make, no matter how minor-- I'm still learning, and I can't get better unless I know what I'm doing wrong! And I'm gonna do stuff wrong. At least a little.
Oh, and: the work you guys have been doing here is amazing. You put in incredible amounts of time, effort, and patience, and receive nothing in return from those who make use of that work, unaware of where it came from. I'm guilty of that-- I didn't realize quite how these projects worked until recently. So thanks. People appreciate you, somewhere, even if they don't tell you.
Ways I Can Help[edit]
Inkscape[edit]
I've got decent experience in Inkscape, though I'm always learning new ways to streamline my work or improve cleanup and export (the not-so-fun part). I can handle easy tasks like vectorizing logos, flags, crests, and things like that, or more advanced things like vectorizing larger images or designing informational images form scratch (like visual representations of machine parts, or other things that help people visualize difficult descriptions).
While I have some experience in design and export, I haven't yet uploaded any to Commons, so I'll likely ask for input on formats, file size, naming, and copyright.
Synfig[edit]
I'm not sure how often it's needed, but I can create vector animations with Inkscape and Synfig, and export as GIFs.
Blender[edit]
Blender, if you haven't heard of it before, is an open-source 3D software that does... basically everything.
I don't think it's utilized much at all in Commons, compared to the amount of vector designs. That makes sense-- you don't need Blender to clean up historical flags, vectorize documents, etc-- but I think there's a few uses for Blender that don't get taken advantage of. And... Blender is just cool.
I do photo-realistic modelling in Blender. I use real-world images as reference to create 3D models, then apply PBR (Physically Based Render/Rendering) textures and materials. Basically, with a little node trickery and data from photos and real textures, I can make pretty convincing renders of realistic objects.
3D creation like that takes a lot more time than just taking a single picture of an object, but it gives you a ton of control. You can change the camera position and take multiple angles, cut away parts of the model to show the inside, fix lighting and color or change materials to add contrast, or just generally make it look better in ways that are impossible for real images.
I imagine that could be useful for recreating physical artifacts or buildings that are difficult to get good images of, or for visuals that could be improved by an animation or multiple consistent angles.
That being said, 3D design takes ages. It's probably more of a cool idea than a plausible one. But the help page says to be bold, so I'm gonna stick it on here just in case.