SF4 TE Stick Art mod help

IvyFanboy

IvyFanboy

[11] Champion
Evo's upon me and I've finally cracked and will be buying my Seimitsu buttons to replace my overly touchy Sanwa buttons. Along with this I want my custom stick to shine at Evo and will pull attention to my fanboy nature to Ivy. So few things I need help with and will make this a good guide for anyone wanting the same.

Where do I find the template? - I've found this before and right now I'm just can't find it. Post a link for us!

Any other GOOD customs out there to pull ideas from? - I see a lot scattered about and it's a pain in the ass finding decent ones, any sites really aimed towards this?

Any good source pics? - I'm looking for good Ivy pics. Unfortunately the only one I can really find thats even acceptable is the SC4 concept art Image (see avatar). It's nice and all but I wanna see if i can find some more. As well I need a HUGE high quality image if I'm gonna be printing this at 300 dpi. So if you find any that big (even the concept one) post a link?

I also need just good source pics of backgrounds, borders, icons, avatars, fonts, logos, and anything that might be cool.

[EDIT] currently found a HUGE concept file and am doing the painstaking task of ripping away the white space. No one will have better ivy png than mine...no one.

I'll naturally post when I get this done. Hopefully before Evo. I might actually start winning when my buttons stop fucking up now!
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Found the template again:

SF4 TE Stick Art Template

Still need help on image finds :/
 
IvyFanboy said:
[EDIT] currently found a HUGE concept file and am doing the painstaking task of ripping away the white space. No one will have better ivy png than mine...no one.
Click to expand...

There's 2 ways to avoid that stupid task;
a) Use a Magic Wand tool.
b) Get a white background.

I enjoy photo editing and art design so if you have any questions, let me know.
 
Fully aware of magic wand tool, already used it, but naturally the edges will never be perfect and I'm a professional so yeah...1000% zoom with erase tool is gonna make it look nice.

Decided on these buttons:
ps14kn_vi_thumb.jpg


Seimitsu PS-14-KN 30mm

Think I might do a big pic of Ivy then have the full cast of character in small at the bottom and use some game related typography to fill the negative space. No clue what to do for background.
 
The best buttons ever, btw. I like em better than Sanwas myself.

As for art design, I originally thought I'd do the same sorta thing with Hilde, with her in the front, the rest of the cast, typography...but you really need it all there? Really, most people are going to notice one thing; the picture of Ivy in the center. There's not a whole lot of negative space on an arcade stick. If you've got just a picture of Ivy on a white background, don't waste your time finding a small picture of the SC4 cast, cutting out the edges on that. It really depends on what you want for your background; you want it more white or black? If more white, you can save yourself a lot of time cutting off the edges on your main pic.

Also, do you want to put button sillhouettes INSIDE those buttons, like light gray X, Triangle, O, and Square buttons?

Oh, and an idea for "text" to put against the top and bottom edges: some of Ivy's combos. Hell, even CS or SS would be funny. Someone who doesn't know SC4 asks you "that's a nice arcade stick...wait...what the hell is along the top and bottom?" and you can chuckle at them a little.

As far as backgrounds, something I like to do is find a real background somewhere (nature sites, maybe an anime site for an Ivy-looking cathedral, architecture site for a real cathedral) and apply a ton of filters to it to make it look completely different. Desaturate it, filter it, level it, (bop it, pull it, twist it!), etc. I'll attach my example.
 

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IvyFanboy said:
Fully aware of magic wand tool, already used it, but naturally the edges will never be perfect and I'm a professional so yeah...1000% zoom with erase tool is gonna make it look nice.

Decided on these buttons:
ps14kn_vi_thumb.jpg


Seimitsu PS-14-KN 30mm

Think I might do a big pic of Ivy then have the full cast of character in small at the bottom and use some game related typography to fill the negative space. No clue what to do for background.
Click to expand...

I do this crap as a hobby. Here are some ivy 'renders' or transparencies.

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/8/30/2072704/Ivy.png
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/8/30/2072704/Ivy CG.png
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/8/30/2072704/Art-18 copy.png
 
THANK YOU! Those png.s are great. I only had to touch up a small hair part (which is actually the artists fault) and it's the same jpeg i was starting from.
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Anyone know the font used on the TE Stick below the turbo settings? I'd like to put that part back into the design.
 
Thanks everyone for all the useful info and links above. I also recently got the TE stick (PS3 version) and just ordered a plexiglas top along with custom art print. Haven't ordered buttons or ball top replacement yet since I'm not sure on the final color scheme. But here's the final artwork design concept that I quickly put together in Photoshop earlier today. Special thanks to Eclair for the individual character's high rez stock images.

