Arma 3 Photography : Questions and Comments

[wsxcgy 1960]

1 minute ago, GEORGE FLOROS GR said:

 

I'm a person you know.

lol. I think by "thing" he meant "situation"

[GEORGE FLOROS GR 4207]

I wish for that ! 

[Flinty 454]

Hey so I figured I'd throw up a few screenshot related tips for those that care what their shots look like.

 

1. Ambience is key, no matter what the picture is, I find it useful to have something in the background, whether that be so atmospheric items such as military equipment, or some form of gimmick, anything is better than nothing. In some cases, the background ambience can be used to help describe what the image is meant to be. Consider the following example; you want to make that stereotypical operator group selfie we've seen a thousand times, well what is gonna make yours stand out? Try adding a weapons rack on the wall behind, or pin up their national flag! Maybe put in a picture frame with some cool looking pictures. Make the area they are in dynamic, make it come to life.
2. Camera angles say a lot about a picture. Is the picture taken from head height like you would take a picture in real life? Or is it a top down aerial photo? You should always consider what would be the most appropriate for the situation. Using the example above, you don't want to be using some extravagant camera angle that makes no sense; if it happened in real life, it's gonna be another guy taking the shot, so head height would be the most appropriate. Keep this in mind when lining up that shot, although it never hurts to think outside the box, you may end up with a much nicer shot. 
3. Colour schemes and editing are something that are sadly misused most of the time (imo) and can ruin a perfect shot. Too often you see highly saturated shots with lens flare coming at you from angles that aren't even logical. I personally do ZERO post processing on the images, what my viewers see is what I see in game. Always lean off saturation, the vast majority of time, the vanilla saturation is a brilliant choice, however if it doesn't quite cut it, try using Recolor. It's a nifty little mod, which grants you more control over colour levels, exposure etc etc. This is something that can be used to create something truly amazing. Make sure to try and match the environment with your colour scheme, I personally try to keep Altis and Stratis on a warmer colour set, with Tanoa on a cooler colour set. Sometimes though, it's a good idea to go a bit nuts with recolor, you can create some really unique and interesting shots just by making everything purple for example - it can work very nicely in the right places! As for photoshopping your images, unless you're a professional with loads of experience, don't consider it, it can really ruin an image if not done right.
4. Focus can really change the tone of the photo. When used right, you can make that "meh" shot something spectacular. Remember when you're taking a picture, you're trying to capture a moment, and by focusing on a certain element, suddenly everything else is background noise and adds to that one bit you want to focus on. With focus, many comparisons can be drawn with real photography. Imagine you've been tasked with taking wedding photos; you want to focus on expressions, nothing else, you're trying to capture the emotions of the bride and groom, not what the bloke in the back is wearing. The same can be said for arma, more often than not, you want to focus on one little element, everything else is just ambience - focus is a great way of doing this. Something to note is the zoom feature, it really helps to make the effects of focus more prominent than they would be normally, but use appropriately. 
5. Camera tilt is another small tip that can really help a picture. This one is harder to explain, but I will say that you wouldn't take a perfectly horizontal picture in real life, so why should you in game? 
6. Finally, don't overlook the equipment the AI are wearing, this can be a real deal breaker. In a lot of cases, you want to make your units individual, so that the standard viewer can draw the differences between the people in what could be otherwise very similar shots. This applies more to those looking at bluefor and civilian themed pictures. I have the opposite approach when dealing with OPFOR. In my experience, I prefer OPFOR units to be similar in what they wear and how they look, this is because more often than not, OPFOR are acting as they enemy in pictures; you don't want to give them individuality, you want to portray them as the uniformed, single enemy against your protagonist(s) so be careful to check how your AI loadouts match with the story you are trying to tell.

 

I believe that covers most of what I want to say. A lot of the tips I have given may seem like they only apply to real life, and that's mainly because they do. Treat a screenshot in arma the same way you might approach taking a picture in real life and you start to put more love into it, which ultimately results in a much higher quality image. 

 

Hope you guys learnt a thing or two!

