Garry's Mod

Garry's Mod

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Encyclopedia of Team Fortress 2 artworks
By Intruso
This guide will teach you (almost) EVERYTHING you need to know about making Team Fortress 2 artworks and posters in Garry's Mod.
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Introduction
Hi and welcome to "Encyclopedia of Team Fortress 2 Artworks". My name is Intruso and i'm the creator of this guide, also known on steam as a Garry's Mod Artwork Designer.

With this guide, i would like to share my knowledge with you all, by placing literally EVERYTHING i've ever learned inside here. So that everyone will learn how to make them or discover something new that they didn't know about making them.


THIS GUIDE IS DIVIDED IN TWO PARTS:
- Want to learn step by step from zero how to make an artwork?
Go to the "NUMBERED CHAPTERS".
- Do you think you are already skilled enough to make an artwork on your own and just want to learn some advanced techniques?
Go on the "EXTRA CHAPTERS".

THIS GUIDE IS STILL GETTING UPDATED!
So make sure to check it out once in a while.

Ready?
Then let's get it started!
Addons
WORKSHOP ADDONS:

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1637435390
WARNING: To make a better use of this guide you must be subscribed to all the addons contained in the collection above. Those are the addons i always use for working on artworks and i will mention them very often in this guide.
To subscribe to the addons click on the collection and click on subscribe to everything.

Don't be afraid if you encounter some difficulties while using certain tools for the first time. Everyone has met them. Keep using them, make practice and you too will soon be able to use them without any problems!
Graphic Settings / Commands
You should run Garry's Mod always on highest settings if possible!

You can't make such good artworks if you run Garry's Mod on a toaster. Sad but true.

With that said, there are many commands that can help us making artworks look better, even if many people don't know the existence of these, they should be (almost) always used to get the best out of an artwork!
Also remember: your game may freeze for a few seconds after you have entered these commands.

mat_picmip -10
This command is very important!
It maximizes all the textures of the tf2 objects, ragdolls and map.
The left one is without mat_picmip -10.
The right one is with mat_picmip -10.

r_lod -2
The detail on models tends to reduce when you get far away with your camera. This command prevents this from happening and keeps the detail on models from any distance!

The left one is without r_lod -2.
The right one is with r_lod 2.

r_projectedtexture_filter 0.6
This command sharpens the shadows made by lamps in general,its effectiveness relies on where you position your lamps and how strong they are. I suggest you to set it to 0.6 or 0.2 to make the emitted shadows look a little bit better.


r_flashlightdepthres 2048
This command prevents in some way the "Multiple Shadows Problem", if you try to point many lamps to an object, many shadows will start to appear because every lamp projects a shadow on the objects. This command will fix these multiple shadows a little by making them less visible.


mat_depthbias_shadowmap 0.0000005
mat_slopescaledepthbias_shadowmap 2

These commands don't do much, they just scale and set a little bit better the lights all around the map,it is almost impercetible... use it if you are really picky about artworks, i don't personally use it that much.


bvcollide_wireframe 1 to turn on.
bvcollide_wireframe 0 to turn off.
This command will make you see where you can grab props and ragdolls with your physigun by creating little light blue boxes on the places where you can grab.


mat_fullbright 1 to turn on.
mat_fullbright 0 to turn off.
This command enlightens everything around the map. Turn it on when you have to work in dark places.
The left one is without mat_fullbright.
The right one is with mat_fullbright.
1) Choosing a map
And now comes one of the most important things you'll have to do! Choosing a map for your artwork!
Team Fortress 2 maps are recommended but you can always use an external map from another game if you feel like it.

For this example, we are going to use ctf_2fort:
2) Spawning ragdolls and cosmetics
STEP 1: BEGINNING

When you've found a good spot where you've decided to make the artwork,you can start by spawning the ragdoll that you're going to use. I have choosen this place here to make the artwork:



Now let's spawn a soldier and use the "Standing Pose" tool to make him stand.



STEP 2: COSMETICS
Now let's apply cosmetics on him! How do we do that you ask?
Many people don't know where to find cosmetics or how to positionate them on ragdolls. But don't fear,here's how to find the hats and positionate them:


You can usually find hats and cosmetics added by valve in:
Q:\Games\Team Fortress 2\player\items


You can usually find workshop hats and cosmetics in:
Q:\Games\Team Fortress 2\workshop\player\items


You can also search for cosmetics too, just type their name on the searchbar and you'll find them, it will take some time at the first research, but the next ones will be istantly found.


