Saucer Poster
Poster Assignment
Create a photo of YOU with your SAUCER
Compose and take a photo of YOU that can be used as an effective background for your Saucer model. Try to incorporate features of the school so that it's clear where this photo was taken.
Your task is to adjust the lighting to make the most CONVINCING fake photo you can, and submit it for marks.
HINTS
Carefully Observe the angle that the sun or lighting is at in the background and MATCH that lighting in your model
Consider incorporating PHOTOSHOP to permit FOREGROUND objects into the scene for better immersion
Submit your 3400x2200 jpg using the name "Lastname_SchoolSaucer.jpg"
1. PHOTOGRAPHY:
Set your camera to at least 8 MP
Take a well composed background digital photo - compose it carefully leaving 2/3 of the room for the saucer
Face the camera - it's as much about YOU showing off your saucer
Sunny days or places with bright lights work best - shadows help sell the illusion
Cropped background Image
Scene built in Anim8or
Rendered Merged Scene rendered from Anim8or
Video Tutorial showing ALL the Part 1 Steps
2. PHOTOSHOP Part 1:
Crop the photo to 3400x2200 pixels - try to imagine where the saucer should go
Save the file as "Lastname Saucer Poster Background.JPG" in a VERY high quality
3. ANIM8OR:
CREATE a new SCENE in Anim8or called "Poster Photoshoot" and set it's properties:
MOVIE IMAGE - Aspect Ratio should use "Other Fixed Aspect" of 17 x 11, then set the IMAGE SIZE to 3400 x 2200. Click OK
ENVIRONMENT should set the BACKGROUND to "Image" and you should use FILE to load your 3400x2200 picture and say OK
ADJUST the CAMERA ANGLE -
Level the Virtual Camera - this is CRITICAL - Get it to match the angle of your actual camera
Try to get the ground grid to match the orientation of the ground in your picture
Turn off the Ground Grid by going back to SCENE PROPERTIES - ENVIRONMENT and toggling the Ground Grid off and say OK to go back to editing the scene
BUILD your objects into the scene:
Use BUILD to add your Saucer to the scene, and adjust the Camera Angle and location.
Adjust your Saucer Scale as needed.
Use BUILD to add a light source and match the angle with that found in the background photo.
Turn on SHADOWS in the Light and Saucer. Add a Shadow Catching Surface if it would help
RENDER a "CGI" version of your Picture at 3400x2200 pixels and SAVE it as a JPG with the name "Lastname Saucer Poster Merged.JPG"
Remember to SAVE your Anim8or file at this point
FIXED in Photoshop
Shadows added under arm and saucer
Video Tutorial showing ALL the Part 2 Steps
4. PHOTOSHOP Part 2
Load up the ORIGINAL cropped photo as a background
Load your CGI photo and drag it into the first photo so that it becomes a new layer. The original photo should be in the background, the CGI photo should be LAYER1
Go to the BACKGROUND layer and use the QUICK SELECT tool to select foreground objects that should appear in FRONT of your saucer. Arms, hands - whatever. Use CTRL-J to pop those elements into their own layer called FIX, and move that layer to the TOP of your Layers Stack
Look for ways to include SHADOWS and REFLECTIONS into the picture for even more believability - Add LAYERS in between the FIX layer and Saucer layer to paint on it non-destructively. (see the video for even cooler ways to create believable shadows) Turn the OPACITY of the shadow layer down to around 50% and see if it matches the intensity of other shadows. Blur the shadow using FILTER - BLUR - GAUSSIAN BLUR and dialing in an appropriate percentage.
Create a SAUCER SHADOW using the Ellipse tool. Try to match how other shadows in the real photo fall. Try to match the angles of the ground, table tops etc.
DONE? Use FILE - SAVE and save the PSD, then use FILE - SAVE FOR WEB and save a high quality JPG to submit for your marks!
OVERVIEW - Anim8or
This video shows the whole process. You don't actually need to use a "greenscreen" background though - it works better if you just put your actual composed photo in as the background so transparencies will show through properly.