Hi everyone,

I remember, back on Hypnochan shortly before it went down, that there was a thread about discussing manips. I'm not the one who made it but I did find it interesting and thought it was a shame the the site was shut down before it got a chance to grow with everyone's input. After all, it's a known fact the manips are about 20% our sites content.
Now, I don't remember the questions (or even what the thread was called.) but I decided that I would post my own questions for discussion. I hope that every one finds the reasonable and thought provoking.

1) Do you like manips? Why or Why not?
2) What kind of manips do you like the best? (Be descriptive)
3) Are you a manipper? If so talk about your experience, style and process.
4) Are you thinking of becoming a manipper? Why or why not?
5) What's you're definition of a good manip?
6) What do you think it takes to make a good manip?
7) what's you're definition of a bad manip?
8) Who do you think is the best manipper? Why?
9) Who are some of your favorite manippers? Why?
10) What do hate to see in a manip?
11) What type of images do you like to see manipped? (Be descripive)
12) Do you think manipping has improved since the early days on the collective? (If so, note an example; if not why?)
13) Do you think manipping is an art form? Why or why not?

That's it, there are probably more questions to be asked about this but those are the starters. Please not that this thread is about expression and growth and respect. Please try to stay mature about this and don't say anything mean or hateful. Try to be constructive in any criticism if you should see fit to give one.

This thread can serve as a general discussion thread about anything pertaining to manips.

Thanks everyone, and enjoy.

Oh, cool, I remember this. Though, I don't think I ever responded to the Hypnochan thread. Well, here goes nothing:

1) Do you like manips? Why or Why not?

Yes. I view them as just another form of content. If done well, they can be on par with original material.

2) What kind of manips do you like the best?

Kinds? Umm... Good ones? I don't know. I love empty eyes, so I generally prefer those types of manips, I guess. Beyond that, though, I can't say I really have any preferences.

3) Are you a manipper? If so talk about your experience, style and process.

Yes. My experience is pretty well documented around here. I started on Hypnochan a couple years ago, just doing empty eyes in Paint. Now I do empty eyes in GIMP with the occasional text thrown in. I don't know if you could really say that I have a "style". Not one that's particularly unique, anyway. My process involves spending a silly amount of time emptying the eyes. No, really, it's silly how much time I spend on the eyes, and often times it's to make small changes that practically no one would notice. Mostly I just use the smudge tool, but occasionally the dodge/burn tool and regular drawing tools get used.

4) Are you thinking of becoming a manipper? Why or why not?

See above.

5) What's you're definition of a good manip?

One that looks like it was MC-related from the start. Good manips shouldn't look like manips at all.

6) What do you think it takes to make a good manip?

Effort. To put it simply, if you half-ass your manip, it will suck. That's not to say that all manips require a lot of work, but you still have to put work into them.

7) what's you're definition of a bad manip?

Ones where the manipper simply didn't care. Or at least, the ones that look that way. Like I said, not all manips require a great deal of work, but they still require WORK. You can't just draw over the eyes in Paint and expect great results.

8) Who do you think is the best manipper? Why?

ME!! >:D ...jk. Honestly, I'm not really sure. I suppose, technically speaking, either HypnosisIsGreat or Lost+Name, because of the amount of work they put into them. I'm not sure if anyone else goes to THOSE lengths to make manips (some may come close, though).

9) Who are some of your favorite manippers? Why?

The 2 I mentioned above for the reasons I mentioned. Many of Vorp's manips may be outside of my interests, but I'm still steadily impressed by them. Tiechonortheal and Vanndril both make manips that interest me. Honestly, I could list more, but I think I'll hold off for question 12.

10) What do hate to see in a manip?

Whitewash eyes, but that's on more than manips. XP Mainly, I hate to see walls of text (I'm talking paragraph after paragraph after paragraph of text), and anything clearly done in Paint.

11) What type of images do you like to see manipped?

Images that lend themselves well to mind control, mostly. Like I said, a good manip shouldn't look like a manip. Also, any pic that tickles one of my other major fetishes (namely feet and yuri).

