Advanced Photoshop - Issue No. 122.Bak

8/11/2019 Advanced Photoshop - Issue No. 122.Bak

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Discover which add-ons you should haveto save time & improve your projects

COMPOSITING TECHNIQUES

PHOTOREAL FXWork with colour correction, matchperspective & master selections

INDUSTRY REVIEW

NEC MULTISYNCTake a look at the latest PA272Wdesktop monitor for industry creatives

WHY 3D CAN’T SURVIVE WITHOUT PHOTOSHOP

The magazine for Adobe ® Photoshop ® professionals

Tutorial files available at:

ISSUE 122



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WELCOMEISSUE 122

Welcome to the latestissue of AdvancedPhotoshop . Can youenvisage a time whenPhotoshop will be the onlysoftware needed for alltasks? This month, we ask3D artists if it’s a possibility.

IN THIS ISSUE:

GRAPHICSDIGITAL PAINTING

PHOTOMANIPULATIONPHOTO EDITING

ANNA LISA SAYWELLEditor

We all know that for 3D rendering, Photoshop isnot yet up to par. That being said, it’s likely that most3D art workflows have involved using Photoshop atone point or another. So, can 3D live on and renderPhotoshop obsolete? Or will the updates of thefuture mean that Photoshop will also includerendering capabilities of its own? We pose this andmany more questions to the industry on page 34.

Elsewhere in the issue, take a look at the top 20Photoshop plug-ins to see if there’s somethingyou’re missing or could do with purchasing. In alllikelihood, you are. If it’s tutorials you’re after, wehave a vast array of photoreal, 3D and graphics

options for you, and we also look at the latestmonitor to join the extremely competitive market.

Don’t forget about our free disc, which this monthlinks up with our 3D theme to give you expert videotuition on 3D printing.

FIND US ONLINE:

@advancedpshop /AdvancedPhotoshop

.co.uk

00

ISSUE 122 CONTENTS

COVER IMAGE

This 28-year-old artistspecialises in 3D and is

currently working atGuerrilla Games doing

character work – so whobetter to work with to

create our VS cover thanhim?! Take a look at his

work on page 34.

BENJAMIN ERDThttp://ben-erdt.de

TYPOGRAPHYNEW MEDIA

WORKSHOP:BLEND GRAPHICS68Mix Photoshop and 3D software to create asymmetrical and abstract pattern

74 WORKSHOP:PHOTOREAL EFFECTSLearn to blend and composite images fromdifferent sources to create a dynamic race scene





TECHNIQUESProfessional artists reveal their high-end Photoshop skills inour easy-to-follow workshops

20 of the best plug-ins26 INDUSTRY FEATURE

REVIEWSWe put the latest creative kit,books and apps to the test

80 FEATURE:NEC MultiSync PA272W

85 REVIEW:Elemente by Divine Project

Free withissue 122

ofAdvanced Photoshop

PREMIUM RESOURCES

PLUS:

HD polygonal backgrounds, Mercenary font, a

TAILOR MADECREATIVE CONTENT

on how to use the new 3D print tools

96 ON YOUR DISC

Build a fantasy photocomposite52 WORKSHOP

Combine 3D & Photoshop46 WORKSHOP

Custom light UI elements62 WORKSHOP

3D vs Photoshop34 INDUSTRY FEATURE

Shiver Me Sneakers58 HOW I MADE

SEE PAGE 24 OR 51 FOR THE LATEST OFFERSSUBSCRIBE TODAY!

66 The JungleHOW I MADE

90 Exploring 3D printingRESOURCE PROJECT

68 Blend graphicsWORKSHOP

86 CREATIVE RETOUCHING

Photoreal effects74 WORKSHOP

18 CARBON STUDIO

ISSUE 122

Creative retouching86 READER INTERVIEW

72 LaputaHOW I MADE



006

EYE ON DESIGN THIS ISSUE’S PRO PANEL

THIS ISSUE’S PRO PANELOUR CONTRIBUTORS SHARE THEIR PROFESSIONAL TIPS AND TECHNIQUES TOHELP YOU GET YOUR OWN WORK UP TO PAR

EYE ON DESIGN

BENJAMIN ERDTwww.ben-erdt.de

For compositing this render of a3D deep-sea creature, I renderedmany different passes to gain as

much control as possible over the final imageinside of Photoshop. Embedding a creature designinto its habitat can often be a plus when selling theoriginal design intent, as it tells the viewer moreabout its story and how it interacts with theenvironment it is in.

■ Discover more about 3D design in ourindustry feature starting on p34

AMREI HOFSTÄTTERverticolab.com

If you wish to keep yourself andyour work in constant evolution,don’t limit your perception to

graphic design. Maintain an open and non-cynicalinterest in everything that surrounds you, stay aheadof what’s relevant in contemporary culture, scienceand technology, music, cinema, literature… gothrough life with an open mind, perceive and enjoyeverything as much as you can.■ Learn how to combine Blender and Photoshopin Hofstätter’s tutorial on p68

WILLIAM FUwww.willfu.co.uk

I always use gradients within my images. They are so useful for lighting, mood andatmosphere. Apply them using layer styles, as clipping masks and especially GradientMaps, which are great for giving the shadows, midtones and highlights dramatic colour to

suit the atmosphere and environment of your overall composition. They are also really easy to adjust andexperiment with.■ Fu reveals his secrets to creating 3D-looking imagery over on p44

© William Fu

© Amrei Hofstätter

© 2013 ben-erdt.de



007

DENIS KORNILOVwww.deniskornilov.com

At the final stage of my work Ialmost always add sharpness. As

a result, I get more details and theoverall image become more attractive. One veryimportant point here is to not overdo it. Addsharpness only in areas that you wish to accentuate,but avoid sharpness in places that you don’t want tobring too much attention to.■ Re-create one of Kornilov’s images on p46

AMAR KAKADwww.amarkakad.info

It is paramount to organise your layers to ensure quick and easy access to them. I am a bigfan of ‘Convert for Smart Filters’, and having the ability to re-apply your effects is alsoimportant as it allows fluidity and saves on time. Also, when necessary, keep merging your

layers as this reduces the file size.■ On p74, Kakad shows you how to create a photoreal image using Photoshop effects

If you wish to keep your workin constant evolution, don’t

limit your perception to graphicdesign. Maintain an open interest in

everything that surrounds you© Denis Kornilov

© Makarand Baokar

© Imagine Publishing Ltd 2014ISSN 1748-7277

Magazine teamEditor Anna-lisa [email protected]

01202 586243

Editor in Chief Dan HutchinsonProduction Editor Alicea FrancisPhotographer James SheppardSenior Art Editor Duncan CrookHead of Publishing Aaron AsadiHead of Design Ross AndrewsContributorsChris McMahon, Larissa Mori, Julie Bassett, April Madden,Denis Kornilov, Cyril Juliani, Amar Kakad, Amrei Hofstätter,Simon Skellon, Kirk Nelson, Chris Christoforidis, DanielBevan, Steve Mumby, Ben Stanley and Greg Whitaker

AdvertisingDigital or printed media packs are available on request.Advertising Director Matthew Balch

01202 586437Head of Sales Hang Deretz

01202 [email protected] Manager Ryan Ward

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Cover discJunior Web Designer Steve [email protected]

InternationalAdvanced Photoshop is available for licensing.Contact the International department to discusspartnership opportunities.Head of International Licensing Cathy Blackman

+44 (0) 1202 [email protected] of Subscriptions Gill [email protected]

For all subscription enquiries:[email protected]

UK: 0844 848 8402 Overseas: +44 (0) 1795 592 880

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Printing & DistributionPrinted by: William Gibbons & Sons Ltd, 26 Planetary Road,Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XTDistributed in the UK & Eire by: Seymour Distribution, 2 EastPoultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT

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DisclaimerThe publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicitedmaterial lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is thecopyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this magazinemay be reproduced in whole or part without the written

permission of the publisher. All copyrights are recognisedand used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review.Although the magazine has endeavoured to ensure allinformation is correct at time of print, prices and availabilitymay change. This magazine is fully independent and notaffiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.Photoshop is either a registered trademark or trademarkof Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries and is used with express permission.All $ prices are US Dollars unless otherwise stated.

If you submit material to Imagine Publishing via post,email, social network or any other means, you automaticallygrant Imagine Publishing an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free license to use the images across its entire portfolio,in print, online and digital, and to deliver the images toexisting and future clients, including but not limited tointernational licensees for reproduction in international,licensed editions of Imagine products. Any material yousubmit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken,neither Imagine Publishing nor its employees, agents orsubcontractors shall be liable for the loss or damage.

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The magazine for Adobe ® Photoshop ® professionals

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EYE ON DESIGN INDUSTRY NEWS

008

ADOBE LIGHTROOMGOES MOBILETHE CREATIVE CLOUD PHOTOGRAPHY PROGRAMIS ENHANCED WITH THE NEW LIGHTROOMMOBILE LINING UP ALONGSIDE PHOTOSHOP

INDUSTRY NEWS

Lightroom and Photoshop redefined digital photography onthe desktop and now, photographers can perfect images

wherever they are

APP SUPPORTAt present, the Lightroom mobile app is only

available to those on any Creative Cloud

subscription that gives them Lightroom 5, and to

users with an iPad 2 or higher. iPhone and Android

versions are in development.

L

ightroom users can now view and edittheir photographs on the move with thenew Lightroom mobile app for iPad, the

newest member of the ever-expandingAdobe Photoshop family.

The app, which is only available as part of theCreative Cloud, offers some powerful newfeatures for editing on the go. It offers non-destructive editing on files, with Smart Previews,usually reserved for more powerful desktopediting. It can process everything from photostaken on the iPad itself to RAW camera files,making it a great companion on location shoots.Files taken on the iPad are also automaticallysynced into Lightroom 5 when connected.

It syncs seamlessly with Lightroom 5 on adesktop, including mobile edits, metadata andcollections. The tools are also instantly familiar to

Lightroom users, so the app will fit easily into theprofessional workflow.

This app is likely to appeal to professional

photographers, as well as creative studios whouse Lightroom to process and manage largevolumes of images before taking them intoPhotoshop for remastering.

“With the launch of Adobe Lightroom mobile,we’ve unlocked professional-class photographicworkflows from the confines of the desktop,”says Winston Hendrickson, vice president ofproducts, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe.“Lightroom and Photoshop redefined digitalphotography on the desktop and now,photographers can perfect images whereverthey are and, via Adobe Creative Cloud,seamlessly synchronise them back to theirdesktop catalogue.”

Easy syncing: Automaticallysync iPad edits to Lightroom 5 onyour desktop, and syncLightroom desktop edits back toyour iPad

CREATIVE CLOUDPHOTOGRAPHY PROGRAM

For photographers and retouchers who don’t use anyof the web or design programs produced by Adobe,then the most cost-efficient way of accessing all of therelevant software via the Creative Cloud is through theCreative Cloud Photography Program. This is adedicated package that includes Photoshop CCalongside Lightroom, and now the new Lightroommobile. It still offers all of the benefits of Creative Cloud,like the latest updates as soon as they are available forno added cost, and 20GB online storage space, plus theability to share files with others. Subscribers also get aBehance ProSite included in the package.

At the moment, this costs just £8.78/$9.99 a month,which is a significant saving over the full Creative CloudSuite (at £46.88/$49.99 a month). However, this is alimited-time offer so get it before it expires.



009

Photoshop 1-2-3 , a new digital magazineavailable now on the Apple Newsstand, isdesigned to offer Photoshop users a quick andeasy way to learn new skills and techniques.

Created by the team behind AdvancedPhotoshop and Photoshop Creative magazines, the new title offers advice andinspiration for digital artists and image editorsof all abilities, from beginner to experienced.Each task is broken down into three key steps.The first explains the goal of the project, thesecond shares the essential techniques that

users need to master to reach that goal, andfinally it reveals the tricks of the trade to takeyour Photoshop work to the next level.

Editor of the title, Charis Webster, says:“Photoshop 1-2-3 is unique in that it deliversexpert Photoshop advice in easily digestedbite-sized chunks. We’ve worked hard to createsomething different, and something tailored tothe digital audience, and I’m incredibly proud ofthe team and the final outcome.”

Value for money is also assured, with amonthly issue costing just £0.69/$0.99 and ayear’s subscription weighing in at £3.99/$4.99.Find it now by searching for Photoshop 1-2-3 on the Apple Newsstand.

PHOTOSHOP DUE A ‘SPRING CLEAN’

INTRODUCINGPHOTOSHOP1 2 3 MAGAZINE

THE NEXT REVISION OF PHOTOSHOP WILL STRIP AWAY SOME FEATURES THATARE USED LESS TO MAKE ROOM FOR NEW ADDITIONS TO THE PROGRAM

009

D&AD has launched a new digital platform, whichoffers free memberships for all for the first time inits history. This is part of D&AD’s commitment tosupporting the global creative industry.

The free membership will give users access tothe very best work from the archives of theprestigious awards from the last 52 years, to helpinspire the next generation of creative talent. Thismeans that every ad, design, campaign, product,agency and creative that has won an award since

the first ceremony in 1963 will be available tobrowse through. The full archive will be available byAugust this year; currently it goes back to 1990.

Tim Lindsay, chief executive at D&AD, says: “Alook at D&AD’s history tells a wonderful story. In1962, the organisation was formed by a specialgroup of designers and art directors, who cametogether to celebrate the best in commercialcreativity, and that’s the spirit we continue today...The new digital archive is a wonderful illustration of

the rich history of the industry and a fantasticresource; one that we believe should be accessibleto all, regardless of who you are, or where in yourcareer you may be.”

Members will also be able to “explore andinteract with fellow creatives by highlighting workthey particularly admire” through a new onlinecommunity. It also enables users to enter theawards easily, download briefs and sign up toevents. Find out more at www.dandad.org .

Digestible content: Each Photoshop task featured is brokendown into three steps to ensure that readers learn the skilland then enhance it

Flash extension panels replaced:Flash-based extension panels, suchas Mini Bridge and Kuler, will nolonger be supported in favour ofHTML extensions

Digital platform: The free membership option is part of the newdigital platform recently launched by D&AD

The Oil Paint filter and Flash-based extension panels are among thefeatures that won’t be available in the next version of Photoshop.Jeffrey Tranberry, senior product manager for Adobe Digital Imaging,made the announcement on the Photoshop.com blog ( https://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom ). He says: “With each release ofPhotoshop, our development team needs to do some architecturalspring-cleaning. As we modernise our code and add cool newfeatures, we sometimes have to make tough decisions to cull existingfeatures from the herd.”

The decision on which features are cut is made based on a numberof factors, including customer usage and the cost involved inmaintaining and supporting changes in underlying technology. Theloss of the Oil Paint filter is unlikely to affect many professionals, butthe removal of Flash extension panels means no more Mini Bridge orKuler, as well as any third-party extensions installed that use Flash.However, the migration from Flash-based panels to HTML has alreadybeen introduced with Photoshop CC.

A change that is more likely to have an impact is that Photoshopwill no longer support Mac OS X 10.6, requiring 10.7 or later. Adoberecommends that those who will be affected begin migration nowbefore Photoshop is released. The new version of Photoshop willinstall side-by-side with older versions of the program, so you can runtwo versions if you wish to maintain these features. No date has beenissued officially as to when the update will be released.

D&AD INTRODUCESFREE MEMBERSHIP

THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY’S LEADING PROFESSIONALAWARDS OPEN ITS ARCHIVES TO ALL UP ANDCOMING AND ESTABLISHED DIGITAL ARTISTS ANDDESIGNERS FOR THE FIRST TIME

IMAGINE PUBLISHING LAUNCHESNEW DIGITAL ONLY MAGAZINE TO

SHARE TIPS AND INSPIRATION WITHPHOTOSHOP USERS ON THE GO



040010

EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW

ANTHONY GARGASZ TELLS US HOW A BELIEF IN YOUR OWNABILITY IS KEY TO CREATING THE ART THAT WILL GET YOU NOTICED

PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW

MAKING IT BIG

www.anthonygargasz.com@anthonygargasz

Self-described as a “21-year-old obsessedwith digital art, design, and theprogressive development of both,” theL.A.-based Anthony Gargasz is one digital

artist with big dreams and the passion to get wherehe needs to be.

Gargasz’s love for creating digital art wasdiscovered at the nascent age of 11. “I originally usedMS paint because I became frustrated with howdifficult I found drawing to be,” he tells us. “A friendthen introduced me to Photoshop and I instantlybecame infatuated with art and design. I don’t knowwhat it was about it but there was somethingunexplainable about creating digital art that mademe fall in love with it.”

Gargasz’s first jobs were web-related, with theyoung artist designing forum skins – a task that hequickly grew out of. His deep-seated passion fordesign saw him move onto bigger and better things,

from web forums to gig posters and printcampaigns, to setting up the international mediacollective EvokeOne and beyond.

Throughout his career Gargasz has refused tosettle for anything less than that which he loves– design imbued with passion, love and the simpledesire to create…

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR

EDUCATION? HOW DID YOU DEVELOP

YOURSELF AS AN ARTIST?

Nearly everything I learnt was from networkingonline with fellow passionate artists, who simplywanted to share and develop their work. I attendedthe Art Institute of Pittsburgh for about a monthbefore coming to the conclusion that art schoolwasn’t for me. There were some very basicfundamentals that I had skipped over in my ownpursuit of digital art, but other than that I felt like I

was relearning what I already had in tutorials. Thegraduating portfolios were very generic and not veryimpressive, so I decided to take things into my ownhands. Dropping out of college really lit a fire [in me]to take my career to the next level. I began spendingmy time much more wisely and quit settling for less.I believe that if there is a secret to getting good atanything it is simply practice. A little talent will go along way if you’re not afraid to work [hard].

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR STYLE, AND

WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT FROM THE REST?

My work is my work because I’m always focusing onversatility and creating a wow factor. I combineorganic elements, unique 3D forms and explosivecolours to create an aesthetic harmony. Fresh andexciting work is created by always switching thingsup. Whether it be learning a new program, trying anew technique, or experimenting by merging styles,

01

01Nick: One of several style frames madefor Nickelodeon that showcasesGargasz’s versatility, offering a colourfulcontrast to other works © Nickelodeon

02Running: There’s a clear understandingof shape and form in Gargasz’s work, andhow they govern the way the viewertakes in the image © Anthony Gargasz

03Art Junks: Gargasz’s work is alwaysvibrant and chaotic, yet held together bya very apparent grasp of visual designs© Anthony Gargasz



03

02

The challenge inspires meto show the world what I’m

made of and express that I’m not

a gun for hire, but more of aweapon of mass creation



012


the more you innovate the more valuable your skillset becomes.

When I first began creating digital art I didn’t knowwhy I enjoyed it so much. I would get frustrated with

learning curves, finding inspiration and executing myconcepts flawlessly. I then realised that I enjoyed itbecause the rush of creating made me happy. Thatrealisation instantly made the frustration disappear.When you really enjoy what you do, you create freshand exciting work without even noticing.