After you've spawned a bunch of your favourite cosmetics,we can now apply them on the soldier, we're not going to use our "physigun" ! We are going to use use the Bone Merger tool to make the job.
To use the Bone Merger just click on the soldier,then on the cosmetics and then on the ground.



But now the soldier has two helmets on his head! Don't worry!
We can now use the "Easy Bodygroup" tool to remove the helmet and voilà!


There is another way to do that if you haven't downloaded the tool, just keep pressing C and pass the mouse over the soldier, right click on him and go on "bodygroups", then check the word "hat" to make his helmet go away.

3) Posing
STEP 3: POSING
Now after we have done all this, we can start by posing the ragdoll, this is a very important part and should be taken very slowly the first times. Take your time and never rush things!
You can use the "Ragdoll Mover" tool to move him better, it's the most useful tool you're going to use in the entire process of artwork making and should be used as much as possible. It might seem hard to use at first but with time and patience you too can learn how to use it!
And of course, in the parts where we feel more secure we can go with our own phisygun.

Let's start by spreading his legs a little bit. Make sure that the shoes remain attached to the ground. It 's a very small thing,but it will grant you more realism at the end of the artwork.


But now his jacket is clipping in his legs,and his pouches too! So we have to move both the jacket and the pouches a little bit away,very carefully not to mess up the legs aaaaand there! We've finished the legs part!


Now let's turn his head a little more to the center of hid body and a little bit down,he should be looking like this,like he's looking to us.


Now let's make his left arm stand a little more up and far from the pouches,just like that!


And the right arm stand up,we want him to carry a rocket launcher over his shoulder.
So let's make his arm stand up like that.


This is a common mistake made by many novices,the arm is not the only thing we have to pull up,we also have to pull up the shoulder,so it seems like he's really carrying a rocket launcher! After you've done that,correct a little bit the position of the arm aaaaand it's done!



STEP 4: HAND POSING
Now we can pass to the hand posing part,this is very easy to do!

Let's make his left hand clenge into a fist.
To change directly the hand without having the menu covering the whoole screen up,keep pressing C with the tool activated and pointed at the hand!


Now let's open his other hand a little... it should look like he's grabbing an object.


STEP 5: FACE POSING
Before passing to the weapons part, let's change that grumpy face. Let's use the tool to make him smile, go on the tool options and then go on HappyBig. Set it to 0.60.



In the end this is what you should get:


STEP 6: WEAPONS
Now.. Many of you may know where to find the classical weapons wich is on:
Team Fortress 2\Weapons.


But you may not know where to find all the other ones. Well it's pretty simple! just go again in:
Q:\Games\Team Fortress 2\weapons\c_model


Now for example let's spawn a "Liberty Launcher".


And then apply it on the Soldier's shoul-wait what? The Liberty Launcher doesen't lay correctly on the soldier's shoulder! Plus the hand looks very clunky!


One thing at a time! First of all remove the collisions with the rocket launcher by using the "Remove Collision" tool or by holding C and pressing Mouse 2 over it and then remove collisions. Then move the Liberty Launcher a little bit so that it lays over his shoulder correctly,then we have to move the right arm and hand to make it like he's holding it with his hand. Move away the arm if it's blocking you from achieving concentration while doing so. Just like i did in this picture:


There we go! We have adjusted the Liberty Launcher by making it lay on his shoulder and positionated correctly the arm!

Now the only thing that needs to be fixed is the hand,use your hand posing tool to correct it.


There we go! Looks great, right?
4) Background
STEP 7: BACKGROUND
The background is much more important than you think! You can make the most beautiful posing and the most beautiful lightings but if the background doesen't match with the rest .. it becomes a big letdown!

So let's add some props,the fortress itself is not good enough as a background. It doesen't match at all with the soldier's loadout! We have to add something more!


There we go,now this is a good background for our soldier! Just remember to use the "Ragdoll Mover" on props if you can't place them correctly on the ground.


5) Lighting and shadows
Now this is a step that gets very easily underestimated. We just don't place a lamp over a character and call it the day.. it's not that simple! In fact... this is one of the most important steps of artwork making! A good lighting can change drastically the way an artwork looks!

