The Art of Poser and Photoshop- P6 pps

So, make surethat the Texture Shaded option is selected for your Poser model see Figure 3.10.. Figure 3.9 Open theSydney G2 model Figure 3.10 Apply the texture shaded mode Figure 3.11 Im

5 Now is time to apply the finishing touches to the landscape You’re going to add

some more clouds so that they look like they’re coming out toward the camera into

the foreground This will give the scene a stronger sense of depth Simply duplicate

your cloud layer several times and use your Warp and Transform tools to alter the

shapes, as shown in Figure 3.7

Figure 3.7

Transform your cloud layers

As you place each cloud layer on top of one another, the scene begins to take on

the appearance of mist coming toward the viewer Use your layer masks and your

paintbrush to edit each layer to get your own concept of what the cloud bank will

look like, as shown in Figure 3.8 Keep in mind that your results will be slightly

dif-ferent from what you see here; however, the concept is the same When you’re

fin-ished, save this file as background.jpeg so that you can use it as a backdrop to import

into Poser

Creating the Light Goddess in Poser Pro

In this section you are going to construct the light goddess by posing a 3D character inPoser Pro and editing the UV map used to create the skin texture of the model Whenposing your character, you can select a body part and use your mouse to reposition it.However, you might find that the Parameter dials make this task a lot easier at first.Once the initial pose is set, you can manually fine-tune the adjustments with yourmouse Play with this and develop the workflow that is best for you As a result of thework in this section, her body will glow with light and energy will flow from the palms

of her hands as she rises above a coastal landscape

1 Access the figure library and open the Sydney G2 model, as shown in Figure 3.9

2 As you edit the UV map, you need to be able to see how the textures are beingapplied in Open GL (Open GL allows for the the ability to see textures as accurately

as possible in the native 3D space without actually rendering them.) So, make surethat the Texture Shaded option is selected for your Poser model (see Figure 3.10)

3 When you are creating in a 3D environment, it is very helpful to actually be able

to see the background in your 3D interface so that you know how the final scene

is going to be composed Go to File > Import > Background and select the ground.jpeg file that you saved in the previous section This image is also in thetutorials/ch3 folder When the dialog box opens asking if you would like to changethe window to match the background, click Yes (see Figure 3.11)

Figure 3.9 Open the

Sydney G2 model

Figure 3.10 Apply the texture shaded mode

Figure 3.11

Import ground image

back-4 So that you have as little distraction as possible, click on the ground plane in the3D scene and access its parameters Make sure that the Visible, Cast Shadows,Collision Detection, Visible in Raytracing, and Display Origin options are all des-elected In addition, turn off the Shadow option for the character See Figure 3.12.Now you can pose and view the model without a lot of visual distractions Youshould see something like Figure 3.13.

Figure 3.12 Make the ground plane

unviewable

5 It will be very helpful to pose the legs without the inverse-kinematics constraints,

so deselect that option for the both legs See Figure 3.14

6 The Posing camera will always move and rotate with the model as the central point

of focus You will use this camera quite a bit when posing and animating your ure, so select it for now See Figure 3.15

fig-Figure 3.13 Poser figure with background

7 Use the Translate and Rotation tools to rotate the model approximately 45 degrees

to the right and position her slightly off-center toward the right portion of the

frame, as shown in Figure 3.16

8 Select the right thigh and apply the parameters as shown in Figure 3.17 Remember,

try using the Parameter dials for the initial pose and then fine-tune the adjustments

with your mouse

9 Next, select the right shin and apply a 93-degree bend, as shown in Figure 3.18

Figure 3.14

Turn off the inverse- kinematics constraints

Figure 3.15

Set the Camera mode to Posing Camera

10 As the character is a rising above the coastal landscape, the joints should reflect the

natural movement of the body Using your Parameter dials, you are going to set the

direction and the angle of the feet and toes Using Figure 3.19 as an example, apply

the parameters shown for both the feet and the toes The parameters are shown in

11 To give her a sense of balance, as if she’s hovering in the winds above the landscape,

you’re going to rotate the hips in the upper body in opposite directions This will

create a sense of counterbalance that is necessary as she floats up skyward To achieve

this effect, select the waist and the abdomen and apply the parameters shown in

Figure 3.23 Also, use Figure 3.22 as an example of what you’re trying to achieve at

this point

Figure 3.22

Results after applying the parameters for the waist abdomen

12 As she is floating in the winds, her left arm is going to extend outward with a burst

of energy emanating from the palm of her hand Keep in mind that the left arm is

not going to be the first joint in the body that will extend movement The

move-ment will start in the left collar and then extend toward the left arm So start by

selecting the collar Use the Up – Down dial to set the motion to 13 degrees, as

shown in Figure 3.24

13 Next, you’re going to pose the left hand Select the Hand camera and open the

parameters for the hand so that you’ll be able to view the controls for every aspect

of the hand With these you can apply parameters to each of the digits on the hand

to include the ability to make a fist These controls also include the ability to spread

the fingers apart, grasp something, and bend Use Figure 3.25 as a guide

Use what you have learned and pose the right arm and the right hand as well Use Figure

3.25 as a guide, but feel free to apply some of your own ideas as well Figure 3.26 shows

the final pose of the character

Figure 3.25

Apply the pose parameters to the left hand

Figure 3.26

Completed view of the posed character

Adding Texture to the Figure

Currently, the surface of the character reflects that of human skin The goal is to create

a character that has light emanating from and pulsating through her body So, in thisexample, the body will not have a smooth skin-like quality You’re going to replace theoriginal texture map with one that you’ll custom-create in Photoshop CS4

1 In Photoshop, create a file that is 5×5 inches in dimension and has a resolution of

150 pixels per inch Make sure that your foreground is white and your backgroundcolor is black Create a new layer and fill it with the Clouds texture (choose Filters

> Render > Clouds) See Figure 3.27

Note

The clouds body.jpg file is also in the tutorials/ch3 folder

3 Go to the Material room By default, you will see the texture map for the Sydney

G2 figure You are going to disconnect the current map and replace it with the

clouds body.jpg file Click on the connector for the Diffuse_Color setting and select

the Disconnect option, as shown in Figure 3.29 Next, go back to the connector

for Diffuse_Color and select New Node > 2D Textures > image_map, as shown in

Figure 3.30

Figure 3.28

Alter the look

of the Clouds texture

Figure 3.29

Disconnect the current texture

What you then see is similar to Figure 3.33, where you have two types of previews.

The first one, shown below the Image_Map_2 connector, is a display of the actual

texture that will be mapped onto your model as you would see it in Photoshop The

second one, which is listed on the bottom of the PoserSurface panel, is the map

dis-playing lighting and bump details as they appear on the model’s surface

Figure 3.32

Selecting the clouds body.jpg image

Figure 3.33

View of the PoserSurface panel

If you apply the same texture to the Diffuse_Value setting to define the detail, theSpecular_Color setting to define the extreme highlights, and the Bump setting todefine the surface texturing, you will see something that looks like Figure 3.34.

5 The character that you are creating is going have some fiery hair Let’s use Poser’s

ability to create hair to start this process Access the Hair library and select Sydney

G2 Strand 2, as shown in Figure 3.36

Figure 3.35

Create the lighting for your scene

Figure 3.36

Select Sydney G2 Strand 2 from the Hair library

The Camera’s Focal Length…A Brief Description of Perspective

The angle that the viewer observes the scene (also called the vantage point) can help

determine the mood of the final piece For example, a scene from a bird’s eye vantagepoint (where you are looking down on the composition) gives a sense that that you’reobserving what is happening from an outside perspective A bug’s eye vantage point(where you are looking up at the composition) makes the elements in the scene seemlarger than life

Composition is defined by the placement, angle, and the focal depth used to portrayyour primary subject or idea Artists use the concept of perspective lines and vanishingpoints to set the stage for the idea or subject matter that they are trying to portray.Figure 3.38 shows an example of how perspective lines are used to fake the appearance

of a three-dimensional object The top and front-right sides of the box in this exampleare created with the use of the yellow lines The front and top sections of the box aredefined by the red lines and include the beveled edges for the window seals Everything

in this simple object adheres to the rules of the two-point perspective applied in this

example What do I mean by two-point perspective? If you take your ruler and place it

on each line of the same color, and continue those lines into the distance, every line will

intersect at a single point This intersecting point is called the perspective point and in

this example there are only two such points A good draftsman can create any type of

perspective that a photographic lens can create with the creative placement of the

van-ishing points So, let’s compare this concept of vanvan-ishing points to that of how

differ-ent focal lengths of photographic lenses affect perspective

The Camera’s Focal Length: Its Vanishing Point and

Perspective Lines

In the photographic world, perspective is achieved not just by the placement of the

cam-era above or below its subject matter, but by using the camcam-era’s various focal lengths

