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Welcome to Makestation! We are a creative arts/indie discussion community — Your center for creative arts discussion, unleashed!
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fazisst
January 4th, 2025
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the forum is being flooded with spammers!
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the forum is being flooded with spammers!
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the forum is being flooded with spammers!
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the forum is being flooded with spammers!
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| Art Through Code |
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Posted by: Frelxr - June 10th, 2014 at 4:42 PM - Forum: The Others
- Replies (3)
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Programming can be pretty artistic if you know how to construct and visualize beautiful logical concepts.
I've done it before. I should do it again.
I'm not talking about full production video games. (though those are art)
I'm talking about simple concepts/algorithms that generate beautiful designs.
Here is one example of such a language that is geared for this type of programming.
http://www.processing.org/
is anyone else into this? (not the language mentioned, but the concept in general)
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| Box Office Grossings |
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Posted by: CapTon - June 10th, 2014 at 5:11 AM - Forum: Media & Entertainment
- No Replies
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Want to know how much a movie grossed over the weekend? Want to discuss how much a certain movie made at one point in time? Anything related to movies and how much they made? This is the thread for you!
This weekend, "The Fault in Our Stars" grossed $48M with "Maleficent" in second with $34M.
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| Worst City in the USA |
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Posted by: CapTon - June 9th, 2014 at 6:27 PM - Forum: General Discussion
- Replies (3)
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In your opinion, what is the worst city in the USA? Be sure to explain why you think the city you pick is the worst.
NOTE: When I say worst, I'm talking in terms of anything that affects how someone would think about a city.
So is it the Mistake by the Lake (Cleveland)? Detroit? Chicago?
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| Dual Booting |
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Posted by: Darth-Apple - June 9th, 2014 at 1:16 AM - Forum: Technology & Hardware
- Replies (5)
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I currently have my PC dual booted with an outdated version of Ubuntu, although I pretty much never fire up Ubuntu these days. I plan on dual booting my next PC with Windows 8.1 and Xubuntu, or Ubuntu with XFCE as my primary desktop environment.
Anyone else here have experience dual booting their computers? If you're using linux, what distributions ado you use?
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| MyBB 1.8 Beta |
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Posted by: Darth-Apple - June 5th, 2014 at 4:24 AM - Forum: MyBB Related
- Replies (1)
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MyBB recently announced MyBB 1.8 Beta, which is a long awaited announcement from the entire MyBB community. The extremely slow development finally has a version available that is a clear snapshot of what to expect.
I installed a test install, and there are some neat new features (such as soft deletes, redirect icons, theme switchers, default avatars, ACP improvements, etc...), but it's nothing particularly impressive. However, it will be a cleanup of the current lineup, and for that, I'm excited. I think it will be a good successor for 1.6 while we wait for 2.0
What are your thoughts? Read the full announcement here: http://blog.mybb.com/2014/06/01/mybb-1-8...-released/
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| Where do you live in the MS community? |
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Posted by: Acko - June 4th, 2014 at 7:58 PM - Forum: Community Related
- Replies (46)
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Hey guys, today I am taking a survey (for statistical purposes!) to see where our users live (just your country and province, nothing more.). Post your responses in the format of (greeting/nonsense here) am from [country] [state/province/etc.]. The results will be tallied probably a month or so from now, depending on how many responses I get. After tallied, the responses will be presented in several different formats (e.g. maps, tables, charts...).
Maps, tables, charts
A current map of the world, countries colored by number of members living there:
![[Image: J6qkMea.png]](https://i.imgur.com/J6qkMea.png)
A current map of the USA, states colored by number of members living there:
![[Image: 3BTnaRE.png]](https://i.imgur.com/3BTnaRE.png)
Pie chart of top 10 accounted countries by members:
![[Image: sule1kG.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/sule1kG.jpg)
Statistics:
Continent with most members: North America
Country with most members: United States
US state with most members: Florida
EU nation with most members: N/A (No member)
UK sub-kingdom with most members: N/A (No members)
Send your responses via reply to this thread, or if you're uncomfortable with that method, pm them to me.
Let's get started!
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| How to make a basic promotional banner |
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Posted by: Darth-Apple - May 29th, 2014 at 2:54 AM - Forum: Photography & Graphics
- Replies (4)
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Ever wanted to create simple promo/advertisement banners like the ones shown here? Many administration and promotional forums offer promotional banner services, but if you don't feel like using one of these services, creating a simple one is fairly easy to do. I personally use Gimp to create mine. I'm sure there are better tools for simple purposes, but hey, Gimp is free, and it gets the job done. 
The first thing you're going to want to do is decide on the size of your promotional banner. I used to do mine at 468x68, but I've switched to 468x60 to be on the safe side nowadays. I've seen larger and smaller banners, but 468x60 seems to be a universally acceptable size for most purposes. Other prep work involves deciding what slogan you want to use, and what icon or icons you'd like to include, etc... As far as icons are concerned, iconfnder is where I usually go for mine, although you're gonna want to make sure you check the licensing terms of the individual icons before you use them!
Anyway, without further ado, let's get started!
Step 1
Once your prep work is done, the first thing I usually do is get a screenshot. CTRL + print screen is the easiest way to go about this. Then open up paint, and CTRL + V to paste the image into a new paint image.
![[Image: screen1.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen1.png)
CTRL + prntscr
![[Image: screen2.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen2.png)
Once you've pasted the screenshot into paint, crop the selection to something relatively small. I usually eyeball this step, since everything gets scaled and resized later. Once you've completed this step, set this aside for later use.
