New Masters of Watchmaker

Who doesn't like a little list ?

Lists are brilliant and lead to some lively discussion too, so as I haven't done a list for quite some time. I thought i'd start with some members from the WatchMaker community who have recently joined and are making massive contributions or stunning creations

The first inspiration to spring to mind is +Ken Van Vliet

He makes lots of designs (both originals and micro brands) from scratch in Photoshop, and is always happy to help and inspire
But his real talent is in the lumes he adds to his watches, they're striking and he helps others to achieve a similar effect

See more of Kens work here 

Next is +Jerry Mills 

A recent newcomer, but what a great designer. Only a few watches under his belt but they are stunners - Well worth keeping an eye on

And +berad stefan 

Berad has been making and uploading watches since June, and makes them entirely in the WatchMaker app. I have been privileged to add lume to some and am always astonished at the complexity of the layers

Lets not forget past masters such as +Milan PRIBULA, +JC Dalisay, +Craig Goh or +Rakesh Ajwani who are no longer active but with massive back catalogues of  unsurpassed work

And not forgetting the oldies (sorry guys) that still never fail to inspire

+Sean Grondin    -   Watchmaker extrordinair, maker of parts and sharer of tutorials

+artur r    -     Probably the most prolific designer

+Ram Mor   -     Beautiful recreations

+ajoy das   -    Prolific and arty, truly unique designs

+Massimo Parisi    -     Stunning Designs

+mookie    -   Masterful

+Mike McKee    -    Master of the Intricate Code

+Jesus Paino     -    Tucci Originals

+Tom Hald     -    No one dims quite like Tom

+Nite Owl     -     Tourbillon master

+Frank Dufaux    -   Opulence Watches

+Cyrille LE RAY    -    Makes and share watch parts as well as watches

+Mark Askey     -     The Invicta King

+Klaus Koehler     -     Code Wizard

+Ashley Hansgen   -   Beautiful Dims


Of course there are so many great designers, if I missed some out, please do mention them in the comments.

If you like what you see or think someone else might like it, please share it

Change a Watch Strap

A simple guide to changing a watch Strap

Not just for smart watches either

You will need a spring bar tool to do this, but if you shop around for a new strap you can usually find some that come with the tool and new spring bars
You will also need to know the size of the strap before you buy it, measured in mm.

Set your area up before you start, a towel is a good idea as it stops things rolling and it also protects you watch from hard surfaces (you will notice that I was in too much a hurry to get my new bracelet on my watch to follow my own advice!)

Working from the back, remove the old strap.

Wiggle the pronged end of your spring bar tool in between the strap and the watch lug. The spring bar has a ridge that the tool will grab

Gently apply press inwards towards the strap and away from the watch to depress the spring bar. At the same time, apply some downward pressure so the bar will pop out. 

Pressing too hard and/or fast, and the tool may slip damaging the watch or the strap

Now attach your new strap/bracelet


Make sure the pin bar is central positioned in the at either end of the new strap or link bracelet


Again working from the back insert one end of the spring bar into the hole in the lug

Then using the spring bar tool, depress the other end of the pin bar allowing it to slide into the lug. 

Repeat on other side

Encourage the pin bar into the hole and make sure both sides are secure (you don't want it to fall off)

These photos were taken just over a month ago and since then I have upgraded from the 360 to a Huawei. It's worth noting that the Huawei has easy pin bars, they have a small little posts that you can move (and therefore release the pin bar) with a fingernail, thus removing the need of a fiddly spring bar tool

Just so you know I am no expert just a normal bloke finding things out for himself and trying to share so if you like this or think you know someone who might like it then please share it

And if you like to buy me a coffee, I have no objections !
paypal.me/bowmore

Getting a better glow

I have been experimenting with the look of my lumes by adding a glow effect, and have talked about this before.

