Kollege Ketchup: Photoshop! Part 2: Everything Else

Let's jump right in! My second project was to create a "painted" book cover; interestingly, this took things beyond the simple filters I'd been anticipating, instead focusing on making little smudges on the image to get the individualized effect of actual brush strokes.


 

 

 

My next project required me to add myself in a historical photograph; while I'd usually go for something tongue-in-cheek, I ultimately went for the Vietnam War instead, requiring a more somber tone. I settled on the Layer Styles panel's Inner Glow option to help blend myself into the photo a little more, while using a Levels adjustment layer to get the lighting into place.  If memory serves, I believe I also went for a layer of noise over the entire image, and while a more prominent shadow would have been helpful here, I was able to get some of the grass in front of my feet, which also helped.

 

 

 

 

The class' final assignment concerned motion blur. Similar to the "painting" project, this took a bit more manual work than I'd thought it would (using a "Path Blur" rather than a simple directional one), but the results were worth it, if a bit stylized. (Not to say that's a bad thing, but I'm pretty sure there is no way the blurring directions in the photo actually make sense.)  I decided to go with an image of my brother Oob "Wind surfing" (a fun Zoomlian pastime on windier days), which already lends itself to some strong photo opportunities even without modifications. I think having a strong starting point can be just as essential as anything added on top.


This wound up being quite a fun class, and I learned a lot from it that will be helpful even beyond the program itself, from matching foreground and background lighting to remembering to make backups!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seven Quick Takes Friday

Image
So, it's been over a month since my last post and I haven't done a thing.  This is partially because I was: a. in New Jersey with my grandparents and cousin in early early July. b. packing up for summer camp in later early July. c. earning merit badges in summer camp for a week in mid-July. d. this is late July.  And next week I'm going on a family vacation. On to the other excuses for non blogging what's been happening: 1. Of course, there are all the minor details like my birthday , earning a learner's permit , signing college applications, etc. 2. Back with computer animation, I am happy ecstatic to announce that someone has downloaded my TARDIS model !  Somewhere, someone is using it for their own projects!!! 3. Speaking of downloads, I have downloaded and am coloring a Tardis interior from the same website.  To tell the truth, I actually like it that downloads all start out colored gray; it gives the person working with it something to do.  O
Read more

K12 Project and Assignment 3: Build a Creature and a Monkey

Image
Did you notice I have no idea if the “k” in K12 is capitalized or uncapitalized?  See, in the last sentence, k12 was capitalized.  Yet in that previous sentence, K12 was lowercase.  And yet, in that previous sentence… well, you get the idea.  Anyway, Project 3 introduces modeling , and taught me something new–using a bump map texture; which makes the object look, well, bumpy.  It’s interestingly called “normal” in the influence section of the Texture panel.  My special addition for this project was using “emit” (same section, same panel) to get some parts of the creature to seem to glow.  Upon noticing that it wasn’t a huge change (as well as my not being able to see its eyes), I also changed the camera angle and provided some more lighting.  I actually noticed then that it looked like he was jumping down, so… well, I suppose a picture’s worth a thousand words. “Jason the Jumper”, as I call him, uses particles for the crashing-glass effect  The particles are on billboard
Read more

Blender 101 1/2: the Physics Engine

Technical alert: this post explains how to do things in technical detail; you can skip this post if you're not interested in that kind of thing. Now, I am an amateur as you could see by some of my models, but nevertheless I also like teaching others about what little I know about Blender and other 3D software.  Today, the physics engine is my focus. There are seven different types of physics in Blender.  Force Field can make things like wind, tornadoes and, well, force fields.  Collision is necessary for projects that involve gravity--which would include clothing, floors, objects... basically anything in an advanced project.  Cloth makes your object turn into, well... cloth.  Fluids and Smoke also speak for themselves, and I have no idea what "Dynamic Paint" and "Soft Body" do. The physics engine is absolutely necessary for any advanced project; if you want snow to move around, that's a good time to use Force Field; Collision can help if yo
Read more