A question for Kiri

[Sylphide]

Kiri,

As you can see, the signature I use came from a website. Actually it was Airforce girl who first used it, and there was a link to the website on her signature.

So I went there and made one for myself.

However a couple of weeks ago, when I came on the forum, I realized my signature had disapeared from all my posts.

I went back to the website, but could not access the area where you could make that up. So I guess they put it down.

I had saved the picture in a folder on my hard drive. So I uploaded it on Photo Bucket and put it back here with a link.

I am wondering... am I allowed to do that? The concept is theirs, their website name is still there, but if they put it down, maybe it means I am not allowed to keep it?

I was so envious of all those beautiful signatures you have, and I was so happy to have one of my own. Next to having a ballerina Sim signature, it was the best I could have, as I don't know how to do those things. But if it's not meant to be, I will take it out.

Margot

[Kiri]

Margot,

It's perfectly ok to host the signature yourself. While it is their concept, they haven't lost control of it by the picture being hosted by you.

Steph did our signatures, and I'm not sure she is around to still do them - but you are perfectly welcome to keep that one.

Kiri

[andavri]

I'm still here! Really, or rather I should say I'm back. Just lurking. I've had a rough go of it for the past few months. (More to talk about there in a thread I didn't hijack.) But I am starting to feel better now and am hopefully going to get out of lurk mode.
Thanks, Kiri, for invoking the name of the devil and getting me past my embarrassment of being gone/lurking for so long. I wanted to post and just couldn't quite make myself.
Margot, I would totally be willing to try and make you a sig set if you would like. I need a break from this stupid Royal Kingdom challenge that I'm having tons of problems with.
As usual my ambitions are set a tad higher than my skills.
~Steph

[Sylphide]

Feb 11, 2010 22:52:37 GMT andavri said:

Margot, I would totally be willing to try and make you a sig set if you would like. I need a break from this stupid Royal Kingdom challenge that I'm having tons of problems with.

Oh my! I just discovered your reply Steph! I am sorry for not replying earlier.

First I must say I am happy if (indirectly) I contributed by this post, and Kiri's answer, to get you out of lurking mode and posting again.

Your offer to make a sig for me is overwhelming! I know what you can do, and that would be sooooo great. I would be so grateful !

I guess it doesn't take a lot of lurking to find out that I am a balletomane. You can imagine how I felt when Free Time came out with the ballet option. I nearly went crazy!

However I started having problems early on with memory and I had to take away FT and play only with EPs until Seasons. So I never got to having a ballerina Sim at the top of her game, or should I say, at the top of her dancing!

I would absolutely love to have a personal sig with a Sim ballerina. And having it done by you would be the icing on the cake!

How do you suggest we do this as I don't have a Sim ballerina at the moment and I am in the process of cleaning my newly installed game with the help of Kiri's tutorial, which could take a while. I don't know if I can wait, now that your offer is out there.

As usual my ambitions are set a tad higher than my skills. ~Steph

I don't believe that for a minute. I have seen what you can do and it is always just beautiful.

Thank you Steph

Margot

[andavri]

Feb 13, 2010 19:52:32 GMT Sylphide said:

I don't believe that for a minute. I have seen what you can do and it is always just beautiful.

Thank you, Margot, but if you could see what's in my head most of the time you'd understand why I don't think I quite measure up. I've always been like that, though, unrepentantly perfectionist.

As far as shooting a signature goes, the perhaps easiest way would be to suggest a sim I could download or I could sculpt one, as I have before. From there, there's always suggestions of hair and clothing, colors you like for a set or custom content for a set. I think for ballet it would probably be a very simple set, at least when I watch ballet, I want to see the dancers not so much set clutter.

Of course, when I think ballet, I will admit I think Degas. (I'm much more of an artist than a dancer, I haven't the coordination to be a dancer. But I have a good eye and a lot of practice with art.) But soft tones, simple yet elegant feminine lines, that sort of thing... But, anything you want to toss out I will totally be willing to look at. Pictures of ballets, youtubes, and like I said any CC you want to suggest I'll try to work in.

The three big parts of creating a sig (as I do it at least) are the Sim, the set, and the look (clothing/hair/make-up although admittedly I put my own spin on make-up and genetics. It drags me all wrong when I have to put up with other people's make-up choices.)

I hope that's a help on where to get started. Or at least not confuzzling.

Thank you, also, for your lovely compliments. I do appreciate them.

I couldn't tell you liked ballet at all though. Okay maybe I could, a little.
~Steph

[Sylphide]

Steph, I have a lot of faith in your good taste and abilities, so I would give you "carte blanche" (in french it means total freedom) where settings, sim, make-up are concerned.
I would prefer not to have a ballerina dancing in her casual clothes... and usually hair has to be tied up, because you get sweaty and it's all over the place, but mostly sticking in your face!

I thought of sending you links to videos by PM, but then I thought maybe someone here might want to have a peak... so I am going to put them here.

Swan Lake Act II: Svetlana Zakharova from the Marinski theatre in St-Petersburg, (formarly known as the Kirov in Leningrad) has built a reputation of being the best in the world at the moment, in the role of Odette, the Swan Queen :
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8nSUBcYk5w

Sleeping Beauty Act 1: the Rose Adagio. It is Princess Aurora's 16th birthday and her father introduces her to 4 princes. She has to dance with all of them and then choose a husband (but we all know she will fall asleep for 100 years instead!). Alina Cojocaru, London Royal Ballet is fabulous here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA5C-s4NjoQ

You might get inspired by the 1980 recollection of the Gold medal performance in Varna of "Belong" with Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet Evelyn Hart whom I adore. She retired a couple of years ago.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_ycPIV4hEQ

Alessandra Ferri in Giselle: Act 1. Girl in love dances
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sINHzdkF-z4&feature=PlayList&p=E0D2614E0C64E2E9&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=10

Alessandra Ferri in Giselle: Act 2. Girl died of broken heart after boyfriend betrayed her. Comes back as a willi (spirits in the graveyard who drag men into dancing until they die) and dances with boyfriend full of remorse in order to sustain him until dawn so he won't die.
This is an excerpt from the film "Dancers" with Baryshnikov... mummm...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMRPdgFKXr8

Ok, so I guess all this is very nice, but not very useful to transfer into a Sim's game or even picture. So I thought I would give you a link for videos of professional dancers in the classroom... that might be good?

Go there: www.national.ballet.ca/video/

Click "Behind the Scenes"
then, you could have a look at:

- Company Class Flipbook
- A Day in the Life of a Dancer, featuring First Soloist Tanya Howard
- Ballet Steps
- Principal Dancer Heather Ogden in rehearsal for The Sleeping Beauty
- Romeo and Juliet Photoshoot.

I just hope I didn't put you to sleep...

Let me know if you would like to see something different. I also have a lot of steady pictures on my hard drive. Would that be useful?

Margot