trying to put a car in a colorful scene

[kar1zma]

ok guys and gurus im starting off with a new project
thanks to all who helped me with my last work
im on to a few one. this one should be more complicated because of the vivid colors
and shading on the car but here goes

this is what im trying to achieve



here is my BG


help my gurus
edit: i forgot to add i have another red car from a photoshoot i did
i would like to put that car in the BG ive selected. i want to get the
same look and effect and the Lambo pic for this project

here is the car


i feel the angle may be wrong but i can always take a pic of the correct angle

 

[iDad]

Would you care to explain what you mean. You want to extract that car from that background?

 

[kar1zma]

Would you care to explain what you mean. You want to extract that car from that background?

im sorry i wasnt clear i forgot to put the pic of my subject
i have another red car that i want to put in the BG ive selection
i would like the overall pic to look and have the fell of the lambo pic

let me edit my first post

 

[kar1zma]

strange, no response from anyone

 

[Crotale]

I think the reason for the diminished number of replies is obvious: you are attempting to perform tasks that stand outside your current level of skills and knowledge. The composites you are trying to create are intermediate level graphics, meaning they require strong skills and knowledge in the following areas.

1. Perspective - perspective is highly important in the world of composites. Correct use of perspective in every element serves to help give off the impression that all of these elements belong in the scene.

2. Lighting - lighting is the key to compositing, and not only makes selections easier, but also makes the composite look real. You can learn all of the selection tricks and Photoshop effects you want, but if the lighting on your subject versus the lighting in the environment in which you place them is different, it’ll never really look real.

3. Color application - knowing how to apply the various colors to a scene. Knowledge of how to place colors that either compliment the warmth or coolness of the scene or contrast each other to provide greater impact for the person viewing the final work. Color also gives everything in the scene a common theme.

4. Rule of thirds - rule of thirds encourages use of placement of objects or key elements in a scene to create more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject. To use this rule effectively, an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed somewhere along these lines or near their intersections.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds#cite_note-2

My suggestion here is for you to take on smaller tasks or projects that get you more familiar with the four items I listed above. Once you are comfortable with these skills, then you can move on to more intermediate skill projects.

Just my two cents, for whatever it is really worth.

 

[kar1zma]

I think the reason for the diminished number of replies is obvious: you are attempting to perform tasks that stand outside your current level of skills and knowledge. The composites you are trying to create are intermediate level graphics, meaning they require strong skills and knowledge in the following areas.

1. Perspective - perspective is highly important in the world of composites. Correct use of perspective in every element serves to help give off the impression that all of these elements belong in the scene.

2. Lighting - lighting is the key to compositing, and not only makes selections easier, but also makes the composite look real. You can learn all of the selection tricks and Photoshop effects you want, but if the lighting on your subject versus the lighting in the environment in which you place them is different, it’ll never really look real.

3. Color application - knowing how to apply the various colors to a scene. Knowledge of how to place colors that either compliment the warmth or coolness of the scene or contrast each other to provide greater impact for the person viewing the final work. Color also gives everything in the scene a common theme.

4. Rule of thirds - rule of thirds encourages use of placement of objects or key elements in a scene to create more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject. To use this rule effectively, an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed somewhere along these lines or near their intersections.

My suggestion here is for you to take on smaller tasks or projects that get you more familiar with the four items I listed above. Once you are comfortable with these skills, then you can move on to more intermediate skill projects.

Just my two cents, for whatever it is really worth.

I Agree 100% but at the same time practise makes it fun and interesting.
im not sure where and how i can find basic level projects. this site is not
a course
im trying to materialize what i would like to do on the photos i take
whether its a basic or intermediate project is secondary

i know i will not be able to achieve the result cause of my lack of skill
but thats y i joined this forum to learn . this community is about learning and then learning some more

i admit that this is a hard project for me
but i would like to attempt it anyway. i enjoy photoshop and learning
new tehcniques and methods. and even though i am making mistakes i am gaining
invaluable knowledge on the way.
so!!
in short if u all could guide me in the correct direction ill start
ill make mistakes but ill ask u for help and keep going.
i find this method more enjoyable

 

[SCTRWD]

IMHO, I think you are trying to do the impossible thing: you are trying to find some "techniques and methods", or - the "cheat", where there is only hard work and try and probe way.

I doubt you will get any experience out of your "projects". There is no such thing like simple formula to make a good design.

In the end it all comes down to a hunch or flying by the seat of your pants

I really think you are wasting your time just for nothing! The only thing you'll learn - there is no substitute for experience and hard work. There are no easy ways, no silver bullets, no magic "rules" for making a good design.

All your findings will be totally irrelevant in the next "project" and even worse: they will distract you from the experimenting and thinking big.

 

[IamSam]

I completely agree with Crotale and SCTRWD!

