Seeking Backup Deckmakers - Deckmaker Application Post
We're seeking backup deckmakers! Everyone is welcome to apply, including existing mods who already have duties but would like to help out with deckmaking. If you would like to become a game mod instead, head this way!
You'll be expected to make at least 10 decks each month - but of course, the more you make, the more helpful it is to the TCG [and the better your deckmaking pay |D]! At the start of each month, a deckmaking post for that month will go up on credits_staff, and that is where you'll claim decks, donate decks and receive pay for your hard work last month.
In general, deckmakers have the same deck donation limits as players [3 per month]. But if there are no more decks on the unclaimed list, you can then donate a fourth deck, fifth deck etc [you'll be paid, but you won't receive donation rewards for your fourth deck onwards]. You can also make one special deck once every 3 months - ability to donate special decks are rotated among groups of deckmakers.
However, please understand that it's not easy work especially during your first few months. We're very strict when checking decks and we will ask you to edit your decks if we feel that the colouring, vibrance, brightness and variety of images can be improved on. Unless you were already really awesome with deckmaking to begin with, chances are you'll be asked to edit a lot of your first few decks.
That said, I promise you'll get the hang of it really quickly! It's fun if you enjoy making graphics, plus you get to help out with the TCG as well. It's a great way to contribute to Credits!
Do you have what it takes?
I'm looking for the following in applicants:
What do you need?
You'll need:
Ready to apply?
Just follow these steps:
Tips for Images
01: This...looks a tad old and small. But the image quality is good for its size. See if you can make it bright and vivid without going overboard!
02: Seems a bit dull, huh? Make it brighter. To make your app look better, see if you can make the person less blue and gray.
03: Brighten the image! This may seem very dark, but it's one of the easier ones to work with.
04: It's very easy to go overboard with saturation. See if you can make this more vibrant, but take it easy on the red and don't oversaturate it.
05: G-gyaa...! This image is both bright [in the centre] and dark [everything else]. ;_; On top of that, the quality isn't the best either.. see if you can fix the brightness of the image and make it look sharper [careful not to make it look pixelised though!].
06: There're credits, subtitles and a time stamp in this image. This can be an exercise in cropping; or if you would like to impress us, try your hand at sh00ping out the text.
07: There's a lot of white space at the top where the credits used to be. Show us how you would crop the image!
08: Something looks strange with this image...? I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be a question mark. Ah, the things people do to avoid having their video clips being taken down. Fix this error before placing it into the template!
09: Another image with really weird lighting and colouring. Careful not to make it overly bright! Also, see if you can feature the entire image with a little help from Image Size+Canvas size.
10: Yes, an easier image this time! Scenery is an important part of decks in Credits, do your best to make this look pretty and sharper.
11: Sunset, and a light source in the middle of the picture... see if you can make the overall image less orange, but watch out for the brightness.
12: The bane of all deckmakers in Credits. TT__TT This image is 1280x720, but I know for sure that it's not a cap from the Blu-ray version. Poor Sakura looks really wide now, can you fix it? Heads up, the two black bars on the sides are part of the original image with the correct aspect ratio, but be sure to crop them out when you paste it to the template.
Color Borders: Don't worry too much about this; as long as it looks suitable for that particular image, we'll accept it. Even I have problems deciding what colors to use at times!
I've mainly picked images with common issues that I've come across while making decks. The quality of the images are more or less what we get from players too; even low quality pics can look nice once they've been resized and sharpened. But ever so often, really poor quality images do come along so it's better to know what to do if you come across such images. Aspect ratio problems are also sadly pretty common so do have a batch resizing programme [like Fotosizer] ready.
Once you've dealt with these images, you pretty much have what it takes to make cards look pretty in Credits!
Ready to apply?
Just fill out and comment with the following form!
Name:
Date you joined the game:
Availability: [do let us know your current and future availability in the coming months!]
