Embossed Glass

[Burgess]

Hi,

I am working on a beer bottle with a logo that has been supplied to appear embossed on on the glass.

I have looked at the emboss layer effects as well as a displacement map with the glass filter. Both of these yield quite generic results that aren't that satisfactory, certainly not up to snuff. The finals will be billboards so I'm looking for a more in depth and realistic technique...

Any input appreciated

Best

B

[Tony W]

Re: Embossed Glass

Would be best to see an example (or an area) to see why displacement and emboss not working.

Suspect this will not be better but have you 'played' with Filters/Distort/Glass?. Quick example attached - key to getting convincing image is to have a nicely lit bottle to lay the logo file on.

If you want to play with this method make sure that the logo file is sized exactly the same as the bottle and apply any distortions to the logo file first (I did not for this example) i.e. to fit the bottle shape. Then save the logo file as flattened and load as texture when ready in the Distort/Glass filters

[Burgess]

Re: Embossed Glass

Hi Tony,

thanks for the reply. Initially I did try glass emboss, as your technique outlines, but it was a little shallow, a little soft and just a little unconvincing.

I ended up hand painting it and it turned out pretty good. As with most of these filter techniques they either don't work that well or need a fair amount of refining.

Sorry I can't post anything, client confidentiality etc but appreciate your input

B

[Repairman]

Re: Embossed Glass

Filters give you a good average but miss out on the finesse. I would start with the logo distorted to match the contours. Make and save a selection. Contract the logo by a few pixels (this depends on the size of the image and the thickness of the logo). Feather 1 or 2 pixels to taste. Using modify, contract the original selection edge to about half the letter width (assuming it's a letterform) and save. Feather the 'inside' edge in pro to the bulge of the logo and consistent with the ambient lighting. You can tweak it further by making intermediary thicknesses for highlights etc. Using curves or any other of the dark/light tools, tweak the sliders to create the subtle tones that suggest volume and curvature. Finish off with some brushed hilite flares if appropriate. Basically it's using light and shade through a series of offset masks.

[Tony W]

Re: Embossed Glass

Filters give you a good average but miss out on the finesse.

+1. It is the modifying of the effect that seperates the good (believable!) from the bad.

I would expect to modify maybe with D&B and other methods to produce the desired effect.

The most difficult thing is managing/understanding client expectations if no indications of final effect are given in the first instance. For example, 'We want the logo to look like the Grolsch or Coca Cola bottles' there is at least a standard to work towards.

[Burgess]

Re: Embossed Glass

Hi RM,

Pretty much what I did, plus some additional painting of HLs and SHs.
As expected there was no real quick workaround as usual, a bit of elbow grease and thought serves well.

Thanks for your input

B