Fashion photography with CG parts

[Temujin]

Hello,
this Synthetic Imaging area seems to be wery interresting
...im new here so i start with some older project first.

Here is my contribution.
Cooperation with photographer George Hatzakis.

Original photo and sketch:
http://www.temujin.cz/mag/01.jpg

Rought CG parts:
http://www.temujin.cz/mag/02.jpg

Final product:
http://www.temujin.cz/mag/03.jpg


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http://www.temujin.cz

[markc78]

Yeah, agree it's an interesting addition to photographic images....can you recommend any resources to learn more about cgi & specifically it's application within photography? Cheers, mark

[jschro]

Great work, loving that final image.

[Tareq]

I am also interested in cgi, 3D, sketching and surreal effects added to photography.

[itsallgoode9]

cgtalk.com is a great forum resource with a ridiculous amount of information..it's where I did most of my learning for 3d. I think that website helped me learn more than my college did!

[Temujin]

CG society is good start, but its plenty other great sites out there.
Here is some more:
http://www.3dtotal.com/
http://forums.3dtotal.com/
http://www.evermotion.org/
http://www.cgchannel.com/
http://www.3dm3.com/
http://www.cgarena.com/
http://area.autodesk.com/

...i can eventually prepare some making of or tutorial for retouchpro...is anyone interrested?

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http://www.temujin.cz

[markc78]

Definitely , learning Maya & 3DS Max at the moment so anything other than learning to model a robot & that has practical photographic integration would be amazing....will also be checking out those links, Cheers Mark

[LQQKER]

Very interesting and well done. I would imagine many would be interested in your tutorial procedure in detail. The combination of skill sets would seem to have no limit for creativity.

[Temujin]

Well, i dont have time to prepare whole new making of articles, until i finish some projects, but here is my two older making of videos:

http://www.temujin.cz/data/snow_lady_making_of.rar
http://www.temujin.cz/data/Longevity_making_of_6_09.rar

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www.temujin.cz

[Benji_]

Wow, great job....
Also the small makin of videos are nice.

[Adrianr]

Originally Posted by Temujin

...i can eventually prepare some making of or tutorial for retouchpro...is anyone interrested?

You likely can't here me screaming yes from where you are, but yes, please Incredible work.

[Temujin]

Ok i will post some smaller making of articles i have from recent and older projects untill i have some more time to do proper tutorial or somethink like that.

Here is process of creating one of my latest advertising projects:
http://www.temujin.cz/data/angel/angel.htm

and few really old but more detailed making of articles:

http://www.temujin.cz/moonlight_making_of.htm

http://www.temujin.cz/light/making_of.htm

http://www.temujin.cz/light/making_of_2.htm

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http://www.temujin.cz

[ShogunSho]

Your work is very much fascinating and interesting.

If you don't mind could you let us know what 3D software do you use? Well i have no doubt there will be Photoshop included for sure.

Which 3D software do you recommend to be able to produce something similar to yours?

I'm looking toward Lightwave or Cinema4D. With photography, which would be the more suitable software?

[Temujin]

Originally Posted by ShogunSho

Your work is very much fascinating and interesting.

If you don't mind could you let us know what 3D software do you use? Well i have no doubt there will be Photoshop included for sure.

Which 3D software do you recommend to be able to produce something similar to yours?

I'm looking toward Lightwave or Cinema4D. With photography, which would be the more suitable software?

You know, its not anymore about which 3d package is better these days. Every sw have unique features but basics is the same. It is more about what you find comfortable to work with. So try LW and C4D and decide what feels better for you after few day od trying. Im using 3ds MAx, V-ray render, Z-brush for detailing and Photoshop for compositing and postproduction. I also have few plugins here and there in 3d and PS...but i dont rely to plugins much so im doing lots of stuff manualy.

[ezprod]

Just wanna say your website is fantastic. I look forward to hiring you in the future.

[Adrianr]

It always amazes me how much software CG artists use to create a peice of work. How did you go about learning it all? Considering I spend 95% of my time in photoshop, with the other 5% developing RAW files in Capture1, I'm learning new things with just these all the time. I couldn't imagine having to know 4 different programs to produce a peice of work!

[Temujin]

Adrianr: yes, sometimes lots of stuff is involved ... sw, plugins. Im almost ten years in CG industry and still i have new stuf to learn every day...new sw and new improved versions of sw is coming out every day...its ridiculous. But its matter of choice and selection, nobody uses everything. I learned all thing myself, even on high school when internet was in its stone age and words like "tutorial" were almost unknown

[Temujin]

And here is someting new from me...complete movie promotion:

http://www.temujin.cz/data/posters/posters.htm

[peteraugusts]

I love these discussions, because some people say, "It's definitly CG, I don't know how you can think otherwise." And then the next reply is, "It's a touched up photo" Goes to show you how powerful computers are getting, and how much talent there is out there.
As for my opinion, I really don't know. When I first looked at it I thought cg, but it is amazing what someone can do with a photo in photoshop, so I really couldn't say.