 

-Flinty   

[B_Fox 132]

11 hours ago, Flinty said:

Finally, don't overlook the equipment the AI are wearing, this can be a real deal breaker. In a lot of cases, you want to make your units individual, so that the standard viewer can draw the differences between the people in what could be otherwise very similar shots. This applies more to those looking at bluefor and civilian themed pictures. I have the opposite approach when dealing with OPFOR. In my experience, I prefer OPFOR units to be similar in what they wear and how they look, this is because more often than not, OPFOR are acting as they enemy in pictures; you don't want to give them individuality, you want to portray them as the uniformed, single enemy against your protagonist(s) so be careful to check how your AI loadouts match with the story you are trying to tell.

I get so obsessive with this even on personal missions and in pictures I don't plan on posting. For me it's time period dependent and scenario dependent which depends on when and where the scenario takes place.I also categorize my pictures into realistic shots and model shots.

Realistic shots being head height from my player position maybe behind a rock or leaning out of cover or set it up so it looks like it had a lul in combat or just before or after the storm.

Model shots are more aerial to reflect a model picture which can have a squad plus of units in various poses and trying to capture a certain feeling whether it be chaotic or somber and multiple angles like actual model sets.

[R0adki11 3949]

@loduyour recent posts in the Photography thread have been removed, as "Personal Addons" are not allowed. As we have found "Personal Addons" or "Private Addons" have contained stolen content in the past.

[Ponzu. 132]

On 15/08/2018 at 12:59 AM, Flinty said:

Hey so I figured I'd throw up a few screenshot related tips for those that care what their shots look like.

 

1. Ambience is key, no matter what the picture is, I find it useful to have something in the background, whether that be so atmospheric items such as military equipment, or some form of gimmick, anything is better than nothing. In some cases, the background ambience can be used to help describe what the image is meant to be. Consider the following example; you want to make that stereotypical operator group selfie we've seen a thousand times, well what is gonna make yours stand out? Try adding a weapons rack on the wall behind, or pin up their national flag! Maybe put in a picture frame with some cool looking pictures. Make the area they are in dynamic, make it come to life.
2. Camera angles say a lot about a picture. Is the picture taken from head height like you would take a picture in real life? Or is it a top down aerial photo? You should always consider what would be the most appropriate for the situation. Using the example above, you don't want to be using some extravagant camera angle that makes no sense; if it happened in real life, it's gonna be another guy taking the shot, so head height would be the most appropriate. Keep this in mind when lining up that shot, although it never hurts to think outside the box, you may end up with a much nicer shot. 
3. Colour schemes and editing are something that are sadly misused most of the time (imo) and can ruin a perfect shot. Too often you see highly saturated shots with lens flare coming at you from angles that aren't even logical. I personally do ZERO post processing on the images, what my viewers see is what I see in game. Always lean off saturation, the vast majority of time, the vanilla saturation is a brilliant choice, however if it doesn't quite cut it, try using Recolor. It's a nifty little mod, which grants you more control over colour levels, exposure etc etc. This is something that can be used to create something truly amazing. Make sure to try and match the environment with your colour scheme, I personally try to keep Altis and Stratis on a warmer colour set, with Tanoa on a cooler colour set. Sometimes though, it's a good idea to go a bit nuts with recolor, you can create some really unique and interesting shots just by making everything purple for example - it can work very nicely in the right places! As for photoshopping your images, unless you're a professional with loads of experience, don't consider it, it can really ruin an image if not done right.
4. Focus can really change the tone of the photo. When used right, you can make that "meh" shot something spectacular. Remember when you're taking a picture, you're trying to capture a moment, and by focusing on a certain element, suddenly everything else is background noise and adds to that one bit you want to focus on. With focus, many comparisons can be drawn with real photography. Imagine you've been tasked with taking wedding photos; you want to focus on expressions, nothing else, you're trying to capture the emotions of the bride and groom, not what the bloke in the back is wearing. The same can be said for arma, more often than not, you want to focus on one little element, everything else is just ambience - focus is a great way of doing this. Something to note is the zoom feature, it really helps to make the effects of focus more prominent than they would be normally, but use appropriately. 
5. Camera tilt is another small tip that can really help a picture. This one is harder to explain, but I will say that you wouldn't take a perfectly horizontal picture in real life, so why should you in game? 
6. Finally, don't overlook the equipment the AI are wearing, this can be a real deal breaker. In a lot of cases, you want to make your units individual, so that the standard viewer can draw the differences between the people in what could be otherwise very similar shots. This applies more to those looking at bluefor and civilian themed pictures. I have the opposite approach when dealing with OPFOR. In my experience, I prefer OPFOR units to be similar in what they wear and how they look, this is because more often than not, OPFOR are acting as they enemy in pictures; you don't want to give them individuality, you want to portray them as the uniformed, single enemy against your protagonist(s) so be careful to check how your AI loadouts match with the story you are trying to tell.

