OK, I just had this idea, so I'm sure it will have a lot of rough edges. If it works and turns out to be popular, we'll do it better next time :)

Not a Challenge, just some fun.

Send me an email with "Chain Mail" in the subject line. I'll email an image to the first person that emails me. They'll do...something...to that image and email it back to me. Then I'll email that new image to the next person that emails me, and so on.

A couple of things for this to work:

1. We can't use JPG, so anyone that chooses to participate should be able to receive (and return) emails with a TIF file attached of size 2-5 meg (just a guestimate)
2. Several people will be waiting their turn, so when you get your turn try not to take too long.
3. Don't resize or resample to a different resolution
4. Flatten your image before sending back.
5. Leave it as a TIF file

Once demand has died off, I'll announce that this version is closed, and post the original and what we came up with here. Don't post any of your interim images, at least until this version is closed.

Feel free to ask questions here.

Sounds like a fun thing.

Ed

OK, I'm sending the file to the first responder as I type this.

Only two participants so far. Anyone else want to play?

What a creative idea Doug! Can't wait to see how drastically the image changes! This should be a lot of fun!

-T

We're running low on players. Anyone else? Email me if you're interested.

OK one more here.
DJ

So send me an email and I'll add you to the list :)

No one else?

Come on guys. You only have to add one thing to the picture. It's kind of fun and it's turning out pretty cool. Where's our album cover designers? This should be a breeze for you guys. :D
DJ

I'd like to take part in this, but at the present time I can't send a decent size file. :(

Ed

This is why I started the FTP thread over in the Software forum. If you know how to FTP, I've set up a way to do this. Plus, FTP will be the way we do any future versions of this. The email thing was just too problematic.

Even with FTP, though, I'll still need an email declaring interest (that's how I track who to send it to, and in what order).

Doug,
Did I get it right?.....Am I only supposed to send an e-mail to start with?....To the same address I usually send the challenges?

Yes, you did it correctly, even the "Chain Mail" in the title :)
I'll be in touch when it's your turn.

Thanks Doug.....looking forward to.....

Good idea on using FTP. I was wondering about that as I was sending the file back to you. It would definitely be better!
Jeanie

Oh, this is turning out to be alot of fun. I can't wait to see the finished product. :D
DJ

I'm game for the next one if this one is about to end...I'm going to be gone this weekend, so I would not get the chance to play anyway. Good idea to use ftp because I doubt my email could handle the strain!

OK, I'm going to close this chain now. There are still 3 people left in the queue (if you emailed me, be patient, your turn will be soon). I should be able to post the final version in a few days. I'll start another chain soon after that.

We have some talented and creative folk.

Here's what the original looked like:

And here's the final result of our chainmail experiment:

Wow that is incredible. Love the E.T. call home! Very futuristic. Who would have guessed this would have all come from the U.S. Post! LOL

Lisa

That was fun and the results are great. :D There's so much in it you really have to stare at it to see it all. Cool. :)
DJ

Wow! What a neat little "game"! I was really surprised to see what the original image looked like...

It'd be kind of cool to know who all worked on it... I hope you will do more of these.

I was a little scared of the FTP thing, but it wasn't hard after all. I got a free FTP program at Tucows (http://www.tucows.com/preview/218977.html) and it worked great.

:D

I'll leave it up to the individual contributors to step up and describe what/how/why/etc.

oh! That is very cool! Sign me up for the next one :)

I really like that little frog and the planets.

WOW!! Very cool! :bigthmb: I NEVER would have guessed how this would turn out.

I'm guessing that I was the second person to work on it (but I don't know for sure - it'll be fun to see if we can piece together the order that people worked on it.)

At the time I got it, the mailbox had a blue sky with scattered clouds behind it. I added darker clouds and lightning bolts hitting the mailbox - which you can barely see in the final version (or if you do see them, you might wonder what the heck they are. :tongue: )

I used one of the "realistic lightning" techniques that I found through a Google search. The basic steps are to create a b&w linear gradient, then apply the "difference clouds" filter, then adjust levels until the lightening shows up (will be black) and invert. I then used a starburst "shape" to create a "sparkle" effect where the lightening was hitting the mailbox - and modified it with a mask to fade the edges - plus rotated and resized them so they didn't all look the same.