12) Do you think manipping has improved since the early days on the collective? (If so, note an example; if not why?)

Yes, definitely, and I use the manipping community here as evidence. Lost+Name and HiG both go to extreme lengths to make manips look original. Vorp's manips continue to improve and impress. GreasyI showed up seemingly out of nowhere, but is obviously quite skilled. Vanndril got adventurous with some of his latest manips. I stepped out of my comfort zone and started trying new things (nothing groundbreaking, admittedly). bellchan, petal, and manipulator are all relative newcomers to manipping (as far as I can tell, anyway), but they already do good work and seem to also be improving. I have no doubt that I'm leaving some out (and I apologize), but you get the idea. There are some passionate people here who really put effort into making their manips.

13) Do you think manipping is an art form? Why or why not?

That's... a tough one. In a way, I suppose, but I don't really feel comfortable taking much credit for the work I do.

*Edited for easier reading

Meanwhile, on the next forum post...


Anyone who knows me knows that I like manips. I do not, however, like complete slop-jobs. I feel that manips so obviously half-assed add nothing to the community and ruin what little positive reputation manips might already have.

Manips are a good source of content. More than anything else, my reason for liking them is that someone with no artistic skills whatsoever can make quality material for our fetish with just a few minutes of their time and some patience.


I think I mostly covered this in answer number one. Any manip that is made well enough to where it doesn't look sloppy is liked by me.

As for what I like best? Well, quality of manip (and caption where applicable) is more or less my sole basis from which to judge whether I'll enjoy it or not. So, the better general quality the manip, the more I'll like it. Naturally, it also helps if it focuses on a character I know about, care about, or simply find dangerously sexy.

I really have nothing more specific than that.


That I am. I've been manipping for quite the number of years now. And I feel that I do a good job at it, since I lack any real know-how involving drawing, on the computer or otherwise.

My style of manipping focuses almost always solely on the eyes. Emptying them is my most common gig (removing any reflective surfaces), but sometimes I just do some smooth whitewash stuff, leaving only the whites of the eye.

My expertise ends at the borders of the eye. Occasionally, I span out a little and try new things, but the eyes are all I really have down to a science.

And as a general note: almost all of my manipping is done with the smudge tool on various settings.


Skipping 4 because I am a manipper, and 5 because I already answered that throughout the first few questions.


I touched on this a little in an earlier question, but I feel it could be elaborated some.

Making a good manip is easy. Truly, it is. A good manip doesn't have to be complicated or difficult; sometimes simpler is better.

To make a good manip, one must have a few things, however. These things are the drive to want to make a good quality manip, the patience to work through the inevitable mistakes you'll make on your way, GIMP, a PC, a mouse, and hands. Oh, eyes and a source image are generally considered useful, too.


A bad manip? Whenever someone cops out in making it.

Listen, people. Taking the paintbrush tool and painting over the eyes with a different color in order to "empty" them is not how you make a good manip. Hell, most of those who do this CAN'T EVEN DRAW INSIDE THE LINES!

Also, add obviously cut-and-pasted props, pencil-scribble spirals, and other such things to the list.


That's a loaded trick question.

Lost+Name has become amazing at using props and altering facial expressions, Hypnosisisgreat is...well, great, and I like to think of myself as one of the best, if not the best, at emptying the eyes, with Mindwipe more or less keeping pace with me there (even if he is about 10x slower :P).

Of course, there are more, but he point is that it's impossible to choose just one, because manipping is so multifaceted.


Refer to the list in the answer to the previous question. In addition to them, there are also numerous manippers from the collective and newcomers from the booru that have wiggled their way into my favorites list.

As an aside: asking why your favorite manippers are your favorites is rather redundant.


Sloppiness. Refer to my earlier answers about bad manips.


Things that pertain to my other fetishes. Bondage, for example, or pet play.

But even more important than what fetishes are in the source image is whether or not the source image is fit to be manipped, which is generally determined by posture and facial expression. Granted, this doesn't apply to crazy, full-body-manippers like L+N.

