Lessons

Lesson Info

Selections and Masking

let me show you. I'm gonna put all of these in a group folder and show you what I did previously. So I'm gonna put all this is the new where we could say shoot studio. Here we go. Studio shoot LaBella's. You go really important. I'm sure people have been telling you this along, but it is so important, especially for composite work, right? It's fine. If you only have. Let's say, you know, five, even 10 layers. You can manage it, but with composites, sometimes you'll have a little tiny piece. Layer 22. Another piece. 23 right and starts adding up some of the composites I'll work with well over 200 layers, so labelling as you go color coding. As you go, guys know how to color code right click to the right of where this isn't, you can choose a color, which is really helpful. So state organized as much as possible, huge for the workflow efficiency. So with the studio shoot, So here's Here's the breakdown of what this is. Let's take that off there and left tree. So this was more or less the ...

kind of the original original shot I did some sort of straightening and warping of that background. If we have time will go into showing you what was done for that. I extended the sidewalk a little bit. It's also take off the effects that we see the full before. Um, you know, just did some little color correction there, So some prep has gone into this. Um, Yep. So there's the background. There's I put me It's reference in there. Uh, that way we can just see sort of the scale of things. Then I have the bike. Well, sort of look at if we have time, it can show how to do a blur for that the bike if your guys are interested in that. But in general, you know, just doing colors, making sure everything's looking right. Then we have to see the bike than the child itself. Himself its own, uh, and so the with a child with Kellen here, uh, there's I try to keep it separate. So the shadows right, so the shadows are super important. It's a difference from things looking like it's just floating versus surfing, apparently, is a difference there serving on something right being attached to the wood over this environment is so there's that again. We can show some the blur if we have time, curves, adjustments. So we'll, we'll hopefully get into that. But at least for now, let's see how far we can get into what we just shot. So and then there's the Magic, which is blend modes and fractals and light painting and a bunch of fun stuff. Okay, so back to the studio shoot. Here we go. Let's start with the doggy bucks North and just for now so I can see what I'm doing. I'm going to take off all the other ones. That way, I'm just focused on this. So in general, there's so many different kinds of selection tools you can use. I mean, the technology, the algorithms that, you know, photo shop is now using its so advanced I have, you know, the most lock again. Everyone goes to their their favorite one, but the quick selection tool, which is great shortcut W because it hides with Juan tool, and it's in this drawer here. But the one tool, especially for something that's grade and fairly uniform, can work a lot of times as well. In this case, we're gonna try the quick selection tool. So w for that if you ever hit W and it just goes to the want will itself. Here's a hit shift W and will toggle through whatever is in that drawer. And that's a really helpful wayto get to another tool still through a shortcut. So with this, this tools great, right? So it's as you probably know, it's looking for areas of contrast. Ladies looking for these lines and areas that air, they're separate eso and squirrels bigger than like that. That swirl head is just appearing with this gray, you know, so we can actually see some of the pieces here. So I'm gonna take the quick selection tool, and I'm gonna get a larger brush who have a tablet. Yes, okay. Makes it so much easier. And I'm just gonna draw over this in general, when you're selecting pets or objects or people select over the bones, if you will, of whatever that subject has stated that the meat of them stayed in the middle of him, you'll get much better selections in general, I'm getting a smaller brush size brush lives matters with a quick selection tool. I'm about to sneeze, Okay? No. One way. Oh, that's the worst. Uh, okay, so with this, uh, I'm making a selection changing the brush size with right bracket for a larger brush left bracket for smaller brush. You can also hold down control and option and drag left and right. Kind of neat one. But I'm still usedto doing this way. Then I'm moving around shifting over to the hand tool just temporarily by holding down space bar. Really helpful for navigating. So I'm gonna select just a little bit beyond what the subject is here. Subject bucks snort okay. And see how I selected too much, right? It saw the edge. And clearly that's the edge. I was meaning. There. You can subtract it by holding down option or halt. Right Turns into that minus really helpful. Let's see, I don't quite want this yet. Okay. Again. For time