I have a image here
ZF37 (http://www.andywee.com/pictures/ZF37.jpg)


i am trying to 'ground' the image. i need to create a drop shadow then i can add the 'cement' floor. anyone knows how to create a drop shadow?

something like that. dropshadow (http://www.andywee.com/pictures/ds.jpg)

I have to do this often and have found the easiest and most convincing way is just to paint it with a soft brush. You can then go back and blur as needed. I would recommend playing with different opacities and using the pic you have posted as a reference.

I too usually paint in with a soft brush. If I'm needing to build a shadow cast by a very structured object with direct lighting, I will often duplicate the subject, fill with black and use Transform->distort to cast a long or angled shadow. Reduce opacity to about 45% and g/blur it.

I normally add a drop-shadow layer style, then put it on its own layer (right-click on the layer's little 'f' thingie, click "Create layer", ignore warning message), and erase it where I don't need it. You can transform it or change opacity as needed or mess with it any way that floats your boat.

In most cases, I find that just the soft drop shadow isn't enough. You need a harder, darker shadow right where the object meets the surface it's sitting on.
Without that, even with a drop shadow, the thing will look like it's floating. (Your image may be an exception to this because the background is so dark.)

The attachment shows what I mean.

dc

To go along with DC's suggestions, a good rule of thumb is the farther the shadow is (in 3D space) from the object the blurrier and lighter it will be. I sometimes use the quickmask tool and draw out a gradient that follows the shadow as it gets farther from the object. I then go out of the quick mask turning the gradient into a selection. You can then take and G/Blur that selection and it will blur progressively less along the gradient thus creating a blurry shadow where it is farthest from the object and a sharper one where it is closer. I've found when doing this that it works best to blur many times in small increments and to redraw the gradient in slightly different directions each time.

thanks all. will give it a try. the car is already masked out. so i can change the background to gradient grey and fill in my shadows.

but what about the ground? the floor texture.. wondering where and how to pull out cement. overlay?

A quick way to get a good cement texture is to:

Add noise to a neutral layer

Add a pinch of Gausian Blur

Stylize/Emboss to taste.

You can then transform the layer and skew into perspective. You can also color it to whatever color you need.

If you set it under the shadow and do a basic lighting effect on it you should have a pretty convincing cement.

i'm not sure if you observed properly.. cement has got random streeks. almost wood grain like. anyhow to replicate that too?

anyone wants to give it a try?

ZFiso (http://www.andywee.com/pictures/ZFiso.tif)
TIF file with background isolated. 1.5Mb.

For the lighting of bg and drop shadow examine the lighting on the car and go from there.

For the cement floor consider using one or more texture files in blend modes that work, and you can further distort them with grunge distort maps to get that random look (along with noise as some have suggested). (google texture file)

Also, beware of banding in the gradients. (google 'banding photoshop')

Looks good so far. Show us the finished picture.

Mig

dkcoats I normally add a drop-shadow layer style, then put it on its own layer

this is the route I perfer... then you can do lots of other things with it using the transform tool ... ctrl/t on windows ... remember to right click within the active region to use other aspects of the tranform tool to fine tune the shadow other than the opacity etc. ..

the other options offer many useful possibilities.

http://www.andywee.com/pictures/ZF37a.jpg

is this ok? does it look real?

Andy,

Something's gone awry with the lighting. On my monitor it's too dark and I had to look at it in Photoshop to be able to see the texture you put down for the cement and the drop shadow for the car.

It might just be my monitor but I doubt it.

The texture on the cement is ok, but it has that photoshop filter look to it, without enough randomness. Photoshop filters have that controlled randomness that's easy to identify. It's fine though, and few will notice that anyway.

The lighting is a bit of a problem I think. You might want to double check that.

Mig

i was a little worried if it might be too dark for some others to see cause my screen is calibrated.


i have no idea about the shadow thing.. it's one thing to shoot it. another to edit it.

Hi tetsuo,

Is this in the right direction?

I haven't added any texture to the floor but that can be very easily done ...

woah.. nice. radial gradient?

what about the shadows? edit/distort then blur?