The Art of Poser and Photoshop- P10 pptx

The lower the value, the darker the surface will be.Because you’re using the texture image to create the luminous surface, the textureengine is using any brighter areas in the image to m

3 Connect to the Bottom channel and notice that only the darker areas in the

origi-nal texture are affected The highlights have not been touched

4 Continue by connecting to the Octaves channel The Octaves are the denser areas in

the original texture The base color in the Granite node (white) dominates these areas

5 Finally, connect to the X Scale, Y Scale, and Z Scale channels and observe how the

texture engine attempts to texture tonalities along each of those axes

Applying Photographic Images to Individual

Channels

Just as you can add procedural textures to individual channels, you can also add digital

images In this section, you’ll add a photographic image to each of the channels

1 Open another Turbulence node It will be titled Turbulence_2 by default Start with

the X Scale channel and attach an Image_Map node To do this, choose New Node

> 2D Textures > Image_Map At the top you will see the Image_Source layer Click

on this layer and navigate to the tutorials folder Open the texture.jpg file from the

Figure 5.70

View of the Granite node added to the X Scale channel

Tutorials folder Immediately you can see how the image map is applied to theTurbulence_2 texture If you observe closely (see Figure 5.71), you can determinethe axis that is being affected by observing the direction of the distortion Poserappears to be allowing it to affect the pixels in a left-to-right fashion, which is the

X axis

2 Connect to the Y Scale and Z Scale channels and observe how the texture engineaffects the tonalities along each of those axes Start by connecting to the Y axis andnotice that Poser appears to be allowing it to affect the pixels in an up-and-downpattern See Figure 5.72 In this step the pixels that are affected are the ones facingyou on the Z axis, so everything seems to have some distortion See Figure 5.73

Figure 5.72

View of the Image_Map node added to the Y Scale channel

Figure 5.73

View of the Image_Map node added to the Z Scale channel

Using the Nodes to Create Bump and

Luminosity Effects

When working with photographic imagery, you will also want to apply the imagedirectly to the surface of your object Oftentimes you may want to use that same image

to create bump textures as well as lighting effects through the luminous channels

1 Clear the other nodes that you were working with in the previous exercise Applythe image map to the Diffuse_Color channel, as shown in Figure 5.74 Use tex-ture.jpg as your source image Note that this channel is the one that you will use toapply a photographic image to the object’s surface

3 Now connect the Bump channel to the image map You can see that this processuses the textures in your image to create a bumpy surface Poser is simply using anyhighlights from the image map as the areas that will rise forth and any shadowdetails in the image as the areas that will recede into valleys See Figure 5.76 Do alittle experimentation with the value of the bump Change it to 03 as shown inFigure 5.77 Notice that the effect of the texture is less dominant Use the Bumpvalue to control the strength of the effect

Figure 5.75

Apply the image map to the Specular_Color channel

Figure 5.76

Apply the image map to the Bump channel

4 Now, connect to the Alternate_Diffuse channel The higher the value, the moreluminous your surface will be The lower the value, the darker the surface will be.Because you’re using the texture image to create the luminous surface, the textureengine is using any brighter areas in the image to make the surface glow See Figure5.78.

5 Connect the Alternate_Specular channel to the Image_Map node, as shown in

Figure 5.79 Any areas of your surface that have a specular quality will be enhanced

by this channel Because you already have the texture connected to the

Alternate_Diffuse channel, this process will brighten the surface to a greater degree

Figure 5.79

Apply the image map to the Alternate_ Specular channel

6 The Alternate_Diffuse and the Alternate_Specular channels are fine-tuning options

that work in combination with Diffuse_Color and Specular_Color You can also

use other nodes that will match functions to apply color effects One of these is

called ColorRamp Connect the Color Ramp node to the Alternate_Diffuse

chan-nel (choose New Node > Math > ColorRamp) Figure 5.80 shows the ColorRamp

node connected to the Alternate_Diffuse channel, which is in turn connected to

the image map So, if you look at the bottom of the PoserSurface panel, you’ll see

the results of the image map being blended with all four colors The bottom color

represents the highlights and the top image represents the darker details In essence,

it uses a graduation of all of the chosen colors to represent the tones present in your

photographic image

Understanding how to use texture nodes can greatly improve how you texture your Poser

model Figure 5.81 is an example of how nodes were used to create the final texture on

the character Note the fiery, luminous effect happening throughout his body Look at

the settings that are displayed in Figures 5.82 and 5.83 and apply these directly to your

character to get similar results Both these examples make up one continuous panel

They have been broken into two examples to make it easier for you to read them

Figure 5.82

First half of textures applied

to the character

Figure 5.83

Second half of textures applied

to the character

Don’t forget to save this texture into your library since you’ve put hard work into ating it, as shown in Figure 5.84.

