The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official Guide108 Figure 2.21 Results of the transition to spot light 3. Now you’re ready to modify the spot light to match the directional lighting in the scene.To make the light visible in the scene, click the Toggle Lights button, which is the third icon from the right on the bottom of the 3D Lights panel. Then, use the light’s navigational tools to position it to the left and above the 3D model (see Figure 2.22). Note Hardware acceleration is required for this feature. That means your video card must be able to render textures and light effects in an Open GL environment. Open GL allows you to see the results of the texture without rendering. Older systems may not be able to render lights if the computer has an older graphics card that lacks the required 3D acceleration. Use the specs in Chapter 1, “Poser and Photoshop Interface Overview,” to see if your sys- tem meets the minimum requirements. If not, you will have to position your lights in Poser Pro and re-export the head. 4. The angle of the light source is too narrow, so you need to widen it using the Falloff option. Widen it so the light affects the entire shape (see Figure 2.23). This exam- ple uses a 60-degree width, but feel free to play around with it to get a result that you feel is more satisfactory. (Note that the hotspot is the strength of the light con- centrated in the center of the overall falloff.) 5. The color of the light appears a little gray. Click on the color swatch located next to the Color designation midway down the Light Source panel. Choose white for the color of the light. Figure 2.24A displays the original color and Figure 2.24B shows the color chosen to brighten up the light source. Figure 2.25 shows the results of the color change. 6. Experiment with all of the lights in the scene and try to achieve what you see in Figure 2.26. Try not to spend too much time here as you’re simply using this as a template for the final results. Knowing the direction and style of a light will help you create scenes more intuitively. Chapter 2 ■ Creating a Profile Carved in Stone 109 Figure 2.22 Position the lights to match the direction of the scene’s light source The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official Guide110 Figure 2.23 Widen the falloff to con- sume the head Figure 2.24 Change the color of the light source Chapter 2 ■ Creating a Profile Carved in Stone 111 Figure 2.25 Results of light source color change Figure 2.26 Final lighting results Completing the Landscape It is helpful to use sketching to visualize new ideas when you’re using photographic com- positing. As shown in Figure 2.27, a new layer is created and a sketch is applied so you can see how the lower portion of the landscape will be created. The concept is to reflect the water coming from the mouth of the subject down into a canyon flanked by walls on either side. In this example, the foreground is sketched in red and the water is des- ignated with blue. It is always a good idea to work out your thoughts and draw quick sketches. This can help you resolve issues and better determine how the final composi- tion will look. This will also help you to learn how to mold your photographic mate- rial to suit your vision and not vice versa. 1. Apply layer masking to remove the sky from the hillside as well as to integrate the 3D object into the contour of the hillside. Right-click the 3D head layer and select Rasterize 3D to change it into a standard layer. You are going to remove the eyes as well as contents inside of the mouth so that they will appear to be caverns in the cliff. Apply layer masks to assist you with blending the sides of the face into the cliff. Use the pressure sensitivity of the Wacom pen to assist you with this effort. The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official Guide112 Figure 2.27 Sketch the foreground ele- ments and blend the head into the cliff 2. Let’s use a creative way to create the cavern walls where the water is pouring. You’re going to do this with the existing hillside layer. For now, turn off the sketch layer so that you can view all of the textures unhindered. Duplicate that layer and use Free Transform (Ctrl+T) to squish it to one quarter of its original size horizontally and then stretch it vertically by three to five times its size so that the texture now takes on the form of long, vertical thin streaks. You want it have the appearance of water from the landscape having etched in grooves into the sides of the wall. When you’re done, duplicate the transformed layer and position it to create the walls on both sides of the mouth. When you’re repositioning the layers, you do not want to see the edges of the original file. So apply a layer mask to all of the layers using your paintbrush. You want to integrate the texture by eliminating the edges. Use Figure 2.28 as your guide. Chapter 2 ■ Creating a Profile Carved in Stone 113 Figure 2.28 Duplicate the hillsides layer and then trans- form it and apply layer masking to blend all the edges 3. In this step you’re going to create the grassy plain that recedes toward the base of the mountain. Navigate to the tutorials/ch2 folder and open the file called beach.tif. Turn on your sketch template to use as a reference for molding the grassy plain. Duplicate the grass layer and use Free Transform to position them on either side to represent the foreground plan. Use the layer-masking technique to restrict the shape of the grass to the sketch of the top plane that you created. Use Figure 2.29 as an example. 4. Navigate to the tutorials/ch2 folder and open the sky.tif file. Place this image below the hillside layer so that the clouds appear above the peaks of the hills (see Figure 2.30). 5. Now is the time to apply texture to your portrait. To do this you are going to apply the same technique that you used for the cavern walls. Using your pressure- sensitive Wacom pen, select a piece of texture that you are already using in another layer, and composite it onto the face. Duplicate the hillside layer and choose Free Transform (Ctrl+T) so that its size fits the left side of the portrait. Next, go to Edit > Transform > Warp and give the shape some curvature to match the contour of the face. Edit the mask so that you get something that looks very similar to Figure 2.31. Keep in mind that your results do not have to be exactly the same as the exam- ples. The point is to gain an understanding of what you’re doing and why. So be creative and experiment. 