Any suggestions for (free) guides to the details of the Layered Image Editor?

Diomede

Any good free guides to the details of the Layered Image Editor?  I am experimenting with trial and error for adding a color layer but am not getting even close to what I am expecting.  I am sure it says more about my expectations than the LIE in the surfaces tab. But even so, I could use a walk through of the various layer options and what to expect from each, along with details like what difference it makes (if any) for the order of layers.

WendyLuvsCatz

it's a watered down version of an external image editor 

if you use Gimp, Photoshop, (Carrara Operator functions ) you can grasp the general idea

add, multiply, overlay, difference, screen, mix, mask etc

IMO a lot of the time it's easier and will cause you less grief in the end, to load up your favourite image editing program instead

mwokee

Maybe I should spend more time learning Daz but I already know Photoshop. Gimp is free, I've never used it, but I hear it's almost as good as Photoshop. With Photoshop, you can add a color layer and then open the dropdown for options. Just move the mouse down the options and you can see what the effect will produce.The image below is my most recent addition to my galley. The background is a photograph taken by me. The two figures were rendered separately and added as their own laayers. The subtle blue in the upper corners is a colored overlay. The yellow/green on the right side of the machine is another colored overlay. The red on the left side of the machine is original to the photo. The fog is a brush from Ron's Steam and Smoke. I duplicated the background, darkened it, then slowly erased portions because using a vignette looks fake. Then I combined the two background layers and used the burn tool to create shadows on the ground behind/under the figures. I also used the burn tool on the figures to blend them into the background.

 

Not counting render times and driving to Alabama to get the photograph (and editing the original photo), putting all the layers together took about an hour. Yes, an HOUR. Photoshop gives me greater control when creating the final product than I get from renders. The catch is LEARNING Photoshop took more than an hour. The knock against Daz is you can't get backgrounds like you see in this image.

 

Richard Haseltine

WendyLuvsCatz said:

it's a watered down version of an external image editor 

if you use Gimp, Photoshop, (Carrara Operator functions ) you can grasp the general idea

add, multiply, overlay, difference, screen, mix, mask etc

IMO a lot of the time it's easier and will cause you less grief in the end, to load up your favourite image editing program instead

But using LIE reduces the number of actual image fiels that have to be tracked - you can vary the layering, strength, or tint without having to generate and load a whole new image. Which is the better path will be a matter of taste and workflow.

Diomede

Thank you, Wendy, MWokee, and Richard.  I ended up making the edits I want in an external image editor.  

Cybersox

mwokee said:

Maybe I should spend more time learning Daz but I already know Photoshop. Gimp is free, I've never used it, but I hear it's almost as good as Photoshop. With Photoshop, you can add a color layer and then open the dropdown for options. Just move the mouse down the options and you can see what the effect will produce.The image below is my most recent addition to my galley. The background is a photograph taken by me. The two figures were rendered separately and added as their own laayers. The subtle blue in the upper corners is a colored overlay. The yellow/green on the right side of the machine is another colored overlay. The red on the left side of the machine is original to the photo. The fog is a brush from Ron's Steam and Smoke. I duplicated the background, darkened it, then slowly erased portions because using a vignette looks fake. Then I combined the two background layers and used the burn tool to create shadows on the ground behind/under the figures. I also used the burn tool on the figures to blend them into the background.

 

Not counting render times and driving to Alabama to get the photograph (and editing the original photo), putting all the layers together took about an hour. Yes, an HOUR. Photoshop gives me greater control when creating the final product than I get from renders. The catch is LEARNING Photoshop took more than an hour. The knock against Daz is you can't get backgrounds like you see in this image.

 

 

There's an obsession with many users that doing everything "in render" is the optimum way to go, but, as you note, putting it together in post is far faster if you know what you're doing.  That's how most of the bigger CG studios like PIXAR do it, after all.   Personally, I usually approach my renders the same way that most professional photographers and cinematagraphers do and get basic light placements right "on set" but adjust the the highs and lows while rendering so that the end result is usually a much lower contrast than what I want for the final product, but has the advantage of no clipping or blowing-out on the highlights while also retaining more detail in the shadows.  From there it's easy to get the final colors and contrast where I want them in post using layers and overlays.  That said, I should point out that you CAN achieve results in-render similar to what you have - try making a light source or ghost-light out of a primative object, but instead of a solid color for the emissive surface, apply a photo or graduated color image to surface in the emissives panel.  (Basically, you're making a directional variation on an old school sky-dome.)  Not only can you get some great color effects, but the reflections, the kicks on the hightlights and the fill in the shadows will all tie together.