I know it seems a little weird to ask but what sort of sig should I try to make? It seems everyone is replacing their sigs and mine was never that great to start out with so I'd like to go for it again. Problem is I don't know what to do. Grundge and Devil May Cry stuff is cool, I don't mind the whole aquatic, flow type thing I've got going on but any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanx all!
I would: Think of what sort of style you are aiming for. I always tend to go for Grunge, Abstract, Tech, or Trend-Whore. Then find a render that matches this chosen style. Examples Grunge: Doom 3, Painkiller, Half Life 2, Alien, Evil Dead, Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves Abstract: Robots, Master Chief, Metroid Prime, Machines, Plasma Explosions Tech: Symbols, Text, Animation, Gadgets, Robots Then you need to think of what sort of colours would look good. Grunge: Browns, Oranges, Dark yellows, Reds, Purples Abstract: Purple, Electric Blue, Dark Blue, Green, Sky Blue, White Tech: Blues, White, Purple Then think of a good size - go for a 600x200, I'm finding that to be the best size for sig making nowadays. Gives you plenty of room for text, large renders and brushing. Then, open the render and the sig size. Grab a circle or rectangle Marquee tool, and set it to Feather 25px, drag around what you want in the sig, and copy n paste it. Or take the polygon lasso tool, feather 25, and draw around the parts you want. Then create a new layer *below* the render. Fill this with white. Then using your chosen type of brush, paint in black on this layer, vary opacity and brush. Once it is covered hit Ctrl + U to bring up Colorise. Tick Colorise, and choose one of the above colours, adjust it to your liking. Create another layer. Fill with white. Brush more in black. Colourise this. Try and vary these two colours - abstract, try a cold blue and a light purple, for example. Set the Blending Option for the top layer to Overlay, Soft light, or any which you prefer. Lower the opacity and fill a little - you want to be able to see both layers, to give the contrast in colour. Put the render layer on top. Change the blending option to Luminosity to make it the same colours as the below layers. Then add a layer mask, the little button with a rectangle and white circle. Using the brush tool, make sure the colours are reset (D). Then use white to take away from the render, use black to add to it if you mess up. Blend the image in, changing brushes. Brush out sharp edges, use low opacity brushing and stroke from the outside in, doesn't matter if you mess up - the layer mask is there so you can add and subtract as much as you like. Save. Then add some text. Choose an appopriate font - post the sig here and we can help. Then experiment with blending options for the font. Add a gradient overlay using colours that match the sigs. Add a 1px stroke of black. Add a drop shadow or inner shadow. Avoid bevellig and embossing as it tends to obscure the text. Save it again. Admire your work.
Wow you're fast dude! Excellent advice and instructions, hope I can crank something out I like in a few days. I'll probably wait a few weeks to do an animated sig, plus it takes up more file space when you concentrate on making the motion smooth obviously. As you implied, games are always a good place to get ideas and images from, I might go for a Max Payne sig? So I'd use that faded, noir comic feel with lots of blurring and pastal textures, a bunch of glass, bullet holes, that yellowy bullet time filter, etc. I guess (if I end up shooting for that).
