Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: eskimo2 on September 30, 2006, 12:29:07 AM
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I’d read about this effect and thought that I’d give it a try. Just blur the foreground and background of a picture to make it look like it has a short depth of field and it gives it a diorama feel:
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/unlinked/homer_harbor_800.jpg)
(Achieved with 5 layers)
The original picture:
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/unlinked/7_23_06_homer_harbor_800.jpg)
This was my first try at it earlier tonight:
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/unlinked/toronto_model.jpg)
(Achieved with 3 layers)
from xrtoronto's original picture in his thread:
(http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/6153/imgp0363rj3.jpg)
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That is very interesting. The effect does look like a diorama with little models placed about. Do you have a scientific explanation for the effect? It's pretty cool looking.
Les
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hehe that looks really cool. i have never seen that before.
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[head scratch]while the effect looks cool, the original reason for a diorama is to be as close to realistic as possible with a simulation... and now we want to take a photo of a real place and make it look like the simulation....[/head scratch]
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Is the effect the same printed on paper I wonder. If it is, it could make great backgrounds for actual dioramas. Or even as a study beforehand to get an idea of what a diorama will look like when it's finished.
Les
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Originally posted by Leslie
That is very interesting. The effect does look like a diorama with little models placed about. Do you have a scientific explanation for the effect? It's pretty cool looking.
Les
Isn't it due to focal length? Much easier to get long distance shots in focus, but the short range on the diorama forces some parts out of focus. At least it sounds good to me at 2 am :D
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Originally posted by Holden McGroin
[head scratch]while the effect looks cool, the original reason for a diorama is to be as close to realistic as possible with a simulation... and now we want to take a photo of a real place and make it look like the simulation....[/head scratch]
I had the same thoughts about building up ricers. In fact, I still do.
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Very cool effect eskimo! I actually thought it was a diorama at first.
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Holden McGroin – LOL, Fantastic Response!
Zorstorer – Yes, that is pretty much it. I think our eyes do the same thing. I asked my 7 year old daughter to look at the picture of the model boats; she was convinced it was a model. I know that she does not have enough experience looking at pictures of models and dioramas to have developed a mindset that short depth of field comes from close up pictures of small things… She had to have developed this idea naturally by looking at real world things up close.
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Originally posted by Holden McGroin
[head scratch]while the effect looks cool, the original reason for a diorama is to be as close to realistic as possible with a simulation... and now we want to take a photo of a real place and make it look like the simulation....[/head scratch]
Well, I'm going to use this technique in my next book "Advanced Modelling Techniques" :D
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Originally posted by Leslie
That is very interesting. The effect does look like a diorama with little models placed about. Do you have a scientific explanation for the effect? It's pretty cool looking.
Les
In the original post: "short depth of field."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field)
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Originally posted by AKH
Well, I'm going to use this technique in my next book "Advanced Modelling Techniques" :D
I think Anna Nicole Smith already has a book out under that title.;)
Regards
Sun
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Where was the harbor photo taken??? Looks like Cordova AK when I was up there in May.
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:lol
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Originally posted by Hornet33
Where was the harbor photo taken??? Looks like Cordova AK when I was up there in May.
You were?! Why? I was born in Cordova; left when I was a baby. My father was the minister of the Baptist Church from about 1962 to 1966. My family was there during the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964 (9.5 Moment Magnitude) I’ve only been back once or twice.
This picture was taken in Homer Alaska this past summer.
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That's really neat Eskimo, I thought the first picture was a diorama as well.
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zOMG where'd u get all those kewl toy boats?
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Originally posted by eskimo2
You were?! Why? I was born in Cordova; left when I was a baby. My father was the minister of the Baptist Church from about 1962 to 1966. My family was there during the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964 (9.5 Moment Magnitude) I’ve only been back once or twice.
This picture was taken in Homer Alaska this past summer.
Small world huh?? I was there for 2 weeks for the Coast Guard. I was installing a brand new Electronic Charting and Navigation System on the Cutter Sycamore (Bouy Tender) that's based out of there. Was there during the first Salmon opener of the season. Not sure if your familiar with the Cordova Rose Lodge but that's where we stayed at. Hung out at the Alakan Hotel and Bar most of our free time. I missed the trip to Homer a couple of months later. That picture though looks just like the harbor in Cordova if your standing in the parking lot of the Western Family Store, that's why I asked.
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(http://hallbuzz.com/images/unlinked/geauga_lake_800.jpg)
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nice one Eskimo :)
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Eskimo, Very nice effect there!
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Originally posted by eskimo2
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/unlinked/geauga_lake_800.jpg)
cedar point?
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Originally posted by JB88
cedar point?
Geauga Lake from the Americana Ferris Wheel in September of 2005.
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Is that done with lenses on camera or photoshop?
If photoshop, how do you do it?
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Originally posted by eskimo2
Geauga Lake from the Americana Ferris Wheel in September of 2005.
very well done.
;)
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Originally posted by tapakeg
Is that done with lenses on camera or photoshop?
If photoshop, how do you do it?
You can buy an $1,100 tilt-shift lens for a Canon SLR or…
How to make a picture look like a diorama:
In the Homer Harbor picture I resized the picture to 1024x768 and saved the picture as a bitmap.
The next step was to create 4 more copies, each progressively blurry/softened. I named them the numeric soften setting for my program (3, 6, 10 & 26).
Now the rest of the work is in MS Paint. For the sharpest picture I deleted all areas that were out of the focal zone. (Set neon green as your eraser color by right clicking on it.)
In the picture below I used the spray paint feature in Paint to make the sharp/soft zones blend. In hind sight I don’t think this was such a good idea. I had to go back with a soften brush because it was pixilated when layered.
1
(http://hallbuzz.com/dioramas/1_homer_harbor.jpg)
Note: online tutorials will show you that you can simply soften the top and bottom of the picture. While this will produce a general effect, this approach is wrong! Unless the picture is of flat ground with nothing tall in it, parts of the picture will not look right. You need to select everything that is at a certain distance range to be in focus. If there is a tall pole, building or tree in the focus range, it all needs to be in focus.
Figure out what zones would be slightly out of focus. This should be both a little closer to the camera and further away.
3
(http://hallbuzz.com/dioramas/3_homer_harbor.jpg)
Repeat for the next zone:
6
(http://hallbuzz.com/dioramas/6_homer_harbor.jpg)
And for the next zone I decided to blur/blend the mountains together.
10
(http://hallbuzz.com/dioramas/10_homer_harbor.jpg)
The last zone will only show the maroon/grey boat in the foreground.
26
(http://hallbuzz.com/dioramas/26_homer_harbor.jpg)
Now we’re 98% done. Open all 5 pictures. On picture 10, select all + copy, go to picture 26 and paste. Right click on neon green and select transparent background. Go to 6, select all + copy; paste on 26. Do the same with pictures 3 then 1. Save picture 26, reopen it with a program that makes decent JPEGs and save it as a .jpg. With this picture I used a crude softening brush in MS Photo editor to touch up a few of the layer merges. Spray paint was not a big help here.
Note: .Never save a picture as a JPEG in Paint.
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/unlinked/homer_harbor_800.jpg)
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Easier way is to use Photoshop's Lens Blur filter with a gradiant map, then mask off details.
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My first attempt...
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/107/398407311_64aa8e7226.jpg) (http://flickr.com/photos/dotdoubledot/398407311/)
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there's one out there of hoover dam that is amazing
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Sort of off topic, YMMV (http://www.nonk.info/cool_pictures/cool_pictures/amazing_stereo_pictures_of_jim_gasparini.php)
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i think it's magic
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Originally posted by Mustaine
there's one out there of hoover dam that is amazing
This one?:
(http://hallbuzz.com/dioramas/hoover_dam_1024.jpg)
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Call me crazy....but that effect makes me think Im looking thru a Viewmaster! Its a neat 3D illusion.
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Originally posted by eskimo2
This one?:
you, was posted here before, I think by you maybe...
sweet pic thanks, fng saved ;)
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Is it the effect or the lense that makes it look like we are looking at a plastic model/mock up?
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It's the effect with these fakes, but there's a lens that will do it too.
Google "tilt shift photography"
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Originally posted by Gunslinger
Is it the effect or the lense that makes it look like we are looking at a plastic model/mock up?
both. you can do it in photoshop, but also there are camera lenses that produce this effect on the raw picture.
