Why You Should Sketch Your Composite
Lesson 2 from: Creating Your Reality with Composite PhotographyRenée Robyn
Why You Should Sketch Your Composite
Lesson 2 from: Creating Your Reality with Composite PhotographyRenée Robyn
Lesson Info
2. Why You Should Sketch Your Composite
Lessons
Class Introduction
09:16 2Why You Should Sketch Your Composite
03:25 3What to Look for in Your Background
10:51 4Posing Your Model
08:23 5Communicate with Your Team
10:34 6Elements of Compositing
31:36 7Learning from Failure & Criticism
12:27 8On-Location Safety Tips
03:42How to Nail the Right Perspective for Your Composite Photo
07:15 10Gauging Light & Exposure On-Location
03:49 11On-Location Posing
18:37 12Cliff Shoot Location Final Thoughts
12:03 13Tips for Culling Images
09:41 14Culling Images Q&A
11:29 15Preparing Your Image for Composite
07:18 16Composite Image Cleanup
11:01 17Adding Background Image to Composite
17:04 18The Difference Between Flow & Opacity
05:41 19Composite Sky Elements
20:58 20Using Curves to Color Match
05:43 21Adding Atmospheric Depth to Image
17:08 22Using Color Efex Pro to Manipulate Color
07:37 23Using the Liquify Tool
05:15 24Color Theory & Monitor Calibration
10:35 25Adding Smoke Layer to Image
07:55 26Selective Sharpening
05:18 27Crop Your Image
02:29 28Goal Setting for Digital Artists
04:39 29Review of Location Composite
01:57 30Understand Angle & Height for Your Base Plate Image
06:15 31Base Plate Focus Point
04:45 32Base Plate Lighting Tips
06:10 33How to Use a Stand-In for Base Plate Image
03:47 34Capture On-Location Base Plate Image
05:57 35Student Positioning Demo
09:05 36Base Plate Sketching
07:33 37On-Location Sky Capture
01:53 38What to Look for in a Base Plate Model
14:30 39Building Composite Model Lighting
10:03 40Composite Model Test Shots for Angle Matching
19:48 41Composite Model Shoot: The Art of Fabric Throwing
13:34 42Composite Model Shoot: Working with Hair
05:45 43Composite Model Shoot: Posing Techniques
21:26 44Composite Test with Final Shot
06:12 45Lighting Setup Overview
04:52 46Culling Model Shoot Images
03:35 47Adjusting Skintone Colors
04:54 48Merging Background with Model
04:54 49How to Mask Hair
09:49 50Creating a Layer Mask with the Brush Tool
14:23 51Creating Shadow Layers
07:10 52Removing Visual Distractions with Stamp Tool
07:11 53Replacing Sky with Layer Mask
05:15 54Drawing Hair Strands and Atmospheric Depth
10:30 55Creating Contrast in Your Composite
12:23 56Adding Atmospheric Elements
06:43 57Using Particle Shop
11:47 58Selective Color Adjustments
07:58 59Cropping, Sharpening, & Final Touches
10:29 60Closing Thoughts
05:52Lesson Info
Why You Should Sketch Your Composite
Why you should sketch your composite. So I'm gonna put this out to the crowd, why do you think sketching your composite is a good idea? And I'm not talking about high definition artwork here, I'm talking fancy stick people. (laughs) With like, colored markers. For me, it helps me get an idea of what the finished product is gonna look at like and it gives me an opportunity to adjust things before I actually take the photo. Totally, yup, and that's exactly it. When you're sketching it ahead of time, you already know what's your horizon line gonna be, your vanishing point. If you're sketching with color, you can start to know some of your color theory that your gonna use. Alright, so you start, like, piecing all these things together and literally fancy stick peoples. I've got some slides coming up in the future that will show you how stick people in my previous sketches can be (laughs). But sketching it is gonna keep everything in line so if you're up photographing a background piece...
