Omg

[PhiladelphiaPro]

Hi Everyone,

I'm only doing this because Natalia asked me too in another post. So here goes. I saw a post about her DVD on a modeling / photographer website. Once I saw the DigitalPhotoshopRetouching label I was leery, I had purchased the first DVD and asked for a refund because it was very misleading in its title and content but my emails went unanswered. I held off for a while but finally ordered my DVD on December 28th. We all know the stories with the shipping and d/l versions so I won't touch on that.

I finally got my DVD's in the mail. I took a picture of me holding it and posted it on facebook, people must have thought I was a wacko. I cracked that DVD cover, put the DVD in my computer and didn't come up for air for about 10 hrs, no lie!

I had a handle on glamour retouching and I was getting tired of paying to have my beauty shots retouched so I was looking for a tutorial that showed you how to do everything.

The GOOD:

From start to finish, in real time! Bonus points for this!!! The technique used for evening out shadow transitions without losing detail! Bonus points for this!!! Texture Healing! Bonus Points for this!!! Removing objects from the background without the subject looking cut out! Bonus Points for that!!!

I was familiar with almost every tool Natalia used except for that thing in the "Image" menu. I never knew what that thing did, but now I do and now I know how to use it on both 8 and 16bit images. Yay!!! Hair fix, eye veins and lip line fix was amazing. The eyelash fix.. out of this world. I would have never of known if she didn't mention it and mind you, I was looking at this .psd file at 200% . The .psd file is huge, it took me, on my PC at least 4 minutes to open, nuts! but, each layer is there so you can see all the work performed and how the image progresses through the retouch.

I am familiar with the Dodge and Burn techniques but even after practicing I'm still not that good at it. At this point, Dodge and Burn is really my weak area. Natalia made it look easy.

Color corrections and sharpening opened my eyes to a whole new world as well. I used to think that all the high end retouchers shared this "magic" formula for making the girls skin even and natural looking with texture. It's not magic, it's that you have to understand what to look for and how to fix it.

The GREAT:

There's a part of this DVD called Extras. It was in the Extras section when I fell in love because in this section you could tell that Natalia truly loves to retouch and that she generally wants people to know how to do things. She kept saying, let me show you one more thing, let me show you this, let me show you that.

I took / take tons of notes while I watch her DVD and when I'm retouching I refer to my notes, it's easier for me this way.

In my opinion you will need intermediate knowledge of PS to get around without being totally lost only because sometimes the techniques taught are 4 or 5 steps deep.

If you're looking to take your retouching to the upper level, get on this elevator. You can retouch any type of image with the lessons taught here. It is called hair and beauty but I take some of what I learned here and apply it to glamour images that I've shot in the past.

The accent didn't bother me one bit and the slip between english and what I assume to be french every once in a while, kept the atmosphere light and playful.

[Godmother]

Originally Posted by PhiladelphiaPro

I'm only doing this because Natalia asked me too in another post

Thank you very much for this. I really appreciated (Couldn't stop smiling while I read it)

I must confess tho, I was expecting "tough" from you

Now it's really starting to look like a set up

The accent didn't bother me one bit and the slip between english and what I assume to be french every once in a while, kept the atmosphere light and playful.

Argentine, but my accent is weird, I know this by now.

[PhiladelphiaPro]

The proof was in the details. When I thought you weren't going to explain something, you eventually did. You tutorial should be the blueprint for anyone who's thinking of selling a video tutorial.

You allowed us to sit shotgun on and just like I expected, you completed a full retouch.

There is no setup.. lol.. it was my intention to have your tutorial along with the other tutorial and merge the two with the most awesome set of retouching skills on the planet. I wanted to take some from this, some from that, add a little of this, pepper in some of that and produce awesome retouches but; right now it's not gonna happen.

I was able to purchase yours at $150 because I bought the first tutorial which saved me $50 and then I purchased before the end of December which saved me another $50. I couldn't be more pleased.

Thanks for everything.

[hippooo]

Just ordered mine and cant wait to receive it :-))

[Boneappetit]

Felicidades Natalia. Hasta ahora es lo mejor que he visto relacionado con la tecnica. Eres genial, y tu acento es bien claro y muy bonito. Keep it up.