WHAT IS IT LIKE DESIGNING KEY ART FOR THE

ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY IN L.A.?

It’s been an extremely fun, educational andchallenging experience. It turned out to be verydifferent to what it appeared to be, just as mostthings in Hollywood are. The key art industry isdominated by a select handful of companies whohandle the major blockbuster film and TV marketing,

while the rest of the smaller agencies deal withlower budget, yet still handsomely profitable, filmhouses and television networks.

The process of creating key art usually begins byreading a script and/or watching a screener, thenrounds of creative explorations are executed basedon appropriate creative directions and clientfeedback. Sometimes the rounds are directlycommissioned, but usually there are multipleagencies bidding on the job. Once final artwork ischosen, it is then finished to perfection, mechanicalsare created to scale to size and prepare for print.

My experience working at one of the largestagencies was the complete opposite of what Ithought it would be. It’s no secret that movies and TVshows of similar genres have similar-lookingartwork. These tacky trends make getting innovativeideas through to the client very difficult. However, thething that really drives me crazy is not being able toshow any of your work to the world. The businessside of me understands why so many NDAs areinvolved, but the artist in me has a burning passionto share everything I create with the world. I felt like Iwas settling for less by accepting the role of being asmall cog in such a large machine of an agency, so Idecided to quit. I had the opportunity to work on filmssuch as World War Z , Now You See Me, TheConjuring, Divergent , and many more, I just didn’thave the comfortable employee mindset to keep myhead down, mouth shut and execute prescribed ideas.

I then became partner in a small start-up agencycalled SLS Ad Co to pursue every designer’s dreamof having creative freedom. Since then I’ve had thepleasure of working on films such as Hercules , MissMeadows , Life Of Crime, Garden Of Last Days andThe Most Wonderful Time. The projects I’ve workedon with have been the most challenging, because thesuccess of the project is completely up to my curatedteam and I. This has forced us to be resourceful andcourageous. The challenge inspires me to show theworld what I’m made.

04 05

06

07

06The Legend Of Hercules: “The projectsI’ve worked on with the start-up havebeen the most challenging, because[their success] is completely up to mycurated team and I” © Millennium Films

05Enduro: Working for a smaller agencyoffers Gargas much more creativefreedom, and a chance to diverge fromthe “tacky trends” of the blockbusterindustry © SLS Ad Co

07DMT:Gargasz originally started out as aweb designer on various forums, butsoon grew out of the role, looking forbigger and better ways to explore hisartistic talent © Anthony Gargasz08Anxious: Personal work is still incrediblyimportant to Gargasz, and oftencombines organic elements, unique 3D

forms and explosive colour to create anaesthetic harmony © Anthony Gargasz

04Hercules poster: Gargasz is currently apartner at the LA-based advertisingagency SLS Ad Co, focused on creatingmarketing for the entertainmentindustry © Millennium Films





HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT SETTING YOURSELF

UP AS AN ARTIST WHO WORKS FOR SUCH BIG

NAME BRANDS?

The most important piece of career advice I’ve everbeen given is that saying “no” creates value. So manyupcoming designers have adapted the mindset thatthey’re going to have to settle for less at thebeginning of their career. From spec work, to pitches,to “it’ll be worth the exposure”. [But that’s not true]. Ifyou want to work with big brands, then you have totruly value your work. If you want to value yourwork, then you have to fully commit yourself to it.Become obsessed, suffer, and commit yourself as asamurai or monk would. Hard work and dedicationwill never go unnoticed, regardless of what you think.If you don’t think your skill set is worth it to a bigbrand, then they certainly won’t either.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT EVOKEONE?

EvokeOne is an international media collectivefounded in 2007, with a mission to develop andshowcase digital artists, musicians, andphotographers. It was started by a few creatives whomet online, worked together, and decided to bringother creatives together to create brilliant worktogether. Every few months our hand-picked artists

secretly develop an exhibition based on a centraltheme to release to the public. It is a great exampleof the power of collaboration and feedback. I wouldsay it has been the most important method of myartistic development. In the near future we aredeveloping a new front-end of the site, cleaning upthe members list, and eventually leaning towardshosting gallery events. We had our first live exhibitionrelease in Baltimore in November of 2011. Thepublic’s reaction to tangible digital art in a gallery wasvery inspiring to me. I’m looking forward to seeing howfar the amazing artistic energy of the group can go.

WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS

YOU HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE INDUSTRY?

You have to keep an open mind, accept forward-thinking styles, and be willing to share ideas withother great minds. Digital art moves at a very fastpace. Many people underestimate how competitive itcan be. There are always young, fresh artistsemerging, as well as artists who shift focus and giveup on the industry. The programs are developing justas fast as the artists who use them. You have to bewilling to dedicate time to always be learning newthings. If you’re not working as hard as you can to bethe best, there are plenty of other people out there

who are. Stay inspired. I love the feeling of seeingsomething so beautiful and awe-inspiring that I haveto stay up all night creating and trying to pass on theinspiration I felt. Personal work ensures that youalways have creative momentum and has helpedme avoid the nightmare of creative block.

■ BE OBSESSED

Not everyone has the courage and bravery to fully dedicatethemselves to their work. The ones who spend countlesshours perfecting it are the ones who will get the big projects,be recognised and rewarded. Working smarter, harder, andfocusing on the big picture will take you to great heights.

■ COLLABORATE

It’s common sense that two heads a re better than one.Working with others helps prepare you for workingprofessionally, gives you the opportunity to exchangetechniques, and create amazing artwork unlike anythingyou could’ve created on your own. P ut your ego to the sideand allow others to help expand your artistic vision.

■ SAY “NO”

Saying “no” creates value. Don’t let anyone say you’re notgood enough. Your self worth will determine your successas a designer. If you don’t believe in quality over quantitythen you’ll be stuck designing whatever small businesseswith small budgets want to send your way.

PORTFOLIO TIPSGARGASZ SHARES HIS TOP TIPS FOR SUCCEEDING IN

Delusions Of Grandeur: I’ve always been intrigued by birds flying inflocks, and imagine them being capable of forming into largermasses © Anthony Gargasz

014




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EYE ON DESIGN INTRICATE 3D DESIGN

JERICO SANTANDER TALKS US THROUGH THE BUILD UP OF THIS COMPLEXARTWORK AND HOW PHOTOSHOP WAS USED TO ADD TEXTURE AND DETAILS

PROJECT FOCUS

INTRICATE 3D DESIGN

There are a lot of things that can be used asinspiration for a piece, from the worldaround us to books and films. Having astrong concept and the right inspiration is

key if you want to create believable, detailed artworkthat captures the imagination of an audience –essential for commercially driven design.

This incredibly intricate image by JericoSantander is the proof of this; the concept andinspiration of the piece was determined at an earlystage, looking to represent the famous musicalmasterpiece The Four Seasons by Vivaldi in amodern and engaging manner, with reference toclassical 17th Century art. It also highlights how theuse of 3D modelling and Photoshop in combinationcan create an almost illustrated look, as well ashigh-quality visuals that lend themselves to a rangeof purposes and end use. In this exclusive interviewwith Santander, we find out more about how thispiece was built up and put together.

CAN YOU GIVE US AN OVERVIEW OF HOW THIS

PROJECT CAME ABOUT AND HOW IT WAS

INTENDED TO BE USED?

Kompost, a Zurich-based creative studio, came tome with a very interesting, challenging proposalillustration for one of its clients, Zurich ChamberOrchestra. It was requested to be used as a keyvisual for different media in Switzerland, mainlyprint and web.

WHAT WAS THE CONCEPT OF THE PROJECT

AND HOW CLOSE TO THE CONCEPT WAS THE

FINAL IMAGE?

The goal was to re-create an orchestra stagerepresenting Vivaldi’s piece The Four Seasons . It hadto be highly detailed; 17th Century painting-inspiredyet fresh and modern with regards to technique,offering something new to the viewer. We [chose]not to use ‘perfect’ characters; some of them arefleshy, some have got bizarre looks and funny facialexpressions, and they are holding stuff related totheir season as if they were instruments. Weneeded to encourage the viewer to stop for amoment to observe some of the little stories aroundthe piece.

DID YOU WORK FROM SKETCHES BEFORE YOU

STARTED TO MODEL THE IMAGE IN 3D, OR DID

YOU GO STRAIGHT INTO IT?

Yes, we did [do] some sketches for the stage andthe characters. Props to Leandro Panganiban, ourconcept artist.

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE 3D

PROCESS THAT YOU USED TO BUILD UP THISCOMPLEX DESIGN?

Most characters were sculpted in ZBrush. Anadvantage of 3D illustration, as opposed toanimation, is that we don’t necessarily need aproper character’s topology, so we can startsculpting from a base mesh without caring at allabout edge flow of the polygon mesh. Same goeswith UVs; we didn’t need to put much effort intothem since we are not animating. This makes the

ABOUT THE STUDIO

Santander is a talented 3D artist,illustrator and art director from

Spain, whose work is alwayscolourful, detailed and with a

healthy dose of surrealism. He hasworked for agencies from all over

the world and on a range ofprojects with high-prole clients.

JERICO SANTANDERwww.jericosantander.com

THE FOUR SEASONSNAME OF PROJECT

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National Geographic render passes Ambient occlusionEarly sketch

Characters sketch



017

involved with the characters’ anatomy and creativity,but mostly regarding the scene proportions,background, lighting and certain elements’positioning. Feedback is something to expect fromsuch detailed jobs. It’s crucial to define each stage ofthe project in a timeline and make sure the clientunderstands the workflow well; for example, a weekfor concept art and sketching, two weeks formodelling, a week for lighting, texturing andrendering, and three to four days for retouching.Otherwise, a lot of time can get lost.

WHAT TIPS WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER

DIGITAL ARTISTS WANTING TO CREATE

SOMETHING AS DETAILED AS THIS PIECE?

Start focusing for a while in a field you particularlyenjoy and feel confident working in, say digitalpainting, character modelling, or anything else. Then,start to expand your knowledge by studying othersubjects from out of your comfort zone. Slowly, youwill start to understand everything behind an imageand will no longer wonder “How was this piecedone?” when you see stunning artwork printedaround your city.

Elements such as the kissing fish, miceand cheese, unicorn skull and knifeunderground are over-painted inPhotoshop. This is done [because]small 3D elements tend to get lost andit’s hard to recognise them. It alsohelps [to give] an illustration feeling

We started with default‘perfect’ models, thenwe posed and changedthem a bit in ZBrush;some are rather fat,some have long witchnoses and ugly faces

Sample clay characters

Trees and grass were generatedand shaded in Maya. There aregreat tutorials from Alex Alvarezat The Gnomon Workshop that I

highly recommend if you areusing Maya or Mental Ray

whole thing faster. The software of choice for settingthe scene and rendering was Maya and Mental Ray.

WHAT ROLE DID PHOTOSHOP HAVE TO PLAY

IN THE CREATION OF THIS IMAGE ONCE THE

RENDERING WAS COMPLETE?

Photoshop’s main role in this project was texturingthe characters, compositing the final render passesand retouching and detailing the final product.

WHAT PHOTOSHOP TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

WOULD YOU SAY WERE KEY WHEN BUILDING

UP SUCH A DETAILED PIECE?

For this project, there’s no particular technique Iused that brought the ‘magic’ to the piece, but I’d saymasking and colour corrections would have beenthe most important part. Digital painting here andthere to try to break the 3D feeling [was alsoimportant to the overall look].

WAS THERE A LOT OF TO ING AND FRO ING

WITH THE CLIENT? OR DID YOU HAVE A LOT OF

FREE REIGN TO ADAPT AS YOU WENT ALONG?

There were several rounds of feedback; not much

All images © Jerico Santander



Most high-end creative studios are basedin capital cities, and Carbon is noexception. Rather than beingheadquartered in the UK’s capital city

however, the BAFTA-winning creative team havegone back to their roots and set up their base in theWelsh capital, Cardiff. Creative director and founderMichael Clague explains: “Having worked in Londonfor three years following graduation, I was keen to

move back to my hometown of Cardiff. I found thatno agencies were doing the kind of work I wanted todo, so I decided to set up my own company with anaim of bringing exciting creative work into Wales.”

And that is exactly what he and senior designerand illustrator Logan Brinkley have done withCarbon. “Carbon is creative at its core, offering whatwe believe to be a comprehensive service in design,interactive, illustration and animation,” explainsClague. “We like to be able to offer our clients thecomplete package from concept, through design andbuild to the finished product. We’ve always activelypursued creative work, and as a result we tend to getapproached by clients looking for a very creativesolution. This unwavering focus on creative briefs iswhat I think sets us apart.”

The Carbon team are happy to work across thefour core disciplines that make up their specialities– design, interactive, illustration and animation – orto focus specifically on one, depending on the client’sneeds. “Our commissions are reasonably wellbalanced, with design and interactive being topfollowed closely by illustration, then animationmaking up a smaller chunk of the work. Someclients know us just for one discipline while otherscome to us for a full end-to-end service. We alsomight work with other agencies to bring a singleservice to their in-house team,” Clague explains.“The majority of projects we do are interactivewebsites. These require UX design, illustratedelements, HTML5 development and occasionallyanimated video elements. We find that the client willcome to us looking for one or two particularservices, but in order to make the project the best itcan be, we often find that we inject the various skillswe have to make the project even better.”

Carbon is also unfazed by working with otheragencies to complete a client brief. “Collaboration is akey element of our business model, and workingwith other agencies is something we really enjoy. Wehave some great working relationships with a few

STUDIO INTERVIEW

HOW THIS CARDIFF BASED CREATIVE STUDIOBRING FUN INTO EVERYTHING THEY DO FORA HOST OF BIG NAME CLIENTS

CARBON

EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW

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019

Cardiff, Wales-based studio Carbon offers arange of creative services across its coreskills of design, animation, illustration andinteractive. The team currently focusesmainly on interactive design with a large doseof fun.

CARBONABOUT THE STUDIO

www.carbonstudio.co.uk@carbonstudio

Logan Brinkley,Senior Designer/Illustrator

Michael Clague,Owner, Creative Director

© C

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local and international agencies, working on projectsfrom Cardiff and London to New York. An agency wehave done a few great projects with is NakedCommunications, who have offices in London andNew York. We worked with their UK team to createan interactive module to sit inside the CadburyJoyville website. Our role was to design and build aself-contained HTML5 module to fit into their existingCadbury Joyville website, promoting the newCadbury Bubbly bar. This involved working closelywith Naked’s in-house team to ensure designconsistency and technical integration. We wanted touse the uniqueness of the Bubbly bar itself to its bestadvantage. We therefore created a 3D model of thebar, which the user can explore in order to discoverthe multimedia content hidden in the bubbles.”

Another high-end client Carbon has recentlyworked with is the World Wildlife Fund, and thisproject also tied into their location in the Welshcapital. “We have been working with WWF for thelast few years creating various interactive projectsfor Earth Hour. When WWF approached us to look atthe issues of renewable energy, we wanted to dosomething different to a ‘standard’ website. WWFhad already gathered their findings on renewableenergy usage and energy waste and briefed us topresent these facts back to the user in an engagingway. They also wanted to take their findings to theWelsh Assembly Government to highlight the issues.

“Our idea was to create an interactive quiz centredaround the WWF renewable energy facts. The quizwould allow the user to select from three options,

each giving a relevant animation. It would be createdin HTML5, allowing the team to take it and place itdirectly in the government member’s hands. Mikestarted by creating the framework layout and UI. Itneeded to be a responsive design to work acrossdifferent devices and browsers. Alongside this,Logan created bespoke illustrations for the quizquestions. We then worked with our developer tocreate the quiz. Once completed, WWF decided to setup a campaign stand in the Welsh Assembly buildingwith the aim to engage with ministers directly. Wealso went along with iPads all set up to run thewebsite on the 3G network.”

Both members of the team have distinct roles inwhich Photoshop has a huge part to play, as Clagueexplains. “I have a strong focus on UX design,

WWF website - “We worked with WWF to c reate a campaign website centredaround renewable energy. We used a mixture of bespoke illustration and thelatest HTML5 technologies to ensure a multi-platform solution”

Just Skin And Bones – Digital type exhibition

Museum Of Childhood, AMV BBDO – “Weteamed up with CIA and AMV BBDO tocreate the campaign, ‘Mind of a child – eyeof an artist’, which ties in with the t hemeof this year’s Big Draw project, ‘DrawTomorrow’.

Second opinion - Brinkley talking through his latestproject with Kath. “We always like to get a fresh pair of

eyes on a project we been looking at for a while”

© WWF

© C

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© Carbon Studio

© C

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CADBURY DAIRYMILK BUBBLYTO COINCIDE WITH THE RELEASE OF CADBURYDAIRY MILK BUBBLY, CARBON WERE ASKEDTO CREATE AN INTERACTIVE MODULE

“We were approached by NakedComs to bring our creative edge to aself-contained part of the CadburyJoyville website. We had worked withNaked Coms before on a VirginAtlantic project and recommissionedfrom the success of that. Creatingsuch a fun project for such anexciting brand was a dream brief forus. And being a part of a nationalcampaign gave us great pride as wesaw our work reach millions.” See itfor yourself at http://vimeo.com/52382128 .

01 CREATING THE CASING

I started drawing three Smart Objectcircles. The bottom one has a rounded gradient tomake it seem circular, the next has a patternoverlay for texture and the top one has an innershadow to make it seem recessed.

04 WIRES AND BUTTONS

Next I added more detailing to the case.The wires were created by cutting out an image ofa hoover hose and making it metallic bydesaturating and adding highlights. The Closebutton and plaque were drawn with the Pen toolwith layer effects to give a 3D feel.

03 SPEAKER CONE AND CHOCOLATE

I took a real chocolate texture and usedContent-Aware to fill the circle. Using SmartObjects again, I created four circular shapes tocreate my speaker cone. The cone part wasconverted to a Smart Object and noise was added.

06 THE REST OF THE DESIGN

The remainder of the design was createdin much the same way: Smart Objects withgradients, layer effects and textures. We createdthe bar in 3D, which tilts left and right on mousemovement. We exported the video as frames andtreated each frame to get the colours right.

02 PIPING AND SPEAKERS

Next, using Smart Objects and the Pentool, I created the shapes for the piping andspeakers. I then used gradient overlays, innershadows and drop shadows to make them look3D. I used a texture to make the speakers.

05 SHINE AND NOTES

To finish I used the Circle tool with a whiteto transparent linear gradient on. I set it to 0% Filland 30% Opacity to give a glass shine finish. Thechocolate notes were drawn in Illustrator andimported. I then added a bevel layer effect inchocolate colours.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF LOGAN BRINKLEYDISCOVER WHAT GOES ON IN THE CARBON STUDIO ON A TYPICAL DAY

08:15 A MORNING

I grab my usual vanilla latte whilereading today’s news on mybookmarked design blogs and socialsites. I then have a quick look throughmy calendar, preparing for the day’sbusy schedule.

