Music: Gaslamp Funworks, One-eyed Maestro, & Cypher
Aaron: Hello, and welcome to another episode of “Crashbang’s Workshop,” a podcast that gives photography advice with a World of Warcraft twist. We’re your hosts. I’m Aaron…
Crashbang: And I’m furious!
Aaron: And that’s Crashbang, who apparently goes into a hissy fit every time a certain worgen’s name is mentioned.
Crashbang: You’d throw a temper tantrum too if you had to put up with the same shenanigans!
Aaron: And how many times have I and/or my property been damaged, Mr. “Trust Me This Is Perfectly Safe?”
Crashbang: *sigh* OK, your point is duly noted, but even with your encounters in my workshop you’ve never had to limp home over several miles after using your irreparably damaged helm to dig yourself out of a shallow grave.
Aaron: Irreparably damaged?
Crashbang: He chewed my head until all the spikes broke off my helmet. Those were a key structural feature, not to mention an important aesthetic flair. They literally and figuratively brought the whole piece together! When he was done with me he buried me in his backyard like some kind of discarded bone.
Aaron: OK, so he ruined one helmet. You always go on about how goggles are better.
Crashbang: I can’t wear goggles around he who must not be named. They do nothing.
Aaron: So I take it you’re not going to read this week’s question?
Crashbang: Not on your life. Or mine, for that matter.
Aaron: Fine, then I guess I’ll do it. Synrgy writes:
“During an adventure recently in Wyrmrest Temple, facing the minions of the World Breaker himself, Deathwing, I saw something that brought me straight to you. As we cheered gleefully in our own wonderment with the downed body of Warmaster Blackhorn behind us, a photo opportunity had arisen. As I readied the team for a trumphant portrait, I stood and gasped at the horror that tranpsired before me. Drethan’s face (yes Drethan, your nightmarish predator who wants to chew on you. He really is a nice Lupine if you get to know him.) was incredibly green! It was no doubt due to my astronomical healing waves of epic proportions. Here is my dilemma. How do I get that green out of the picture? I do not want to see the face of a wretched Orc next to me after a glorious battle.
I thank you kindly and I have attached a statue in my liking, with a stance to show off my aura of greatness as the elements surround me.
-Synrgy”
Aaron: So, uh … I can’t help but notice that there isn’t a statue.
Crashbang: I assumed that it may have been booby trapped by the evil one, who we now know was an orc in disguise this whole time. After rudimentary scanning found nothing out of the ordinary, I bisected it, ground it to dust, set the dust on fire, irradiated it, cooked it for 20 minutes after preheating the oven to 450 degrees, placed it in a box, placed that box in a bigger box, mailed it to myself, then smashed it with a hammer.
Aaron: …
Aaron: So Synrgy, how about we go ahead and answer your question. Color correction can be a pain, to be certain. Cameras are notorious for not dealing with light the same way a human eye does, particularly in low light conditions. I don’t think it would have helped in this case, but professional photographers will often use light meters and grey cards to attempt to capture everything just as it appears, which usually prevents unseemly events such as party members turning green.
Crashbang: Or maybe the camera revealed him for what he really is! The camera doesn’t lie, Aaron! They don’t even mention cake!
Aaron: That’s a misconception, Crash. Cameras lie all the time, it’s just that they do so in a convincing manner. Nevertheless, it’s possible that Dre was in fact green thanks to a debuff of some sort. if this was merely a green tint due to lighting issues it would be easy to color correct in Photoshop or some other editing app, but WoW debuffs tend to replace ALL colors with some other color – the only thing that doesn’t change is the value, or how light or dark the original color was. When this happens you’re left with four choices.
Crashbang: Choice one, vote to kick the orc traitor!
Aaron: No, Crash. The choices are: 1) Wait for the debuff to wear off – this can be difficult if the boss’ corpse disappears quickly, like Saurfang in ICC. 2) Take a 2nd picture afterwards and edit the two together, which would sort of defeat the purpose of properly commemorating the event. 3) Try to replace all the “incorrect” colors in an image editing program, which I recommend you don’t try unless you’re quite skilled at digital painting already, or 4) Apply some sort of filter to make the entire image greyscale or monochromatic. A sepia setting is commonly used, though a black and white image is also traditional and a classic way to avoid all color correction issues.
Crashbang: You should still probably nuke him from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Aaron: So I think it’s about time to wrap up the show. If YOU have a question for Crashbang, you can send it to his Twitter account: @Crashbang_G. Of course you can also go to this show’s website, aaronbsmith.com/crashbang. In addition to submitting questions there, you’ll find links to subscribe to the show, previous episodes, and links to our various projects. Until next time, this is Aaron and Crashbang reminding you to keep your camera at the ready, and spay or neuter your worgen.
Crashbang: Aaron, that has to be the first outro you’ve ever done that I actually enjoyed. Well played.
Aaron: Thanks, I thought you’d like that.
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You’ve been listening to the Crashbang’s Workshop Podcast. Music for this show has been provided by Kevin MacLeod. Find these tracks and more at http://incompetech.com.
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