.:.:How do I make a CG?:.:.

CG stands for Computer Graphic. When making an anime CG, it requires immense use of vectors (pen tool). This tutorial was wriiten extensively so that it could be clearly understood even for beginners. If you've never used used vectors before, no problem. This step by step tutorial will show how to make a clean cut CG all by your wittle self. I suggest you perform the EXACT steps as you read this tutorial.

Required Programs:
1.Paint Shop Pro (any other program that has layers may work)
2.Scanner


Step #1: HAND-DRAW the image you wish to CG. This will make CGing a bazillion times easier. You don't have to be the greatest artist in the world. A simple line drawing is fine. And believe me, you don't have to draw shadows and all that junk, I just did it because I'm a perfectionist. :P However, if you really are a helplessly, terrible drawer, then you can always trace. This is my drawing. It's of Kai Kudou from E's Otherwise. He's so cute!!!




Step #2: Now you have to scan your drawing onto your computer. To do so, place your drawing on the scanner, open paint shop pro, go to File > Import > From Scanner or Camera... A dialogue box will pop up. Click preview to see a preview of your drawing. Make sure color image is selected. Next click scan. Now that your drawing is in paint, you can start CGing. The key to a great CG is layers. You must use layers for this tutorial. The whole point of using layers is so that when you are done outlining your drawing, you won't have to struggle trying to color in shadows and details without accidently coloring the edges. Before I do anything, I first have to figure out how many layers I need. Make sure the layer palette is showing. If you are unsure, go to View > Palettes > Layers or press F8 and the layers palette will pop up. You must create a new layer for every object that overlaps another object. For example, the head and the neck must go on different layers because they touch, however, the facial features such as the nose, mouth and ears can go on the same layer because they do not touch. To create a new layer, click on the New Vector Layer button on the top left corner of the layer palette or go to Layers > New Vector Layer... It's a good idea to name your layers corresponding to what body part or object will be on that layer in order to keep track of your layers if you have a whole bunch like me. After creating all my vector layers, my layer palette looks like this:



I have multiple layers for his hair because hair is tricky. As you can see some parts of his hair, overlap his face, some parts are overlapped by his head but also overlaps the neck, and some hair strands over lap other hair strands. You may have to use multiple layers for the hair on your CG if you are CGing an anime image like me. Note: The layer that is farthest away is listed at the bottom of the layer palette. And the the layer that is closest and overlaps objects which overlaps other objects which overlap other objects, etc. should be at the top of the list. So make sure you don't have something that overlaps many things, like the bangs, be listed at the bottom of the layer palette.


Step #3: Next, we outline the drawing. Select the layer at the bottom of the layer palette. In my case this is the collar. Select the pen tool . In the materials (color) palette, select your colors carefully. Naturally the foreground color (top) should be black. The background color (bottom) is the color that will fill in the collar. For that, I chose off-white. When drawing with the pen tool, you can choose between the following segment types: line segment, point to point, or freehand. Use line segemnt only if you are drawing geometrical shapes. I strongly suggest that you use point to point when outlining a hand-drawn image. Freehand should be used only when you are drawing from your imagination, with no guide. Even then, you have to be a skilled artist to pull that off. Even I have trouble with the freehand segment type. The width, of your line should be appropriate for the size of your image. If you have a small image, you should not use a 5.00 width. Choose a 1.00 width. Since my image is medium sized I choose a width of 2.00. Also make sure the create a vector and anti-alias box is checked. Now I'm ready to outline the collar, by clicking points along the hand-drawn edges. To connect the starting point to the end point, click on the "close selected open contours" button.



Note: In cases like this, where some edges of the collar happens to touch another object which overlaps the collar, does not have to be outlined perfectly. The only parts of the collar that I outlined identically to the drawing, are the edges exposed to the background. Soon, you'll understand why I do this.


