Speaking of ice cubes, many people will think of the production method first proposed in the famous book "The Story of the Photo Studio". A lot of distortion filters were used in achieving the ice texture. This chapter reflects on this approach.
?Most of Photoshop's distortion filters will produce repeated textures, which is not conducive to the expression of natural random textures.
?There are too many steps, the parameters are difficult to remember, it is not easy to implement repeatedly, and the process is difficult to control.
This example will explain you a new method of generating ice cubes. We follow this idea:
Shape -> Texture Basics -> Texture Generation -> Mixing with the Environment -> Color Adjustment is slowly in place. Now that you understand the idea of these steps, do you still need to remember the tedious steps? No, as long as you think this way, you can easily "create" your own ice cube recipe. Don't believe it? Please see the example explanation below.
Original material pictures final renderings
(1) Open the source image 1. Open the source image of a water cup. Ordinary water cups filled with boiled water are really not atmospheric enough. Get ready to serve it iced and mood-lit. The source image is as follows:
(2) Shape the ice cube and establish a texture foundation. 2. Create a new layer. Note that the layer is blank and completely transparent. Open the menu command, Filter→Render→3D
Transform three-dimensional transformation. As shown in the picture.
3. The 3D transformation dialog box will appear. Select the Cube tool and pull out a cube. What we are going to make is a cube-shaped ice cube.
4. Some people may ask, how can 3D transformation of a transparent layer be effective? Please select Trackball
tool tracking ball, let's rotate this virtual cube. Turn 180 degrees, as shown below, and you will find that the other three sides of the cube are "real".
5.
After carefully adjusting the position of the cube, a white cube with light and dark light changes appeared in the picture. This is the prototype of the ice cube. As shown below. The basic shape of the ice cube we need is this cube. If you need other shapes of ice cubes, there is a more troublesome method, which is to draw them by hand.
6.
After confirmation, a white cube appeared on the canvas. This cube has light and dark changes. However, what should be noted here is that these changes in light and dark are of no use to us at all. All we need is just the framework of the cube. Press the W key to select the Magic Wand Tool and select one of the bright surfaces, as shown below:
7.
After getting the selected area, press G to select the Gradient Tool, and draw a gradient from black to white, with white at the top and black vice versa. We established a relationship between light and dark on one side. You must select another face to continue. Press CTRL+SHIFT+I to invert the selection.
as follows:
8.
Select W, the Magic Wand Tool, press ALT+SHIFT at the same time, switch to the "Selection Intersection" state, and click on the gray surface in the lower left corner of the screen. This results in the lower left gray surface. Also switch to G, Gradient Tool, and pull out the black and white gradient, with its black corner adjacent to the black of the previous glossy surface. As shown in the picture:
9. Do the same for the remaining surface, and use the gradient tool to draw out a gradient area with black upper and white lower. As shown below:
10.
The shape of ice cubes can't be so regular, right? We need to twist this square cube. Do you use distortion filters? ――No, that kind of distortion is repetitive, mechanized, and uncontrollable. We need a more user-friendly tool, the Liquify tool. The Liquify tool in Photoshop 7 is very powerful, similar to a KPTGoo that appeared before. Filter -> Liquify, opens the liquify dialog box.
11. Use the first tool, the Wrap tool, select an appropriate brush size, and distort the inner edges of each side, and also distort the outer frame to a smaller extent. As shown in the picture:
12.
After confirming, the squares on the screen have become irregular. But ice cubes will melt in water and won't have many obvious edges. To do this, we duplicate a layer of the ice cube prototype and load the layer selection by CTRL+clicking on the layer. as follows:
13.
Select Filter -> Blur -> Guassian Blur. The parameters are as follows, as long as the boundaries you see are not too clear. As shown in the picture:
14. After confirmation, press CTRL+E to merge the prototype. As shown in the picture:
15. Press B to select the brush tool and click Option
Select the Brush option on the Bar property bar, select an appropriately sized brush with soft edges, and adjust the Opacity to about 50%. as follows:
16.
