The Difference Between Flow & Opacity
Lesson 18 from: Creating Your Reality with Composite PhotographyRenée Robyn
The Difference Between Flow & Opacity
Lesson 18 from: Creating Your Reality with Composite PhotographyRenée Robyn
Lessons
Class Introduction
09:16 2Why You Should Sketch Your Composite
03:25 3What to Look for in Your Background
10:51 4Posing Your Model
08:23 5Communicate with Your Team
10:34 6Elements of Compositing
31:36 7Learning from Failure & Criticism
12:27 8On-Location Safety Tips
03:42How to Nail the Right Perspective for Your Composite Photo
07:15 10Gauging Light & Exposure On-Location
03:49 11On-Location Posing
18:37 12Cliff Shoot Location Final Thoughts
12:03 13Tips for Culling Images
09:41 14Culling Images Q&A
11:29 15Preparing Your Image for Composite
07:18 16Composite Image Cleanup
11:01 17Adding Background Image to Composite
17:04 18The Difference Between Flow & Opacity
05:41 19Composite Sky Elements
20:58 20Using Curves to Color Match
05:43 21Adding Atmospheric Depth to Image
17:08 22Using Color Efex Pro to Manipulate Color
07:37 23Using the Liquify Tool
05:15 24Color Theory & Monitor Calibration
10:35 25Adding Smoke Layer to Image
07:55 26Selective Sharpening
05:18 27Crop Your Image
02:29 28Goal Setting for Digital Artists
04:39 29Review of Location Composite
01:57 30Understand Angle & Height for Your Base Plate Image
06:15 31Base Plate Focus Point
04:45 32Base Plate Lighting Tips
06:10 33How to Use a Stand-In for Base Plate Image
03:47 34Capture On-Location Base Plate Image
05:57 35Student Positioning Demo
09:05 36Base Plate Sketching
07:33 37On-Location Sky Capture
01:53 38What to Look for in a Base Plate Model
14:30 39Building Composite Model Lighting
10:03 40Composite Model Test Shots for Angle Matching
19:48 41Composite Model Shoot: The Art of Fabric Throwing
13:34 42Composite Model Shoot: Working with Hair
05:45 43Composite Model Shoot: Posing Techniques
21:26 44Composite Test with Final Shot
06:12 45Lighting Setup Overview
04:52 46Culling Model Shoot Images
03:35 47Adjusting Skintone Colors
04:54 48Merging Background with Model
04:54 49How to Mask Hair
09:49 50Creating a Layer Mask with the Brush Tool
14:23 51Creating Shadow Layers
07:10 52Removing Visual Distractions with Stamp Tool
07:11 53Replacing Sky with Layer Mask
05:15 54Drawing Hair Strands and Atmospheric Depth
10:30 55Creating Contrast in Your Composite
12:23 56Adding Atmospheric Elements
06:43 57Using Particle Shop
11:47 58Selective Color Adjustments
07:58 59Cropping, Sharpening, & Final Touches
10:29 60Closing Thoughts
05:52Lesson Info
The Difference Between Flow & Opacity
So who can tell me the difference between flow and opacity? Cool. So, flow and opacity work like this. 100% flow, 100% opacity. Let's deselect it Nothing's on crazy blending modes. There you go, all right. 100% flow, 100% opacity. We're getting a 100% of everything. If I go, and instead of 1% opacity, I will go 4%, so nice and low. This I draw once, we don't really see much of a difference. I draw again, I draw again, I draw again, I draw again. So now we're starting to see, see all this unevenness going on here, right? But the only way that we get more color, is if we click and drag again. So, for anybody who has any painting experience, this is kind of like painting with acrylic paint. You paint a layer of color you let it dry, you paint another layer of color, you let it dry. There's no blending, all right even if you're using a very low opacity. In this case here, we can see all the unevenness that's coming from using a low opacity. All right, so if we zoom this out. Let's say we g...
