Dodge and Burn

[Stoney74]

I'm assuming this is technique used to create a "3D" look to the leading edges of control surfaces and the areas behind cowl flaps?

[Krusty]

Nope.

Burning is a photo term. You'd have light sensitive paper, and the light hitting it would be filtered through the negative, so that the positive image shows up on the paper. Well you expose it for xx seconds to get the proper image on the paper. THEN, if you want to do this in a few areas, you can take a piece of paper with a hole in it, turn the light on again, and use the paper-with-hole to block it from hitting the photo paper. The hole lets light in only in a certain area. So you can, in effect, "burn" the image onto certain parts of the paper more. It over-exposes an image in certain areas. In Photoshop I think it's really a combination of contrast/color shifting, but the end result is the same.

Dodging is the opposite. You have the photo paper and you have the lamp and negative. You take a thin wire and stick a piece of tape at the end, or a piece of paper. Something small is used. You then put this between the lamp and the paper, thus depriving certain areas of the final photo. It under-exposes the finished photo in certain areas. In photoshop I think it just takes whatever programming the burn tool uses and goes the other way, less contrast and color shifting, or something

[Stoney74]

Ok, but which tool do you use to fade out the shading behind the cowl flaps to create the effect?  Same thing on the control surfaces--it appears that the leading edge is shaded, and just behind, it is lighter, in order to create the appearance of a "rounded" leading edge area of the control surface.

I thought someone said one time that the "dodge" and "burn" tools were the best way to create this effect...

[Krusty]

nah, they won't really help.

Make a new layer. Select the selection tool. On the layer select from one end of an aileron and drag a long, narrow rectangular box until you reach the other end of the aileron (or flap, or rudder). Keep the box only as wide as the fade you want. The aileron may be at an angle but keep the box straight. Once selected, choose the "gradient" tool, and set the color to black, set the option to "fade to transparency" and make sure the tool is linear and not round, or linear-and-back or anything. Inside that rectangle you just selected click at the leading edge and drag backward. Keep the drag as straight as you can.

Voila, you have a shadow.

Don't de-select it. Keep it as-is. Now do edit> selected area > skew (or hit free transform, ctrl T I believe, once it is enabled, right click inside the area and choose "skew"). Now move the rectangle so the inboard corner touches the panel line for the aileron/flap/rudder/etc. Leave that end where it is. Click and drag the skew handle at the other end of the box, and shift that end "straight over" so that the gradient is now matching the angle of the aileron. When done, double click in the rectangle, or hit ENTER, and there you go!

That's the basics. There are more tips and tricks for fine-tuning this, but they're fairly intuitive and I bet you'll spot them readily.

EDIT: Whoops, I almost forgot. When done, repeat for all areas you wish, then change the layer blending -- play around with this, but try things like 30% multiply, or 40% burn, or even just 25% normal blend.

[United]

You could use the dodge and burn brushes for the same effect, though.  If I were going to use those brushes, Id make sure to have a backup layer of what Im altering because dodging and burning can take some very meticulous brush strokes.

[Stoney74]

Thanks, I'll give it a spin later at home...