Step #4: Next up on the list is hair1. Select the hair1 layer by clicking it's name. Like I've mentioned before, the hair is divided into three layers: hair1, hair2, and bangs. This is because parts of the hair is overlapped by different things and/or overlapps different things. The hair1 Layer is reserved for the piece of hair that appears at the far left because it is overlapped by the bangs, and doesn't overlap anything. If I wanted to, I could've put hair1 and collar on the same layer since they do not overlap. ALWAYS ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SELECT THE NEW SHAPE BUTTON BEFORE STARTING A NEW LINE OTHERWISE THE END POINT IN YOUR LAST OUTLINE WILL CONNECT TO YOUR STARTING POINT IN THIS OUTLINE. Note: When drawing with the pen tool, as your drawing becomes full circle, it begins to fill in the enclosed parts. It's a good idea to temporarily change the opacity of the layer to 50 or lower so you can see the drawing under it. To change the opacity of the layer: to the right of the layer, where it says 100, drag to the left until it reads 50.



Because I changed the opacity to 50, the outline I just made appears partially transparent. For now on, I'm going to change the opacity of all my layers to 50 or lower so the layers under them are visible. As you can see, I've done it again with the edges. I've only perfectly outlined the edges of the hair that are expsosed to the background.


Step #5: Now you can figure out the rest from here. Before starting a new outline always remember to select the NEW SHAPE button. Also, when picking colors for skin tone, avoid white. Choose a more yellow color. And if the head is yellow the the rest of his/her exposed skin should be that same exact color. The same rule applies to the hair. Use the Dropper tool , if you must, to select the exact same color. One by one, this is how my outlined layers look.

Neck Layer


Hair2 Layer


Undershirt Layer


Jacket Layer


Head Layer


Note: I skipped the eyes because eyes are tricky. I like leaving the eyes for last.

Bangs Layer


BIG MEGA NOTE: DO NOT! I REPEAT DO NOT USE THE PAINT BRUSH TOOL, AIR BRUSH TOOL, ERASER TOOL, OR ANY OTHER TOOL BESIDES THE PEN TOOL, SELECTION/MAGICWAND/FREEHAND SELECTION TOOL, OR DROPPER TOOL UNTIL YOU ARE DONE OUTLINING EVERYTHING. IF YOU DO, A BOX WILL POP UP SAYING YOU MUST CONVERT THE CURRENT LAYER TO A RASTER LAYER TO CONTINUE AND IF YOU CLICK OK THEN YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO MODIFY YOUR VECTOR LINES ON THAT LAYER (unless you click undo) BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT! LATER, NOT NOW, YOU WILL HAVE TO CONVERT IT TO A RASTER LAYER.



To see how your outline looks with no transparency, change the opacity for each layer to 100 again. Mine looks like this. If you are unhappy with your outline, you can always go back and change the colors, width, offsets, etc. Remember to save your work. Save it to Paint Shop Pro Image (.pspimage) so that your layers will stay intact.


Step #6: Now you can add special details such as the nose, mouth, ears, excess lines, or the wrinkles in his shirt and jacket. Be sure to select the head layer if you're creating the nose, mouth, or ears. Or select the jacket layer if you're making the wrinkles and so and so forth. When I create the eyes, I use the Pen tool only to make the eye brows, the eye lashes and the circle for the eye.




Step #7: Inspect your image. Are you really happy with it? If you are, save it (to paint shop pro Image, of course) and now you can start painting in the shadows and highlights. You must use the Airbrush tool when adding shadows/highlights, NOT the Paintbrush tool. Shadows are usually 5 shades darker than the original color, and highlights are usually 5 shades lighter. Use the Wand Tool and click on the color you are adding shadows to. It will make a selection around that color only(avoiding the black outline), therefore it will make it easier to paint in shadows and highlights. Not sure where to strategicly place the shadows and highlights? Wing it! Just fool around until you've shaded something that looks right to you. Look at images off the web that are similar to your CG to get some ideas. Note: If a message box pops up when you attempt to paint saying you must convert the current layer to a raster layer, click ok.



Here is the final product. Before you save it to .GIF or .JPG Format, delete the background layer so you have a clean transparent background. Go to Layers > Merge > Merge All (Flatten)... and all the layers will merge into one. Then you can save it.


div align="center"> Tututorial by: Neoqueenfifilala