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POST
WORK FOR RENDERS
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I did a tutorial for postworking renders about six years ago,
this one, so it's about time I did another,
more up-to-date tutorial on the subject! ;)
Postwork can dramatically improve your renders, fix faults, add
new items and all kinds of things, so it's really something to
be aware of and try, if you haven't.
Postwork requires a 2D art app, like Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro,
GIMP or similar. I use Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop, each has
advantages, but recent versions of Photoshop do have some really
neat features for improving renders, but most things can be done
in either app.
I will explain some of my workflow and tips, but we all have
our own way of doing things :)
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Here, the intial, untouched render and the final
postworked version, show how greatly you can improve an image.
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ORIGINAL RENDER
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AFTER POSTWORK
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MY WORKFLOW:
- I render out and then save three copies of my scene
from Vue or whatever 3D app, saving it as .tif and .psd
and .bmp in 16 bit where possible.
Reason for this is because it's vital to have multiple originals,
in case you accidentally erase, save over etc, an original!
Also, saving 16 bit lets you have a high colour for later use
if you wish: it's easy to reduce bit depth, but you can't add
bit depth later. Note, some older 2D apps can't work with 16
bit images, also most plugins can't be used either, so I reduce
bit depth later, see below.
- Load the file into my app, usually Photoshop CS4 32 bit version,
currently. Reason I use the 32 bit verison is most plugins won't
work in 64 bit :(
- I save this file with a new name, typically adding an extension
onto it like this "Myfilename_work1"
This lets me keep sequential files, and I will re-save it, adding
to the extension number, as I go on. "Myfilename_work2",
"Myfilename_work3" etc
- Before I procede further, I will now "fix" parts
that had problems in the original scene. Usually when you make
a render, bits won't be right, for example, a person's hair
will stick out through their hat. It's just an unavoidable problem
at times, but very easily fixed by hiding the "bad"
parts or making them invisible (100% transparent) , and re-rendering
a small section of the whole image that's just going to sort
the problem.
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Original
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Here we have an example of such a problem. When I made this character
in Poser, part of his hair stuck through, and I couldn't fix this
problem there, or in Vue.
You can also render out object masks in your 3D app, if need,
for precise artistry in postwork. They let you apply effects,
cut bits out, very precisely.
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Fixed
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So, I went into Vue, selected the hair object, used "Hide
from Render" (or you can make the material 100% transparent),
and render out a small section around the problem area. You don't
need ot render out the whole image again, just this part, but
if your 3D app doens't have the ability to render just a selection
out, alas, you need to render it all out again. If you zoomed
in to get the one part you will of course, alter the scene perspective
etc! Hence, you need to render out a selection, or, the whole
scene again.
I then saved out this "fixed" version (again in three
formats, trust me, you always want extra copies!), brought it
into Photoshop as a new layer above a copy of the original layer.
I then moved the small "fixed" piece to the right position,
and merged it down onto the copy of the original layer, fixing
the problem!
You can also use "Layer Masks" for this kind of thing,
when it's more complex, to hide parts that may overlap and look
wrong.
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Please note: Important rule!! Always
ALWAYS, duplicate layers in your 2D app, and work with the duplicate
layers!
This is because, if you screw up, you can always go back to
the original layer, so, for every addition, change etc,
duplicate the layer (or duplicate and merge copies, if multiple
layers). I'd also note down in each layer's name what effect
I had done, helps if you go back some time later to re-work
and udnerstand how oyu did it.
It doesn't matter if you have a file with dozens
of layers, that is much better than screwing up and losing all
your work, gaaaaaah!! ;)
After I have completed these "fixing"
operations, when I'm happy with how it's going, I will save
the file, then save again with a new sequential name,
as explained above. Then, and only then, I'll merge it
down to a single layer, deleting unused layers, and reducing
the picture to an 8 bit image, and save it normally.
This avoids accidentally screwing up the original file by saving
over it with the 8 bit version! Not that I have ever done such
a thing, *cough!*, but it would suck if you did ;)
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My original "Lost River" render, was a
bit dull, the watefall didn't look too good, and I wanted to add
a rainbow to the waterfall to add beauty, and a special effect
to show it was a "magical" setting with the heroic wizard
using his powers.
