Minipost: Sylvanas in a different light (literally)

Back when I was writing the Letters from Northrend, I needed a picture of Sylvanas for the the final entry Dark Lady: The Rage. I didn't want to use yet ANOTHER generic picture of her chilling in the Undercity, so I thought I'd use a shot of her in Orgrimmar's throne room during the Wrathgate events. A little Photoshop magic to enhance the colors and make it RED LIKE HER RAGE, and presto:


However, while I had this picture up in Photoshop I messed around with some other color settings out of idle curiosity. You can change an image's colors fairly easily, and I figured I'd see what a pink-skinned, living Sylvanas would look like. Normally, adjusting for a single color specifically results in a terrible image, with all the other colors turned into weird neon hues or something. Such as this picture of Tyrande with green Orc skin.


Well, I was quite surprised to find that "resurrecting" the Banshee Queen had quite the opposite effect - her color-adjusted self is the epitome of a stealthy, forest-lurking Elven Ranger!


I was blown away at how perfectly her outfit transitioned. Rich greens, burnished metal trim, brown for the leather components - I don't think Blizzard could MAKE a more "Ranger" model than this if they tried! The colors are perfect, none of the fine details are lost because the shades are too dark, and they're ridiculously appropriate for who she was in life.

Is it a coincidence? Probably not. I assume Blizzard probably started with a forest-y version of Sylvanas and then color-adjusted it to be the dark, crimson-eyed Dark Lady that we all know and love (or hate). Still, I was very surprised and found it interesting.

Here's a final comparison shot:

7 Responses Subscribe to comments

  1. gravatar
    NoFuneral

    Dude, if you have a hi-res version of this, I would love to have one. Or one of each, for each monitor! lol

    June 27, 2011 at 12:02 PM

  2. gravatar
    Saz

    That is stunning Rades! Sylvanas is even foxier with living Blood Elf coloration and it is rather impressive how well she transitioned. Perhaps we'll see her in a Caverns of Time situation with her as a living ranger! A fangirl and dream, right?

    June 27, 2011 at 2:04 PM

  3. gravatar
    Liz

    Cool find!

    I would like to see more of this Neon Darnassus you mention. Very, very interesting...

    June 27, 2011 at 2:27 PM

  4. gravatar
    Redbeard

    With the skull-shoulders, definitely a Wrath-era Ranger. And, in keeping with Blizzard tendencies to remove clothing from female gear the higher the iLevel, it would be appropriate for someone who is the Ranger General of Silvermoon out in the field.

    I don't suppose you could make a detour to one of the Farstrider encampments in Eversong or Ghostlands and take a few snapshots, could you?

    June 27, 2011 at 2:46 PM

  5. gravatar
    Rhii

    Oh wow, even the eyes...

    June 27, 2011 at 4:20 PM

  6. gravatar
    Redbeard

    Oh, and I happened to be cruising through Eversong on Neve just a couple of hours ago, and sure enough, the Farstrider outfits are similar. A bit more clothing, but similar.

    June 27, 2011 at 6:39 PM

  7. gravatar
    Rioriel

    :D I do this for nearly every 'Postcard' I post, then fail to post them as I think I should stick to canon.

    So many shots I've taken that look awesome with hue adjustments to completely take the colour palette to another place.

    ~ Rio

    July 4, 2011 at 9:17 AM