Need help on a metallic look

[Moth]

I am a big fan of Layne Karkruff's work. His art is what inspired me to learn photoshop and I'd like to think I have picked up a few things along the way and have become a decent artist. However, there is an effect Mr. Karkruff uses that has eluded me. I have spent the last three days trying to get a particular metallic look, which I call hematite, without any luck at all. |

An example of the hematite effect can be found by clicking on the link.

http://www.blueskyheart.com

If you look at the winged triangle that is supporting the jewel you will see what I am talking about.

Any help would be appreciated and I will be happy to post my results on the show board.

 

[scorpion]

wow that looks cool i hope somone knows knwo to do this i'd like to know aswell.

wats the best u can do moth?

 

[abbe]

dosent hey use Kai's Power Tools in many of his images?? well im nor shure if he does but think that maby the ansver could be found there =)

but i would try to looks at the image and then try to recreate what i se =) and maby find the seacret that way.

Rock on

 

[theKeeper]

Yes, KPT... and that's the one thing that bugs me about his excellent creations... their effect/look is 95% done using KTP ShapeShifter, with the "kitchen" reflection map used exclusively.

Just a shame that someone with such a talent for cool designs would have to rely on a filter THAT much.

Btw... anyone who's used this filter will recognize it instantly. I'm not "guessing" at this.

 

[MindBender]

First off, Moth, you're better than he is. Second off, abbe is right, he uses KPT for most of his stuff.

I find his stuff appealing but pretentious. I find it vaguely offensive that he's using what amount to Photoshop parlor tricks and he's charging for his wallpapers.

The filter most used on his work is KPT shapeshifter. If you take the techniques that are laid out in the glassy sphere and glass pill button tutorials on this site, you're already a step ahead of the game. I've seen you build metal that looks amazing enough that I would have asked for a tutorial if I'd wanted to sound like a needy goober. [shhh] (I am a needy goober, don't let the suave exterior fool you. haha )

<edit> dammit Mark, beat me to it. </edit>

 

[Stroker]

Ah, the infamous ShapeShifter question.
Don't get me started!

Sorry, but I couldn't resist.

 

[Chester]

Yes, KPT... and that's the one thing that bugs me about his excellent creations... their effect/look is 95% done using KTP ShapeShifter, with the "kitchen" reflection map used exclusively

Someone seems to be jealous... [innocent]



I think that this guy is really talented :}

Just look at this page: http://www.blueskyheart.com/dc6preview.html

Do you call that 95% Shapeshifter?

My #1 tip; customers don't care which tool you use...

 

[MindBender]

Someone seems to be jealous... [innocent]

I wouldn't say that, since Mark's work pretty much blows blue sky out of the water.

I think that this guy is really talented :}

He does have some talent, but he's relying on too many click n play tools, so everything he does pretty much looks the same.

Just look at this page: http://www.blueskyheart.com/dc6preview.html

Do you call that 95% Shapeshifter?

Yes. The other 5% is the "lighting effects" filter.

My #1 tip; customers don't care which tool you use...

Generally true. Although if you keep turning out the same work over and over and over because you are using a "canned" procedure, eventually you shoot yourself in the foot. Being that this is a graphic forum, and the question was about the technique, I don't think it's really relevant what the commercial viability of the piece is rather, how to best achieve a result.

 

[Moth]

Ah, the infamous ShapeShifter question.
Don't get me started!

Stroker!!!

First off, Moth, you're better than he is.

Thank you for the compliment, MindBender

Just a shame that someone with such a talent for cool designs would have to rely on a filter THAT much.

I agree with you, theKeeper.

Layne was one of my main inspirations but as you say he relies on the ShapeShifter filter way too much. Hell, I could even overlook that if he would just change the reflection map once in a while.

Being that this is a graphic forum, and the question was about the technique, I don't think it's really relevant what the commercial viability of the piece is rather, how to best achieve a result.

Good point. I am taking at a look at theKeeper's glass tutorial right after I am done replying to everyone.


What's most frustrating about the whole matter is that I have the glass down but the metal eludes me. Here's the jewel with a poorly done hematite metal. Look Ma! No KPT!

 

[wbiss]

Just add a little more "blue" into your hematite background Moth and give it a tweak with a "levels adjustment"!

Looking mighty fine, my friend! :}

 

[MindBender]

What's most frustrating about the whole matter is that I have the glass down but the metal eludes me. Here's the jewel with a poorly done hematite metal. Look Ma! No KPT!

Well, the thing that helped me most was to think about the differences between the two. While I pretty much suck at graphics, this is what I've boiled it down to:

Glass/plastic refract light and it passes through and you see what's behind it. The color of the glass will be taken on by the surface that it is sitting on.

Metal reflects the surface it sits on and it takes ON the colors and lighting of whatever is around it.

Glass is active, metal is passive.

Both surfaces will react the same if shiney or matte. They produce similar hot spots and similar difused areas. They both will reflect the same way, although metal will of course reflect a more true image while glass generally reflects a more translucent image.

I hope that helps. I would give you more pointers, but like I said, I'm not really that good with it.

 

[theKeeper]

Moth...
Yours looks great man, nice job.
Only real visual dif is that his has harder lines for the highlights/lighting/reflections. Yours are much softer. Perhaps use a bit less blur on those things.

General rule-of-thumb is: the harder the material is, the harder the lines will look for lighting/reflections/etc... the softer the material is, the softer/smoother those same characteristics will be.

So for example the images on that fellas site look synthetic... like hard plastic. Hence the highlights/reflections/etc have hard edges to their appearance. That's what makes the effect look the way it does to your eyes. It's all just illusion using light/shadow.


Chester... i DID say he had "excellent work", didn't i? I complimented the guy, i didn't put him down or anything.

And no, i'm definately not jealous, not at all. Creating graphics is NOT something worthy of being jealous about.
I'm more sadened, to see someone with a great talent for design just waste it by relying on a dumb filter. I'd LIKE to see him push his talent further, by learning to create the "look" of those interfaces manually. And by "look" i'm referring to the glass/metal/plastic effect he's getting from the KTP filter... NOT the intricate designs/shapes he's created. Those are more difficult to think up than they are to create.

Anywho... everyone's got their own way of doing things. And it's not really right to knock someone just because they do things differently than yourself. So i'm not going to comment on his work any further.

Personally though... i like my interfaces to have more of an "edge" to them. With less of a "synthetic" appearance.

 

[Bubble]

That looks awesome Mark, as usual... can't wait till the tutes come out %} %} %}

 

[Moth]

Wow Mark! [stuned]

I see what you are saying about the soft vs hard lines. I'll try it on my next attempt. Here's my latest.

 

[Moth]

I think I got it! Tried a different approach than usual for me. Used layer styles to get the base then built from there.

 

[Rantin Al]

Moth, That's looking good.

Just add a wiggly Curves Adjustment layer and mask out the jewel.

This needs tweaked but you get the idea.

 

[theKeeper]

Ya try using curves Moth, like Rantin did.

Your blue circle with the hard highlights looks great. Nothing wrong with using PS's "native" filters to help with the effect. Just be sure to throw in some manual effects too to "loosen up" the look of the overall effect.

 

[AppleCider]

Nicely done, Moth!

Mark, lovely piece! I, too, am looking forward to the tutes. (BTW, what's that font???)

 

[theKeeper]

That font's called "Zrnic" Julie. [excited]

 

[Moth]

Some curves, some masks, and some more layers. [sleepy]

It didn't turn out to be an exact copy of the effect I wanted but I think it looks more like actual hematite. I'm probably going to take a break from this for a couple days. (Caught a cold and don't feel up to too much right now). If someone else wants to give this effect a whack, go for it. Thanks for all of your help.