purposes, we're gonna go just a little bit rushed on this, and so I'm gonna get mostly correct on. Then I'll perhaps bring in the leash separately. We'll see what we do with the leash. I'm a paint one in afterwards, so we'll just see what we have. Time for All right. So once you have this, this is the controversial selected mask that's been altered, right, compared to what everyone was useful used. Teoh. So with this, I will typically do it a couple different times. If it's a subject that has skin as well as hair, like a person, typically I'll do it the first time for just the skin and sort of shift the edge and get a little bit of feathering. Then I will hit OK and go into it a second time. Just for the hair is otherwise you try feathering hair. It gives them the haircut, and it doesn't look good. Right? Uh, have to wear a hat or something. Uh, let's see. So you want to make sure that you're doing it a couple times? If that's the case of another subject for this, one might be able to do it just one time. Soap in the options bar. I'm clicking, selecting mask, and then we can sort of get an idea of this. So pros and cons of the the new selected mask dialog box that they have here, what's annoying is that its different right. We all have adoption barrier any new update were all up in arms like, Oh, it's I don't know what this way, however, they were thinking through some really great things. Adobe. Thank you. Uh, and part of it, when I was really annoyed with at first was this transparency. And it always started 50% right, you know. And now that I do more compositing, it's actually I'm finding more and more uses for it. I'm getting over my adoption barrier, especially if there was something that, let's say, there was hair sort of flowing off in a direction, going at, you know, 36 opacity. Well, let me see where that hair is. It's that way. I can paint it in, make sure I'm not missing anything. So there's actually some really great purpose, especially for compositing on selecting purposes on here. So in this case, there's let's say, I wanted to grab that leash right, and I didn't know where the leash waas this would Let me see it right now. I can actually see where that leash waas. So if I go in there, Okay, so there's a few different tools. One we can make increased selections, although I found that this is kind of a finicky way to do it. I would make your quick selection before you get into this selected mask On another note on that note, Selected mask for those that don't know doesn't automatically create a mask afterwards. So have some students with a new naming scheme on there that confused like Wait, where's the mask? It it's selected. I did select a mask, but it didn't do it. This is still refining your selection, refining the radius. Just like the old tool is. It doesn't also make a mask. So just so everyone's on the same page there. Okay, so the one for hair that you guys have seen and that that's really fun to play with is this, Uh, what is a comment? Looking one comet brush is supposed to be, You know, you can actually see the hair. Um, but maybe they're still working on that. I kind of, um And so with this guy, I can just paint around that radius and let's see what it does. You'll never know. OK? Yeah, it's getting a little bit. I'm gonna zoom in slightly, see how it starts to get the hair on the head itself. We're seeing some of that brick through it, just like I did the quick selection with a subtraction I can hold down, option on and subtract from its analysis of trying to find those the edge and hair there. So just get a smaller brush and Aiken, subtract out and make sure that that's that's actually gonna be there. Same with this little part here. So I want the edge, but not beyond the edge. All right, Any questions while I'm just doodling up here? Yeah. Can you do that again? Yes. Yeah, Just just a show. I set it up and And what's nice? Since I haven't thank you, Um, that I haven't done any shift edge or anything like that yet. Uh, I I can just hit OK and save where my selection currently. Waas if I play with the sliders and I go back through, it starts to compound and get a little bit wonky. Technical term there for for this is not OK, so let's say I just use the quick selection tool. This guy and I drew a cross and got a rough estimate of my selection of the dog here. Uh, then again, it's this guy up in the options bar. I see different ways of human here. So the selected mask that's the gotcha to make sure that you click on there and it hides. It's only when you have ah, selection tool in hand. So if you have the move tool, the for move tool, it doesn't exist, right? That's what they called the options bar up there because you have options depending on the tool that you have. So you want to make sure that you have the some selection tool either the marquee tool lasso any of those should work to, then go to select and mask. Then we get this dialog box. Maybe that looks like it transforms photos, transforms Photoshopped into something different, right? But really, it's we're still in