1960 VW Beetle composite

[mcdronkz]

This photo is merely a test for an upcoming photo shoot.

This is what I started with:

Original

This is what I ended up with:

Composite

You would help me very much if you could give some feedback. Do you like the look? Is the car well integrated? Is the quality what it should be?

Thanks in advance!

[Repairman]

I like the overall look and feel of the composition. The car's shadow doesn't quite work for me; the background lighting would create both a different angle and strength of shadow. I'm not sure the small hilite flares are in relevent positions either. Also, if you remove the original dark reflection from the door it would improve the picture. As 'merely a test' it's very good though.

[mcdronkz]

Originally Posted by Repairman

I like the overall look and feel of the composition. The car's shadow doesn't quite work for me; the background lighting would create both a different angle and strength of shadow. I'm not sure the small hilite flares are in relevent positions either. Also, if you remove the original dark reflection from the door it would improve the picture. As 'merely a test' it's very good though.

Thanks for your reply, really appreciate it!

You are right about the shadow I guess. It doesn't look correct because of the sky, right? Just traced it over from the original image and the highlights were already there. Tried to match the lighting for the CGI backdrop but didn't give the 'lighting of the sky' much of a thought.

Good point on the reflection in the door!

[ratpat13]

It's looking really nice. I would second the other comments about the shadow. I know it's correct from the original but doesn't quite sit well in the scene, maybe it's the strength or the edge.

The car could probably use a little more polish or D&B to make it feel crisp (as far as crisp goes for the muted color pallet which i like). Though I'm not sure if that would add anything, just thinking.

The one thing that stuck out for me was the foreground lacks detail. At the moment it doesn't look realistic, more like a highly pixelated or noise filter with perspective. Same with the hill. I don;t know if these are just stand ins or if you were going for that look but it doesn't quite sit right with my eye.

Some other thoughts. The tires and the overall wheel hub look flat. If your going for low contrast then ignore that. Also the right window seems to be covered in dust splotches which is giving the interior a splotchy look but that should be an easy fix.

Hope you will post the final.

[mcdronkz]

Originally Posted by ratpat13

It's looking really nice. I would second the other comments about the shadow. I know it's correct from the original but doesn't quite sit well in the scene, maybe it's the strength or the edge.

Thanks! Will investigate it.

The car could probably use a little more polish or D&B to make it feel crisp (as far as crisp goes for the muted color pallet which i like). Though I'm not sure if that would add anything, just thinking.

Yeah, was thinking along the same lines, but I don't have a clue on what to actually dodge or burn. The body lines look well defined, I don't see how the car could benefit from it at this point. Can somebody point me in the right direction maybe?

The one thing that stuck out for me was the foreground lacks detail. At the moment it doesn't look realistic, more like a highly pixelated or noise filter with perspective. Same with the hill. I don;t know if these are just stand ins or if you were going for that look but it doesn't quite sit right with my eye.

Yep, not happy with it either, especially the hill. But the complete environment is going to change a bit. A lighter variant of this is much better I think. Really digging the El Mirage cracked mud, have to figure out how to replicate it in Vue, but that should be possible. What do you think, is that ground better than the one I am using?

Some other thoughts. The tires and the overall wheel hub look flat. If your going for low contrast then ignore that. Also the right window seems to be covered in dust splotches which is giving the interior a splotchy look but that should be an easy fix.

You are totally right about the wheels/tires. It was annoying me as well. Will bring a reflection screen to the next shoot to light the cool bias ply tires. I'm a sucker for that kind of contrast actually. The splotches are there because of the layered/glued (??) window which show up when using a polarizer, doesn't look all that nice indeed.

Hope you will post the final.

Will do! Thanks for your reply.

[clayc]

You've done an excellent job of preserving the realism of your subject in its new environment. I have a question for you rather than a comment. You've somehow managed to create a subdued reflection of the replacement foreground on the car's painted surfaces. At the risk of sounding completely thick, how did you manage to accomplish that? Any advice or a referral a site that might explain it will be appreciated. Thanks

[sandeepivan]

Good Job!It looks overall awesome...

[mcdronkz]

Originally Posted by clayc

You've done an excellent job of preserving the realism of your subject in its new environment. I have a question for you rather than a comment. You've somehow managed to create a subdued reflection of the replacement foreground on the car's painted surfaces. At the risk of sounding completely thick, how did you manage to accomplish that? Any advice or a referral a site that might explain it will be appreciated. Thanks

Thank you!

Sorry for the delayed reply. Creating the reflection was a lot easier than I thought. Just copied a piece of the ground, placed it over the car, squashed it a bit, lowered the opacity to 20% and put the blending mode on Soft Light. Then I masked the parts where the body lines etc. are, and put a gradient on top so that it fades out nicely. Five minute job, if it even took that long.

Originally Posted by sandeepivan

Good Job!It looks overall awesome...

Thanks!