Graphic examples: [icons, banners, cards for other TCGs, etc. Please provide three to ten examples and post them directly in the comment]
Card examples made with the given zip: [please post the card images directly in the comment]
Seeing as we're short on hands on deckmaking, we will always consider adding new deckmakers. If you've been chosen, we'll contact you through LJ PM. You'll be asked to work on a deck of your choosing from the unclaimed list before you start work proper. As with the mod application, we will not be contacting applicants who do not get selected. All the best!
You'll be expected to make at least 10 decks each month - but of course, the more you make, the more helpful it is to the TCG [and the better your deckmaking pay |D]! At the start of each month, a deckmaking post for that month will go up on credits_staff, and that is where you'll claim decks, donate decks and receive pay for your hard work last month.
In general, deckmakers have the same deck donation limits as players [3 per month]. But if there are no more decks on the unclaimed list, you can then donate a fourth deck, fifth deck etc [you'll be paid, but you won't receive donation rewards for your fourth deck onwards]. You can also make one special deck once every 3 months - ability to donate special decks are rotated among groups of deckmakers.
However, please understand that it's not easy work especially during your first few months. We're very strict when checking decks and we will ask you to edit your decks if we feel that the colouring, vibrance, brightness and variety of images can be improved on. Unless you were already really awesome with deckmaking to begin with, chances are you'll be asked to edit a lot of your first few decks.
That said, I promise you'll get the hang of it really quickly! It's fun if you enjoy making graphics, plus you get to help out with the TCG as well. It's a great way to contribute to Credits!
Do you have what it takes?
I'm looking for the following in applicants:
- Free time, to make decks. Deckmaking can be pretty time consuming!
- You're on all the time? Well, so are most of us. Can you commit to this game in the long term?
- Openness to feedback and critique! Do expect to be asked to make adjustments to your cards for your first few decks - in fact, you can ask any of our current deckmakers. All of us have had to remake cards or entire decks when we first started out, but you'll get better with practice. Sometimes, I may tweak cards for you [especially when we're getting very close to the date of release]; otherwise, you'll be asked to fix them on your own since you'll learn better what to look out for in deckmaking.
- Experience with graphics and Photoshop is necessary! If you know how to sh00p out text from an image, that will come in very handy with credited image donations.
- Being proactive and claiming decks actively, instead of sitting around and waiting for work. Up till now, thanks to our awesome deckmakers I've never had to personally assign decks and I would like to keep things that way.
- Good communication; please tell us if you need help with your claimed decks! We understand that real life happens and we would very much prefer if you were upfront about it. Don't vanish for weeks and then make me contact you! ): Similarly, it's not really nice to claim decks and then disappear near the end of the month when you have to submit them...
- A good eye for proportion and aspect ratio. You'll be astonished at how often we receive images that aren't in the correct proportion and aspect ratio... it'll be helpful if you can tell at a glance whether an image is in proportion or if it needs to be resized.
- I would like it very much if you could join in sharing your opinions about issues concerning the TCG and planning for events! Even if you're purely a deckmaker, you're still a player of the game and I appreciate any and all opinions I can get.
- Lastly, you need to be able to work with me and Chuu. Especially important since you won't be dealing with players directly (if you're not already a mod) but you'll be liaising mainly with me. I tend to get nasty when I'm stressed [again, you can ask Chuu] - I hope it'll never come to that, but I think it's good for you to know what to expect.
What do you need?
You'll need:
- Photoshop, of course!
- The Legend font, since that's what we use on the cards.
- A few examples of your graphics. These can be graphics donations for Credits, your self-made player banner, cards from other TCGs and so on. Please post them directly in your comments; don't link us to other pages.
- Not exactly necessary, but we hope that our image-intensive deckmaking tutorial can give you ideas on what we expect from deckmakers!
- This RAR file, which contains the template to be used for this application as well as 12 images you have to work with. Tips on how to work with the images will be provided below!
Ready to apply?
Just follow these steps:
- Make 12 cards out of the 12 images from the above RAR file in the order they are given. Sequence is important in OP/ED decks.
- Change the color of the border to suit each card. The stroke for the text and number must be darker [not lighter :|] than the color of the border.
The layer opacity of the colored border [inside card border - color; chck opacity before merging anything] is at 75%. To change the color of the border:
-Increase layer opacity to 100%
-Fill all the colored border with your desired color
-Decrease layer opacity back down to 75% [important!]
If you want to know why, it's all explained in the deckmaking tutorial. Learn to do it right the first time round and avoid problems later. - Make sure to paste your images in the folder in the PSD called "card images". The folder already has a layer mask, so it'll hide the corners of the image for you.
- Do ensure that there are no gaps in your cards, even in the colored border. Gaps can look really obvious in pages with backgrounds of contrasting colors [eg: white cards against black backgrounds]
- Save your cards as .PNG files, upload them and link them directly in your comments, as you would do when trading cards or submitting gradesheets. It's easier to have all the cards on one page for comparison rather than have to go through ZIP/RAR files.
- Your application will be assessed on the brightness and vibrance of colors in your cards, the touch-ups, whether the proportions in the card image are correct [ie whether the images look "squished"], whether your cards are under/over-sharpened, whether there are gaps in the cards and so on.
Tips for Images
01: This...looks a tad old and small. But the image quality is good for its size. See if you can make it bright and vivid without going overboard!
02: Seems a bit dull, huh? Make it brighter. To make your app look better, see if you can make the person less blue and gray.
03: Brighten the image! This may seem very dark, but it's one of the easier ones to work with.
04: It's very easy to go overboard with saturation. See if you can make this more vibrant, but take it easy on the red and don't oversaturate it.
05: G-gyaa...! This image is both bright [in the centre] and dark [everything else]. ;_; On top of that, the quality isn't the best either.. see if you can fix the brightness of the image and make it look sharper [careful not to make it look pixelised though!].
06: There're credits, subtitles and a time stamp in this image. This can be an exercise in cropping; or if you would like to impress us, try your hand at sh00ping out the text.
07: There's a lot of white space at the top where the credits used to be. Show us how you would crop the image!
08: Something looks strange with this image...? I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be a question mark. Ah, the things people do to avoid having their video clips being taken down. Fix this error before placing it into the template!
09: Another image with really weird lighting and colouring. Careful not to make it overly bright! Also, see if you can feature the entire image with a little help from Image Size+Canvas size.
10: Yes, an easier image this time! Scenery is an important part of decks in Credits, do your best to make this look pretty and sharper.
11: Sunset, and a light source in the middle of the picture... see if you can make the overall image less orange, but watch out for the brightness.
12: The bane of all deckmakers in Credits. TT__TT This image is 1280x720, but I know for sure that it's not a cap from the Blu-ray version. Poor Sakura looks really wide now, can you fix it? Heads up, the two black bars on the sides are part of the original image with the correct aspect ratio, but be sure to crop them out when you paste it to the template.
Color Borders: Don't worry too much about this; as long as it looks suitable for that particular image, we'll accept it. Even I have problems deciding what colors to use at times!
I've mainly picked images with common issues that I've come across while making decks. The quality of the images are more or less what we get from players too; even low quality pics can look nice once they've been resized and sharpened. But ever so often, really poor quality images do come along so it's better to know what to do if you come across such images. Aspect ratio problems are also sadly pretty common so do have a batch resizing programme [like Fotosizer] ready.
Once you've dealt with these images, you pretty much have what it takes to make cards look pretty in Credits!
Ready to apply?
Just fill out and comment with the following form!
Name:
Date you joined the game:
Availability: [do let us know your current and future availability in the coming months!]
Graphic examples: [icons, banners, cards for other TCGs, etc. Please provide three to ten examples and post them directly in the comment]
Card examples made with the given zip: [please post the card images directly in the comment]
Seeing as we're short on hands on deckmaking, we will always consider adding new deckmakers. If you've been chosen, we'll contact you through LJ PM. You'll be asked to work on a deck of your choosing from the unclaimed list before you start work proper. As with the mod application, we will not be contacting applicants who do not get selected. All the best!