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Here, I fixed the waterfall, by using the "Smear"
tool, making a copy of the layer using the "Motion Blur"
filter on it and deleting most of the picture around the copied
layer to just leave the waterfall itself, and added some painting
with a small brush as well to enhance the waterfall's looks.
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FIXING THE WATERFALL
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Next, I brightened the image up, made it more "eye
popping" by adjusting the "Vibrance" of the picture
(vibrance = a feature found in CS4 Photoshop similar ot Saturation).
I often also tweak the "Levels" and "Curves"
of a picture, plus Saturation (similar to Vibrance), and other
settings perhaps. There's so much you can do in that way,
that the possibilities are too numerous to try and explain! Please
try them for yourself :)
I also used the "Smear" and "Liquify"
tools to improve the boat's wake, so instead of a solid edge,
it was soft and feathery in places.
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BEFORE CHANGING VIBRANCE & WAKE
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AFTER CHANGING VIBRANCE & WAKE
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Finally I added a rainbow and a magic effect.
Rainbow: there's various ways to make one, depending
on what art program you use. But basically, a circular gradient
fill with a spectrum colour range, with transparency, should
do it. You'll end up with a rainbow in a circle.
Just tweak to fit, and blur it, make the layer opacity down
to a suitable amount, as rainbows aren't solid objects. Then
I used a "Layer Mask" to hide parts of the rainbow
that shouldn't be seen.
Always remember that when adding effects, usually
they shouldn't be solid but blend into what's below, to make
it blend it's pretty easy to achieve by reducing the layer's
transparency. The Rainbow's layer is only at 37% opacity, to
let it blend into the scene, rather than be a solid object as
you see below (before I fixed it).
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LOST RIVER, WITH THE RAINBOW'S LAYER MASK TURNED
OFF, SHOWING IT'S ACTUALLY A CIRCLE! ;)
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Magic Effect: this is quite simple. I have lots
of custom brushes for Photoshop I've collected, I used one of
these: it's a huge brush with a lot of detail, so I painted it,
in white on a new layer, then scaled it way dow in size. Afer
that I moved it above the wizard's hand.
Then I added a "Layer effect - Outer Glow" and selected
a garident of colour, that gives a nice magical look.
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FINAL IMAGE
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| Here is how one of these special
brushes looks, that I use in Photoshop to make magic effects, on
it's own seperate layer. |
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| Now, I add an "Outer
Glow" layer style on that brush layer, and set to to use a
gradient, not a solid colour. Groovy, eh? :p |
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| Here is a simple render of
a character. I used the same brush, but smaller in size to fit the
canvas, moved up over his fingers to make him look like he's casting
a spell. Then I used a different brush (Hard Pastel On Canvas in
this case), to paint in a more solid effect over his fingers and
blend it into the swirls, to make it look better. |
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| Here are the settings to show
you how it's done. |
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Now, if you wish to add a special effect, say of a swirl of magic
winding around the character, ending in the spell effect, here's
how I do it:
I make a "path" in Photoshop, a vector line, or a "Pen
line" in Paint Shop Pro, around the character, in the style
of a pipe winding around the character. This was done quick and
dirty, so it's far from perfect, but you get the idea ;)
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Once the path is done correctly, I "stroke the path",
using a small round brush (you can use other brushes for other
effects of course)
This is the result.
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| Now I add an outer glow layer
style effect, same as used for the brush above. |
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This is the trick, to make it look like an actual ribbon of energy,
I'll need to hide bits that should be flowing behind the character,
which is quite easy!
I make a "Layer Mask" and carefully paint with a small
soft black paint brush over areas I want to hide.
For an added touch, I added a a gradient of black to white over
this layer from bottom right corner up to his hand, the idea being
to make the ribbon effect seem to be faint at the start of his
feet, and gets stronger as it goes up.