6. Repeat the previous step several times to add contour to the portrait. Figures 2.32 and 2.33 show the progression of applying more detail to the subject. The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official Guide114 Figure 2.29 Create the grassy plain Chapter 2 ■ Creating a Profile Carved in Stone 115 Figure 2.30 Place the clouds above the hills Figure 2.31 Warping the texture to the portrait The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official Guide116 Figure 2.32 Add more detail to the face Figure 2.33 Continue to build detail into the portrait 7. To give your image a more finished look, navigate to the tutorials/ch2 folder and open the bricks.jpg image. Use this texture along with the Warp command to out- line the lips of the portrait. You have been provided with two types of textures to play with. They are bricks and bricks2. Use both of these textures to achieve some- thing similar to what you see in Figure 2.34. Chapter 2 ■ Creating a Profile Carved in Stone 117 Figure 2.34 Use the stone textures to out- line the mouth 8. In the same folder, open the waterfall.tiff image. Transform the waterfall so that it is restricted to the location beneath the base of the mouth to give it the appearance that is pouring out of a large cavern. Make sure that you use the Warp tool to give the water some curvature near the base of the mouth. The goal is not only to get curvature but also to get a sense that the water is free-falling downward. Place a duplicate layer of the waterfall above the initial one and use your transform tools to stretch it down vertically so that you have a greater sense of motion to represent the downward cascading stream (see Figure 2.35). 9. To further enhance the sense of motion, choose Filters > Blur > Motion (see Figure 2.36). Adjust your direction dial so that the technique will be applied in a down- ward direction. Use your own judgment to decide how much of a blur should be applied. [...]... is the third icon from the left on the bottom of the layers palette Use Figure 2.43 as an example Use the Foliage brush on the mask to apply the moss to the portrait Duplicate these layers, resize them, and relocate them on different areas of the portrait to get some variety in the look of the moss technique Let’s move on and learn how to add greater texture to the moss Chapter 2 ■ Creating a Profile... addition it will reflect the shapes of the foliage Also change the Count setting to 1 (see Figure 2.40) This allows you to set the density of the technique Play around with these settings to see if there’s something that you would prefer 120 The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official Guide Figure 2.39 Apply the angled jitter Figure 2.40 Apply the scattering Chapter 2 ■ Creating a Profile Carved in Stone... drag the Opacity slider to around 37% Now your clouds begin to look yellowish Going further, add a layer mask to the cloud layer Edit the mask with your paintbrush by painting with black onto the lower portion of the cloud layer to take away the clouds in that area so that they appear to recede into the background and move toward the foreground See Figure 3.3 136 The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official... Figure 3.3 The display of the Layer Style dialog box for the cloud layer 3 Let’s add dynamics to the landscape First, reduce the opacity of the clouds to around 50% for two reasons The clouds will blend in better with the sky and the mountain that you’ll create in the next step will appear to be in the distant haze Let’s move on Use your Free Transform tool (Ctrl+T/Command+T) to resize the base landscape... Bevel and Emboss for this layer as well (see Figure 2.45) 124 The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official Guide Figure 2.44 Applied Bevel and Emboss to your moss layers Figure 2.45 Applied Bevel and Emboss to your highlight layer Note To apply the same Bevel and Emboss layer style to a new area, place your mouse on the layer style from the previous layer and hold down the Alt/Option key Drag the layer... activate the Layer Style dialog box Click on the Color Overlay layer located to the left In the center of the dialog box, select the color swatch to access the Color Picker dialog box and use the Eyedropper to click on the yellowish haze on the mountain layer You have just selected the color that you will infuse into your cloud scene to match the color scheme of the ambient environment Currently the color... 122 The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official Guide Figure 2.42 Save your newly created brush parameters for use in a later tutorial Applying the Moss This is where the real fun begins You’re going to strategically place the moss over various portions of the stone portrait You then use layer masking and the foliage brush to apply the textures to various locations This is a two-step exercise—in the. .. paintbrush to apply the moss to the surrounding stone 1 Select the paintbrush and access your brush palette on the Options bar Start with the Watercolor Wet Flat Tip brush which is a default brush in the Brushes palette (see Figure 2.37) You are going to use this brush as the base for creating a custom brush that will reflect the randomness of the moss 2 On the right side of the Options bar, click the secondary... to set these areas apart from the highlighted edges With a second layer set to Screen, paint using a light green to reflect the mossy terrain, and brighten up the highlight areas of the contour Use Figure 2.51B as an example Finally, apply the same technique to the overall scene, as shown in Figure 2.52 Make sure that these layers are positioned above all of the others so that they can affect the entire... Chapter 3 Posing and Perspective This chapter covers the following topics: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Getting a consistent look by observing lighting Creating custom brushes in Photoshop CS4 Posing in Poser Pro Understanding perspective and the lens focal length How to mimic focal lengths in Poser How to edit an original texture map 134 The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official Guide Because one of Poser s strengths . match the direction of the scene’s light source The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official Guide110 Figure 2.23 Widen the falloff to con- sume the head Figure 2.24 Change the color of the light. resize them, and relocate them on different areas of the portrait to get some variety in the look of the moss technique. Let’s move on and learn how to add greater texture to the moss. The Art of Poser. sensitivity of the Wacom pen to assist you with this effort. The Art of Poser and Photoshop: The Official Guide112 Figure 2.27 Sketch the foreground ele- ments and blend the head into the cliff 2.