08:30

Once I arrive at Carbon I take some shorttime out to browse online and find someinspiring stuff that I can add to myinspiration folder which sits on my desktop.I find this helps keep me motivated andrefreshed for the day ahead.

09:00 FIRST Now it’s time to get down

to work. First, I respond to any emails that Ihave received since the previous day. Someof our international clients will be in differenttime zones, so it is important to keep on topof any project management andcorrespondence with them.

illustration and animation. I use Photoshop for themajority of design tasks, taking full advantage of thepowerful production features and pixel-based layoutand grids. I also create illustrated elements in

Photoshop using Smart layers and effects to makephotorealistic artwork for projects.” However, when itcomes to animation, Clague uses a mixture of AfterEffects for pixel and Flash for vector-basedanimations: “My preferred animation platform isFlash; not only is it vector-based, but I write themajority of my animations in ActionScript code. Oncecompleted, the Flash animation is converted to aQuickTime video for publication.

“Logan has a deep passion for illustration as wellas design. He’s most at home in Illustrator, his tool ofchoice for the majority of his illustration briefs. Anyvector-based animations that I create will first beillustrated by Logan. He loves to create bold,colourful and beautifully simple illustrations,

something he also brings into his design work. Hewill often create illustrated content for his designprojects, creating bespoke content for the project ashe’s designing it. Logan loves the production valuePhotoshop can bring to his illustration; it’s great foradding colour grading and depth to his work. I tend touse Photoshop in two ways, the first being UXdesign. The other way I use Photoshop is to createphotorealistic illustrations and design elements.Logan tends to use Photoshop by importing hisvector-illustrated assets into Photoshop andarranging them into designs. He also likes to createhis more conceptual illustrations in Photoshop, usingit as a comping tool for his vector work.”

“Photoshop is a lot like computer hardware: onceyou experience the extra power and features of anew update, it’s impossible to go back. As I use

Photoshop every day, it’s become an extension ofmyself, allowing me to intuitively express my ideasmore effectively with each update. I love how quick itis to professionally extract an image from its

background or fill in the gaps in an image usingContent-Aware.

“The biggest impact on our workflow recently hasbeen Smart Objects,” he continues. “Not only do theyallow us to easily make client changes, but theymake it really simple to produce Retina-sizedgraphics for mobile devices.”

Carbon has had some fantastic highlights in analready burgeoning career, like “winning our firstBAFTA for best interactive for the BBC Merlinwebsite. I designed that site when the company

consisted of just me, working out of the spare roomof my flat at the time! But by far and away the mostexciting time for Carbon is right now. We’re reallyexcited about the new technologies we’re workingwith, and are working on some fantastic creativeprojects with clients all over the world. “

At the core of the Carbon mindset is fun – a funoffice, fun with Photoshop, fun projects to work on,and this definitely comes out in their work. “I thinkour sense of fun is evident in our process and endproduct,” says Clague. “We love to create things thatpeople enjoy, and this stems from our love of whatwe do. It also shapes our direction, as we only workon projects that we think we will enjoy and are rightfor us as a company.”

We’ve always activelypursued creative work, and

as a result we tend to getapproached by clients looking fora very creative solution

08:00

After a bright and early 7:30amwake up call, I usually leave myCardiff apartment at 8am andhead out to grab a quick coffeebefore the cycle over to theCarbon studio.

Change of scenery – “We find it really useful to escapethe desk to the meeting room to discuss a project. This iswhere we have all our local client meetings too”



023023

15:00 STORYBOARDINGANIMATION

I then swiftly move onto another BBCproject, illustrating and storyboardingfor an upcoming animated video fortheir new iWonder brand. This will seeme through to the end of the workingday at 6pm.

18:00 READY FOR THEWEEKEND

I save and back up today’s work,then grab a quick beer at thewaterfront with the guys at workand friends from another designagency. Around 9pm I head to thecentre for dinner with my girlfriend.

10:00 FRAMINGI continue wireframing for a new

Doctor Who project we’re working on for the BBC,a regular client of ours. This is an invaluableprocess to carry out before I move onto the design.I can clearly plan the design direction while alsogiving the client a better understanding of how itwill work.

13:00 TIME FORLUNCH!

I managed not to eat at mydesk today (for once) andinstead grabbed somegammon and eggs on thewaterfront in Cardiff Bay. It hitthe spot!

TOP 5PRODUCTION TIPS■ DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME

By making your designs perfect from the start they will getsigned off quicker and will already be ready for production.

■ USE SMART OBJECTS AND EFFECTS

This will allow you to easily make changes, wrap up complexlayers into a single object and create double-sized Retina assets.

■ USE GRID SYSTEMS

Setting up a grid should be the first thing you do, no matter howsmall the project or design. This will enable pixel-perfectdesigns every time.

■ CREATE DEVELOPER FRIENDLY PHOTOSHOP FILES

Structure and name your layers perfectly so your developer canunderstand them. Don’t use any effects that can’t be mergeddown into a single asset.

■ KEEP EVOLVING

Don’t be afraid to relearn new techniques for processes you’vebeen using for years. Discovering new Photoshop features candramatically improve your workflow and creativity.

Mizuno app – TheMizuno touch screen app

in Amsterdam

Universal Scene – Userinterface illustration© Carbon

© Mizuno



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R E A DE R S T U R N T O P A GE 51

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01. ONONE SOFTWARE PERFECTEFFECTS 8ONONE SOFTWAREwww.ononeso ware.com / Approx £89/$150onOne Software does a wide range of high-end plug-ins for

Photoshop that help you to edit, retouch, enhance and get creative with yourimages. Perfect Effects is just one of these and is designed to add filter effects toyour photos. The filters can be customised to suit your needs and there arevarious presets to help you get started. It can be used to replicate the look ofcertain film effects, add ‘dynamic contrast’ to photos, place selective lens blur andemulate a HDR style, among other effects.

One of the reasons that we like onOne Software’s range of products is that theyare easy to use, but actually make a big difference. Many of the effects could becreated in Photoshop using the built-in tools, but it would take a lot longer to doand would be more difficult to amend. Perfect Effects enables you to build upfilters in a Filter Stack, so you can combine different effects to get a distinct look.

You do pay a premium for a good filter package such as this one, so it is worthreviewing the online supporting material to see what the program can do, as wellas make the most of the free trial available.

PLUG INSOF THE BEST

20WE LOOK AT THE BEST PLUG INS AVAILABLE TO HELP YOU BE MORE PRODUCSAVE TIME, GET CREATIVE AND DESIGN PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS IN PHOTOSH

© slusarenko on www.freeimages.com

© slusarenko on www.freeimages.com



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02. TEXTURE ANARCHYDIGITAL ANARCHYwww.digitalanarchy.com / Approx £77/$129Texture Anarchy is a plug-in that lives up to its name, giving you accessto textures and borders that can be infinitely scaled without losingquality, as well as giving you the ability to create your own designs. It issplit into three key plug-ins: Texture Explorer, which is the main area tocreate seamless textures; Tiler Anarchy, for creating repeatedseamless designs; and Edge Anarchy to create borders. You use one ofthe many built-in presets as a starting point from which you can beginexperimenting. The textures are created by layering one of 38 differentnoise types on top of each other and combined to give different effects.The textures are great for using in both 2D and 3D workflows, and theycan help to bring your typography to life. Once you have mastered thebasics, then there is a Lighting Editor and a Bump Well that enable youto create powerful textures that have myriad professional applications.

03. NKS5 NATURAL MEDIATOOLKITwww.nkurence.com/blog / Free (donations accepted)This plug-in is one for digital painters. In fact, it’s nota plug-in as such; it is an extension that is installedthrough the Adobe Extension Manager. It has beencreated by an artist and it is a collection of naturalmedia, texturing and production tools. When youinstall it, it adds a new palette into the Photoshopworkspace and it is packed with tools. You can use itto create documents that look like real-mediaproducts, such as paper, notepad, graph paper andmore. From there, you can draw with pencils, pensand markers, as well as paint with watercolours.There are texturing tools, guides and margins andbrush presets as well. When it is all put together, itbecomes a powerful alternative to Photoshop’s ownpainting toolset, as the brushes are very realistic,and simply the way that everything has beencollected together in one place means that there is alot less trawling through menus to completedifferent tasks – leaving you to get on with the actualpainting. This sort of extension for Photoshop showsthat it’s not just the well-known and expensivepackages that make a difference to your workflow.

20 OF THE BEST PLUG INS TECHNIQUES

04. MACHINE WASH DELUXEMISTER RETROwww.misterretro.com / Approx £59/$99Machine Wash is a set of texture filters that add an aged look to your designs. Itcan make photographs look worn and vintage, but it is probably better applied tographic design projects, especially poster layouts and text. There are over 3,000presets available within the program that offer different looks, and these effectscan be applied to your whole image or in a more targeted way.

01 BASIC SETTINGS

Under Basic you can select from preset filters to apply to your design. Ifyou tick Filter Settings, you can see the textures that have been layered up tocreate the effect, which helps you to see how filters are generated.

02 WASH OPTIONS

Go into the Wash tab and you can begin to create your own look. Click onTexture to load up the textures available and apply, then customise to suit yourneeds. You can save any looks that you like so that you don’t have to remember allyour combinations.

03 SURFACE DESIGN

Once the texture is in place, add depth with the lighting and contrastcontrols in the Surface tab, which help to add realism to the final design. Select theGenerate Effect in New Layer Above option before applying, so you can continueworking on it in Photoshop.





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07. SITEGRINDER 3MEDIALABwww.medialab.com / £TBCSiteGrinder is one of the best-known web designplug-ins for Photoshop. It is designed for those whowant to create striking website designs, but don’t havethe skill or the inclination to do any coding. You cancreate a design using Photoshop, and SiteGrinder willslice it and code it for you, which makes life a lot easier.When you first get the plug-in, there is a sample PSDfor you to play with to understand how it all goestogether, but there is also an extensive Help section onthe website. There are various templates available aswell to give you a starting point if you need somethingto base your design on.

08. NOISEWAREIMAGENOMICwww.imagenomic.com / Approx £48/$80Noise is a problem many photographershave to deal with. Photoshop can do a fair job of removing it, but there are plug-insavailable that do the work quicker andwith better results, making a worthwhilepurchase. One of the best of these isNoiseware by Imagenomic, which uses apowerful algorithm to eliminate differenttypes of noise from your photos. Itmanages to retain image quality and detailduring the process, which is the biggestproblem with any process that affects thepixels in a photo. There is a free trialavailable, so you can try it out, and it canalso be bought as part of a bundle with thecompany’s other plug-ins, includingPortraiture, which is also featured here.

09. FLUID MASK 3VERTUSwww.vertustech.com /

Approx £89/$149Vertus Fluid Mask is one ofthe best-known plug-ins formasking in Photoshop, and itis now in its third version. It’s not cheap, but it doesoffer a high-end solution to creating complexmasks on any subject and is a real timesaver ifyou need a lot of extracting done. There is a freetrial available. Image processing time has beengreatly improved and it is packed with tools to helpyou target image areas, no matter how finelydetailed.

10. TOPAZREMASK TOPAZ LABSwww.topazlabs.com /Approx £42/$70This plug-in is designed tomake masking tasksquick and easy, saving you time when workingon complex compositions. It is available as a freetrial, so you can try before you buy, but it lives upto its promise of being simple to use with fastresults. It is designed for difficult masking tasks,like hair or similarly coloured objects, and itworks using a painting system where you brushover areas that need to be kept or discarded.


© Sample of website created in SiteGrinder - www.missiondesign.co.nz



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11. TOPAZ SIMPLIFYTOPAZ LABSwww.topazlabs.com / Approx £24/$40

Not everyone is a natural with a paintbrush, digital or otherwise, which is why there are plenty of filters andplug-ins for Photoshop that look to turn your photos into works of art in minutes. As with many filters ofthis ilk, there are the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Topaz Simplify is one of the best, thanks to itsability to create realistic results that look as though you have painstakingly painted in every minute detail.There are various looks you can achieve, from watercolour to oil painting, and pencil sketch to charcoal.

The plug-in opens from within Photoshop and there are a number of presets to get you started with thevague look you are after. You can customise all of the filters that you want to use with sliders down theright of the screen. It’s easy to completely change the look of a filter into something right for you, so notevery image will come out looking like a carbon copy of the one before it.

Despite the quality results, this is actually one of the cheaper plug-ins that we have looked at here. If youneed fine-art results, then this is definitely worth your consideration.

12. BLOW UP 3ALIEN SKIN SOFTWAREwww.alienskin.com / Approx £59/$99Sometimes there are photos that you want to use in yourdesigns and they are just not big enough. It’s a cardinal sinto simply upscale them without thinking about the result,but there are plug-ins that enable you to get more inches

without losing quality. Blow Up uses a similar system to Photoshop’s Resizecommand, so it’s instantly familiar. The difference is that it uses powerfulalgorithms to maintain high quality without introducing any artefacts.

ENLARGE YOUR PHOTOS

13. PERFECT RESIZE 8ONONE SOFTWAREwww.ononeso ware.com / Approx £89/$150This is an industry-standard resizing application that usesinterpolation algorithms to enlarge photos to a high

standard. It comes in two versions: Standard and Premium. We’ve only lookedat the Premium here as it works as a Photoshop plug-in, whereas theStandard version is standalone only. Aside from that, the Premium optionalso lets you batch edit, resize CMYK, Lab and Greyscale images, and opensRAW camera files, making it the more appropriate choice.

© Andreas Krappweis on www.freeimages.com



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14. EXPOSURE 5ALIEN SKIN SOFTWAREwww.alienskin.com / Approx £89/$149Alien Skin Software creates a wide range ofhigh-end plug-ins for Photoshop users, butone of the best is Exposure. It is designed tohelp you emulate various traditional filmlooks, such as lo-fi and old-school film types.The results are realistic and professional,unlike some of the cheaper filter programsavailable that can look cheesy and over thetop. There are hundreds of presets built in thatapply different effects with a single click, andthese can be previewed before applying.However, when you are using the program, itis best to consider these presets as a startingpoint for experimentation, as the best resultscome from combining filters in different ways,layering them up subtly to create somethingcompletely unique.

The presets can be customised individuallytoo, so it is possible to have countlesscombinations, ensuring that you don’t get that‘straight out of the box’ look. Thosecustomised presets and combinations canthen be saved so that you can build up alibrary of your own personalised effects thatcan be applied to any of your future projectsquickly. Version 5 of Exposure has beenupdated with a brand new look and features,so it is always worth an upgrade if you havetried an earlier version, and there is a free trialavailable too.

Photoshop’s Extension Manager has opened thedoor for developers, artists and designers to comeup with panels and scripts that enhance thefunctionality of Photoshop in a simple way. Thebest part is that these are usually free, they areeasy to install and try out, and you can even createyour own (have a Google search to find out how).We round up three extensions that we reckon areworth a look.

17. FONTSHOPPLUGINFONTSHOPINTERNATIONALwww.fontshop.com / FreeThis panel is linked to theFontShop website and enablesyou to browse any of its150,000-plus fonts from withina panel in Photoshop. This

comes in handy when working on layoutdesigns, as you can try out a font and see if itworks. You can get a preview of the font in yourdocument, search for a particular font and tagyour favourites.

16. BLENDME.INBLENDME.INwww.blendme.in / FreeThis handy little panel givesyou access to thousands ofassets, such as vector iconpacks, that you can drag anddrop into your work. Theassets are all under the

Creative Commons Attribution Licence, whichmeans you can use them in your commercialprojects too. It’s easy to install, and in the latestversion of the extension, you can add your ownfiles as a Collection to browse in the same way.

15. GUIDEGUIDECAMERONMCEFFEEwww.guideguide.me / Free

This simple palette isdesigned for those whowork with grid layouts on aregular basis – web

designers, app designers and so on. It gives youpixel-accurate columns, rows, midpoints andbaselines, created based on your documents orselections. You can also save frequently usedgrid setups for future use.

THREE FREEEXTENSIONS WORTHTRYING


© 2013 peter nguyen



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18. 3D INVIGORATORDIGITAL ANARCHY/ZAXWERKS INCwww.digitalanarchy.com / Approx £119/$199Although Photoshop now includes 3D-editingcapabilities, those with older versions or those whowant a little more control over their 3D objects cangive this plug-in a go. It gives a true 3D environmentinside Photoshop, using vector tools to draw andedit 3D shapes. There is a Material Editor to buildtextures and create striking 3D designs. You can usevector shapes, text or Adobe Illustrator files to createthe base of your 3D object, so there are lots ofpossibilities for creating all kinds of 3D graphics. Inthe most recent version of the program, it is nowpossible to import an image and map that imageonto a 3D object, as well as see shadows updatedlive thanks to an improved OpenGL.

19. PORTRAITUREIMAGENOMICwww.imagenomic.com /Approx £119/$200This is an incredibly powerful plug-inand one of the best for retouchingthat we have come across. It does agreat job of auto-masking an imageto isolate skin tones and applysmoothing based on a number of

presets. It can be customised andedited to get the look you want, butfor batch retouching it does save alot of time over doing the wholeprocess manually.

RETOUCH PORTRAITSIN MINUTES

02 PREVIEW

Make sure that you have a Preview view selected so that you cansee both the before and after, and zoom right in. This will enable you to workwith more precision. You can also save presets based on your edits if you geta look you like.

03 PRESETS

There are a selection of presets that come in handy if you arelooking for a specific effect, such as High Key or Low Key. These are againreally good for setting the base look, which you can then tweak to suit yourfinal image.

01 AUTO ENHANCEMENTS

When you start the filter, it will automatically apply default retouching to your image, which givesyou a good base to work from. You can then use the sliders on the left in order to customise the finish.

TECHNIQUES 20 OF THE BEST PLUG INS

© Image courtesy of Colin Cheer,Electric Eye/Mighty Dots



20. SOCIAL KITSOURCEhttp://socialkit.madebysource.com / FreeThis is a Photoshop extension that is designed to make light work ofcreating templates for use on social media websites. It creates correctlysized and ready-sliced templates for Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter andYouTube, which you can use to make customised designs for yourself oryour clients. It is automatically updated as you work so that you can seeexactly what your layout will look like before it goes live, and the extensionis updated as the social media sites implement new changes. This is thekind of app that seems a bit simplistic at first, but actually there are somevery clever Facebook designs out there that use the profile picture andcover design in a unique way. This extension will help you come up withyour own ideas and test them out before uploading to Facebook or anyother social media site.

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034034

CONTRIBUTORS

JAHIRUL AMINWWW.JAHIRULAMIN.COM

Amin is ageneralistwith apassion forrigging andanimation.

He lectures in computeranimation at the NCCA.

