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BG/IWD/NWN/PS:T - Thread for Remastered Official Artwork

WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
edited October 2012 in Archive (General Discussion)
I AM SORRY FOR THE DELAY GUYS, MORE WILL APPEAR

"Welcome to Candlekeep's asset library archive, a place deep beneath Bioware's Headq... deep beneath Candlekeep's library, where we collect, preserve, restore and arrange shrubb... artwork".

Remember to BOOKMARK this page for critical updates.

DISCLAIMER: NO GOG.com images! Assets have been aquired via the internet and are not copies, edits or borrowed from GOG.com bonus downloads. Images posted here are subject to change without notice, caution or acknowledgement in case of updates or ultimate spontaneous combustion.

This place was intended to be used as a center for the collection and preservation of artwork. I branched off this into restoration, fixing artwork which has been damaged and where there is no 'master' copy'.

If you have any Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planscape: Torment or Neverwinter Nights artwork which is not present here, please submit everything to me. Full deserved credit will be given for each image.

I will make it clear exactly what pieces I repair and what I've left unchanged. I supply the originals for every piece.

image

The Lossy JPG Format: .JPG is a common image format which is used in contrary to popular storage mediums like .BMP, due to their large space consumption. .JPGs are often used by cameras (these days they mostly take raw files, but that's another story), as the size of such photos (thousands of pixels by thousands of pixels) uses a vast amount of space.

It's also a common format for the internet, as they're small, quick to upload and can be shared with minimal connection. But with all the who knows how many bytes saved by .JPGs, the cost is, we lose a lot of data which is irreplaceable. Such data compression is unchangeable and even the most determined attempts to reverse the process can leave an image washed out.

The Lossless PNG Format: I always save images as .PNGs, for their even lower data usage than .JPGs and their higher quality than 24-bit bitmaps. They can be be used in conjunction with layering and transparency for multiple applications, can be used to store animations (similar to .GIFs) and especially internet friendly.

The Process of Reversing Lost .JPG Data: Once an image has been compressed there's no way to fix it, all you can do is make it a bit prettier. Luckily there's lots of clever filters in various programs to repair the carelessly stored graphics. Once you've got the core damage sorted with filters you can fix physical flaws by hand.

Quality Control: The detail of images are compared to what we'll refer to as the 'height' of available images, from GOG.com downloads, the closest thing we have to the originals. If an image recieves above 4.5 then it is considered to be similar in quality to their images. Each image will be given a rating to determine their level of satisfaction.

5: Perfect 4.5: Excellent 4: Good
3.5: Above average 3: Average 2.5: Below average
2: Poor 1.5: Bad 1: Terrible 0.5: Abysmal 0: What in the Nine Hells are you doing, beggar?

CONTENTS:

Baldur's Gate: Original Campaign/Tales of the Sword Coast/Enhanced Edition
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn/Throne of Bhaal/Enhanced Edition

Icewind Dale: Original Campaign/Heart of Winter/Trials of the Luremaster
Icewind Dale II

Neverwinter Nights: Original Campaign/Shadows of Undrentide/Hordes of the Underdark/Kingmaker/Witch's Wake/Shadowguard/Pirates of the Sword Coast/Wyvern Crown of Cromyr/Infinite Dungeons
Neverwinter Nights 2: Original Campaign/Mask of the Betrayer/Storm of Zehir/The Mysteries of Westgate

Planescape: Torment
Post edited by Ward on
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Comments

  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
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  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
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  • ZafiroZafiro Member Posts: 436
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  • pacekpacek Member Posts: 92
    @Ward, the remasterd image on the right is slightly blurred (a byproduct ofremoving the jpgs artifacts I know). If you are using photoshop you can try duplicating the image, set it on top with blending:hard light and then apply a high pass filter at 1px radius (or whatever you find looks best). This'll sharpen the image a bit more.
  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
    edited September 2012
    @pacek I didn't use Photoshop because I'm too poor to afford it. You'll find that when I show you the 1:1 of that image it's about as crisp as the original, give or take a few minor details.

    Because of the size of the image, removing .JPG artifacts is more difficult because fine details are easily lost. Hopefully bigger pictures will look nicer. I have to hand draw anything I lose.