[Godmother]

thank you

And since this thread is back up I can tell ppl here in RP about the news.

I've talked with Vitaly about a 20% discount. This is a good place to let ppl know.

RPfriends is the "code" for Retouch Pro

He asked me to make sure to say this discount is for New orders only, the discounts cannot be applied to orders already placed

[hippooo]

Originally Posted by Godmother

thank you

And since this thread is back up I can tell ppl here in RP about the news.

I've talked with Vitaly about a 20% discount. This is a good place to let ppl know.

RPfriends is the "code" for Retouch Pro

He asked me to make sure to say this discount is for New orders only, the discounts cannot be applied to orders already placed

aaarrgh , i just ordered today ! :-((((

[neut]

Natalia is worth the full price...which I paid. I've been watching her DVD (skipping around to different sub-lessons) since I received it yesterday. Bottom line for me, I LOVE HER VOICE! Her soothing Argentine accented voice makes learning her workflow techniques a pleasure.

It was probably the quickest way for me to learn the split - hi/lo of an image....versus trying to wade through the math and verbage at the model mayhem site. This and many other techniques are definitely going into my own workflow.

Thanks Godmother!

[Godmother]

Originally Posted by neut

Natalia is worth the full price...which I paid. I've been watching her DVD (skipping around to different sub-lessons) since I received it yesterday. Bottom line for me, I LOVE HER VOICE! Her soothing Argentine accented voice makes learning her workflow techniques a pleasure.

It was probably the quickest way for me to learn the split - hi/lo of an image....versus trying to wade through the math and verbage at the model mayhem site. This and many other techniques are definitely going into my own workflow.

Thanks Godmother!

Well thank you :$

x

[Meaty0]

Hey...I love the accent too. Great job Natalia. I'm looking forward to getting the DVD also. Should help a lot of people I think. You are very generous with your discount too.

[Aladdin]

Natalia, I know I said thank you before, but, I like to take the opportunity and thank you again, this is fantastic dvd. It is dense! and loaded.

Now, that I got your attention, any rumor about a follow up dvd

[doncarlito]

posted in wrong place

[Godmother]

Originally Posted by Aladdin

Natalia, I know I said thank you before, but, I like to take the opportunity and thank you again, this is fantastic dvd. It is dense! and loaded.

Now, that I got your attention, any rumor about a follow up dvd

hmmm.... I really don't know if there is 11 more hours of knowledge in my head tho

[hippooo]

finally received the DVD ,which is really GREAT
i've seen half of it,trying to apply the techniques on one of my pictures

only one thing bothers me and i didn't find the answer :

at the end of color and sharpening section,

you create 2 groups of two layers (low and high pass) ,
one for sharpen eyes ,
one for sharpen skin

you sharpen the eyes ,then you put this group on top and you deactivate it to focus on the second group underneath in order to sharpen skin

then the project is over

my question is :

if you reactivate the group sharpen eyes (which you dont illustrate in the dvd)
above the group sharpen skin then we wont be able to see the effect on the group sharpen skin underneath

i couldn't find the answer to this (??) what did i miss in your explanations ?

[mistermonday]