 

I believe that covers most of what I want to say. A lot of the tips I have given may seem like they only apply to real life, and that's mainly because they do. Treat a screenshot in arma the same way you might approach taking a picture in real life and you start to put more love into it, which ultimately results in a much higher quality image. 

 

Hope you guys learnt a thing or two!

 

-Flinty   

 

It really couldn't be said any better than that.

I'm perfectly new to the whole idea of making "amazing" photography in ArmA 3 and overall any type of game but the more I experimented and did things I didn't know how to do, used addons that assisted me in making things look different from each other I managed to learn more and I simply want to continue doing more of it.

 

We can't really shield everyone from the negative outcome from their work and I can agree to some extent that there are really poor quality photography posted by some but my problem isn't the quality, be it 240p or 360, it's the content but yet to improve we have to gather constructive criticism or "basic understanding" how to make something and this is why what Flinty wrote is relevant.

[Rich_R 1087]

I’ve pretty much stayed out of the back and forth on screenshot discussion but find much of what’s been posted interesting.

 

In a way, the discussion is being sucked into age old debate of ‘what is art’.

 

In the Arma world, to me at least, the conversation revolves around whether yet another pic of special forces dudes with tacticool loadouts throwing cliched poses (or other such variations) is better than scenery or the very beauty that can be found in the game.

 

There is a lot of rinse and repeat type stuff in the photo thread, to the point its one of the last threads I tend to visit. And then something comes along that most of us wouldn’t think about snapping or posting.

 

The fact there is a debate on what’s being posted or should be posted not only leads (unintentionally for the large part) to excluding members (and their tastes) but also the opportunity to enjoy something we wouldn’t otherwise see.

 

Aside from tastes, a person PC may come into play when considering the quality of pics. Is this another standard we set?

 

If this is ever decided, do we move onto the saturation debate? What is acceptable coloring? I know my eyes and I have a good idea but would invite anyone to see if I’ve ever commented (emoji or otherwise) with any disapproval. Because my taste shouldn’t stop someone from making their LSD inspired pics.;)

 

Even the taste of ‘what is’ good photography has changed over the years. The excellent tips given here and cool mods to help snap pics are based on where we are with taste right now and may not be what it was or what it is attractive to an individual.

 

Just some thoughts and some caution about sucking the fun and free-spirit out of what makes a gaming forum a place everyone wants to visit.As much as I hate to say it, the forums are slower these days and we should be wanting more posts, not cooking up different ways to prevent or discourage gamers from sharing.

[EO 11275]

45 minutes ago, Rich_R said:

As much as I hate to say it, the forums are slower these days and we should be wanting more posts, not cooking up different ways to prevent or discourage gamers from sharing.

So much this. ^^

Nice post Rich. 

 

[road runner 4344]

Without a shadow of a doubt, there's a creeping elitism/elitist attitude coming from guys who have been around several years, when they are being nitpicky about another persons screenshot.

There's also a steady decline in the Arma community, lots of potential addons will never see the light of day, or will remain unreleased, due to the authors lack of time and commitment and other issues, including the toxicity so often seen by some individuals.

Rich_R pretty much nails it, great post sir.

 

[B_Fox 132]

A lot of screenshots imo boils down to taste, what someone finds interesting and what they don't. A example is the zombie/post apocalyptic pics, pictures which portraits death and injury  in a tragic and not  in a run and gun kinda way. Another picture which I saw was one of WW2 dead body in a field it had a very somber feel and from what i could remember it was well contrasted and looked more like a EO pic. Very good posts from Rich_R & Road Runner.

[stburr91 1002]

22 hours ago, Rich_R said:

I’ve pretty much stayed out of the back and forth on screenshot discussion but find much of what’s been posted interesting.

 

In a way, the discussion is being sucked into age old debate of ‘what is art’.

 

In the Arma world, to me at least, the conversation revolves around whether yet another pic of special forces dudes with tacticool loadouts throwing cliched poses (or other such variations) is better than scenery or the very beauty that can be found in the game.

