|
1
|
|
How this 3D image was greatly
enhanced in 2D
|
|
|
Before 2d enhancement
|
|
|
After 2d enhancement
|
I used Poser, Bryce and Paint Shop Pro to make this picture, but other
2d Applications like Photoshop use almost exactly the same technique
tot he finished 3d image.
|
| 2 |
As you can see from the before
and after pics, there is quite a difference! When creating the original
image, I new there would be a lot of problems.
 |
When I created the 3D Pic in Poser and Bryce, I couldn't
change some things, so that had to be done later in 2D. Parts
of the main character's cloak (Silverblade, hey, I can do self
portraits :>) let the areas below show through, the same with
hs trousers (very embarassing that is!).
Other problems were that the orc's breastplates (2)+
(4) showed up as blue, the shield was too plain (5),
and I need to add fire for the last orc's torch (3).
|
Additionally, I needed to add a beard (1)
and some shading to Silverblade's hair, tidy the chain round his neck
(it didn't reach far enough), and when all was done, darken the entire
picture. I hadn't darkened it in 3D as that would have made it harder
to view what I was doing and wouldn't be as precise as I wished.
IMPORTANT TIP: copy your original image to a new layer when
you work on it, saves screwing up your original image and lets you compare
it ;) |
| 3 |
 |
Now, I was going to work
on the orcs first, as the one at the rear had light source and I
wanted to make sure he looked right. To work on him without interfering
with the rest of the image I needed to make a MASK. When I made
the original image I also created some masks as well, masks are
black and white (or greyscale) images that act as selections. |
| (In Bryce, select objects
then use RENDER MASK) So I opened up the mask of the orc I had made,
copied the original image to a new layer, then using MASKS--NEW
MASK--FROM IMAGE, I created the mask that you can see to the left,
it cut out everything but the orc, so only the orc would be affected
by changes, nothing else. A most handy trick! ;) |
Now to make his blue breastplate go brown, I carefully selected it using
the FREEHAND SELECT tool, using SHIFT key to add to the selection, and
CTRL to take away selections. When it was all selected, I used SELECTIONS--SAVE
TO ALPHA CHANNEL to save that selection so I could work on it later should
I wish. Then I used SELECTION--PROMOTE TO LAYER, so that selected part
was copied to a new layer where it could be worked on without affecting
anything else. To change the colour, you can use COLORS--COLORIZE, then
fiddle with the settings to achieve a reddish-brown. Then I used COLORS-ADJUST--GAMA
CORRECTION to change it a bit more. |
| 4 |
A PAINTING WE WILL GO! A PAINTING WE WILL GO!...
 |
After altering the other
orc's armour like the first one, it was time to start painting.
To give our hero a nice set of hair, I made a new layer (always
always make new layers!) and painted on bit by bit a fuller head
of hair and beard in black. This I then lightend by adding streaks
of grey, getting lighter and lighter, to build up highlights, using
the SMUDGE tool a blurred the highlights into the base colour.
|
| Then on NEW layers
again, using masks and selections, I did the same to the jacket.
To improve the jacket I added silver edges and buttons. I did this
by making selections, filling with a colour then using the Blade
Pro Plugin, making it look silver. |
|
I used Blade Pro on the belt as well, and added 2 gems beside
the belt with it. Then fixed his trousers by using the CLONE BRUSH
tool to slowly, carefully copy small areas of the trousers over
defects.
GENERAL RULE: always paint with brushes or ANY effect
with opacity and hardness set to low or medium, this lets
you slowly build up the effect without making it to thick and
heavy..
Once trousers were filled, I added highlights and shadows
by using the eye dropper tool to select the basic colours, then
adjusting the colours lighter or darker as needed and painting,
then smudging softly to blur finished result.
Then I went back to the other orc, selected bits of his
shield and used Blade Pro to give it a coppery look.
|
Another effect added a glowing
red star over the top of the gem in his necklace.
Paint Shop Pro has smoke effects in its PICTURE TUBES, this
was ideal to add smoke coming from the torch. I did this then smudged
and altered the smoke with soem painting in grey. The picture here
shows it very dark, for the final effect I turned the LAYER TRANSPARENCY
down for the layer it was on, so it was not so thick and opaque.
|
| The fire itself I painted
in by hand, again, smudging, mixing in various colours and setting
the layer transparency to be less than 100% solid. |
| Final touch was to SAVE the original
work, then save it AGAIN with a new name and MERGE ALL LAYERS, to
achieve a final result and leave an intact spare copy. To makle
it darker I SELECT ALL, then ADJUST COLOURS--GAMMA CORRECTION and
turned the image's overall brightness down. Voila, finished pic!
:) |
|
| |
|