BENJAMIN ERDT

Erdt is acharacterartist forGuerrillaGames inAmsterdam

with a focus on next-gengame characters.

ALEKS KIRILENKO

.COM

Kirilenkocurrentlyworks atPlatigeImage in

Warsaw as a 3Dcharacter artist.

RICHARD CURTIS

Curtis is aprincipalsolutionsconsultant atAdobe and is

the UK contact forPhotoshop software.

ANDY JONES

Jonesstarted outstudyingsculpture,but nowworks as

senior creative retoucherfor Mullen Advertising.

WILLIAM FUWWW.WILLFU.CO.UK

Fu studiesgraphicdesign andcurrentlyworks fulltime

alongside variousfreelance projects.

BRENDAN MCCAFFREYWWW.BMCAFF.COM

McCaffrey isa digitalillustratorwhocurrentlyproduces

promotional artwork fora variety of products.

http://www.bmcaff.com/

http://www.bmcaff.com/



3D VS PHOTOSHOP TECHNIQUES

035

© B

e n j a m i n E r d t

Photoshop has always been an central part of the 3Dworkflow. Raw 3D renders on their own simply lackatmosphere and visual punch – it’s up to Photoshopand its powerful suite of post-processing tools tobring the image to completion. Even animated 3D,which doesn’t require Photoshop during the laterstages of a project, will still make use of it at somepoint in the pipeline. “I would compare my use ofPhotoshop to bookends,” says creative retoucher and3D artist Andy Jones. “I use it in the beginning toconcept and figure out where I’m going, then again atthe end for texturing and compositing.”

Guerrilla Games character artist Benjamin Erdtuses Photoshop for a number of tasks. “Photoshophas always been a great and useful addition to my 3Dworkflow,” he tells us. “It’s a great helper for a widerange of tasks such as look development, texturecreation and post effects.

“A process for which I use Photoshop almostexclusively is creating texture colour concepts forcreature design,” he continues. “The layer systemmakes experimenting with different skin types lessdestructive. If carefully organised using Photoshoplayers, an approved skin colour concept can be easilyrebuilt using 3D painting software.”

However, as useful as Photoshop has proven itselfto be over the years, could the 3D process survivewithout it? Could we conceive of a future wherePhotoshop is an unnecessary tool in the 3D pipeline,where software such as Maya have evolved to a pointwhere its own digital painting applications couldperform everything Adobe’s tools can and more?Conversely, could Photoshop’s 3D tools ever becomeso refined that applications like ZBrush are no longerrequired? We spoke to some of the top 3D artistsworking today to find the answer.

PHOTOSHOP IS ANINTEGRAL PART OF THE 3DPIPELINE, TURNING RAWRENDERS INTO BEAUTIFULWORKS OF ART. HOWEVER,WITH PHOTOSHOP CC’S 3DTOOLS GROWING EVERMORE ADVANCED, COULDWE ENVISION A FUTURE

WHERE FURTHER CGSOFTWARE WON’T BENEEDED AT ALL?

ZENO PELGRIMSWWW.GRAFFIK.BE

Pelgrims isa 3D artistwith apassion fortellingstories

through pixels, currentlystudying at the NCCA.

KIRK NELSONWWW.THEPIXELPRO.COM

Kirk Nelsonis anaward-winninggraphicsartist, and is

also a recognised AdobeCertified Expert.

ADAM SACCOWWW.SOULTY.COM

Sacco is afreelance 3Dcharacterartist. Hehas workedon a variety

of different projects forinternational clients.

DAVE SCOTLANDWWW.CGSWOT.COM

Scotland hasover 13years of CGIproductionexperience,working for

some of the biggestnames in entertainment.



036

TECHNIQUES 3D VS PHOTOSHOP

THE BATTLE BEGINS

THE PROS AND CONS OF PHOTOSHOP OUR PANEL GIVE THEIR EXPERT OPINIONS ON THE SOFTWARE

■ Andy JonesPros: Photoshop has a great UI, solid core features, robust filemanagement and almost infinite possibilities once you know how.Cons: The brush engines are ageing, it has downright shameful 3Dcapabilities and some features do not use current computing power.■ Adam SaccoPros: The best features are really the simple image-editing functionsand the Spot Healing Brush for fixing seams and normal maps.Cons: It would be great to paint in 3D with realistic shaders. MaybeAdobe could adopt some real-time viewports for live previews.■ Zeno PelgrimsPros: I like that you can easily execute certain tasks using Actions.They allow you to record certain steps and then save those.Cons: Photoshop needs better EXR support.

It’s no secret that there are several tools currentlyencroaching on Photoshop’s dominance. For

instance, while Photoshop has always been anincredibly powerful tool when it comes to creating 2Dtextures to wrap around an object, new paintingsoftware such as The Foundry’s MARI – which allowsartists to paint directly onto a 3D model – arebecoming increasingly popular. Could such tools everreach the point where it could viably replacePhotoshop’s job in the pipeline?

“Replacement, no, but they work togetherwonderfully,” explains Jones. “I use ZBrush to createvarious texture maps, such as diffuse, specular,glossiness and so on, but I will always makeadjustments in Photoshop for speed and comfort. Ithink that Photoshop and other such software mustremain separate. 3D packages do heaps of things

and sometimes it’s nice to just get into Photoshopand deal with familiar friendly layers and 2D images.Anything I’ve seen in 3D packages attempting toemulate Photoshop has not been as robust, and atthe same time appears far too complex.”

“I still take advantage of Photoshop’s great 2Dfeatures, which are not available yet in 3D paintingsoftware,” says Erdt. “Personally, when doing 3Dtextures, I use Photoshop as a compiler for layersand maps generated within other programs likeMARI or Quixel’s DDO, so to me it’s still a powerfultool to achieve the desired results.”

Like Jones, Erdt believes that the ideal toolsetremains a combination of several programs, witheach tailored to a specific task. “Right now,Photoshop is still an industry standard among 2Dsoftware and there is no similar tool with the samestructure and flexibility, so setting up a Photoshop-free pipeline can be quite costly,” he explains.“Features like Particle Painting in Substance Painter;the node-based approach of Substance Designer; the

procedural method of DDO; the ability to paint onmillions of polygons inside of ZBrush, Mudbox or

3D-Coat; the support for very high textureresolutions, Ptex and different shading models insideof MARI and so on – they’re all big pluses for 3Dsoftware over Photoshop. However, in order to catchup more with Photoshop, I think current 3D softwareneeds to combine more of its features, be moreflexible, stable and less demanding of the hardware.”

Nevertheless, while it always remains verydifficult to predict what might happen in the next fiveor 20 years, Erdt believes 3D texturing is one areaPhotoshop really needs to catch up on. “Paintingdirectly on a mesh provides way more control fordirecting colours, tone, patterns and so on, as thefinal result can be seen directly on the 3D modelrather than unwrapping a UV. Appropriate software

has existed for many years and it keeps growing fastwhile Photoshop seems to fall behind. So, from a 3Dpainting perspective, a future for 3D withoutPhotoshop is imaginable under the currentcircumstances. But then things can always change.”

© Digital-Tutors

© Zeno Pelgrims

© Adam Spizak© Andy Jones © Andy Jones



037

Anything I’ve seen in 3Dpackages attempting to

emulate Photoshop has not beenas robust, and at the same timeappears far too complexAndy Jones, www.andyjonescreative.com

■ Set up: Start with your render on the bottom ofthe stack. Pop a new layer on top, and on this layergo into layer effects and choose Bevel & Emboss.Tweak the Bevel settings to match your scene,choose a dark colour from your scene for theshadows and do the same for the light. Use the littlepreview on the left to help here.

■ Further prep: Now select the layer and changethe blending option to Soft Light. Go to your Brushespanel and select a small, hard, round brush to paintwith. You can leave the pressure sensitivity off fornow to get used to how this looks. Next, grab amedium-grey from the colour picker. Find a spotthat is well lit and lay down a line.

■ Now for the fun: Start exploring the amazingoptions you have here! Play with all the perimetersand brushes. If you’re finding a problem seeing it inthe shadows or highlights, set the blend mode inthe layer effects menu for both to Normal. Thistechnique has many applications, with just enoughdepth to fool the eye.

3D DETAILING IN POSTANDY JONES REVEALS A GREAT TECHNIQUE FOR ADDING BELIEVABLE DETAILS TO YOUR FINAL RENDER



038


Zeno Pelgrims, an animation student atBournemouth University’s NCCA, is in agreementthat when it comes to 3D texture painting, 3Dtools replaced Photoshop a long time ago. “WhilePhotoshop is my image manipulation andpreparation weapon of choice, MARI is mynumber one texture painting tool,” he tells us.“Very few artists still do all of their texture workinside a 2D painting package like Photoshop.”

The Foundry also develops NUKE, a node-based digital compositing application that iscurrently the industry standard for film andtelevision projects. Today it encompasses a rangeof capabilities that compositing pro Dave Scotlandhas found can be an excellent replacement forsome tasks previously completed in Photoshop.

“Today I often use NUKE for many of my 2Dpaint and rotoscoping tasks,” he explains. “Theheart of both applications is pixel data processing– manipulation of RGBA data at the pixel level.Photoshop and NUKE just go about it in a

different way. Having said this, many tools arequite similar – the most obvious being the brush.Many of the processes are the same and thesettings feel like they come from the same place.

“Not only is NUKE compatible with Photoshopfiles, it has the ability to import a PSD file andkeep most of the formatting inherent in the file,including layers, folders, masks and blendingmodes,” continues Scotland. “In fact, thePhotoshop to NUKE pipeline is so good, it is usedregularly by designers and matte painters. Thisallows the design work to be done in Photoshop,where it belongs, and for the compositing andVFX work to be done in NUKE, where it belongs.”

But should these tasks stay where theybelong? “Given the track record of The Foundry’sdevelopment team, I certainly believe they couldimplement features into the NUKE environment,which could replace Photoshop, but something

tells me their aspirations are firmly groundedelsewhere,” says Scotland. “After all, why spendthe time, effort and most importantly, the money,to develop a toolset that already exists and has avery strong community?”

Most artists agree that as Photoshop doeswhat it does so well, there’s simply no need to tryand replace it. “It’s difficult to imagine a futurewithout Photoshop – it’s burnt into the differentpipelines people have set up,” says Pelgrims. “If acompany would develop an image manipulationtool that is specifically tailored to the needs of 3Dartists – while still being as solid as Photoshop – Ipersonally think it could be replaced withinmonths. However, that tool would need to be ableto mask out certain texture inconsistencies fromphotographs, remove highlights and shadows orcreate bump maps from textures – for thesetasks today, Photoshop remains the way to go.”

© Dave Scotland

THE ARTIST’SPERSPECTIVE

When someone puts all of these features into one application,and does it well, there will be no need to use Photoshop in the

3D pipeline Dave Scotland, www.cgswot.com



039

001 Happy Meal textures

This Happy Meal texture map wascreated exclusively in Photoshop.The texturing for this assetconsisted mainly of text andvector work, which happens to beone of the areas that I still feelmore comfortable doing inPhotoshop than MARI.

002 Removing shadowsI removed the majority of thelighting information with theShadows/Highlights function inPhotoshop. It looks like nothingreally has changed, but with asimple Levels adjustment on aLuminosity duplicate, you canclearly see how much has actuallybeen altered.

003 Magical eyesA few touch-ups always have tobe done in order to make theimage pop. One adjustment Ialways make is a correction to thelighting in the eyes. By using theBurn tool on the side of the eyeunder the highlight and the Dodgetool on the opposite side, you give

the eyes a lot more depth.

© A

n d y J o n e s

TOP PHOTOSHOP TECHNIQUESBOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY STUDENT ZENO PELGRIMS REVEALS THE TOP 3D USES HE’S FOUND FOR PHOTOSHOP



040

It’s not just 3D software that’s encroaching onPhotoshop’s territory, but also Photoshop that’smaking baby steps into the world of 3D, with a suiteof basic 3D tools that even extend to 3D printingsupport. Could they ever grow into an intricate,standalone tool?

“Personally, I don’t use the 3D tools in Photoshop,”begins 3D artist Aleks Kirilenko. “That’s most likelybecause I didn’t know they even existed until recently,but as far I as I know, those tools aren’t exactly thebest when it comes to 3D texturing. I know there aresome good changes made to them in the CC version,but I think it’s just too early at this stage to look atthose tools as your primary go-to place when youhave something like MARI at your disposal.”

For Kirk Nelson, the tools are best used for 3Dtext and compositing, but not a great deal more.However, he expects a number of improvements inthe coming years. “The modelling in Photoshop isreally limited and there’s not a lot of creationpossibilities when compared to dedicated 3Dsoftware. I believe Photoshop will never be a robustmodeller, and right now we basically just have to getcreative with extrusions. So, I would really like to seethe addition of Boolean operations – the process ofadding or subtracting 3D shapes together to form anew mesh. I would also expect to see the rendererimprove pretty dramatically within the next fewyears. Adding IBL was a big step, and we see

performance gains in other areas of the programthrough the Mercury Graphics Engine. So I wouldexpect to see a more accurate, faster render prettysoon from Adobe.”

For Nelson, however, Photoshop will neverexpand to be a fully-fledged 3D program, just asMaya or 3ds Max will likely never evolve to includetheir own Photoshop-level painting tools. “Thatwould be too broad a range of application,” heexplains. “I think any single piece of gear thatattempted to do that would end up doing manythings, but none of them very well. That would besimilar to expecting a general physician to also beable to perform all medical specialties from brainsurgery to cancer treatment!”

For Kirilenko, it’s not just the depth of Photoshop,but also the speed, that will ensure the programremains a key tool in any artist’s pipeline. While 3Dcan be slow and laborious, Photoshop can get things

done fast . “Things like concept art are wherePhotoshop shines,” he explains. “When working todeadlines, people can create a fairly simple modeland import all of this raw material into Photoshop. Atthis point the artist can do whatever he or she wantswith the images and bring them closer to the originalidea. Whether it’s adding a background andretouching the lighting, doing texturing on top of theimage, fixing some elements of the model itself – itall can be done in Photoshop thanks to its vastvariety of tools. Photoshop allows a much higherflexibility and freedom than any other software I canthink of. I’m not being conservative – Photoshop is just too powerful a tool to abandon it, whether you’redoing 3D or 2D. It’s as simple as that.”

Adding IBL was a big step,and we see performance

gains in other areas of theprogram through the MercuryGraphics EngineKirk Nelson, www.thepixelpro.com

PHOTOSHOP GOES 3D

© Benjamin Erdt

© Kirk Nelson



■ Rendering layers: Next to the basic passes like AO, Shadow,Diffuse, Mask, Cavity and Depth, render additional spec and lightlayers using the LightCaps feature in ZBrush. This image displaysa selection of layers to be used in Photoshop.

■ Basic composition: This step is more experimental. Using thepreviously rendered layers I laid down to find the basiccomposition, I blended them together and adjusted each individuallayer using Opacity, Levels and Hue/Saturation.

■ Final tweaks: For final tweaks I made the ears look fleshier,adding sharper highlights to wetter areas around the eyes andnose, blending the fur to the skin, adding more skin texture andsculpting with lights and shadows for better readability.

COMPOSITING BATTYBENJAMIN ERDT USES THREE STEPS TO DEMONSTRATE HOW PHOTOSHOP CAN BE USED TO ENHANCE A SPEED SCULPT CREATED WITH ZBRUSH

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© B

e n j a m i n E r d t




Adam Sacco■ For texture painting, try saving your brushpresets for future use so you don’t have to adjustor search for them all the time.

■ The Content-Aware Fill function can be used to fill in thenegative area on UV maps.■ Try using the Color Balance adjustment layer instead of theLevels to add contrast and colour grading.

Zeno Pelgrims■ You can quickly create an industry-standardbump map from your diffuse texture maps withthe High Pass filter.

■ If you have to make some tileable textures, the Offsetfunction is really great. The only thing you have to do is paint

out the seams with the Clone Stamp tool!■ You can check whether the lighting in your photographs isevenly distributed by duplicating your layer, blending it with theluminosity option and playing with the levels. If you then want tochange the lighting a bit, you can just mask out certain areas.

Dave Scotland■ Learn the importance of resolution when itcomes to painting texture maps. Finding the rightbalance between detail and file size can make all

the difference to your workflow and quality.■ Always work with lossless files and never use JPEG files.This definitely applies to input files like texture maps. Thecompression inherent in JPEGs will reduce the quality of yourwork, and they can also cause viewport and final render delays.■ Avoid using PSD files as 3D texture maps. That’s a whole lotof extra data the 3D application has to process and can alsocause instability issues.

Kirk Nelson■ Only create what you are going to see. Don’tworry about texturing the back of an object thatyou only render the front of.

■ Rendering is the biggest bottleneck in 3D work. Photoshopcan render in the background while you work on other things.So let that render be cooking while you catch up on email orread your favourite blogs.■ Learn the art of seamless textures. It’s not really that hard,and is massively helpful!

Brendan McCaffrey■ Add photo-based effects to 3D renders. I like tolayer real lens flares and grunge maps over 3Drenders to help sell the image. This can be much

faster and more controllable than adding these in the render orin the textures.■ Add scratches, mud and damage. I often render twoversions of a car model, the first being the full beauty versionand the second being the bare metal underneath oralternatively a muddy material. Then using layer masking I canadd scratches and damage to the paintwork really quickly.

© Sérgio Merêces 2013

© Andy Jones3D POST PROCESS TIPS

042

© Kirk Nelson

© Benjamin Erdt

© Namco

OUR PANEL OF EXPERTS OFFER THEIR TOP TIPS FOR TOUCHING UPCOMPLETED 3D RENDERS



“As a long-time user of Photoshop, I was interested to see how well its 3D tools would perform for texture painting, so Idid a little test to find out. Having Photoshop’s powerful toolkit at my disposal, and therefore being able to use myfavourite brushes, the colour correction tools and the layering system, felt great. Bringing OBJ files in is just as simpleas with any image file, then if the object has UVs, you can get painting straightaway, and if not then you can create theUVs directly in Photoshop.

“There are a few different painting methods such as Live 3D Painting and Projection Painting that allow you to pickand choose the best mode for the job at hand. You can edit the default lighting, add Image Based Lighting and play withthe material properties of the object very easily. I did find that it did not seem as smooth as being in a 3D painting tool,however, mainly down to having to constantly switch tools to either paint on the object or navigate the scene.

In general, I think that if you mainly work in 2D but do some 3D work, then this package should more than happily dothe trick. However, if the bulk of your bread and butter comes from creating 3D assets with some additional 2D work,then I think you may be drawn to a more tailored package. Nevertheless, it’s exciting to see how Photoshop hasdeveloped for the 3D market and I’m looking forward to seeing how it gets pushed further.”

