Transcendence

First of all, welcome to Transcendence. If you are reading this you are probably a new member who has decided to join us, for which we are very grateful, as we are always in need of staff. Now, to get to the point. A few days ago I thought that it would be best to save me and the rest of the trainers some a lot of work by creating a sort of a basic guide that combines all in one place, about training and editing in general.


Last update: 27 April 2011


Rules for this section of the forum:

• Only one thread per trainee per position.
• Trainers are assigned by the one in charge of that function (currently, that being me).
• Double posting is allowed, as updates would not be noticed in some cases.
• If a trainee does not reply to his/her thread for two weeks without having notified before hand, training is put on hold and the person in charge of it needs to be informed via PM for it to resume.
• Upload your zipped files to either megaupload or mediafire, unless you can provide a hot (direct) link. Links that require registration, long waits or have restriction on downloads per hour are unacceptable. Protecting the file with a password is unnecessary as well.

EDITING


Even if are not totally inexperienced in the area of working with Photoshop, you might still consider checking out our tutorials section (http://forum.ourtranscendence.com/index.php?board=59.0), or this thread (http://forum.ourtranscendence.com/index.php?topic=1544.0), where you can find links to many useful tutorials.

If you have a basic idea of how Photoshop works, we can start.

The first thing you must do, for your training to start, is of course send an application form. Then register and introduce yourself (http://forum.ourtranscendence.com/index.php?board=8.0) on the forums, then if you get approved you receive the rank of "editor in training". Though if you are here, we assume you have already been in contact with one of our recruitment officers and they have accepted you for training. Next, you should post the practice pages you have cleaned/typeset in this forum in a thread with a name like this "[Position] Username".


CLEANING

Guideline for cleaning:
[spoiler]

Quote from: XyeThings you should know:

- All files must be saved in .PNG format
- Save in PSD if you are doing cleaning only.
- All files and folders names should follow the naming rule (refer to Here)
- Always keep a .psd version of your work (at least until the chapter is released).
- It is strongly suggested that you have a mediafire or megaupload account, so that your files will not be deleted.


- Set image mode to GrayScale
- Image width: 730px (If raw is smaller than 730px, use a Denoise and a Sharpen filter after resizing.)
- No specks on white at 100% zoom with dark layer on (don't have to be strict on this if the raw is bad)
- Black areas should be black.
- Clean SFX out if possible. Can leave the hard to clean ones out.
- Remove Page Numbers
- Stamp the group stamp at every 3 to 5 pages (found Here)
- Always keep a duplicate of the raw layer at the bottom in order to facilitate typesetting later.


- You are NOT required to redraw a double spread (but you are free to do so if you want to). Just leave a blank space separating the 2 pages.
- You are expected to make the credits page. Or find someone to do it. (You can make your own OR take a sample from the "Credits page".)
- All credits can be found in the Job Spreadsheet in the forum or in the specific thread of that chapter (if not sure, Ask).
- Don't forget to add the Recruitment page!

- All Pages, Stamps, Tools needed can be found under "Staff Corner" in the forum.


====Tutorial Zone=======
If you need a tutorial, refer to this site:
http://www.ruinevil.com/rawr/editguide/index.html

A good leveling tutorial can be found here:
Leveling Tutorial.psd
Need more Leveling tutorial? Watch this video

Here is a video i did on cleaning. It will help you if you are new to manga cleaning. (watch it in HQ fullscreen)  <---Watch this as your last resort XD

[/spoiler]


The steps you need to take for cleaning are these:
*video tutorial to be added*

• Unzip the file and open the JPG raw (yes, raw as in not cooked, or in this case, not edited) images with your image editing program (Photoshop).
• Make sure you know how to use actions, for they will save you a lot of time.
• Make a copy of your background layer, because you or the typesetter might need it to compare. You can do that by either pressing Ctrl+J while the layer is selected, or by dragging it with your mouse over the layer mask button ()
• Rotate the page if needed. The easiest way is to select the measurement tool () and make a straight line following the border of a frame. Then go to Image > Rotate image > Arbitrary. It should straighten it out automatically.
• Crop. In many cases, there are torn edges, borders that look bad, or simply missing parts (when you rotate the page for example, you will find yourself with four triangles at the edges of the image, that are blank) that need to be eliminated. To crop, you can either use the crop tool (), by pressing enter after you have selected the area you wish to remain, or using the marquee tool () and then going to Image > Crop.
• Resize the thing. As the rules state, all images must be 730px wide. Go to Image > Image size (Ctrl+Alt+I) and make sure "Keep aspect ratio" () is checked. If the image is smaller than 730px, then you need to upscale it, which causes it to lose quality and detail. In order to regain the most of what is lost, you need to perform a denoise (Filters > Noise > reduce noise) filter and then a sharpen one (Filters > Sharpen > Smart sharpen). Settings will always differ.
• Level it. A good tutorial on the subject. But still, here are my two bits. White must become white and black black. Different RAWs need less or more leveling, depending, so you need to slide the arrows for shadows and highlights until they reach the black on the diagram, like shown on this image. But try to never go over 40 for the input for shadows and under 215 for the highlights, because that is called over-leveling and it looks terrible. Also, do not touch the middle arrow. Leave the grays alone. Next, anything that cannot be done automatically, must be done, obviously, manually. Take the dodge ()/burn () tool with a soft brush and these settings: Dodge, highlights, 5-15%; Burn, shadows, 5-15%. Burn the black parts and dodge the white, being careful with the gray.
• Remove the text. Either use the brush tool () with a hard brush and simply paint over the asian text with while, or select it using the lasso tool () and the fill it with white (Shift+F5).
• Redrawing. That's kind of a tutorial by itself and is probably the most difficult part of editing, so it will be covered personally. And I'll add a video tutorial later.
• Stamp every three or four pages, using this logo. Make it smaller and place it in a corner of the page.
• Save it, first, as PSD (Ctrl+Shift+S), then as PNG by going to Save for web and devices (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S) and using these settings. Tutorial on how to apply an action on multiples files automatically. It can be used for saving, renaming, etc.
• Rename following these rules.
• Add recruitment and credits pages.
• Compress as '.zip', please, not '.rar', then upload both the PSD and PNG (when you are actually working on a chapter, you will only need to upload the PSDs if you are a cleaner and the PNGs, if you are a typesetter).

What the trainers will be looking for when revising the test:

Overall:

• Proper naming of the files.
• Whether the images are inside a folder when they are compressed.
• Presence of both .PSD and .PNG files.
• Image mode. .PSD must be in greyscale mode. .PNG in index mode.
• Stamp on every 3 to 4 pages.

Scaling and cropping:

• Image is 730px wide.
• Scan is "straight". Vertical and horizontal lines match the borders of the image.

Levelling:

• No under or over-levelled pages.
• Existence of at least one level layer.
• All text has been removed (for SFX, consult with trainer and/or person responsible for the project)
• No dust, specks or gutter shadow.
• Black is burned. (AKA: black is black and not grey)

Cloning and redrawing:

• Smoothness. Touch up and clone lines are not noticeable and don't pop out from the scan.

TYPESETTING

Guideline for typesetting:
[spoiler]

Quote from: XyeThings you need to know:
- All files must be saved in .PNG format
- All files and folders names should follow the naming rule (refer to Here)
- Keep an .psd version of your work (at least until the chapter is released).
- It is strongly suggested that you have a mediafire or megaupload account, so that your files will not be deleted.
- Don't forget to add the Recruitment and Credits page (if it is not already added by the cleaner).
- At the bottom of the last page in every chapter, type in the notice "To read and download the next chapter of [PROJECT NAME], visit www.ourtranscendence.com!" using the font Neucha.

Typesetting Rules:
-Please set your text to "smooth" because it kills people's eyes when they are set as strong, etc. 
-Also before saving to PNG format make sure that your text layers are all above the leveling layers. Why? Well because they affect the texts too! In some of the chapters the words look over-leveled (kills the eyes).
- Look at the raw when you typeset. It can help guide you on how your font sizes should change and how things should look...
- Break up words at their syllable breaks. I.e., un·for·tu·nate·ly <– You can only break them at those spots. Not unfo-rtunately. Avoid breaks if possible.
- No vertical dialogue, thoughts, narrations, asides, ellipses, or dashes.
- Punctuation should always be on the same line as the last word in a sentence, except in the case of very thin bubbles.
- !? or ?!?!?!! -> ?!
- !! -> ! or !!!
- .. or .... or ............ -> ... or ...... An ellipsis lasts three periods. Not four, five, or two. Three. A group of six is allowed when the bubble only contains periods. You may refer to the ellipses section of the PR guide for more information on ellipses usage.
- When there is a note to help explain a word or something that happens in a series, put an asteriks (*) after the word and make a note in the margins

-The standard regular speech: Wildwords.
  For small-text: Augie, but you may choose any font that's easy to read.
  For small/medium SFXs: Completely up to you.
  For a Emphasis/scream : Wildwords Bold Italic.