Some images have characters in a pose or with an expression that "just works". It's hard to describe - you just know it when you see it.


Of course. Largely, people who stuck with manipping got better at it. Many even produced comprehensive "do-it-yourself" guides for the later generations.

That, and it feels as though more people are willing to give manipping a try nowadays, as though the stigma of it is dying, and some are surprised to see that they're even quite good at it.

Nowadays, most people consider your average collective work "sub par".


Of course, albeit a simple-ish one. There are tips and tricks to follow, and a learning pattern. You mess with colors and shapes, and the outcome is a picture. So it is most definitely an art form.

"Keeping pace"? KEEPING PACE?! Oh, it's on now, dude!

:P

Oh, right! My bad, I'm so sorry.

Guys, I meant that Mindwipe is keeping 1/10'th the pace. He takes so long to manip eyes...

It's not a race! >_<

Grr... Just for that, the next time you ask me to critique a manip, I'm gonna be twice as picky about errors!

I almost missed this thread. It's a good set of questions I'd be glad to enter.

1) Do you like manips? Why or Why not?

- At first, no I didn't. In the early days...(when I was underage and had no business being on these kinds of sites... :P) I would feel like they were a cruel joke being played on those who sought the same legitimate content produced for other fetishes. At least, that's how I felt with most of the manips I saw. However, that all changed around the middle of last year. I found that there were a lot of ways one could make a manip and make it well. *Stands up, Salutes HIG*

2) What kind of manips do you like the best? (Be descriptive)

- I enjoy authentic manips were is nearly incapable of noticing that it is one. I also enjoy text manips that tell a story, usually in script form.

3) Are you a manipper? If so talk about your experience, style and process.

- I'm proud, now, to say that I am. I started around the middle of last year. I would do a few empty eye manips but they didn't always meet my aesthetics in regards to hypnosis and mind control. So I then began doing things to alter facial expressions, like lowering eyelids and flipping eyebrows. I would even reconstruct the mouths a few times.
After a while I read and read a bunch of HIG's tutorials on Hypnochan (now gone of course...) and I tried to see if I could do more to change an image. I started to change poses and add props to various images. Some say I've improved I still feel there's more I can do.
In terms of style, I can't really be clear. I'll manip any image that interests me in any way I can see it being altered. I tend to only manip images to femsub (because I don't feel that there's enough and probably never will...:p). I don't often do text manips but I'm thinking of getting more into it.
As far as process goes, I usually just search random sites for random images (I strictly do anime images) that I think I can make something out of. Manips can take from 1 to any number of days depending on how committed I am to it.

4) Are you thinking of becoming a manipper? Why or why not?

- Already did, because they're awesome.

5) What's you're definition of a good manip? 

- Any manip where it's hard to tell it's a manip and any text manip where the story is original or engaging. I find that a good manip can tell any number of stories but if even if a text manip's story is not canon to the image, if it's a good story; I will like it.

6) What do you think it takes to make a good manip?

- *A since of taste *A vision *Know how *Patience *Commitment
The great thing about manips is that skill is much of a factor. Don't get me wrong it is important but with manips you're usually just filling in cutout pieces or rotating image segments. As long as you have the 5 mentioned requirements anyone can really do it. Of course you'll need a decent image editor or two. I use Gimp and Photo Shop.

7) what's you're definition of a bad manip?

- You can find examples of a bad manip on the collective and DA's Hypno-Manipulations group. Manips with obvious crude eye edits and out of place props are just a plight on the community they're contributed to. I also don't care for unreadable text awkwardly placed over an image or spirals randomly placed over breasts with know genuine reason of effect to them.


8) Who do you think is the best manipper? Why?

- I've said it many times before and I'll say it now: "HypnosisIsGreat is LEGEND!" It should be apparent to all those even remotely familiar with me that I have a great deal of respect for HIG. I consider HIG a mentor and an inspiration to me. If you'd like to know why search some of his images on the booru with the "hypnosisisgreat_(manipper)" tag and then reverse image search those to find there originals. It's should be obvious without the reverse search though. One day I hope to reach his level. Now HIG is even drawing! That's actually something I'll need to do soon too but I'm no where near ready... (plus I've failed so many times...)