© Sérgio Merêces 2013

USING PHOTOSHOP’S 3D TOOLS3D ARTIST JAHIRUL AMIN DISCUSSES HIS EXPERIENCES IN USING PHOTOSHOP’S 3D TOOLS FOR THE FIRST TIME

043



044

EASILY CREATE 3D EXTRUDED TEXT,INCLUDING TEXT FROM CREATIVE CLOUD’STYPEKIT DESKTOP FONTSSince Photoshop CS6, it has become very simpleto convert and extrude a piece of text into 3D, aswell as to light it and move shadows around inreal-time. Now, with the inclusion of Typekit inPhotoshop CC and in particular the ability todownload desktop fonts from Typekit (included insome of the Creative Cloud plans), it’s now easyto download and convert any desktop font into 3Dtext at any point in time. The 3D extrusions thatare made in Photoshop CC (text, shapes andpaths), have the ability to have the sourcedefinition modified at any time. This means that ifyou change your mind or need to refresh yourdesign, you can change it easily.

INSERTING 3D OBJECTS INTO A 2D SCENEMASKS, BLENDING MODES AND MORE

Photoshop CC 3D now makes use of thevanishing point grid technology to tell PhotoshopCC about the 3D perspective in a 2D scene. Thismakes it easy for a Photoshop CC 3D designer to

place a 3D object into a 2D scene, light it andplace the shadows as if they were there when thephotograph was taken.

PAINTING ON 3D OBJECTS USING THE BRUSHPainting with brushes in Photoshop CC nowmakes use of the graphics processor in thecomputer, which allows users to achieve fast andprecise painting. 3D Photoshop designers can usethe GPU accelerated brush to paint directly onto a3D model.

REPAIR TEXTURES ON 3D OBJECTS,ESPECIALLY AROUND A 3D SCANNED IMAGE3D objects are made up of the mesh and thetexture/diffuse layer. Photoshop CC is able tore-map and create UVs based on a precedence ofseams or distortion. Photoshop CC also enablesboth the diffuse map and the 3D model to open atthe same time and, using the cursor, visuallytrack where on the model the cursor is located.

Having this ability to work on the 3D and the2D texture at the same time means that all ofPhotoshop CC’s 2D tools (Content-Aware Patch,Spot Healing and the Healing Brush to name afew) can be used on the 2D side (diffuse layer).Also, as Photoshop is layer-based, any type ofstatic layer can be added to the diffuse layer foradditional texture and brush painting.

MAKING 2D LOOK 3DCREATIVE RETOUCHER WILLIAM FU DISCUSSES HOW

“I start any project thinking about the tones,colours and various compositions that I want toexperiment with. The most important would beimage sourcing; the better the base images are,the better the final piece will look. When usingonly 2D, this is important as most photos willhave completely different characteristics inresolution, detail, colour and lighting. The maindinosaurs in this image (above left) were createdby using photos of plastic T-Rex as the baseimage – from there techniques of painting andoverlaying textures were carried out to enhancefeatures such as the mouth, teeth and skin.

“It’s important to consider depth early andoften when thinking about the various levels andhow much detail should go in these. Whenworking solely in 2D, it helps to plan thisbeforehand, as it will allow you to manipulate thephotos according to the level the elements willsit. This can be seen by the distant silhouettedbirds and the detailed foreground foliage leaves.Having the layers organised and grouped, namedwith their respective depth level, is always a goodway to help when adding elements and details.”

© William Fu

ADOBE SPEAKS OUT



thefoundry. co .uk /mari

3D digital paintingNow available on Mac

Justin HoltImagined by

Created with





047

COMBINE 3D & PHOTOSHOP TECHNIQUES

FROM MUNDANE TOMOODY

WORK INPROGRESS

Progress 2: Composition

Progress 3: Final image

DENIS KORNILOVwww.deniskornilov.com

OUR EXPERT

Kornilov is an advertising copywriter,photographer, retoucher and CGartist based in Moscow, Russia. Hispast clients include Sony, Subaru,Michelin, Bosch and Siemens,among many others.

SOURCE FILESOn the disc you will find the 3Drender PSD along with custom rainbrushes and links to the stockimagery used.

BUILDING THE COMPOSITIONPLACE ALL THE SOURCE IMAGES INTO ONE SCENE

02 PLACING THE GROUND

First, you need to choose where yourmotorcycle will stand. Go to www.shutterstock.

com and download image ID 90776978. Open thisimage in Photoshop and duplicate the background tothe main working document. Scale the ground to fitthe bike. Increase the contrast slightly using Curves.Create a layer mask and remove the city in the

background by painting on the mask with a softblack brush. Use a soft white brush to draw a lightspot under the bike on a new layer set to Vivid Light.Now adjust the ground brightness using aBrightness/Contrast adjustment layer. You will findthis by pressing the adjustment layer icon in thebottom of the Layers panel.

01 PICK A DOCUMENT SIZE

Go to File>New and set the image size to5200 x 4500px, then hit OK. Now open ‘Bike_render.psd’. Duplicate the layers named ‘Bike’, ‘Bike _shadow’ and ‘Asphalt_reflection’ to the main workingdocument you just created (select all layers and go toLayers>Duplicate Layer, then select your mainworking document in the Destination drop-down)

and scale these layers until you are happy with thecomposition. Set the Bike_shadow layer blendingmode to Multiply and Asphalt_reflection to Overlay.Remove any unwanted areas by adding layer masks(select the layer to which you want to add a maskand go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal) and paint on itwith a soft transparent black brush.

03 ADD THE CITY

Now you need a nice background. Go toShutterstock and download image ID 115337044.Repeat the same operations by placing and scalingthis image into the working document. Add a layermask and remove everything in the image exceptthe city. Use Hue/Saturation and Curvesadjustments layers with masks to achieve the rightcolour and contrast.

PHOTOMANIPULATION

Progress 1: Raw render

USE 3D RENDERS AND STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY TOCREATE A MOODY, RAINY SCENE

COMBINE 3D & PHOTOSHOP

One of the most important components ofany artwork is emotion. Every piece youcreate must evoke a reaction from theviewer, be it sorrow, joy or anger. While

the emotions may be different, so long as your art isfilled with them it will be a success. This is no easyfeat, as being able to portray a mood without usingdialogue, music and movement is a skill that eventhe most experienced artists struggle to achieve.But fear not, as this tutorial will show you how to do

just that to create a piece in Photoshop that is filledwith emotion and has a poignant, somber mood.

In this particular case the artwork you will becreating is an atmospheric, rainy scene. You’ll learnhow to combine 3D and stock photography, uselayer masks and then apply adjustment layers toadd effects. You will also learn how to create rain– a notoriously difficult subject to paint – usingseveral custom brushes. You will then discover howto form a realistic puddle with ripples and areflection using the Distort filter. Finally, you willfinish your artwork by adding fine details to really

make the viewer lose themselves in the piece. Let’sget started!



048

TECHNIQUES COMBINE 3D & PHOTOSHOP

06 THE LIGHT

If you have fog, there should be light rays.Create a new layer in front of the bike and drawsome vertical light rays using a soft light-blue brush.Then transform what you have just drawn usingperspective transformation (Edit>Transform>Perspective) so that the top two points are connectedin the middle. The light rays should now be comingfrom one point. Rotate them (Edit>Transform>Rotate) and place them in the upper-left corner.Adjust the layer transparency to give the rays a nicelook. To get a soft fade for your rays, add a layermask, and using the Gradient tool, draw a black towhite gradient on the mask.

05 FOG

Now you need to highlight the bike. Theeasiest way to do this is to add the fog behind. Createa new layer behind the bike and paint the fog with asoft transparent brush. Then create another layer, setthe blending mode to Vivid Light and draw somehighlights on the ground behind the bike. You canalso reduce the intensity of the fog by creating a newlayer over the fog with Multiply blending mode andpainting on it with a soft dark brush.

04 DRAMATIC SKY

Download image 60963079 fromShutterstock. Place your new sky above the citylayer. Again use Hue/Saturation and Curves to makethe sky more attractive. Now group all the sky layersincluding the adjustments and hide everythingexcept the city. Using the Magic Wand and Lassotool, select the old city sky. Now select the sky group,add a mask, and fix all problem places by painting onit with a soft transparent black brush.

08 VIGNETTING

One of the most important things in almostevery art piece is the accent on the main object. Let’sadd some vignetting to bring more attention to yourbike. Create a new layer above all and set theblending mode to Multiply. Using a soft black brush,paint some black shadowing around the bike closerto the edges of the canvas. Adjust the layertransparency using a layer mask.

07 LENS FLARE

For more realism let’s add a lens flare. Create a new layer above your light rays and fill it with a blackcolour (go to Edit>Fill and in the Contents options choose Black from the drop-down list). Now go toFilter>Render>Lens Flare. Place your flare in the top-left corner, set the lens Style to 105mm Prime and hitthe OK button. Now change the layer’s blending mode to Screen. You can also move and transform your LensFlare layer to get a better look and position.

QUICK TIP

Grouping your layers is very useful. Group the layers belonging to one object and name the group so that itis clear what is inside. This will help you to easily find the required object, and you will immediately seewhat kind of adjustment layers are related to it.



049

12 CREATING A PUDDLE 2

The puddle is complete, but the rain is stillfalling, so you need to add some raindrops rippling inthe puddle. Create a new layer over the bikereflection. Choose the third custom brush, set thebrush colour to light blue and draw some ripples onthe puddle surface. Use a layer mask to hide someripples that you don’t want to be visible. You need touse different brush sizes to get a realistic texture.


Create a new layer above the fog and fill itwith a dark-grey colour. Now open the layer blendingoptions and move the Underlying right slider to theleft until you get the right puddle border. Open‘Bike_render.psd’ and copy the ‘Puddle_reflection’layer into the document. Place this layer above thepuddle layer. Go to Layer>Create Clipping Mask. Nowyou will see a reflection on the surface of puddle.


You should have nice ripples, but the bikereflection now has to be distorted. Let’s adddistortion using the Displace filter. First you need tomake a displacement map. In the Layers panel,select your ripples texture. Go to Layer>DuplicateLayer and choose New from the drop-down menu inthe Destination options. Now create a new layerunder the ripples texture and fill it with a black colour.Save this document as ‘Displacement_map.psd’. Goto the main working document and select the bikepuddle reflection layer. Go to Filter>Distort>Displaceand set the Horizontal scale to 50 and the Verticalscale to 0, then hit OK. In the opened window, select‘Displacement_map.psd’ and hit OK again.

10 RAIN HITTING THE BIKE

Now you have your rain, but it doesn’tinteract with the bike as it would in reality. Let’s fixthis up. Choose the second custom brush providedon the disc and create a new layer above the bike,then draw some rain splashes on all surfaces of thebike where rain could hit. Now remove anyunnecessary splashes using a layer mask. It’s noteasy the first time, but all you need is practice. Toachieve a more realistic look for the rain, you have toexperiment with brush size and transparency.

09 CREATING THE RAIN

Now it’s time to add some ‘falling water’ to your composition. Import the custom rain brushes on thedisc to your brushes library: choose the Brush tool and Ctrl/right-click anywhere on canvas, then left-click onthe gear icon in the top corner and choose Load Brushes from the menu. Now find ‘Bike_rain_brushes.abr’and double-click on it. Voila, you have three rain brushes: one for rain, one for rain hitting the bike, and one forthe ripples. Now choose the first brush and set the brush colour to white. This is all you need to draw the rain.

LET IT RAIN!USE CUSTOM BRUSHES AND THE DISPLACE FILTER TO CREATE RAIN AND A PUDDLE

001 TINY DROPSCreate a new layer under the bike. Setthe brush Size to 50 and paint until allthe canvas, with the exception of thelowest part, is covered with dense rain

002 MEDIUM DROPSCreate another layer under the bike andset the brush Size to 100, then startpainting bigger drops of rain to imply asense of depth in your image

003 LARGE DROPSCreate one more layer but this time placeit above the bike. Using a 200-400pxbrush, draw some large drops. Now addGaussian Blur and blur your drops a bit

001

002

003

To achieve a more realisticlook for the rain, you have

to experiment with brush sizeand transparency



050

14 ENHANCING CONTRAST

Now it’s time to add more depth to your

artwork. Select the top layer in the Layers panel,then click on the adjustments icon in the bottom ofthe panel and choose Curves. Drag down the lowerpart of the curve to add more contrast to the image.Use a layer mask to hide any unnecessary areas ifneeded. You could even use several Curves layers toget a better result.

17 NOISE AND ABERRATIONS

To give your artwork a more realistic look,let’s use two filters: Add Noise and Lens Correction.Create a new layer above all and fill it with 50% grey(Go to Edit>Fill and choose 50% Gray from theContents drop-down menu, then hit OK). Then go toFilter>Noise>Add Noise and set the Amount to 10%,Distribution to Gaussian and hit OK again. Set thelayer’s blending mode to Overlay. Now go toSelect>All, then Edit>Copy Merged, then Edit>Pasteand finally go to Filter>Lens Correction>Custom andset the Fix Red/Cyan Fringe slider to -50. Hit OK.

15 ADD COLOUR

To add more colours, first click on the

adjustments icon in the bottom of Layers panel andchoose Color Balance. Select Shadows. Move theCyan/Red slider to the left slightly and the Yellow/Blue slider to the right. Then select Highlights andmove the Yellow/Blue to the left a bit. Set this layer’sblending mode to Color. You can use Hue/Saturationadjustment layers with masks to enhance colour,and also create a new layer with a Vivid Light blendmode and paint over it with a soft white brush.

16 BIKE DETAILS

Now it’s time to add more details to the

bike. First you need to add some glossiness. Create anew layer above all and set the blending mode toScreen. Now, using a soft white brush, paint somehighlights in the brightest places. Secondly, create anew layer and set the blending mode to Overlay. Bypainting on this layer with a white brush you canmake some details brighter. Also use Hue/Saturation and Brightness/Contrast layers to makethe bike details look better.

18 FINAL SHARPENING

Finally, use the High Pass filter to sharpen your artwork. This will add more detail and make yourimage more attractive. Duplicate the layer that you just created (Layer>Duplicate Layer>OK). Now go toFilter>Other>High Pass and set the Radius to 3. Hit OK. Then go to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate. Set thelayer’s blending mode to Overlay. You can also add a layer mask and, using a soft black brush, remove anyoverly sharp areas or areas you don’t want to be sharp. Adjust the opacity of the layer to decrease thesharpness slightly. Your moody artwork is now complete!

QUICK TIP

Experiment with adjustment layers until you findan effect that you are happy with. Colour, contrastand hue are all important components of anywork of art. Only through experimentation willyou find your own style.

TECHNIQUES COMBINE 3D & PHOTOSHOP

FINAL DETAILSUSE DIFFERENT ADJUSTMENT LAYERS, BLENDING MODES AND FILTERS TO FINALISE THE ARTWORK



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052



053

BUILD A FANTASY PHOTOCOMPOSITE TECHNIQUES

JENNIFER CIRPICI TAKES YOU THROUGH THE PROCESS OFCREATING THIS HOLLYWOOD INSPIRED ENVIRONMENT

BUILD A FANTASYPHOTOCOMPOSITE

What you will learn in this tutorial areseveral basic but essential techniquesto create a scene comprising multiplephotos. This workshop is inspired by

the lush, mountainous scenery in the movie Avatar .The Zhangjiajie Mountains, located in China, inspiredthe makers of Avatar to create the floating HallelujahMountains; they also inspired us and we used stockimagery of this range to create this artwork. We’ll gointo how you can combine real and painted elements(the essence of matte painting) in depth.

Over the course of these steps we’ll also look athow you can blend stock easily and how essentialcolouring is when it comes to setting an atmosphere.This guide will not only help you to create these Avatar -esque floating mountains, but also toimprove your future photomanipulations. Unlike thescenes created for the film, you will only be usingPhotoshop to achieve these effects. We recommend,however, that you look up the inspiring Avatar scenes first, or better still, (re)watch the movie to geta few ideas for the composition and tone of the piece.

CREATE A LUSH ENVIRONMENTMANAGE YOUR STOCK, COLOURS AND BLENDING

01 STOCK SEARCHThe first step is to find some high-quality

mountain stock images. The sky was white in ourimage and we wanted to add some clouds, so wesearched for good sky photos, pasted them over thelandscape, then blended using layer masks as well asthe Overlay, Multiply and Normal modes.

02 BRING IN SOME COLOURTo add the green tint, create a new layer

filled with #f6f6e5 and set to Multiply. Now create anew layer set to Multiply, but fill this with a bluishgradient at 36% Opacity. Use Curves to up thecontrast and tweak the greens with a Color Balanceadjustment layer.

PHOTOMANIPULATION

FROM REAL TO FANTASY

WORK INPROGRESS

Progress 1: Stock search

Progress 2: Shadows & accents

Progress 3: More mist

JENNIFER CIRPICIwww.breakingcanvas.com

OUR EXPERT

Cirpici is a self-taught graphic

designer and illustrator from theNetherlands. She studied graphicdesign, has worked for several bigagencies like Saatchi & Saatchi andLeo Burnett, and is currently afreelance digital artist.



054

TECHNIQUES BUILD A FANTASY PHOTOCOMPOSITE

06 DEPTH AND HIGHLIGHTS

To create depth and highlights, use a small,hard brush, painting with black where you want togenerate a bit more shadow. Set this layer to the SoftLight blending mode and lower the Opacity to around70% with the brush Flow at 70% too. Follow thesame process with a hard white brush, this timecreating highlights with the layer set to Overlay. Youcan use this technique with all yourphotomanipulation projects to great effect.

05 GRADIENT SHADING

Select the floating mountain and, with a black to transparent gradient, create a shadow at the bottomof the scene, fading out towards the top of the image. Lower the Opacity to 28% and repeat this step. Selectparts of the mountains from the background and paste into the bottom to give it more texture. We’ll go intomore depth with this in a moment. At this stage, it’s a good idea to take a final look and check you’re happywith the composition. To do this, go to Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal.

04 FLOATING MOUNTAINS

With the help of CGTextures ( www.cgtextures.com ), source some free landscape stock images andblend them together to produce a mountain reminiscent of those in Avatar . This is very much a matter ofartistic licence so you will have to decide on the scale, shape and which materials constitute your mountainwhen you come to constructing it. As previously demonstrated, use layer masks to bring elements together,as this will help to blend effectively using black and white brushes. Also, make sure that when you are usingthese brushes that you are working with a low Flow value as this will help to achieve a smooth blend.

QUICK TIPYou may find that you get stuck sometimes, and lose inspiration or motivation to continue with yourartwork. Some of the best solutions are to either sleep on it, take a couple of steps back from your screenor, as we did in this tutorial, just change the perspective by flipping it horizontally.

03 MOUNTAINS AND BIRDS

Now add in some mountains from anotherstock photo. Set the layer’s blending mode to Multiplywith an Opacity of 68%, then make the mountains alittle greyer so that they all blend well together. Blurthe mountains using the Gaussian Blur filter set to aRadius of 5px because they are further away and thiswill create a greater sense of depth. Finally, findsome nice bird images and paste them into thecomposition, using the Edit>Transform options tomatch the scene’s perspective and scale.





056

THE FINAL TOUCHESWRAP UP YOUR FANTASY WORLD

TECHNIQUES BUILD A FANTASY PHOTOCOMPOSITE

13 SPLASH OUT

Before making a waterfall, look up somereferences to get an idea of the basic structure. Asyou will see, there isn’t too much detail in a waterfall– it’s basically a white cloud. Take a soft brush ataround 150px, brush a thick line in white and thenapply Soft Light blending at 25% Opacity. This is thestart of the waterfall and shows how it’s floating. Youcan now add a couple of finer lines either side of thewaterfall to serve as edges.

14 WATERFALL DETAILS

With a soft brush sized around 500px, brush once more into the waterfall, but lower the Opacity to28% and set the blending mode to Soft Light. For details, zoom in and use a hard brush to make a couple ofsmall strokes and then, on a new layer, add a series of lines. If they look too hard, you can blur them a bit. Addvertical lines until satisfied, then apply some smoky mist underneath the cascade.

11 ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Once again you need to add more highlights – you can never get enough of them! The more youhave, the more detail there will be in your scene and the better it will ultimately look. You can also add a bit ofgreen here and there with a hard brush. By doing this you give the image a more digitally painted feeling, butdon’t forget to make sure that everything blends well together, with no one area stealing the show.

12 MOUNTAIN EDGES

Because you could never render the rock ina way that makes the plants at the edges look goodtoo, you need to add your own flora and fauna to themountain edges. This will help to better blend themountain into the sky and reduce that copy andpasted feel. Again, you don’t have to paint the plantsor leaves very realistically as they’re in the distanceand shrouded by mist. But be sure not to use onlyone colour when doing this – always add in highlightand shadow tones too.



057

17 MORE MIST

As one of the final steps, you are going toadd yet more mist around the floating mountain andmake the vegetation around the edges a littlegreener. The mist will help the mountain mergeseamlessly with everything else in the scene and italso enhances the surreal and mysterious mood youwant the image to have. Never make your mist toowhite, though. Instead, use a colour in the sameshade as the background, so in this case give it agreen tint. Switch the mist layer to the Soft Lightblending mode and set the Opacity to 30%.

18 FINAL TOUCHES

Now you can play with Brightness/Contrast, Levels and Curvesadjustment layers. To get focus in this artwork, you can also create ablack to white radial gradient on a new layer set to Soft Light and 30%Opacity. The white circle goes wherever you want to draw focus. Createa new layer, fill it with black and go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise (12.5%and Monochromatic). Set this layer to Soft Light and just 5% Opacity.Last but not least, wrap up the image with a Smart Sharpen filter.

15 RAINBOW EFFECT

Waterfalls can often be seen with a rainbow near them due to light refracting through the movingwater. Create a subtle rainbow with your hard brush, as per the screenshot, lowering the Opacity to 80%.Change the layer to the Soft Light mode and apply a Gaussian blur so that the rainbow doesn’t draw too muchattention. With the soft brush set to the Soft Light mode, add a little more mist coming off the waterfall.

QUICK TIPWhen you digitally paint, you can use the Rotate View tool to navigate your whole screen. This way you canpaint more detailed elements without having to turn your head. It makes everything much morecomfortable to do.

CUSTOM BRUSHESFor this tutorial, we didn’t justuse Photoshop’s standardhard and soft brushes, but wealso used a brush set fromone of our favourite artists,Dan LuVisi. You can download

the set for free from hisdeviantART gallery at http://danluvisiart.deviantart.com/gallery/9827508?rnrd=2384 .Do read the usage instructionsbefore you use them though.LuVisi is a great artist and thisis a fantastic resource, sothey’re worth downloadingwhen working on a mattepainting project like this.

16 MOUNTAIN SHADOW

Because it’s a floating mountain, you needto add its shadow to the area it’s suspended over. Wedecided to put some shadow on the rocky columnclosest to it and on the ground using the soft brushset to black at a lowered opacity. Make sure younever do just one shadow – for realism, applyseveral layers of shadow that become darker thecloser they get to the object. Don’t mess too muchwith the blending options when it comes to shadows,either, as they need to be almost completely black.



058 © Sonar Fates Limited





060

I think it is the duty of every creative to be inspired by as wide a spectrumof influences as possible. So my bonus tip would be to read more, watchmore, experience more and understand more. Develop an unquenchabledesire for knowledge and watch it drip back into your work.

DEAN SHARE S HIS TOP TIP FOR CREATING STRIKING DESIGNS

THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE

TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE

06 OCEAN LAYERSThis was the first time I had attempted to illustrate the ocean, but I

achieved this particular look by using simple shapes and gradients set to a lowopacity. I slowly built up the layers until the desired result was achieved.

04 LIGHTINGI like to create the

illusion of form in my workand this is accomplishedby imagining how the lightwill affect my shapes. Thisis perhaps the mostcrucial part of my wholeprocess and is where anunderstanding of artfundamentals really helps.

05 SPECULAR HIGHLIGHTSTo create intense specular highlights, I warp primitive shapes inside

a group set to the Color Dodge blending mode. This is a trick I use a lot.

07 FURTHER DEVELOPMENTMy process is very technical, but I think it is

important to take a painterly attitude and let things build upand develop on their own. It is important for me to let mysub-conscious speak – that’s where we can find the magic.

08 COMBINING ADJUSTMENT LAYERSThe final step on any piece is experimenting with adjustment layers

and combinations of them. These can have a very dramatic effect on your imageand should never be neglected. My problem is deciding which works best!


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062



063

DIAL FROM START TO FINISH

WORK INPROGRESS

Progress 2: Shadows and pointer

Progress 3: Circular selection

CUSTOM LIGHT UI ELEMENTS TECHNIQUES

CYRIL JULIANIwww.behance.net/cyriljuliane

OUR EXPERT

Juliani is a self-taught graphicdesigner from France. He has apassion for all kinds of creativemedia and worked widely in theelectronic dance music industryuntil now.

SOURCE FILESGo to www.bariol.com to find thefont needed in this project. It is freeto use.

Progress 1: Main shapes

VECTOR BASED ELEMENTSESTABLISH A WORK PLAN IDENTIFYING KEY ELEMENTS

02 BACKGROUND COLOURA light background will be used to contrast

the darker effects from layer styles. Pick a lightcolour (#e0e0e0) and press Opt/Alt+Delete to fill thebackground layer. You can add a subtle gradienteffect to give the global light a main direction. Add astandard Gradient Overlay layer style, setting thegradient to Linear style from black to white andOpacity to 2%.

01 DOCUMENT SETUPAs your document

should fit with every standardresolution, start with a reasonableminimum resolution. Go toFile>New and set Width at 1024px,Height at 768px and Resolution at

72dpi. You can easily increase thepixel density later for any otherresolution requirements. Also, addhorizontal and vertical guides(View>New Guide) and centrethem in the document.

03 BASIC SHAPESThree vector shapes are used to create the

dial, along with one extra circle that outlines theouter ring. To create your own, first select the Ellipsetool, then draw a centred circle and adjust the Radiusto 350px. Next, make two duplicates and rescalethem (Cmd/Ctrl+T) to 315px. Do the same foranother duplicate with a diameter set to 530px,drawing the outer ring.

GRAPHICS

DESIGN FULLY SCALABLE UI KIT ELEMENTS WITH VECTORSHAPES AND LAYER STYLES

CUSTOM LIGHT UIELEMENTS

A visually appealing user interface plays akey role in a project involving interactiveelements. It should be assuredly simple,intuitive, unobtrusive and pleasant to use.

This is something that many designers strive for,and will often have a knock-on effect on thesuccess of the application or device.

In this tutorial, we aim to achieve this simplicitythrough shapes, artificial depth and lighting. You willlearn how to design a dial using vector shapes and

layer styles, and how to manage light and shadoweffects to achieve a design that is both clean andeye-catching.

As we know today, bitmap or Smart Objectscaling can produce softer edges, whereasPhotoshop vector shapes maintain their sharpness.As we seek to preserve the sharpness of shapes atany resolution, it is necessary to use the vectorshapes available in Photoshop. These techniquescan then be re-used in other design projects.



064

04 POSITION MARKERS

You are going to make the outer markers.With the Ellipse tool, make a 25px diameter circle inthe outer ring at the top of the dial. It will be theactivated marker. Duplicate (Cmd/Ctrl+J) andtransform this circle (Cmd/Ctrl+T). Hold Opt/Alt todrag the circle’s anchor to the centre of the dial.Rotate it from an angle of 45°. Press Enter andrepeat the operation six times by duplicating androtating (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+T). You can group the layersfor normal markers and take the top marker apart inthe Layers panel.

05 INNER DIAL EFFECTS

To give the user interface elements arealistic appearance, just analyse shape, light andshadow interactions around you. You will use thesame approach according to the top lighting. Go backto the very first circle you created and add a LinearGradient with very soft greyscale (#d4d4d4 to#f7f7f7). Then, use a black Inner Shadow, settingOpacity to 8%, Angle to -90°, and both Distance andSize to 8px. You can also add a Drop Shadow, settingOpacity to 16%, Angle to 90°, Distance to 3px andSize to 10px.

06 INNER DIAL GRADIENTS

Apply a Linear Gradient to an inner circlewith softer greyscale (#dedede to #ededed). Set bothInner Shadow and Drop Shadow to white andNormal blend mode, respectively setting Opacity to60% and 60%, Angle to -90° and 90°, Distance to 4pxand 2px, and Size to 5px and 5px. For the other circle,set the Fill Opacity in the Blending Options to 0%.Then, set both Inner Shadow and Drop Shadow toblack, respectively setting Opacity to 5% and 7%,Angle to 90° and -90°, Distance to 5px and 3px andSize to 21px and 5px.

08 DIAL POINTER

Now that the dial is created, you can make its pointer. Select the Rounded Rectangle tool, set theRadius to 15px and draw a rounded rectangle, setting Width to 25px and Height to 120px. Make sure the shapeis central on the vertical guide at the top of the dial, slightly exceeding the top edge by about 10px. For the nextpart, the pointer must be integrated into the dial, so a subtle depth effect is needed.

07 MAIN DROP SHADOW

Duplicate the first circle again and set theOpacity to 23%. Apply a Color Overlay style, settingthe colour to black, deselect any other style andmove this layer under the dial layer. Move the circledown by 50px by holding Opt/Alt. Then, display theproperties values (Window>Properties) of the vectorshape and set Feather to 27px for the vector mask.

TECHNIQUES CUSTOM LIGHT UI ELEMENTS

To give the user interface elements a realistic appearance,analyse shape, light and shadow interactions around you

QUICK TIP

A realistic scene can be improved by several types of shade: cast shadows of objects, which can be sharpor soft; limited shadow at the intersections of objects; ambient shadow, which is broader; or blurred,discrete and core shadow on objects subtracted from the incident light rays.



LAYER STYLESUSE THESE OPTIONS TO CREATE SHINY AND EMBEDDED ELEMENTS

065

11 DIM LED LIGHT 3

Finally, you can enhance this volume effectusing an Outer Glow with Color set to grey (#b5b5b5),Opacity to 100%, Blend Mode to Normal and Size to5px. Also, add a Drop Shadow, setting Blend Mode toNormal with a white colour, Distance to 9px and Sizeto 5px, at an angle of 90°. This style allows you toshow light at the outer edge of the pointer, takinginto account the overall lighting. You should nowhave a coherent object with a modern and soft look.

13 ACTIVATED MARKER AND OUTER RING

Select the top marker and as you alreadydid before for the dial pointer, add the same InnerGlow and change the Color Overlay (#65b5f0). Finally,select the outer ring layer and add a black InnerGlow, setting Opacity to 6px and a Stroke setting Sizeto 1px, Blend Mode to Lighten, Opacity to 80%, FillType to Gradient, and a Linear black to white gradientat an angle of -90°. For the final touch, add text as inthe example with the Bariol font.

10 DIM LED LIGHT 2

Lighting can be added with an Inner Glow– use a bluish colour (#7fc9ff), setting the blendmode to Color Dodge, Opacity to 30%, Source toCenter, Size to 10px and Contour to Half Round. Also,you could try to add some volume with a glasseffect. Apply a Bevel & Emboss style, setting the Sizeto 4px, a Shading Angle to 90° and Altitude to 50°,Highlight Mode Opacity to 70% and finally ShadowMode to 20%.

12 EMBEDDED POSITION MARKERS

Now that you have a pointer, you need togive it some functionality. Apply a Color Overlay tothe top marker with a grey colour (#969696) and aStroke, setting Size to 2px, Position to Outside, FillType to Gradient and a greyscale Linear gradient(#c0c0c0 to #e9e9e9) from top to bottom at an angleof -90°. Copy and paste this layer style to each layer,drawing a position marker. Make sure that theselayers are underneath the shadows from the dial.

09 DIM LED LIGHT

In a bright environment, it’s always useful toaccentuate light sources with an eye-catching colourvariation instead of outer glow effects degradinglighting quality. In this way, apply a Gradient Overlay,choose the Linear style and use the standard blackand white gradient. Then, add a Color Overlay, settinga bluish colour (#65b5f0) and Opacity to 83%. Theidea is to give a way to the pointer by highlighting theoutermost side.

SETTINGS IN PHOTOSHOP

There are many resources that allow you tocreate quality designs using layer styles inPhotoshop. These are a popular way to achieveany effect with the right knowledge andexperience. Only technical approaches changeand should be exploited in piece. In this way,learn to handle each setting individually and askyourself how to combine them to achieve aparticular look.

For example, gradients are powerful foradding depth to any design. Combined with theright style, you can create shapes that interactwith the environment, such as light reflections,shadows and textures.

In a bright environment, it’s always useful to accentuate lightsources with an eye-catching colour variation instead of outer

glow effects degrading lighting quality



02 EMPLOY BACKGROUND

I used 3D renders for the backgroundcomposition, and layer masks to clean things up. Atthis stage I wanted to experiment with differentpositions. If you are aiming for an abstract feel, Istrongly recommend learning 3D in CINEMA 4D.

03 ENHANCEMENTS

I worked with halftone images to addfuzziness, and used different blend modes as well.For the final tweaks I used the Vibrance, Levels,Curves and Black & White adjustment layers. Layermasks are crucial to use with each adjustment.


FREELANCE ARTIST SYLVAIN BILODEAU TAKES US THROUGHTHE MAKING OF HIS URBAN JUNGLE

HOW I MADE

THE JUNGLESYLVAIN BILODEAU

Sylvain Bilodeau reveals the creation behindthis mixed-media illustration he namedThe Jungle .

Without letting go of his expertise intraditional art, Bilodeau uses Photoshop to re-createwatercolour and inking effects that he learnedbefore getting hold of the program. So The Jungle is

more of a reflection of how he uses Photoshop todigitalise his foundations in art, and we think he’sdone a fine job.

But it’s not just about Photoshop with this image,as he had to call upon additional software to makethe dynamic visuals involved. CINEMA 4D wasinstrumental in forming the complete picture.

When asked what inspires him, he explains:“Music is a big part in my creative process. It alwaysstarts with music. I’m also inspired a lot by fashionphotography and 3D imagery. So The Jungle is ablend of what inspires me the most.”

If you like what you see here, why not head overto Bilodeau’s portfolio at www.sylver.biz .

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01 BASIC SETUP

The model was cut out using the Pen tool. I worked with layer masks to eliminate the unwantedsections of the body. Then I added the tattoos using Darken blend mode and lowered the Opacity.



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© S

y l v a i n B i l o

d e a u



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FROM SIMPLE CUBE TOROBOT VILLAIN

WORK INPROGRESS

Progress 2: Comp in Photoshop

Progress 3: Add final details

BLEND GRAPHICS TECHNIQUES

AMREI HOFSTÄTTER http://verticolab.com

OUR EXPERT

Amrei Hofstätter is a freelanceillustrator, designer and

science-fiction fanatic living andworking in Berlin. She mostlycreates her colourful, geometricaldesigns for fashion and music labels.

SOURCE FILESFiles for this tutorial can be found athttp://blog.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/tutorial-files . You will find theBlender file with the 3D object usedfor this image. Manipulate it orexperiment with differentperspectives to create a newcomposition.

Progress 1: Shapes in Blender

BUILD IN BLENDERCREATE 3D SHAPES IN BLENDER BEFORE COMPOSING IN PHOTOSHOP

02 SCULPT AN ABSTRACT OBJECTSwitch from Object mode to Edit mode to

sculpt the cube. Manipulate vertices, edges and facesin whatever way you want. Give different colours andtransparency to different parts of the shape. Copyand paste several objects together. Add light sourceslike spots or lamps to add atmosphere to the scene.

01 OPEN BLENDERFirst you will create the

3D object as a base for yourcomposition. Download, installand open the Blender software.Upon start it will automaticallyopen up a new file in 3D view witha default cube in the centre. Asyou want your final image to berobotic and geometrical, this cubeis just what you need.

03 PREPARE FOR PHOTOSHOPPress [0] to see how your rendered result

will look from the point of view of the camera. This isthe perspective your rendered image will have.Move, scale (select the object then press [S]) or spin(select the object then press [R]) the object aroundand find the most interesting perspective.

GRAPHICS

MIX PHOTOSHOP AND 3D SOFTWARE TO CREATE ASYMMETRICAL, ABSTRACT IMAGE COMPOSITION

BLEND GRAPHICS

If you are a videogame enthusiast or designerand you enjoy experimenting, then this tutorialis for you. In it, you will learn how to combine3D and 2D software to create an artwork in

Photoshop using just a single object previouslysculpted in Blender.

Blender is an amazing 3D program, and on top ofthis, it’s free! Go to www.blender.org to download itfor all operating systems. Trying out a completelynew program might be a bit intimidating at first, but

as you will learn in this tutorial, brilliant artwork canbe created with only basic knowledge. There areloads of great beginner tutorials on the internet that

will make you familiar with the basics. You don’tneed to be an expert – just dive into it, play aroundand have fun! Through persistent trial and error youwill improve.

Symmetrical compositions can be very powerful,but it’s important to create details that capture theeye and use interesting colour contrasts to make itlook dynamic, especially when only using oneelement as a base. Through repetition you canachieve an exciting, almost fractal effect.

You will also add classic Eighties-inspiredvideogame elements to round up the image andgive it that final retro touch.

Symmetrical compositions can be very powerful, but it’simportant to create details that capture the eye



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04 SWITCH TO PHOTOSHOP

The time has come to finish your Blender work. In the render section of Blenderyou can increase the image size. Go to Render>Image then Image>Save as Image toexport your image file. Open Photoshop and open the exported PNG file. As you will see, itmaintained the colour and transparency effects you applied in Blender, but it has now a dullgrey background you need to get rid of. Go around the object with the Polygonal Lasso tool,remembering to make enough steps on the way. Crop out the background.