STEP 8: SHADOWS
If you've got a trained eye you might have noticed that the new props and the soldier have all already got a shadow beneath them! And some of them even overwhelm each other! We have to remove them!


To remove them let's use the "Toggle Shadows" tool.



STEP 9: LIGHTS

Now after we've removed the shadows, we can start by positionating some lamps.
Let's spawn one lamp with these settings here:


After we've spawned that one lamp, let's positionate it in a place where it projects a good light over the soldier and the background.. like this one for example!


Now this is how it looks:


We've not done yet! The white lamp alone isn't just enough, because we are outside and we have to make the lighting resembling the sun. So let's spawn another lamp, this one will be dark yellow and a little less brighter than the previous one, just like this:


Let's positionate it in another way so it doesen't interfer too much with the other one.


There we go! It is almost impercetible but if you watch very closely the reflections of the weapons you can clearly see a tiny change.. this tiny change will make the image look better at the end!

6) Camera
STEP 10: CAMERA

I personally consider this one THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP OF ALL because in an artwork what matters is what the camera sees, not what you see! A well placed camera can make the same effect as a well placed lighting and change drastically the way an artwork looks!

First of all change weapon to your "camera" and try to search for a good spot for the camera.
This one right here is very good because the soldier is at the very center of the screen and the entire background is in place behind him in a way that every prop is visible and not hidden by something else:


But now the soldier is too far! Don't worry,just use your zoom and there we go! You can use the zoom by holding MOUSE 2 while you've got your camera equipped and moving your mouse up and down. If you move your mouse left or right you can also rotate the visual. Let's make a little tilt and zoom a lot more! Just like we did right here:



After you've found the ideal spot for the camera and zoomed enough. Stand as still as you can with the visual, change to your tool gun and spawn a camera with your "Camera Tool". In this screenshot i moved away to show you that the camera is exactly where i was sitting with my "camera".

7) Finishing touches
STEP 11: FINISHING TOUCHES

Before we go to the post processing stuff we have to fix the small stuff that doesen't look good on camera. Here i'll show you what isn't good enough with what we see:
1- The shotgun is not laying correctly on the crate.
2- The foot is clipping with the tall grass.
3- The left arm looks clunky with that position and needs to be rotated a little bit.
4- Those boxes are flying.

Let's fix these things!
1- I moved by a very little the shotgun, so that it stands more correctly on the crate.
2- I moved the foot behind the tall grass.
3- I rotated both the arm and the hand to make it look less "artificial" and more like a natural movement.
4- The crates are now layed on the ground, with also the base covered with dirt! ( You can do that by dragging them on the ground with the "Ragdoll Mover")

8) Post Processing
STEP 12: POST PROCESSING

First of all let's put some of the commands that i've listed in the commands section before!
Now let's go on the post processing part of our Q menu, you don't know where that is? It's up there where you select if you want to spawn props, weapons,vehicles and stuff!

I usually use:
Bloom
Color Modification
Super DOF

And you can also use these:
Overlay
Depth of Field (Be careful using this one! Because this one will remove a lot of small shadows,and sometimes ruining the final product! Make always a try before using it, but most of the time unless you have to hide the background it's not that worth it to use.)

Remember to hold C while you're using the tool to make some direct changes.

Let's use the Bloom to make our artwork more bloomy!
This is how it looks without the bloom:



This is how it looks with the bloom (standard):



Let's change it a little .. because that's just too much bloom, change it to something like this, almost impercetible!



Let's add the color correction and the Overlay that we've downloaded on the collection of addons to use, its name is Cinematic Overlay and you can download it in the collection up above of the addons that are of most importance.



I also would like to show you what the Depth of Field does, so that you have an idea that we shouldn't always use it:

Without Depth of Field



With Depth of Field,notice how while the background appears less visible, some small shadows have disappeared,making the artwork less appealing. Don't use it on this one!


NOTE: Depth of Field should be used only when the lights don't change that much and you want to hide something in the background. Sometimes it is used to hide a dull background for example.
9) Finished
THE ARTWORK IS FINISHED!
Here we go! Congratulations! You've just made an artwork!

Tips and Suggestions PT.1
1) NEVER EVER RUSH THINGS, it could take hours and even days to make a perfect artwork but in the end the satisfaction of making it will overcome everything! It may seem stupid to say so but sometimes you're just going to rush some artworks because an inspiration just popped in your mind,that's ok but still,don't rush things... take a pause or two every one in a while and come back to see what could be done better about the artwork.

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2) SOMETIMES it is better to not remove standard shadows (the ones you remove with "TOGGLE SHADOWS TOOL") to make the artwork seem more real. Because sometimes shadows give the feel that what you're watching is really there, inside the artwork and sometimes removing them does more damage than good,like making seem like your characters are floating over the ground. Here are some examples:

This one is WITH the standard shadows,the heavies all look like they are really there.

This one is WITHOUT the standard shadows, the giant robot seems like he's floating in front of the camera. Instead being attached with its feet on the ground.

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3) Always try to positionate props that go well with the rest of the scenery, let's take the artwork we've done before as an example. As you can see, the green jeep matches perfectly with the soldier's green helmet and jacket. The weapons and the ammo crates layed all around add that military touch that was missing from the scene. While the random crates and the cart are just used as filler.


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4)Experiment as much as possible with Post Processing and lightings. You could never know what you can learn. And maybe you can also get an inspiration to make an artwork while doing it!

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5) If you're planning to make a wallpaper for your desktop,i suggest you to leave on the artwork some space, by making so..the artwork will let inted to everyone that it is meant to be used as a wallpaper,making it immediately recognisable as one to everyone and overall more pleasant to look at.. and also giving you the possibility to find your icons in the desktop.
Like these ones for example:






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6) Save your game and ragdolls once in a while,especially after you've done something difficult like positionating a lamp in a hard spot or positionated in a hard pose a character,use your "DUPLICATOR TOOL" to save ragdolls and go to the "SAVE" section to save your game. Remember that once you load a map,the ragdolls will loose their cosmetics attached with the "BONE MERGER TOOL" and you'll have to replace them all.

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7) If you feel unsure about how the lighting of the artwork is coming out,try to put on the post processing stuff temporarily to see how the overall of lighting and shadows is coming out. Keep doing this once in a while to keep track of how the artwork is going to come out!
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8)If you really don't want to pose a character, you can try to do that by using the "EASY ANIMATION TOOL". There are many poses that you can choose for but you wont be able to change them with you "PHYSIGUN" and "RAGDOLL MOVER". But you can select a pose,stop it and then change the animated character back to ragdoll to stop him in a certain frame of the animation to make things easier for you!

9)Sometimes one lamp is more than enough but sometimes even fifteen lamps are not
even close. I suggest you to experiment a lot with lighting to get used with how it works, and also to check how to do it correctly in very bright and dark places. Placing a lamp in the correct place can change drastically the way you want to make a character look like! And also with that changing the whole message that the character gives! Here are some examples:


This is how this sniper looks like with a lamp face in front of him,almost above him:



Here's how it looks like with a lamp pointed on the side of the sniper:



And this is how it looks like with a lamp above the sniper:


You can clearly see the difference between a shot and the other,you can also try to create new effects by mixing lamps that come from the side or above a character, the possibilities are unlimited!


10) Watching art is more than what it seems! If you're tryin to find the inspiration for an artwork, it may seem stupid but i heavily recommend you to listen to some music while thinking about it. Sometimes certain artworks came out from listening to specific songs. Try to listen to these songs that i've listened to while making the artworks, try to feel how the song goes along with the artwork:

I'VE GOT THE INSPIRATION TO MAKE THESE ARTWORKS HERE WHILE I WAS LISTENING TO THE SONGS THEY ARE ATTACHED TO:
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https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1639118590
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSvTAJiTUfE
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https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1351365206
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43_ZiMjUlLI
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https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1294401387
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKLVQevKhsU
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https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1278500896
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1SlBlB5pzU
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https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=905351838
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUx7QwEIXbY

Have you noticed something strange? I usually name my artworks with the song that i've listened to while i was making them! Such a small thing sometimes can really change the whole meaning of an artwork! Remember that art is made to leave a mark on something/someone! the next time that you look at an artwork or want to make one, try to fantasize about it or try to watch it while listening to a song that you think fits with it, you'll be surprised with how much you can immerge yourself in a work of art!
Tips and Suggestions PT.2
11) If you're having trouble on positionating a character, try to get up from your chair and to positionate on the position you want your character to have.
Carefully watch how every part of your body is positionated, then go back to the game and try to positionate the body parts of your character as close as possible to the ones you've made.

