School Group

[jaytrumpet]

Hi,

Worked on this one for the last couple of days, thought I would post my progress so far. This one was a challenge for me, I ended up trying out some new techniques on it. I am not particularly happy with the rear curtains, had to basically build them from scratch. Any suggestions on how to make them look more real are greatly appreciated.

Jay

[Marydh]

Hi Jay,
I found a pretty interesting tutorial on YouTUBE that
may help a little with the curtains:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbw9W_Y631o

I don't know how you do such fabulous work so fast!
Mary

[jaytrumpet]

Thanks Mary,

Cool video, I vaguely remember a tutorial by Deke McClelland where he also demonstrated how to make stage curtains from scratch. When I was dong mine I did use directional and gaussian blurs along the way. I like the way they come out using a base of the fibers filter, but the curtains in this original photo were not bunched up to that degree. 

As for my "speed", I just log a lot of hours in front of the screen! It's not that I'm fast, I am just maniacal when it comes to the projects.

Jay

[G3User]

Jay, unlikely to help this time but Mehdi Grain Generator 2, available free as a PS plug in, allows you to create fairly realistic drapes.

You can change the width to height ratio of the grain so you can create long vertical (or horizontal) patterns with the option to change the key via the random button until you get a satisfactory pattern.

I have used it a number of times by adding noise to a 50%grey layer, usually stretching the width (evenly or unevenly) and applying as a soft or hard light layer.

Usually the curtains/drapes are in the background and a hint of the folds etc is all you need

Athol