1983 Topps Baseball Card Template

[blueturf]

The 1983 Topps set is by far my favorite baseball card from the 80's. For quite some time I have been hoping to recreate the template for use in OOTP but the dual photo on the front of the card has presented a challenge. I had considered putting the team logo in the circle where the close-up photo is on the real card, but it quickly lost the charm of the '83 set when I did that.

I have been working on a solution to mimic the two front photos with the large photo being an action shot. I have been able to do so with some limited success, but still have a lot of wrinkles to iron out before this template is very useful.

The idea is to have random action shots show up (eventually based on the player's position) and then have the regular OOTP photo populate the circular window. This means I have to painstakingly align the action photos in order for the default OOTP face to fit the picture.

Here are the early results:

[blueturf]

There is still quite a bit of work left to do. I have some ideas on how to have the jersey change according to team colors and to had a helmet for pictures with batters or base runners.

Ultimately the player's position (and throwing arm/ batting hand) will dictate which photos will randomly show up. This way a pitcher is not shown making a catch in the outfield. Hopefully this will lead to having up to one hundred different possible action shots available.

Another obstacle is dealing with the players ethnicity. It is difficult to get the other skin showing in the action shot to match the players face. There is not ethnicity token for the baseball card templates. In the coming days I hope to try some experiments to get the arm tone to change based on the player, otherwise, I will have to choose something in the darker tones and try to work in shadows.

[Chicagofan76]

Those look really cool...would you be able to have the jerseys match the current 30 MLB teams?

[TribeFanInNC]

This is a very challenging endeavor you've taken on. Hopefully you figure out a way to get it done for some portion of the OOTP player population. This would be a great leap forward.

The only thing I can think that would help is that there are alignment parameters for the zoom and facing left or right that you can set in the template to create a picture with the same face every time. For instance, you can set that the picture created for the card is always zoomed out and viewed straight on. Maybe you are already using them. If you are unaware of these, let me know.

It might be a little easier if you make them slightly less actiony. Like just a player holding a bat (in stance or with bat on shoulder) or crouched over and pretending to field a ball. This was pretty common in that era of baseball cards. They couldn't get everyone actually hitting in live action.

[klavier]

I gave action shots a try before and you guys are right, they are a challenge and take a lot of work to get right. What you have so far looks great blueturf, good luck with the rest.

[blueturf]

Originally Posted by TribeFanInNC

The only thing I can think that would help is that there are alignment parameters for the zoom and facing left or right that you can set in the template to create a picture with the same face every time.

Yep, that is how I have these set up. If you notice, the head is always in the exact same spot and looking to the viewer's right regardless of the action going on around it. The key is to find potential action shots where the head in this position can look somewhat natural. Too bad we can't rotate the angle of the head as well.

Currently, it works similar to those Photo Cutout Stands you see at the state fair or on tourists' photos.

Originally Posted by TribeFanInNC

It might be a little easier if you make them slightly less actiony. Like just a player holding a bat (in stance or with bat on shoulder) or crouched over and pretending to field a ball. This was pretty common in that era of baseball cards. They couldn't get everyone actually hitting in live action.

I will probably look to do this as well in order to keep enough variety for larger leagues. Some photos where the face is indistinguishable, likely will not have the cutout for the action FaceGen.

Originally Posted by klavier

I gave action shots a try before and you guys are right, they are a challenge and take a lot of work to get right. What you have so far looks great blueturf, good luck with the rest.

Once I get a system down, it may go fairly quickly, although the overall volume of action photos needed could get overwhelming. My plan is to have a pool of photos available for each position and throwing/batting hand. The baserunning and batting photos could apply to any position player, but there are action shots specific to 1st Base, etc. So the XML will make a call to a photo named [%Random_Number][%Position][%Bats][%Throws].png. If I get enough action shots together I may replace [%Random_Number] with [%Uniform_Number]. That way if the uni number is visible in the action photo, I can ensure it would be correct for that particular player.

[cephasjames]

Wow! What you have so far is great! I will follow your progress with great interest. What TriebFan said about this being a great leap is right. If you can figure this out then bbcards may never be the same again.

[klavier]

Originally Posted by blueturf

Once I get a system down, it may go fairly quickly, although the overall volume of action photos needed could get overwhelming. My plan is to have a pool of photos available for each position and throwing/batting hand. The baserunning and batting photos could apply to any position player, but there are action shots specific to 1st Base, etc. So the XML will make a call to a photo named [%Random_Number][%Position][%Bats][%Throws].png. If I get enough action shots together I may replace [%Random_Number] with [%Uniform_Number]. That way if the uni number is visible in the action photo, I can ensure it would be correct for that particular player.