5lpjsi.jpg
(Tira's there, but from the point of view, her head is behind the ball top stick. Yes, I know its the Xbox 360 stick version depicted here. I used the model mockup template to give me an idea what the final build might look like. So it should look like this when complete. I'll post real pics later.)

e01u1c.jpg

Completed art with layout cutouts

Originally I was going to do a strictly Cassandra stick or perhaps a Setsuka one. But then after considering one of the major color schemes for those characters well...pink isn't exactly my color. So I just settled for all the major female characters - Soul Calibur femme fatale - and made this montage in photoshop. The layout may be a bit noisy for some people but its quick dirty and simple.
 
Well, after hearing all this art talk for sticks, i decided that, since i was bored, to use my terrible photoshop powers to make this some stick art. Sadly, i only have an SE madkatz stick, so I just used that.

TakiMockup.jpg


i used the background ignisphaseone posted for right now until i am finishing touching up this cluttered thing.
 
Ok so finally got the parts and artwork+plexiglas top assembled. Here are the actual photos of the real stick.

2ho93i8.jpg


Note the custom dush washer under the stick.
okpw11.jpg


Some Additional Custom Washers
igytxs.jpg


I also got a bit carried away and bought this recently as well... not as good as the TE stick (obviously) but when I saw it I had to get it (one of those brash spontaneous moments). Never owned a NeoGeo growing up eventhough I wish I did but now I can have something memorable from that time period on my PS3.

ie1bvc.jpg
 
Nice job on the sticks.

Unfortunately I hit a financial and academic halt for a bit. I currently have my new buttons in however. 6 purple and 2 white.

To do list:
  • Color white sides matching purple
  • Color panel rim matching purple.
  • Color exposed panel screws.
  • Design Ivy themed plate (black, Grey, and Purple)
  • Fix loose nuts (they broke from the glue when opening it up and leave the screw free spinning...fuckin Madcatz).
  • Add in PC and XBOX converter internally to the board.
  • Add way to access what system it will use.
  • Test drive an octagonal gate/new joy stick.

So lots to do. Finally have time and a good direction on the Ivy concept. I'm gonna step back from making it super purple and Ivy themed and get her in their and have a very sleek layout complete with logos and help/signature move postings. I want to make it a layout that would be easily customizable by anyone for any game by simply replacing the PNG of the character and modding the text. I got my new direction when I realized had I got all black buttons and decaled the picture of the actual PS3 pad buttons onto it I could make a very sleek stick just by pulling graphic ideas from the PS3.
 
Well I decided to take the time with some spare holiday money and prep up the XBOX 360 TE stick as well. Here's the concept art I made in photoshop using some Broken Destiny character images and the TE mockup template. Plexi and print are on order so I'll update real photos later.

It's similar to the last stick I did for the PS3 version (Soul Calibur Femme Fatale) except this time with rendered character models instead of illustrated art.

Stick concept using template
2jfzw9s.jpg
(... Again Tira's head is blocked by the ball top stick depicted here.)

Artwork layout with cutouts
dzc9j7.jpg


Pink isn't actually a color I prefer but in this case it works... it's more of a metalic pink however.
 
Here are the photos of the completed stick. I decided to try Seimitsu buttons so I could preserve the little bit of the artwork where the button cutouts are. I had to wait a while longer because the vendor sent me wrong color (pink) buttons instead of the clear white I requested. I also ordered a clear pink bubble ball top for the stick but in the end decided to put back the original white as it looked better.

ml2u0n.jpg


One of the extra custom dustwashers I had from the last stick
znu3ip.jpg


Seimitsu buttons (shown with buttons taken apart)

5ajl7n.jpg
1076idh.jpg
21lkiti.jpg
2ezsqjl.jpg


Background art layout with cutouts

2djw3ky.jpg


Many of you who already familiar with adding buttons on TE stick are probably aware of this problem. Near one of the buttons there is a corner on the metal bracket near the stick that gets in the way. If you got snap in buttons like the stock Sanwas this isn't a problem. However if you have the type that has a locking nut like Seimitsu you'll have to do a little bit of modification. Simply grind the locking nut down so it can slip underneath the bracket, then insert the button and screw it in. Grinding the nut down to get the proper clearance only took a minute or so to do with a dremel tool.

2nltel0.jpg


Both SCIV sticks are now complete SCIV Femme Fatale I (PS3) and SCIV Femme Fatale II (Xbox 360)

6pntza.jpg
 
Goddammit! Curse my 10th grade ghetto boy education. I would love to be able to do stuff like this but I have no idea what y'all are talking about.
 
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