Jeanie

Jeaniesa, I think you were the second to work on it. I added the clouds behind the original. This is neat.

Lisa

I know I was the last one to work on it. I got it back to Doug at about 3 am this morning (yawn!).

I added the arm to ET, the phone, the little planet with a city, and cloud in the bottom right hand corner...

I was the 3rd one to get it then. I added the little frog and some added glow to the lightening strikes where they crossed over his face. Here's what it looked like when I sent it off. You get a better idea of what's underneath all the added layers and how things progressed.
This really was fun and the best part is finally seeing how it changed from each persons addition. Really cool and a great idea Doug. :)
DJ

Very interesting creation. It is a lot of fun to look at. It sounds like you guys had a good time creating it. I'll have to look into the FTP thing. I have no clue about that yet.

Thanks
Jerry :D

DJ - I love how you added that glow to the lightning strike across the frog's face! :D Did you do that just by copying the lightning to it's own layer and then adding the "outer glow" layer style?
Jeanie

No Jeanie. What I did was use a layer mask for the frog and painted in the lightening. When I flattened the image I used a soft paintbrush 3 to 4 times the width of the lightening and softly painted in a low opacity white glow. Did it to a few of the ones going over the box too so they would be consistant with the frogs glow.
DJ

Cool, DJ! I did notice the other ones you "touched up" and wished that I'd thought of that myself. ;)
Jeanie

Actually I felt guilty doing that but once I did it to the frog the others didn't match. :) Sorry Jeanie. :)
DJ

Hi everybody!

So, I guess I was the fourth one and came immediately after DJ ;)....I added E.T.....and changed the "star" at the end of one of the lightning to enhance the "contact point"......:D

Oopppppsssss......

sorry I forgot to say that I enjoyed it very much....and was very impressed to see the "before, the in-between steps, and the after" of this particular challenge....Thank you very much, Doug,..brilliant idea!!!!!

I thought I was last, but it looks as if I was the one before Jak. When I opened the image, I thought WOW! What am I going to do with that? I had very little time because I had a problem with downloading the file (you'll see a tip on the FTP thread), and I was gone most of the day yesterday, and all of today (just got home). Anyhow, I very quickly added the other planets to the image. But I did have to download them due to a big lack of skills :( . There was some fantastic work done on this one, and I couldn't possibly have added any artistic brush strokes to complement what had already been done. It was still fun to work on. I'm ready to try the next one!

Ed

But I did have to download them due to a big lack of skills

Don't beat yourself up on that one, Ed. I'm in the same boat (and it's LEAKING!) LOL

The planet I added was the ONLY thing I built from scratch (well, except for the phone cord). I went looking around the web for everything else and then modified it. I'm a restorer/retoucher - definately not a graphic artist - and I have one heck of a time building anything from scratch.

And, like you, I was pretty limited on time too. But I think that "collaging" things together is a cool art form too.

Oh, one thing I wanted to ask. The image I have here is a lot sharper than the one that Doug posted. I looked at them both together, and there's definately a difference. Anyone know the reason for that to happen?

BTW, this thing is GREAT wallpaper on my puter!

I think we all deserve a round of applause! (Clap, clap, clap....)

Beeg tif, leetle jpg, much lost.

Originally posted by Doug Nelson
Beeg tif, leetle jpg, much lost.

Thanks Doug. I thought it might be something like that but I wasn't sure...

Hey, great job. This looks like a lot a fun. Count me in on the next one.

Sharon:)

A sensational finished product,looks like a great job by everyone involved. I'm looking forward to the next one.

This is interesting. I thought I was the first person to work on it because it looked as though it was put together by one person, and I was assuming that was Doug. But it sounds like I was maybe 5th, definitely right after Flora. I added some texture to the background.

MIg

Ah ha! So that's where the texture came from! ;) So, do we have everybody now? -Jeanie

When I got it, I'm pretty sure I was the second person because it had clouds and sky for a background by then. I only had a couple minutes to do anything with it before I had to leave for work, so I just changed the color of the clouds.

- David :)

Wow…Wow…WOW! Such stunning results from a work done by so many different artists. And they say too many chefs spoil the soup…I think not! GREAT job to all involved!

-T :D