Keep doing this once in a while if you're unsure about how you're posing the characters!
EXTRA: List of cosmetics and weapons
Having problems finding a particular cosmetic/weapon because it has a different name from the one in game?
Well fear no more! This guide right here contains every cosmetic/weapon name that you'll need! Remember to write them down somewhere once you've found em, so that if you need to use them again you can always find them in a few seconds!

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=395367659
EXTRA: The importance of zooming
Zooming is very important when it comes to artwork making,because it changes the surroundings that you're looking at,the more you zoom,the more the surroundings get closer.

To use the zoom,press 6 and take out the "camera",then hold "mouse 2" and move the mouse back and forth to zoom.
To tilt with the camera,hold "mouse 2" and move the mouse left and right.
To reset the zoom hold "mouse 2" and press "r".
To reset the tilt press "mouse 2" and press "r".

Here's why zooming is so much important,let's use this set-up here as an example:

BACKSTAGE VIEW:


CAMERA VIEW:

Do you see how much space's left all around the screen between the scout and the medic? We don't want to place some props to cover that space,we want the artwork to be focused on the two characters,because in this picture you can also clearly see that they are a far from each other.

Let's delete the camera and move a few meters backwards:


Now let's use our camera to zoom. Keep watching the surroundings getting closer and stop when every single thing that must be inside the artwork is completely in place. Like the crates or the scout's foot. They must not be left outside or touch the border of the screen,they must be fully inside the screen!


Let's add our Post Processing Effects and ... done!
See how much the artwork has changed in the end just with a little zoom on it? Remember to always take note of the benefits of zooming when you're working on an artwork! It is vital to find the best camera position!
EXTRA: Standard & HWM Ragdolls
As you probably may have noticed,there are two types of ragdolls in this game: Standard and HWM (or hardware morph).
But maybe you don't know what's the difference between them! Well,it's very simple actually! They are very similiar but both of them have something that differenciate them from one another.


STANDARD:
First of all,standard ragdolls are much easier to control in terms of facial expressions. You can choose directly wich emotion you want your character to have. HappyBig,Mad,Scared.. you name it,you have it! However they tend to have some bugs with some specific cosmetics,making them costantly clipping.



HWM:
HWM ragdolls facial expressions are much more harder to control, but much more customizable. These ragdolls let you modify every single face muscle,sometimes it can be hard to make very particular expressions like... " a heavy smiling with his mouth closed" or.. "an engineer with his tongue out". That's when HWM ragdolls enter in game, giving you the opportunity to create these customizable facial expressions that you otherwise couldn't be able to make with standard ragdolls. Also HWM ragdolls never clip with "specific cosmetics"! So use these ragdolls if you notice that the cosmetics you've placed on that standard ragdoll tend to clip a lot.


EXTRA: Adding non-ingame cosmetics
Maybe you've wondered how exactly do people add cosmetics in Garry's Mod that aren't inside Team Fortress 2 but are on its workshop? Of course.. it must be an addon or a plugin of some sort, but i can't find anything resembling it on the internet!
Like these ones for example! How do i add these in-game? Where can i find them?


The solution to this is very simple, just go inside the Garry's Mod Workshop.
And search "TF2:HEX"


That's basically it, just subscribe to them and you will find them in your addons folder once you'll load the game again.

Some cosmetics may be clipping on ragdolls, but as i've previously said on the chapter "EXTRA: Standard and HWM ragdolls", use HWM ragdolls to fix the problem.
EXTRA: Adding non-ingame maps
Non-ingame cosmetics are not what you're in for? Well don't worry! Because i've made a chapter also for non-ingame maps (maps that are located in the Team Fortress 2 workshop but not inside the game). This is just a little bit harder to do but stick with me and you'll be just fine!

You can do this with every existent map in the Team Fortress 2 workshop, but let's take this beautiful map right here as an example! Let's say we want to make an artwork in this map, how do we do that? First of all, subscribe to it.


