Let's continue exploring composition with a few more guidelines used in real-life photography, together with some FFXIV examples!
Rule of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds involves dividing the viewport into a 3x3 grid by drawing two horizontal lines and two vertical lines, resulting in nine equally sized rectangles.
According to the rule, placing key elements of interest along these gridlines or at their intersections create harmonious compositions and draws the viewer's eye in a visually pleasing and balanced way:
Rule of Odds
The Rule of Odds suggests that using an odd number of elements, such as three or five, tends to be more visually interesting and engaging compared to an even number. The Rule of Odds can be used to create a sense of asymmetry, tension, and visual flow:
Rule of Space
The Rule of Space emphasizes leaving empty space or room within the frame, specifically in the direction that the subject or elements are moving or looking towards. It adds a sense of direction or movement and allows the viewer to engage with the image more effectively:
Golden Ratio
The Golden Ratio, also known as the Divine Proportion or Phi (Φ), is a mathematical concept and compositional guideline used in various art forms. It is a ratio of approximately 1.618:1 and is considered aesthetically pleasing to the human eye.
In photography, dividing the frame into sections based on the Golden Ratio and positioning important subjects or focal points along these divisions creates a visually appealing and balanced composition. That way, compositions that feel harmonious and naturally pleasing:
So there you have it! while not comprehensive, these guidelines may help create shots that are engaging and pleasing to the eye.
You can now find this and all the previous guides and reference materials in our Discord server, Sights of Eorzea. Come check it out!
If you play FFXIV long enough you'll end up seeing a message in chat while running a duty letting folks know someone is getting raised. These are usually done via macro.
Why Do People Use Raise and Other Job Action Macros?
Raise messages basically boil down to "Other healers and raise capable members of the party, I am raising this person so don't waste your Swiftcast."
They can also communicate if this is a hard rez (no Swiftcast) and will therefore take time.
They tell you who scraped you off the floor so you have a suggestion of who to give your commendation. (This is why I appreciate others using them, personally).
They communicate part of a mechanic that another player might not know. The classic example was Paladin's Divine Veil, where they needed to be healed for the action to be completed. Although Divine Veil no longer requires it.
Creating and Editing Macros
Click the System button.
Click User Macros.
Select an empty macro or one you would like to overwrite.
In the opened macro, click the macro icon.
Select an icon to represent this macro. Or, use /micon in the macro itself to use the icon for the action.
Enter a descriptive name in the Name field, like Sage Hard Rez.
In the main body of the macro, you will enter the code of the macro, making sure each line is its own line.
Macro Components
/ac tells the system you are starting a command about an action.
"Action Name" says which action you want to use. This is job specific so you will need to make a rez macro for each job as it is Egeiro vs Raise vs Resurrection vs Ascend etc.
<wait.#> is telling the system to wait before executing the next line. The number tells the system how many seconds to wait. How long you need depends on your computer, internet connection and how congested the immediate area in game is. 2 seconds works for my current machine very well, 3 seconds worked better for my old laptop and if I'm at a world boss Fate or hunt train I don't even try to use the macro due to the long wait time needed.
/party tells the system to send the text that follows to the party chat.
<t> tells the system to substitute the name of who you are currently targeting in whatever message you are sending in chat.
<#> The number will tell the system who to target based on the position in the party list. So a 3 will target the 3rd person on the party list.
/micon "Action Name" will tell the system to give the macro the same icon as the named action.
Optimizing Rez Macro Placement on Your Hotbar
To get the most bang for your buck on your rez macro, I recommend the following order on your hotbar:
This set up will let you see if Swiftcast is still on cooldown. If it is you can skip your Quick Raise macro and either just click Raise directly or a Long Raise macro (which in that image is the X icon below my Quick Raise macro's icon).
Example Macros
These can all be directly copy and pasted into the body section of the macro editor.
Basic Rez Macro (RDM)
/ac "Swiftcast" <wait.2>
/ac "Verraise" <wait.2>
/party Raising <t>! Get back in the fight!
Hard (Long) Rez Macro (SGE)
/party Swiftcast is down! Hard rez-ing <t>! <wait.3>
/ac "Egeiro"
Rez Macro with Swiftcast and Thin Air (WHM)
This is specific to WHM level 58+ and will allow you to instantly cast Raise with no MP cost to help make the most of your resources.
/ac "Swiftcast" <wait.2>
/ac "Thin Air" <wait.2>
/ac "Raise" <wait.2>
/party Raising <t>! Get back in the fight!
