Yeah, NIU_NIU, that's pretty incredible. I'm guessing you could make a transparent version of these such that you could play a movie in the background? That's one of the set of assets we really like using.

And you already noted the missing commentators (typically 2, sometimes 3) and camera, but I can see that upper right section being used for it anyways.

This looks awesome. My only thought is that "High Rollers Gaming vs. Apocalypse Gaming" in the title is redundant since that's pretty obvious from the image. You could replace that with the name of the map that's being played. (Looking back, why is that always missing... huh.)

Maybe a good way to fit everything could be:
upper-left: ESEA week X + map name + start time
upper-right: cameraman + casters
center: teams/rosters
lower left: esea logo
lower right: tf.tv logo

Again, it looks really good!

Those are amazing

Looking good! I'd suggest that you try using a larger font for the player names though... you have to keep in mind that streams/vods can be resized, so you want to try to maximize legibility on a variety of resolutions and not just 1080p.

I really like that you put the "ESEA-Invite Week X" on top, great idea to give the user some context about the stakes/how far into the season a game is.

http://i.imgur.com/pyF3QBs.jpg

Able to make the esea logo easier to read?

Thanks for the comments. Having the map in the title instead of the team names is an excellent idea, but I'm not sure about having the commentators on the upper right. I was actually thinking of using the space below the players to list the commentators and cameraman since it seemed sort of empty to me.

It's already transparent. The splash screen works independently from its background. Between the different mockups I've posted, the only difference between them is that I used a different picture for each one. Here it is (http://i.imgur.com/8cDrmHm.jpg) without anything underneath it. I'm not familiar with the process of streaming so I can't say whether it will work properly as an overlay, but right now I'm uploading the .psd file if you're interested in testing it out.

Definitely.

all of these are really good

The image needs to be a PNG. JPEG doesn't support transparency. It should work properly with a transparent PNG.

Also, it looks very professional. I hope this design gets used this season. :D

Revisions + some ETF2L love:

http://i.imgur.com/z0G6iFP.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Q5TDyXc.jpg

Maybe you could move the league logo to the top left so the bottom bar isn't as crowded.

Very nice designs, ExMachina. It looks very accessible and clear, but how is the viewer going to be able to tell which color corresponds to which team?

You're right -- JPEG does not support transparency. I've saved my pictures in that format, however, just to reduce file size and make them easier to view. By no means are they intended to go on stream right away.

Here's the PSD file, if anyone is interested in testing it out:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25218239/TFTV_MOCKUP.psd

One problem with that for ESEA matches is that the color of each team isn't determined until all players are readied up.

I really like the revised icons (black vs. split red/blue) and the color scheme fits into the current tf.tv theme very nicely.

NIU_NIU's stuff is also pretty nice although it would require somewhat of a theme change from tf.tv, which may not desirable depending on how much tf.tv has established its "brand."

I think you guys should stop fretting about the color scheme so much on NIU_NIU's design. It really isn't that hard to change the color of the few shapes he has in photoshop. The bigger problem is how to get all the information needed onto the screen.

Here's a revised version with commentator and cameraman info, and changed title.

http://i.imgur.com/3z4phP3.jpg

I was thinking of putting boxes under the team pictures with further information about the teams, such as current match record, nationality, etc, but it seemed like it would be too cluttered. How does that sound?

I actually prefer NIU_NIU's layout and darker color scheme over the lighter tf.tv theme.

What I was trying to say is that, depending on how attached tf.tv is to its current color scheme, NIU_NIU may want to consider having a light theme available as an option.

Otherwise, if no one cares, I think that what NIU_NIU has presented so far is definitely an improvement (both layout and color scheme).

Embedded version:

So, being inspired by NIU_NIU (who even are you?!) but not being nearly as artistically gifted, I decided to start writing a small program to help casters make these.

The idea is, every time there's a new match up, you'd normally have to fill out the image with all the details. Instead, I wrote a C# application that'll take two XML files and insert the information into the appropriate places.

At the moment, I have the program taking two XML files and it fills out each teams' name, roster and logo (the logo at the moment just gets stretched to 184x184, not the best). I'd also like to add a map background, the commentator/cameraman spots, and the stuff at the top. The XML files are pretty simple and can be easily changed if rosters are switched up:
HRG.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<team>
  <name>High Rollers Gaming</name>
  <image>HRG.png</image>
  <scout>cyzer</scout>
  <scout>shrugger</scout>
  <soldier>lansky</soldier>
  <soldier>taggerung</soldier>
  <demoman>b4nny</demoman>
  <medic>shade</medic>
</team>

Crappy interface:

http://i.snag.gy/jOhQc.jpg

Before:

http://i.imgur.com/ywiij8U.png

After:

http://i.imgur.com/UiX0TQ1.jpg

Looks good, I can help you test it on a stream.

Great idea synchro, seems really useful.

Also that layout looks fucking sexy. The only thing I'd get rid of are the red/blue (just make it the same color) simply because teams aren't preselected.

Maybe a "vs." right in between the middle or something?

And maybe an esea logo in one of the bottom corners and remove the faded one at the top so there's just text instead.

Just some of my ideas.