Best way to shadows in PS? (pic)

[Alroe]

Hi,

My way of creating artificial shadows in PS is very slow:

I copy the object layer, paint it black, transform it using perspective and free transform, and then add some Gaussian blur and semi transparency.

The result is something like this:



Does anyone know a better way to create shadows?

I find that PS' own ordinary "drop shadow" is not good enough; no proportional direction (no vanishing point). But maybe I'm just using it incorrectly?

Best, Alroe.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alroe/

 

[Johanfoto]

You can use the drop shadow in Photoshop, but only as a start. After you've created the drop shadow, you can separate it from the object using 'Layer - Layer Style - Create Layer'. That will create a new layer underneath the original layer, containing only the drop shadow. You can then edit this with the distortion tools and/or a new mask.
--
Johan
http://www.johanfoto.com

 

[HotWired]

There are many ways and plugins to do this. But I like what you are doing as you are using pure PS which is the best way to learn how things work IMO.

Instead of 'Painting Black', one way to quickly do this is just use 'Inner Shadow' and slide the 'Distance and Opacity' all the way to the right and viola! Instant blackout.

...

 

[andrewD2]

The "best" way can take quite awhile, if you want realistic shadows.

You will usually get by with less, making a drop shadow and using transforms to make it go where you want and fades to make it fade into the distance.
I didn't do it that way
This was a quick draft, the perspective is not perfect.





Andrew

 

[andrewD2]

Andrew

 

[Twingphoto]

Hi Andrew,

THAT is really cool! How dis you do it?

B.

 

[andrewD2]

Thanks, the method I would probably recommend is in chapter 7 of "How to Cheat in Photoshop" by Steve Caplin. If you want to get into the illustration side rather than photographic side of photoshop its a great intro.
It works easiest though with an object that is flat on to the camera.
I might try it that way just to see.

With this object having simple cuboids and cylinders I knew I could 3D model it in a few minutes. The time involved was trying to match camera angle light position and a few minutes to render.
Blender3d.org and yafray.org have the required free software.

Andrew

 

[andrewD2]

Andrew