[jfrancis]

This is an area I find very interesting.

I first started to take the idea of combining CG and model photography seriously back in 2006 when the Maxwell Renderer caught my eye. Before that I didn't think CG realism was high enough.

In my own work I try to never make anything obviously fake by definition, like a real mermaid, because real mermaids don't exist. I will, however, use CG to make an amazing mermaid costume. I call this approach flying under the visual effects radar.

Here are some examples:

Pussycat Theatre

Xanthia Surfing of Kanagawa

Apnea: The Knife-Thrower's Assistant

One-Armed Bandit
(not a violation of my philosophy as the model actually only has one arm)

[Aladdin]

@Temujin: I know the answer is "A Lot", but, what is the learning curve for some one like me and probably others here, I spend time shooting, and a lot more time in post using photoshop, so, do you think squeezing in CG is doable or I need dedicated time. as it is, 24hrs is not enough.
I would gather that the learning curve is very steep. I don't mind doing it [using CG], it is the learning curve that I am trying to avoid. Ok, to put it differently, comparing photoshop learning curve, how would you rate CG's learning curve? not to create Toy Story but within the application of CG as an option for PS users who want to integrate some sort of CG into their photography, just as an element.
I don't even think I have the talent to create "people" using CG but looking at creating backgrounds, some futuristic looking airport lounge and such but no persons/animals.
Also, is there any thing cheap, Oops, I mean affordable to get into.

Thank you so much, sorry for too many questions.

[Temujin]

jfrancis: nice ones, but it still obvious what is cg and what real life if you want to focus strictly on imitating real life...especially in visual with knifes...CG skin looks weird...i can see clearly what is CG and usual spectator will think that something is wrong there (not knowing what exactly)...my opinion is that you need to pay more attention to details and final joining of parts together in final postproduction phase.

Aladdin: hard to say for me, because i started to learn CG in time when internet was slow and there was lack of good tutorials. Situation is completely different now.
First thing...creativity is fundamental...if you are creative, you probably going to have no problem to learn 3d software if you are already skilled in photoshop. But there s differences..one main thing is that CG and 3d is constantly growing giant never ending spider web of sw, functions, plugins etc... first you need to find sw and tools which suits your needs and style of work...if you find right choices whole learning phase will be a lot faster...there is lot of possible choices out there. Even if you need to lower the costs you can choose open source software like Blender... Its really difficult to compare learning of photoshop with learning of 3d...you just must try it and you will se for your self what you are capable of. And if you need to stay in "affordable" costs try Cinema 4D, XSI, modo or blender...

[Aladdin]

Temujin, Thank you so much for taken the time to respond. I think I will give the open source one a try, just to get a feel of how steep the learning curve is.

[ShogunSho]

Aladdin, you seemed to have the same impression with regards to learning curves like me. I also have that same interest in wanting to combine CG with the photography.


With regards to learning curves. I've recently read in the 3D Artist Magazines that indicate that alot of photographers seemed to include 3D CG into their works as well. The software of choice was CINEMA 4D where learning curve is not too complicate. At the moment, I'm learning to use of it as well. You might want to give it a try

[Aladdin]

Thanks ShogunSho, will try this one also. I was browsing general CG, oh my, there are a lot more stuff (SW/Plugins/Books/Dvds) out there than there is to photoshop and I just don't want to get "sucked" into it, I really don't have time. As you might know, between photography and retouch, the 48 hrs/day is already not enough. But, I will take your advice and that of Temujin and see if it is not that deep. My target is squarely background/atmosphere. no way I am going to venture into actual "CG model", heck, I have hard time as it is controlling my "live" model/client, let alone CG one

[pellepiano]

Temujin
Really inspiring work. Thanks for sharing all your examples.

[LQQKER]

After viewing your work, it's difficult not to be impressed. Your work is really "top shelf". I know little about CG, but I can appreciate end results. You obviously have a natural ability other than just knowing programs. It all starts in the mind, then you use the necessary tools. Great stuff!

[Isedo]

Great work here! Super prace kamarade!

[jfrancis]

Originally Posted by Temujin

jfrancis: nice ones, but it still obvious what is cg and what real life if you want to focus strictly on imitating real life...especially in visual with knifes...CG skin looks weird...i can see clearly what is CG and usual spectator will think that something is wrong there (not knowing what exactly)...my opinion is that you need to pay more attention to details and final joining of parts together in final postproduction phase.

Thanks.

There's no CG on the figure at all, btw, except for the pasties. The skin is 100% real. If it looks weird it's probably because I blew focus and decided to use the shot anyway. That shot was from 2006.

[ http://www.digitalartform.com/archiv.../06/apnea.html NSFW] Back then I used a D200. One of the problems of shooting handheld in low-ish light with a D200 is to avoid grain my shutter speeds were a bit on the low side. I have a nice new Nikon D3s now

The wireframe figure is for shadow casting and knife blade diffuse reflection purposes only.

[Temujin]

jfrancis: sorry, my bad, skin looks little weird on these parts so i thought it is because of CG parts usage.