I think I'm getting better at it now. Massive thanks to +Ashley Hansgen  for his help, and I have learned a lot from his contribution here Ashley Dims

So to begin
If the watch has been made entirely in WatchMaker I turn all hand layers to never show and then hit export/share
If the watch is photoshop or cookie cut the watchface image already exists, just export/share

How do you know if its Watchmaker or Photoshop ? Have a look in customise if you see one image of the watchface it's photoshop/cookie cut. A watchmaker watch is usually lots of shapes and shadows and parts expertly put together to recreate the watch.

Now in your phone explorer find the folder and rename it from .watch to .zip
now open it with and an unzip app, and then rename the individual images you intend to lume (you have to take the dot from the beginning of the name. i.e img1234 instead of .img1234)

The image can now be found by the phone/tablet.

I use an app called eraser - open the image and carefully remove everything that you don't want to lume or glow. Save

Then I open it in another app image editor - top of the screen is a edit button from here tap focus and choose blur and then fog. Save

Now go back to watchmaker, add the dim layer (a 512x512 circle coloured black with a level of opacity between 50 and 70 percent).
Add new images, first the one edited in eraser and then the one with a blur effect, pick a colour.

Edit the hands in the same way as the main face. When adding the new lumed hand layers, it is best to copy the existing hand then change image (sometimes the size needs adjusting - but the rotation code will be correct)

If you like this or think someone you know will like then please share it

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New Luming

It's been a few weeks since my last post, but the reason for that is I have been delving into new a new code for my dims and perfecting a glow to go with it.

I have for some time been looking for a way to make the lume gradually brighten, and had experimented with a few codes I had found, but was never completely happy with the results.

Then the very talented +Ken Van Vliet , advised me check out the even more talented +Sean Grondin who had recently added a very good gradually brightening lume to his complex setup. He in turn told me the code came from +Klaus Koehler - I am eternally grateful to all three of you 

Sean has put an excellent tutorial together here

https://plus.google.com/+SeanGrondin/posts/dye6ibF8o2y

Here is my breakdown of the way I implement the code (just so you know I'm not a coder, but learn through trail and error, and the generosity of others)

1

copy and paste text between the lines into the main script 

________________________

--! VARIABLE DEFAULTS

var_face = 1

var_ambT = 2

var_ambL = 60

var_zoom = 1

var_theme = 2

--/ VARIABLE DEFAULTS

--! AMBIENT ACTIVATION TIME

function on_millisecond(dt)

tweens.ambM = 

not {abright} and var_ambT == 1  and ({dtp}>{wssp} or {dtp}<{wsrp}) and 100 or

var_ambT == 2 and 

({wsrp}>={dtp} and 100 or

({wssp}+0.0417)<={dtp} and 100 or

({wsrp}+0.0417)>{dtp} and (100-({dtp}-{wsrp})*2000) or

{wssp}<{dtp} and ({dtp}-{wssp})*2000 or 0) or

not {abright} and var_ambT == 3 and 100 or

var_ambT == 4 and 100

tweens.ambL = 

not {abright} and var_ambT == 1 and ({dtp}>{wssp} or {dtp}<{wsrp}) and var_ambL or

var_ambT == 2 and

({wsrp}>={dtp} and var_ambL or

({wssp}+0.0417)<={dtp} and var_ambL or

({wsrp}+0.0417)>{dtp} and (var_ambL-({dtp}-{wsrp})*(2000*(var_ambL*.01))) or

{wssp}<{dtp} and ({dtp}-{wssp})*(2000*(var_ambL*.01)) or 0) or

not {abright} and var_ambT == 3 and var_ambL or

var_ambT == 4 and var_ambL

end

--/ AMBIENT ACTIVATION TIME

--! TAP ACTIONS

function tap_ambT()

if var_ambT == 4 then

   var_ambT =  0 else

   var_ambT =  var_ambT + 1

end end

--! TEXT FADE

function tap_fade_text()

wm_schedule { 

action='tween', 

tween='fade_text', 

from=0, 

to=100, 

duration=2, 

easing=linear 

}

wm_schedule { 

action='tween', 

tween='fade_text',

start_offset=1, 

from=100, 

to=0, 

duration=2, 

easing=linear 

}

end

--/ TEXT FADE

________________________

2

the dim layer - that is to say the layer which is normally a 512x512 black circle set to an opacity level of 25 - 75 (you don't need this circle - but it does help your lume colours pop)

put this code into the opacity level
_________

tweens.ambL

_________

the level of opacity is controlled in the main script under VARIABLE DEFAULTS

3

the other dim layers that glow or lume, put this code into their opacity

_________

tweens.ambM

_________

4

now add a circle shape and add the following code to the run script in tap actions, once the code is added set the opacity of this circle to 0

________

tap_ambT()
tap_fade_text()
_______

5

and finally add text and paste in this text

__________

var_ambT == 0 and "no lume" or

var_ambT == 1 and "auto lume at sunset" or

var_ambT == 2 and "always lume after sunset" or

var_ambT == 3 and "normal ambient lume" or

var_ambT == 4 and "lume all day and all night"

__________

You can change the wording between the "quote marks" to your own preference

Test it, the only thing really to adjust will be the level of opacity on the dim layer (in Variable Defaults)

And make sure all the dim and lume layers are displayed Always

You will be able to cycle through 5 dim modes, Normal, Never Lume, Always Lumed Day & Night, Auto Normal Lume and Auto Always Lume

The Auto modes will take an hour to brighten at sunset and gradually unbrighten (is that a word ?)  at sunrise.


If you like this or think someone you know might like it, please share it

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Zooming Watches - A Guide

I sometimes like put on a zoom on a watch - this is especially good for people who don't like bezels.

I can't take credit for this, and I'm not sure who first implemented it. I am sure it's very old and probably one of the first codes that spread around the watchmaker community

To get the hang of it, try adding it to an already complete watch that is open for editing/customisation


1
As usual there is a main script code - add this to script panel.
If you can't see this tap the little watch icon to bottom left of your watch preview

For ease copy and paste everything below that is between the lines into aforementioned script panel
________________________

--main zoom script

var_scalefactor = 1.10

var_zoomSpeed = 3.0  

tweens.scale = 1

var_scale = 1

var_zoom = 0

function tweenme(rot,f,t,d,e)

if d == nil then d = 2.0 end

if e == nil then e  = inOutCubic end

wm_schedule {action='tween', tween=rot, from =f,to = t, duration=d, easing=e } 

end

function zoom_out()

tweenme('scale',1,var_scalefactor,var_zoomSpeed)

end

function zoom_in()

tweenme('scale',var_scalefactor,1,var_zoomSpeed)

end

--[[

tap action

*tweens.scale

--]]

_______________________________________

2
Now the tedious bit (sorry)

Every visible image layer has to have code added to the x and y position if not already zero
 example Position x 0 stays 0
 example Position y 95 becomes 95*tweens.scale

Also every visible image layer must have the size, both width and height (you must un-link them by tapping the little link icon)  altered with the same code
 example width 512 becomes 512*tweens.scale
 example height 125 becomes 125*tweens.scale

And if you have text layers these too must have the values altered in x and y position and font size too

And any layer that has a radius also need the code added

The good news is that if you copy the code *tweens.scale  you can paste it into every place it is needed after the numbers already there


3
Now add a shape and open Tap Action, then open Run Script and paste the following code


var_zoom = (var_zoom + 1) % 2

if var_zoom == 1 then 

   zoom_out()

else

   zoom_in()

end


Make this shape invisible by reducing opacity to 0


4

Now check that it works.

If you find that the zoom is to much or too little, then go back to the main script and look at altering

var_scalefactor = 1.10

you need increase or decrease the .10 till you have have the zoom finishing at the right place.
Every watch is different and most times a little adjustment is necessary

So find a watch, add a zoom, experiment and learn !