Improvisation Macro (DNC)
Unless your team has played a lot of Dancer themselves they likely won't understand how Improv works. Macro messages are great for telling other people in your party what they need to do to benefit from things like DNC's Improvisation or PLD's Passage of Arms.
/micon "Improvisation"
/ac "Improvisation"
/party Stand near me until you hear the bongos for healing!
Aetherial Manipulation (for the BLM Who Can't Target Party Members to Literally Save Their Own Lives)
Its me, I'm that black mage. This automatically targets the third person in the party's list which will be the healer in a Light Party or the second tank in a Full Party. You will aether skate over to whoever that is.
/ac "Aetherial Manipulation" <3>
Living Dead Macro (DRK)
This is no longer required as Living Dead has been updated. But it is a good example of making a macro message fun while giving a needed instruction.
/micon "Living Dead"
/ac "Living Dead" <wait.2>
/party Whether by accident or purpose, I have used Living Dead. Please heal me to full or else I will soon be Dead Dead. :')
If you love Cute Clothes as much as me, these are very much for you. But if you don't really care what your character wears (or the color it is), these are completely optional.
Unlocking
You may as well do them both at once as they unlock at the same time and are both given by the same person and neither takes you out of Vesper Bay
[Image ID: screencap of Swyrgeim in Vesper Bay, to the left of her is a selection box that lists the options of two quests; Color Your World and If I Had a Glamour, Small Talk, or Nothing /end ID]
These unlock in Vesper Bay out in Western Thanalan aaallllll the way to the west, past Horizon but before the sharp turn north. you'll be out here a lot for MSQ later so remember it's location. If you get here at or around level 15 she should be the only quest marker, if I recall correctly.
[Image ID: two more screenshots of Swyrgiem, these two with quest synopses next to her. On the left is Color Your World; "Swyrgiem wants to show you a whole new world of colors." and on the right is If I Only Had a Glamour; "Swyrgiem wishes to impart to you her knowledge of glamours." /end ID]
Like the queen she is she sends you to get her drinks. If I Only Had A Glamour marks on the map who to talk to, but for Color your world you need to go to the Merchant & Mender that you can see in my caps just above the quests and the orange juice will be under Purchase Items. don't worry! it's only 7 gil.
[the rest under cut because this is Long]
Use
my first note is that many dyes can be bought in the markets of every city. Some can be bought in the cash shop, some can only be crafted, and some are beast tribe locked (and some are locked in other ways). However, all dye can be found on the market board, just be willing to pay a small fortune for some colors if gotten that way. I would always either check the market or look the color up on gamerescape to see how to obtain it before going to the market board.
In the inn room look for these mfers:
[Image ID: The Glamour Dresser and Armoire in the Limsa Lominsa inn. /end ID]
Anything that can go in the armoire, I'd put in there because if you get really into glams the dresser can uuhh fill up quick, and you can access the armoire while making glams without any extra hassle. Plus in order to put things in the dresser you need glam prisms whereas you don't for the armoire. Prisms can be bought on the market board, from your Grand Company upon reaching Sergeant Third Class, or crafted. The unlock quest, should have given you 12 and that's plenty enough at this low a level.
At this point, unless veteran friends have given you clothes or gil and/or you've spent money in the cash shop, you shouldn't really have any of the gear meant for glam, except the little hat the quest gave you. You can put armor and starter clothes in but I would hold off on either (unless you really wanna glam to starter gear) because you might need them if you pick up an off class and it's a hassle to pick up a class and then remember you have to yank gear out of the glam dresser or buy a new set.
But, let's say you had gear and everything you wanna put in your dresser is there and you're ready to make your first glam.
[Image ID: The ffxiv glamour interface showing Aki, a Xalea girl, in her starter outfit and the dresser open to her shoes. /end ID]
The 20 tabs you see above the character display are the 20 glamour plates you get. You can have 20 unique and custom outfits pre-designed and waiting in here. Much like when equipping armor, as you select the spot for a piece of gear on the left the right will open to all the gear you have stored for that place. Select feet you get shoes, head you get hats, etc. **Note: wrists/gloves/shirt sleeves can and will cover bracelets. Accessories are the lowest level; any cloth that covers the same spot will be on top.**
but say maybe for parts of your glam you want something from the armoire. Then hit that long horizontal button under the display of gear in your dresser that says Open Armoire. You don't need to save the glam before hand or anything, it only refreshes that side of things.
