Tips and Tricks - "On how to make images not look flat"

[3dvizual]

Hi.

 

I would like to know if people would share there good advices and tricks, on how to prevent images for looking flat and doll.

 

All comments are welcome.

 

And you are welcome to show demonstration images if you like.

Edited September 1, 2012 by 3dvizual

[Joel Gray]

Do you have any specific images to share? That might be helpful. If not then you can try a few general things like:

 

- Render out a Z depth pass and use it to imply atmosphere and depth

- An old lighting trick is to use warm lights closer to the camera and cooler lighting further away from the camera

- Another trick is to use contrast - bright objects next to dark objects - to separate the objects and create depth

- A simple Curves or color saturation adjustment in Photoshop may be helpful

 

Composition wise, it's very easy to focus on the architecture which is typically in the mid-ground, and without a well developed foreground and background becomes a very flat looking image. Think about the extreme foreground and background elements that you might see and work on those. The foreground might include things like people, cars, trees, light posts, etc. While the background may include surrounding buildings or mountains, tree lines, etc. Cropping your image too close to the sides of the building (I'm guilty of this at times too) can also rob your image of surrounding context that typically helps define the depth and scale of a building.

[3dvizual]

Hi Joel

 

Thank you very much for your tips. This was exactly the kind of info I was seeking. They are very helpful.

 

I have one image here you can comment on, if you like. :-) https://www.dropbox.com/s/sfujwwzh4jrrdlv/HIghrise%20copy.jpg

 

If other people will contribute with more tips. you are welcome.

[Joel Gray]

No problem. Nice image too.

 

I think you could bump up the bright and mid tones with Photoshop Curves and get a little more *pop* out of the image, and composition wise I'd give the top of the building some room to breathe by adding some sky above. The boats in the distance help to add depth but the large cruise ship is too dark - I'd adjust the black to have some bluish hues from your sky nearest the horizon and it will appear further away (same for the pier in the distance at the right). There's some odd light reflections below the cruise ship too that don't look like they belong and the reflection of the rocks beyond the dock need to be broken up by the water more (they look like they are floating in the air)... but that's just me nit picking now.

[heni30]

Here's 15 minutes in photoshop breaking image into 3 layers - above hor - below hor - and the building tower.

I think the below hor was too muddy and dark - now that big boat stands out more.

Gave the tower more contrast.

[Corey Beaulieu]

Things in the background should become desaturated and by the same token things in the foreground should be crisp and clear. What is it that we should be focusing on? The answer to this should be the goal of your image.

 

In reference to your image specifically, My few tips would be:

 

-Put way more drama in your sky. Brighten and glow-out the sun and area around the sun and let the brightness fall off towards the right of the image.

-With this brightness, the waters reflection should become more dramatic as well.

-The cruise ship should become hazy. use a levels and adjust the blacks to be more white. The contrast you have is otherwise fine.

-(This will help the flatness a lot) Use a normals pass. Desaturate it to be black and white only. Pin a levels to it and brighten the whites and darken the blacks. apply this combo as a blend (screen mode or add or soft light on occasion) to punch up the difference between one side of an object and the other. Usually choosing the sun side to be the white and inverting the pass if necessary.

-To add to the above, if you thin pin a Gradient map to the normals, you can colorize it or sometimes a zdepth to the color grade of your choosing. To clarify, if your sun is super orange and your sky the violety blue, then you can use this black to white gradient map that you make out of a zdepth or normals pass and colorize your image in the same fashion. remapping to orange in areas and on sides of objest that face the sun and violety blue on sides that don't. There is a lot of control in this method and using overlay mode will ensure the colors lay onto your image.

-Lastly, punch up the lighting on your tower. The reflections too. Show me that there is glass on the outside and that it is the focus of the image. Currently my eyes go straight to the star on the top of the boat on the left.

 

Sorry if this is unclear or off base. i was just sort of typing through my thoughts. You have a good base image that needs a lot more punch value.

Edited September 6, 2012 by CoreyMBeaulieu

[Peter M. Gruhn]

For the quick renders I do (not pro level viz stuff at all) I find the mr auto exposure tends towards low contrast. I like to bump the highlights and shadows right there and then tweak the mids. Sometimes I'll even over or under expose by a half or whole stop and correct for that with the tweak.

[3dvizual]

Thanks for all your advices. I will have this in consideration when i make my images in the future. But I am pretty newbie at this point, and I think I might need some more practice before it is natural for me to do this kind of image tweaking.

 

Anyone knows about a good course to learn more about these areas.? How have you learned all these technics.?