I need a tutorial for the lasso tool

[OpenHouseJack]

Hi,
I saw the slimmer BB gangsta suits and loved how the collar looks. I've been trying to improve my skinning collars is there a possiblity of a tutorial on how to use the lasso tool for collar and tie skinning?

you can PM

Thanks
openhouseJack

[BeosBoxBoy]

Jack - I am moving this to the modding section where it will do the most good for everyone

In Photoshop you select the lasso tools like this:



I prefer the polygon tool because it allows for the selection of irregular shapes like the tie.  The magnetic version has never served any great use for me in 8 years of Photoshop use, but some people swear by it.

Click and hold works in Gimp to bring up more options too I think. :study:

[OpenHouseJack]

Thank you for the speedy reply. I already know how to do that, what I meant is how you make it look so prominent and real. you know like stand out. Mine usually comes out OK but doesn't look as realistic as the ones in the gangster suit. It's really perfect and I want mine to look as good. You know how I want to make my skin look realistically good blahblahblah



Jack:rabbit:

[BeosBoxBoy]

That was a matter of some patience and experimentation - i used additional layers to apply a shadowing then flattened the image.

What I did was find a tie that was of a single colour, used the lasso tool to select, then cut and paste the layer, then added a new layer that I made the patterns, this was pretty easy for me since I have about 300 fill patterns, but you could use any pattern. then moved the solid coloured tie layer to the top most, desaturated the colour, and played with the brightness/contrast till I had something servicable as an overley - then used it as a "multiply" layer - and presto whammo - it was beautiful.  Flatten and save - then use CTRL+Z to back out of the flatten and made more versions.

[OpenHouseJack]

I'll try that next time see if it comes out as beautiful as yours. Thank you very much guys

[vita4all]

Hi Yakov,

First, thank you for taking th time to do a mesh and recoloration tutorial.

You helped me before on the polygonal lasso technique, where I
recolored your white gangster suit to having a black shirt and white tie,
but I used the brush and painted in the black color, using these tools.

Here's a related problem that has to do with fill patterns.

1. When I google for textures and see one I like,
I'll save the image, and here's an example of a jean pattern:



2. Next, say I want to use the polygonal lasso tool to add a
blue jean collar on a shirt I like, and the rectangular marquee tool
to add a pocket.  No problem using the tools. I copied a piece
of the texture (from above), then used paste into selection for
the area I lasso'd.  This was the end result:



The fill pattern on the collar and the pocket didn't 'shrink' enough
and no longer looks like the original blue jean texture.  Unless the photo
image of a texture is already very small, this happens all the time.

3.  Below is a photo shot a my first successful fill in
(for the sleeves), but I cut and pasted part of the blue jeans
from a pair of pants from another Sim outfit.



While I'm pleased as punch over this, I want to use the pretty textures
that are available on the web.  

What's weird is that I can use a photo from a poster, reduce the size
and paste it on the outfit, and it turns out great.  



But even when I reduce the size of photos of the textures,
they still turn out the same (like the collar and pocket photo above).

How do I get around this problem?

[BeosBoxBoy]

When you find an image like the one above - you would first want to resize it a bit and try to tile it in a fashion that gives you the best chance of using it for pant legs or the back of a jacket or whatever your end ambition is - I have made two PNGs below than will give you a fair idea of the "best target" for that particular texture.  Remember, detail will be lost no matter how you handle it, so try for the look and feel for than mircoscopic perfection.

The resizing of any texture is always a personal decision.  Sometimes different effects require you be "creative" with what you have.  For instance, that texture un-resized turned so the fibres run up-and-down would make an excellent sweater pattern :lol:  just tinker with the colour balance a bit and voila! a sweater!

[vita4all]

Hi Yakov,

I just sent you a PM on this. Thank you so much, and I'll post back if I have another question on this.

Take care,
Vita

[Chairman Greg]

OpenHouseJack, what you might be looking for is the "Feather" feature on the lasso tool.  

In Jakov's picture in message #2 above, look straight up from the left-hand arrowhead.  See where it says "Feather 0 pixels"?  You can change that to cause the edges of the selection to be fuzzy so that whatever you do blends in nicely with the background.

You can get the same effect by fiddling with a layer mask and blurring the edges of the mask.  (To directly edit a layer mask, alt-click on it.)