o 100% opacity and even just 4% flow. I am gonna paint, and this is gonna act like an airbrush. And our blending is very smooth and very soft. And our history is showing a lot less strokes. So that means that if you wanna go back, your computer isn't filling up your scratch disk as quickly because you're using less strokes over and over again. So, flow and opacity, I tend to leave my opacity at 100%. I don't really ever touch it. And then I just, I only adjust my flow. So, when I am working, in this case here, with this image. Open. So we're zoomed in nice and close. Brush. I am gonna make this nice and small. Depending on the type of surface I am working on, we'll just slowly... X to make that a little bit higher, so we can see what's up. Do you ever mix up right and left a lot? I am one of those people so there's a 50% chance of getting it right I will probably get the other one. (laughing) So now the case, I am just lightly bringing this along and I am using the smaller brush, and because I am using a lower flow if I happen to go over the edge a tiny little bit, it's not gonna be the end of the world. I can always just go Control + Z, Control + Z, whichever. (laughing) I get teased a lot for the Z and Z thing. We can just slide this in here a little bit. I would just go around the entire dress getting rid of that little tiny halo there. And I would go around her face and her hair and all that because when you do a quick selection, even when you're using channels, you're probably gonna have a little bit of this. So it's just spending the time, and whenever I feel like, oh, my God, I spent to much time on an image, I hang out with some of my painter friends, (chuckles) and I'm like never mind. (laughing) In the time that they do one painting, I have done six composites so I'm like eh. It's not so bad. So if you're ever feeling sorry for yourself because you spend too much time compositing, hang with a photorealistic painter or a sculptor. Or a musician, God, musicians they spend a month on a song only to have somebody tell them it sucks. So, really in the world of art, composite artists, we got it kind of good. So, yeah, that's generally the gist of this crap. Over, and over, and over. So you know we zoom out and we're like, yeah, we're at her waist. We're a quarter of the way there. (laughing) 1/4 of the way finished. All right, so we zoom in, and, you know, I might like draw in and fill in some of the hair. Or I might not, whatever. It doesn't really matter to me. So, that's kinda where I'm looking at this, and like: Okay, this is looking not too bad. Right? Like I said once again, I would probably go in and clean this up. If you're familiar with frequency separation, I'll probably cover this a little bit more in detail, but sometimes if I find that I have a haloing that I didn't notice earlier and I'm towards the end of my composite, I will do a technique that is very common in beauty retouching. Pardon me. The technique is very common in beauty retouching, which is frequency separation, where I separate the color from the texture of the image. So I can manipulate them separately. And so, if I find I have a little bit of halo going on, I will do frequency separation. I'll leave the texture alone, and I will pull the color in on that halo, and then if I have to manipulate the texture a little bit to blend it a little bit, I will. So, if you're not sure what frequency separation is, watch PROtique's video, (laughing) which has been really great for live course or you can go onto Fstoppers.com and they have an article called, The Ultimate Guide to Frequency Separation. And they're both really awesome. They're both great ways to learn. PROtique, of course, is an incredible instructor. You can apply that to composite images if you're trying to make mistakes that you didn't notice before and you want to be able to correct it without having to delete a bunch of layers and go back. So, that's another way that I'll, sometimes, get rid of those halos, if I'm not noticed. Especially if I am doing late night retouching. Sometimes I miss things. (laughing)
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Dino Maez
i have to say, the class was AMAZING! in every way from the tricks and technique's of mastering this art form to the personalized attention given by Renee. through the class you are able to learn information that would normally take the average person years of trial and error. Renee gives you the gift of benefitting from her her experiences and what she has learned THE HARD WAY! Renee is an outstanding instructor full of passion for what she does, and with a strong desire to not only improve the art, but more importantly, pay it forward, by sharing her knowledge with others. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the event in person, truly a once in a lifetime experience for me, the staff at creative live were THE BEST! they are helpful in every way and really made this event something special, i can't say enough about the experience i had and would highly recommend that anyone who has the opportunity to go down for a class, it will be an experience that you will never forget. but the best part of creative live is that wether you are there in person or wether you are watching from the comfort of your own home, you are involved in the class in REAL TIME, you have the ear and attention of the skilled artist giving the instruction, being there myself i can tell you that Renee was regularly given questions and comments from the viewers via the creative live staff and she would respond to them as they came, in that way you are very much apart of the class you are never left without getting that personalized attention of an amazing artist or that specific question you have answered, and even better you have the option to purchase the class and have it as a constant resource in your tool kit that you can refer back to at any point that you need a refresher or want to recall that special technique that was demonstrated. thank you thank you to renee and all the staff at creative live you have a life long member in me. and i would recomend that everyone take advantage of this valuable resource dino maez
stephen lenman
I have completed many creative courses. This is by far the best so far. Quite the most amazing and inspiring presenter with a true passion for their craft. The core information is excellent, but the thing i liked most were her subtle tangents, dropping incredible information completely on the fly. A complete real world honest view of business and practical side of the industry. Especially her advice on how she started to her business. Saving up enough in her day job so she could pay the rent, and do photography for 3-6 months.
Sheldon Carvalho
Awesome class. I've been following Renee for a very long time. I love her work and to finally see her work and get an image done from start to finish was quite something.. I love the way she sees things and the way she treats her work and all fellow creative. I would recommend this to everyone interested in getting into composting. Looking forward to creating and making my own art work. But it now :) Have fun creating. :)