When I need to suggest my texture has depth beyond what I have built into my mesh, I often fall back on adding a few shadows to the inner edges and details. The easiest example is when I need to create paneling for a wall interior. In the above example I have used the same flat wood texture to paste together what amounts to a simple wood backing with a box frame around it. By adding a drop shadow behind my frame layer I suggest not only depth but a light source that comes from the left hand side of the texture. I have also added a little Bevel to the frame to suggest a highlight is falling along its inner edge.
Most of the time I avoid suggesting a specif light source. If I chose to flip a texture with a strong directional shadow, for use in the same room or to be placed on an opposite wall, my lighting effect becomes confused as it suggests a contradictory light source. In the below example I set my shadow direction to zero and allow it to spill equally from around my forward elements. I also set my bevel highlight to Vivid to suggest the mood surface is slightly reflective. If I do resort to a noticeable light source, I usually choose to have it come from directly above the texture... as in this example.
For more complex textures it works exactly the same way. Each element in this larger (spookier) wall panel has some sort of drop or inner shadow applied to it. If you are not familiar with Photoshop Drop Shadows I highly recommend you give them a try. ~Don
13 comments:
Nice tips Don! I do use bevel and emboss a lot and a bit of drop shadow on my layers, but I am not sure on when to use glow. Do you have an example of when it could enhance a texture? Thanks!
-SiNafay
I'm working on that one next. :)
Don I don't have PS, I use PSP X2 & although I make a lot of use of my drop shadow, inner bevel & other effects I'm not certain where I might find inner glow & I don't have outer bevel for some strange reason :s Is there any way to recreate the outer bevel effect using other techniques? & where do I find my inner glow please? I've just done something mad with the Orbit club & have been wondering how the textures in it were built & WHY so many layers were used?
Bou,
I am not familiar with PSP, but if they have Layers you should be able to use your drop shadow effect to create a believable glow. If you choose a light rather than a dark color, and if you can alter the intensity as well (as with Vivid in Photoshop) it should give you a similar effect. Bevel is a little harder. If anyone knows of a trick with PSP and bevels we would love to hear about it. ~D
thanks Don, but after I posted this I found the layer styles hidden away in the properties bit AND I found a really useful lil site that translates from PS to PSP http://paintshoppro.info/tutorials/photoshop_to_paintshoppro_dictionary.htm
I don't know how to make linkage work here, but that's the right addy to take you direct to the Dictionary... I think there's a PS to Gimp one somewhere out there as well, but I can't say for certain sadly
On to my 2nd point/question....I know this is my lack of knowledge, but I really don't understand why it's necessary to add one part of a shadow/highlight on one layer & then the next part on a different one....why not just keep it all on one layer? Surely that'd help keep down the file sizes, no?
I really hope you'll both take a peek in my room & see what I did with it tho'....it's very ummmm 'me', but I learned a LOT making it & had load of fun too & I'd be very grateful for your input on how I can improve for next time :)
Yes I'm cheeky, but we knew this already ;)
@Bou - I'm sure Don could give you a better explanation than I could about having multiple layers (I can think it, just not articulate it), but as for many layers affecting the file size, I don't think they really affect the *final* file size. Sure, your working file might be huge, but when you save the file for use, you'd be saving it flat. A jpg isn't going to care whether one layer or fifty layers went into it; it's looking at the big picture. (Assuming, of course, that jpgs could actually look at stuff or have feelings, one way or the other. :D)
@Don and Matt - I have to give y'all big props for this blog. I don't develop much on IMVU, but I recently used tips from this very post for a project elsewhere, and lemme tell ya what, it might just be one of my best pieces ever. I'm excited to see what comes out of this.
Cheers,
CosmoBrown
Cosmo,
Many thanks! So happy you are getting ideas here. You are right, the number of layers is really more about the style of how you work and how much flexibility you might want if you wish to return or reuse the file later. I tend to keep my number of layers pretty low, while Matt has been knows to create hundreds of layers in a single PSD (I'm not kidding). The advantage Matt has is that he can tweak even the outer glow of a highlight if he wishes to... but he does end up with a huge master file, and will have to hunt for that highlight glow if he doesn't label it properly.
In the end, there is no right or wrong way, just the way the works best for you. ~Don
Thanks Cosmo & Don & I think I came across some of Matt's 'super' textures when doing the club & stuff to go in it LOL!! They were really useful for learning purposes, but I can't see me using so many unless I'm doing something like my coffin purses where I do many of the one mesh...
This brings me on to 2 more points...firstly, how can we keep file sizes down, whilst maintaining a relatively high quality ratio?
& 2 perhaps we could have a thread just for useful sites/progs? It makes sense to me to keep them all in the same place for easy pick up :)
Btw, how's yer head? I heard a lil rumour you all had a good one last night hee hee }:D
I am a HUGE fan of drop shadow and glow - astarte - I use glow not as a "glow" but where ever I need some shaded feathering so in Dons example, the edges of a brass box could use a lighter colour glow to make them appear as though they catch the light. Likewise, the inside inset on the top of a table could use a darker glow around the edges to make the inset look truly *inset* - giving it a kind of 'shadow'. Use it like a light catcher or a shadower. Bou - if you don't have an inner glow, select the object you want an inner glow on, then invert the selection via Select/Inverse or shift+Cntrl+I for photoshop (PSP will have a similar function) and apply an ordinary stock standard glow and you will get the glow to appear on the 'inner' of a selection.
On layers, I use loads of layers too..the advantages for me are, I can reuse layers I spend time on in other projects, I can alter my project to create multiple versions (like multiple products in varying colours or themes), I can change small elements via layers and result in subtle but useful changes in the master file. Ultimately you need really good layer management skills.. in a file for clothing for example, I place all my bust shadows and bust details in a group called "bust" all my skirt files in a group called "skirt" you can develop your hierarchy according to your layer amount (more layers need more hierarchies)
Thanks Sinder...I found my inner glow eventually & have been playing with it a bit with mixed results LOL
With the layers....I've been paying a bit more attention to what I do lately & I do create lots of layers, but I merge them as I go, partly a I was trained to 'clean as you go' when working & it's kinda stuck & partly cos my organisational skills aren't so hot & I get lost if I have too many 'active' layers. So once a part is finished I mege visible on those layers only before moving on to the next bit
BUT through Matt's textures & what's been said here I've learned to create a copy image & merge THAT whilst keeping all the original layers in a kind of 'super' template file for meshes I do a lot of like the coffin purses...I have all of them layered in one file so nothing gets lost & I can check back on what I did to get each effect that way as well which helps tons. It also means I always have at least 2 copies of a texture when the worst happens & PSP crashes on me LOL
Wow, I now understand this concept. Thanks for the tip :)
"I found my inner glow" ...I recently also found my inner glow ;)
I just want to say I think these tuts are fantastic and the blog is a great way to keep the information focused so thanks again guys!
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