If you do seasonal events you'll slowly start collecting up things to fill your armoire with (they do not always give gear but when they do it goes in the armoire.) Otherwise, it's a good place to dump artifact armor (from reaching level caps) if you don't want to get rid of it or want to use it for a glam.
Now! you've selected your outfit. Looks kinda cute, but the colors don't match your character? Well, that's what the dyes are for! Right click/press square on whichever piece of gear you wanna start with and you'll get this
[Image ID: the ffxiv dye selector. In the character box Aki stands wearing the gear she is outside of the dresser with the Ishgardian thighboots selected to dye. /end ID]
This is, as you can see, pretty cut and dry. It's separated by colors so if you click the red circle you see all the red dyes, blue you see the blues, etc. The notes I will give you are that 1) there are pinks under both red and purple, 2) Terebinth turns something back into it's default color, and 3) you can select colors you don't have at this step but you cannot save the plate with dyes you do not have on it.
What I generally do is go through and pick all the colors I want and then pick secondary colors in case the first is too expensive/not for sale/I'm to lazy to make/get, I note how many of which colors I need and then I remove all the dye and save the plate. Then I exit the dresser and go get what dyes I don't already have before returning. this way I'm not guessing that colors will look good together and potentially wasting gil. I also buy dyes in small bulks when I can afford it so I have some for next glam.
However you personally do it, once you apply your dyes and save the plate (again) you're done! All you need to do is hit Apply.
[Image ID: same as the first only now Aki is wearing a peach flower corsage, the hempen camise, summer sunset wrist torque, faire kohakama, and Ishgardian thighboots all dyed either regal or gloom purple. /end ID]
Congratulations! You have now made your first glam plate!
[Image ID: Aki, now out of the dresser, wearing her new glam and cheering. The camera is angled to fit her whole glam but also get a close up of her face. /end ID]
Note: you can apply/change what you're wearing in any sanctuary (denoted by a little crescent moon by the exp bar) but you can only change the plates themselves in the glam dresser in inn rooms. you can also mix and match so if one glam is missing pants and you want pants from another, apply the pants one first, and then the one you want the rest of, and the pantlessness won't overwrite while everything else will.
Also: because of that last point, if there is something that you want to never show up with this glam, you want to get the Emperor's New [gear type] for it and you only need one ring for both slots. (I have bought a second unnecessarily so many times.) I generally get all of the accessories on most of my alts because I just don't really like how most in game jewelry looks. There are plenty of people who use this to run around shirtless. Get creative. They're craftable and available on the market board. sometimes they're relatively cheap, sometimes they're not.
FFXIV RP Tip: Adjusting your chatboxes to make RP easier
I was RPing at the huge Prom event @crescent-ffxiv put on and one of my friends was having a bit of a problem keeping up. Mentioned it to them how I had my chat windows setup and they mentioned how they needed to try it out. That gave me the idea to make a short tutorial on how to get started tweeking your chat for easier RPz.
--Further Instructions Under The Cut--
The first thing you’re going to need to do is make sure you have all 4 of your chat windows created. Click the + next to the gear icon pictured above until it grays out. Next open the “Log Window Settings” by either clicking the gear icon next to your chatbox (see image above) or going into Character Configuration and clicking the bottom menu button.
From here you’ll see each of your tabs under the “Log Filters” area. I have mine setup for “General” to basically catch all chat for when I’m not RPing. “Battle” is the battle events. “Event” tab is where I have my linkshells, party, FC and yells (will explain later), then “Local” is strictly local chatter of Say, Emotes, Yells and dice rolls (VERY IMPORTANT!)
You don’t have to have yours setup exactly like this so feel free to just use this as a template to customize to your liking.
First up is the Event tab.
The only thing I have going into this tab are things like my Linkshells, tells, shouts, etc (see image above). Not pictured is that I do NOT have emotes going into this tab. This is MOSTLY an OOC tab but it’s important for RP (more later).
I have Yells in this tab (as well as why I name this ‘events’ instead of ‘chatter’) to make it easier to see what event hosts are announcing. Too often the Yells get pushed off the screen by Text Spam and this helps keep it easy to spot.
Next let’s go over the important one: Local!
The above two images show you what I have for the Local channel. If it’s not shown it’s turned off. The big one is to make sure you go into Announcements and turn on the random number messages since a lot of people use those for games, fighting, random stuff. I do NOT put shout on as it’s mostly OOC junk.
Now that the tabs are sorted let’s tweek the transparency settings for the tabs themselves.