9) Who are some of your favorite manippers? Why?

- HIG as mentioned, VVrayven, He's done a handful of clever manips that I liked. sunt_ermico has done a lot of text manips I found to be unique. Vanndril and Mindwipe for their vast range of empty eye pics. I also like a little of kk's more recent work (even ones I think I shouldn't <_<' >_>' <_<')

10) What do hate to see in a manip?

- That's already been more or less explained in question 7.

11) What type of images do you like to see manipped? (Be descriptive)

- Images of pretty human girls, ...or humanoid girls just no anthros. That's pretty much it. I don't really have any other fetishes besides hypnosis so as long as the image can be seamlessly altered to one of that sort it doesn't even really have to be sexually suggestive.

12) Do you think manipping has improved since the early days on the collective? (If so, note an example; if not why?)

- I've tried to do my part in making sure that it has. I know many other have as well. (Including but not limited to HIG) The progression of manips is really another story all together. I can't really say that they've improved when only a handful of manippers have upped the anti. As long as crumby work keeps getting posted on the collective and Deviant Art along with other sites, there's no way I can say it's gotten better. Maybe if there were more of us who shared the same standards in our work but as it is now I have to say no we're not really there yet. I'm currently thinking of ways with others to improve the turn out.

13) Do you think manipping is an art form? Why or why not?

- I would like to think so. The six things necessary to make a manip are also the things necessary to draw. It's just that drawing takes more skill than manipping so even if it was an art form it will absolutely never take the same prowess as other arts. For everything a manipper had to do to alter an image an artist had to do at least 10 times more to make that image. (unless it was a photograph of an actual person in which case the work load was likely about the same.)


This thread needs more attention.

Figured I'd take a shot at answering these questions.

1) Do you like manips? Why or Why not?

Yes, absolutely! I think they're a good source of content, especially for people who can't draw especially well, but know how to edit images. And because manips can be either real life pictures or drawings, have text or not have text, have spiral eyes or glowing eyes, or maybe a pendant, etc..It gives them a lot of diversity.

2) What kind of manips do you like the best? (Be descriptive)

I think the ones I like the most are the ones with captions. Whether it's a character hypnotizing another character, the character being hypnotized, or the character hypnotizing the viewer, I like them all! I think the combination of a great picture, a great story/caption, and a great manip is just...well, great!

3) Are you a manipper? If so talk about your experience, style and process.

I made some manips in the past before I started doing drawings. It was mostly just pictures that I saw and thought, "Man, that picture was just MADE to be manipped!" I did some pretty simple stuff, gradient-hypno eyes, some spirals, put some captions on some of them. I posted a few anonymously back when Hypnochan was still up, maybe sometime I'll post the others I made.

4) Are you thinking of becoming a manipper? Why or why not?

See above!

5) What's you're definition of a good manip?

I'm not too picky, just so long as it doesn't look like it was slapped together in 5 minutes in MS Paint, I'll probably think it's good. And of course, if the manip is really hot and has some fetishes I like, that's good too! :P

6) What do you think it takes to make a good manip?

Some editing skills, a picture, time, and a love for hypnosis! And maybe a tiny bit of magic.

7) what's you're definition of a bad manip?

As I said above, just bad editing in general. I'm pretty lenient when it comes to manips (and hypno art in general), so it would have to have pretty poor editing to make me think it's bad. I've also noticed typos appear fairly regularly in some manips with captions, but I'm even willing to ignore that if the caption/manip is otherwise good.

8) Who do you think is the best manipper? Why?

I don't really know many by name, I'm afraid! My favorite manip is the one of Dawn hypnotizing May while she watches a pendant, so there's my substitute answer! :D

9) Who are some of your favorite manippers? Why?

See above.

10) What do hate to see in a manip?

Outside of poor editing, I guess seeing a manip that has a fetish that I don't like/care for. But that's really a personal preference/taste thing, so I can't say I hate it.