I made a similar observation to you in a previous post, "The biggest part of making this or any composite work, is choosing the right BG and primary subject by matching lighting and perspective, and making sure the color, reflections, shadows will all be of similar quality and direction. Your starting off by placing yourself in a position to fail."

This is the third similar project you've started. You did not complete the first two!

From the beginning I have felt that you have little to no concept of perspective.

You want help...........here it is...
Watch the following tutorial and then come back and demonstrate by creating an example, with lines, that the car and the background you choose will match in perspective. (They don't have to be exact, just close)

Using perspective and vanishing points to create amazing Composites in Photoshop

We will work on lighting after that.

 

[Fatboy73]

Like others have mentioned, you have to crawl before you can sprint. My suggestion would be to take a cardboard box photo and try to composite that correctly into your BG. If you can get get the shadows, color temperature and resolution to look convincing, then and only then should you move up to something more difficult.
It will also give you an idea of just how difficult the car image you originally requested help for is.

 

[ibclare]

I know my sig says "sting." But I would like to soften the sting of these comments if you feel offended at all.

That is not the intention nor spirit. We have skilled, experienced, awesome members here who really want to help teach and guide. They give critique, advice, suggestions, make individual tutorials. We would really like to see the progressive results of the requester. Many times people come back and post their works after trying to put this advice into effect. When people don't, we just shrug and hope they've gone on to learning, even if it is unmannerly not to continue the dialogue and exchange of ideas. Which we as artists do by sharing our work with one another.

On the other hand, when you come here with request after request for guidance, but don't show us if you've learned anything from one to the next, we get irritated. We are above still trying to give you civil advice, but I think I hear the tone changing and rightfully so. How about a show of good faith and posting results from your other requests?

We are right on the mark by saying you don't appear to have the basic understanding of design principles, much less have understanding of the operation of PS software, nor the practice that is part of the effort needed to learn Photoshop.

Maybe I just added more sting rather than softened anything after all! But I think you really need to understand and respect the purpose of this forum.

We would love to help you learn. We want to help you. Absolutely. But we want to know if our advice is producing any results and you could share those with us. Maybe you need more guidance in those areas. That would really help move you forward. After awhile, giving the same critique over and over to one degree or another is bound to make us wonder if what we say is falling on deaf ears. So, prove us wrong!

 

[MikeMc]

I was expecting to see Paul or Chris with an manipulation.....

I used the crop , transform, and move tools. How do you like it?

 

[MikeMc]

Even better. I used a mask on this one!



But I don't have any lambo doors. Sorry!

 

[Paul]

Got my own car chopping threads Mike:mrgreen:

 

[iDad]

Mike, take the car duplicate it put the lower layer in luminosity mode go to the top layer andchange the opacity by about 80% to get the reflections, that's a real fast method tweak till happy :mrgreen:


I mean 20%

 

[Fatboy73]

I wasn't trying to be mean in my post, I was very serious about the cardboard box. With the box you only have to deal with the basics of color correction and lighting plus making sure the resolution matches. Trying to explain how to do the car properly involves the above plus complicated perspective, faking multiple reflections and a ton of other techniques that are at best, lengthy to explain.
I'll say it again, try the box first.

 

[kar1zma]

IMHO, I think you are trying to do the impossible thing: you are trying to find some "techniques and methods", or - the "cheat", where there is only hard work and try and probe way.

I doubt you will get any experience out of your "projects". There is no such thing like simple formula to make a good design.

In the end it all comes down to a hunch or flying by the seat of your pants

I really think you are wasting your time just for nothing! The only thing you'll learn - there is no substitute for experience and hard work. There are no easy ways, no silver bullets, no magic "rules" for making a good design.

All your findings will be totally irrelevant in the next "project" and even worse: they will distract you from the experimenting and thinking big.

i have never asked for anyones hardwork to be copied here. i have merely asked for guidance. im not trying
to learn a " few techniques" . perhaps im not making and effort from the start as u expect i should.
maybe i am trying to learn advanced techniques. its still learning. i have the passion for PS. i would learn
and keep perfecting as i go along. if i had a way where i could learn from the beginning i would immediatey
start a beginners course. i couldnt so im trying to learn from what i wanna do with my pics

I completely agree with Crotale and SCTRWD!

I made a similar observation to you in a previous post, "The biggest part of making this or any composite work, is choosing the right BG and primary subject by matching lighting and perspective, and making sure the color, reflections, shadows will all be of similar quality and direction. Your starting off by placing yourself in a position to fail."

This is the third similar project you've started. You did not complete the first two!

From the beginning I have felt that you have little to no concept of perspective.

You want help...........here it is...
Watch the following tutorial and then come back and demonstrate by creating an example, with lines, that the car and the background you choose will match in perspective. (They don't have to be exact, just close)

Using perspective and vanishing points to create amazing Composites in Photoshop

We will work on lighting after that.

i admit my first project was an utter fail. i had absolutely no idea of prespective at that time.
i thought that i could put in the appropriate lighting to fix the image. i failed miserably and i learnt
that prepective is very important. everything was wrong about that attempt and i left it. lesson learnt
but my second project went well. leaving aside a few minor thingse everything went well. the BG angle
even matched the angle of the car pic. i didnt exactly get the look of the pic i was trying to replicate
but i mentioned i didnt want to. i dont know what went wrong there.
leaving aside all that i will check your link out and see the whole vid before proceeding further

Like others have mentioned, you have to crawl before you can sprint. My suggestion would be to take a cardboard box photo and try to composite that correctly into your BG. If you can get get the shadows, color temperature and resolution to look convincing, then and only then should you move up to something more difficult.
It will also give you an idea of just how difficult the car image you originally requested help for is.

cardboard box it is then should i start a new thread?

I know my sig says "sting." But I would like to soften the sting of these comments if you feel offended at all.

That is not the intention nor spirit. We have skilled, experienced, awesome members here who really want to help teach and guide. They give critique, advice, suggestions, make individual tutorials. We would really like to see the progressive results of the requester. Many times people come back and post their works after trying to put this advice into effect. When people don't, we just shrug and hope they've gone on to learning, even if it is unmannerly not to continue the dialogue and exchange of ideas. Which we as artists do by sharing our work with one another.

On the other hand, when you come here with request after request for guidance, but don't show us if you've learned anything from one to the next, we get irritated. We are above still trying to give you civil advice, but I think I hear the tone changing and rightfully so. How about a show of good faith and posting results from your other requests?

We are right on the mark by saying you don't appear to have the basic understanding of design principles, much less have understanding of the operation of PS software, nor the practice that is part of the effort needed to learn Photoshop.

Maybe I just added more sting rather than softened anything after all! But I think you really need to understand and respect the purpose of this forum.

We would love to help you learn. We want to help you. Absolutely. But we want to know if our advice is producing any results and you could share those with us. Maybe you need more guidance in those areas. That would really help move you forward. After awhile, giving the same critique over and over to one degree or another is bound to make us wonder if what we say is falling on deaf ears. So, prove us wrong!

everyone has criticised me. yes i feel down but if the gurus are saying so then they have a point
here is my work which i think is ok

the car is positioned ok. shadows are correct. car tone is not perfect but believable.
it matches the overall tone of the reference pic.

yet i am ready to start fresh from the basics
let me know where i can begin

 

[dv8_fx]

No one should stop trying because by doing so, you stop learning. Even the best of the best does not stop learning but they do it quietly and in private. They've got a reputation to maintain so why heck show a weakness... .

Criticism is meant to either point you to the right direction or pull you down. But in both instances, the writer is giving a piece of his mind and knowledge. SO its up to you on how to adapt - which words of wisdom or detraction reflect your work and what course of action you should take in order to improve yourself.

In the end, it is up to YOU ... whether to pull yourself up or let yourself down. Neither the BEST or even the BEST OF THE BEST will ever allow themselves to be pulled down...... they keep going......



The car perspective is much better. The POV focus on the front is great.

Maybe its how I view your image in my monitor, but the car, in my opinion, needs to shine a bit. And add a bit of treeline reflection on the hood and top fenders.

And because of the reflective ambient lighting of the scene, don't make the front grill and fender area as well as the shadow too dark....

 

[chrisdesign]

I was expecting to see Paul or Chris with an manipulation.....

I used the crop , transform, and move tools. How do you like it?

View attachment 41197

I just returned from my holiday...and as always a ton of jobs are waiting to be done first. Though I would like to have a go at this one, it is just too much time involved. More than 10 hours I guess to do a good job.

 

[IamSam]

.....the BG angle even matched the angle of the car pic.....

...the car is positioned ok. shadows are correct. car tone is not perfect but believable.
it matches the overall tone of the reference pic....

No, the perspective was off! The car was photographed from a low angle and the road from a higher angle! It was much better than your first attempt which you could have fixed by angling the car but you wanted the car to be level!

The BG had a light source going from left to right, the cars light source was from above! The shadow on the car would have been to the cars left side (our right) if it matched the lighting of the BG, so the shadows are off! You completely ignored any attempt to point this out much less make a correction! (a change would have been changing the car or the BG.........you wanted to use those two images!)
You can't just erase shadows and expect the lighting to work.

yet i am ready to start fresh from the basics
let me know where i can begin

Even if you decide to try the cardboard box idea (great idea by the way) you will still have to learn perspective! Watch the video I linked you to!

Use the BG from above and build your own box using vanishing points, one to the left, one on the right, and one in the middle. Then find a real box photo and try to match the boxes perspective to the BG. The real trick will then be to match both the box and the light source to a new BG!

 

[iDad]

Original pictures ,work with what you have if it don't work pretend it does.lolimp: