Tutorial : The Art Of Photomode

[Ozzmcom]

The Art Of Photomode

Hello everyone, on this thread I'm going to show you some of the basics of photomode, how to take a good photo and how to edit it. Although don't get me wrong everyone has a different taste but I think this will be helpful to everyone . Alright here we go

Photomode

The basis of creating a good picture starts with taking a good photo. No matter how hard you edit , a badly taken photo wouldn't look good in any way. So lets start with the objects that we don't want in our pictures.

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weeds, tree limbs, unprocessed enviorement etc. these are badly made 2d textures and try to avoid them as they look very ugly.

 

Also try avoiding undetailed shots like this one.

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Try not to take the shot from too far away as the car will look ugly all together.

 

Framing

Our main object is usually the vehicle. So we have to focus our camera on the car . This way we won't get distracted by other things. here's an example

 

Wrong

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Correct

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See how better the second one looks . The sky is an always better background than the ground. You can adjust your frame by holding right mouse button.

 

Usage of radial blur (photomode)

On our action shots a bit of radial blur always looks good. And the best angle for it is usually the back of the car .

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We can also use the radial blur option for precluding the non-anti aliased background. However, don't include too much radial blur on your pictures as they'll look bad

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Drifting Photos

They could look very cool if you get it right or very bad if you get it wrong. It's a matter of angle. Always try to avoid this bad looking angle:

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It doesn't always look good as the one that you can see the left back wheel.here's an example of also how to get the framing right.

 

Wrong

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Correct

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Remember , less ground is always better. Also try to use the tilt on your action photos , not too much but it's always a nice little addition to the picture. You can adjust your camera tilt by holding down the middle mouse button.

 

Editing

 

Now we have lovely shots in our hands. But this isn't really enough. We have to edit our pictures in order to make them look good. This is where our photos comes alive. I simply use Adobe Photoshop CS4 as it's the best for this kind of job. So lets get started by opening up our pictures ( saved in My Documents\Test Drive Unlimited\savegame\xxx\Photo ) in PS.

 

Blur Filters

Lets start by adding what we don't have in tdu : Anistropic Filtering.

We simply do that by using blur filters. Click on Magic selection tool as shown in red circle. Select the bits where far away from our object. And apply Filters>Blur>Blur More

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Try to avoid the selection of bits of the car or anywhere near enough.

 

Now we've sorted out background lets concentrate on our vehicle.

Here's an unedited picture.

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It's all clear that it has some non-anti aliased parts. We can simply get rid of them by using motion blur.

Select Lasso Tool also shown in red circle and select the non-anti aliased area. And go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur .We must remember 2 critical things here. Where the non-anti aliased line changes direction your selection should end there. Here's an example

 

Wrong

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Correct

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And the other is to get the angle of the motion blur right.

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You can also use the Blur Tool on the toolbar. However only use this in circular or non corrupted areas. Let me show you the difference between motion blur and blur tool

 

Blur Tool

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Motion Blur

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see how better rendered the motion blured area is. It takes a bit more time to work on but it looks much better.

 

Adjustments

 

Now lets deal with the colour/brightness adjustments. Without these adjustments your picture won't look flashy and glamorous.

For example this picture seems a bit dark to me and pretty much dead.

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We simply go to Image>Adjustments

Now I'd like to set the brightness high up. I can do that in many ways but I always prefer 'Curves'.

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set the bar high up or somewhere you like. Now that I got my brightness setting right I'd like to add some colours to this. I do that by using 'Colour Balance'

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You can fiddle with these setting according to your taste and have a lot of fun on this adjustments part.

 

Special Effects

This part is completely optional. Personally I like adding effects and I'll show you how to create some of them.

 

Radial Blur

 

This is basicly making the wheels look like spinning. Click on Lasso Tool and select the tire. Go to Filters>Blur>Radial Blur and adjust the amount of spinning you'd like.

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However, sometimes radial blur doesn't look very good on some angles like this one :

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you can see the bits sticking out of the tire and it looks ugly. We can avoid this by using motion blur once again.

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Select the each rim arm individually and apply motion blur as shown. Remember to get the angle right. You may have to make some changes on the amount of blur in order to make it look good. And we can finish it of by using blur tool to cover up the mess.

 

Radial Blur

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Motion Blur

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Light Effects

 

This is one of my favourite effects. It's very fun to do it and view it. We start by taking a photo . Preferably a dark and cloudy one.

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We have the photo but it isn't really dark enough. So we need some adjustments. Go to Image>Adjustments>Curves and set it a bit more darker. Don't get it too dark as we have to see the car.

Click on to Dodge Tool on the toolbar and adjust your brush size to something close to the headlamp size. Also set your exposure high and simply apply the tool around the headlamps over and over.

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Now we have our headlamps on we need some light effects. Set your dodge tools brush size something big and keep the exposure down. Apply the tool to the ground or wherever you wish

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you can get good at this by practicing and using your imagination. It's pretty easy and fun.

 

Smoke Effects

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On some of the close-up drifting pictures there's no smoke effect. Or the ones that have look ugly anyway. We can do something better than tdu's effects .

We start by selecting Dodge Tool again. Set your brush size to something small and the range to 'shadows'. Apply the tool around the tire , this is all about your imagination.

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I know this one looks a bit bad but if you spend some time on it you can make really nice smoke effects.

 

HDR Effects

Well, here is a little tutorial to make your shots more interesting.

 

Step 1: Take a Shot

 

Take a proper shot for the effect, like this :

 

 

 

Step2:Adjust Brightness/Contrast

 

Remember to ever do this, if you dont do it, usually the picture will seem dark.

 

 

 

Step3:Overexposure

 

With the Overexposure brush, (In Midtones mode) lighten up the zones near to the white clouds like this:

 

 

 

Step4:More Ovexposure

 

Now, set the Overexposure brush to Light Mode and lighten up abit more the white zones:

 

 

 

Step5: Blur

 

With the Blur brush, blur the white zones to make it look less crispier:

 

 

 

Its easy and make the shots look better, also you can make better shots than the example like this ones:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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That's it for me , I hope this thread will be helpul and guide you through taking and editing great photos. You can always find some of my works in my gallery : http://forum.turboduck.net/showthread.php?t=9682

 

-Ozz

 

 

 

Edit: Thanks to Malakai for his hdr tutorial

[Y00 PAY]

Very nice tutorials :)

 

+ rep!

[The Queen]

Some great information in there and nicely detailed. Some things that I didn't even know about! ;)

 

Only thing is, I reckon this should be made a sticky.

 

+Rep

[zo6dude]

Some great information in there and nicely detailed. Some things that I didn't even know about! ;)

 

Only thing is, I reckon this should be made a sticky.

 

+Rep

I agree.

[Baltoman]

WTF? MY DODGE TOOL DOESN'T WANT LIGHT NOTHING UP!!!!!!!!!

 

Oh, and +rep for the tutorial.

[Camel]

Stickied and repped. Nice tutorial.

[Ozzmcom]

WTF? MY DODGE TOOL DOESN'T WANT LIGHT NOTHING UP!!!!!!!!!

 

Oh, and +rep for the tutorial.

checked 'Range' setting? or your exposure level could be low . Or try to apply it over and over again.

and thanks a lot everyone!

["Hedge"]

excellent tutorial mate +rep (dang u getting a lot of + reps lol)

[Ace8]

Great tutorial m8 :)

I edit screenshots from some time.

I have different methods for light, smoke effects and others things, but however nice work ;)

[Ryzza5]

Nice job, Ozz - Unfortunately I don't have PS, nor do I have 10-20 mins of time to spend editing each TDU photo. Maybe if there's some kid with no life, they can offer a photo-improving service and charge 25cents per photo (Payal)?

[zo6dude]

Maybe if there's some kid with no life

:lol::lol:Haha

[Ace8]

Nice job, Ozz - Unfortunately I don't have PS, nor do I have 10-20 mins of time to spend editing each TDU photo. Maybe if there's some kid with no life, they can offer a photo-improving service and charge 25cents per photo (Payal)?

 

Ehy m8 1 euro for each photo you want, do you agree??? :D

[Ozzmcom]

haha you guys are on your own. If anything goes wrong I won't be responsible for it :P. You don't need 10-20 anyway . 3-4 will do as well.

[SkyLine@Luc]

Just a pity, i havent got PS XD

[tdu_]

hi..I have a question..where does photos from photomode saves on computer?

 

thank you...

[Fridge Magnet Rabbit]

go to C:\Users\<yourname>\Documents\Test Drive Unlimited\savegame\<yourprofile>\Photo if your on vista, the equivalent on other OS'

[tdu_]

thank you rabbit

[weishen]

Good tutorial.

 

I learn a lot from here..

 

Thanks..

[BioHazard7911]

Too bad I don't have photoshop :(

 

But thanks for the tutorial it will really help.

[Cez1988]

Good Job :thumbsup:

+rep

[TDUFREAK500]

Nice job, Ozz - Unfortunately I don't have PS, nor do I have 10-20 mins of time to spend editing each TDU photo. Maybe if there's some kid with no life, they can offer a photo-improving service and charge 25cents per photo (Payal)?

well if I had paypal i would do this but sadly I dont oh well there is a money making opportunity gone lol

[Ryzza5]

I belive someone already offered me the service, but I don't have any pics that I like heaps to the point where I'd want them enhanced. Also, I'm getting a new GTX 480 soon and hope to achieve better photos with 32x AA (won't be that great with TDU1, but should be better in TDU2).

[Malakai]

Can i post a little tutorial about making the HDR effects in the sky with Photoshop?

[Ozzmcom]

Can i post a little tutorial about making the HDR effects in the sky with Photoshop?

sure , dodging isn't it.

[Malakai]

HDR Effect

 

Well, here is a little tutorial to make your shots more interesting.

Step 1: Take a Shot

Take a proper shot for the effect, like this :

 

Step2:Adjust Brightness/Contrast

Remember to ever do this, if you dont do it, usually the picture will seem dark.

 

Step3:Overexposure

With the Overexposure brush, (In Midtones mode) lighten up the zones near to the white clouds like this:

 

Step4:More Ovexposure

Now, set the Overexposure brush to Light Mode and lighten up abit more the white zones:

 

Step5: Blur

With the Blur brush, blur the white zones to make it look less crispier:

 

Its easy and make the shots look better, also you can make better shots than the example like this ones: