A (98)

13

ADD CONTRAST

In order to put the fighter in the foreground,

you should hugely enhance its contrast on the

nearest details. Create a new Brightness/Contrast

adjustment layer clipped to the 3D render. Reduce

the Brightness and lift the Contrast up to get a really

contrasted plane. Then make a fully black mask for

it. Grab the Brush tool and paint contrast areas using

a soft white brush on the mask.

11

COLOUR TONES AND REFLECTIONS

Colour reflections are one of the most

important things to settle a stock image into a scene.

Tone the fighter a bit using a clipped Solid Color layer

in Soft Light mode filled with blue. Set its Opacity at

10%, then add matte colour reflections. Create a

layer in Soft Light mode. Grab the Brush tool and

choose a green colour. Paint the lower wing and the

lower side of the cockpit with broad strokes using a

large soft brush with low opacity. Pick a blue colour

and paint the higher parts of the fighter.

10

AERIAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE FIGHTER

The first helpful pass is ZDepth. It’s a

greyscale image that shows the distance from the

camera. The closest objects are white and the

furthest ones are black. Place ‘render-ZDepth.png’

into the scene. Align it with the fighter and fill the

empty space with black. Invert and cut the layer.

Create a Brightness/Contrast layer clipped to the

fighter and paste into its mask. Brighten the furthest

part and reduce their contrast. Use the same mask

for a blue Solid Color layer in Soft Light mode.

09

IMPORT THE RENDER

You can import your 3D render or use the

supplied ‘production-render.png’. The attached

fighter is a stock 3D model. It was rendered using

V-Ray. The landscape created before was used as a

HDRI environment map for reflections. The surface

of the fighter is quite matte, but this trick can be very

helpful in other cases. Once you have placed the

render, make a group called ‘Guides’ and place it

above the others. Draw some perspective lines. You

will be able to check against them to avoid mistakes.

PLACE 3D RENDER

IMPORT 3D PASSES AND SETTLE THEM DOWN INTO THE SCENE

12

ADDITIONAL LIGHTING

A common problem of 3D renders is their lack of imperfections, especially in lighting. So let’s make

the lighting of the plane more natural. Create a new clipped layer in Overlay mode. Select the Brush tool and

paint shadows and highlights with a soft black and white brush. Feel free to work instinctively.

001 HighlightsWith a small brush, paint intense

highlights on the places where the light of the bright clouds should be reflected

002 ShineEnhance the reflections of the glass

parts of the cockpit. A broad brush will increase the shine effect

003 ShadowsMake the shadows deeper using a soft

black brush. It will give the illustration more depth

001

003

002

Colour reflections are one of

the most important things

that will help to settle a stock

image into a scene

TRANSFORM 3D RENDERS