Gavani - en

Day → Night

noreply@blogger.com (Lucas Fogolin) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:05:00 +0000

Hi!

Well, I am with serious problems of memory, created this effect and, the next day, don’t remembered how to do it. Sometimes this happens with me, I use my own tutorials to recreate things I already done. But enough of my problems, the tutorial is very interesting, today we’ll turn the day into night. Thus:

First Step

Before all, as I’m very cool, I’ll give the image of today’s tutorial, here she is. The first thing to do is a copy of the image to be able to make changes. It is important to have the original because it will be necessary twice, more forward.

With the copy selected, bring down the saturation to about -40. The reason for this is that if there is no light, there is no Color. Hit "Ctrl + M" to open the Curves window. Now change in the various channels, the curves to make it be like this:

When we made these changes, attach a tone blue-green, typical environments night.

Second Step

Duplicate the changed layer. Then, adjust the saturation to this:

Then again with the settings of curves, set this way:

After this, use the levels adjustment to make it slightly darken. Note in flashes of light, in the reflection of chrome. As it will be dark, that will help to take a shape to the car.

Third Step

You may have noticed that the headlamp also dark. This is interesting, we can use the sunlight that reflects on the headlamp of the original picture as if it were the light of the lantern itself. To do this we will exclude the headlamps regarding space of this layer. It must be like this:

Fourth Step

The atmosphere seems good, as to the Night effect, but the car still seems bright. Let’s make it darkest, and for that we’ll double the darker layer, which took the headlights cut. Then we delete the part referring to the car, like this:

Done that, we’ll create a layer between these two layers, then paint it with black and bring down the opacity to about 77%. Change the Blend mode to “Darken”. It will be necessary to delete some parts to make a clear silhouette in some others. You should delete the part referring to the glass front also, later you’ll know why.

Fifth Step

It is night, all dark, but where are the stars? Here. Create a new layer above all others. Press “Shift + F5” to open the Fill window and fill the layer with black. Then use the filter "Noise" with an intensity of 33%.

Then load the Levels (Ctrl + L) window and pull the central arrow completely to right:

Now we have stars, but they dominate the full screen and its background is black. To change this change the Blend Mode to “Screen”. That removed the black part, but the stars still filling the all area of the screen. Now, with the Erase tool (E) delete the parties that are unnecessary, but leave the part that this in front of the car, cut and paste it on another layer. Leave it invisible for now. Finally, down the opacity to 70%:

Sixth Step

Now we’re just finishing, still left, precisely, the headlights. Before make them let me say something, we will use the “Color Dodge". For the projection of the headlamp not be too much unreal and very blue we will duplicate the darker layer, created in the Second Step. Then we’re going to desature it, using "Ctrl + U (Hue / Saturation)", and by pulling the bar of Saturation totally to the left. The image is black and white. Now erase everything that is not in front of the car, and use the Erase tool with fade borders to make the fusion with the original image. This will allow a projection more white than bluish.

Seventh Step

Using the Brush tool, open the tab settings on the side of the navigation palette, and change it this way:

Then paint the two "bulbs" of headlights. After this you must increase slightly the blur and paint again. Then increase further the blur and paint again. Mix all in a single layer and apply the Gaussian Blur (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) with a radius of 3 or 4 pixels.

Eight Step

Now is getting more real, but still lack the projection, the dust and light that outlines where will be the dust. First let's make the trace of light.

For this use the Polygonal Lasso tool (L) to create a selection where the trace of light will be and use the Brush tool (B) to fill it. Thus:

After this, put a little bit of color using Hue / Saturation (Ctrl + U) in these settings. I like the idea of a headlight that does not have a yellow light, tungsten. I used to know the names of all the cars and accessories, but now I know the name of all the programs and plug-ins and just forgot the first. I think this type of headlight is called xenon.

After coloring we should use the Gaussian Blur again to get a little spread to this light. Use a radius of 30 pixels. Press "Ctrl + T" and select Distort option to adjust to the shape and size desired. Finally, apply one more time a blue color and bring down the opacity to about 35%. Repeat the process on the other headlight.

Ninth Step

Missing only the projection on the floor. To do this we will create that elliptical shape brush, as we done before. In a new layer, create a selection of the format of this elliptical brush by clicking on the layer in which it is painted, while holding the "Ctrl" key. Then choose a color of blue type very clear, that seems highly with white. Then paint this way:

Done this you can press "Ctrl + T" to select the transform mode, click the right button and go on "Distort" and adjust the tips for staying like this:

Duplicate and adjust to the other headlight. Then both double and pull slightly to the side. The why we are doing this is that there are two lamps by headlamp, and we have two headlamps. Then we will use Hue / Saturation to give a light bluish touch and change Blend mode to "Color Dodge”.

To end this projection, duplicate again these two headlamps and bring down the saturation, leaving in shades of gray and put under the layers of "Color Dodge". Adjust the opacity until it is well, with bluish edges:

Finally create a new layer above all, and with the brush tool, in white, paint the junction of lights:

Tenth Step

Every car has a rear lamp, and the Touareg is no different. To create it will have to go back to the layer which was the part referring to the car deleted. With the Brush tool (B) selected, choose a shade of red (like this # cf0000) and paint slightly where the headlamp must be. Thus:

Tenth First Step

Do you remember that the stars had in front of the car? Now you’ll understand why they are there. Leave it again visible and delete what is not in the trace of light from the headlamp. Why are we doing this? Well, you know how I am fanatic for details, this is just one more of them: the car is in the desert, the desert is made of sand, the sand is light enough to let particles be carried by wind, particles that when illuminated by headlights of a Touareg running at 125 Mph in the middle of the desert looks like this:

I applied the "Motion Blur", to indicate the speed of the car, it lengthened a bit the particles, creating small traces.

Tenth Second Step

Do you remember that I asked to delete the part on the front window of a few layers? This is for the Gran Finale. The most modern cars come with many features integrated, some of them are the GPS panel, the camera on the rear of the car and a LCD screen, which is in place of the pointers of the car. This all creates a source of light inside the car, which is not emphasized as should.

Let's duplicate the original layer, the piece that capture the shirt and "casing" of the door, where the light should focus. Make the appropriate cuts and adjustments, put this layer beneath the dark we use to the car, on which the Blend mode is "Darken”. Now change the Blend Mode of the newest and final layer of this tutorial to "Color Dodge”. That's the difference:

Final

Several interesting things in this tutorial, such as the stars. I like the small details, they give the realism. In future I will make a rain stuff but, by now I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. I see you soon.

Realistic Ice

noreply@blogger.com (Lucas Fogolin) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:22:00 +0000

Oh, hello one more time!

Another Day I was arranging some Bauducco’s boxes and my dog stole one cookie. I went to the corner where she sleeps and discovered that she had opened the package and eaten the biscuit. Until here everything well, after all, what dog never ate a stolen biscuit? But what most impressed me was that the package was not all tears and pieces everywhere, was nearly full, as if someone had opened it to her. Curious, I went and gave to her another biscuit. It is surprising, it secures the package with both feet and with the mouth, and she pulls the plastic where it has to be pulled, exactly in the right place. I think I will make a movie and send it to Faustão (Domingão do Faustão is a Brazilian tv program).

That’s the life, but that’s enough of my histories (this is true, just saying). Have like two days I was looking for a good tutorial that shows how to do an ice effect in things, you know, with refraction and everything else, like transparency and distortion. I was angry when I realized that no tutorial was what I wanted. Continued searching, I spent like two days on it, but didn’t found nothing. So I decided to develop my own technique and split it with you, because that’s why I created this blog, because I found gap in certain types of tutorials, as this of ice, that I searched so much. The effect of today is this:

First Step

Before all, you need the image where the effect will be applied. The mine is a model, which I found in a group of Flickr. Secondly, if you look careful for the detail will see a lot of little cracks in this “statue”. These cracks were done with Brushes that I found in my library, and are already renamed, so you can search some in Deviantart.

Let’s work. The first thing to do is cut the object of the background. To do this duplicate the image (just for security) and work with the copy. To cut you can use the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L), or the Pen Tool (P), if you choose the second option, after done the shape, do a click on it with the right button and select the option “Create Selection”. Then select the image layer, hit “Ctrl+Shift+I” to invert the selection and “Del” to delete the selected part. Like this:

Second Step

After cut the object is you need to fill the empty space. So, to do this I’ll use something like Stamp Tool (S), cause my wall have a texture, but if your background is clean you can use the Brush Tool (B). Is important erase the shadows too, ahead you’ll see why.

Third Step

Everybody has studied physics, and even who don’t had studied knows that an object fill for something translucent, like water or glass, makes an alteration in the image we see behind it. If I’m not wrong this is called Luminous Refraction.

To recreate this we need to select the layer of the object with “Ctrl+A”. Then let’s change the Tab from “Layers” to “Channels”. In the Channels Tab exists 4 layers: RGB, Red, Green and Blue. Now create a new layer, which will be automatically named “Alpha 1”, and paste (Ctrl+V) the cut part. When you created this new channel the others gone to invisible mode and the object must be in the middle of the screen. So select another channel to you can adjust the right position, as I done here:

Next, let the channel one more time invisible, so you only see the “Alpha 1” channel, which is with black background and B&W. Select this channel and go to “Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur”. Use a radius like 3,5 pixels.

Now do a click with the right Button in the image that’s beside of the name “Alpha 1” and select the option “Duplicate Channel”. Will appear a window, in the destine section, where refers to “Document”, select the option “New”, and name it “Ice Distortion”.

A new Photoshop file, Ice Distortion, will appear in the screen. Save him in place which can be easy to load, because soon we’ll use him.

Forth Step

As my wall is too clean, I decided to put some shapes in it. I used a brush that I had found in this site. After done adjusts, the cuts and everything else, changed the Blend Mode to “Linear Burn”.

I saved the image in a new JPG, which I’ll use now. You know the image you cut and then filled the empty space, and that in my case I did some changes? Put it as background. Then duplicate it and put above the object that you cut.

Do a click with the right button over the name of the layer that you had created and putted above the other layers, then select the option ”Create Clipping Mask (Ctrl+Alt+G)”. This do the cut without need to cut, letting appears only where, in the image under this, is filled.

Now select this layer and go to “Filters> Distortion> Glass”. In the window that opened do a click in the arrow beside of the texture choice space. Choose “Load Texture”. Search for the PSD file that we saved before as “Ice Distortion” and load it as texture. To finish this step just adjust the levels of distortion and suavity to it be as you want, but don’t change the scale.

Fifth Step

Well, let’s put a body that will make this distortion in the background we created. Duplicate the layer of the object and put the copy over all other layers. Then do a double click to load the FX window.

I will not write everything, just follow the references of the image sequence next. More easy for you and for me, but don’t do everything as it is here, the values, you should adjust then in reference on this values, but doing the necessary changes to work well in your image and kind of light.

Save this new style, it can be useful in the future, in some other image.

Sixth Step

Let’s create the shadows now. As the glass, the water and ice are translucent, and the shadow isn’t complete and uniform as occur with other materials, she has light inside, like a stuffing.

To do this let’s create a new layer under this layer we just had created and, with “Ctrl+Click”, let’s make the selection of this girl, doing a click in her layer (that one under the glass distortion). Then choose a light gray, and other darker to, with the Brush Tool, we make the edges stay darker than the center, which will be lighter, filling the selection. Next thing is use the Gaussian Blur, with a small radius, to mix everything. Must be like this:

This was the shadow behind the object, so let’s bring down the opacity to something like 18%.

The original shadow was projected in the wall, so she must be recreated in this same line of work. Repeat the process of selection showed above and create a new layer under the shadow layer that already exists.

Choose a dark gray and paint the selection. Then hit “Ctrl+T” to create this distortion selection, and bring to the left, like this:

Next thing is select one more time the original body and delete this part of the new shadow layer, letting just the projection off the body. After this select this layer and paint as you had done in the inner shadow. To finish, use the Erase Tool to take a gradient style at the edges. That’s not necessary to bring the opacity down, cause she must look like this:

Seventh Step

We have one glass girl, but it’s not what I want. I want to create an ice thing. Let’s go, between the object and the shadows create a new group. Inside of it create a new layer. In this layer create the girl’s selection and, in the colors, choose white and a light grey, but not too lighten. So go to “Filters> Render> Clouds”. The cloud was created in the shape of the body; now change the Blend Mode to “Color Dodge”, and the opacity to 17%. This creates a glow of the refraction of the light and expands the body.

As my girl now is translucent, I recreated the arm and leg that was behind of other parts of her body. To that I used the Pen Tool, turned it into image, applied the ice style and then mixed it with a new empty layer. When I done this, could erase the fusion parts without having the ice style remodeling himself to the new form. Then I bring down the opacity to 80% and changed the Blend Mode to “Linear Light” and “Darker Color”.

The cracks, to me, take an especial aspect of little details, and I have this details thing, you know, so… But, let’s see, it can’t be so explicit, should be something that says: “Hey, I’m here. Ops, where I am?”, I mean, it can’t call the attention, so I used some crack brushes, in white color, with small stream, and fill with details.

To finish, a little and opaque star in the right side, where there is a good light concentration, denoting a concentrated glow. These little stars can be found in many brushes, but you can use the Custom Shape Tool (U).

Final

The refraction is cool to make water, water ripples, a fake pool, a magnifier, glasses, bottles… A lot of things. The ice style is similar to water style. There are a lot of tutorials showing how to do this, but the only one that I liked was this of Fabio, which is owner of Abduzeedo.

Well done, this is the end of one more tutorial, I hope you enjoyed. See you.

Planet

noreply@blogger.com (Lucas Fogolin) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:13:00 +0000

Hi!

You must have noticed that I’m very eclectic, so I decided to make a planet today. Like Titan, creating a planet by zero. All you need is Photoshop, some cool brushes, a lot of imagination and much free time.

At first let’s take the essential: Brushes. I really liked Deviantart.com, searched them there. But you can use moon pictures or anything else that could be used like a planet. Another day was seeing tutorials of Adobe After Effects, and saw that guy create a planet using a plug-in that transforms things in spheres and a picture 2 by 1 that looks like textures of something like a desert. Use your imagination.