Then open your Steam directory and go for this address:
Steam/steamapps/workshop/content/440


Find the correct folder where the map file is contained, after you've founded it,copy and paste it on this address here:
Steam/steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/maps


Then start Garry's Mod and go on Singleplayer, search and select the map we've added.. wich is inside the Team Fortress 2 category of course. Start the game and voilà!

EXTRA: Placing an unusual effect
To place an unusual effect on an hat we have to use the Particle Attacher tool on a hat or a weapon. This will work for you, however i discourage you to do so because it causes many bugs to appear and it blocks you from controlling where the unusual effect is going to be. Of course it should be on the cosmetic, but what if the effect attaches to the hat in a wrong way? Like if it's clipping inside of it?
Let me show you what i mean...

Here's why placing an unusual effect directly on the hat is WRONG:

Let's spawn a spy and an hat where we are going to place the unusual effect.



Let's use the "Particle Attacher"tool to attach the unusual effect on a hat, i am going to use the ffect called "TF2 circling logo".


There, now comes our first problem...the circling tf2 logo only rotates around the hat,and not above it... Remember that we are making artworks here and we have to take a shot exactly when the rotating logo is visible,and it is way more visible if it rotates above the hat.



Now.. it took me 3 shots before getting this one,you've got to take a shot EXACTLY when it becomes visible and not covering the hat.. and while the trail is visible too or it will look ugly! And another thing... it's not that simple to take a shot when the unusual effect is rotating lateraly around the hat, because we have to take it when it is exactly with the simbol in a good position and with the trail visible, but usually the trail is going to cover the hat. It's just too complicated!


Second problem... if we remove the hat,the unusual effect remains,this is a bug caused by both the Bone Merger tool and the Particle Attacher tool...



Third problem... if we delete the spy model.. the unusual effect STILL REMAINS! This is a huge problem because imagine doing this mistake on the set of an artwork you're making! It will ruin the entire work!



Here's how to place an unusual effect CORRECTLY:

Let's take our usual Spy and hat pair, this time we've already placed the hat over spy's head.


Now let's spawn a very small object, like a cube or a cup... or ..a can, why not? Let's pick up this can!


Let's attach the same effect of the TF2 circling logo on the can.


And now let's make this can invisible, as i've said in the suggestions up above.. to make it invisible we have to go in our tools and select the"Colour" tool and pull down the slider between our colour palette and color slider.

Now let's remove the collisions of the can by using the tool or by holding C and pressing Mouse 2 over it.

And let's go placing the can right inside the hat of the spy,as you can see we can now move the effect with our physigun and ragdoll mover,choose where to move it in case we don't need it anymore and also.. if we turn the can..we ALSO TURN THE EFFECT! Not bad eh?



See how good it is? Also with the circling logo that rotates vertically,over the hat.. it's a lot more easier to notice the unusual effect and to take a good shot!


As you can see, in this way even if it's a little bit slower to do..it is better and is more convenient than doing it by placing it directly on the hat.
Works very well for other unusual effects too!

EXTRA: Special Effects PT.1
An artwork can be good even without special effects and that is true! But what if you want to make an artwork where a pyro's got some fire on his hand? Or adding some smoke to the ambience,or making a full action firing scene with explosions and projectiles all over it?

That's where the special effects comes to play!
There is however a thing that is very common with special effects,we usually take many pictures because if the effects we have placed are moving effects,we are going to have to take these pics and then choose the one that looks the best.

DISCLAIMER: i am going to show you the special effects i consider the most useful,but of course.. you can always use whatever you find on the workshop.

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THE ADVANCED PARTICLE TOOL

We can always use the Advanced Particle Control tool,wich uses the exact same effects that Team Fortress 2 uses by spawning them already in a small object to place whenever you want. But we can all agree that sometimes using it becomes a little too gimmicky and maybe we don't want to spend the entire time looking for that particular effect that matches perfectly! This item should ONLY be used if we REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want our artwork to have Team Fortress 2 effects on it or if we have too much freetime on our hands. While using Team Fortress 2 specifical effects can give us good results,there are much quicker ways to place effects that works almost the same as these on this tool here!

Look at all these folders! And inside all these folders there are many other folders too! I personally don't use this tool so much,but if used correctly it does its job perfectly!


But i'm going to give you an example on how to use it anyway this ginormous tool anyway!
Let's begin!

