RetouchPRO LIVE 06/10/09 Feedback Thread

[Doug Nelson]

How did it go? Post your opinions and feedback about our first event with Steve Caplin here.

What would you like Steve to cover in future webcasts?

There are separate threads for requests concerning other presenters.

[T Paul]

Fantastic Webinar! I was truly impressed with how many different techniques and tips Steve covered. I especially liked the technique he used to create a beard and the hard light layer tip. It was great to actually be able to watch him create a montage from start to finish.

There were some sound issues off and on throughout the broadcast, but they quickly passed. Overall, a wonderful training experience! I am looking forward to future events.

Thanks Doug and Steve!

[nyxxie]

Very insightful. Thanks very much, I learned a lot of new techniques.

[CJ Swartz]

Excellent - fun! -- learned new techniques -- little static, but no echoes this time -- excellent presentation.

[lurch]

FanTAStic! The transatlantic garble was annoying, since it made those parts illegible but it wasn't anyone's fault and was transitory. Thanks a million Doug and Steve.

[friiskiwi]

Great, really enjoyed it, can't believe how fast those 2 hours went. Looking forward to more seminars, hopefully they won't all be at 5am (my time). I'm always amazed at how many new things I can learn.
If you haven't already, have a look at Steves' site and forum http://www.howtocheatinphotoshop.com...eforum_pro.cgi

[TriniK]

THOROUGHLY enjoyed this. Anything Photoshop in my book is heaven and I picked up quite a few tips. There was only one frustration that I guess is par for the course. In typing in a question I missed the whole bit where he was using a layer mask for the wall and fence in which to place Mr. Brown behind, and sadly the complexity of some layer masks are one of my fall shorts. So one has to choose - glue your eyes to the monitor with no questions and miss nothing, (which is what I shall do the next time around) or find a resource to recap what was done? I am hoping that all of this will be in his book - How to Cheat in Photoshop, which I intend to buy.
More webinars of this calibre though please. Missed the photo retouching one, but hopefully will not miss any more in the future.
Thanks!!

[PKibble]

fantastic experience - my first webinar
I would definately do this again when you offer more
so sorry I missed the last one!
I learned so much and it was fast paced and enjoyable.
the end result was amazing
thanks so much Doug and Steve!

[Liz]

Loved it. Great learning experience. I would really have loved a screen capture shot of those layers which is probably the best form of "notes" I could have to remind me of this process. 3 am start, so back to bed to try and catch a few winks before going to work . Thanks a lot Steve and Doug.

[Sveltepig]

Hi all
Oh, I so wish I'd been able to hear what Steve was saying.
It was very interesting to watch him work and to guess what he was doing - most of it wasn't new to me, so I kept up fairly well, I think, although obviously, as I had no sound at all, I might actually have missed a WHOLE lot!

A few questions for those of you who did hear him speak:
(I think the following things were probably in response to questions he had been asked) -
1. What was the point of the transparent yellow goo on the hair right in the beginning?
2. What was he doing with the ball layer (hard light, lighter areas dodged onto ball shape) near the end?
3. And what was the stuff with the 2 chefs all about? Why did he resize them twice, and why was it so important to change the lighting using shadow and highlight before he brought them into his composite image?

Did anyone ask any questions about blending edges - I noticed he seldom feathered or softened any edges of his elements.

Also, what was the story with thefullmonty.com and the retouchpro voucher?

Thanks in advance. I hope someone can enlighten me.
Karin

[pbyard]

This was my first webinar and I enjoyed it very much. Thanks for providing an excellent presenter. I hope to do this again.

[SandiG]

Not only was the information presented good, the conversation at the end about the work he gets and how that came about was very informative to me. I'm trying to break into this industry and am always wondering what others that are successful are doing. Thanks to both Doug and Steve.

[Doug Nelson]

Thanks for all the kind comments, and keep the feedback coming.

Make sure you subscribe to our email list so you won't miss any future webcasts.

[ros_del]

Very impressive, and fun, too. I learned a lot and the price was certainly right. Like Liz, I wish I had a screen capture of all the layers; my notes are barely legible. I did, however, immediately order Steve's book. His website looks to be a really valuable resource, too. Sign me up for the next web cast!

[luvbnw]

I thought the webinar was a fantastic value! I definitely learned some shortcuts and new techniques. Steve Caplan did a wonderful job. It was also great to hear about actual work experiences too.

Down side though was the audio distortion. I've participated in webinars before without this problem although they were strictly domestic as opposed to an international webcast.

Is there any chance that future webinars could be recorded and offered to site members afterwards? That would be helpful in getting around the distortion issue (if recorded at the speaker's site). It would also be great for people who couldn't attend LIVE.

Also, any chance of a written posting of talking points, etc. for the aurally challenged or hearing impaired viewers?

High marks overall though! Keep 'em coming!

[CJ Swartz]

Originally Posted by karin l

Hi all
Oh, I so wish I'd been able to hear what Steve was saying.

I hope some of our more technical guru folks here will be able to help you figure out the problem - since you had audio working on your computer, I have no idea why you couldn't hear the webinar - I didn't have any problem other than the occasional static already mentioned.

Originally Posted by karin l

A few questions for those of you who did hear him speak:
(I think the following things were probably in response to questions he had been asked) -
1. What was the point of the transparent yellow goo on the hair right in the beginning?
2. What was he doing with the ball layer (hard light, lighter areas dodged onto ball shape) near the end?
3. And what was the stuff with the 2 chefs all about? Why did he resize them twice, and why was it so important to change the lighting using shadow and highlight before he brought them into his composite image?

Did anyone ask any questions about blending edges - I noticed he seldom feathered or softened any edges of his elements.

Also, what was the story with thefullmonty.com and the retouchpro voucher?

Thanks in advance. I hope someone can enlighten me.
Karin

I'll just give info that I can, and let others fill in more as they understand it.

1. What was the point of the transparent yellow goo on the hair right in the beginning?

He was showing how using the Hard Light blend mode would work (grays disappear and only the highlights/shadows show up, which can be used to your creative advantage), as well as the use of the "plastic wrap" filter to make things look wet.


2. What was he doing with the ball layer (hard light, lighter areas dodged onto ball shape) near the end?

As you surmised, an answer to a question about figuring out the lighting when you add images with different original light sources to a montage. He was showing a general idea of thinking about where the light hits an object and where the ambient light also hits an object (opposite side of the ball ) to show the roundness of the ball, for instance.

3. And what was the stuff with the 2 chefs all about? Why did he resize them twice, and why was it so important to change the lighting using shadow and highlight before he brought them into his composite image?

He was showing how important sizing to scale was, and (correct me, or add to this, if you can) that using the eyeline of the subject person to match where the horizon is in the image helps to keep perspective correct.

Did anyone ask any questions about blending edges - I noticed he seldom feathered or softened any edges of his elements.

He did some feathering when using a filter, but I don't have that in my notes -- someone help! It wasn't a major discussion.


Also, what was the story with thefullmonty.com thefullmontage.co m and the retouchpro voucher?

I must have missed the email address because my email bounced back to me, but he offered a voucher to try out a few images for those who attended the webinar. Doug will be able to get us that correct info, I'm sure.

[dweekley]

i arrived 1/2 way through (don't ask) and still thought the webinar was terrific and of value. agree that the occassional audio issues were annoying but minimized since Doug knew it was happening and could get Steve to restate the lost info. Also, it was only occasional, not a show stopper by any means. i look forward to more and i'm off to have a look at his books and yes a purchase of at least one is planned!

Thanks Doug and Steve!

[T Paul]

You may also be interested in checking out Steve's Reader Forum and the Friday challenges.

[lynnie]

It's all been said above, but here it is again. I thought it was fantastic. I learned some excellent new techiques, and have some practising to do, in order to remember what he did (eg. sticking the PM behind the fence) and get comfortable doing it again in other situations. Thank goodness I knew some stuff, or it would have been overwhelming rather than inspiring.
I am completely hooked and cannot wait for the next webinar. Well done Doug and Steve!

[Schewe]

I've encountered audio problems when net connections are in the UK before. My writing partner Martin Evening and I often tried to talk via Skype and there were times when he simply went away or ended up sounding like he was at the end of a really long string. Unless Steve was at a broadband location tied directly into the backbone for the UK I suspect you'll always have a degree of audio fading in/out. The fact that he ended up sounding like a Dalek from Dr. Who I thought was friggin' brilliant (I know that wasn't intentional but it made it easier to accept somehow).

:~)

[Sveltepig]

Hi all
thanks for the answers CJ. Like I said before, it was fairly clear what he was doing - it is interesting how much just video showed, without the sound.
I would have liked to hear the discussion at the end though - that sounds very interesting. What did he say about getting clients and breaking into the illustration market, SandiG?

I find it interesting that Steve masked out the fence from the body, rather than adding an extra fence layer in front of the body as I would have done.

I always find it helps with edges and seams to work with what I call my "sandwich" workflow when compositing - (working from bottom): background first, then cast shadow of added objects, then added objects, then copy of background, masked, in front of added objects...

Rather than his workflow, which was - (working from bottom): background first, then cast shadow of added objects, then added objects with background masked out...

Anyone have any comments as to this workflow?
Which do you all use?
k

[ashphotoart]

Excellent Event, Hard Light Method is awesome to manipulate Shadow/Highlights in realistic way, if anyone goes to the full montage dot com there are lot to learn in the section "How does this work", Great possibility in photoshop you will know there.

Ash

[Flashtones]

ash, I went to thefullmontage.com but didn't see a section called "How does this work". Got a link?

[ashphotoart]

Originally Posted by Flashtones

ash, I went to thefullmontage.com but didn't see a section called "How does this work". Got a link?

http://thefullmontage.com/help.php?cat_id=6

it will need QuickTime to see the video.


Ash

[LonK]

Inspirational and well presented. Well worth the time and minimal cost.

[Steve uk]

I've long been an admirer of Steve's illustrations and it was great to see him work. It's not my type of retouching, but I still learned a few few tricks. Great humour and a great presentation. Thumbs up!