Handy Photoshop/gimp Tricks For Use In Videos

[Roflcopter]

One thing that always works nice is the fake defocus effect, to create the illusion of depth. With this technique you can have total control over all the 'atmosphere' details in your video.

For the best reintegration back into video I think you want to use Photoshop Elements, but I think it should also be possible with gimp, albeit a bit clumsier probably.

Will post a little tutorial for both programs.

[neoism]

looking for some tips...!

[Desertrose]

Hey that is so cool! So you can actually do that AFTER you've shot the image. I didn't know you could!

Wow, and here I am fiddling endlessly with aperture and shutter speeds to get that same depth of focus.

[Roflcopter]

Yes, it's pretty easy to do even, it only takes some practice.

If you use Photoshop, duplicate the background layer with the picture (Ctrl-J)

Blur this second layer (Filter-Blur-Gaussian Blur at 14.5 or so) and apply a layer mask (Layer-Layer Mask-Reveal all).

Now use a black brush to bring the details of your choice back to sharpness (just daub black paint over it and you will see it sharpen immediately), and change to a white brush to correct any oopsies (this blurs it out again).

Merge both layers at the end (Ctrl-E), and export to desired format.

(tips:use right mouse button to change brush width on-the-fly, and press caps-lock to see the brush size better)

[john]

nice one Rofl

[Desertrose]

Ahh see I'm not very photoshop savvy...When it comes to "layers" I get confused...I might at some point fumble around and give it a go though!

Thanks!

[Roflcopter]

Working with more layers gives you the possibility of taking it further - if you have more than one object, it can be easier to set the pressure/flow of your brush to less than 100%, ofcourse. This will give a gradual reveal/blur, so you can do it in really fine detail, taking all features/shadows the actual picture into account, and you can opt to give it a nice soft edge if you want to create that 'dreamy' effect.

BTW this technique also works really well to give black-and-white pictures that bit of noir movie 'feel', too. Just up the contrast a bit, and bingo.

[Desertrose]

A photoshop thread would be great. Like maybe photoshop for dummies? I'd be interested in learning more about it.

[Roflcopter]

We could do a PS and Gimp board, and for video the same with Premiere/AE and Tab Zweistein. That way you could do tutorials in both a commercial and non-commercial product, if possible. Would be more work, but worth it - I think.

One thing that would be handy would be templates for CD and DVD covers etc, to get all the right sizes correctly.

[Roflcopter]

Yeah that's why I added the DVD's too - and they come in a few subtly different formats.

We could also list all the sites with goodies as to tutorials and stock photography. I have a few nice ones, anyway.

[Roflcopter]

OK here's another one - the solution to the 'awshucks I forgot my UV-filter again' syndrome. You have this gorgeous desert landscape, but the sky doesn't really want to assist in looking mean and surreal, it's a bit hazy and faded. What to do, what to do? (see pic 1)

We open Photoshop and make a copy of the picture (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-N, Enter) (if it asks to flatten the file, just click Flatten) and change the mode of the 2nd file to Lab Colours (Image - Mode - Lab Colours).

Now if we open the Channels palette, we see instead of the usual RGB an intensity, and an a and b channel. Forget all that, we don't really need to know.

We open the first picture again ( which is still RGB) and in *that* channels palette we select the Red Channel (which looks like greyscale this way) and copy that (Ctrl A- Crtl-C) entirely, and go to the second picture again.

Now we PASTE the Red Channel info (which is still in our copypasta buffer) into the intensity channel of the 2nd picture, and go back to the main view (click the top channel) where we see all colours.

You can now turn the copy back into RGB (Image - Mode - RGB) and voila. In some cases you may want to fiddle a bit in postprocessing by using Levels on the Red Channel, if the reds get a bit overexcited.