that it's basically opened up. A properties panel changed our tools over here, and they each have their own shortcut, which changed from the previous version. So the refined edge brush the shortcut is for our. So by default, I think it jumps to what I'm trying to do. Jumps to the quick selection. One. Don't start drawing immediately. Take a look at what tool you have because that's a gotcha. That's it's also really knowing. So make sure that you were planning to select hair that this is your tool selected shortcut are ago. Um, you can also you know, there is some neat features that you have in this latest version with these. They're such as you can paint out the mass, you can do various things, but in this case, we're just going to use the change, the name to hover over. Yeah, when in doubt also hover, right? Especially as they update names, they update features. You're looking at a book that mentions something you don't know what it is, Uh, hover over it and we'll tell you write, it gives these little sort of tips there. So in this case, we're switching over to do this one. And I'm just going to keep on painting. Yeah. Any other questions? I'm not sure. Somebody wrote get puppies forehead, and I'm not sure at one point Yeah, that might be a little bit in there that we also selected, so Yep. Thank you. Backseat photo shopper. Oh, they there's well out of No, I do the same thing with my since. Like, can I just borrow that house for a second. Yeah. No. Great. Thank you. Anything. Uh, it's funny when I did that The book cover, Uh, you know, for that one where I'm, you know, in the kitchen area of my watch in the kitchen here with that levitt anyone on and I had left a hand on my bottom. Keep it PC there, so I didn't notice until afterwards, and we're gonna use it. So it's easy to let things slip special when you're doing all these different pieces. So keep an eye on it. It became something I left a little hand in each one just to see if people would find it. But for the actual book publication, we had to take it out to make it look like I knew what I was doing. But it's easy to happen, so we'll we'll notice that it starts taking off a little bit too much. So before I go on and on and reverse what I did, I'm gonna go around once and at least get a basic hair selection again with this one. It's not gonna be perfect with going from white to black for and on the darker background. But for the most part, it is doing some things pretty well, right? Just going around, especially when it's your own animal to its, it makes it even more fun. So feel free to experiment on your, uh okay, just drive around. Also, instead of doing this slow way, I like to do a lot of things Manual, uh, sword drawing, right. It makes me feel like I have more control. I can go back and forth If I wanted to. I could just increase this radius and it's going to take one of the current selection is and apply the same, you know, refined radius tool to the whole thing, starting with that outer edge. So if you really wanted toe to go quick, that's a good way to G. O. Again. I liked to really see piece by piece is toe What's what's actually happening? Perfect. Yes, it's that what he's talking about, um, and sort of do it that way. But we can experiment and and take that off. That's even looking stranger again. What's nice with this? This feature we can draw things on, but groups we can also subtract and paint things out right so something just really is not working. I can hold down that command That's not perfect there, but alright, for sake of time, we will just keep going is thinking Okay, there's that. Okay, So in general again, Miss Spots, I would usually take a lot more time and getting this just right of Leslie skit. Most of the dog on here. Is it thinking, OK, well, just paint that on afterwards, Okay? So for the most part, you know this part work nicely. Yeah. Um, let's say want to grab that leash. It might grab that pretty well. Let's try that. And this is where again, that feature of, uh, changing the transparency to see where it is, where I'm drawing. Can you guys see that in there? I can see just enough. That's actually a good use for it. I was gonna draw straight across. Great of it when it does nothing. Perfect. Okay. Yes. Trying to taper unless you have the entire thing. It's looking for those solid elements on their such as hair. If it gets little disconnected pieces. But we can draw this and afterwards. Um OK, so I'm going to zoom out here and bring transparency will just take a look. It's really good idea to toggle through, You know, a few different ways to look at it right now, you know, has quite a bit of fill light that's making this pop little bit too much. So we'll have to do some good amount of editing on there. But it's good to look it on different backgrounds so you can change. You hit a toe, look it on a black background. If you're used to using the quick mask tool, you can look at that 50% red, uh, marching ants. It's not really helpful, but im sure theres a use for it that people find also looking on white background. So anyways, really helpful. Onion skin is a good default because you're actually looking at what it will be composited, which is helpful. Uh, in this case, I'll just leave it. Is that so? One of the thing that I might do here this whole thing, especially as I'm seeing a little bit of ah, sort of a darker halo and there's a few different ways we can we can help with that is potentially toe to shift the edge Now, with hair. That's tricky. Sometimes it has really bad results. Other times it just does the trick in general for shifting the edge. And let's shift the edge out so you can just see the difference, right? See how we're getting that gray halo shifting the edge in words and after the fact will bite into that subject. So for any composite, and especially when you making selections bite mawr into that subject rather than any halo, even if it's one that you don't see unless you're zoomed in really close, it will still look off. It will look like it's a cookie cutter. You know you don't want Klaus. You want seamless composites as much as possible. Who knows what this is gonna be. But in general, that's the idea. You want to make sure that you're biting Mawr into that and shift edge is the perfect tool. Sometimes I'll do it in different steps, will shift edge a little bit and then hit. OK, shift edge again, depending on what we're doing. If you add it with feather, it gets a little more complicated. But I'm not in this case, so I'm gonna say OK for that. So again, There's some that it that missed here. What's nice? See how it it? Remember how it didn't groups? Of course I d selected commands you to bring that back if I wanted to. Intentionally de select Command D is the de Select and then commands egos backwards. Looks like I didn't select that in there. This will be fine for what we're doing here. But if I wanted to paint in, let's say more of that foot as that's important, I could go to queue for my quick mask mood, and I can paint with black and white again. I love toe paint. Keep things more painterly. If you have brushes a hair brush, right, this is a great way to actually paint in some of that selections. I'm gonna hit be from my brush tool. I'm going to get a smaller brush, Uh, and with brush in this case, I want to make sure that I well, we can go with transferred, but any time I want to paint a 100% capacity a takeoff transfer. But if you wanted to make sure that you had pressure sensitivity with your tablet, that's where that guy lives. Under this brush and it a transfer and make sure it's underpinned pressure. So in this case, we'll leave it on Messi, zoom in on this spot here. And so right now I'm painting with black, which is going the opposite direction. So Command Z and hit X to swap my foreground background color. So now I'm painting with white, going to get a smaller brush and just kind of paint this in here. And if it started to some other strange things over there coming X and subtract this over here again, it did. Some other strange things will just kind of take this off of the edge here. Um, without going into a whole lot of other other brushes, let me show you what you can do with just the spatter brush. You could do a lot specially with hair. With this, I'm gonna go to brush tips. And was it spatter like 42? Anyways, these numbers keep changing. Okay, um, spatter. Let's do 39. There we go. Even with this one going back and forth, let's say, wanted to add in some hair if we make sure that you're on transfer, this goes with whether you're bringing in bushes Or, uh, what am I trying to do? Here we go like I'm not seeing the options there or anything organic. It's really helpful to sometimes painted in special. If you are more drawn toe painting, it's it's great. So in this case, I want to make sure transfers. They're good and I want to bring down flow. So I have pressure sensitivity. So the more I push, the more opaque is going to be. But I also have to repeat and go over and over, and this will give MAWR. This will simulate the kind of the way that hair works in the way that other organic sort of disappear into the background. Eso If I wanted Teoh ADM. Or Herring here, Here we go. Let's bring the slow down even more. All right. I can go several times in here, and actually, let's bring the opacity down to this. So the most it can do every time is this. So it's just withy the spatter too much There. I find it just right. Let's go to where we can actually see it. So sometimes, just sort of biting into the subject will add the element I don't know how it's coming out there. Um, you know, So we have things here for this one. It it may not matter too much, but other times they can make all the difference. Right toe having it look right or having it look off. So anyways, play with your you could go directly over that same area. I can add a lot to it. Okay, so let's say, went around and did it all perfectly. Doesn't look great. Okay, um, so, you know, clearly isn't but kind again. Uh, let's see if I right click. It's an easy way to get to your brush, right? So if you want to go back toe soft and fuzzy, here is what I call it. Um, Then you can right click anywhere in your canvas, and that's a good way toe to go back to it. So now I'm gonna paint it in on Let's do this. Let's hit zero shortcuts for rapacity. This is really helpful. If you hit the numbers one through 01 will give you 10%. I swear. Well, ok, there we go past you 10%. 