Wylder's Hair Tutorial
What you will need for this
tutorial:
Poser 4.0 or greater
Paint Shop Pro 8 (or another imaging program, such as Photo Shop)
A computer *g*
A pointing device (tablet and stylus is preferred, but a mouse should
do in a pinch)
Creative ideas
This tutorial assumes a basic knowledge of Poser and Paint Shop Pro 8,
and comfort with working in layers and in using various tools in PSP8.
PLEASE NOTE:
This tutorial includes images portraying a nude female form. This is
only for illustration purposes. If viewing such images offends you,
please do not continue with this tutorial. Thank you.
While this tutorial is written for use in PSP8, you should be able to
translate the steps for whatever imaging software you use if you use
something other than PSP8. Let's get started...
To begin, when I want to do a bunch of postwork, I make two renders:
one with all the props, backgrounds and such, and one with *just the
figure* on a plain colored background. Both should have identical
lighting, camera angle, size and everything; on the one with just the
figure, you can simply turn off visibility on all props, backgrounds
and such. Another thing is to render the solo figure with a color other
than white, gray or black. It can be a pale shade of blue or purple, or
whatever color your final image background will have. I'll explain this
in a minute. Make the renders *big,* like 2500 x 2500 or so. Save both
renders in your favorite format (I hear that .tiff is best). (see
Figure 1 and Figure 2)
Figure 1 - Original Image
Figure 2 - Just the figure on a plain background
Open PS and load both renders. I copy/paste the render of the figure by
itself as a separate layer, select the plain colored background (Figure
3), expand the selection by about 3 or 4 pixels, invert the selection,
feather the selection by about 4 or 5 pixels, then promote the
selection to a new layer (Figure 4). The feathering will soften the
edges of the figure, and the pale color should disappear into the image
background. If it's too obvious, go back and re-render the solo figure
with a different color background and try again. (White, gray or black
backgrounds tend to select lit or shadowed areas of the figure, along
with the background.) Turn off visibility on the "figure only" layer
(the one that has the plain background) or delete it altogether, then
add a layer beneath the new figure only layer (the one without the
background). This will be the "back hair" layer. Now, add a layer
*above* the new figure only layer. This will be the "front hair" layer
(Figure 5).
Figure 3 - Select the background color
Figure 4 - Promote the selection to a new layer
Figure 5 - Add two new layers for the hair
With me so far? If so, great. If not, ask for clarification....
OK, now comes the fun part. On the "front hair" layer, take any old
airbrush (a single 20 pixel brush with soft edges should work, but if
your image is *really big* you might want a bigger brush to fill in the
area faster) and pick any color (doesn't have to be real hair color),
then brush in the basic shape of the hair. Don't get too detailed at
this point, just the basic shape you want in front of the figure
(bangs, front sides, pieces over the shoulders, etc.) (Figure 6). Now,
select a darker color. I use black or dark gray, depending on the
original color I used. You could use a brighter shade, if you prefer.
Using a smaller airbrush, brush a few strokes around just to show
movement and shape of the hair(Figure 7). Again, don't get too detailed
yet. Plenty of time for that later....
Figure 6 - Paint in basic shape of front hair
Figure 7 - Brush in some shadows (or highlights, if you prefer)
Now, repeat the above steps with the "back hair" layer, only this is
what flows *behind* the figure. I try to be a little more free with the
back, since mistakes are easily covered with the front hair layer. In
fact, you may want to do the back layer first. (Figures 8 and 9)
Figure 8 - Paint in basic shape of back hair
Figure 9 - Brush in some shadows (or highlights, if you prefer) for the
back hair layer
So, now you should have at least 4 layers: front hair, figure only,
back hair, and your full image, props and all.
OK, still with me? Cool...
Now, this is where you get to party! On the front hair layer, select a
smudge tool. You'll want a proportionally wide one at first. I started
with about 20 pixels, step=1, density=100, hardness=1 (you want a
really soft smudge brush for this), everything else is 100 (sorry, I
have no idea how this equates in PS or other software). Now, gently
start from near the bottom (the upper strokes will cover and distort
the lower strokes) and stroke down and in whatever direction you want.
Don't go too far, as the strokes eventually become semi-transparent as
you make longer strokes. I do lots of wavy shapes to get movement in
the hair. You will smudge the base color and darker color together, but
as long as you use single strokes, it should work out so it looks like
striped lines. Stroke out one layer, then the other. Don't be afraid to
play with it; real hair is rarely all going in the same direction all
at once. I live in North Yorkshire, England, and the wind is almost
constantly blowing here, so lots of wild, windy hair for inspiration!
Figure 10 - Begin stroking out the back hair layer with the smudge brush
Figure 11 - Continue stroking out the back hair layer with the smudge
brush, using wavy lines to indicate movement
Figure 12 - Turn on visibility on the front hair layer, and stroke it
out as you did the back layer. Here I added a white background layer so
I could see better what I was doing.
After you stroke out the larger bits, change to a smaller brush, about
10 pixels, and work it out some more. It took me literally hundreds of
brush and smudge strokes (and about 3 hours) to get my final version,
so be patient. Lots of little, curving or straight strokes. If you make
a mistake, or just don't like something, erase the layer and start
over, or undo until you get back to something you like and try
something else. There's so much trial and error in this process. I
actually had to start over with this one, as I didn't like the shape or
texture I was getting on my first try.
Figure 13 - Here I added a drape around her body, but that's for a
different tutorial. I also decided that I preferred the white
background to the one I had chosen, so I left it in. The original size
for this image was 2500 x 2500 pixels. It still needs to be cropped.
Finally, when you get what you like, stop! (That the hardest part!)
Save it (both as a layered image, and as a flat image). Merge, crop,
sign, post.... If you want, you can keep going and see if you like it,
then either revert back to your saved version, or save a new one.
Repeat as much as you like!
Figure 14 - Here is the merged, cropped and resized image, waiting to
be signed and posted.
Well, I hope this is helpful! Don't hesitate to ask if something isn't
clear. *hugs* Wylder
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