I think Transparency (or lack thereof) is often overlooked but it can be a HUGE help in keeping up with text spam. Here are the settings I use for my two tabs. By having them somewhat transparent I can have the boxes bigger and still -sorta- see what’s going on behind it. The Event tab I keep relatively small and mostly don’t pay much attention to which is why it has a higher transparency.
The other thing in this setting page is your FONT SIZE! Your first instinct might be to lower the font size to get more text on the page at a time, but I’ve often found it works exactly opposite. A higher font size makes it easier for your brain to process the words scrolling past almost subconsciously. This may or maynot work for you, but give it a try. To counter balance this I actually have my local window MUCH BIGGER than usual (well for non-rpers at least).
NOTE: If you leave your local in the main window with the text entry bar you’ll want to adjust the “General” tab settings. The individual tab transparency settings only work when pulled out of the main window.
Now that your tabs are setup what’s left to do? A trick you might already know about but might not. It’s called “Friend Groups”!
Open up your friends list and right click on a friend. At the bottom of the command window you’ll see “Assign Friend Group”.
From there pick a symbol you want to appear in front of that friend’s name. This can be a HUGE help when trying to pick out what your friends are saying in a crowded room. Sadly this does NOT work in emotes! Maybe one day Square will change this.
So now let’s go into your chat box layout. Each person can do it how they want but I got used to the two box system back when City of Heroes first came out and I’ve been tweeking my games to the same thing ever since.
This gives you an idea of how you can setup your chat boxes for RP. In the last photo also note that i’m using a different UI layout to hide my normal action bars and show only stuff I might actually use in RP (Well i really need to clear up the clutter in the lower right corner but... moving along...). I really wish the UI layouts preserved the chatbox layout as well, but that’s easy to adjust on the fly.
In any case that’s it for this tutorial!
If you found this helpful leave a note or reblog! I might make some more tutorials like this, especially for RP helpful macros.
Post 4.3 FFXIV Loft Glitch is certainly possible,Timestamp included in photos done in Small and Large housing. Full Video with DETAILED audio tutorial currently being made for those interested in learning the process and not just seeing a Troupe Stage on the floor then POOF It’s on the wall without explaining the how, why and cues that let you know when you are on the right track and going off. Understand how to bypass hours of frustrations. People are welcomed to contact me with questions anytime prior and post tutorial creation. Also I beginning to accept commissions for those seeking home designs, I enjoy the challenge of creating the perfect homes and themed house people desire. A showcase site of my current Home and Glamour designs is currently under construction, Until then if interested in anything you may contact me via here or in game message to Lilium Arnica@ Ultros server or my colleague Chancelor Puddinghead@ Ultros server. Also you may visit our personal plots. @ Lavender Bed Ward 17 plot 55. Lavender Beds Ward 17 Plot 58 And Lavender Beds Ward 3 Plot 19 all @ultros server and Leave a message on our Message Books and we will get back to you as soon as possible. I look forward to hopefully helping make peoples dream homes become reality. My projects are currently under construction and will be open to the public for viewing for a period of time before rebuilding new designs.
Now that we know some basic lighting techniques, it's time to wander into the wild!
There's a lot that's out of your control, like weather and natural light. But let's use those to our advantage!
Supplemental Lighting
Remember: you can use the 3-point light sources and the Character lighting settings to bring attention to the subject, making it pop from the background.
In the example below, Freya is pretty dim against the background; so we position a yellow source to reinforce the torch light and a blue source to suggest moonlight.
Oh, one interesting thing about water surfaces: while point lights can't cast shadows...
...it can reflect over water surfaces!
The principle of using a point light to enhance, reinforce or suggest a source can be used anywhere: fixtures, skybox sources, armor, weapons... the sky (well, and the count of 3) is the limit.
Less is more
Simplify your shots. Visual elements draw attention away from the subject. By using Depth of Field (DoF) you can force background elements to lose focus.
Alternatively, you can look for parts of the background with fewer elements (like the sky, a cave wall, or a dark patch of a forest.)
Weather
Dungeons and open areas have wildly different lighting patterns. Don't fight it: instead, try to adjust your sources to enhance the feeling. Overcast weather gives less contrast, the same as night shots. On the other hand, Some instances can give very harsh light. Use it to your advantage.
Environment
Use it. The fact that you're not locked into place means that you can have better action shots, using the environment to help tell a story.
Also, the Golden Hour is real. Sunrises and sunsets give amazing opportunities for shots.