-For SFX translations of uncloned SFX: 'Comic Book Commando' font

-All Pages, Stamps, Tools needed can be found under "Staff Corner" in the forum.

If you need a tutorial, refer to these sites:
http://www.ruinevil.com/rawr/editguide/2.html
http://www.unblessed.net/guide/main.html

If you have no idea of what Fonts should be used, here are some suggestions:

a.Regular Speech: Wildwords generally 11-14px
b.Small txt: Augie, Gorilla Milkshake
c.Thought Bubbles: Zud Juice italic (#666666)
d.Thoughts: Marker Felt (#666666)
e.Emphasized Speech: Wildwords bold italic, Yikes
f.Narration(box): Pristina
g.Signs/TNotes: FlairSSK
h.Flashback: Chronicles of a Hero
i.Spooky Speech: Jangly walk, Belizarius, Chiller
j.Uncloned/Big SFX: Comic Book Commando
k.Med/Small SFX: Abberation, Almagro, Badaboom BB, Jangly Walk, Markymarker, Yikes, Big Fish Ensemble, Chiller, Cat Trap, Umberto, Baloney

Fonts download: Here // Mirror

[/spoiler]


Basic steps for typesetting:

• Download these fonts from a free font site (ex. DaFont.com) and install them. If you are using Windows, go to the fonts' folder (C/Windows/Fonts, or Win+R to open run and type in "fonts") and simply copy them there.
• Make sure you know how to use actions, for they will save you a lot of time.
• Unzip the file and open the PSD files with your image editing program (Photoshop).
• Open the page you need to typeset, take the type tool () and make sure you start typing above the last adjustment layer, because we don't want the text to be affected and to set and set the anti-aliasing to 'smooth'.
• Make a square with the TT inside the bubble and paste your text in.
• Be certain to centrally align () the text. Then center it inside the bubble, giving it the most circular shape possible, and if you can, without splitting words onto two lines.
• If the background is not white (the way it usually isn't when it somes to SFX, or sound effects) you might need to use a stroke. Tutorial.
• When typesetting SFX, don't hesitate to use your imagination as to what font and shape would suit the sound the best.
• Save the PSD as PNG by going to Save for web and devices (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S) and using these settings. Tutorial on how to apply an action on multiples files automatically. It can be used for saving, renaming, etc.
• Compress as '.zip', please, not '.rar', then upload both the PSD and PNG (when you are actually working on a chapter, you will only need to upload the PSDs if you are a cleaner and the PNGs, if you are a typesetter).

What trainers will be looking for when revising the test:

Overall:

• Proper naming of the files.
• Whether the images are inside a folder when they are compressed.
• Presence of both .PSD and .PNG files.
• Image mode. .PSD must be in greyscale mode. .PNG in index mode.
• Stamp on every 3 to 4 pages.
• All text should be smooth (anti-alias)

Fonts:

• Font size measurement in Photoshop set to pixels and not points.
• Consistency in size.
• Consistency in font.
• Compliance with the font guideline. (SFX being an exception)
• Thoughts should be grey. (#666666)
• Text in exclamation bubbles has to be the font used for normal speech (Wild Words or Anime Ace) in bold&italic.

Text:

• Position inside the bubble. Must be centerd.
• Maximum size for a stroke is 3px.
• No vertical text or punctuation.Punctuation should always be on the same line as the text.
• Proper Hyphenation

In short, that's it. Guides for quality checker and proofreader might be added by someone else, as that is not my area of expertise.


Credits:
To Saki, for giving the idea and compiling the list of "what will trainers look for".

Because I say the same thing to every single of my TS trainees, I'm finally frustrated enough to draw a list on what NOT to do. I hope you'll enjoy it~ :)

And Werr, you forgot to mention how to do this in your cleaning section:

Quote- No specks on white at 100% zoom with dark layer on (don't have to be strict on this if the raw is bad)
- Black areas should be black.

Glad to see that the crop's been added in XD

Quote from: Furgeson on March 31, 2011, 15:51
Because I say the same thing to every single of my TS trainees, I'm finally frustrated enough to draw a list on what NOT to do. I hope you'll enjoy it~ :)

And Werr, you forgot to mention how to do this in your cleaning section:

Quote- No specks on white at 100% zoom with dark layer on (don't have to be strict on this if the raw is bad)
- Black areas should be black.

I did explain. I simply did it using a different way of speech. And I am looking forward to that list.