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Another glassy/plastic orb...


Ok your first new one above is getting closer Wendy.

I have a good suggestion for you, and everyone, that will help you to understand more easily the effects/properties of a glass sphere.

Go to a mall and find a trinket type shop. Anywhere that you know sells either spherical light fixtures, crystal balls, or some kind of other large glass spherical objects.

Hold one up in front of you and look 'through' it, and 'into' it. Take note of what you see, and how the glass is creating/effecting what you see.

That's my best advice. ;)

PS: if you have any clear 'crystal' marbles, you can also use one of those to do the same thing, just on a much smaller scale. But the effect will br the same overall.
 
Yeah, I was wishing that I had a "crystal ball" to examine, just as you described, Mark. I don't even have a marble in the house... :{ ... so it looks like I'm "off to the mall" and back to the drawing board! :)
 
this girl is relentless, what can I say?

Ummm... here I go again! Before I scurry off to cook dinner... I leave these new samples.

First - no background (per se)
 
same orb with a new background...
 
WOW WOW WOW WOW
I gotta get cracking. Thanks Wendy for the help (file) Your inspiring us all.
 
Wendy I have been watching your struggles with glass ball with interest and think you are doing great. :righton: You have inspired me to give it another try or two. B7 So here goes
 
Thanks Guys...

Hey, SilvrWolf... I really look forward to seeing your results when you are satisfied enough to post! :)

Yeppers Rick, I suppose that I've been hogging this forum with my efforts! ;) And nice effort there on your part :righton: I will add. I especially like your background whereby you've used a D-map on the text. Might try that one myself, with my next 'stab'...

Mark, your last post (with example) really helped me this time. I didn't have time to run out to the mall today, but I'm beginning to see things a little more "clearly". That pun was intended! :bustagut:. More tips?

8[ Scary to think that I'm ready to have another go at it, isn't it?
 
I am watching with great interest all that you are doing and just want to say well done :righton:
sfm
 
Yes, I'm watching too but you are wearing me out cause I liked the chrome one in the beginning. lol (just adding frustration -) lol I'm not even going there until I have two days to do nothing but glassy orbs or whatever Mark called them.
 
Ok you're getting much closer now Wendy, good stuff.
Your first sample again is closer than the second... and i'm saying this for a very specific reason. But until you actual hold up a glass ball in front of you and look through/into it, you won't be able to 'guess' what the effects should look like in your glass sphere.

So i still suggest you do that.
You'll be amazed what you see 'through' the ball.

I have a nice 3"x3" ball right beside me... wish i could send it to ya. :)

Another tip you ask? Ok...

Don't be afraid to make your highlights more pronounced. Fading them all, is not usually realistic... not for glass anyway.
 
Thanks Mark!

Getting closer is good! :) And I, too, wish that you could send me that crystal ball... maybe I could use it to hit myself over the head after I look through it! :bustagut:

I get what you mean about the highlights! :righton:

Stay tuned...
 
Wendy, it's just that Im still afraid to post. Ive been reading here and lookig at your work and I'm still not happy with my outcomes. Look like white hazy flap-jacks. But I am still working on it.
 
everyone has great images and I'm just starting ... trouble is everytime I "finish" something I can see where I went wrong/could do better ... anyhow, here's my first two I resized the images and they sort of "lost it" .. that and jpeging of course .. well that's my excuse *G* ... (btw, I've worked out that at the slow rate I'm posting I'll be 81years old by the time I get to be a Master Apprentice!![shhh])
 
Good work namvet, keep it up.
 
Im just not thrilled with this. Everytime I go back and try to add a shadow here or a highlight I think it looks worse. By the way I did most of this with layer styles. Just the big white dot in the upper left is a highlight. Any suggestions for improvement.
 
Silvrwolf I am no expert at this one either but if you were to look through a glass ball (don't have one? use a glass out of the kitchen) now look through that......... see how the image on the other side of the glass is distorted when you look through that?
now look at your image and try to distort that :\
acheive that one then tackle highlights next as the bottom highlight I feel is not wide enough towards the centre, a little to sharp and it needs a reflective highlight (one that is slightly darker)

I have done one of these found it http://www.photoshopgurus.info/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=888&perpage=10&pagenumber=6 now look at the top ball on the left see the highlights and reflective highlights this is what I am talking about (I think this is the clearest one to show what I mean) these are all the same ball with the backgrounds changed and note the distortion I did with the last one spherise spots to your hearts content until it looks right

Markzebra did a lovely one with really strong highlights http://www.photoshopgurus.info/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=888&perpage=10&pagenumber=3 still like that one :D
sfm
 
Namvet ... nice balls! :righton:

SilvrWolf, to create a glass/crystal ball, you just need more highlights/shadows (interior & exterior) for that 3-d look. And, of course, the background distortion which one would see looking through a glass ball. It's not easy, I, for one, know that! I've been working hard on it and have tried all kinds of techniques... as anyone following this forum knows!

Practice makes perfect... so keep at it! ;) You're off to a good start. :D
 
Here she goes again...

still at it...
 
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