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You can also improve tthe effect by altering the original brush
used to make the ribbon, here I use a "Star" shaped
brush, adding scattering (for duplicating lots of additonal stars
along the ribbon, making it very "sparkly") and fade
(for a smooth increase in how wide and strong the ribbon is over
its length).
Note you need a very large number to get the "Stroke Path"
to fade from a small effect to a strong one at the end, when dealing
with paths of this kind of length. You'll have to discover what
value is suitable for your picture, as it will vary.
Below I show this, with a slightly different path used than before.
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There are also many other ways I improve renders in postwork,
of course. One of my favourites is to use "Particle
Illusion", which creates gorgeous special effcts of sparkles,
fire, smoke etc :) Years ago I was lucky enough to get Particle
Illusion 2 SE free on a magzine disc, woot! One of my best buys
ever!
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| Here is one of my pictures
I made, "Illithid Eclipse", before I added "Particle
Illusion" effects, and a few minor touch ups.. |
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| Now THAT, below, is far more
spectacular, isn't it? :) |
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I used layer masks, made when I rendered the scene in Vue, to
mask out areas where you shouldn't see the fireballs, such as
the ornate top of the well behind the kneeling priest. Always
be aware of how you can use masks, especially precise ones made
in your renderer, to cut out areas you don't want effects to appear
on.
I also added some highlights to the men being blown away by the
fireball, taking a brush, using the colour of the fireball and
lightly paitning and smearing over the men, to give the apperarance
of them being lit up by the fire. Then gave them some motion blue,
to emphasize the fact that they have been knocked flying through
the air!
GeekAtPlay has a video tutorial on using Particle Illusion as
well which is cool :)
http://www.geekatplay.com/flvplayer/player.php?pathinfo=vfx/explotions
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Also, you can use "Plugins". Photoshop has many special
effects you can do with plugins, and they usually work with other
apps too, like Paint Shop Pro. I did a previous tutorial showing
my favourite plugins:
http://www.silverblades-suitcase.com/tutorials/htm/29.html
In this older pic below, I used Ulead GIF-X 2.0 plugin to make
the lighting bolts.
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| Below is another picture I
used a plugin on. The original render was a bit dull, I was looking
for a bright, warm, unearthly look to it. |
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So I used the "Brilliance and Warmth" plugin from
Nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 (which I got free with a camera, iirc)
Then used the "Clarify" plugin from Xero
Graphics (a free plugin)
Lot better I think :) I also add my monogram onto my pics when
I'm finished, to let folk know who made them.
So, you can mix many ways to improve your renders to make them
more spectacular! :)
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Another technique that can be done is to "soft blur layer"
the image giving a soft special look to it.
The two pics below illustrate this.
Basically you duplicate the original layer, then gaussian blur
the duplicate between oh, 2 and 15, depending on strength you
want and size of image (bigger the image bigger amount, or if
you want it very soft and dreamy). Then set the soft blur layer
to screen, or another type if wish for different effect, then
lower it's opacity to a suitable amount to give a look you like.
See pic #2 below
A variant on this is to convert the soft blur layer to a greyscale,
set it to Hard Light (or another type) for the layer type, then
adjsuted opacity. See pic #3 below
It can produce not just a blur, but alteration of tones etc that's
very interesting, depending on what style you set the layer to,
mess around see what you can create!
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#1 ORIGINAL
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#2 Soft BLur Layer, gaussian blur 6 pixels,layer set ot Screen
75%
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#3 Soft Blur layer turned into a greyscale, blurred, then set
ot Hard Light, iirc.
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And another method of picture alteration is to use "actions"
in Photoshops, or "Scripts" in Paint Shop pro, these
are automated. recorded tasks, that carry out a set of functions
to alter an image. You can get or buy these online, or make your
own!
Below shows a pic where I applied such an "action".
I split the image to show you the original look on right, and
the "action" on the left.
Some "Actions" can do "cartooning" which
I explained in a previous tutorial.
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I hope you find this of use! :)
All original art, writing on this site, copyright of
Steven James, "Silverblade the Enchanter" ©2012
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