20% right, all the way up. And if you hit zero, it's gonna be 100%. So if you want to make sure you jump up 200% these shortcuts are really helpful. For that. The flow is down. So and if I really want to make sure it's no matter what, it 100% then I could go over to that that brush. But let's at least get the pads of the feet. Okay, so again, this one, it's not gonna be perfect. I would go in and just play with it. This is one of those activities, especially if it's a personal project. There's a doggies forehead for the backseat for shopper. Uh, let's see. Yeah, there was a little bit more in there, right? I think that's what he's talking about. Um, you can disable your this is just in a selection so we can hit. Q. Just go back and forth. Now I can see what he's talking about. There is just a little bit more than it was missing out there. So this is where he might go in with that spatter brush and sort of painted outward a little bit. But again, this is This is fine. Where what? I was saying before? It is a personal project. This is something great that you can do. Well, just watching Netflix, right? Just sort of watching and sort of doodling. So, you know, this could be not mindless, but it just kind of fun, right? You don't need to initially get into it. Um, channel your inner Bob Ross. Right? If you're doing bushes Happy little hair, Uh, just sort of work with your images is good. Rest in peace. Okay, so with this, uh, it's not perfect, but for now, right, it's flawless. Right? Is not great. I know. I'm just a pro. Here s O in this case, I'm gonna add add the mask. So I just hit that mask button here. And so again there are There are things that we can work with will be dark in this down a lot hopeful. There's detail we can darken down here, Um, and we'll do a couple other things as well, But as far as placement, it looks like glass. Um, you know, that's again. It's hard with the position so but at least that's kind of the direction that we're going there. Um, with this, with each one would normally wait until they're more flushed out. Then I would start doing things like clipped adjustments. But just in general, let me start with that now. So seeing that I always put it there so I can only see. So in general, adjustments are amazing, right? You could do so much, especially with curves. My go to adjustments. I always start with Justin. The lights and darks first and the best way that I found to really articulate every little light and dark peace is with curves. So one start with curves and trying to make things match. Ah, Second, I would go to a color balance, but always do the lights and darks first because when you change contrast, it will change the color. So rather than changing the color like I nailed it, then you go and change cars like no the colors off now and going back and forth until it looks, however first changed, the lights and darks then do color thing. You're after a good start. So in general I'm going to dark and noticed. How is darkening everything? Uh, I don't want a dark and everything. I really just want toe darkened down some parts of the dog that's gonna be in shadow. And I can tell that have to do more more than that. Um, and this is where clipping is really helpful. So if you have it as an adjustment, you can click on this little guy right here. And so now this adjustment is only gonna be affecting the dog. And the only place I'm looking is just the bottom. The dog. I don't want this toe. Look that dark. I'm actually gonna lighten that up. So I'm just trying to get the general lightness and darkness to be a little closer there. Excuse me. Um, so with this, I darken it down, it's clipped. You can also hold down, option and click between these two, right? And that will clip it to it. So this adjustment on Lee affecting dog, which is great. So afterwards, once I have that, I might paint out or I can hit command, I That way it can paint it in, which is very helpful. So right now, if I have a white mask command eyes going to invert, whatever I currently have in this case is gonna turn white into black command. I boom So now we don't see any of it, right? If you guys were familiar with masks, masks reveal and reveal whatever that layer is, whatever they're attached to. So in this case, with this curves adjustment, it is concealing all of that curve adjustment. We do not see this at all, right? There's no difference when I toggle this on and off. Uh, what's what's great about masks? Is this nondestructive erasing, basically of non destructively erased all of this curves, which is fantastic because I can painted in with white. So is ah, memorization. Limerick White reveals black jealousy. Yeah, white reveals black