AMBIENT OCCLUSION AND BLEND MODES
THE BEST WAYS TO USE AN AO LAYER IN PHOTOSHOP
This layer contains the Ambient Occlusion effect; it gives
shading to the areas hidden to the ambient light and it
shades the more obscure parts of the models in the
scene. Using this pass gives more depth to the details.
Paste the Ambient Occlusion render into a layer abovethe main image. Change the blending mode to Multiply.
You can change the layer’s Opacity to soften its effect. You
can also apply a Levels adjustment to the Ambient
Occlusion layer to change its contrast, brightness,
and darkness.03
MAKE ADJUSTMENTS
Use a Color Balance adjustment by going to
Image>Adjustments>Color Balance to adjust the
colour temperature according to the feel of the image.
Then use a Hue/Saturation adjustment by going to
Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and increase the
saturation a little bit to increase the dramatic feel. We
also need to increase the contrast by going to
Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast.02
MATERIAL ID PASS
These may come under many names:
MultiMate, Wire Colour, Object ID and Render
Masks. This pass contains the masks for all
materials in the project; it’s a good way to speed up
the selection using Color Range by going to
Select>Color Range and picking the colour we
want. Then we can work on selected areas. For
example, here the front wheel needs some
brightness and some contrast on the ground area.05
FINAL TOUCH
Using the Magic Bullet Looks filter will
add powerful dynamic looks and colour correction
to the image. This is a pro-level third-party plug-in
for Photoshop that you can get from http://www.
redgiant.com (it costs $799). Open it by going to
Filter>Magic Bullet. It will now open a new window
for the program. Choose the style you want and
you can add or modify the tools used in every style
(such as Subject, Matt, Lens, Camera, Post), which
gives you even more flexibility.01
53%Ĉ:ɎDEPTH PASS
This pass contains the depth map of the
scene measured from the camera. We use this pass
in Photoshop to create a depth of field effect. Copy
the Z-depth image (Cmd/Ctrl+C) and paste (Cmd/
Ctrl+V) it into the Alpha channel of our normal
render. Now we’ve got the Z-depth render in the
Alpha channel. Next apply a Lens Blur filter by going
to Filter>Blur>Lens Blur. Turn on the Preview option,
and choose Alpha as our Depth Map.04
ADD FILTERS
The render image is very clean so we
need to add some noise to make it more
realistic. Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Don’t add
noise to bright areas though, as noise can be far
too obvious in bright or blown-out highlights.
After that we need to add some blur by going to
Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, this will blend noise
with the image for a more natural result – as if
it’s got a tiny bit of ordinary camera noise.