Hippooo, yes, you are correct. There are a few options available to you.
1. Add a layer mask to the Sharpen Eyes Layer Group and Alt+Drag the layer mask on the GB layer of the Sharpen Skin Group below to that mask and click OK to replace the Group layer mask. This is simple if you only have two sharpening layer groups. It becomes messy and overcomplicated if you have 3 or more sharpen layer groups and even more complicated if you go back later to edit one or more of those layer groups and you need to remask all of the layer groups above.
2. Create one sharpen layer group. After that is complete, create a brand new Merge All Layer set above it which will serve as the next sharpen layer group. Because you generated a new Merge All layer you will have incorporated all of the sharpening you made in the layer group below. Here again at the end of your retouch if you decide you need to redo the sharpening on the 1st (lowest in the stack) layer group, you will need to redo everything above it, which is usually one or two more groups.
3. And I think this is the way the technique was meant to be done:
Start as Natalia started by making a merge all layer and copy it several times (for as many different radii that you will need). Create a set of split layers in the manner taught throughout the video. After the split is complete, delete the Gaussian Blur / Low Frequency layer and yes everything will look very sharp. Now add a Hide All Layer mask to the remaining High Pass / High Frequency layer. Paint with a white brush on the mask where you wish to apply the sharpening for the Radius you create. Now proceed to the next copy above, split, delete the GB layer, Hide All Mask, and paint to sharpen. You can just keep going because each sharpening layer will now pass through the layer above. Moreover, you will only use a single layer to sharpen at each radius which will greatly reduce your file size. For 16 bit files this helps the overall size but more importantly slows PS to a much lesser degree.
4. And I feel this is worth honorable mention. In 1,2,3 above, the essence of what you are doing is sharpening by applying the equivalent of a High Pass layer over an image. High Pass sharpening has been around forever, it relatively quick, painless, and effective when applied at the right radius to the right body parts. It should be noted that the sharpening applied by a high pass layer is identical to the Unsharp Mask Filter apllied at the same Radius, with an Amount = 100 and a Threshold = 0. However, the control available in Unsharp Mask Filter is far greaterthan the HP layer which offers very little control. Furthermore the newer Smart Sharpen Filter is far more powerful and offers more control than the USM. And whether one uses USM or SS, you can apply the same principle as in option 3 above. Add a Hide All mask to each USM/SS layer and paint with white wherever you wish to apply sharpening at the specified radius. These masked sharpening layers are stackable, pass-thru, and offer you a non destructive workflow.
Regards, Murray

[hippooo]

Originally Posted by mistermonday

Hippooo, yes, you are correct. There are a few options available to you.
1. Add a layer mask to the Sharpen Eyes Layer Group and Alt+Drag the layer mask on the GB layer of the Sharpen Skin Group below to that mask and click OK to replace the Group layer mask. This is simple if you only have two sharpening layer groups. It becomes messy and overcomplicated if you have 3 or more sharpen layer groups and even more complicated if you go back later to edit one or more of those layer groups and you need to remask all of the layer groups above.
2. Create one sharpen layer group. After that is complete, create a brand new Merge All Layer set above it which will serve as the next sharpen layer group. Because you generated a new Merge All layer you will have incorporated all of the sharpening you made in the layer group below. Here again at the end of your retouch if you decide you need to redo the sharpening on the 1st (lowest in the stack) layer group, you will need to redo everything above it, which is usually one or two more groups.
3. And I think this is the way the technique was meant to be done:
Start as Natalia started by making a merge all layer and copy it several times (for as many different radii that you will need). Create a set of split layers in the manner taught throughout the video. After the split is complete, delete the Gaussian Blur / Low Frequency layer and yes everything will look very sharp. Now add a Hide All Layer mask to the remaining High Pass / High Frequency layer. Paint with a white brush on the mask where you wish to apply the sharpening for the Radius you create. Now proceed to the next copy above, split, delete the GB layer, Hide All Mask, and paint to sharpen. You can just keep going because each sharpening layer will now pass through the layer above. Moreover, you will only use a single layer to sharpen at each radius which will greatly reduce your file size. For 16 bit files this helps the overall size but more importantly slows PS to a much lesser degree.
4. And I feel this is worth honorable mention. In 1,2,3 above, the essence of what you are doing is sharpening by applying the equivalent of a High Pass layer over an image. High Pass sharpening has been around forever, it relatively quick, painless, and effective when applied at the right radius to the right body parts. It should be noted that the sharpening applied by a high pass layer is identical to the Unsharp Mask Filter apllied at the same Radius, with an Amount = 100 and a Threshold = 0. However, the control available in Unsharp Mask Filter is far greaterthan the HP layer which offers very little control. Furthermore the newer Smart Sharpen Filter is far more powerful and offers more control than the USM. And whether one uses USM or SS, you can apply the same principle as in option 3 above. Add a Hide All mask to each USM/SS layer and paint with white wherever you wish to apply sharpening at the specified radius. These masked sharpening layers are stackable, pass-thru, and offer you a non destructive workflow.
Regards, Murray

hellO Murray,

thanx for your answer
in fact i've chosen the group layer mask option :
the face sharpen group below
i put the eyes sharpen group on top and created a group layer mask
i inverted this mask and just painted white to reveal the eyes

Regards

[SymbolPhoto]

Smooodge! The best part of the whole DVD. I learned a great deal from this dvd and can confirm that her techniques are Grade A.

