Frequency Separation In Workflow

[nowheremanphoto]

Hey, all… I'm new to the forums and I've recently learned the Frequency Separation technique and I absolutely love it, but I'm curious about the steps you guys take when using it.

For instance, I've got an image of a model and I want to do some liquify filtering to get rid of bulging in weird places. Before that was something I did towards the end of my workflow, but with Frequency Separation you really can't.

In general do you folks do all of that sort of correction before the Frequency Sep or do you prefer to do a Merge Visible when you're all done and then do your liquifying? Or is there some special technique I don't know about yet?

Thanks!

[german_arce]

I prefer liquify first.

[Der_W]

In my workflow liquify comes as the last step, because that way my files are more flexible.
Imagine, you have to redo your liquification and did it as a first step. You might either redistort the pixels (further loss of quality) or liquify all the layers you created on top accordingly.
The downside of this is that you might have to correct liquify signs afterwards.

Of course if you're 100% sure about your changes, it's also possible to liquify first (and remove all the telltales on the run).

Edit: FS didn't change anything related to liquify in my workflow fwiw ;-). It's just a completely different part for me and therefore they don't intersect with/disturb each other.

[shift studio]

I also think liquifying first is good - then there won't be any surprises with stretching/compressing grain/noise/texture. Also, its nice to build your masks, paths based on the already-shaped (liquified) image You have to trust in yourself that you are doing the right things though.

I also don't limit myself by an editable/non-destructive-at-any-cost workflow.
So, I trust my decisions and work, and merge my high and low frequency layers whenever the urge comes and re-separate as needed.

hope this helps.
--Shift Studio.

[ShadowLight]

puppet wrap is a very good alternative to liquify

[Aladdin]

Warp is more flexible than liquefy most of the time. Still, need to warp my head around puppet, there is that love/hate thing with it.

[nowheremanphoto]

@ShadowLight & aladdin… Whether you use Liquify, Puppet Warp (which since I don't have CS5 is a moot point anyways… sigh!) or Warp is irrelevant, really. You still need to perform that part of the workflow BEFORE you do the Frequency Sep, or you need to do do a Merge after and do it destructively then, correct? Where do you normally perform those sorts of actions?

[oneredpanther]

Liquify first, as soon as it comes out of RAW.
Always keep a copy of the nonliquified layer. Always save the liquify mesh.

I always felt that retouching should be 'bottom heavy' like a skyscraper. The heavy work is at the bottom and you work your way up to the finer points at the end.

Panth

[ShadowLight]

I would go first for freq. cleanup, as manipulation will add distortions to the visual frequency distribution (ie heterogeneous filed may get distorted and correction later will be more difficult)
after split-freq cleanup, manipulations, and then "retouch"

but you can do the same thing in many ways, whichever works for you

when it comes to manipulations...
check this out: http://vimeo.com/14693863

[bakerser]

Depends on how you like to have your files set up, and what you plan to do with your FS in the first place. If you're just healing / cloning, etc. and aren't addicted to Smart Objects, you can do it anywhere in the workflow without any real penalty. If you're a big SO fan, or if you're planning to use IHP, etc. then it's probably better to do later in the workflow. And obviously if you use it for sharpening, it should come very near the end.

So as with too many things, it depends .

[german_arce]

Sorry, ie? IHP? Thank you.

[bakerser]

IHP = Inverted High Pass, aka a Bandstop filter.

[german_arce]

Originally Posted by bakerser

IHP = Inverted High Pass, aka a Bandstop filter.

Thank you for your answer. What is IHP uses for?

[bakerser]

Originally Posted by german_arce

What is IHP uses for?

Most commonly for 'degrunge' skin retouching, but your imagination is really the only limit as to what you can do with it and related techniques.