As I've said elsewhere I am not a coder, all that I know I learned by trial and error and occasional tips from people more experienced than me. And also from exploring the watches that are generously left unlocked so that others can learn



If you like this or know someone who might like it, then please share it

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Simple Switching

Apart from adding a nice lume effect to a watch, I also like to make the occasional watch that has different faces. These are normally based around a theme, recently I have done British Gangster Films and Silver Screen Starlets. The theme can be whatever floats your boat, base it on your family or favourite hobby or collection - if you can get photos or images then you can make a watch from it.

I use a code from switching guru +Iain Fry

When you have decided on your theme, you will need to collect the images - either from the internet or your personal collection

Next open watchmaker and start a new watch, and add the main script code to script panel - If you can't see this tap the little watch icon to bottom left of your watch preview

For ease copy and paste everything below that is between the lines into aforementioned script panel
________________________

--main switching script

screenNo=1

var_opacity1=100

var_opacity2=0

var_opacity3=0

function change()

transitions = { }

transitionNo = 1

var_transition = transitions[transitionNo]

    screenNo = screenNo + 1

    if screenNo > 3 then screenNo = 1 end

    var_opacity1 = screenNo == 1 and 100 or 0

    var_opacity2 = screenNo == 2 and 100 or 0

    var_opacity3 = screenNo == 3 and 100 or 0

transitionNo = transitionNo + 1

    if transitionNo > table.getn(transitions) then transitionNo = 1 end

    var_transition = transitions[transitionNo]

    wm_transition('circle open')

end

_______________________________________

If you want to add more image layers, you will need to make alterations to the above. The process will become obvious as you experiment and gain experience - But don't worry to much yet

Now add your 1st picture resize and position as necessary, do the same with your second and third images too - you can have as many image layers as you like, but to start with - keep it simple

Highlight your 1st image layer and in opacity type var_opacity1
Highlight your 2nd image layer and in opacity type var_opacity2
Do the same for each image layer increasing the var_opacity by 1 for each image

Now add a shape and open Tap Action, then open Run Script and type change()
Make this shape invisible by reducing opacity to 0

Finally add watch hands as desired

Even easier than going through all the above, download a watch that already has the code in place and then change the image layers for your own images



Here is one of +Iain Fry's to look at, but beware it has many layers - one for every day of the month











And here is my recent British Gangster Films, available at +Terry Zahn's website WatchAwear.com











If you like this or knows someone who might like it, then please share it

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Grilled Sea Bass on Rocket and Sun dried Tomato Salad

Once along time ago I used to cook for a living, now I cook for enjoyment

So every now and then I will post up a recipe or cooking tips

Here's the first

Grilled Sea Bass on Rocket and Sun dried Tomato Salad

Nice and easy, but the beauty is in it's simplicity - fish should never in my opinion be served with complicated and heavy sauces, simply grilling brings out the natural flavours

Buy the fish whole, and always check for freshness, signs of a fish beyond it's best are sunken eyes, they should be full and wet looking, not dried and sunken, gills should be a pinky red colour and not dull grey the smell should be of the sea and not overly fishy

You can ask the fishmonger to fillet the fish and descale it for you, but once you get it home it is best to wash it again and with the back of a knife scrap the skin from tail end to head end to remove any scales that the fishmonger may have missed

Score the skin to assist with even cooking (need I say it - but wash hands after handling raw food!)

Now add some salad and rocket leaves to a bowl, maybe some herb leaves perhaps dill or parsley - add a small handful of roughly chopped Sun Dried tomatoes and black olives. mix all together with a tablespoon or two of good Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Spanish is best) and a squeeze of lemon juice

Arrange the salad on plate in a good tall pile. Now heat a Griddle or Pan so it is hot but not smoking and place the fish skin side down and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, turn the fillet over and cook for the same amount of time on this side. Ensure it is cooked through, the flesh should be a creamy white colour all the way through, and no look of rawness

Now serve the Sea Bass on top of the salad and enjoy a lovely light summer evening meal with glass of white or rose wine

One fillet is usually enough for a portion, but I put two in this photo

If you like this or know someone who might, then please share it