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used, but now I use "H" because I like its consistency. Other people
prefer "8", so it's really just a matter of personal taste. Indeed,
remapping an image from one type into another is quite simple, and should
not affect the picture at all.
Different effects can be created by varying the chosen texture over
various sections of the picture (shading). The choice of character can
also be based on the subject matter, for example, if money were involved
the obvious choice would be a "$". Try to avoid using "*" though, as it
looks a bit cheesy (imho).
Once the basic shape is defined with the chosen character, the anti-
aliasing process is next. The most used chars are:
d b P F 9 V T Y A U _ , . - * ^ ~ " ` ' n a o l L j J k [ ] ( ) : \ / | !
Each character has a purpose based on its shape, although there are
cases where no character will produce perfect results. In these cases,
you either have to make do as best you can, or remodel that particular
area of the picture, thus giving you a fresh approach.
Going back to the earlier "curve" examples, here they are in solid form:
.adAHHHAbn. JHH
dHHHHHHHHHHHb _.adHHH
dHHHHHHHHHHHHHb ,AHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH dHHHHHHHHH
VHHHHHHHHHHHHHP JHHHHHHHHHH
YHHHHHHHHHHHP _.adHHHHHHHHHHH
"^YUHHHUP^" HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"~"
SPHERE CURVED HILL
It's important to get a good understanding of how best to use the
characters. The basic forms are as follows:
_,.aomdAHAbmon.,_ For the upper curves.
"~^*YUHUP*^~" For the lower curves.
The characters: d b P :are all extremely useful, but there is no
equivalent character for bottom/left. There is, however, four chars
available which do a decent job: T Y V 9 .The 9 works well for *some*
char sets, but generally it has a big hook at the bottom so isn't
quite so useful.
Notice how I've used "A" and "U" to smoothen the transistion from "H"
to "d"/"b" (and "Y"/"P" respectively) even though the effect is quite
subliminal. A minor detail, but it does help. I don't often use "_"
in these types of pics because of the way it touches the top of the
"H". It does come in handy sometimes though.
Side curves require more of an "on the spot" approach. The chars:
l [ ] : j i :all come in handy when trying to smoothen out vertical
curves, and I've also seen "(" and ")" used (although I wouldn't use
them myself). Consistency in contrast is very important.
Adding details using the solid ascii technique is a bit harder than
in line art because there isn't the same number of possible choices
for each position. The letters: a n o :are all very useful because
they are nice "solid" chars which only occupy the bottom half of the
character space, but there is no good alternative for the top half.
dHF^^^ See how the bottom arm fits in with the solid
dHP appearance of the main part, yet the "^" (which
dHBooan is the closest char available) doesn't look so
beefy. Even the "^" varies across different char
sets, so that leaves just: " ~ : which are of no use at all. In that
particular case, it is necessary to expand the picture by one line:
anpoan Note the use of the "p" to make the effect just
dHP that little bit more effective. An "r" could also
dHP work well at the end of each arm. Purely cosmetic
dHBooan though. Note that if you're using "M" or "W", then
"m" and "w" can be used to keep it consistent.
Details aren't always as simple as that example though (unfortunately).
HHHH aann .aoon.
HHHHHHHHHHHHH aanndHHHHHHP" "^vaondAHHHHHP"
HHHHHHH "~^YHHHHH "~^SHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHH dHHHHHHb .adHHHHHHh,
HHHHHH ~^VHHHP ~^VHHHP
HH YHP "VP
START HALF WAY FINISHED
The different steps can be seen here. Starting by roughing out the shape
(a wizards head incidentally) using the chosen character. Next, go over
all the edges making all the obvious replacements. That means using:
d P b Y V a n :plus the occasional: " ~ :if there's an obvious place for
it. Just enough to give it some shape.
The final stage requires a bit more work. Start with "A" and "U"/"V",
and then the rest is purely experimentation. The "S" was chosen because
it seemed to have the right shape, although there are many chars which
could really go there.
The curve section at the back required quite a lot of work. An "a" seems
to be the best opposite of "n", and for long stretches, I like to use