Image Umbrella: Realistic Images

[Boude]

I believe alpha mask takes the average of the mask's color and sets the original image's (the one that is displayed on your canvas) alpha to that average and does it pixel after pixel. Thats why color is not very important, also the alpha channel is only 1 channel red, green and blue are 3 so it would be impossible to use all 3 on the alpha channel.

[oma]

:?: well I just about understand those explinations but do you all just duplicate the layers until you acheive full alpha again?

This masking seems to work better on images that are being cut from background not images a person is drawing with line tools and ovals and squares into a picture.

ciao

[Boude]

I hope I understand you right, anyway: the mix alpha function allows you to mix the alpha your current picture has with the lumosity of the mask, so if I'm correct leaving the mix alpha option unchecked should just set the mask average color to alpha.

Masking works best when the mask is anti-aliased like lines or shapes, the image you're masking doesn't really matter.

[LFC4EVER]

If you want color values in a mask, use Channel Mask. Sharp, try using lens on the planet to give it a rounded feel, then add lighting and shadow etc. :wink:

Oma, great job on the wine bottle, i just think the white highlight is too strong and thick, maybe some transparency too? :wink:

[oma]

:oops: I added back in too many layers for the opacity? I'm stuggling with this

yes white higlight agree too wide and strong.

here is another one I'm working on.

color is off I know but is it looking anything like I'm intending it to?

[LFC4EVER]

Add height to the brown skin (emboss/relief) + add the shine (white to transparent gradient) on both sides + a blend mode? The seeds need to be added as well. (these ideas are just off the top of my head, they may not work.. use at own risk)

Looking great though!

[Boude]

some lighting would be nice too.

[Crimson]

Lighting is definitely a must. Also, notice that the center is much lighter in color than the green part, while yours seems to be slightly darker.

Seeds would be nice too, but you probably already know that. Looking great so far :wink:

[oma]

thanks for the comments. I'm going to put this one on the back burner. I want to try some other techniques first then come back to it with a fresh perspective. Start from the beginning again and totally redo.

for now here is one just to make you all giggle.

OMA has the ugliest dog ever!

[HELEN]

Oma, my heart just flip-flopped (from surprise; it's up so close and big)! I have to say that it's professionally done. Nice job!!!

[007 Nab]

What distort did you run on the sphere to create the wavy look?

And then you just duplicated and flipped horizontally, right?

I like the highlights. Funny pic

[oma]

inspiration for this piece was a phrase I heard not long ago about "" in your face Saturday morning cartoons ""

Helen I told you I was working on one ugly dog. He's actually so homely he's cute.

Nab not sure what wavy you are talking about? draw me a quick arrow pointing to where you mean and I'll explain.

ciao OMA

[007 Nab]

Well, basically, how did you distort the spheres (head, body, etc.) so that they weren't spheres?

I've tried a couple and they haven't worked. It looks similar to one of Madjik's works.

[oma]

don't know which one you mean by Madjik I didn't follow anything but what was in my head.

similar to how I did the cherries (see my pear tut near the bottom of page 2)

basically its sphere 3d full sphere

next layer same texture sphere 3d but use half sphere I didn't save the settings, but if you can't figure them out let me know I can most likely re do pretty close for you.

put a little black blur on a separate transparent layer down the centre under the half sphere and over the layer of the full sphere. flatten

I didn't save the exact settings I used (this is a mock up of the settings I did)

hope that is what you want to know

ciao

OMA

[stealthed]

Nice kiwi and nightmare-ish dog, oma.

Changed it from ocean, to lake. I think it needs better land color though, any suggestions?

[oma]

yes he was very nightmare-ish wasn't he. Helen and I had been PMing about good and bad images and about either posting them or not. He was one I pulled out of the trash bin.

At least Nab I hoped learned how to do a step he was needing for a project from it.

That poor puppy was so ugly! now he is going back in the trash bin. I have said in the past I learn a lot from my bad trash. This one I learned red and yellow and green don't look good as dog colors (looks more like a turkey than a dog) but on the plus side I learned how to give good perspective of a dog coming out of the screen towards you. Which by the way was the original experiment.

@stealthed when you look off in the distance at land you sometimes see some greenish blue in the tree line. and some browns, you see tree trunk color but not the actual tree trunks because of all the leaves.

More variety of green tones could help, maybe even darker ones in the gully like areas.

When I did my landscape I have in the galleria I used some dithers and stretched and pulled them around (using same method for distortion as in the dog above.) and then lowerd the transparency. I'm not sure if that's the look you are going for but I thought it gave me the real mottled feel of forests.

EDIT Stealthed I hope it was trees and not just hilly grass. either way it really needs to be more dark tones less acidy green looking.

ciao

[007 Nab]

Thanks Oma, I tried responding last night but the connection kept timing out.

Now I understand how you got those shapes, I think it'll come useful in the future.

Thanks again for all your help,

Nab

[Goonfella]

I did the apple tut again but this time I used the distorting methods I learned from Oma`s pear tut to get a better shape and I also got a better shine .

[yellowman]

100% PDN took two hours of work:

Vase

Colors:

[janettsue]

Your dog is fruity OMA!

yellowman nice vase.

[oma]

jannettsue she is such a cutie. love the wings!

she just makes my heart flutter. sort of a cross between abstract and reality?

full size in my gallery pg 23

[K_I_N_G]

Those heart things are bad man (good).

[oma]

thanks!

[÷lcey÷]

Well, heres my shot at a paint brush ;P

i ended up making it a sig thing too ;D

[HELEN]

Ooooh. That's nice. Did you use a tutorial for that because I remember seeing that somewhere on here. Great job. It looks really cool! 8)