11) What type of images do you like to see manipped? (Be descripive)

Like I said above, I love manips where the original image was basically begging to be manniped, like the characters were had a very hypnotic/hypnotized expression before the manip. I think it makes the manip appear that much more convincing. But of course, just regular photos/images can make great manips too...So basically all of them. :D

12) Do you think manipping has improved since the early days on the collective? (If so, note an example; if not why?)

I can't say one way or the other. There are old manips that I like, and new manips that I like. I love 'em all! :D

13) Do you think manipping is an art form? Why or why not?

Sure! Almost anything can be art! Manips are no exception.

GAH! I forgot him. I like several of his pics as well. And since I'm a Kaa fan, I'll also add ScalesandSpirals.

I guess I should take a stab at this, huh?

1) Of course I like Manips. I'm willing to bet about half our content comes from manips in the first place so of course I'm supportive of them.

2)as for what kinds of manips I like well...I guess classic empty eyes are the best bet for me. I also like whitewash eyes and heart symbol eyes. The only kind of manips I don't like are spiral eyes and even then it's usually hit or miss.

3) I dabbled in manipping back in the hypnochan days for a while but I never really got back into it after the site crashed. I mostly just did standard empty eyes much like how vaandril or mindwipe usually do although my style did evolve somewhat. Initially tried to make the eyes look like how they do in most anime where one half of the eye is it's basic color and it slowly fades to black as you reach the other half of the eye. Eventually I decided that was a little to complicated and tried to make the entire eye color a faded version of what it originally was. It made things ungodly simpler but it also caused a lot of minor detail oriented problems especially for pics where the eye borders weren't clearly defined.

4)I still have a bunch of pics in my "to manip" folder but I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to it again. Right now, college has been eating up most of my time.

5,6&7) I'm not a hard guy to please in most respects. I have a very loose definition of what I consider "good" or "bad" manips. when it comes to just basic image manips, it's important to choose a pic where the Hypnosis is actually believable or at least applicable. if the manip and the situation are out of synch then it really doesn't sit well with me. With text manips, it adds a new dimension in that the writer has to be decent. Like I said in an earlier thread, subtext is key. a pic can show as much skin as it wants but if the setup is lack luster then the product itself is lackluster.

8&9)I don't really have a #1 favorite manipper to speak of. I guess a few of my favs are vanndril, mindwipe, and Lost+Name.

10)as far as what I don't want to see in a manip...personally I dislike furry where the subject looks more animal than human. By extension this also goes into bestiality and the monstergirl subgenre although for the latter, it depends on how inhuman the girl in question looks

11) when it comes to pics I like to see manipped...that's a little tricky since my interests change frequently. I guess in general I like pics where the person who isn't normally a dom becomes a dom. Like for a straight shota pic. Instead of the older woman controlling the boy, it's the boy controlling the woman. Or if the sub somehow manages to turn the tables on the dom.

12) Absolutely! Manips have definitely improved since I first joined. Especially since we have an actual community hub to post our stuff. We have better quality manips coming in as well as new talent being uncovered.

13) I view manips as an art form in the same way I view movie remakes as an art form. Even if it isn't a completely original creation, if you ad something new then you've made it your own. Just be sure to give credit where credit is due (if you can).

You know, I actually learned how to do something like this recently. The trick for this is, after emptying the eyes, you utilize the blur, dodge and lighter opacity setting of the smudge tool. The dodge is actually optional but since you said you wanted to fade them I just wanted to put it out there.

Sometimes you can put the blur tool on full opacity and rate and run it over the lower half of the pupils a few times until it looks like a gradual fade. Although, other times you might have to put the smudge tool on full rate and lower opacity (around 20%) and just steadily smudge down the pupils color along with that of the rest of the upper eye, just until it looks like a subtle fade.

Sorry if that wasn't clear enough. Giving tutorials hasn't really been a specialty of mine in a while.

These are actually pretty helpful. I don't think you can get much clearer without posting pics of what you're talking about. Like I said earlier, I don't know if I'll ever put these tips into practice but I'll refer back to these if I ever decide to get into manipping again.