RetouchPRO LIVE - Chris Tarantino Live Redo

[Doug Nelson]

Chris Tarantino was the presenter for our premier show. As is the case with many first efforts, things did not go perfectly, and there were distracting audio problems. In spite of those problems, this was still one of our most popular shows, and is still our most requested rebroadcast. Chris has agreed to redo the same beauty retouch live. For those of you that missed the premier, this is your chance to see what everyone is talking about. For those of you that attended, here is your chance for a refresher without the audio distractions, and to ask questions that have come up since.

This is not a rebroadcast.

Saturday, October 24, 4pm CDT (see link below for other time zones)

Click the following link for details and ticket sales:
http://www.retouchpro.com/index.php?page=tarantino

[yourfavorite]

Awesome! Can't wait for this.

[Cornellison]

I've had a dumb moment. I have paid for the Chris Tarantino retouching session this weekend, but I failed to click "back to merchant" to finish the process. How can I get that process finished and be ready to roll when the sessions starts?

Thanks,
Mark Cornellison

[Doug Nelson]

I have a procedure to catch those. It just takes a bit. You should have the link in your email now.

[Andrew Lawrence]

Awesome! Thanks Chris and Doug!

[briarrose]

Hey Doug--I paid for the seminar, then hit "back to merchan", signed up--and then was redirected to a page that says, "The webinar is not available". The URL doesn't look like a meeting URL--it's pretty generic.

Does that mean the webinar is full--or can you just email me a link?

Thanks!

************
Ah. I have high security set up in IE...and I needed to explicitly allow cookies from https://ww2.gotomeeting.com . I did that--went back to the registration page, reregistered with the same info, and now I have a "Your request to attend this Webinar is pending approval from the Webinar Organizer" message...so I assume I'll be hearing from someone. I posted this, in case anyone else runs into the same problem.

[Doug Nelson]

Thanks for sharing that bit of hard-earned wisdom.

[Doug Nelson]

The ticket sales link will close in 2 hours.

[Doug Nelson]

The ticket sales link will close in 1 hour.

[Doug Nelson]

The ticket sales link is now closed.

Here's a helpful page if you have audio problems (scroll 2/3 down)

If you haven't received your confirmation email, check your spam folder.

If you can't connect, verify you have Java installed and active.

Come back to this thread after the show and tell us your thoughts about it. Also, give us your requests for future shows with Chris Tarantino.

[public1988]

Thank you for the great show!

cya

Sebastian

[Cyberek]

Amazing, it was great to see the show live again.
Ps. Thanks for answering for lips color change question . Ewen quickly made change showed the way, it may be made quite precise.

[Liz]

Absolutely engrossing. Thanks heaps!

[jeromeskie]

Nice show Cris and Doug!

Many Thanks!

Jerome

[CJ Swartz]

Chris -- thank you SO much for sharing your knowledge and skills!!

[katiejaussie]

I've been trying to catch one of these but the times just never worked out - finally made one- and it was fantastic. I'm not a newbie and felt like I learned some great things. Thanks Chris.

[skydog]

Let's do a rebroad cast on all the the webinar's of Chris! This one was truly one of the best and I'm glad I was able finally get to experience Chris (I wish that damn DVD Chris was working on last year was finished!). I wish we spend more time on the use of channels for masks. I found changing the lip color interesting, but oh so fast...at least for my mind to grasp.

I have a question for Chris. I found one discussion in the webinar interesting. The question was if Chris has a Chris Tarantino look. Chris did say he had developed a "look" that the clients seek him out for. He did say, which I found interesting, that he could provide the Hill or Greenberg look he he needed to. Now that was profound! That is what many of us on this form desire to know how to create certain looks...not because we don't want our own but we also what to know that we have the tools to provide or incorporate the otherrs if we need to. So this opens some questions. Can you Chris get this look with just retouching and not with the lights from the shoot? I don't remember you participating in discussions regarding these looks, maybe you have, but any pointers you could provide? Lastly and most important, I know practice is key, but how do you continue to expand your knowledge and techniques? Do you read? If so what? Do you go to seminars? The techology continues to change so how do you keep up. thanks again...can't wait for your book and DVD (pls include alot on channels and masks).

[Andrew Lawrence]

Originally Posted by skydog

I have a question for Chris. I found one discussion in the webinar interesting. The question was if Chris has a Chris Tarantino look.

What were we going to call it again? Wasn't it something like the "Christino" or "Christentino?"

Just Kidding....

[caprae]

I'd like to make a suggestion: Maybe have the guest start off showing the different layers he will be using, explain what those layers will do, and explain what mode they are in and why - all without interruption or questions from the host. It is the show them what you'll teach them, teach them, then show them what you taught them theory.

