Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Builders Discuss Topic 5: Presentation and Aesthetics

Tags: #Builders Discuss 
  • January 6, 2017

    Ruth! I will make you regret the red bow, Dovahkiin! 

     

    Aren't we all glad that our builds are not judged by Mr. Angry Dovah pants above! He really didn't like that big, red bow. Whew! Well, that being said, when we formulate our builds in our heads, one of the things that many of us builders weigh in heavily is presentation and aesthetics. How do you put together the look of your build? Do you have a set design for all your builds, or do your aesthetic change for each build? What materials do you use, programs, etc? How heavily does presentation factor into one of your builds? 

    We look forward to your responses. Happy Discussing! 

    As always, feel free to check out past discussions on our Builder's discuss Archives. Sorry for the lateness in posting. I had a doctor's appointment today. Still can't shake this nasty flu. 

    -Lissette

  • January 6, 2017

    MWAHAHAHAHA - You've done it now Liss, opened yourself up to the rant of a lifetime. The essay-length paragraph of the week and year all at once.

    I'm quite honestly obssesed with presentation. I see it as the most important part of the build, because without it we're looking at boring walls of text. Maybe there's some cool info in there, but I'm probably not going to read it unless there's at least one picture thrown into it (though the idea of someone making an aesthetically apeasing build without pictures seems sort of cool). BUt then there are so many different sub-sections of presentation.

    One thing I make note of commenting on whenever I leave a reply to someone's build or WiP (or at least the ones where I'm talking about presentation), is go on about the actual presentation of the text, and not so much about the images. There are lots of little things that you can do to make your build easier to read, in either a single sitting, or perhaps more importantly (for presentation's sake) is for people that are skimming through for information. If I'm playing a build (or if I where to play someone's build), then I'm not likely to read it 6 more times in it's entirety just to play it. No I want to skim it for the information I'm looking for, Perks, Equipment, Combat, I want to be able to skim down and find that easily. That's why I tend to bold things and make banners, it makes it much easier for people to find those sections when they're as in your face as an 18 size, bolded title fo banner.

    Damn, alright I really am going to go on forever if I mention every little thing... Huh, I'll try and keep it shorter just so I an know what I wrote (and my battery is nearly dead). I have a very set presentation style, it might make my builds as a whole a little dull because I honestly haven't changed much up in a couple years now, but hey if it works for me, it works. I use banners (which all have to be the same height and weight, or at least look like it). My images have to be wider than they are tall (in other words, I don't do text-wrapping at all), and generally speaking I prefer it if they're the same width as well. 

    Yeah, presentation is pretty important to me I guess.

  • January 7, 2017

    Ha! I can see that from your response, Dragonborn, and you do definitely have a style to your builds that marks it as one of yours. Your banners are well-known. So much so that you have a "request thread" for them. :D I understand totally the need to make things clear to the prospective player. 

  • January 7, 2017

    Dragonborn1721 said:

    MWAHAHAHAHA - You've done it now Liss, opened yourself up to the rant of a lifetime. The essay-length paragraph of the week and year all at once.

    I'm quite honestly obssesed with presentation. I see it as the most important part of the build, because without it we're looking at boring walls of text. Maybe there's some cool info in there, but I'm probably not going to read it unless there's at least one picture thrown into it (though the idea of someone making an aesthetically apeasing build without pictures seems sort of cool). BUt then there are so many different sub-sections of presentation.

    One thing I make note of commenting on whenever I leave a reply to someone's build or WiP (or at least the ones where I'm talking about presentation), is go on about the actual presentation of the text, and not so much about the images. There are lots of little things that you can do to make your build easier to read, in either a single sitting, or perhaps more importantly (for presentation's sake) is for people that are skimming through for information. If I'm playing a build (or if I where to play someone's build), then I'm not likely to read it 6 more times in it's entirety just to play it. No I want to skim it for the information I'm looking for, Perks, Equipment, Combat, I want to be able to skim down and find that easily. That's why I tend to bold things and make banners, it makes it much easier for people to find those sections when they're as in your face as an 18 size, bolded title fo banner.

    Damn, alright I really am going to go on forever if I mention every little thing... Huh, I'll try and keep it shorter just so I an know what I wrote (and my battery is nearly dead). I have a very set presentation style, it might make my builds as a whole a little dull because I honestly haven't changed much up in a couple years now, but hey if it works for me, it works. I use banners (which all have to be the same height and weight, or at least look like it). My images have to be wider than they are tall (in other words, I don't do text-wrapping at all), and generally speaking I prefer it if they're the same width as well. 

    Yeah, presentation is pretty important to me I guess.

     

    Do you have any tips on making banners??

  • Member
    January 7, 2017

    I'll put it simple. Without the tools which enable me to present my builds the way I do (a long time ago Picasa 3 and Gimp, now Photoshop) I would have uninstalled Skyrim years ago. In fact the main reason I still play Skyrim is because character builds enable me to use Photoshop. So, presentation is important to me. :D

  • Member
    January 7, 2017
    You ever watch the movie before you read the book? When you go to read the book, you don't have an easy time NOT picturing whatever actors were in the movie and their voice/inflection. I like putting enough pics in to get the idea but not be overkill. Some builds I have been guilty to be super specific but overall I would much rather read and imagine a build. I also enjoy a simpler presentation. Details in HOW they played the character are the best, but don't put fluff and filler in there just to make it a longer build.
  • Member
    January 8, 2017

    The most I thought of was my first build. I spent about a week perfecting the presentation with custom CSS codes, Photoshop, screenshot manipulation etc. After that was done, I realized that there is a line there. There is this graph that Product Managers use:

    Value/Complexity

    If you have low value with high complexity, you might want to rething doing that. The priority should first be put on high value low ccomplexity items such as general screenshots to break the build down. Next you add skill icons, banners. Then a video (high value, high complexity). Then, if you still want to continue tweaking, go for CSS. Just keep in mind, most of that background stuff is not noticed, its the big shiny pieces like screenshots and videos that are visible the most.