Step 2:
![[Image: screen3.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen3.png)
Create a new image in GIMP. You can use any size you'd like. I find 468x60 to be the most practical size, personally.
Step 3:
![[Image: screen4.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen4.png)
Select a dark grey color. Make sure that it isn't completely black, as we will use black for the border color later. Something dark is usually best.
![[Image: screen5.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen5.png)
Do a bucket fill across the entire image.
Step 4:
![[Image: screen6.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen6.png)
Use the path tool to create a slightly diagonal path across the center of the image.
![[Image: screen7.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen7.png)
Select the solid black color.
![[Image: screen8.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen8.png)
Then use the stroke path tool to create a one pixel, black line.
![[Image: screen9.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen9.png)
Above: the final result
Step 5:
![[Image: screen10.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen10.png)
Take the original cropped image that you created in paint, and use CTRL + A and CTRL + C to copy it. Then CTRL + V into GIMP to paste the image, and use the move selection tool to move it towards the right, as shown above.
Step 6:
![[Image: screen11.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen11.png)
Under layer -> scale layer, scale the layer to somewhere around 70-80% of its original size. This is something I usually eyeball, as it doesn't need to be exact. Do whatever you feel looks best for your specific screenshot. (If your website's font happens to be ultra small, it's best not to scale the layer too much. )
Step 7:
![[Image: screen12.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen12.png)
Use the rotate tool to align the scaled layer to the diagonal line that you created earlier. I usually eyeball this as well. You can always adjust this later if you find that it is slightly off.
![[Image: screen13.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen13.png)
Use the move selection tool to align the final product.
![[Image: screen16.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen16.png)
Once you're done, use the layer -> to new layer tool.
Step 8:
![[Image: screen15.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen15.png)
Choose an icon, and open it up in GIMP. (The icon should be at least 32x32 pixels, and generally not larger than 45x45 pixels. ) It is very important that the icon has a transparent background. Most icons from iconfinder already have transparent backgrounds, so this usually isn't an issue. Also, make sure not to open this in paint, as paint ignores the transparent background. Once you've opened your icon, CTRL + A and CTRL + C to copy the image's contents.
![[Image: screen17.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen17.png)
Paste the contents into your other opened image in GIMP using CTRL + V. Then use the layer -> to new layer tool to make the results visible.
Step 9:
![[Image: screen18.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen18.png) Use the move layer tool to move the icon as desired. Then open up the text tool and create a small text box.
![[Image: screen19.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen19.png)
Add text as desired. You are going to want to set the text color to white, and be sure to make use of any fancy fonts that you like. As far as slogans, fonts, etc..., trial and error is the best method to use here.
Step 10:
![[Image: screen20.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen20.png)
Use the layer -> merge down tool until there are no more layers to merge down. Make sure that you are happy with your icon placement and your text before you do this step. Alternatively, if you want to be able to go back and re-edit your text and icon placements, you can use a pencil tool to draw a black border, but you will need to edit multiple layers or create a new one, so the border step is simpler when all layers are merged.
Step 11:
![[Image: screen21.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen21.png)
Once all layers are merged, use the rectangular select tool to select the full banner. Make sure to zoom in and correct the selection to include every pixel. It's important that this step is done exactly, or else the border will be off. It's usually pretty easy to eyeball this step.
Step 12:
![[Image: screen22.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen22.png)
Once your selection has been corrected, use the stroke selection tool.
![[Image: screen23.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/screen23.png)
Once you've completed the use of the stroke selection tool, the final step is to export the image. I recommend using the PNG format as it avoids distortion that is typically created during a JPEG export. It should look like this once it is fully completed:
![[Image: product_2.png]](http://makestation.net/399services/image_host/Gtut1/product_2.png)
If it looks something like the above image, then congrats! You've created a simple advertisement banner for your forum/community/website! While it probably doesn't look amazing, it is a good start, and creating better looking banners uses the same concepts here. Experimenting with different fonts, paths, icons, etc... can make a large difference on the final product. 
As always, if you have any suggestions, tips, or questions, feel free to post them here!
-Darth
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| Forum Squad |
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Posted by: Darth-Apple - May 28th, 2014 at 2:23 AM - Forum: Announcements
- Replies (8)
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Hello everyone!
Makestation has recently reached 200 members, its one year milestone, and has received an all new look and feel. With that said, I've been working on some other ideas to improve the makestation community, and my latest project has been the upcoming forum squad (or the makestation support squad, tentative name of course). Basically, the goal of the squad would be to be a community led team aimed at answering site questions, welcoming new members, and managing site awards, community activities, suggestions, etc... Also, one of the perks of being involved is that you will get your very own badge below your avatar as well.
![[Image: fsquad1.png]](http://makestation.net/images/EN_ranks/fsquad1.png)
Would anyone be interested in being a part of the team? (If you're interested, feel free to fill out the optional template below. If you don't like templates, you may fill out your own fancy post in any form that you'd like. )
Quote:Optional Template: - What do you envision as far as competitions, awards, and community activities are concerned for Makestation? (Remember, you will be able to put forth many of your own ideas for this. )
- Do you have any experience with other forums? Please note that we aren't requiring staff experience specifically. If you are simply an avid forumer at other forums or here at Makestation, that will be more than enough "experience" for the job.
- How actively will you be involved in the community?
Also, if you have any ideas or suggestions, feel free to post them below!
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