I noticed some settings in the layers palette that either were not discussed or I missed (pass through on the top group). Also, because of all of the interruptions I felt like a couple of times Chris was going down a path and got sidetracked.

I would also have like to seen him removing some of the larger blemishes/moles and the veins in the eyes.

I did appreciate the evening of tones section. Not sure I've seen that before. Also the explanation on how long a good retouch really takes to do correctly.

[skydog]

Good point caprae..why not let the presenter present...hold the questions until the end and then go back and review the common questions.

[how99]

can be perfectly candid? great idea, great teacher, great information, fair price - but mediocre class. too fast on most techniques and yet most of the time felt wasted. really really frustrating. my girlfriend was watching with me and she left early.

here's how you can change it:

1) give people a hand out a few days before class. tell people a) what tools they might want to familiarize themselves with before class and b) outline the steps of some of the more complicated "recipes" ("first i like to open up a new soft light layer. here's how to do it. then i go to gradient. that's under _____. make sure you click ____.")

2) way way too long on one image. come on - we're visual people. we need things to look at!

3) way too much side chatter. philosophical questions at the end if there's time. and don't make so much small talk at the beginning.

4) not enough time spent illustrating a technique. case in point - the very rough skin on her cheek. chris should have spent at least 10 minutes cleaning up an area. i think he did 3 healing moves and a 3 clone moves, both with produced barely noticeable results, and then showed us the finished piece that was completely transformed. hello? it's a class! obviously he doesn't have to do the whole face cause that would take hours but after watching it for two hours i still don't quite get how he made her skin look so good.

5) how i would do it:

bring up an image with one specific problem and spend 10-15 minutes solving that problem and then move on. new image, new problem, new solution. two hours - 8 techniques - and then chit chat ("when is it too much retouching?" "do you have a style?")

for example - bring up a shot of girl with bags under her eyes and solve it using _____

then bring up a shot of model with large pores, and fix a 2"x"2 area using _____ ("here's where i use healing. here's where and how i use clone. here's a good trick ____")

these are the things i struggle with everyday:

large pores

skin at the transition from highlight to shadow, especially on less than perfect skin

skin when light skimming from behind picks up every flaw

hundreds of messy dark hairs at hairline (healing brush just turns them into dark smudges)

hundreds of fine, light hairs on face

retouching bad skin in between dozens of stands of dark hairs that i want to keep.

eyes (bags under eyes as well as opening up eyes and other tricks)

blotchy legs (smoothing without going maxim)

weird armpits

taking down shine when it's blown out white

twisted skin in neck and waist

jowls and necks in older people

odd knees and elbows

pushing in 3d shapes (bumps, bulges, etc) when liquify is not enough

please take these suggestions to heart. the same two hours can easily be 5 times more effective if you make these changes.

howard

[Doug Nelson]

Originally Posted by how99

the same two hours can easily be 5 times more effective if you make these changes.

Then I could charge 5X more!

[Andrew Lawrence]

Originally Posted by how99

1) give people a hand out a few days before class. tell people a) what tools they might want to familiarize themselves with before class and b) outline the steps of some of the more complicated "recipes" ("first i like to open up a new soft light layer. here's how to do it. then i go to gradient. that's under _____. make sure you click ____.")

While this is a good idea, it would be very labor intensive for the presenter (they are already spending time preparing the materials, figuring out how to present it, and I think they do a little test run through with doug before hand, and then the 2 hours out of their day on top of that) and there's also no way to know what people will know and what they wont. Also, (in a previous live event) I like how Doug pointed out how someone on these forums once said that this is Retouch "Pro" not Retouch "Amateur" or something. It's important to be familiar enough with photoshop to be able to follow along, now, that doesn't mean you'll know or even be able to remember how to do things and all of the specific steps... keep a notebook nearby to write on, a lot of these things can be looked up too a simple note like "how to create softlight gray layer." That's why these forums are here for you to go and ask questions about the presentation afterwards. Ultimately I think the point of these live events is to give you a realistic inside look to a mostly behind closed doors and to give you creative ideas to try out on your own.

What parts were you un-clear on? I'm pretty familiar with a lot of the techniques perhaps I could help to explain something you might have had difficulty with?

Originally Posted by how99

2) way way too long on one image. come on - we're visual people. we need things to look at!

I think that the techniques themselves are interesting enough to hold my attention for a long time. How do you handle retouching if you can't look at an image for an extended period of time? This also creates a whole host of problems when copyrighted images are involved, I'm sure it's complicated enough to be able to clear one image for use in showing these before and after. Think of how complicated it would be to get clearance on multiple images.

Originally Posted by how99

4) not enough time spent illustrating a technique. case in point - the very rough skin on her cheek. chris should have spent at least 10 minutes cleaning up an area. i think he did 3 healing moves and a 3 clone moves, both with produced barely noticeable results, and then showed us the finished piece that was completely transformed. hello? it's a class! obviously he doesn't have to do the whole face cause that would take hours but after watching it for two hours i still don't quite get how he made her skin look so good.