05 EXPERIMENT WITH ABSTRACT SHAPES

Open a new document in Photoshop with rectangulardimensions. Add a black background with the Paint Bucket tool. Dragand drop the cropped object into the new file. Now the fun part begins!You want to make something that appears mechanical and robotic –what interesting graphics and patterns can you create with it? Copy itand reflect it horizontally and vertically, put pieces together, cut offelements, rotate it, and put layers on top of each other while playingwith the layer blending modes. You can create entirely new shapes!

06 CREATE AN INTRIGUING COMPOSITION

You will have come up with several differentelements, so now it’s time to put them all together.As your composition is symmetrical, it’s important tomake it as exciting as possible though colours andoutstanding elements. Blend them togetherdifferently. Use the Hue/Saturation option to changethe colour of some elements using a contrastingcolour palette. Make some parts stand out more byplaying with the intensity of the colours. By giving theouter elements a different, darker colour than thecentre, you will give the composition a layered lookwith more depth.

08 ADD GLASS

You want your machine to have someglassy, transparent elements. To create the glass,draw a simple black rectangle with the Rectangletool. Use the Direct Selection tool to create aninteresting shape. Set the blending mode of the layerto Exclusion. Double-click on the layer to access thelayer effects and add Style>Inner Glow, set to Screenblending mode and with 90% Opacity. Duplicate androtate the shapes to make them look like severallayers of glass.

07

It already looks quite interesting, but thecomposition still seems a little flat. What you want isfor some elements to stand out and appear closer tothe foreground. You can do this with a subtle use ofthe Glow layer style. Place some small pieces intothe centre, copy it and move it downwards a little.Now double-click the layer and add Style>Outer Glowwith an intense blue colour, Screen blending modeand an Opacity of about 30%, not more. Now it lookslike it’s floating in the foreground.

TECHNIQUES BLEND GRAPHICS

QUICK TIP

In a Photoshop file with many layers it can become difficult to maintain an overview andfind the layer a specific element of your work is located on. For quick access to a layer,click on a graphic while pressing Cmd/Ctrl to open the layer selection window.



BRING POWER TO THE PAGEADJUST THE COMPOSITION AND ADD RETRO SPECIAL EFFECTS

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12 A LITTLE BIT OF RETRO

You want to give your image a nice, retrovideogame touch, so you want to create a classicwireframe grid. You could do this by drawing all thelines separately, but there is a much quicker way viacreating a pattern: open up a square-shaped newdocument, select all, go to Edit>Stroke and fill theline with black. Now go to Edit>Define Pattern, opena new document and go to Edit>Fill>Pattern. Nowuse the Free Transform tool to give it perspective.

11 ADD A GLOWING CENTRE

You want the eye to be drawn towards itscentre. Videogame villains always have a weak spot,so you will give it a bright target right in the middle.Create a diamond-like shape with the Rectangle tool.Give it an intense magenta colour and set theblending mode to Overlay. Copy it, scale the copy,and set it to Multiply with a bright pink. Copy andscale it once more, now in white. Give each target anOuter Glow in Screen mode in its respective colour.

13 THE FINAL STAGE

Place your grid into the image and put itbelow your robot villain. Add a new layer, fill it withthe Paint Bucket tool and give it a Radial gradient inthe layer effects palette, which you can access bydouble-clicking on the layer in the Layers panel. Setthe gradient from inside blue to outside black, thenexperiment with its dimensions until you find theright size. Now your robot is floating above a glowinggrid fading into darkness.

10 ADD FADING LASER BEAMS

You now want to open up the composition by adding somelaser beams that subtly connect the graphic to the background. Copyseveral pairs of the glass shapes you made in the previous step andarrange them, getting wider towards the outside. To make them fade,use this simple trick: make a white rectangle and place it on top of thelight beams. Add Layer Style>Inner Glow>Multiply>100% Black and setthe layer to Multiply. The light seems like it’s fading. Should some outerparts of the glow still be visible, cover them with a black brush.

IMPORTING FROM BLENDER INTO PHOTOSHOP

Should you work with the Photoshop Extended version, you canimport Blender objects directly into Photoshop without having tocrop off a background and even rotate them in 3D! To do that, openyour Blender file, go to Blender Export>Export file as Wavefront(.obj). Now open Photoshop, open the OBJ file, double-click on thelayer and you will have a top menu popping up with several options.Should you have applied a texture to your mesh, you candouble-click on ‘Texture’ in the Layers panel to apply changes.

Reduce the size of the graphic to give it some freespace to breathe and maximise its impact

09 LET IT BREATHE!

Revise your image. Your composition might have got too big and be filling up toomuch space on the canvas. You need to reduce the size of the graphic to give it some freespace to breathe and maximise its impact. Lots of designers are scared of empty space,but you will see the difference immediately.

001 REPEAT OBJECTSMake several new graphicalelements by experimenting withone basic object

002 COMPOSITIONCreate a powerful composition byputting the pieces together on abig and small scale

003 PACK A PUNCH Give your composition a layeredappearance by applying layereffects to some elements

001

002

003



072


© Nik Ainley



NIK AINLEY EXPLAINS HIS TRIBUTE TO STUDIO GHIBLI WITH LAPUTA,AND HOW HE USED PHOTOSHOP COMBINED WITH 3D TO CREATE IT

HOW I MADE

LAPUTANIK AINLEY

Created as a tribute to one of his favourite Studio Ghibli films Laputa , also known as Castle In The Sky ,UK-based digital illustrator Nik Ainley ( www.shinybinary.com ) chose to create this scene to be asimple character study, with the grass and plants used to test ZBrush’s FiberMesh system.

“I did the majority of the modelling in 3ds Max as it is the 3D environment I am most familiar with,”Ainley explains, “Once this was done I imported the model into ZBrush for the next stage. A very simpleclay-like material was used for the robot as this matched what was described in the film.” The scene was thenlit with a simple three-point light system, and ZBrush was used to produce a series of renders at differentsettings to give more flexibility in post-production. It was then that the renders were taken and composited inPhotoshop to complete the final piece.

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01 IMPORTING FROM 3DFirst I imported the main diffuse render into Photoshop and used the rendered alpha channel to

extract the model from its background. Since I wanted the focus to be on the model, I added a very simplebackground, just a few gradients and clouds using the Brush tool.

03 FINAL DETAILSBlending other renders, such as an ambient

occlusion render and cavity map, helped to bring outdetail. The final step was to add a little bit of depth offield blur. Using the depth map feature in lens blurand a rendered depth map made this more precise.

02 APPLYING MASKS ANDADJUSTMENT LAYERS

Using a render with different parts of the model inred, green and blue allowed me to create masksfrom the different RGB channels. Adjustment layerswith various blending modes and masks produced inthe previous step then allowed the image to betweaked in a controlled fashion.

A very simple clay-likematerial was used for the

robot as this matched whatwas described in the film



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075

PHOTOREAL EFFECTS TECHNIQUES

FROM INCEPTION TOCOMPLETION

WORK INPROGRESS

Progress 2: Create the effects

Progress 3: Colour and shape

AMAR KAKADwww.amarkakad.info

OUR EXPERT

Amar Kakad is a creative retoucherand 2D/3D CGI artist. His passion liesin creating dynamic visual imagery.His ambition is to one day direct adance video combining projectionmapping and VFX.

SOURCE FILESOn the disc you will find the full list ofstock images used and where todownload them from.

COMBINE AND ALIGN IMAGESSCALE AND MATCH PERSPECTIVE BEFORE ADDING EFFECTS

02 ALIGN BOTH IMAGES

Angle the car to make it more dynamic.Again, the most important tool is your eye. Scale,align and use the Perspective tool to match it closelyto the perspective of the road, but be careful not todistort it too much. Use Edit>Transform>Perspectiveto alter the perspective of the car to match the road.

01 ADD SOURCE FILES

TO STACK

Before you begin, you need todownload both the car andbackground files from the sourcedisc and load them into a stack inPhotoshop (File>Script>Load files

into stack). Make sure the Carlayer is over the Backgroundlayer. Once the car is overlaid, usethe Pen tool to mask the car fromits original background.

03 BRUSH IN THE SHADOW

The next step is to duplicate the Car layerand place it below, then title it ‘Shadow’. Invert themask to reveal the shadow of the car and mask theareas you want to keep. You can also change theblending mode of this layer to Overlay to blend itnicely onto the road.

PHOTOMANIPULATION

Progress 1: Align the photos

LEARN TO BLEND AND COMPOSITE IMAGES FROM DIFFERENTSOURCES TO CREATE A DYNAMIC RACE SCENE

PHOTOREAL EFFECTS

Enhance your compositing skills and learnhow to create a photoreal image with thistutorial. You will be taken through all thephases right from inception to completion,

learning new techniques in the process. This willalso open avenues for new methods of approachand execution.

You will start by aligning your assets, followed bycutting the car and brushing in the shadows. Youwill also be taken through removing objects and

extending sets, as well as converting daytimescenes to night and converting static imagery into adynamic shot. You will learn to add visual effects

such as smoke, water splashes, reflections, colourleaks and rain. We will also take you through addingsubtle details such as lights on buildings andimproving contrast and shape.

Amidst all the Photoshop tools available, themost important tool will always be your eye. It is notabout punching certain numbers in to obtain theright effects; there is no standard formula. Use youreye to determine if you need to add or removeelements, or if the composition is okay as it is.

By the end of this tutorial, you will have a betterunderstanding of compositing assets to createstriking visual imagery.







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14 SWITCH ON THE LIGHTSSince you have converted a daytime shot

into a night scene, it would be nice to add lights to thebuildings on top to help add realism. Create a newlayer and using the Lasso tool, draw the shape of awindow the size of the one you would like to addlights to. Fill with white and change the blendingmode to Overlay, then reduce the opacity to yourliking, as it will vary for each. Apply Gaussian Blur of2-3 to soften the edges.

17 NOISE

For the last couple of steps, you will need toadd some noise over the top of your image. Thereason for adding it is to conceal certain artefactsand banding that may have been caused andgenerated in the image during the process ofblending, grading and compositing assets. Create ablank layer. Fill it with 50% Gray. Set this layer toOverlay mode. Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Add avalue of 2-5 depending on how subtle you would liketo keep it.

15 SHARPENYou have almost reached the end of the

tutorial. You will now need to sharpen your mainsubject in the image, which is the car. You will alsoneed to merge all layers for this step. Go to Layer>Merge Visible. Apply Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask.Under Amount, use a value of 100. For Radius, use avalue of 4 and a Threshold of 1. Watch how sharp theimage is. Mask this layer and only brush in the areasof the car.

18 VIGNETTE

Towards the end, add a vignette to pop thecar from the rest of the image. Add a Curvesadjustment, increase the darkness and mask it.Brush with varying opacities alongside the border ofthe image only to reveal the dark areas and leavingthe car region untouched. You can also use Exposureand the Brightness/Contrast tool for creatingvignettes, applying a similar principle of masking. Ifyou feel the need to add a more tonal value, use theColor Balance tool as well.

16 HOTSPOTSTo give the car a glossy and shiny feel, you

will now add hotspots. These are spots of light yougenerally find on the edges of objects or alongsidethem, depending on the angle of light that reflects onthem. Create a new blank layer and using a softbrush, place them on areas around the car. Generallyyou can add 2-3 of these. You can also add a tint ofcolour using Hue/Saturation. In this case you canadd a yellow tint.

COLOUR LEAKS

With regards to painting colour leaks, keeppainting with varying brush opacities and alsousing soft brushes. Mixing colours with differentblending modes can create nice effects. If you aretrying to creating a sun burst effect, you can painta yellow spot for example and change itsblending mode to Color Dodge. It will look odd atfirst, but then reduce the Opacity to around10-20%. In certain cases, it tends to give nicehotspots. This technique can also be adopted forcreating fog and haze, so long as you rememberto paint with softer brushes and varying opacities.

TECHNIQUES PHOTOREAL EFFECTS

ADJUSTING FINER DETAILSUSE THE UNSHARP MASK TO KEEP FOCUS ON THE CAR

QUICK TIP

When brushing for masking or for adding colours, use varying brush opacities as it helps in the process ofblending, just like an artist would with their brush strokes. It gives you more fluidity. Also, keep mergingyour files and layers along the way to reduce the file size.



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080

REVIEWS NEC MULTISYNC PA272W



WE TAKE NEC’S LATEST HIGH SPEC REFERENCE PANEL OUT FOR A SPIN TOSEE HOW IT SLOTS INTO A STUDIO ENVIRONMENT

NEC MULTISYNC PA272W

SPECIFICATIONS:

£839 EXCL. VAT

$1,299

www.necdisplay.comwww.nec-display-solutions.co.uk

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The PA272W joins a growing list ofprofessional displays that don the‘Reference’ nametag. This is not just a wordused to fill out its brand name, but more of a

symbol or mark of its elite status among panel

technology of today. With a list of features that arebound to impress any digital artist, this has set abenchmark for many other monitors to follow. Also,the Reference name has become something of aselling point.

As part of its prestigious title, Reference panelsare hand-tested in the factory, so what comes out ofthe box is always the best of the best. NEC promisesuncompromising image quality with the PA272W,and it does well to deliver this in a couple of differentways. Firstly, we should point out that it uses a 10-bit

LED display that features in-plane switching (IPS)technology, which gives wider viewing angles whilemaintaining consistent colours at the same time.Displaying depth and clarity across its matte 27-inchscreen was no sweat, and the monitor’s 3D look-uptable offers a complete customisation of colourspaces. We discovered this to be very useful whenworking with a number of ICC profiles for different

Colour quality : Working on the display with Photoshop, we found that resolution and pixeldepth all came together to give stunning visuals and colour-accurate results

print outputs, and would also be beneficial foradapting to custom colour profiles delivered by athird party.

Some of the more productivity-enhancingfeatures that can be seen in this latest MultiSyncinclude a built-in picture-by-picture mode, whichplaces a video frame inside the full screen display, soyou’re able to work with two different signal inputs atany one time. In order to maintain a visual qualitythat’s worthy of its Reference title, NEC has injectedColorComp technology into this panel for optimal

colour uniformity at all times – which is just onereason why artwork and images appear so detailedcompared to a standard display. And it’s for thesereasons that this particular MultiSync stands out as atrue performer among panels.

NEC has also been very careful not to restrict itsnew MultiSync in terms of versatility and mobility.Turn the page to learn more…

Built to last: The tilting mechanism on the back allows for smoot h and precise angling tosuit your desk space. Once in place, it sits firmly on the stand

Physical credentials: Weighing in at nearly 13 kilos, this is no lightweight panel. It has aquick-release, height-adjustable stand (with a range of five centimetres) for making surethat viewing angles are just right

http://www.necdisplay.com/

http://www.nec-display-solutions.co.uk/

http://www.nec-display-solutions.co.uk/

http://www.necdisplay.com/



082


The CableComp feature goes to great lengths toreduce colour shift if using longer input cables (up to30 metres with digital panels and 100 metres withanalogue cables). But it doesn’t stop there, as NEChas made this display to suit potential demands of alarger studio atmosphere and not just for single-screen setups. What we’re talking about is themonitor’s hidden gem, and it comes in the form ofTileComp and TileMatrix technology workingharmoniously together. What these can do is giveyou the choice to build up your own stack of displays(up to 10 in total) without the need for supportinghardware – there should be nothing preventing suchan ostentatious arrangement of panels (minus the

financial dent!). TileComp is what goes to worksmoothing out the visuals and compensating foroptical nuisances and shifts for better overall visuals.This will eliminate any distracting transitionsbetween neighbouring panels in a stack.

If that’s all a little too high profile, however, thenthis can work as a great monitor for more low-keyenvironments as well, such as the home. It’sintelligent too, with auto black level and brightnessmeters detecting the lighting conditions while you’reworking to shape its backlighting to the setting that’smost comfortable for the eyes. Squeezing themonitor into your workspace might take somethought, as this isn’t the most discrete panel

available. The panel itself is nearly nine centimetresdeep and weighs nearly 13 kilos, so manoeuvringsuch a cumbersome screen is a two-handed affair.But once we had moved it into the right position, wesoon forgot about its weight and size and all theattention turned towards the quality of the picture.

The colour accuracy and detail in the darks tomidtones were what really caught our attention.Being able to create artwork across multipleplatforms, from camera through to printer, with anaccurate representation of colours is a blessing. Thiswas not only an enjoyable experience, but one wecould also come to rely on from the moment it’sswitched on.

A GLANCE ATTHE PA272WWORKING YOUR WAY AROUND THIS MONITOR

Making the rightconnections: A single HDMIport, DisplayPort (miniversion also included), as wellas DVI-D (Dual Link)connections provide all thenecessary links to get syncedup to a hard drive

Work in portrait mode: Theoption to rotate the screen 90degrees to face you in portraitmode is advantageous, andnot something that’scommonly seen in panels

Neat and tidy: Having so manyconnections, this cable tidy featurehelps to keep the workspace free fromstraggling wires



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GB-R LED backlighting is one of the reasons thatthe PA272W comes at a high price. But it’s thistechnology that produces an impressively largeAdobe RGB colour space of over 99%. How does itwork? As green and blue LEDs emit light, theystimulate the red phosphor spots to form a clean,white light source. These light sources are plantedaround the edges of the panel, and using a guidingsystem, white light is distributed seamlessly andevenly from one end of the screen to the other. Thiswhite light has been developed with colour filters tobring colour spaces to an optimal level and end upbeing highly accurate. What’s more, not only areheating and ageing effects maintained, butproduction costs are also controlled in the factory.

The display is teeming with technology that getsto work at making colours look at their best in

Photoshop. Along with GB-R LED backlighting thatensures an accurately presented colour space, therehave been additional improvements made to itsoverall performance. The PA272W has been given abetter response time, now at seven milliseconds, toreduce pixel ghosting that is sometimes present inmoving visuals on some displays. This is partneredwith Rapid Response technology for smoother pixelstransition. Another feature that has been updatedincludes a new minimum brightness settingcompared to predecessors, now able to go down aslow as 20cd/m 2, which is ideal for working underdim lighting conditions. All this control makesworking with the display all the more pleasurable.Performance is matched with build quality, in what isan excellently crafted panel for professional-endusers of a range of creative application.

MARKETCOMPETITORSA LOOK AT OTHER

DELL U2713H

www.dell.co.uk

£806 / $1,000The U2713H by Dell is more affordable than theMultiSync PA272W, and features PremierColortechnology that displays colour accurately right outof the box. USB 3.0 and HDMI connections make thismodel a convenient addition to the workspace.

