Cleaning Application

[fdviper]

Name: FDViper. (Yes Comic Sans lol)
Availability: Most weekdays morning.
What manga brought you here? Which do you want to work on?: Deathtopia brought me here. I would prefer some seinen mangas.
Software: Photoshop CC
Experience: Nope I'm a noob :p
Test Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/axjuy576r953x ... t.zip?dl=0

[Wraith]

Thank you for your application, FDViper.

I have looked at it and have an assessment for you already.

Your good points are that you crop and straighten pages well.

However, you have a tendency to overlevel pages. You did it in all of them. That is perfectly understandable if you don't have practice editing manga. Most beginners will try to get rid of the dust (white specks on black areas and dark specks on white areas) by levelling. The problem is that dusting using levels removes detail from the images. You can see that in all pages. Take a look, for example, at the character on page four: the details are lost in his eyes and the lines of his hair nearly vanished in some areas.

Unfortunately, there is no way to clean raws without knowing how to Dust properly, using Burning and Dodging. There are several methods for this.

If you go to our list of tutorials here, you will find a good beginner's guide by our Head Redrawer, Sarrymast, which will help you to master learn how to level properly. It also has the technique he prefers for Dusting. Other tutorials there will have different techniques and you can choose the one that suits you best.

So, am I saying that you didn't pass?

Yes, I am. But keep reading and I'll tell you about our cleaning positions.

Right now, we have two cleaning positions open, both for seinen manga: Sprite and Destroy and Revolution. Sprite is the most urgent one.

Here's the good news: we are currently cleaning both series using Photoshop actions that do the hard job of levelling. The only thing the cleaner has to do manually are the tedious, but easy parts.

In other words, if you master Dusting and are able to run a Photoshop action properly, we will give you the Sprite job, if you are interested.

And since I am really trying hard to get a cleaner, I'll even offer you a deal:

Instead of taking the test again, if you are interested in cleaning Sprite, use the Photoshop Action and Instructions in this folder to clean the JPEG file inside it:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o3l59afpjjbmt ... n.zip?dl=0

When you are done, send us the PSDs. If you succeed in operating that action to clean the pages in the JPEG properly, you are in. The instructions are in the TXT file.

(This action is specifically meant for these raws, and it won't work on raws of other series.)

If you want the DxR position, let me know and I'll send you a pre-cleaned page to see if you can dust it properly.

In case you decide to try, good luck!

[fdviper]

Man Burning and Dodging are quite hard, tried cleaning some random raws after reading some guides. Thanks for giving me a second chance too, however I'm pretty I sucked even harder this time lel. I'm also new to this Photoshop Action. Anyway here's the link
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hf3m4zap0uqlu ... 1.psd?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ghtcsfcd4r2s0 ... 2.psd?dl=0

[Wraith]

Hi, fdviper.

Yes, Dusting is hard. That's why it requires patience. Cleaners who can dust well are quite treasured by groups.

OK, so this time I had the team leader for Sprite, Momimomi-senpai, do the assessment. Now I am conveying his words to you.

Page 54-1 is beyond redemption, but 54-2 merits discussion.

Essentially, you followed the instructions in the action, but you did not do it properly. For example, your cropping this time was bad, worse that in your first attempt. You ought to have cropped the picture until the edges of the paper were not visible anymore.

And you did not Dust that page. The black areas are full of white specks and these must be removed by Burning. (However, you have to use your instincts to decide whether white specks are dust or art. For example, the white specks on her hair are certainly dust - unless you assume the character has dandruff! - but if you can think of a black area where white specks can be interpreted as part of the art, you can decide to leave them there.)

You should also check the white areas for black specks, but be equally careful to make a call what is art and what is dust. For example, black specks in the margins or on skin surfaces are definitely dust, but on the soil, they can simply indicate roughness of the terrain or grass.

Momimomi-senpai adds that in general, for Sprite, if a pic looks like drawn by hand it's more likely to have solid areas of white/black. On the other hand, CGs and photos usually have no solid colors. This series uses lots of CG and old photos are used for backgrounds and landscapes, so it is a tricky series to clean.

If you correct these things about page 54-2, use what you learned to re-clean 54-1 and re-submit.

Of course, that is only if you still want to try again. I know we are nitpicking and I am sorry, but our series are hard. On the positive side, if you clean for Death Toll, you can probably clean for any group you want

In case you decide to give it another try, good luck! We'll assess as many submissions as you want, so long as you make progress from an attempt to the next.