DarkBuddha
03-02-2006, 08:22 PM
I was thinking that there seems to be a lot of interest in this kind of thing in general, especially as a cheap alternative to proper renderings or buying 18 sets of wheels and trying each set on your car until you find just the right ones.
Anyway, I thought I'd share some basic tips to either help with your own attempts, or when requesting 'chops on the forum. Heck, maybe we can build a nice list and make this a sticky.
Images:
1) Always provide the best image you can. Front 3/4 shots and side shots are easiest and best to work with. Make sure the image size is as large as you can get (i.e. 300 dpi is great!).
2) If you don't have a decent pic of your own car, find an image of a similar car through a image search using Google or alltheweb.com. It's unlikely your car is all that rare that you won't find a decent pic to work with.
3) It's always easier to work with a car that is complete, has a decent paint job, etc. The paint job evenness is especially important when doing color/paint changes. If the images of you car don't meet this criteria, do the image search thing.
4) When working on a wheel 'chop, it is best to start with an image that has the wheels you're interested in at a similar angle as the car you're putting 'em on. "Catalog" images of wheels typically suck to work with in general. Try doing an image search for a car that has the kind of wheels you're wanting to 'chop.
Software:
1) Sure, Photoshop is the standard, but most decent consumer level photo editing software is capable of doing the kind of stuff you'll want to do (i.e. color changes, wheel 'chops, lowering 'chops, stance 'chops, window tinting, etc.). Just make sure whatever you're using has these basic abilities and tools: ways to do careful selecting, ways to work with multiple layers, ways to change hue/saturation and brightness/contrast, and some basic filters (for lighting effects or similar).
2) If you can't afford a full-on version of Photoshop CS (very expensive), there is a consumer version that has lots of the same functionality and is fairly easy to use. It's called Photoshop Elements and it retails for less than $100 and is available for Mac and Windows. You might find it cheaper as bundled with a scanner, like I did... the scanner was only $40 and came with Elements.
3) Most decent photo editing software typically has a bit of a learning curve. It can be frustrating, but believe me that it is manageable. Be patient and check out the tutorials to get the basics.
Photochopping tips:
1) Don't do any selection or painting by hand, ever. It just won't be accurate enough. Use a tool like the "Polygonal lasso" tool, which allows for clicking along the way for anchor points between small segments.
2) Use hue/saturation controls to do color changes. DO NOT USE A PAINT TOOL!
3) Check out some of the many photochop websites for other tips and tricks for doing different things. Many have good tutorials for doing car specific stuff.
Anyone got other tips???
Anyway, there's a ton more to it than this, but most of it is just a matter of trial and error and practice. Now get 'chopping.
Anyway, I thought I'd share some basic tips to either help with your own attempts, or when requesting 'chops on the forum. Heck, maybe we can build a nice list and make this a sticky.
Images:
1) Always provide the best image you can. Front 3/4 shots and side shots are easiest and best to work with. Make sure the image size is as large as you can get (i.e. 300 dpi is great!).
2) If you don't have a decent pic of your own car, find an image of a similar car through a image search using Google or alltheweb.com. It's unlikely your car is all that rare that you won't find a decent pic to work with.
3) It's always easier to work with a car that is complete, has a decent paint job, etc. The paint job evenness is especially important when doing color/paint changes. If the images of you car don't meet this criteria, do the image search thing.
4) When working on a wheel 'chop, it is best to start with an image that has the wheels you're interested in at a similar angle as the car you're putting 'em on. "Catalog" images of wheels typically suck to work with in general. Try doing an image search for a car that has the kind of wheels you're wanting to 'chop.
Software:
1) Sure, Photoshop is the standard, but most decent consumer level photo editing software is capable of doing the kind of stuff you'll want to do (i.e. color changes, wheel 'chops, lowering 'chops, stance 'chops, window tinting, etc.). Just make sure whatever you're using has these basic abilities and tools: ways to do careful selecting, ways to work with multiple layers, ways to change hue/saturation and brightness/contrast, and some basic filters (for lighting effects or similar).
2) If you can't afford a full-on version of Photoshop CS (very expensive), there is a consumer version that has lots of the same functionality and is fairly easy to use. It's called Photoshop Elements and it retails for less than $100 and is available for Mac and Windows. You might find it cheaper as bundled with a scanner, like I did... the scanner was only $40 and came with Elements.
3) Most decent photo editing software typically has a bit of a learning curve. It can be frustrating, but believe me that it is manageable. Be patient and check out the tutorials to get the basics.
Photochopping tips:
1) Don't do any selection or painting by hand, ever. It just won't be accurate enough. Use a tool like the "Polygonal lasso" tool, which allows for clicking along the way for anchor points between small segments.
2) Use hue/saturation controls to do color changes. DO NOT USE A PAINT TOOL!
3) Check out some of the many photochop websites for other tips and tricks for doing different things. Many have good tutorials for doing car specific stuff.
Anyone got other tips???
Anyway, there's a ton more to it than this, but most of it is just a matter of trial and error and practice. Now get 'chopping.