It’s important that it have no shadows, for we could not stay bound by something that already exists and we can create our own galactic ambient. The image that I want to do today is this:

First Step

At first let’s make the stars. Create a new Photoshop file. As always I’m using a 1280 x 800 pixels file. Press “Shift+F5” to open the Fill window and fill the screen with the black color. Then go to Filters> Noise> Add Noise.

Done this hit “Ctrl+L” to adjust the Levels of the image, like this:

It looks better. Let’s resize the image to take the points a little bigger and more spaced. This should work well:

To make our outer space don’t look so virtual we can use some adjusts of the Brush Tool to create the stars that are next, and, for that, largest. I’m creating an ice planet, but you can do one like “Crematoria”, of Ridick’s movie, or the Earth.

To make this stars use a small radius and flickering of size, with some fade in the edges:

Second Step

The distant space, especially where the sunlight is not enough to be hot enough to heat this frozen planet, has clouds of ice and dust, which takes a very different spectral aspect, don’t letting it be a static image.

Choose a pattern of blue to take in the place of white in the sample palette, let the black as it is. Then create a cloud, going in Filters> Render> Clouds. Done this, bring down the opacity of this layer to 9%. Repeat the proceeding some times in different layers, erasing some parts to take more emphasis in others, creating this dust clouds.

You can also change the tonality (with Hue/Saturation, “Ctrl+U”) and the opacity of the layers to make different things, but as we gonna play with glow more forward it’s important that you don’t change the Blend Mode. For organizational questions you can make a group with these layers as “Background”.

Third Step

It’s time to play God and make a planet. Load the brush that you acquired and paint in a new layer with white, then hit “Ctrl+R”. Will appear rules at right and top of the screen. This is a really useful tool, principally when you work with circular objects. Hit “V” to select the Move Tool, now pull of the rule for the edge of the planet you created, making this cross:

Now select the Elliptical Selection Tool (M) and, parting of the point where the cross of the lines is and pressing “Shift”, create the selection around the planet. Next step is create a new layer below this and paint, inside the selection, in a pattern of gray that eliminate the transparency and maintain the details.

After this select the planet layer and hit “Ctrl+E” to mix it with the layer below. Use Hue/Saturation to colorize it. I choose a blue tone, but it could be red, orange, green or pink. Now should be like this:

Fourth Step

All the planets have an atmosphere, and this one is not different. To make it, create a new layer, below Benézio's layer, which is how I resolved to call my planet. With the “Ctrl” key pressed do a click in the Benézio’s layer, this creates a circular selection. Now get the Brush Tool in the color palette pick a color that should have the same pattern of the planet (in this case, bluish), but more lighten and strong and, as you painted the gray layer, which doesn’t exists anymore, paint the selected area and hit “Ctrl+D” to disable the selection.

Filters> Blur> Gaussian Blur is the next window you should open. A 28 pixels radius should work well. To finish the atmosphere just bring down the opacity for 43%. Your image should look like this one:

Fifth Step

Ok, we already have the DOS of a planet, but it’s a bit opaque, so let’s play with the Blending Modes and make it shine. You can do almost everything without having to make much effort, only changing the Blending Mode.

At first do two copies of Benézio’s layer and put them above it. The first, next the matrix, must have the Blend Mode changed to “Screen”. The second must have to be changed to “Overlay”. So we have, now, an aspect more live and brilliant:

Sixth Step

We haven’t finished the planet, but we’re close to that. Let’s make the shadow now. Normally the shadow consists in the absence of light in one side of the planet, but, I don’t know if you noticed, my planet is bathed by the lights of two suns. So my shadow is different.

With “Ctrl” pressed do a click on the Benézio’s layer, this, as you know, creates a selection with the planet shape. Now just use the Brush and Erase Tools with different stumps, softness and opacities to make a shadow that you like.

Seventh Step

As there is a sun that is most present in the right side of the screen, I resolved to put an intense brightness. To do that, select in the color palette, in the black’s place, a lighten color, strong and in the pattern of the color that you choose for the planet. The white must be the same. Now, in a new layer, go to Filters> Render> Clouds. Bring down the opacity and, with the Erase Tool, erase what is around the planet, not as much perfect is possible, but to don’t use too much space. Then bring the opacity down to something like 65% and change the Blend Mode to “Color Dodge”.

Duplicate the layer you has just finished and erase more than before around the planet, but, the difference is that here you erase the shadows parts too, inside, giving more emphasis to the brilliant parts. This new layer must have an opacity like 80%.

One more time, to organizational questions you can make a group with the layers of the planet. This will help a bit now that we gonna do other things below Benézio’s group.