Night shots have their own characteristics, but they're basically similar to studio shots. So rim lights and key lights can bring subjects to the foreground, even if they're wearing dark clothing.
Sometimes the environment is the focus. Draw your character away, and let the beauty of Etheirys sink in.
Framing
Look out for structures that can help isolate your character from the background.
Now that I mentioned these points, let's see how (and why) some shots were taken!
Low contrast, DoF isolating from the noisy background, orange point light to Noemie's right, white-bluish point light to the top left.
High contrast, strong orange point light to the right of Louise, and a white point far to the left.
Here the scenario is totally irrelevant (apart from the general grey tone), So ADoF+Bubble, ADoF + Bokeh, a single white point from the sun's direction, and a high Character lighting.
This guide is way less technique-heavy than the previous one, but I hope it helped illustrate some ways to benefit from outdoor shots; please share your experiments, and let me know if you have any questions!
Let's continue exploring the true endgame! Here's a quick guide that'll help you take more expressive facial screenshots.
The default behavior on gpose is a direct gaze facing front. It may look a bit doll-like, so we can breathe new life into it by modifying the direction the character is facing. You can toggle Face Camera by tapping Space or the Y button - the character will look straight at you (if allowed by the neck angle.)
This is good, but still somewhat lifeless. So let's modify the direction Zoltan is gazing at: you can do this by rotating the camera a bit and toggling Track Camera under Motion Settings.
Now his eyes are following the camera's position; toggle Target Motion (2) to freeze the gaze in the direction the camera is.
Now let's modify his expression! Under Motion Settings, open the Emotes list by clicking the Emotes button, and select one of the available expressions. Throw in a Lip Movement for good measure, too.
You can stack several different types of animation together, like Skill + Expression or Full Body Emote + Expression + Lip Movements:
The possibilities are endless. Here are some examples of this technique in use, with different combinations of body pose, expression, gaze and lip movements:
It's hard to overstate how important lighting is for photography in general- and the same applies to gpose shots.
This is a huge topic, so let's start with the basics!
GPose Controls
There are 3 different kinds of lighting control available when in gpose: Global, Character, and Points.
Global illumination is controlled by the manual brightness adjustment slider. This is equivalent, in real-life photography, to exposure.
Character lightning has no real-life equivalent, but may be thought of as a brightness control that only influences characters and similar entities (minions, NPCs, and enemies, for example.)
GPose also gives you 3 point light sources that can be used to emulate the 3-point lighting traditional method for illuminating a subject.
Positioning a source isn't exactly intuitive: A source is placed exactly where the camera is at the moment it is toggled. So to place it you need to move the camera to the desired position, and then enable it by toggling its button.
Oddly enough, these points do NOT project shadows. (in fact, a great deal of 'glowy' elements don't, like weapons and armor.) But you can use this fact for great effects!
You can, for example, create shots with perfect dark backgrounds by strategically placing gpose light points behind objects that do not block the emitted light. You can learn more about this technique here:
Ok, so where was I? Oh, right- lighting!
Let's play around with what we just learned then. Here's a default setup for a scene: Notice that the ceiling light *do* project shadows, but it's kinda low-res. So let's set ambient light to zero and control the shades ourselves.
Some rotation and gshade filters from Neneko Colors for better luminance, color, and model shades. It's better - but still looks pretty flat.
We want to pop the character out, so let's add some highlights and rim lights. First, the hair: let's give it a lustrous shine. Camera up top and a slightly bluish point.
Now the weapon. Remember that the item itself doesn't emit light? so let's place another point with the same tone as the weapon to illuminate Louise. To her left and behind her, slightly distant so as to project on her legs as well.
And finally, a directional key light to help illuminate her face.
Her model is still too dark, so let's use the character lighting control to help with that.
Now let's make the whole scene a bit brighter. Change the brightness adjustment slider to manual mode, and bring it up as needed.
This should be a good point to compare the initial setup with our results so far, showing how much basic gpose lighting can enhance a shot.
Now that you know how it's done, it's easy to see how some of my poses were set up! Here's one with a yellow source top-right, an orange source bottom-right, and a dim white source to the left of Louise:
Or this one: A very bright white source to the left (and a bit to the front), and a dim bluish/purplish source to the bottom right. Notice how much Louise pops out of the scene.
Next, I'll talk about exterior shots, fixture light sources, and other neat things.
(This guide is part of a series that I'm migrating from Twitter since Tumblr offers much better options for formatting and editing, and taking the opportunity to also update images and references. Let me know if you have any questions!)
