Need help with certain design techniques.

[Analog Archangel]

Hello all, I'm new to this forum but I have been using gimp for a few years on and off, usually for logo design and the sort.

But what I wanna do is something totally old-school, I'm getting interested in design from the 90's and it just appeals to me more. But my question is, how would I design something like these 2 photos?

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=201335

In this first picture I would like to know how designing the water, the mountains and sphere are possible?

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=77394

In this second picture, I would like to know how the texture in the hand is done, and also once again there is that water effect I am after.

Any help at how these can be done is much appreciated, and even if this requires a totally different program than gimp, that's totally fine, because I'm willing to use whatever necessary. Now something that might help you is that both these covers were designed during 1996-1997. THANKS

[Analog Archangel]

Hah! Sweet, that's so cool that you remember that thanks so much for that link that's exactly what I want for the water, and I heard of some program that can create 3d landscapes back then but for the life of me I can't remember the name of it If anyone can remember you'll get a cookie

For the MFG though, wouldn't it be something like liquid metal texturing?

[rich2005]

To demonstrate the complexity of a hand in a 3D application.
This is from a small-ish java app called art of illusion. A more professional application but horribly complicated is blender.
http://i.imgur.com/MdBiErk.jpg

and to show the complexity involved right hand side is the mesh. Each black dot is a node which defines the shape. These can be edited but a big job. I have to add, I did not make that hand, pre-made, all I did was rotate it a bit.
http://i.imgur.com/AjurEQ8.jpg

[Wyrlor]

I think I may be able to help in the 3D part of the question. Modelling something like a hand in a program like Blender 3D really isn't a difficult feat. It may look complex as rich pointed out, and while it is more difficult than creating raster images in Gimp, it can be done rather quickly once you familiarize yourself with the program. Rich is correct when he mentioned that Blender is horribly complicated, but it is also extremely powerful and open source (free). If you would like to look into becoming familiar with Blender 3D in order to create something similar to that hand, here are some good resources to use to get started:

Blender Guru
Blender Guru has a fantastic array of tutorials that should teach you everything you need to learn; however, I personally have some tutorials on the subject that may be of assistance in beginning. I created these tutorials when I was learning the program so it is geared heavily towards beginners, but once you learn the basics of using the program I highly suggest using the tutorials found on Blender Guru's website.

Intro to Blender 2.61 w/ the Cycles render engine
Playlist of other misc. tutorials
Second playlist

[fluffybunny2]

(May 18, 2014 05:32)Analog Archangel Wrote:  Hah! Sweet, that's so cool that you remember that thanks so much for that link that's exactly what I want for the water, and I heard of some program that can create 3d landscapes back then but for the life of me I can't remember the name of it If anyone can remember you'll get a cookie

Maybe this list might refresh your memory...

[rich2005]

(May 18, 2014 09:05)fluffybunny2 Wrote:  Maybe this list might refresh your memory...

Ah... nostalgia, I well remember my first render with POVray on an Amstrad greenscreen + DOS 3.3, a simple globe, took maybe an hour to render, no result because I forgot to include a light source.
Looking at that list, VistaPro 1.01 from '90's, running in my DOS 6.22/Win3.1 VirtualBox
http://i.imgur.com/R9VhmcO.jpg

[Analog Archangel]

Haha YES, I love you guys for this, I got everything I wanted and alot more .
Blender may be complicated but I have the patience for it, so it shouldn't be too hard in the long run as I already have 2d fractal design experience. Those tutorials will be absolutely perfect, it's more than efficient.
I think I'm going to have to check out a few of the terrain generators. Does anyone know if some of these require certain knowledge in programming? Many thanks again this is great stuff

EDIT: I've decided to try out terragen classic, the newer versions are too realistic for my taste, looks good so far

[fluffybunny2]

What, no cookie?

[Analog Archangel]

(May 18, 2014 23:13)fluffybunny2 Wrote:  What, no cookie?

*proceeds to hand fluffybunny2 the most gigantic delicious cookie*

[fluffybunny2]

Now that's one hell of a cookie!