So let's say we have this artwork right here:

Backstage view:


Camera view:


And we want to add some explosions all around the place and also in the background!
The first thing to do is opening the "Advanced Particle Control" tool and select on the "Games" folder the folder called "Team Fortress 2" and then a multitude of folders should appear to you.
We are going to select the one that i called "explosions.pcf"
Then make sure to check all the other options down there below,like the prop of wich you would like to spawn the effect on,i'm going to select a small cube and already invisible,don't check the invisible one if you don't feel like it,spawn it visible and then make it invisible later with the "Color" tool.



Then let's spawn three ExplosionCore_MidAir,these are small explosions that generate lots of smoke. We are going to place these three down on the ground!



Then spawn five ExplosionCore_MidAir_Flare wich are just basical explosions,they are very flashy so keep an eye on where you place them. I suggest you to place them all behind the kart and at least two of them on the sides of the kart.




Add the Post Processing effects,take a few shots and ta-dah! The artwork is finished! Remember to take multiple shots before to decide wich one looks better. To take this shot it took me 10 shots before getting this one!

______________________________________________________________________________


Placeable Particle Effects

Now these are not necessary but to me these are the best placeable particle effects currently around the Garry's Mod Workshop and so i wanted you to give them a chance with these,they are very easy to use but very tricky to positionate,because most of them are very gloomy. The process is simple, you go to Q:/Entities/Placeable Effects and you spawn them by clicking on them.


As i've said,the hardest part is to move them because they are positionated in one very small prop,but that's just about it. it actually becomes very simple once you get used to it!



Here it is in case you haven't subscribed to it by the collection up above:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1551310214

Let's try to use this addon in this artwork here:

Backstage view:


Camera view:


Since this artwork is obviously setted in an hellish place,we want to make everything more "Evil" and "Demonic" as possible. Let's start by adding a portal behind the Demon,select the "Red Vorted" from the "Placeable Effects" menu.



Then let's add 4 "Huge Fires" on the sides of the bridge.


This is how it is coming out,remember to switch often to the camera to check out how it is coming out!


We have not done yet! Let's add 4 smokes at the beginning of the bridge to make everything more "darker" and "obscure". This is hell after all..


Now add on the Medic's mace a "Big Eletric Sparks" and positionate it carefully!


There we go! This is how it looks like now:


Add your usual Post Processing effects,take a few shots like before and the artwork is now finished! Hurrah!





EXTRA: Special Effects PT.2
Ryu-Gi Effects

Again,as i've already said .. these are not necessary but i consider these addons my favorites Special Effects because they are just so useful in almost every action packed artwork!

If you haven't downloaded them already with the collection,here they are:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1096822321
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1096782485
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1102625863

Let's try to use them in this artwork right here:

Backstage view:


Camera view:


We want our soldier to be firing with his SMG.. and that's simple to do! Just go to your addons folder, search for the "Ryu-gi Muzzleflashes" and spawn one of them,well actually there is currently only one so spawn that and hold C and check its bodygroups and skins to change it as you desire!


Attach it to the weapon with your physigun or ragdoll mover, do it carefully and always switch to the camera to see how it looks from there!


Now let's make this artwork more intense by adding some random bullets coming straight near the soldier, do the same thing from before, go on the addons folder and spawn a few of them.

The artwork is almost over, all we have to do is intensify the artwork a little bit more by adding some smoke, remember the "Placeable Particle Effects" from before? We are going to spawn some "Smoke 1" and placing them on the soldier's side!



Then after we've done that, remember what we've said on the chapter "The importance of zooming" and tilt a little the camera by holding "Mouse 2" to give the feel of movement to the entire artwork!
This is how it should appear now:


Add the proper Post Processing effects to this artwork and Voilà! It's now finished!


______________________________________________________________________________


Unusual Effects as Special Effects

if you've already used the "Particle Attacher" tool you may have already tried something like this, but why not using the Unusual Effects as Special Effects for our artwork?

Let's try this technique with this artwork here:
Backstage view:


Camera view:


We want to place flames on his hands!
We are going to repeat what we've done in the chapter "EXTRA:Placing an unusual effect" so let's spawn two small props, attach the unusual effect to them, make em invisible and turn off collisions! Let's use the effect "Flaming Flames" for this one.


