camera

Deke's Techniques 032: Capturing a Monster in Motion

Submitted by deke on 9 August 2011 - 12:15am.

Last week, I showed you how to combine three real-world animals into an entirely fictional creature. This week, I show you how to take last week's image and turn it into a plausible likeness of the one extraordinary shot that you were able to pull off before everything went all Blair Witch on you. I mean, who wouldn't extend at least a small amount of credence to the final result (below)? But you'll have to come up with one hell of a yarn about how you managed to live to tell the tale. Because, according to legend, El Terrible (as the bilingual natives call him) is so tactical and massive that he intentionally blots out the moonlight for a solid panic-inducing second before he casually crushes your rib cage and releases his appetite on your face.

The final El Terrible

Here's the official description from lynda.com: Read more »

. Tagged with:

dekePod

Yesterday, I Started Work on Photoshop CS5 Extended One-on-One: 3D Scenes

Submitted by deke on 15 April 2011 - 12:15am.

In case I haven't kept you fully apprised, I've been whiling away the past few months working on a series of video courses that explain the massive (if amazingly intricate) 3D capabilities of Photoshop CS5 Extended. And all I have to say is---while the topic is all very challenging and stuff---I'm having something very closely resembling a blast.

The first course, Photoshop CS5 Extended One-on-One: 3D Fundamentals, is this very minute available for immediate viewing at my 24/7 video publisher lynda.com. The second, 3D Objects, will be out by this month's end. And the third, 3D Scenes, I began recording as recently as yesterday. Pictured below is the outcome of the first project, in which we create a photorealistic camera---altogether from scratch---using a dozen shape layers, Photoshop CS5's Repoussé, and a ginormous spherical panorama. If you currently regard Photoshop as "powerful," put that notion in a tiny vial marked Shrink Me and get ready for something much, much larger.

Click the image for a larger preview. (It's a bit noisy. Although extraordinarily powerful, Photoshop is not the world's fastest rendering engine. Thankfully, you can interrupt a render anytime you like. But noise, as shown here, is the repercussion.) Again, it's 100% Photoshop. Did you know the program could do such things? Back in 2010, me neither. Stay tuned for more. Read more »

3 comments

. Tagged with:

dekeBlog

Deke’s Techniques 014: Fixing Chromatic Aberrations in Photoshop

Submitted by deke on 5 April 2011 - 12:15am.

Hello friends. So very sorry that I made no post last week. I was attending Photoshop World in Orlando, as well as squeezing in a much-needed vacation with my boys at Walt Disney World. (Why does Disney Inc. insist on the "Walt" before the "Disney World"? Does Scott Kelby call his event "Scott Photoshop World"? No he doesn't.) I'll post pics soon, for those of you who give a mouse's butt. But seriously, we had a magical time.

Meanwhile, this week's technique (from the deep well of video training at lynda.com) exposes that hidden plague of most digital photographs---not to mention old-school film photos---transverse chromatic aberrations. Read more »

1 comment

. Tagged with:

dekePod

Photoshop and the Lost Undersea Channel

Submitted by deke on 30 April 2009 - 12:15am.

dekePod Episode 015: Imagine yourself on a once-in-a-lifetime underwater adventure. Adift in a world of wonder. Watch as if in a dream as you ignore the souvenir stand, bypass the lounge chair, even avoid the swim-up bar. Your only intention is to grab the gear, strap on the fins, and plunge into the astonishing azure alure.

Or more simply put: Mix with the fish.

Such destinations have names as to make the heart sigh: Fiji. Kealakekua Bay. Ningaloo. The Red Sea. Read more »