I would like to second a follow up DVD. Natalia, maybe do some of the edge cases that people always ask about here in the retouching forum?

[Godmother]

Originally Posted by SymbolPhoto

Smooodge! The best part of the whole DVD. I learned a great deal from this dvd and can confirm that her techniques are Grade A.

I would like to second a follow up DVD. Natalia, maybe do some of the edge cases that people always ask about here in the retouching forum?

Thank you but no follow up just yet! Too much work

I'm making some free videos tho so what do you mean with "edge cases"?

x

[hippooo]

Originally Posted by SymbolPhoto

Smooodge!

same thing here, never used the smudge tool to refine the selection before
the part with the healing tool is great as well and color corrections and so on
that's a REAL workflow in real time

would have been nice though to see some works on a less good raw images to see how natalia handles such situations as poor lighted images even if in her field she's probably dealing most of the times with great photographers

[SymbolPhoto]

Originally Posted by Godmother

Thank you but no follow up just yet! Too much work

I'm making some free videos tho so what do you mean with "edge cases"?

x

What i mean by edge cases is, a gamut of random retouches. Not just your basic skin retouching.

For instance, take a few current threads in the retouching sections right now.

1. Plastic looking skin
2. Dragan effect
3. Random famous people's looks
4. smoke/steam etc..

Now you will say, well i don't really specialize in these things. And that may very well be the case, but your teaching style is very clear. So if you learned these things(if needed) and taught them on your DVD i think they would be best-sellers much like your retouching series.

Just something to think about.

[hippooo]

there's somewhere a 7DVD package to help you obtain plastic looking skin if u wish..( i dont name names..) :-))

[Mick_i]

I've been looking all over to further my knowledge. This DVD looks to be the best in the business. I am pleased that I was able to gather some savings for the purchase.
I hope this DVD will help me be able to offer more to my clients.

[SymbolPhoto]

MickI just like the Elinchrom ringflash stuff, you won't be disappointed

[Rust]

Hi, first of all , thanks to godmother making this brilliant video But i have i small problem i hope godmother, or anybody who has seen the video can help me with.
It is under the chapter "high pass thing- and then it`s the video sequence called "various uses" 1)She makes to copies of the layer one low an one high.
2)then she gaussian blur(75) the low layer.
3)apply image with the correct setting- then ok
4)She deletes the low layer
5) Blur the High layer at 1/3 of the low gaussian blur, so it is 25.
6) what does she do THEN, does she INVERT it just before changing blend mode to linear light ,she says nothing about it,but i wonder. This is around 3.40-3.46 in the video sequence.
But if i don`invert it before changing layer mode ,add mask and paint my transitions get even harder. So something is wrong. So does she invert it but says nothing about it? Please help , i`ve tried figured this out for way too long

[ApWizard]

Originally Posted by Rust

So does she invert it but says nothing about it? Please help , i`ve tried figured this out for way too long

Yep, it's pretty clear in the video and yes she doesn't talk about inverting it in this particular video. She invert the layer at 3.45 while saying "...the apply image highpass..."

[mistermonday]

Rust, yes, she inverts that layer. What Godmother calls "The High Pass Thing" is known to many of us as a "Degrunge" layer. It was introduced here at RP a number of years ago by one of our moderators and you can find it at this link
http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=213
Note that instead of using the conventional Filter>other>High Pass, Godmother uses the accurate high pass described early on in her video and in the ModelMayhem thread "High Pass Sucks".
Regards, Murray

[Mick_i]

Originally Posted by SymbolPhoto

MickI just like the Elinchrom ringflash stuff, you won't be disappointed

Are you shoot just formal?

[Rust]

Thanks apwizard and mistermonday for the reply, i got it now. Godmother explained pretty easy compared to the looong thread in model mayhem Have a nice day

[hippooo]

Originally Posted by Rust

Thanks apwizard and mistermonday for the reply, i got it now. Godmother explained pretty easy compared to the looong thread in model mayhem Have a nice day

Natalia explains perfectly this process but u have a lot more stuff on MM topic, i really learnt a lot already and i'm only at page 7 of the topic ! :-))

i love interneeet !

[cks]

Just ordered mine. thanks for the discount