VIEWSONIC VP2772

www.viewsoniceurope.com£699 (excl. VAT) / $1,020 (excl. tax)ViewSonic has injected its own SuperCleartechnology into the VP2772 to bring exceptionalviewing quality for Photoshop users andphotographers. Covering 99% of Adobe RGB colourspace with a 14-bit look-up table, this sizes upevenly with the MultiSync PA272W.

EIZO CG277

www.eizo.co.uk£1,340 (excl. VAT) / approx $2,244This 27-inch top-spec display by EIZO also boasts99% Adobe RGB colour coverage, along with a

built-in self-calibration sensor. Scheduled calibrationcan be programmed even if the panel is switchedoff. Like the MultiSync PA272W, this features aglare-free IPS panel for improved viewing.

External devices : Dual USB connections give you theability to link up multiple devices s uch as scannersand printers for a flexible production line

http://www.dell.co.uk/

http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/

http://www.eizo.co.uk/

http://www.eizo.co.uk/

http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/

http://www.dell.co.uk/



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Features: 9/10Ease of use: 8/10Quality of results: 9/10Value for money: 7/10

VERDICT

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

Whether you’re a retoucher, painter, designer orphotographer, colour accuracy has always played apivotal role in Photoshop. Being able to see detail inevery channel across varying colour spaces is animportant factor to consider. So it’s no wonder that acareful approach has to be taken in the decision-making when upgrading to your next monitor;especially with price tags that can rise much higherthan that of the PA272W.

The colour technology that sits behind thisMultiSync is truly second-to-none, even having cometo expect professional panels to give true colourswithout any questions asked. In reality that’s notalways the case, but the PA272W comes close tomaking this a dream come true.

There’s much more to this panel than first meetsthe eye. Perhaps too understated for its own good, itdemands respect from the outset, and we found thatnot only does it produce the goods visually, but it alsocaters for expanding studio and exhibition spaces– ideal for those looking for a heavy-duty display tohandle demanding work conditions.

We’ve come to expect a level of professionalconsistency with NEC’s Reference range, and thestandards keep on rising. For Photoshop artists, it’sshaping up to be a bright future – especially if thelatest developments in 4K Ultra HD haven’t quitegrabbed the attention of everyone. Although upfrontcosts are steep with Reference panels, this is aworthwhile upgrade.

Quality control: The 27-inch panel, withGB-R LED backlighting, keeps colour

uniformity true during long and intensivePhotoshop projects

Look and feel: A satin diffuser givescleaner image quality and auto brightness,black level and contrast modes mean itcan intelligently adjust itself according tothe surroundings

Energy consumption: An ambient lightsensor and a carbon footprint meter meanit’s easy to keep track of energ y usageover long periods of use, so we could bemore environmentally conscious




Transitioning a web design from Photoshopto code has always been a somewhatspecialised skill set, especially if a webdesigner intends to translate the design

into a WordPress template. Navigating the labyrinth

of code, style sheets, widgets and plug-ins is almostenough to drive any artist mad!

Tools to translate Photoshop files into web codehave usually ranged from inflexible to unreliable.They tend to either be so simplistically structuredthat every site they create appears to be a cookiecutter clone, or they are so needlessly complex thata designer might as well just learn how to do thecoding themselves!

Divine Elemente is a Photoshop plug-in that takesalmost all the pain out of producing an attractive,custom WordPress site. The plug-in follows in a longtradition of ‘What You See is What You Get’(WYSIWYG) editors. The workflow is smartly thoughtout as it places Photoshop in the middle of theproduction workflow, not the beginning. This meansPhotoshop templates are provided as well as aLayout Creator. Designers easily choose which

ELEMENTE BYDIVINE PROJECTwww.divine-project.com

CREATE WORDPRESS THEMES IN PHOTOSHOP NOCODE REQUIRED EVER

WordPress elements should be included in thedesign and where they live on the page. DivineElemente takes those choices and creates aPhotoshop wireframe of the site. The wireframe iseasy to use by anyone with moderate knowledge of

Photoshop – just place content into the clearlylabelled layer groups. Publishing the site is about asstraightforward as it possibly can be when dealingwith unknown servers, user permissions andarbitrary folder paths.

Divine Elemente finds itself solidly on the elusivemiddle ground between being overcomplicated andinflexibly simple. There’s plenty of depth to add andtweak custom elements or features, but also asimple enough workflow that a new user canproduce a site in under an hour.

■ Divine Elemente is the ideal plug-in for the Photoshop designer who wants to create WordPress sites, butdoesn’t want to bother with learning HTML, CSS or PHP

NO MORE CODE!

BRIDGE” BETWEEN PHOTOSHOP ANDWORDPRESS

■ WORK WITH PSD WIREFRAMES

The Photoshop templates are well marked, andeasily laid out. The idea of having pre-established layer groups to contain customcontent is ingenious. Just place your customlayers into the correct group!

■ 960 GRID

Divine Elemente includes a brilliant wizard-liketool to take the pain (and maths) out of planningyour 960 grids when designing web layouts. Thetool sets up the columns and gutters for you.

■ ANIMATIONS AND MORE

Easily create and adjust complicated items likebanner animations or menu interactions byusing the Publish Editor. Select the item on themain canvas and just adjust the properties asneeded.

■ LAYOUT CREATOR

The Layout Creator module provides an easymethod of selecting WordPress elements byway of checkboxes. Select your choices andthen export the PSD wireframe.

Divine Elemente provides a much-needed bridge over the gap betweenPhotoshop and WordPress. This plug-inis a must for any designer who doesn’twant to code.

VERDICT:

ELEMENTE BY DIVINE PROJECT REVIEWS

085

http://www.divine-project.com/

http://www.divine-project.com/



24 YEAR OLD DIGITAL ARTIST DAVID ROYA REVEALS HOW HE EXPANDED HISSKILL SET FOR PROFESSIONAL WORK

READER INTERVIEW

CREATIVE RETOUCHING

READER INTERVIEW CREATIVE RETOUCHING

DAVID ROYAwww.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/user/Tri5tatehttp://Tri5tate.deviantart.com

OUR READER

086

Age Of Piracy: ”I was inspired to do an environmental mattepainting on the landscapes from the latest Assassin’s Creed game,

since I found them so beautiful. The image is a mix of photos andpainting and took me about four hours to do,” says Roya

Though only 24, David Roya already has animpressive portfolio and experience workingfor clients such as IKEA. Working mainlywithin graphics design and retouching, he’s

been experimenting with Photoshop since histeenage years.

COULD YOU PLEASE TELL US MORE ABOUT

HOW YOU FIRST WERE INSPIRED TO CREATE

DIGITAL ARTWORK?

I’ve been interested in digital art and drawing since I wasa kid. I sometimes bought a book only for the cover, or aDVD because of the cover art. I realised how much itmeant to me for something to have a good visualrepresentation, and I wanted to be able to create suchart myself. I usually have a pretty clear idea of what Iwant before I start working in Photoshop, but

sometimes I simply evolve the picture within theprogram. I could have a rough sketch or an idea butthey are nothing without my tools.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR OWN STYLE?

I would say I have a pretty modern style. A lot of myinspiration comes from today’s games and movies,which comes through in my work. Although I havechanged my style a bit since my early days inPhotoshop, my interests remain the same. Of

A l l a r t i c

l e i m a g e s ©

D a v i d R o y a

Naming, grouping andcolour marking your layers

is essential to having control overa bigger project

http://www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/user/Tri5tate


http://tri5tate.deviantart.com/

http://tri5tate.deviantart.com/





A Steady Stream Of Madness: “There are some times when we all canrelate to this feeling, but maybe not quite so vibrantly. Although in mycase there is no dark story behind this image, I only created it becauseI thought it looked cool”

Siege Of Shanghai: “I’ve been a big Battlefield fan for many years, so I wantedto make a wallpaper for the gaming franchise. It gained a lot of appreciationand attention on the web, which is really fun”



course, looking back at my older pictures, I thinkthey look pretty bad, but I remember that wasmostly due to a lack of skill, which limited my ideas.Ever since I first started to use Photoshop, I wantedto be able to create those epic movie posters andgame ads, and now I feel I finally have the abilities todo so, and it will only get better.

WHAT PHOTOSHOP PROJECT DO YOU FEEL

MOST PROUD OF HAVING WORKED ON

THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER?

I’m usually more proud of projects that have givenme greater skills. That’s why I’m mostly proud of mypersonal projects such as Extraction and LostLegends , because I feel that they’ve evolved me asan artist the most.

Last year I worked for IKEA, producing theiryearly catalogue. [This was] a project that allowedme to expand on my retouching skill set a lot.

Because of the size of the project, it gave meconfirmation that I was still up to par in the industry,which I think everyone needs sometimes. When Iwas finished with the project and had a happy client,for me that meant that I knew I could handle workfor bigger companies as well. That was veryimportant and still makes me very proud of myself.

WERE THERE ANY CHALLENGES TO CREATING

A PROJECT FOR SUCH A LARGE CLIENT?

The IKEA catalogue is the biggest piece of printedmatter in the world. The job involved retouching andcorrecting hundreds of images directly from camera,or with a 3D program. It did get stressful at times,but it helped me master new techniques fast andpay close attention to detail. [These are] skills thatalso followed me into digital art, where I strive tocreate realistic-looking artwork, even though thescenes I create are sometimes surreal.

WHAT ARE THE TECHNIQUES YOU WOULD SAY

ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER WHEN

CREATING WORK USING PHOTOSHOP?

For me, layers are the most fundamental. Organisingthem is very important if you want structure,otherwise you’ll spend too much time scrollingthrough the Layers panel. Naming, grouping andcolour marking your layers is essential to havingcontrol over a bigger project. There are some timeswhen I totally forget this rule, which is kind offrustrating in a PSD file with over 250 layers.

DO YOU FEEL IT IS IMPORTANT FOR ARTISTS TO

LEARN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT SKILLS, SUCH

AS BOTH GRAPHICS DESIGN AND RETOUCHING?

Yes, definitely. Firstly, to pay the bills. You want to beable to take assignments from a broader range ofclients. It also makes you more versatile, andincreases the chances of developing better

088

Environments: It’s important to makethe environment look seamless byadding highlights and shadows onobjects. I painted some highlights inOverlay mode to bring the scene to life

Texturing: The mountains are madefrom rock textures. I created them bydrawing a selection on the texture basedon how I wanted the composition tolook. By using photos, you get a lot offree texture



CREATIVE RETOUCHING READER INTERVIE

Fog: The fog was created using a custombrush. Not only did it give the pictur edepth, it also makes the cliffs seemmore pronounced

089

Take advantage of Photoshop. Combinephotos with painting and you’ll see why youdon’t need to be a master at drawing toproduce digital art with great details.

Create images based on your interests tobegin with. It’s easier to get ideas onsomething you like, rather than trying tocreate something you’re not passionate about.

Don’t be afraid of the end result, or you’ll nevercreate something original. If it won’t come outlike you thought, look at it like practice.

Study how things behave and interact witheach other. This is important if you want

things to appear realistic. Sometimes a smallcontact shadow can make a big difference.

I’m not the first to say this, but get yourself atablet. It won’t help you go through the menusfaster, but try painting with a mouse and you’llsee why you need one.

TOP FIVE DESIGN TIPS

Characters: Placing a human in yourscene gives you a sense of scale. Ipainted this guy using references fromthe game Assassin’s Creed

Sleepless: “This picture is made up from stock images fromShutterstock.com (they have some great stocks), pictures I shot myself andstuff I dre w. It took about 6-7 hours in Photoshop and has 184 layers (yes, I usually have a lot o f layers in my PSDs!)”

Era: “This image was a lot of fun to make. It’s a movie poster for anupcoming sci-fi movie calledEra , directed by a friend of mine namedTed Karlsson. The suit is actually real. I shot it in a studio, brought itinto Photoshop and added the environment”

techniques. Some areas actually benefit from priorknowledge, such as a matte painter with anillustration background. Trying to learn new areas isnever wrong, but remember that it can bechallenging to remain great at one or another if youdon’t learn how to combine them.

CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU

ASPIRE TO ACHIEVE IN THE FUTURE? WHERE

DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS TIME?

I want to always keep improving my skills and tryingto learn new areas to have fewer limitations. Myultimate goal is to work as a digital marketing artistfor a bigger games or movie company.

Sweden, where I’m currently based, is prettylimited within those areas, but I have an olderbrother who works in the movie industry in theStates, so it’s possible that I’ll be moving there towiden my possibilities!

http://shutterstock.com/





090

LEARN HOW TO TURN YOUR DIGITAL CREATION INTO A PHYSICAL OBJECT

EXPLORING 3D PRINTING

One of the most exciting new technologies tofind its way into our hands is 3D printing.That’s the process of taking a digitallycreated 3D model and turning it into a real,

physical object. The technology has been around fora few years, but has yet to become widely accessible.That is slowly changing as small, consumer-level 3Dprinters are becoming more and more available.Additionally, the latest release of Photoshop CCincluded support for 3D printing. Not only can you

create or import models into Photoshop and preparethem for 3D printing, but there’s even the option toprint directly to a provider, Shapeways.com , throughthe application itself.

For our resource project, we decided to take thenew 3D printing capabilities for a spin. We will showyou how we developed, prepared, and printed a real3D chess piece. Special thanks to Danko Arlington(www.dankoarlington.com ) who graciously allowedus to use their 3D printer and even provided photos

and expert insight into the process. Be sure to checkout our interview with them for a fascinating lookinto how this technology is impacting themanufacturing industry.

Additionally, take a look on the cover disc for ourvideo tutorial, where we walk through the entireprocess of creating the digital 3D model to holdingthe finished object in your hand. Soon you’ll be ableto bring anything to life, all you need to begin is alittle inspiration…

RESOURCE PROJECT

http://shapeways.com/


http://www.dankoarlington.com/






091

EXPLORING 3D PRINTING ON THE DISC

091

CREATING THE 3D MODELCRAFT A REAL CHESS PIECE, DIGITALLY

04 ADD MORE EXTRUSIONS

The ears and the mane are added using thesame method of drawing a shape and extruding it in3D. Once the additional pieces are created, selectthem all and go to 3D>Merge 3D Layers.

05 FINISHED PIECE

Ctrl/right-click in the 3D panel and chooseAdd Cylinder to create a pedestal. Add a sphere in thesame way and scale it down vertically to create thepedestal top.

03 BEVELLED EDGES

Start with a standard Bevel preset, thenadjust the Bevel and Inflation settings in the Cap tabto create edges and sides to the piece that havedepth and are not simple, flat edges.

02 CONVERT TO 3D

Go to 3D>New 3D Extrusion from SelectedLayer. Photoshop will convert to the 3D workspace

and extrude the path into a three-dimensional object.Adjust the Extrude setting to an appropriate width.01

OUTLINE

Begin by using the Pen tool to draw out a profile curve of the main body of the chess piece. Don’tinclude the mane, ears or pedestal – those will be added later.

PREPARING FOR 3D PRINTINGSEND THE FILE OFF TO A 3D PRINTER

02 3D PRINT PROPERTIES

In the new 3D Print Properties panel, selecta printing source. To export a file for a local printer,choose the Local option. Be sure to set theappropriate volume and size for the object.

03 EXPORT THE FILE

Press the Start Print button to export theobject to an STL file. Photoshop prepares a previewof the file, and allows you to choose whether or notyou should include support structures.

01 UNIFY SCENE

Go to 3D>Unify Scene for 3D Printing. Thiswill merge all the meshes and materials into a singlecontinuous piece. If you want multiple colours, youneed to print multiple pieces.



040092092

The Fortus 900mc allowsDanko Arlington to print largerobjects than most other 3D

printers. The print envelope onthis machine is 24 x 36 x 36” (61x 92 x 92cm).

The cartridge of print materialcomes in a spool that holdsless than 250 square cm of

material. The material of choicefeeds out much like a stringtrimmer line.

Every tenth layer of supportmaterial has one layer of buildmaterial. The dissimilar

materials make it easier toseparate when pulling, peelingand chipping the stuff off.

The print material is only0.25mm thick and it separateseasily from the main build,

making the support materialremoval much easier and withless risk of damage.

TURNING PIXELS TO PLASTICTHE PRINT HEAD LAYS DOWN ROWS OF MATERIAL IN MUCH THE SAME WAY A TRADITIONAL PRINTER LAYS DOWN INK



093

EXPLORING 3D PRINTIN G ON THE DISC

Danko Arlington (www.dankoarlington.com ) initially specialised in patternmaking and diecasting. It was a business built around the hot,heavy, gritty work of sand moulds, molten metaland highly skilled workmen training apprentices.But as technology advanced, and moremanufacturing moved offshore, president John

Danko found that skilled patternmakers were adying breed. The work was there, but theworkforce was not. So in 2010 Danko installedlarge-scale 3D printers to replace patternmakers.Now two 3D printers run almost continuously 24hours a day, 7 days a week creating silicone dyesto support the foundry. The job that once required

a warehouse full of experienced woodworkers isnow being performed by two machines.

However, Danko speculates that widespreadresidential use is still several years out. “The rawmaterial is still very expensive,” he explains. “It willbe quite some time before it is cost-effective toprint personal figurines and ornaments.”

DANKO ARLINGTON

PRINT 3D DIRECTLY FROM PHOTOSHOP

Size matters!

Digital files areeasy to scale.Physical materialsare not quite sofriendly to arbitraryenlargement

Adobe haspartnered withShapeways.com to provide easyaccess to 3Dprinting tech. Justselect the optionfrom the Print Todrop-down menuto get things going!

The choice ofmaterial has the

biggest impact onprice. This 10cm

model prints inceramic for about£30/$50, but rawsilver totals over

£1,800/$3,000!

The printed model

must be a singlepiece and a single

colour, but thereare many different

types of materialto choose from









FROM THE SCREEN INTO YOUR HANDSHOW TO FINISH UP THE FINAL PRINTED RESULTS

02 REMOVE SUPPORT MATERIAL

Carefully remove the support material fromthe model. While it does break away, it is not soft.You will require tools to chip, scrape and pry thesupport material off without scratching or damagingthe build material.

03 SAND AND SMOOTH

Use some sandpaper or a woodworkingblock to sand away any rough edges or blemishesfrom the finished model. The variety of print materialwill determine how much finishing is required.

01 AFTER PRINTING

The model comes out of the printing machine with the support material, or scaffolding, still attached.This ensures the print material stays in position during printing. It is designed to be broken away afterwards.

We’ve included 3D files to create every piece on the chessboard. Add your own custom flair and design and then print outyour very own custom set!

O N

T H E D I S C 3D CHESS PIECES

PRINT OUT A WHOLE SET OF CUSTOM CHESS PIECES!

ON THE DISC EXPLORING 3D PRINTIN G

094



TUTORIALS INTERVIEWS EXPERT GUIDESBEGINNER ADVICE

CREATE THE ART OF THE FUTURE

ON SALE NOW:> Photoreal 3D > Arch-vis > Visual effects > Animation > 3D printin

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