    For my builds I have a set format which I just use in every new one. Keeps it uniform across all of my builds and helps to establish a "build style". Also makes it easier for me to come up with presentation.

  • Member
    January 8, 2017

    I wish I could say presentation was all about art for me, but honestly... like DB, I tend to use it mainly to make accessing information easier. Font Size for section headers, bold text, line separators, bullets (RIP since SE--you will be missed), indenting, italics, underlining or anything that helps draw the eye into 'chunks' of information rather than a wall of text. I love to read, but if I am confronted with a build that makes accessing important information difficult, the probability of my bailing before I finish it all is dramatically increased--I just don't have the time to sift, and I assume most readers are in the same boat I am.

    That said, I like to take aesthetics into consideration when I present a build. Images serve a dual purpose for me: they break up text, but they are also a great way to share a particular vibe you had when you played the build... I think that mood is particularly important for RP heavy builds where the character is almost more important than the mechanics.

    I prefer art to screenshots... if I can get it. The right art can really pull a build together. If I can't find anything that sets the right mood, I'll start taking screenshots (I usually wind up including a few screenshots one way or another). I also like black borders around my images--the contrast between image and white page space makes me happy (even if it comes off a bit block-y).

    Like Noodles, building has helped me with my GIMP-fu (but unlike Noodles, I'm still no black belt xD). And like Henson, I feel you can overdo the images (and I do sometimes ;D). If, in your desire to help establish mood, the images start to clutter the build or get in the way of the writing, then it's probably best to scale back a bit.

    All this from the guy who writes too much and throws in one or two images more than was necessary. I guess I'm a bit selfish--less is more... but not nearly as fun to write xD

  • January 8, 2017

    @ Ryokoichi

    I can offer what knowledge I have. I make fairly simple banners, I only have Powerpoint and Paint to make them, nothing fancy like some of the guys who have GIMP or Photoshop. Anyway, I've never tested this with something like Google Sheets, but I've tried a few other free Powerpoint services and none of them really do the same things. Basically you'd need Powerpoint to make them using my method. Cooltext is what I used before I learned how to do these banners, so it's a pretty great way to get some banners if you don't have Powerpoint (or Photoshop/Gimp, anything like that).

    There are a few different things I do with banners. But I'll go through the most simple but best looking. This is my kind of general type of banner.

    First Step - The first step is usually finding an image for the background. You can just do clear colours (I've used Black fairly often) but I think a picture in the background can kind of show what the build is about kind of. Anyway finding the image is just a quick google search, I tend to use ones that aren't taken up by a person or building in the foreground of the image, mostly because they can warp the most when you change the size and can look a bit funny. 

    Second Step - Once you've got an image, download it to your PC and then go to Powerpoint. The kind of generic slide has a Title Text Box, which is a really good base size to use, what you'll want to do is use the Format Tab, then use Shape Fill and select Picture. From there it's just finding wherever you saved your image and adding it in.

    Third Step - Alright, so your pretty much done once you get your image in. From there you just pick your font (Note - Cooltext has a tonne of cool fonts that you can download and then use), use text fill and text outline in the Format section to give it a customized colour, and then there are a few little things you can do that give it a bit more character. Under Text Effects you'll find Glow, which adds a, well glow around the text (this usually makes it easier to see on multi-coloured/darker backgrounds). I also like using the Bevel feature, which kind of gives them a bit of a simple 3D effect.

     

     

    Eh, dunno if I explained that very well mate. Golden Fool has a tutorial on Equipment Spreads that is done in pretty much the same way, but he's got useful pictures that show off how it's done. He's got more steps then what you need for a banner, but it's still pretty much the foundation of what I do. 

  • January 9, 2017

    Vazgen summed it up for me, even included the helpful graph which really says it all.  For me the sweet spot is low complexity high value.  I want to be able to get the information quickly and in a pleasing way but I don't want to be overwhelmed by images, icons, videos, dreaded autoplay music, etc. I think the best example of this style I can think of is Paul England.  His builds have a nice clean aesthetic and are easy to navigate this is something that i try to emulate in my own builds.  Unfortunatly I'm unable to take screen shots so I resort to Google Image for all of my art and try to create a nice "flow" to how the build is presented.  Some builds i think go overboard in images/banners/videos etc.  the end result just comes off as busy and kind of ugly to look at.  I know i've left comments on some builds to actually remove images or icons, (nobody needs nor wants to see every steel pices of armor listed out as icons describing the enchantments placed on each piece).

    My builds do have a standard format that I more or less follow but they vary greatly when it comes to content.  I think it would be safe to say that no two of my builds are exactly the same.  I do think i've improved my presentation style, made something that just looks Vargr, and i've tried out various tweaks to how I present things.  Probably the most notable is perk spreads I've tried out a few variation on this.  You see i don't realy like the image based ones that are common amoung builds (including my own) they are convient ways of displaying all the perks but too often they are just too busy, kind of ugly, or simply unreadable, so i've tried a few ways of deviating from the norm with my Grave-Worm and Rito'rishaj'iit.  I rather like how they are presented in the later build and may adopt that style moving forward, or i might contradict myself and keep using perkspread images.

    Anyway...my general point is, and its an opinion i've developed over time, is that often times "less is more"