Adding the Finishing Touches in Photoshop

In this section you’re going to bring your character into its own layer and place him inside the transparent tube You will then add some lighting effects for additionalinterest

Fine-Tuning the Character

1 Access your glass tube layer group Ctrl-click/Command-click on the highlightededges to get a marching ants outline around the glass tube shape Create a new layerbelow the metal strips that you created for the top and bottom portions of the tubeand fill this selection with an orange hue (choose Shift+F5 > Fill with Color) SeeFigure 5.85

2 The glass should reflect some of the concrete wall that is supporting the top and

bottom sections Duplicate the concrete layers and place them above the layers that

make up the glass tube Change their blend mode to Screen Associate a layer mask

and edit it so that the reflections are restricted to the top and lower portions of the

tube Use Figure 5.86 as a guide

Figure 5.85

Fill the tube with an orange glow

Figure 5.86

Adding tions to the tube

reflec-3 Let’s add some additional glow to the concrete If the character is emitting light,the concrete supports should have some sort of illumination as well Create a newgradient similar to what you see in Figure 5.87 Apply a circular gradient to the newlayers that will be sitting above the concrete slabs and change the blend mode toOverlay Use a layer mask to restrict its effects to the concrete supports only SeeFigure 5.88 Continue to use these gradients and place them on their own layers.Use the Transform tool (Ctrl+T/Command+T) to shape them into highlights alongthe right, bottom, and top portions of the tube Change the blend modes to HardLight, as shown in Figure 5.89 Also, select any shapes that make up the glass tubeand give them an outer glow using layer styles.

4 Place the Poser character behind the glass tube and apply a layer style of OuterGlow Give the glow surrounding the body a yellow hue Figure 5.90 displays thefinal result of the outer glow being applied and Figure 5.91 displays the attributes

of the layer style

Figure 5.88

Apply the dient to a new layer and change its blend mode to Overlay

gra-Figure 5.89

Create tional gradients and change their blend modes to Hard Light

5 Duplicate the character and give it a blend mode of Exclusion (see Figure 5.92).

This will cast the greenish effect throughout the entire body, so use a layer mask to

restrict this effect only to the corners of the body

6 Duplicate this layer again, but this time change the blend mode to Luminosity, as

shown in Figure 5.93 This step will make the green along the edges of his body

much more luminous

7 Duplicate the layer one last time and convert it to a smart filter (choose Filters >

Convert to Smart Filters) Next, apply the Plastic Wrap smart filter (choose Filters

> Artistic > Plastic Wrap) Play around with these settings and find something that

works best for you See Figure 5.94 Figure 5.95 shows the final results of the Plastic

Wrap filter

8 Create a new layer as the first layer in the glass tube layer group Access your

Gradient tool (G) You should have the last custom gradient that you created for

the highlights still available Use this to create small circular gradients on the layer

to imitate energetic orbs floating around the character, as shown in Figure 5.96

Change the blend mode for this layer to Hard Light to get a more dynamic effect

Figure 5.97 shows what you’ll have so far

Figure 5.92

Apply the Exclusion blend mode to the duplicate image

Figure 5.95

Final results of the Plastic Wrap filter

Figure 5.96

Apply energy effects using the Gradient tool

Fine-Tuning the Backdrop

You’re almost there! Now that you’ve fine-tuned the actual character, it’s time to addsome finishing touches to the background and its lighting effects to give this image amore convincing look

1 Select a standard soft-edged paintbrush, as shown in Figure 5.98 Next, go to theWacom properties and select the Pen tab (On the PC it is located in your Programsmenu and on the Mac it is located in the Preferences menu.) To the right you will seedesignations for the bottom and the top buttons located on the pen itself You canset any command that you like for either of these buttons, but for now set the topbutton to make your brush larger (]) and the bottom one to make the brush smaller([) So activate the drop-down menu and choose Keystroke Apply the designatedshortcuts as shown in Figure 5.99 This will be very handy when you are quicklypainting and you find that you need your other hand free for other shortcuts

Figure 5.97

The view so far

Figure 5.99

Set the Wacom properties to enlarge or reduce the brush with the pen buttons

Figure 5.98

Select a edged brush

soft-2 Because of the ambient light bouncing all around the tube, the metal strips willshow some highlights along either side These highlights will also enhance theirroundness, so create a new layer and use your soft-edged brush to apply a subtlehighlight, as shown in Figure 5.100.