I feel like healing and cloning is a pretty rudimentary to facial retouching and is learned best by doing it yourself and figuring out what works best for you (you could watch Van Gogh do a painting from beginning to end but you wont be able to reproduce it without dedicated practice.) I can also tell you that I clone and heal very little (only parts that I know from experience will have trouble with the softlight layer.) A lot of the magic, I promise you, will come after lots of work with the softlight layer. I could hardly believe the transformations when I first started (and you might not notice much of a result until far into it.)

Originally Posted by how99

for example - bring up a shot of girl with bags under her eyes and solve it using _____

then bring up a shot of model with large pores, and fix a 2"x"2 area using _____ ("here's where i use healing. here's where and how i use clone. here's a good trick ____")

Again, comes from experience mostly, it's not just a simple formula applying to all situations... feeling it out for yourself is the best way. Plus I would rather not have time wasted on things like these when I know they are easily found with a google search and a little bit of practice.

Originally Posted by how99

these are the things i struggle with everyday:

large pores

skin at the transition from highlight to shadow, especially on less than perfect skin

skin when light skimming from behind picks up every flaw

hundreds of messy dark hairs at hairline (healing brush just turns them into dark smudges)

hundreds of fine, light hairs on face

retouching bad skin in between dozens of stands of dark hairs that i want to keep.

eyes (bags under eyes as well as opening up eyes and other tricks)

blotchy legs (smoothing without going maxim)

weird armpits

taking down shine when it's blown out white

twisted skin in neck and waist

jowls and necks in older people

odd knees and elbows

pushing in 3d shapes (bumps, bulges, etc) when liquify is not enough

please take these suggestions to heart. the same two hours can easily be 5 times more effective if you make these changes.

howard

Agree that these things I deal with all the time that still cause problems a lot. But I don't think that it would be feasible to fit all of this into one show. I'd rather consecrate in one area and have separate shows for the different ones.

[PixelPurfect]

I thought the original broadcast was more informative than this re-broadcast. It had better flow.

I also don't recall the host talking so much the first time. I find that I am often impressed by how much the host knows about retouching, but I really didnt' enroll to learn that. :o)~

I enrolled (twice) to learn everything 'Christino' is willing to share!

How about less moderating and a lot more educating!

David

[Doug Nelson]

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/faq...rp_live_shutup

[PixelPurfect]

Ahh, then you should charge 5x less.

[Andrew Lawrence]

Originally Posted by PixelPurfect

Ahh, then you should charge 5x less.

Haha, yeah $2 wouldn't be too bad would it? But honestly, the stuff you'll learn in these $10 retouching events is far more informative and enlightening than you'll ever learn in those 4 hour $100 photoshop seminairs/workshops that cater to people who've never used curves before.

Originally Posted by Doug Nelson

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/faq...rp_live_shutup

That url link is hilarious Doug! You really had me cracking up wit the _shutup at the end of it.

Now I'm all for suggestions on how to make these things better/more streamlined, but it surprises me how upset some people are getting over such a great opportunity, and for only $10?

You could spend lots and lots more on photoshop books and useless events presented by people who make their living off teaching 2nd rate techniques. (In all fairness a lot of these guys are very smart and have a lot of knowledge, and I think a lot of their stuff works great for your average hobbyist, but as far as beauty retouching and commercial work goes - these guys don't offer much more than the good ol' gaussian blur the skin and mask out the eyes technique.)

I got really fed up early on buying a large photoshop book and finding out that all of the techniques was stuff I already knew but presented in a much longer winded format.

Hands down, this site is the best resource I've been able to find on retouching so far. Lynda.com isn't so bad either.

[Doug Nelson]

I must admit I'd love to do a show about retouching "normal" people, such as in how99's everyday list. But I suspect getting a released image to work on would be a bear.

Don't derail this thread, but if you know of any working pros with that kind of portfolio, post the request over in the presenter request thread (and contact them yourself, of course. That's still the best way to convince someone to present here).

[Cyberek]

As it is for me, it was great to see the show again...
I am not a professional, or even semi professional (I think about myself as learning amateur), everything was clear. All the techniques was mentioned on this forum before, and on many, many video tutorials here and there, just taken together to improve a photo.
So if webinar would go for more basics, I'm sure, that a lot of ppl would be disappointed. As Andrew sayed - its "Pro" not amateur.
For beginners - start with a good Photoshop Book, so You could know the tool, then learning how to use it will become much easier.

[dianajenna]

I so very much appreciated the opportunity to learn from Chris during this webinar. I can't wait for the next one. Thank you!