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This is a very cool trick eskimo. Thanks for showing us how it's done.
Here's my first go at it:
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f93/hawk_fw/San%20Francisco/SF_mini.jpg)
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Nice job ChickenHawk:aok
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Wow ChickenHawk! That’s great, very convincing. There’s a group on flickr that is devoted to this and yet all anyone does is blur the top and bottom. It kind of works depending on the picture but what you have done is way better than 99% of what I’ve seen. Way to go!
A few things that I have learned;
In hindsight I think I usually don’t blur the foreground and background enough. It’s good to look at pictures of real models and dioramas to see how out of focus the foreground and background typically are (depending on the scale). I don’t think I blurred my pictures enough (except maybe the Hoover Dam one).
Downward looking pictures are best to start with. Usually we look at models and dioramas from a high angle, so pictures of real things that we want to make look like a diorama are best if they are also taken from a high angle. I’ve taken a gazillion digital pictures over the years but have only a small handful that have a good angle for this. I’ve been meaning to specifically head out to take high angle pictures from good, high vantage points just to do this fake-tilt-shift thing with. I scanned the Hover Dam picture from film because I have no other good digital pictures to work with.
Sandman,
That’s great as well, but like mine I think it could use more out of focus blur in the foreground and background. Also, the smaller the picture the greater the need for more out-of-focus blur. That same picture larger may look more convincing at the same blur setting.
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I just checked out my stuff; here's the most recent one that I did:
(http://hallbuzz.com/dioramas/russian_church_ninilchik_1024.jpg)
Ninilchik Alaska
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I swear all of these pictures look like they are plastic replicas. Like what some guys builds in his basement to drive model trains around.
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I see what you mean about more blurring and a high angle. Your Hoover dam and Alaskan town look incredible.
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Originally posted by ChickenHawk
I see what you mean about more blurring and a high angle. Your Hoover dam and Alaskan town look incredible.
he didn't dop the hoover dam
that one was doen with a "real" diorama lens, by a professional photographer
been searching for the link, but can't find the original explanation of the "diorama lens"
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First attempt, this...
(http://www.freedesktopwallpapers.net/art/monalisa.jpg)
into this...
:)
I amaze even myself.
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Originally posted by Mustaine
he didn't dop the hoover dam
that one was doen with a "real" diorama lens, by a professional photographer
been searching for the link, but can't find the original explanation of the "diorama lens"
Like I said, I shot the Hoover Dam picture as a tourist a long time ago with a Minolta 35mm SLR film camera. Here is the original scanned negative, flipped to positive and resized/cropped to 1024x768 resolution.
(http://hallbuzz.com/dioramas/hoover_dam_original.jpg)
Many old fashion large format view cameras (Think old 1800s cameras with the photographer behind the hood) could adjust the lens up or down (shift) or angle the lens so that it’s not parallel with the film (tilt). Either of these adjustments messes with the traditional focus. The main purpose might be to take a picture of a tall building from the ground, up relatively close, yet the entire building could be perfectly in focus. I think they could even make the sides of the building more parallel so the building would look more like an architectural drawing than a perspective photo with a vanishing point.
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Thrawn,
All these years I’ve been wondering where the smiling emoticon came from.
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Here's a couple more I did today of the seattle skyline. I went for a lot more blur and a more centralized focal point this time. Not completely happy with the result but I figured I'd post them anyway.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f93/hawk_fw/San%20Francisco/Seattle_mini.jpg)
The original:
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f93/hawk_fw/San%20Francisco/Seattle_Orig.jpg)
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Here's the second:
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f93/hawk_fw/San%20Francisco/Seattle_HS_Mini.jpg)
And the Original:
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f93/hawk_fw/San%20Francisco/Seattle_HS_Orig.jpg)
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Originally posted by eskimo2
Like I said, I shot the Hoover Dam picture as a tourist a long time ago with a Minolta 35mm SLR film camera. Here is the original scanned negative, flipped to positive and resized/cropped to 1024x768 resolution..
my bad I thought that was done by someone else.
that one is awesome Eskimo :aok wtg and keep up the incredible work!
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My latest:
(http://hallbuzz.com/dioramas/pittsburg_diorama_1024.jpg)
Pittsburg Pennsylvania on a teak table.