3D AND PHOTOSHOP
MIER LEE REVEALS HIS APPROACH TO REALISTIC 3D LIGHTING
ESSENTIAL LIGHTING RULES
“I think the most important thing in 3D space is
light,” says Lee, “and we should know how the
light works. Models would be looking completely
different depending on where the light sources
are, and what the colours are. In portrait painting
for example, the first thing to do is to separate the
light and dark in value, and warm and cool in
colour. This works exactly the same in 3D
software. I usually set up at least two different light
sources. The first one is the key light (or main
light), which is the first and usually the most
important light that a photographer and
cinematographer use in a lighting setup. This keyENHANCE 3D IN PHOTOSHOP
So, while Photoshop isn’t replacing the dedicated 3D
application – at least, not yet – it is bringing 3D more into
an achievable world. And isn’t that what matters most,
when the goal of most good 3D work is to make itself
seamless, realistic, even invisible.
“The best compliment a 3D artist can receive is the
following question: ‘Is this a photo?’” says Andrei
Lacatusu (www.andreilacatusu.tumblr.com). “Most of
us try to achieve realism, but that is no easy job. I did bad
3D as well but I hope I developed enough skill and
experience to have passed that stage. From my
experience, I think that the element that adds the biggest
value in a 3D generated image is represented by
shading. Without the proper material properties and
textures, one cannot achieve the slightest degree of
realism. After that, the light counts a lot, just as in
photography, in order to enhance the image.”
Matt Kohr (www.mattkohr.com and http://www.ctrlpaint.
com) says that “achieving unity” is his central goal in 3D
artwork. Sometimes he finds he’s happy with a
composition at the colour block-in phase of painting 3D
models he’s imported, but “adding photos is always
dangerous thing. Avoiding a noisy, gritty, mess is crucial
so the last phase is where I balance the various
elements ensuring my initial colour vision remains intact.
Generally I’ll use a combination of blurring, colour
correction and airbrushing in order to balance my image.
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for this balancing
phase, as every painting offers different challenges”.
Mark Mayers (www.markmayers.co.uk) says he
generally uses Photoshop for “postwork techniques to
The best compliment a 3Dartist can receive is the
following question: ‘Is this aphoto?’ Most of us try to achieve
realism, but that is no easy job
ANDREI LACATUSU /
WWW.ANDREILACATUSU.TUMBLR.COM/light controls the mood of your work. The other
one is fill light. This is a secondary light source that
may be used to reduce the contrast of a scene, or
to change the colour of the shadow.
Photoshop is the most powerful tool that can
control these two light sources. When using
Photoshop, I always use adjustment layers such
as Level, Curve, Gradient Map, Hue/Saturation
and Color Balance. But my favorite one is Gradient
Map. It allows you to easily change the colours of
the light and shadow at the same time. And then I
set it up as Overlay mode and put some
transparency on it.”incorporate additional textures such as distress effects
to 3D objects. I use various blending modes to make
the object look as realistic as possible. I also use a
non-destructive Dodge and Burn technique, which is a
50% grey layer in Soft Light mode. This is painted at
20% Opacity with black and white to correct lighting.
‘Sweet.tif’ is a good example of this texturing/lighting
method. 3d apps can also create multi-pass renders
such as ambient light, Z Depth as well as compositing
Alpha Channels for added realism.”
For Kohr, making 3D look real, or “grounded” is
“mainly a matter of correctly integrating it into the
painting. Level of detail, film grain, lighting – all of these
things will ruin the illusion if you simply add a photo
without working it into the painting. Implied detail
tends to work best in areas of the painting that are not© Mier Lee© Uli Staiger