[isolatedace]

ok so I've been trying at hi end retouching for over a year now and all i can come up with is blotchy skin only smooth in a few areas making it a retouch disaster! i zoom in at 400% and dodge the the dark spots and burn the light spots until they are even but when i zoom out it looks like a bunch of skin patches even after hours and hours and even more hours this is all i can come up with... i know its all about the eye but i have that part down and still no luck. so i feel with the perfect eye and bad or no technique your still at k lost! im desperately begging someone to please help because it feels horrible to work on something for so long and still be stuck on it.

[CaptainHook]

Try only zooming in to 100% and have another window of the image at 25%(or less)
open at the same time..?

Got some examples of what you've done?

[i-inspire]

What brush settings are you using?

[Ayumi]

Oh btw. brushes. What are the best settings for D&B?

[i-inspire]

Try these tutorials, i am new to D&B, and these links really helped me.
http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=272
http://www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=30

As I understand it there are two techniques, one for overall contrast and "carving", and one for perfecting skin.

Also, for the high end D&B technique, you need a highres file with No noise, I can't fathom using D&B on an image with noise.

[isolatedace]

yea sure here is a link http://www.marcusdewayne.com/rollover

I didnt know there were certain brushes you had to use... Please share!

[CaptainHook]

What opacity and flow settings are you using?
It looks like possibly your brush is too big.
Are you using a pen tablet?

You've dodged some stuff waay too much.
There's some patchyness there there to begin
with. Remember d&b is only one tool to deal
with these problems.

Are think about sampling some skin color close by
when d&bing instead of just b&w.

I'm not gonna comment on under her eye and the
burning around her hand on the sleeve etc.
But maybe aim to do 'less' at this stage.

[isolatedace]

opacity and flow are at 50%, no pen tablet, and under the eye is where i always have to most problems. as for the hand and sleeve i was just trying to make it look dirty... bad idea i guess lol.

[CaptainHook]

Go lower.
Start between 5-15% for opacity and build it SLOWLY.
Try lower flow too.
Use a small brush.

I can't imagine this stuff without a pen tablet.
Good luck.

[isolatedace]

ok, i can look into getting one! what brand?

[CaptainHook]

Wacom....?

[mikphoto]

Thanks, CaptainHook and i-inspire for all of the help, links and advice. Hopefully I shall put it to good use in the future.

And CaptainHook.

"Wacom....?" Haha, classic.

[Heretic]

to make the skin look super smooth i use "surface blur" on a new layer medium settings and then apply a regular gaussion blur to smooth it out even more. Mask the shot and brush in where you want the skin to look smooth

[amica999]

Isolate, maybe you want to have a look into this one...there is a thread in this forum somewhere that links to the side, but can't remember where exactly
http://enigma-photos.com/AmyTutorial/method1.htm

[isolatedace]

thanks for all the help you guys