3 Press R on your keyboard to activate the Rotation tool and rotate the canvas 90degrees to the left, as shown in Figure 5.101 It’s sometimes easier to paint in a direc-tion that you are most comfortable with, so use the Rotation command often inyour workflow

4 With all of the light coming from inside the tube, there should be a greater glow

So, create a new layer and change its blend mode to Screen Next, use the brush to paint a yellowish highlight all around the tube to simulate a glow ema-nating from the interior Use a light pressure at first and build the intensity slowly.Use Figure 5.102 as a guide Figure 5.103 shows the latest results

Figure 5.101

Rotate the canvas 90 degrees to the left

Figure 5.102

Create a new layer and paint

a highlight around the tube

5 Because there is so much light coming from the tube, it will also spill over onto theconcrete, so create a new layer below the one with the outer glow Change its blendmode to Lighter Color and paint on the glow with the yellow hue as the tube’s high-light See Figure 5.104.

6 Because there is only a slight shadow at the base of the tube due to the effects of theambient light, you need to paint a richer tone near the base of the tube, where themetal strips are Create a new layer and change its blend mode to Multiply andapply the shading using black See Figure 5.105

7 The mountains inside the glass tube compete too much with the character, so accessthe layer with the stone figures and edit out some of the stone detail by applying a50% gray mask in the shape of the tube The gray mask will leave some of the stonevisuals to show that you can still see through the glass to the background See Figure5.106

8 Finally, go back to the layer with the circular highlights and stretch it upward togive the glow a sense of motion, as shown in Figure 5.107

Figure 5.103

Latest results

with the glow

Figure 5.104

Create a new layer and paint

a highlight around the tube

Figure 5.105

Create a new layer and paint

a richer tone near the base of the tube

Figure 5.108 displays the final image Play around with these techniques that you’ve just

learned and achieve something that is uniquely yours

Figure 5.108

The final image

What You Have Learned

This chapter covered the following topics:

■Nodes function as individual texture engines

■All surfaces in Poser are accompanied by a PoserSurface panel, which simply tains a series of channels that are used to change the attributes of any surface

con-■Nodes can be attached to individual channels

■The two ways texture your object are with procedurals and with the use of digitalimages

■Bump, specularity, and diffuse colors can be applied using both procedurals anddigital images

This chapter covers the following topics:

■ Image based lighting (IBL)

■ Different styles of lighting in Poser Pro

■ How to apply IBL to a Poser scene

■ How to apply the various lighting properties

■ Using Photomerge in CS4

Image Based Lighting

in Poser Pro

This chapter explores a different type of lighting concept in Poser Pro, called image

based lighting (IBL), whereby a digital image becomes the source of the light In other

words, instead of lighting your scene with a single color or brightness, your scene and

objects are lit with the various colors and the lighting intensity of the digital image that

you specify as the source IBL

You will learn how to use IBL by creating a scene of a human character whose physical

body is integrated with an environment of a custom-created landscape You’ll then take

the landscape imagery and use that as the basis for lighting the character, and finally

export it into CS4 to complete the tutorial

Creating the Basic Pose

You will start this tutorial by creating the basic pose that will later be lit by an image

based lighting environment

1 Access the figure library and choose the Kelvin G2 figure, as shown in Figure 6.1

Pose the character similar to what you see in Figure 6.2

Figure 6.1

Select the Kelvin G2 figure

2 Note that the Full Body Morphs located under the FBM menu have parametersapplied to them Mimic these parameters as a starting point and then play with yourown ideas as well The goal was to give the character a natural muscular look Inaddition, give the main character a focal length of 31mm This will make charac-ter look as if he is stretching out toward a viewer into deep space See Figure 6.2.

of the texture applied to the head and the body

4 Next, select the Head camera and apply the settings shown in Figures 6.6, 6.7, and6.8 Once again, use these settings only as a guide Feel free to experiment with yourown ideas as well Now, do a render (Ctrl+R/Command+R) to see how the texture

is going to appear in the final scene See Figure 6.9