Dragan Video Tutorial

[mistermonday]

Came across this video tutorial on the Dragan (like) Effect. The audio is not in English and is of poor quality. However, the video is good and is easy to follow.
http://www.savefile.com/files/60502
Regards, Murray

[superkoax]

nice one! thanks for sharing!


Gerry

[Godmother]

Why does people say "not in english" instead of the lenguaje it really is?

And another question: What leguaje does the talker of the video speak?

[mistermonday]

The message I received with the link to that video stated that the instructor was Brazillian. In listening to the audio, it sounds to me like it has some Polish or Russian or European words, but as you can tell the audio quality is pretty poor. Perhaps some other RP members can identify it. My comment about the video not being in English was NOT to imply that it should have been. It is just that almost all of the postings on this particular section of RP have tended to be in English. No offense intended in any way.
Fortunately, the video is easy to follow without any audio.
Regards, Murray

[Cassidy]

The first layer created is called "sombra". I believe this means shade in both portuguese and spanish. The second layer is called Olhos which is eyes in portuguese

[byRo]

Yes, that is Brazilian portuguese.

I watched the video twice, first without sound and then with.
The commentaries of the artist do not add anything at all to what you can see just watching the action unroll.
The only thing that I picked up from the audio was that the shadow "sombra" layer was set to multiply.

Although I did like the final image, I would certainly take issue with a few things that he did:
- No masks! I can't remember the last time I used the eraser. I would have much preferred seeing him mask the eyes and not just rub them out;
- In the same vein, the Burn and Dodge were applied directly to the image. In general I would advise, at least, on making a copy of the layer first;
- Brightness / Contrast: While for a "Dragan" type technique you may not worry too much about clipping the highlights and shadows, this is also a very dangerous tool to use;

If anybody has any doubts about any part of the video, I'll be glad to help (as always).

Rô

[mistermonday]

Hi Ro, your observations and advice are very sound. As I went through the process to try it on one of my images, I instinctively added adjustment layers for any done to the background layer after the initial selection. Clipping during a levels adjustment usually has more adverse results than in the image used in the video. There is a point early in the process where the instructor uses a Levels to build contrast by compressing the histogram and immediately follows it with an S-Curve to boost the midtone contrast. Both of those could have been accomplished with a single Z+S curve adjustment layer.
Overall the concept and approach is good and should be tweaked for each image that it is applied to.
Thanks for confirming the language of the audio.
Regards, Murray

[Kraellin]

murray, thank you for posting that. i too would like to know what he used to make that video. so much more could be done in tutorials with video. and yes, the words dont matter a bit here.

craig

[skydog]

Being new to photoshop I have two questions:

- In the beginning of the video, he Selected - color range - and he then passed the eye dropper on picture at the collar and then clicked the same area in the dialog box. Why this point on the collar? It looked gray..was this the reason?

Near the end I'm not clear on how he created layer 2. He went to the move tool then to the levels and then layer 2 was created where he worked on the eyes. Again, I am not sure how this layer 2 was created.

Comments...

- Maybe this is or isn't how the real effect is created, but I did find the approach very interesting. One I would not have thought of, but one I can now used to experiment with...I believe that is want the majority of those who ask how to obtain an effect are looking for.

Thanks for sharing...

[mistermonday]

Skydog, The collar was one of the darkest colors in the image. I believe the artist was trying to capture that area in his selection along with the rest of the background. When using the Select>Color Range, sometimes it is easier to select your range by clicking on the actual image, sometimes clicking on the grayscale preview window.

As for Layer 2, he copied and pasted in a copy of the original unmodified background layer. If this were my own process, I would have used adjustment layers and left the original background unmodified.

Regards, Murray

[Photo678]

Originally Posted by Godmother

Why does people say "not in english" instead of the lenguaje it really is?

Because this is an english speaking forum, so it's worth noting

EDIT...

was supposed to be NOTING...not NOTHING...that sounds awful...I'm sorry all

[snook305]

Movie not working on a Macintosh...
Anybody have success on a mac?
Thanks,
Snook

[mistermonday]

There are a number of programs available to convert wmv to MPEG or Quick Time. A google search should turn some up for Mac users.
Regards, Murray

[byRo]

Obs: This post is not relevant any more - the issue has been cleared up.

Originally Posted by Photo678

Because this is an english speaking forum, so it's worth nothing

I'm quite sure that this was just an unfortunate comment on your part (and I'll take it that way) and that you did not really mean to offend all of our non-english-speaking members. (Including half of the active moderators of the site, and also BTW including the moderator of this particular part of the forum)

Rô
(Moderator - Education Forum )

[silica]

Originally Posted by byRo

I'm quite sure that this was just an unfortunate comment on your part (and I'll take it that way) and that you did not really mean to offend all of our non-english-speaking members. (Including half of the active moderators of the site, and also BTW including the moderator of this particular part of the forum)

Rô
(Moderator - Education Forum )

Ah, yes, to offend, the capital crime of the new millenium. Offense is a complex emotion, just like anger or anxiety. Only you can control being offended, just as you are or are not in control of your other emotions. Take, for example, when you say something perfectly ordinary to a two year old, and the two year old responds with a display of anger. The emotional response to words is the responsibility of the listener.

[mistermonday]

Hi Craig,
I am not sure which one was used on this video, however there are a ton of screen recorders out there which start at $9.95. Some have limited features and only output to .avi files. Others get too fancy and cost $199.
I just downloaded the latest version of RiverPast's Screen Recoder from www.riverpast.com . It will output to wmv, avi, mpeg, Quicktime, and a few others. You can find a number of screen recorders for download (try or buy) at www.download.com or www.brothersoft.com . At Brothersoft you will find the screen recorders under the heading Graphics and Design.
Regards, Murray

[Photo678]

Originally Posted by byRo

I'm quite sure that this was just an unfortunate comment on your part (and I'll take it that way) and that you did not really mean to offend all of our non-english-speaking members. (Including half of the active moderators of the site, and also BTW including the moderator of this particular part of the forum)

Rô
(Moderator - Education Forum )

LOL....it was actually a typo...i meant "it's worth noting"...not "it's worthless"

heheheh...sorry

[byRo]

Originally Posted by silica

Ah, yes, to offend, the capital crime of the new millenium ......

I found your observations interesting and, in general, quite true.

However, for the case in point, I would reply with another observation: "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" (Thomas Jefferson).

The issue has been resolved - it was just an accident.

Thank you,

Rô

[pure]

sorry doesnt work for me.
there is no button on that page like "klick to download" or i must be blind.

thanks

[mistermonday]

The account used to host the file owners post apparently over ran its bandwidth limits. The file has been reposed at this link.

http://www.savefile.com/files/60502

Regards, Murray

[pure]

i am afraid it is removed also there..isnt it?
page wont load

[Janet Petty]

Because I can't remember the steps and have to keep switching back and forth while watching a video, I always jot the the steps down as I work. These are my notes (modified a bit as mine are always in shorthand ). You all are welcome to them as the video seems to have disappeared from the net. I hope they help.

Janet

[pure]

thanks

i once downloaded an action called "dragan"
i tried it and it has many and plenty of steps.
it seems that it never ends. but it is very good i guess.
if somebody needs, i can dive into my bookmarks and search for it....

[pure]

i found the action script "Draganizer.atn"
how can i provide it for you?
i dont know

[RAitch]

I found this and wrote an action to script it... but using layers and masks instead of direct edits and erasers.

Not perfect, but let me know if it works out for you.
(scripted in CS2... but could work for lesser versions)

http://www.richardhoutby.com/Files/PS/RHoutbyDragan.atn

There's no link to it from my actions page yet... but there will be.