Eight Step

Between the “Background” and “Benézio’s” groups I created a new one, which will have a mass of dust and stars that will be like a Milky Way across the image. This breaks the monotony of the image

Did you remember the process to create clouds in which you choose the color and everything else? Do it again. One time with a bluish color and other with a brownish color. The bluish layer must have some parts erased to make this flow of dust and ice. Next thing is change the Blend Mode to “Color Dodge” and bring down the opacity to something like 65%. This layer must be above of the brownish layer.

The brown layer should have some parts erased too, but this should work as a complement to the blue layer. After you must bring down the opacity to 8% and change the Blend Mode to “Hard Mix”. I put, between these two layers, some stars and more dust, all in white. Without changing the opacities or Blending Modes, the clouds should look like this:

Ninth Step

Of course that the space is a tridimensional ambient where a sphere, in this case a planet, is inserted and, therefore is it dust in front of it, and not only in it back, as there is until now.

Create a new layer above all the others. It will be another dust layer, created as everyone else, with a bluish color. Use the Brush Tool, with the white color selected and low flow, to do a line where is our Milky Way, inducing the effect will be created next to focalize this area. Duplicate this layer and let the copy invisible for now. To finish it, bring down the opacity to 20% and change the Blend Mode to “Color Dodge”. The duplicated layer must have erased the part referent to the planet and the Blend Mode changed to “Soft Light”. To finish this step just put this together in a new group.

Tenth Step

You must be questioning yourself, where is the moon? What I have to say is her time now. The moon breaks the symmetry of the perfect sphere that is the planet. She can be replaced by rings or a sun maybe. It’s also possible do more than one moon; it depends of your imagination, or lack of it.

To make the moon, create a new layer below of the planet and select the brush that you want. Then do the same process of eliminating transparency which was used in the Benézio’s layer.

Indeed, all the process of create the moon is very similar of the planet creation: “Ctrl+Click” to create the selection, create a new layer above it to make the shadow and duplicate the moon layer to use Gaussian blur on it, creating the glow of the sunlight reflex. The moon layer is with his 100% of opacity, different than the sunlight reflex which is with 38% and the shadow (90%).

The moon must be under the Milky Way group, but above the first spacial dust group.

Below I put a simplified diagram of the layers that compose my final file.

Final

I never liked images that end abruptly in the edges, so I like to put this kind of gradient around the image. As for outer space, if you work more time on it, it will be more perfect, equally to the planet and its moon.

And talking about planet and moon, it’s possible, parting of an elliptical selection and clouds, create it. Then you just need to add craters or continents. The use of the “Clouds” Filter as fulfillment is interesting, example, in the creation of sunspot, or differences in density in the mass of the circulating rings around the planets. As I say, depends of your imagination.

That’s all for today, I hope you enjoyed.

Angel

noreply@blogger.com (Lucas Fogolin) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:21:00 +0000

Hi,

And xmas, how was it? Well, mine was great... and, maybe, by a touch of subjectivity precisely because of it I've chosen to teach you how to create an Angel today.

Actually I've choose do it another day, but couldn't ... the idea came to me in a morning: I was looking brushes on the Internet, to do a library, and was with the TV on, in SBT channel (SBT means Brazilian Television System, it's an open channel), only to don't stay alone... And this program, "Fantasia", was passing, with his 30 super sexy girls, in their bikinis, dancing and everything else ... But wasn't that, was the commercial break where "Victoria's Secret" fashion parade do his calling, and I love this parade, not only by these models using beautiful lingerie and jump high, more for that, but I also like to see the advertising and design they use. Noted in the wings, and I was wanting to make an angel: "Join the hungry with the desire to eat and 'voilà."

I found some interesting brushes of wings, and some very good image banks on the internet, and the best part: free. One of them, which did not expect, was the very Flickr, which I did not know very well, and I discovered that have search for individual images, without being per user.

Well, that's enough of my stories, the image that we gonna make is this

First Step

First of all you must pick up the brush of wings, image of a bird or some kind of footage of which can be removed the wings. I found some very good at Deviantart community, but if you do not find anything can search by Google you will find excellent references.

Secondly lack a photo in which to put the wings. What I found (above) is there by Flickr, in the "models" group, where, by sign, I found other very good photos.

When you got that, open the photo in Photoshop and make a selection around the body using the pen tool, by right-clicking and going on "create selection", duplicate the layer and delete the fund around. If where you would put the wings there is a hair that must be cut, would also be interesting to use the tool KnockOut 2, of Corel, by the way is excellent and very easy to use, but it is not the case today, then I will not go into details.

Second Step

Done this cut let's work. In this case we gonna use a brush, and by that we'll create a lot of layers which would work like fulfillment, removing the transparency, because, if you try to paint doing too much clicks with the brush, in white color, it may lose the details.

To do that load the wings brush that you want and paint doing two clicks without moving the mouse. It could be more or less, depends what brush you choose, but needs to be like this texture:

(Note at the semi transparency in the wing)

Doing this the details should stay and the wing doesn't looks unreal. This one is white, but you can do in black, or blue, depends of your fetish… oh please, don’t heard what I say.

Third Step

Stay looking not exactly what I usually call a wing, I didn’t saw many angel wings, but it doesn’t look to be some concrete wings, looks more like a superficial aura. Oh, create the two wings and past then in the place they should be behind the person layer, that was cut.

I’ve tried many ways to fill the area to make it look good, the best I found was this: with “Ctrl” key pressed do a click in the wings layer, don’t select it, just do a click. This creates a selection shape of the wings, and the best is, when you use the brush tool, in circular format, which have a little fade in the end, diameter of 300 pixels and the #8e8e8e color selected, you’ll see that the transparency stays with the selection, so do a click and paint all the select area, without doing more clicks, just like this:

Even this is not enough, so make 3 copies of this new layer, so you’ll have 4 gray layers, which hitting “Ctrl+E” you’ll join to create about solid thing:

Fourth Step

Now you can put your white layer above this, and will see that doesn’t have any transparency, and the details still a bit accented too. And talking about details let’s attempt our self for one in special: when someone takes a picture with this kind of light, strong, it reflects in some things, creating a specie of glow around the object, be it a t-shirt or, in this case, wings.

To do this duplicate the white wings layer, so go to “Filters> Blur> Gaussian Blur”. As I’m working with a big image (1280 x 800 pixels), I used like 26,5 pixels of radius.

This layer should be between the white and gray wings layers. Done this let the white one invisible, and so erase the center of this new layer, just like this:

To finish this step you should bring the opacity down to something like 48%.

Fifth Step

As we already take care of the brightness and the reflex of light in the wings, let’s take care about the shadows. The shadow must go in counterpoint about the light. You can use the brush tool with different sizes, fades and opacities to do a very good shadow:

This brings an interesting tridimensional aspect and enhance some feathers, what helps one more time in the composition. Now, to take a subtle touch of fanatic details you can add a little shadow at the left between the arm and the wing of this goddess. Like this:

Sixth Step

I do not know if I describe this as a step, but I thought that would be too long if continued to write without a new title, so I created this new step, which is only, and only to create a gradient the left side stop the right, and soft, to an emphasis on shadow and light point existing at the picture. Oh, also added a record in the lower left corner, which I forgot to erase while was creating the images of the tutorial.

That's all folks, I hope not take much to write again. See you.

Reflection on Balls

noreply@blogger.com (Lucas Fogolin) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:58:00 +0000

Oh, hello one more time!

Excuse the delay, I was busy and could not upgrade before. Well, I had in mind to make a virtual glasses or a suicide letter in this tutorial, but during the week I had to do a project in 3D and found a very interesting Render plugin for Sketchup, Google. The plugin is called Podium, and is developed by SU Plugin.

Some months ago, or an year, I don't remember, my brother midday, Nikollas, showed me an image where there is an image reflected in a sphere, in which there are several spheres. I was with her in my head for a long time, without having money to buy 3D Studio Max, didn't find another alternative to do it, until I saw what Podium can do.

From them I did several tests trying to reproduce the image I had seen. The result was fascinating! So I decided to write this tutorial from this image.

(Do a click in the link above to see in real size)

Well, to do this image you'll need: 8 spheres of metal chrome (assortment of size), some potent imams (to make the spheres simulate 0 gravity), 6 silver walls, 1 source of white light and an invisible camera.

Or you can use Google Sketchup (wich can be downloaded here), the SU Podium plugin (wich can be downloaded here, the free version only allows the production of images up to 500 x 500 pixels), Photoshop and a little bit of provision.

After the instalation of Sketchup, install the SU Podium in a folder called "Podium", in anywhere, wich not be the Google Sketchup's folder (allways a problem ocurrs). Done this, copy the file "podium_load.rb" and the folder "Podium" to inside Google Sketchup's plugins folder. Now you have an amazing and free 3D tool and easy to use, united a plugin wich do an excelent effect.

First Step

Open Google Sketchup and read the "Learning Center", wich is open automatically when the program is opened. This is helpful to understand a bit the components of the program. One of those steps teachs how to do spheres, and he will be useful for us.

Before all, create a square with the "Rectangle" tool (you'll know that's an square when a dotted line cross the diagonal line of flat)

(Square on Sketchup)

Second Step

Create a sphere, as shown in "Learning Center", then do some copies (the "Learning Center" also teachs how to copy objects), to do they diferent use the key "S" (Scale), or go to "view"> "Toolbars"> "Modification" and select the tool.

Then, spread the spheres in the space of the square, in diferent positions and heights, and then select they all with the "Select" tool and the "Shift" key pressed. Paint one (hence all selected will be painted) with the "Silver" color, using the "Paint Bucket" tool. Paint the square with the same color.

Your image must be like this:

(Image with spheres and square painted)

Third Step

Now let's build the walls. Use the tool "Orbit" to position the "camera" to a position which facilitates the production of the walls. Select the "Line" tool and, with the key "arrow-up" pressed, create a line from one of the corners of the square, upward, in order to override the higher sphere. Then, with the same tool and using the other arrows (as shown on the "Learning Center"), make the other walls and paint them with the same color you painted the spheres and basis of the "box".

When you raise the last wall, automatically the "roof" will also be created. To remove it just select it with the "Select" tool and hit "Del".

To help with the handling of the "camera", you can go to "View">"Toolbars">"Views", which open new tools. These tools make reposition of the "camera" for basic positions, and that make life easier when you have to make adjustments in the model.

Now your image should be this:

("Box" and spheres)

Fourth Step

Not yet neither seems a little with the image of the link I've put in the beginning, after all where are the reflexes? And it is here where enter the Podium. He will not permit the live viewing of the final effect, but you can use the maximum speed and lower resolution to get a preview of how the image will be (selecting "preview" and clicking on the "render").

With this you can get an idea of how the catch angle of the image will be, and can make changes to your taste.

To create the effect of reflection on the spheres, select all spheres and open the SU Podium dialog box, on the "Plugins" tab. Lead the bar "Reflect" totally to right. If you have curiosity, follow the instructions above to see how is getting. The picture bluish due to the reflection of blue sky, which is present in the model.

(View of the effect)

Fifth Step

As the box is closed, we will have to put a light inside it. To it, make one more sphere, paint it white and click it until appears blue with small triangles. Then click with the right button of the mouse, select "Make Group" option, then go to the dialog box of Podium and lead the bar "Light" to 25% (may vary as the need for light and size of the box).

Now, with the "Line" tool, complete the roof of the box, creating a line from one of the angles to the other. So, select the white sphere, which will be the light, and bring her to the center of the roof of the box. Then, as if was corssing the roof, put half of the sphere inside, leaving the other half out.

Sixth Step

We are almost done with this program. Select the "Zoom" tool and go advancing to be within the box. When you're inside, paint the roof with the same "Silver" color, and then choose a sphere to be its "frame".

Now is a good time to use the preview that I taught.

Seventh Step

With the angle you want found, in the dialog box of the Podium, click on the Arrow> "Settings", then put the first bar completely to right and the second at about 25%.

After, click in the arrow one more time, but this time click on the "Render Size" tab and choose the size you want (I used the 1024 x 768 pixels). To change the folder where the images are saved go on the Arrow> "Settings" and change the location in the "Browse" within the framework "Output".

The process of "rendering" should take about 20 or 25 minutes (can be more or less, depends on your machine)

Eighth Step

Now you may have noticed that the sphere still have the corners a little angular, and here enters the Photoshop. Open the image in Photoshop, then enter "Ctrl + R" and create two guides entering slightly the area of the sphere.

(The blue guides enter a little in the esphere and are used to make perfect circles, in view of the original sphere)

Duplicate the layer and select the selection tool for elliptic forms. Create a circle with "Shift" pressed. When you have already selected the area inside, enter "Ctrl + Shift + I" and type "Del",excluding therefore, the angular parts of the edge.

Select the layer you doubled and do another backup. With the lower layer to the edges you delete selected, use the stamp tool (S) to fill the sides, erasing the traces of the original edges. Use the same process to round the edges of the shadow.

Ninth Step

If you are making an image 1024 x 768 pixels, can complete your work here, however still those who use larger proportions, and for those (like me) the tutorial continues.

My image is a 1280 x 800 pixels one, so I decided to recreate the background. For that I created a filling layer below all, where I used a gradient with shades of gray and white, adjusting to give the impression of light wich would be almost on top of the sphere, a bit hidden behind the sphere.

Then I created a layer that would be only the floor, a gray rectangle with low opacity, only to show the line breaks between the floor and the wall.

Tenth Step

Duplicate the layer of the sphere and hit "Ctrl + L". Then adjust the levels to have a more silvery tone.

Eleventh Step

Let's create a text to insert in the sphere (as I did with "Gavani"). With him writed, we will turn it a normal layer, and then do a double click on the text layer.

In the dialog box "Layer Style", inside the "Outer Glow" tab, create a bit of external brightness on your text, so it has a bit of emphasis on the middle of the sphere.

You can not have realism putting a normal text into a sphere. Go to "Filter"> "Distort"> "Esferize". Adjust according to the position, size and height of your text.

Then just enjoy the result. I particularly am very satisfied. I hope you have enjoyed.

Well, that's all for today, is 0:37 in the dawn. Until next time. See you.