Now we don't necessarily have to place them on the hands because they will clip,we have to place them a little bit distantanciated from the hands, but in a way so that the camera sees them as if they are placed on his hands! Just like this:


Now let's place some "Placeable Effects" like: one "Fire Ember" and four "Smoke 1" and place them on the sides and in the background!


Check that everything's correctly placed and this is what we should get:


Let's add our usual Post Processing Effects,take a few shots due to the flames moving aaaand..done! The artwork is now over!


Another example could be related to the ambience! let's take this ashtray for example,we are now going to add smoke coming out from the cigarette posed right there!


As usual,do the same process that we did in the example before,use the "Gently Smoke" effect on the can,toggle collisions and make it invisible.



Place the unusual effect attached to the can and-uh..something is missing,don't you think?


Ahh! There we go,with some stash on it it looks so much better! just look at that table! It's amazing how such a simple detail like a column of smoke can help in making something look better!
Updates
THIS GUIDE IS STILL GETTING UPDATED SOMETIMES! SO FEEL FREE TO RETURN WHENEVER YOU WANT!

2019/09/18:
+ Added a new "Tips and Suggestions PT.2" section.
+ Changed the name of "Tips and Suggestions" to "Tips and Suggestions PT.1"
+ Added some suggestions on "Tips and Suggestions PT.2"
+ Grammatical Corrections.

2019/10/21:
+ Added a new guide to the "EXTRA: Artwork Guides" section.
- Removed useless wall of text inside "EXTRA: Artwork Guides" section.

2019/11/21
+ Added new commands on the "Graphic Settings / Commands" section.
+ Completely redone the "Introduction" section.
+ Grammatical Corrections.
The new commands where given by Doctor Strange. Make sure to check out his art! Thank you so much for helping us expanding this guide fellow artist!

2020/03/30
+ Added three new guides on the "EXTRA: Artwork Guides" section.
+ Removed "unnecessary boasts" on the introduction section.
Epilogue
Do you think i've missed something in this guide? Write it down in the comments and i'll add it to this guide with also your signature under the title of the chapter!

Thank you very much for reading this guide, i hope it has been helpful!
You can also check my profile and go to the artwork section to see my marvelous artworks if you are interested! I also do requests!

Again,thanks for reading! Now go make some Fantastic Artworks and show them to your friends to impress them with your skills! ^-^

Buona fortuna e arrivederci!
- Intruso
20 Comments
NotNickW 6 May, 2021 @ 3:17pm 
Thanks, I made something thanks to you Maybe give it a look and tell me what you think! https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1807610073932039705/12ABED7C6BBB933E8A30F25A4196CE0FED8A7710/
Crome_BOX 11 Oct, 2020 @ 2:52am 
this guide is epic. take this award
mayonez 16 Jun, 2020 @ 5:50am 
I've made my first artwork thanks boi
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2132191333
(translate also means my first artwork with tf2 theme)
Tweet TWEET!!! 15 May, 2020 @ 9:39pm 
This is a great guide Intruso! Very VERY Good!
Solid Snake 20 Mar, 2020 @ 2:44pm 
So Much of a Read. Yet its what I want to use to recreate TF2 In Metal Gear Solid's Look. I want to remove the Pyro's Symbol on the Deep Space Diver Cosmetic and Color the whole suit black I want to make him into The Fury from MGS 3. I don't know how to read & work at the same time with this
Intruso  [author] 19 Nov, 2019 @ 9:38am 
@thesja Thanks for the positive feeback, feel free to come back everytime you want on this guide. I add stuff here monthly, i am going to add a few commands on a few days. :pleased:
thesja 19 Nov, 2019 @ 9:36am 
This is such an awesome guide. Really in-depth but also clear and not overloaded with information. It's insane to see what you can do and achieve with the simple tools the game gives you. Well done and keep it up :8bitheart:
Intruso  [author] 7 Oct, 2019 @ 10:23am 
@Lars #TeamDemonHamster The creator "MidnightChord" has removed every single TF2:HEX he had made because he was tired of receiving comments notifications. :lunar2019madpig:

Sadly i can't find it anywere else, it's a shame, because he had made so many hexes that many artists used and now they are all gone!
Lars 7 Oct, 2019 @ 8:32am 
Do you still have the files for the Chernobog Countenance? Link is dead
✧Novero✧ 3 Mar, 2019 @ 7:38pm 
The addons help!