Blown glass special effect request

Steve wrote:

It might not be possible but here goes…..

I want to try to make a sort of special effect where I make a person or object appear to be made out of glass. I’m thinking that I’d need two pictures, one with the subject in it (picture 1) and one from an identical viewpoint without the subject (picture 2). Then I’m assuming I’d cut the person/object from picture 1 and overlay it on picture 2. But how do I make the object transparent and even distort the background at the edges as though the object were made from blown glass?
Your mission, should you choose to accept it…etc etc…..
Thanks,
Steve

It’s not really possible using the methods you’ve just described. You could create an effect of someone who’s semi transparent, and even greate some lensing as the light appears to pass through them, but I really don’t think you could make them look like they’re made from brown glass using this method.
What you really need is a 3D modelling and rendering package. If you’re doing a glass version of a human figure, the best package for the job would be Poser…This is a 3D package that’s designed specifically for creating realistic human forms….
Create your human form, change the material used to a brown raytraced glass texture. put your background image in place behind it and line it up correctly, then render the image and save as a Jpeg.

"(not quite so) Fat Sam" wrote in
message

Steve wrote:

It might not be possible but here goes…..

I want to try to make a sort of special effect where I make a person or object appear to be made out of glass. I’m thinking that I’d need two pictures, one with the subject in it (picture 1) and one from an identical viewpoint without the subject (picture 2). Then I’m assuming I’d cut the person/object from picture 1 and overlay it on picture 2. But how do I make the object transparent and even distort the background at the edges as though the object were made from blown glass?
Your mission, should you choose to accept it…etc etc…..
Thanks,
Steve

It’s not really possible using the methods you’ve just described. You could create an effect of someone who’s semi transparent, and even greate some lensing as the light appears to pass through them, but I really don’t think you could make them look like they’re made from brown glass using this method.
What you really need is a 3D modelling and rendering package. If you’re doing a glass version of a human figure, the best package for the job would be Poser…This is a 3D package that’s designed specifically for creating realistic human forms….
Create your human form, change the material used to a brown raytraced glass texture. put your background image in place behind it and line it up correctly, then render the image and save as a Jpeg.

Thanks, I thought it might not be possible. You did say "brown" twice though whereas I meant clear blown glass. Still not possible?

Hoping for a long shot,
Steve

"Steve" wrote:

I want to try to make a sort of special effect where I make a person or object appear to be made out of glass. I’m thinking that I’d need two pictures, one with the subject in it (picture 1) and one from an identical viewpoint without the subject (picture 2). Then I’m assuming I’d cut the person/object from picture 1 and overlay it on picture 2. But how do I make the object transparent and even distort the background at the edges as though the object were made from blown glass?

This is a more complex operation than most, but it’s certainly possible. Here’s my first thought on a way to do it – since I haven’t actually done this you’re goint to need to make some modifications to the procedure. I’d start by isolating the person as a "cut out" on a separate layer with a transparent background, and duping that layer twice.

The top layer would be highlight reflections, created by using curves to create a very contrasty image, with only the brightest areas white, and the rest almost black. Set this layer to lighten mode.

The middle layer would contain the image of the person, with transparency set to about 25 to 50 percent. Play with the layer modes here too to see what kind of glassy effects you can get, with some parts of the person completely transparent, others less so. Double click on the layer in the layers palette and play with the blend-if sliders too.

The bottom layer would contain the background information, distorted either manually with Liquefy, or using a displacement map, using the transparency of the cut out.
—
Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com

On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:01:41 -0000, "Steve"
wrote:

It might not be possible but here goes…..

This may just possibly be somewhere near what you need…

http://www.ransen.com/PhotoToMesh/Default.htm

….with the right settings.

Although it creates 3D DXF files you can also save
the 2D images.

Easy to use graphics effects:
http://www.ransen.com/

"Owen Ransen" wrote in message

On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:01:41 -0000, "Steve"
wrote:

It might not be possible but here goes…..

This may just possibly be somewhere near what you need…
http://www.ransen.com/PhotoToMesh/Default.htm

…with the right settings.

Although it creates 3D DXF files you can also save
the 2D images.

Hmm. That looks almost like "embossed" – perhaps that’s a starting point for the way to go.

Steve

"Mike Russell" wrote in message

"Steve" wrote:

I want to try to make a sort of special effect where I make a person or object appear to be made out of glass. I’m thinking that I’d need two pictures, one with the subject in it (picture 1) and one from an identical viewpoint without the subject (picture 2). Then I’m assuming I’d cut the person/object from picture 1 and overlay it on picture 2. But how do I make the object transparent and even distort the background at the edges as though the object were made from blown glass?

This is a more complex operation than most, but it’s certainly possible. Here’s my first thought on a way to do it – since I haven’t actually done this you’re goint to need to make some modifications to the procedure. I’d start by isolating the person as a "cut out" on a separate layer with a transparent background, and duping that layer twice.

The top layer would be highlight reflections, created by using curves to create a very contrasty image, with only the brightest areas white, and the rest almost black. Set this layer to lighten mode.

The middle layer would contain the image of the person, with transparency set to about 25 to 50 percent. Play with the layer modes here too to see what kind of glassy effects you can get, with some parts of the person completely transparent, others less so. Double click on the layer in the layers palette and play with the blend-if sliders too.

The bottom layer would contain the background information, distorted either manually with Liquefy, or using a displacement map, using the transparency of the cut out.

Thanks. I’ll get playing.

Steve

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:22:53 -0000, "Steve"
wrote:

"Owen Ransen" wrote in message

On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:01:41 -0000, "Steve"
wrote:

It might not be possible but here goes…..

This may just possibly be somewhere near what you need…
http://www.ransen.com/PhotoToMesh/Default.htm

…with the right settings.

Although it creates 3D DXF files you can also save
the 2D images.

Hmm. That looks almost like "embossed" – perhaps that’s a starting point for the way to go.

Yes.

An alternative may be to "render" the DXF output of PhotoToMesh…

Easy to use graphics effects:
http://www.ransen.com/

"Steve" wrote in message

I want to try to make a sort of special effect where I make a person or object appear to be made out of glass. how do I make the object transparent and even distort the background at the edges as though the object were made from blown glass?

Your mission, should you choose to accept it…etc etc….. Thanks,
Steve

This gold statue like tutorial by "Vincent":
http://www.mrdelicious.net/NFC/vincent/vangoghs/gold.htm Tweaked a little and Combined with this Displacement Tutorial: http://img144.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=90352_Displacemen tMap__copy_122_913lo.jpg Along with your exceptional Photoshop skills should provide you with an avenue of approach should you accept the challenge!

This message will self destruct PDQ
—
"Granny"
Old N Slow N Prefer Quick N Easy

Dang that displacement tut takes a while to load… B patient please!

—
"Granny"
Old N Slow N Prefer Quick N Easy
"granny" wrote in message

"Steve" wrote in message

I want to try to make a sort of special effect where I make a person or object appear to be made out of glass. how do I make the object transparent and even distort the background at the edges as though the object were made from blown glass?

Your mission, should you choose to accept it…etc etc….. Thanks,
Steve

This gold statue like tutorial by "Vincent":
http://www.mrdelicious.net/NFC/vincent/vangoghs/gold.htm Tweaked a little and Combined with this Displacement Tutorial: http://img144.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=90352_Displacemen tMap__copy_122_913lo.jpg Along with your exceptional Photoshop skills should provide you with an avenue of approach should you accept the challenge!

This message will self destruct PDQ
—
"Granny"
Old N Slow N Prefer Quick N Easy

"granny" wrote in message

"Steve" wrote in message

I want to try to make a sort of special effect where I make a person or object appear to be made out of glass. how do I make the object transparent and even distort the background at the edges as though the object were made from blown glass?

Your mission, should you choose to accept it…etc etc….. Thanks,
Steve

This gold statue like tutorial by "Vincent":
http://www.mrdelicious.net/NFC/vincent/vangoghs/gold.htm Tweaked a little and Combined with this Displacement Tutorial: http://img144.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=90352_Displacemen tMap__copy_122_913lo.jpg Along with your exceptional Photoshop skills should provide you with an avenue of approach should you accept the challenge!

This message will self destruct PDQ
—
"Granny"
Old N Slow N Prefer Quick N Easy

Thankyou Granny. Time for me to have an attempt. <explode>

Steve

"granny" wrote in message

"Steve" wrote in message

I want to try to make a sort of special effect where I make a person or object appear to be made out of glass. how do I make the object transparent and even distort the background at the edges as though the object were made from blown glass?

Your mission, should you choose to accept it…etc etc….. Thanks,
Steve

This gold statue like tutorial by "Vincent":
http://www.mrdelicious.net/NFC/vincent/vangoghs/gold.htm Tweaked a little and Combined with this Displacement Tutorial: http://img144.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=90352_Displacemen tMap__copy_122_913lo.jpg Along with your exceptional Photoshop skills should provide you with an avenue of approach should you accept the challenge!

This message will self destruct PDQ
—
"Granny"
Old N Slow N Prefer Quick N Easy

nice tutorials granny

Your right it does! It’s because the entire page with the exception of header and footer is a jpg image.
"granny" wrote in message

Dang that displacement tut takes a while to load… B patient please!
—
"Granny"
Old N Slow N Prefer Quick N Easy
"granny" wrote in message

"Steve" wrote in message

I want to try to make a sort of special effect where I make a person or object appear to be made out of glass. how do I make the object transparent and even distort the background at the edges as though the object were made from blown glass?

Your mission, should you choose to accept it…etc etc….. Thanks,
Steve

This gold statue like tutorial by "Vincent":
http://www.mrdelicious.net/NFC/vincent/vangoghs/gold.htm Tweaked a little and Combined with this Displacement Tutorial: http://img144.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=90352_Displacemen tMap__copy_122_913lo.jpg Along with your exceptional Photoshop skills should provide you with an avenue of approach should you accept the challenge!

This message will self destruct PDQ
—
"Granny"
Old N Slow N Prefer Quick N Easy