Author Archives: Janina

1st SP-Studio Contest: Halloween

October 2, 2010 2 Replies

The first picture contest has started in the SP-Studio Community, check it out HERE!
Let’s describe how this newest feature of my website works. When you click the “Community” button in the main menu a big gallery will appear. Okay, it’s not big yet, because it is new any empty… but if my visitors like it I will offer more features. One month is a long time for only one contest, but the SP-Studio community is a new feature, so let’s give it some time to grow. Right now there is one contest running: HALLOWEEN! Every contest or other event gets its own album, and when you click on it you can read the rules. I only speak English and German, so that’s the languages available for the rules right now.
TIMETABLE
Day 1 – 15: A contest starts with a certain topic and its own album. Upload a SP-Studio picture to join.
Day 16 – end of month: The submitted pictures are shown, members and guests can rate them.
End of month: The contest ends and the top rated pictures win.
TOPIC
The current topic is to create a picture about Halloween with the SP-Studio. It can be a movie villain or just a creepy monster you made up.
PRIZES
1st place: Make a wish for an item you want in the SP-Studio and I will draw and include it.
1st to 5th place: More file space for uploads and your own member-galler to present your pictures.
I am sure some of you will ask why there is no member-gallery for everyone. That’s because my server space is very limited, and so I can only offer this feature to some of you as a prize for the contests and other upcoming events. Sorry, there is no other way right now. But as I told you this is just the start of the gallery, who knows what might happen later.
RULES

Of course the picture has to be created at sp-studio.de, that is the sense of this gallery ;).
NO EDITING (Paint, Photoshop). Everyone should have the same possibilities and the challenge is to use the existings SP-Studio items in a creative way.
You must register your nickname first. To upload a picture click on the upload button in the menu and choose the album of the current contest (right now “10/2010: Halloween Contest”).
Be careful with the description and title, something like “VOTE!!!” will be deleted. Just describe your image (try it in English).
If you upload more pictures for the same contest the older ones will be deleted.

HINTS
Nobody wins with Freddy Krueger, because that’s what everybody builds with the SP-Studio ;). Try to be creative. Perhaps you can use parts for what they are not meant to be? Remember you can move around and flip the items or use the text tool. There are no limitations as long as you use the SP-Studio only and can save the result with the save-button.
You are not allowed to edit the picture, but the description can be whatever you like (as long as it’s no stupid “VOTE FOR ME!!!”). You don’t have to write one at all – or you can explain the idea behind your picture detailed. For example if you recreate a movie star you can add a link to a real photo, so the voters can see if you did a good job, even if they do not know him.

Version 4.0! + SP-Studio Community

October 1, 2010 Leave a reply

The new SP-Studio is there! The last updates were about new objects, this is not. I improved everything else instead, because I used the last months to think about what I want to change on this website. And there were many things… With version 4.0 it is easier for my visitors to save the pictures and for me it is easier to include new objects. So this is the base for more updates in the future which was really neccessary. After many weeks with not enaugh sleep it’s finally finished:

NEW DESIGN
The menu and news of this website stayed the same, but the rest should be less ugly now. At least that’s what I think ;). Have a look around. New is INFO, were you can read more about the last updates and the history of this website. The SP-Studio itself got a new design too, nothing stayed the same. It’s bigger now and you can scroll through the categories instead of clicking through single pages. The Help texts will be better. I guess you will notice the changes and hope you like them.

SP-STUDIO COMMUNITY
A big change is the new SP-Studio Community. What’s that? Well, I always thought it was sad that I had so many visitors (10.000s per day), but they could not interact. So now you can join the Community, which is a gallery for pictures created on this website.
I plan to allow little galleries for every user in the future, but I want to test it first. So now it’s still empty and the first event will be a contest which will start tomorrow. An extra news entry will be written then, but you can already register your nickname in the gallery and look around.

SAVE BUTTON
YES! I almost lost hope, but finally there is a working save button in the SP-Studio. Many SP-Studio visitors offered help with this, a BIG THANK YOU to all of you! Though I had help it took me weeks of hard work to include this “simple” feature.

NEW OBJECTS
There are just a few new objects, because it was so much work to redo the SP-Studio and website. I wanted to focus on everything else first. But you can color your shoes now, there are text bubbles and a few other objects. I saved the rest for later updates. And don’t worry – you won’t have to wait so long again for the next update, because version 4 helps me to include updates easier. This one was special because it is a new version, which a lot of work for me.

Known problems:
Unfortunately I had some problems with the English translation, so some parts of the SP-Studio file are still in German only. Of course this will be fixed as soon as possible!
But I am sure you know how to use it, right? 🙂 The first contest will start in a couple of hours when the translation is finished, that’s why the Community Gallery is still empty. Redesigning everything at the same time always is kinda tricky, so please excuse some minor errors and details which are not finished yet. But now I will really need some hours of sleep first… the update stole me some nights lately. Update: Now the English version should be complete. If you still notice errors, please tell me about it. Oh, and the News got a nicer design too, fitting to the rest of the website.

Your patience will be rewarded…

September 26, 2010 Leave a reply

Coming soon

SP-Studio goes Flattr

June 4, 2010 Leave a reply

Maybe you noticed the new button on www.sp-studio.de: Flattr is a service to give and receive small amounts of money on the internet. It is pretty new, so I guess most of my visitors don’t know about it yet and don’t have a Beta account. But I like the idea behind it and so I decided to put the button on my website and write this little news-posting about it.
If you want to know how it works it’s best to check out the video on the Flattr-Homepage. When you register you pay a small amount of money (at least 2 €) and then you can click on flattr buttons on websites which take part. You can publish your own content too and receive clicks. At the end of the month your 2 € are distributed to everyone you “flattred”. So it’s an easy way to make small donations to say “Thank you”. We all know how hard it is to earn money on the internet… I have many visitors, but nearly nobody donates something, even if they use my pictures for bigger projects. It is just not common around the internet to give something back for something you can get for free. That’s why I like the idea behind Flattr: I tried it and it helped me to overcome my inhibitions to donate something for my favorite websites. I believe there are more people like me who are willing to make small donations if it is easy. That’s why I included the button here too. I know most of you don’t use flattr yet, but perhaps I can have my part in making it known. It’s worth a try :). Right now you can only register if you are invited, but I will keep you updated when this will change. Of course this cannot replace Paypal or my Amazon wishlist, but Flattr might become an interesting alternative for people who want to show their appreciation without spending much money.

Update: Fifa Worldcup

Special censorship update

April 23, 2010 Leave a reply

We are living in rough times as South Park fans right now… So inspired by current events I added a trendy “Censored” Bar today, which will give you the possibility to hide your favorite religious person or anyone else with one single click. Isn’t that great?

The next update…?

April 16, 2010 2 Replies

I just wanted to tell you that I am still alive and I read every wish you write in the comments. Yes, there will be more updates soon! 🙂
I would like to update this webiste more often, but unfortunately I am too busy with my job right now. I work as a freelance designer, so it is very difficult for me to predict when I find the time for updates. Drawing the whole stuff always needs some time. But I will tell you here when the next update is about to be finished. So thanks for your patience, I am sure you won’t have to wait too long.

Update: 27 beards

February 25, 2010 Leave a reply

It’s time for the beards! I drew as many as I could think of, so everybody should be able to recreate his very own manly facial hair now. You can even combine different beards, for example you can add a beard from page 1 and another one from page 2. And of course you can change the color or move them around like the other parts in the SP-Studio.

Update: 40 new hair-styles… and more!

February 15, 2010 Leave a reply

As promised I drew some hair for you… and I got a bit over the top. I planned to draw about 30, but now there are 40 new hair-styles. I hope you like them! I listened to your requests and so there are some emo, scene girl, anime and even Simpsons hair-styles.

And there is another surprise! I got many questions about adding highlights to the hair, so I included this now. You can use the “customizable highlights” category to add them to the existing hair styles. You can move and flip them or combine different highlights to create your individual style.

Including this was very complicated, so there is only one page of highlights right now to test if you like it. And of course they do not fit with every hair cut – it is up to you to be creative and combine them in a good looking way. But I tried it out and there are countless possibilities for interesting new hair styles now. So enjoy it! 🙂 I did not forget about the beards, but I needed so much time to draw the hair-styles, that I will add the beards later (around February 24th).

What’s next?

January 22, 2010 Leave a reply

The next update will be a hairy one, because many of my visitors wish for more hair-styles and beards. And of course I will not ignore you, so I will start drawing and upload them soon. Till then feel free to write your requests for this update in the news comments. Celebrity pictures are a good inspiration, it is always best to post a link to a picture instead of just describing a hair style. I am curious about your ideas!