03
CUT HIM INTO PIECES!
Our model Stephan is a cirque acrobat with the ability to leap
nearly 1.5 metres in the air. However, to illustrate levitation without the
need for an acrobat we will merge the lower half and upper half of our
star to achieve the flying effect. From FileSilo, open Stephan-Lower.jpg
and Stephan-upper.jpg. Mask out his upper and lower body. Use his
waist as the border between upper and lower.04
JOIN HIM BACK TOGETHER
With both halves of the model masked, drag the lower half into the upper half
comp. You will have to scale the lower half a bit to get the two pieces matching. Once
matched, group the two halves by selecting both layers in the layers palette and hitting
Cmd/Ctrl+G. Name the group whatever you’d like as long as it’s descriptive and easily
identifiable. Drag the newly created group into the background comp.TECHNIQUES CREATE A FLYING EFFECT
02
STEP OUT ON THE LEDGE
Click File>Place and find the file ledge.jpg.
You will notice that the ledge isn’t very high up!
When shooting background elements, never take
things at face value. Sometimes the most unlikely
object can be the best option. Mask out the ledge
as you see in the picture. The ledge will need to be
skewed. Click Cmd/Ctrl+T and then right-click
within the box and click Distort. Using the
reference file match the perspective of the ledge.01
START FROM THE BOTTOM
Open City.jpg. Click File>Place Embedded and find the file
Clouds.jpg. Scale the clouds to cover the width of the image. Hold Alt/Opt
and double-click the city background in the layers palette. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+{
to drag the clouds layer below the city layer. With your preferred masking
method, mask the original sky out to show the new dramatic sky.FROM THE BOTTOM
TO THE TOPWORK IN
PROGRESSProgress 2: Time to add
some drama!Progress 3: A finished image!Progress 1: From 3D to 2DWhen shooting background elements, never
take things at face value. Sometimes the mostunlikely object can be the best option