Let's draw a few random strokes on the ice cube prototype. These brush marks will affect the undulation of the ice surface in the future. We try to make them look natural and blend with the surroundings. If necessary, you can use Guassian
Blur Gaussian Blur tool to make them blend more smoothly. In this way, the second step is completed. We have successfully shaped the shape of the ice cube and initially customized the texture base of the ice cube. As shown in the picture:
(3) The most critical step: generating ice texture 17.
Maybe you will laugh, what kind of ice cube is this? It is a soft jelly ball. Don't worry, just as in 3D software we need to create delicate bump maps for the model, the previous step is exactly the "bump map" for texture generation. After the Bump map is done, we can generate the unique texture pattern of the ice cubes. Please note below the only filter we will use during the generation process: Filter Filter->Sketch->Chrome Yellow Filter. Load the selection of the ice cube prototype and limit the application range of the filter (this is very important, you can try not loading the selection to see what happens?), open the Luohuang Filter dialog box, the parameters are as follows, you You can observe the picture until you are satisfied. As shown in the picture:
18.
Make sure to apply the filter, and the unique reflective texture of the ice appears in the picture. The most critical step is here. Use the Chrome Yellow filter and use grayscale changes as the basic texture to generate the reflection pattern of the ice cubes.
19.
The edges of the ice still seemed too sharp. Use the menu command: Select->Modify->Smooth to smooth the layer selection. The parameters are probably around 5px. as follows:
20. After the selection is rounded, invert the selection, and then press DEL to delete the sharp parts. Press CTRL+D to cancel the selection. What you see should look like this:
twenty one,
Did you see that? The texture of the ice cubes is coming out and the shape is very satisfying. We duplicate an ice cube prototype layer and then hide the original layer as a backup. Select the copied ice cube prototype layer, press CTRL+T, and adjust the size of the ice cube embryo, as shown in Figure 21.
twenty two,
The shape and texture of ice cubes are satisfying, but another very important property of ice cubes is "transparency". There are many ways to create transparency, such as "removing the bottom of transparent objects". But we don’t need to go to so much trouble here, just change the layer blending mode of the ice cube to Luminosity.
(4) Put ice cubes into the cup - ambient mixing 23.
The texture and lighting of the ice cubes are probably done, but now it doesn't look like it's immersed in water in a glass. In order to truly simulate the real thing, we must consider the relationship between the virtual object and the surrounding environment, and then adjust it according to certain methods. First, the ice cube is immersed in water and covered by water will produce a different light and shadow effect than the part exposed above the water. For this, we need a mask. Now let's first consider the connection between the water and the wall of the cup. Use the Pen tool to carefully outline the junction between the water and the cup. The range should cover the entire lower part of the ice cube. As shown in Figure 23:
twenty four,
Press CTRL+ENTER to convert the pen path into a selection. Return to the source layer, press CTRL+J, copy the current selection content into a new layer, and adjust the layer order so that it covers the ice cubes. You see the canvas contents and the Layers panel should now look like this:
25.
The effect of putting ice cubes in water has initially come out. When the ice sticks to the wall of the cup, it will slightly raise the black boundary line between the water and the cup. This is why we include the black line when we choose water in step 23. We need to adjust this black boundary line so that it makes a slight upward curve where the ice cube touches the wall of the cup. You may have already thought about the tool we need. Yes, it is the powerful liquid tool, Liquify. Open the Liquify tool dialog box and use Wrap
The tool wrapping tool bends the black boundary line upward, as follows:
26.
After confirming, return to the layers panel. The ice cube immersed in the water will not be visible at all, so we need to adjust the copied water. Adding a mask is a good way to avoid damaging the original layer and you can start over if you make a mistake. As shown in the picture:
27. Press B to select the brush tool, click the Brush option in the Option Bar property bar, and select the appropriate brush size and opacity. The parameters are roughly as shown below:
28.
Click on the layer's mask thumbnail to make sure the mask is selected. Use a brush to paint with black.
29.
The technique of applying after applying is to pay attention not to apply to the black boundary line (this part needs to be clear on the picture, not transparent), and apply a few more times to other parts accordingly, so as to make the effect on the canvas natural. The effect you see is almost the same as the one below.
30. The boundary line between the ice and the cup wall is done, but the part of the cup where the water covers the ice has not yet been made. Use a pen to carefully select the water covered with ice cubes inside, as shown below:
31.
Just like when covering the cup wall, return to the underlying source image, press CTRL+ENTER, convert the path to a selection, and then press CTRL+J to copy the underlying water. And reposition the layer so that it covers the top of the ice cube. As shown in Figure 31:
32. Similar to the black intersection line between water and cup, we need an intersection line between water and ice cubes. Switch to the Paths panel and click on the Work you just drew.
Path working path, enter the path editing state.
33. Press A to select the point editing tool, click on the path, and some control handles will appear. As shown in the picture:
34. Then we only need to stick to one side of the ice cube, select the parts that are not on this side and click DEL to delete, as shown in Figure 34.
35. Press B to select the Brush tool. Open the Brush parameter panel in the Option Bar property bar and select a 3px brush.
36. Return to the Path panel and press the Stroke Path with Brush button. As shown in the picture:
37.
Pay attention to the color gradation of the border, which looks like two yellow lines sandwiching dark brown at the top and bottom. It's very simple, just copy two paths, change the top and bottom paths to yellow, and change the middle one to dark brown. Then merge these three layers. The effect is as follows:
38. Also adjust the connection between the water boundary and the cup wall. It's a good idea to add a mask and then modify it. Switch to the newly added mask and adjust it carefully with the brush. As shown in Figure 38:
39.
Note that the water covered with ice inside also has a certain degree of transparency. Switch back to the inner water layer you just copied, and press 8 and 5 continuously on the keypad to quickly switch the opacity to 85% (of course, you can also enter it directly in the layer panel, the same thing).
40. The effect is as follows. The ice cubes are already immersed in water.
(5) Color adjustment - creating atmosphere 41.
How can this ordinary light satisfy the mood? Let's adjust the mood of the picture. With so many layers, if you merge them and then adjust them, it will be very troublesome to modify the details in the future. Adjustment layers are a great tool. Not only can all the layers below be adjusted without affecting the layers above, it also comes with a mask. If you operate the mask accordingly, you can also control the adjustment range. Click Create below the layers panel
New Fill and Adjustment Layer button and select Curves adjustment type. As shown in Figure 41:
42. The adjustment results are as follows. Does it feel good? It's as if this is no longer a glass of water, but a glass of strong white wine.
43. There are too few ice cubes. Make other ice cubes in the same way. If you don't mind the trouble, you can do it again. But want to save some effort? Had to copy and paste. as follows:
44. Done, final rendering:
Well, we successfully "fudged" the ice cubes in the cup and adjusted the atmosphere of the entire picture. I believe it feels very good. It’s time for us to sum up our experience and rethink the entire production process.
To quote Sun Tzu's Art of War, "Know yourself and your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger." What is a confidant? It’s about understanding what Photoshop can do. The tool is dead, but the person is alive. When Photoshop engineers first wrote the program, they probably came up with an engine that could process images into a certain look, so they gave this processing capability a name based on this look. In fact, its capabilities will far exceed the original set value under different environmental conditions. Here’s a reminder, don’t memorize what filter does and what effect it does, but understand what it can do. For example, the Chrome filter in Ice Cube originally only simulated a Chrome effect, but it has a very good effect in creating the unique texture of ice cubes. To know the other side, you need to observe more and think more so that you can understand the changes of light and shadow in real life and better simulate the real effect.
Now let's go back and look at the steps we just took and think about the customization process for them.
Ice is three-dimensional. We must first think that three-dimensional blocks can be made in the 3D Transform tool;
Ice cubes have unique light and shadow, we need to use the Gradient tool;
The ice cubes need to have certain undulations. In order to facilitate control, we used the Liquify tool;
Ice cube texture generation, try different filters, Chrome works best;
The ice cube is finished. If you want to make the ice cube completely transparent, you can use the method of removing the bottom of a transparent object to dig out the bright and dark sides of the ice cube, and then apply a distortion filter or Liquify to the background within the ice cube. Produce a natural refraction distortion effect; or, if the background requirements are not high, use Luminosity (luminosity) or other layer blending modes to mix. The specific application depends on the actual effect, and Luminosity is not necessarily the best;
Based on the actual changes in the water surface, we simulate the effect of ice cubes immersed in water;
Finally, the atmosphere of the entire picture is adjusted, and the illustration is completed.
