PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL: Interior Perspective

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL: Interior Perspective, This rendering method can help you achieve perspectives that do not look generic and typical, Photoshop

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

3d Modeling: SketchUp Pro 8

Base Rendering: Kerkythea
Post Processing: Photoshop CS5 This rendering method can help you achieve perspectives that do not look generic and typical. Plus, after a while, you can already establish your own trademark, you can even make your renderings recognizable as your own. But this is also very experimental. I had my own share of hits and misses with this method- some turned out great, others not so. With practice though, I have improved my time, adopted my own style and developed some techniques.
I have only started using this method January of 2013 – during my thesis days. It was a self-study on online tutorials, really. I picked up different techniques from different sites. I used SketchUp for almost all my 3d modeling. For a while during thesis production, I found 3d Max too complicated and time consuming so I resorted to using the simplest program. I would only be needing the base, anyway.
With the scene saved, I exported the model to Kerkythea (can be downloaded here).

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

Opening it to Kerkythea, I adjusted only the glass material which I changed into the program’s default thin glass. To do that, click on the chosen material, it will be highlighted on the left side where all the materials present in the model are, right click > apply material and choose thin glass. Afterwards you can already hit the render button. I always go for the biggest resolution.
I don’t adjust much only because I have not learned quite yet the other settings. You can explore on this more so you’ll have less to edit on Photoshop.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

The rendered image is now opened in Photoshop. Looking at the layers tab, I have in there groups – MATERIALS, PEOPLE and EFFECTS. Basically these three are the main components of this tutorial. Grouping them together is helpful in avoiding confusion as we will be creating lots of layers!

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

Let’s begin with the MATERIALS group. I started with the floor. I chose a material from my collection of JPEGs in my computer (it is advisable to have one) and distorted it to follow the shape of the floor, taking into consideration the vanishing point. You would want to make it look real so the proportioning of the material is very important. You can get images from google or other websites that offer free downloadable texture images. You can also crop out from your own photographs of buildings or interiors.
To distort an image, select its layer, Ctrl+T (shortcut for Edit>Free Transform) > Right click > Distort, then drag the points to transform it to the desired shape. Afterwards, trim the parts to be trimmed if necessary.
After being satisfied, change the blending option of the layer to Overlay. Adjust the opacity according to your preference. I used 100% for this.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

Then I chose a material for my ceiling and applied the same technique. However, my blending option for this layer is Normal with 100% opacity.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

Now compare this next photo with the previous. No significant change is noticeable but if you’ll look closely, a reflection of the ceiling is subtly added to the floor. I am big on reflections, I think they make the space look expensive. To apply this, duplicate the ceiling layer, Ctrl+T>Flip Vertical, and position it on the floor – where you think the reflection should be. I set it to Overlay and lower the opacity to 21%.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

Because I think the floor color is too dull and dark, I created a new layer, then using the brush tool with low opacity I brushed an orange color on the floor and set it to Overlay with opacity of 92%. You can do the same to any part if you wish to change the color of the material a bit. The strength of this color overlay will depend on the opacity of the brush tool and layer.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

Satisfied with my floor and ceiling, I proceeded with the glass walls – basically same technique with Normal Blending Option and opacity of 41%. Usually glass materials should be set to low opacity.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

Walls and columns were then given texture. Blending option is Overlay with 100% opacity. PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

Of course, I applied reflections too. I erased (with eraser tool of low opacity) the part of the reflection farthest from the object to make it more real and seamless.
PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL
Because, by the way, this is a Fashion Institution, I added fashion elements like the images below. I think they made the rendering more detailed and interesting.  They were reflected on the floor too!

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

Completing the material overlays, I added shadows. I used the brush tool (with really low opacity) and brushed black color on places I think should be darker.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

And we’re done with the MATERIALS layer.

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Now we have to put entourage. Adding people to the scene is one of my most favorite touches. I hardly do perspectives nowadays without people. In here, the importance of having people cut-outs comes in. I said you can download some at Vyonyx but there are other sites that offer these cut-outs as well. However, when I need a particular entourage (for example Filipino not Caucasian or, in this case, fashion models), I usually download from Google and crop it myself. It is laborious, yes, but sometimes it has to be done.

I think this video can best discuss how to add people to your scene. There are different techniques like adding reflections and shadows or motion blur for moving objects.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

It wasn’t so hard, was it?

Now we are almost done. Actually, this rendering can stand on its own right here but these final touches are really important for me. But then again, it’s all about preferences still.

I have always been inspired by Labtop Renderings because of their dreamy approach on their images, as if the world is a heavenly and beautiful place. I discovered it can be achieve using some brush strokes and color overlays.

Compare the next set of photos closely. The changes may not be so obvious but these subtle effects can really, really make the difference.

I want light to come in from the glass walls. Using the brush tool in Soft Light mode, I brushed some white light on the area of the glass, then set it to Overlay. The opacity depends on you again but I used 100%. If it comes out too strong, lower it.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

I added a subtle Vignette effect using black brush around the corners of the photo and set it to 50% opacity.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

Finally I did some color overlays which you can read more about here. Basically, it is just brushing a color of your choice over the photo (in a new layer, of course). In here I chose orange because I wanted a warmer tint. I set it to Overlay and adjusted the opacity to 21%.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

I also added a little mint to complement the color of the glass. The colors to be used are not fixed, this part requires experimentation too.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

And the final, final step is a technique again from Alex Hogrefe. This adds drama to the photo. The saved JPEG of the existing rendering is copied on the topmost layer. Desaturate it, apply Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur) and Overlay. Adjust the opacity of the layer depending on your taste.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

Here’s the final rendered image Photoshop Basics Tutorial after an extensive Photoshop post processing.

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL

There you go, hope you find this useful!

PHOTOSHOP BASICS TUTORIAL: Interior Perspective.

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