s and you have your previous sketch already drawn up. Like say you're spending a week or so on this image, or longer, you can go out and you go, okay, I need a building shot at, you know, this angle. So you're saying, okay, I've got this, and this is my horizon line and then I want these two buildings coming this way. A lot of people in post production will photograph a building flat and turn it. Well, that doesn't work in reality because what you're doing is you're just flattening everything. So, what you're gonna do is you're gonna need to photograph that building with the same perspective cause if you have windows, let's use this. Okay, so if you take this and you just turn it flat, right, all of that information, those windows, are still gonna look big because we've just turned it sideways. Whereas if we turned this sideways in real life, we're gonna catch the spine of the book. Right, so this is why photographing it with the right perspective is really important and when you sketch your composite ahead of time, you know, going in, okay, this is what I need. Phil? Yeah. Just wanna let you know that we have... Wanna let the folks out there know that if you're new to Creative Live, you, right there on our course page, you'll see on the right is a chat button. That enables you to go to the chat rooms and have a global conversation with the other folks that are watching the class and a couple of folks also chimed in on seconding the, to get your perspective right, but also to have a clear visual idea of what your final results wanna be. Totally, yeah, and we're gonna go into that more in depth with the next batch of, you know, nuclear bomb slides. So, but that's exactly it. So you're just gonna have a very clear idea of what you're doing, you're not gonna be wasting a ton of time cause compositing is time intensive and that's why a lot of people don't like to do it cause it takes forever but that's okay. (laughs) The next thing is the importance of mood boards and I'm gonna have an example of a mood board here going forward. The importance of mood boards is like one step further from your previous sketch. So you've got your, like, rough doodles of, like, human here, car explosion here, you know, whatever. Whatever it is you want on a composite. But then you're having your mood boards and okay, so your mood board is well, what's the color palette that I wanna use? Right, what kind of makeup do I want on my person, if I want any? What kind of costuming do I want? What kind of atmospherics stuff do I want going on? So you're just kind of building and growing on your previous sketch.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Dino Maez
i have to say, the class was AMAZING! in every way from the tricks and technique's of mastering this art form to the personalized attention given by Renee. through the class you are able to learn information that would normally take the average person years of trial and error. Renee gives you the gift of benefitting from her her experiences and what she has learned THE HARD WAY! Renee is an outstanding instructor full of passion for what she does, and with a strong desire to not only improve the art, but more importantly, pay it forward, by sharing her knowledge with others. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the event in person, truly a once in a lifetime experience for me, the staff at creative live were THE BEST! they are helpful in every way and really made this event something special, i can't say enough about the experience i had and would highly recommend that anyone who has the opportunity to go down for a class, it will be an experience that you will never forget. but the best part of creative live is that wether you are there in person or wether you are watching from the comfort of your own home, you are involved in the class in REAL TIME, you have the ear and attention of the skilled artist giving the instruction, being there myself i can tell you that Renee was regularly given questions and comments from the viewers via the creative live staff and she would respond to them as they came, in that way you are very much apart of the class you are never left without getting that personalized attention of an amazing artist or that specific question you have answered, and even better you have the option to purchase the class and have it as a constant resource in your tool kit that you can refer back to at any point that you need a refresher or want to recall that special technique that was demonstrated. thank you thank you to renee and all the staff at creative live you have a life long member in me. and i would recomend that everyone take advantage of this valuable resource dino maez
stephen lenman
I have completed many creative courses. This is by far the best so far. Quite the most amazing and inspiring presenter with a true passion for their craft. The core information is excellent, but the thing i liked most were her subtle tangents, dropping incredible information completely on the fly. A complete real world honest view of business and practical side of the industry. Especially her advice on how she started to her business. Saving up enough in her day job so she could pay the rent, and do photography for 3-6 months.
Sheldon Carvalho
Awesome class. I've been following Renee for a very long time. I love her work and to finally see her work and get an image done from start to finish was quite something.. I love the way she sees things and the way she treats her work and all fellow creative. I would recommend this to everyone interested in getting into composting. Looking forward to creating and making my own art work. But it now :) Have fun creating. :)
Student Work
Related Classes
Commercial