Through the various focal lengths, the photographer has the ability to change the

com-position and mood of the photograph He or she can exaggerate the perspective with

the use of a wide-angle lens or flatten it with the use of a telephoto lens Let’s take a look

at this in comparison to the concept of perspective grids and vanishing points Let’s

compare the results of the same composition through three different lenses

Figure 3.39 displays a shot of the product box for Poser This particular shot was taken

with a 28mm lens In addition, the perspective lines have been drawn to show this

par-ticular lens’ unique angle of view In all honesty, the game of applying perspective is all

about portraying a certain angle of view

Figure 3.38

Box created using a two- point perspec- tive

Take a look at Figure 3.40 In this example you will see three focal lengths The top one

is 28mm, the next is 50mm, and the bottom one is 100mm This gives you a side comparison as to what is happening with the vanishing points and perspective linesfor each particular lens

con-In the 50mm lens example, the perspective points move farther away con-In this case, notethat the horizontal lines that define the top and bottom edges of the box converge onone another with less angular severity So, the box will appear less distorted

Finally the 100mm focal length shows how the perspective points move even farther

away from the product Because the left side is at a greater angle to the lens of the

cam-era, its vanishing point extends far beyond the canvas Notice that the angle of

conver-gence to the vanishing point is even less severe than the 50mm example, so the box takes

on a more flattened appearance Let’s go back to Poser and discover how you can apply

these same concepts to the goddess character

The Camera’s Focal Length in Poser Pro

Poser enables you to mimic any lens focal length by manually entering in the focal length

in the camera’s Parameters tab

1 Select your main camera and access its parameters You can click on the focal lengths

directly, where you will see the results in the form of millimeters, or manually type

in the length that you would like to use—in other words 50mm, 100mm, and so

on Or you can also click and drag the scroll wheel and see the results of your

changes immediately Figures 3.41 through 3.43 show examples of various focal

lengths

The 28mm example is used for this tutorial primarily because the wider focal length

makes it seem like the figure is reaching out toward the viewer This adds a sense of

rhythm to the composition Also, as you create scenes using Poser, keep in mind

what lens focal length was used to create the original photographic scene Use the

same focal length in Poser Pro so that when you import the model into Photoshop,

it looks integrated into the scene See Figure 3.44

Figure 3.41 View of 100mm focal length in Poser Figure 3.42 View of 30mm focal length in Poser

Now, render the 3D object into a PSD (Photoshop Document) file and save it tothe Chapter 3 folder on your hard drive You can set the render parameters byaccessing Render > Render Settings When you’re done, press Ctrl+R/Command+R

to render your scene See Figure 3.45

Figure 3.43 View of 17mm focal length in Poser Figure 3.44 View of 29mm focal length in Poser

Figure 3.45

The Render

Dimensions

panel

Integrating Poser and Photoshop

Let’s go back to Photoshop where you created the initial landscape and bring in the

ren-dered character

1 Save your layered document so that you will always have the original Next, flatten

the document and save it with another name so that you will not disturb your

orig-inal Duplicate the layer and apply a smart filter to it (choose Filters > Convert to

Smart Filters) Next, apply a motion blur (choose Filters > Blur > Motion Blur)

with a distance of 35 pixels with an angle of –23 degrees Notice that the filter has

been applied to the image as a separate layer The black colored eye next to the

Motion Blur text is the toggle for viewing the effect of the blur

You will also see that the smart filter has a mask associated with it Like all layer

masks, the default color is white, so if you apply black the effect will disappear The

goal in this step is to apply the blur to the lower section of the image and not affect

the top portion Using your Gradient tool (G), apply a gradient from black to white

from the top to the bottom of the filter mask Use Figure 3.46 as a guide

2 Now, apply the Poser image to a layer above the smart filter and place it slightly to

the left, as shown in Figure 3.47

Figure 3.46

Create a smart filter with a motion blur