Looks like you have things well planned out with the batting, throwing and positions. Would you need to worry about the uniform number? With the faces of the player only being able to look in certain directions I can't think of the uni number being very visible in the action shots you'd be limited to. Definitely looking forward to the progress you make.

[conception]

Wow, that's quite a revolutionary design you've got there, I can't wait to see what you can do. It would go a long way to really bring out players to life to be able to see them in action shots.

[blueturf]

Originally Posted by klavier

Would you need to worry about the uniform number? With the faces of the player only being able to look in certain directions I can't think of the uni number being very visible in the action shots you'd be limited to.

Initially I was thinking uniform numbers since using two random digits would require 100 combinations and uni numbers are grouped a little more heavily under 55. Also, I was thinking situations where the uni number may appear on the front of the jersey, but since I am removing any recognizable team logo on the jersey, I will also remove the numbers.

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I was able to get the color overlay to work so that the player's jersey will match team colors. I have also attached an example of another pose that I worked on last night. Still a little bit of work to do on the batting stance to washout the "Cardinals" on the jersey and position the photo to make the head look a little less like a bobblehead.
I am dedicating more time to this while I put my league on hold to wait for the final v12 patch. As soon as I get the hang of this process, I will put together a quick guide and we can have members of the community add their own action shots to the pool.

[prodgers]

This is frigin fantastic! I've been wanting to get this for quite some time. Coupled with Klaver managing to get 20 years on the back of the card this is definitely a milestone in the bbcard department. I will be following this with great interest.

[blueturf]

I now have up to 15 different poses. Some are better than others and most will need some fine tuning. Here are a few more examples.

[blueturf]

And a few more examples:

[hfield007]

AMAZING!

but obviously i think you have to find a tweener skin color that can mimic hispanic, caucasian and negro all well enough

[blueturf]

Originally Posted by hfield007

but obviously i think you have to find a tweener skin color that can mimic hispanic, caucasian and negro all well enough

Yep, skin tone withinn the rest of the image the most difficult part since there is no token available for ethnicity in the XML.

I will probably just try to find the best middle ground and hope that some of the differences are chalked up to shadows or direct sunlight.

Otherwise the only other major hurdle to getting this rolled out is the sheer volume of images needed to make it work as I have it intended. Not all images can fit all players due to position/handedness. I was hoping to use a combination of those factors and a [RANDOM_NUMBER] to create variety in the images, but the same [RANDOM_NUMBER] is not generated for all layers of the image when the card is created. This is resulting in the base layer being a different image than the color overlay. Instead I will have to use a static number like uniform number to ensure not all left-handed hitting 2nd basemen have the same action image.

One other challenge is deciding what to do with the 2nd box on the back of the card. The '83 cards had an anecdote about the player or listed statistical highlights from their career. I may just remove the box and carry the stats all the way down the card since the initial box will only be able to hold seven years worth of stats.

With that I am slowly making progress and I have had success in creating my first card specific to catchers.

[klavier]

Originally Posted by blueturf

One other challenge is deciding what to do with the 2nd box on the back of the card. The '83 cards had an anecdote about the player or listed statistical highlights from their career. I may just remove the box and carry the stats all the way down the card since the initial box will only be able to hold seven years worth of stats.

Sometimes I try to write something with stats like OPS, slugging percentage or WHIP into boxes like that.

[DreamTeams]

Keep at this. Looks good.

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by blueturf

Yep, skin tone withinn the rest of the image the most difficult part since there is no token available for ethnicity in the XML.

I will probably just try to find the best middle ground and hope that some of the differences are chalked up to shadows or direct sunlight.

Otherwise the only other major hurdle to getting this rolled out is the sheer volume of images needed to make it work as I have it intended. Not all images can fit all players due to position/handedness. I was hoping to use a combination of those factors and a [RANDOM_NUMBER] to create variety in the images, but the same [RANDOM_NUMBER] is not generated for all layers of the image when the card is created. This is resulting in the base layer being a different image than the color overlay. Instead I will have to use a static number like uniform number to ensure not all left-handed hitting 2nd basemen have the same action image.

One other challenge is deciding what to do with the 2nd box on the back of the card. The '83 cards had an anecdote about the player or listed statistical highlights from their career. I may just remove the box and carry the stats all the way down the card since the initial box will only be able to hold seven years worth of stats.

With that I am slowly making progress and I have had success in creating my first card specific to catchers.

I would have to think that if you can get this to work the way you want it to that talking Markus and co. to add a token for ethnicity might not be that hard to do.

[blueturf]

Originally Posted by klavier

Sometimes I try to write something with stats like OPS, slugging percentage or WHIP into boxes like that.

That is a sensational idea. Thanks for the tip.

[Jabez54]

blueturfastic