conceals and make sure, uh, white reveals black conceals. So any time you want to conceal whatever that layer is, whether it's the dog itself, whether it's an adjustment, remember paint with black and white, which is great for the shortcut. You can just type with X and see how it's switching back and forth here between black and white. Eso You could just go back and forth as much as possible, so in this case, the mask is black. So there, from in a paint with white to paint it in, which is good. So Sometimes you want depends on, you know, glass half full, half empty. How much? Uh, how you want to look at it If you just need a paint in a little bit, It's good to start with an all black mask, right? Conceal all of it painting just a little bit. If the opposite is true, then do the opposite. In this case, I need to be painting with white, right? Painted in. So I need to switch over to my brush tool, be on the Mac or PC. They can agree on that. Okay, uh, and then with this, I'm gonna just go make sure that again, it's transfer. Keep on. Going to that menu that way can paint in with pen pressure. Otherwise, if you don't have a tablet thing, definitely play appear in your options bar between opacity and flow To get that in here. I'm just gonna paint this in a little bit darker on this side here. So I'm just painting in this section. Then I could do the opposite. Let's say, wanted a little bit lighter on the top part. So I'm gonna do one that's clipped on. I'm just gonna be looking to the top of the doggie here darks to be a little bit there. I know that's going way over the top, but it's on a on a brush inverted command. I then I can painted in with White. Anyways, there was more that we would do, and we would also get rid of some of the other pieces that are happening there. But that's the idea. Any questions with clipping or masking in general? I think I saturated with masks. Deal with them. Yeah, one question that did come in was and maybe you've already talked to this, But how accurate is the selection? Have to be toe look good in the composite. Should the edges be sure? Fuzzy? Yeah, So we're dealing with kind of worst case scenario. Like I set up a whole, uh, composite of worst case selecting him asking in general, you want it to be as close as you can get it right as close as possible, using all the selection tools in the dialog box that you can, however, what's really great. Let's say we notice that it's missing a pot or a really important piece of the tail after I have a selection I create a mask. It's not a one and done thing. It's It's Photoshopped, right? You can work so non destructively. Uh, I can come over here and notice this properties panel, you know, from mine. I usually have it over here where I can see it. Uh, you'll notice this. This looks familiar, right? Selected mask. So even as I've done it afterwards, I've already made my selection. Have already made a mask, but I could go back in here and we'll take a look at what this does. Look, it's the same dialog box where I can shift edge, right? I have the same controls that I did before, only after the fact. And that's what's nice about using masks. I have students that do this. Amazing selection is great thing. They copy and paste it into their their image. That is a destructive edit of what If you find out that it's not so amazing. What if it was amazing for the top part, but not something else? Keeping it as a mask not only makes it nondestructive, we can play with it, but you can even go in with all these sliders and I can go back and re paint and retry it. So it's completely Moldable and play with a ball. So that's sort of the fun of photo shop is Keep it nondestructive. Whatever your workflow is, make sure you're not permanently altering or destroying usually destructive sound soap. Um, you're not permanently altering what you're, uh, what you're doing. So okay, Um, yeah, in this case, that was fine. For that, we'll do some other things that will help sink it in. Also, this is a good one to do as well. Sometimes there will be some what I call digital Greece that will head up eso. It's good just to toggle on and off the visibility of something. Uh, and as digital Greece example, Let me just draw something in. It's to make it perfect. A campaign with white. Okay, so something that perhaps is not not really noticeable, But it is when you go on and off, right? You see the differences that are happening in some of those places. Uh, also, you can hit what is if you already have your mask. If you hit back slash, this will show you in that 50% red transparency, which is really helpful toe. Look at it in that way, then you can paint accordingly with this on that mask. So anyways, let's go back. Let's see how much been doing a lot of brush, So that's backslash on the keyboard. If you have a mask, it's not a selection. You can go to that kind of the quick mask mood, but with a mask, so selections and masks are kind of interchangeable. I can make a selection from my mask, right if I command click, so anyway, there's a lot of play between them.