 

There is a lot of rinse and repeat type stuff in the photo thread, to the point its one of the last threads I tend to visit. And then something comes along that most of us wouldn’t think about snapping or posting.

 

The fact there is a debate on what’s being posted or should be posted not only leads (unintentionally for the large part) to excluding members (and their tastes) but also the opportunity to enjoy something we wouldn’t otherwise see.

 

Aside from tastes, a person PC may come into play when considering the quality of pics. Is this another standard we set?

 

If this is ever decided, do we move onto the saturation debate? What is acceptable coloring? I know my eyes and I have a good idea but would invite anyone to see if I’ve ever commented (emoji or otherwise) with any disapproval. Because my taste shouldn’t stop someone from making their LSD inspired pics.;)

 

Even the taste of ‘what is’ good photography has changed over the years. The excellent tips given here and cool mods to help snap pics are based on where we are with taste right now and may not be what it was or what it is attractive to an individual.

 

Just some thoughts and some caution about sucking the fun and free-spirit out of what makes a gaming forum a place everyone wants to visit.As much as I hate to say it, the forums are slower these days and we should be wanting more posts, not cooking up different ways to prevent or discourage gamers from sharing.

 

 

There is no doubt that activity is slowing around here, and with the devs making it clear that Arma 4 is years away, I agree, we shouldn't be discouraging people from participating on the forums. 

 

I've been telling people on here for a year now that with A3 being four, now almost five years old, and with A4 so far away, that the community would begin to slip away. Many seemed to doubt me, but here we are, we're starting to see it. Hopefully most will be back when A4 releases, but in the meantime, we should be encouraging participation, and try to support those creating content, including stuff as simple as screenshots.  

[B_Fox 132]

Mr @stburr91 I don't feel so good

[papanowel 120]

@thedon Where do come from those helmets and uniforms with the british flag on it?

 

Spoiler

 

I have tried to find it with your listed addon list but can't figure it out. I'm really interested about that for a UKSF scenario :)

 

[thedon 1574]

I just changed the flags in the Aspis Gear mod

[jonstyle 49]

3 hours ago, thedon said:

I just changed the flags in the Aspis Gear mod

How do you do that? Is there a tutorial around somewhere?

[b0dey 24]

@thedon - in your gear loadout table (https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/964220916272201129/B61B3C75B4DD3BF03C00106C8709D9BC30D045A9/ ), where did you find the single rifle rounds? I've been searching for unspent cartridges for a while!

[EloBandit 46]

6 hours ago, b0dey said:

@thedon - in your gear loadout table (https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/964220916272201129/B61B3C75B4DD3BF03C00106C8709D9BC30D045A9/ ), where did you find the single rifle rounds? I've been searching for unspent cartridges for a while!

RHS

[papanowel 120]

18 hours ago, thedon said:

I just changed the flags in the Aspis Gear mod

 

Thank you but how did you change it? Hidden selection?

[R0adki11 3949]

@flanders25please remember to list your addons

[jonstyle 49]

I believe that was the highly anticipated CH 46 Seaknight that was never released. I think Flanders enlisted in the marines so he might not know about the new rule to not post private addons.

[R0adki11 3949]

5 hours ago, jonstyle said:

I believe that was the highly anticipated CH 46 Seaknight that was never released. I think Flanders enlisted in the marines so he might not know about the new rule to not post private addons.

 

Well its not exactly a private addon, as there is a WIP progress thread on these forums.

[Wiki 1558]

3 hours ago, R0adki11 said:

 

Well its not exactly a private addon, as there is a WIP progress thread on these forums.

Indeed, but as it is not released yet... i dunno.

it can be considered as "private mode" as it is not public.

Or am i missing something here?

[jarrad96 1940]

I feel like if something is Work-In-Progress and it's planned to release publicly it should be allowed. 

[jonstyle 49]

Yeah, it's been wip for like four years and no updates for over a year so...

Kind of like the SOAR birds lol ;(

[Dedmen 2700]

4 hours ago, jarrad96 said:

I feel like if something is Work-In-Progress and it's planned to release publicly it should be allowed. 

I got exactly the same thought.
@R0adki11 What do you say to that? I think "My to-be-released soon mod" in the modlist should be fine. Is of course still moderators discretion to decide if the mod might include illegitimate content that's not allowed to even be released.