Creating Cosplay and Superhero Inspired Photo Portraits
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Loading... - Sarah Williams
- 01 Jun 2022
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Creating compelling sci-fi and fantasy inspired images was once a task that required either awesome practical effects and lighting, dexterous digital paint skills, or a mastery of complex 3D animation software. Recently, Boris FX, an Academy Award-winning software company that has developed film and television visual effects tools for over 20 years, has leveled the playing field with the introduction Boris FX Optics.
Full disclosure: This article was brought to you by Boris FX
Optics is a standalone application and a plugin for Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom that brings Hollywood style lens flares, cinematic lighting effects, and feature film processing looks to the photo editing community. In this informative tutorial, VFX industry veteran, Ross Shain shows how to easily turn portraits into epic poster frames — without resorting to stock footage or overlay assets.
Getting Started
The Optics plugin can be launched directly from Photoshop or Lightroom. If you are using Photoshop, we recommend converting your layer to a smart object, then select your layer and go to Filter > Boris FX Optics 2022.
If you use Lightroom, launch Lightroom Classic, select your image, and go to Photo>Edit In Boris Optics 2022. We recommend applying Optics to a copy instead of the original.
And if using the Optics standalone application, simply go to File>Open and open your photo. Whether you are using the plugin or standalone, working with Optics is the same. The interface is divided into a few key areas. Underneath your image, find hundreds of Filters broken in 10 categories:
Color, Diffusion/Blurs, Film Lab, Grads/Tints, Image, Lens/Distort, Light, Render, Stylize, and new Particle Illusion.
When you choose a filter, the selected filter Parameters are displayed on the right and the available Presets are on the left. In the upper left, you have the Layers window where you will find opacity and layer blend modes.
Lighting and Render Effects
Optics is packed with creative lighting filters and special effects generators that come from Boris FX Sapphire, a plugin collection that is regularly used on big budget films and TV shows. In the Render category, we can find useful background generators like Night Sky (star field), Luna (photorealistic moon generator), and even abstract background generators like Cautics and Tiles.
We can apply UltraZap which is an advanced lightning filter. You are never limited in Optics. In the Parameter window, you can control UltraZap options including the bolt position, color, branchiness, taper, glow, and so much more.
Masking Made Easy
Optics can import masks from Photoshop or use the built-in masking tools which offer a streamlined, simple way to isolate effects.
You can apply various mask types to every layer in Optics. For example, if we want to wrap the lightning effect around the sword, in the Layers window, we can add a Paint Mask and paint out the areas where the effect should not be shown. Other mask tools include Gradient, Circle, and Path as well as masking by luminance and color values. Read More...