Advanced Glow

noreply@blogger.com (Lucas Fogolin) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:44:00 +0000

Hi,

I was looking for tutorials on internet, but I havn't found the things that i want... so I decide to make my own tuts site. Why not? Oh, by the way, Fogolin here, it can sound strange, but it's that.

Today i decide to make an effect that gave me a lot of work to learn how to do: Advanced Glow. Many people just put an "outer glow" effect, selecting the layer, but it doesn't look to much good, like this:

Whell, first, the text doesn't have nothing to do, its merely illustrative, I don't mame apology about alcohol... And secondly, I do not put values in tutorials, so you can adjust the best for your project. Following:

1- At first, create an image (here I used a 1280x800 one), and put in this a dark background, but its extremely important that it be colorful, if the opposite the effect'll not act correctly.

2- Double click in the background layer that you've create, so go to "layer style" window, "overlapping gradient" and create a gradient with opacity slightly reduced, and not centralized, create it were it will be the most part of the brightness concentration.

3- Now create a selection area with the "lasso tool", so click in the "filter" tab> "render"> "clouds". It will fill the selected area with a distorted mass of ash, black and white. For this step enter "d"in your keyboard, to return the selected colors to black and white, just like when you open the Photoshop.

Your image should have this kind of fog after you've used the "erase tool" to erase with smooth the edges, making the image stay more uniform. After done so, enter "ctrl+u" to load the "hue/saturation" box. There click to select the option "colorize", so give some color to this mist. Or, you can do an doble click on the mist layer and use the "color overlay". The effect is not the same, but as this layer will be underneath the other layers is not so important how is it colored. I'm using patterns of blue, but you can do the way you like.

4- Create with the "pen tool" some white vector drawings. so use the "gaussian blur" (in "filter" tab) with a radius considerable. Following use "shift+ctrl+x" (liquify filter). It will open a window with the selected layer. There you have a lot of tools to distort your image, until it becomes like a flame. I had used three layers of flame (picture below), using the same process. Once its done, you can put a bit of "gaussian blur" and use the "smudge tool", to make small adjustments. Aply a soft color using "ctrl+u" (hue/saturation).
Done this you'll see that looks rather large. Enter "ctrl+t" to resize the layer, and double click on it when it's in the ideal size. What we can do now is use a mask to create a gradient efect on the flame borders, so it was not uniform and follow the pattern of the background, which already has a gradient.

5- Next step is the TEXT. This gave to me a lot of work to discover how to do. Well, following... Write a text with some letter that might overlap another. Here I've used two "O"s. Choose a color to be the brightness of this letters. As I'm working with shades of blue, I've chose a realy light blue, next to white, but with tone enough to make it clear that it's blue:

(text without letters brilliant)

(Appears the first letter brilliant - wich will overlap the another one -, in light shade of blue)

(This is the second one, look at the dark detail, is it who will give an illusion of a shadow from the first "O" to the second)

6-Given this, duplicate this layers and let them ivisible for now. Place the copies one on the other so that dark created in the second "O" looks like a shadow of the first. With the first selected, type "ctrl+e" to merge the copies, making them one. This facilitates the next steps. Duplicate this new layer and let it , well, invisible.
Select the copy and follow this path: "filter"> "blur"> "gaussian blur", and use a small radius, only to give an impression of brightness light. Until now it looks like "outer glow" of layer style box, didn't it? Let's change that. In the blend mode box, right below of "layers" title tab, change from "normal" to "overlay".

(Image with only one of two "blured" layers)

The letters will almost disappear. But is this. Duplicate the layer "blured" and let them under the normal "O"s. Now duplicate the normal "O"s layer and make the same type of thing, but instead of leaving the blend mode as "overlay" you shoud leave it as "color dodge", and let it over the normal "O"s. Now it seems more like glow.

7- Is it taking shape, but to have an effect of movement, framed by flames in the background, we'll "dissolve" the two "O"s. To do this select the "paintbrush tool", click with the right button of the mouse and select a tip of brush that has an effect granules. Then go to " brushes" tab, and adjust the values to create a dispersion. So select the same color that you've used in the letters and do a small extension in a new layer, just like if it's undoing himself. Use the "erase tool" to make some adjustments.

Done this, bring this layer to under the first "blured 'O's" layer, so do a double click on it. In the layer style box, go to "color overlay", and place a strong tone of the color in use. Then go to "outer glow", and do an similar glow effect, like you has done with the layers.
Now your project would be like this:

8- Looking at the general plan this looks good, but still does not have much brightnes. Remember that in the begin I taught you how to create a mist? Well, now you must create a mist taking the kernel of all: of the flames, of the gradient and above the "O"s. After created, enter "ctrl+u" and add some color, so change the blend mode to "color dodge".

(Image without mis)

(Image with mist)

The mist should be above the other layers.

Well, this was my first tutorial. I hope you enjoyed, and i pretend to do more... See you.