Preserved Topic: Emeralds&gems

I have a problem: I'm working on an emerald like on my homepage (http://come.to/mahjqa , top left) But it's still kinda dull. I want to make reflections in it like in the pictures on [http://www.blueskyheart.com/download.html] but whatever I try to do, it goes wrong. the normal blending modes don't give a glassy look, and the spherize tool doesn't give a nice, tound picture. Does anyone here know something to help?
Thanks in advance,
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uhm, make that a *round* picture. and doc. ozone, I -did- try your tutorial on glass spheres, but that wasn't the trick I was looking for. (still thank you for this site... I just keep coming back <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/biggrin.gif"> )

I know that Layne uses Photoshop for some phases of his work, but I'm pretty sure that his glass pieces are all rendered in a 3D app, that may be it. I was thinking about how best to wrap a picture of a scene into ther reflection of the glass, but I'd have to look at my collection of glass balls first, see how it all works in the real world.

Your pal, -doc-

You might try: http://www.aqa-d.se/

Anders always has some nice info on how to make glass look "glassy", including some info on how to map a texture to it for realism. Might help.




Never insult someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes... that way, if they don't like it, you're at least a mile away, and you have their shoes.

Yah I agree with doc that you should study how it is actually composed. You'll notice that most crystals/emeralds/shiny things darken near the edges. And also you will rarely see the base color. And there is usually always more than one highlight. I would cook up an example, but i don't have photoshop installed... still waiting for photoshop 6 to come out for purchase. *instert hysterical laughter here* Well...... here are 2 tuts that you may find helpful. The first one isn't that great, but you can make it look better by not using absolute black/white.

http://www.grafixnut.com/photoshop/gems/
http://www.wastedyouth.org/tutorials/gem.htm

THANK YOU! really, it's got almost all the tutorials I've ever searched for! (kicks altavista b'cuz it did'nt find it)
I rilli like it! ^.^

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