    Thanks for the advice! ARTWORK COMING TODAY EVERYBODY HORRAY!
  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
    Artwork released. More to come, I've got a lot of pictures to do!
  • TenYaibaTenYaiba Member Posts: 212
    I'm impressed! I didn't know you were an image editor. Great work and thank you.
  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
    edited September 2012
    @TenYaiba Stay tuned, more will come! I've got about 20+ BG pictures to put up and IWD plus NWN stuff too. People destroy so many nice things with .JPGs! At the moment I'm trying to fix the Demogorgon wallpaper that Bioware had years ago.
  • TenYaibaTenYaiba Member Posts: 212
    @Ward Keep up the good Work. My gratitude goes with you :)
  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
    edited September 2012
    Working on Demogorgon, this image is PARTICULARLY damaged. Unlike any the other ones, I'm unable to sharpen or visually enhance this image beyond simply fraying the damaged areas with filtering tricks.

    image

    You're looking at Demogorgon scaled 75% from the original large size. with various 'layers' applied over the base image.. I've created all of these to overlap one another and individually soften the damage to each one. If I softened the entire thing it wouldn't look good so I have to do it by parts.

    Will be done soon and it's worth it because this really must be the best official wallpaper (there aren't many official BG wallpapers either).
  • Fake_SketchFake_Sketch Member Posts: 217
    I noticed you mirrored Bodhi, is it because of legal issues?
  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
    edited September 2012
    @Fake_Sketch I don't assume there are legal issues, especially since people are posting a lot of copyrighted stuff on here. I doubt it matters unless a: I claim anything belongs to myself, which I've made clear the opposite and b: I put art directly from GOG.com on here.

    If I knew the specific names of the artists who made these I'd put them up, but alas I don't. Suffice to say nothing here belongs to myself, I'm only repairing broken pictures.

    I mirrored Bodhi becaue this is the way around she is in the game, despite the artwork is usually the opposite way around.

    Am I right? I thought I was, if not I'll fix it. Thanks for advice!
  • RexfaroensisRexfaroensis Member Posts: 134
    Love this!
  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
    Demogorgon is FINISHED. The image is 1024 x 768. If you want it upscaled to fit your screen, tell me, it can be upscaled with little deterioration (won't work on widescreen).
  • ZafiroZafiro Member Posts: 436
    Liking this thing twice!
  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
    Added Sarevok wallpaper, not too bad a job I think.
  • SedSed Member Posts: 790
    @Ward
    You did spot this one, right?
    image
  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
    edited September 2012
    @Sed Thanks man, yep that is top of my list. I got it finished in fact, but I made a horrible mistake and I need to restart (refering to your first post though).

    Bonus downloads of BG2 on GOG.com have a version of this, but I classify this as unrelated because this is the base image. The one off GOG has some weird filters and lighting effects on it which look HORRIBLE. I'd REALLY like to know where this picture of Irenicus actually came from, is it official or something? I'm also looking for a high quality full body picture of him.

    There are several nice pictures of Sarevok I'd like to use, but alas, they're from GOG.com.
    Post edited by Ward on
  • BubbleboyBubbleboy Member Posts: 68
    edited September 2012
    haha is it just me or do Sarevok's arms look a bit skinny on that 3d model
    image
  • PaladinPaladin Member Posts: 335
    I've got some great posters that came with my copy of BG2:CE and the strategy guide. If I could scan them in, would someone be able to "remaster" them? I haven't found them online anywhere.
  • SedSed Member Posts: 790
    Don't know where these originate from, but Sarevok is still awesome :-)

    http://www.1zoom.net/Games/wallpaper/128729/z88.1/
    http://www.1zoom.net/Games/wallpaper/128730/z65.2/
  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
    @Sed I can't use the last three you showed me, because GOG.com gives them away with game purchases. :( Don't want there to get in trouble (I doubt I would anyway but cautious).
  • WardWard Member Posts: 1,305
    edited September 2012
    @Bubbleboy Where did you find that??? Yeah they are skinny, I never noticed until just now. Did you edit?

    @Paladin Yep show me all you have! :D
  • MoomintrollMoomintroll Member Posts: 1,498
    Sed said:

    Also a classic:
    image

    Is Irenicus' face supposed to be a mask?

  • LordsDarkKnight185LordsDarkKnight185 Member Posts: 615
    I do not think his arms are too skinny, they are no smaller than irenicus' arms (And John is far beefier than a mage should be)
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