Preserved Topic: chrome skins with PS5.5

hi folks,

simple question...
how can I create a chrome skin on my objects?
I work with photoshop 5.5 - for example, the eyecandy-plugin doesn't work in ways, that I want...
Is there any way to create a chromeskin, that looks REALLY good and real?

thx, cycs

It would be rude to laugh at someone's first post, so I'll start by saying hi and welcome to the Asylum.

And I'll conclude by saying no.

That is, "no" if you're looking for a simple, "one click" eye-candy type solution. If you're willing to invest boat-loads of time, then it's a different story. The problem with chrome (and the reason no plug-in can do it satisfactorily) is that chrome isn't *anything* itself - what we respond to as chrome is the interaction between the object contours and the environment the object is in. It's very complex to make convincing chrome. That being said, there *are* ways, but none of them are easy, and none of them should be undertaken if you can't "see" what you're after.

I ran across a nice piece on seeing chrome. It doesn't tell you how to do it, but deals with seeing it in the first place. Maybe a good starting point?
http://www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop/Seminars/Chrome/default.html

Good luck. Show us what you come up with.

This is kind of against the spirit of what Steve has said (I totally agree with Steve), but it does show how involved or complex such tasks can be.
http://gurus.i-us.com/intermediate/3d_gradients.asp

Steve, the link you've provided is 404. I even tried backing up the URL and I kept getting the same thing -- nothing. I didn't get anything until I backed all the way up to the domain name.

Hm ... I do not point why you at me laugh? Everyone makes sometime its first entry, or?

And now again briefly about chromeskins. However I don't operate first a relatively short time with Photoshop (approximately 1 year) am called still for a long time that I look therefore only simple solutions up. I would regard rather as a researcher, who experiments much. I won't have posted in the forum if I not for solutions would have already looked. That you can believe me. :-)
Your fear about my imagination is unnecessarily, really. I can imagine in ways thats ........ u know?

your link doesn't function, as already said warjournal. but you can give me more information an tutourials about this theme, in next time.
----
Thanks for the link, warjournal, that looks like very interest :-)

cya cycs

link worked fine for me guys -- pretty nice set of pages too.

Cycs -- I think the "laughing" part was just because the idea of a nice simple method for chrome is laughable...nothing more <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/biggrin.gif">

As far as my experience with chrome, I have found that what works best for me (and of course it depends what type of object you're working on...) is to use lighting effects on the object with a high setting and two light sources, one top very bright, one bottom pretty pale.

After that I use curves ( http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorials/photoshop/curves.html ) to enhance the black lines that form along the bevels, and enhnace the highlight sections at the same time.

To create a realistic illusion of the environment the object is in, I'll throw in some sections of reflected color on another layer set to overlay or hardlight with a low opacity, and maybe a picure of a lanscape or something like that with a spherize or ripple filter set the same way.

Of course it all depends on what/where your object is. <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/biggrin.gif">

link worked fine for me guys -- pretty nice set of pages too.

Cycs -- I think the "laughing" part was just because the idea of a nice simple method for chrome is laughable...nothing more <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/biggrin.gif">

As far as my experience with chrome, I have found that what works best for me (and of course it depends what type of object you're working on...) is to use lighting effects on the object with a high setting and two light sources, one top very bright, one bottom pretty pale.

After that I use curves ( http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorials/photoshop/curves1.html ) to enhance the black lines that form along the bevels, and enhnace the highlight sections at the same time.

To create a realistic illusion of the environment the object is in, I'll throw in some sections of reflected color on another layer set to overlay or hardlight with a low opacity, and maybe a picure of a lanscape or something like that with a spherize or ripple filter set the same way.

Of course it all depends on what/where your object is. <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/biggrin.gif">



{{ooops, fixed that URL}}

[This message has been edited by DL-44 (edited 11-09-2000).]

Cycs: I certainly did not intend to be rude. I know my place, and I know that Mikey Milker is in charge of rude here. No one should be met with rudeness on their first post. I apologize.

404 has me baffled. Worked for me this morning when I posted it, worked for me this afternoon when I read your posts ... I don't get it. Try again - it's a lovely piece.

Cycs, you raise a legitimate question. What I responded to, more flippantly than I should have apparently, was the last statement:
"Is there any way to create a chromeskin, that looks REALLY good and real".

When you put the emphasis on "Really good and real" that eliminates nearly every tutorial I've seen on line, every plug-in and most pieces in books. Maybe my standards for "real" are too stringent. There are many many chrome tutorials on line - do a search in Google for photoshop + chrome and you'll see what I mean. Maybe they will be what you need. Maybe you can piece together what you need from several techniques. Probably you will get frustrated and give up. BTW - most of the tutorials start with type - you indicate "objects", so I assumed you meant non-letter shaes. Might want to consider a 3-D rendering program rather than Photoshop for that.

Steve, that's called thus I must in things humor still somewhat learn <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/wink.gif">
Because of the link, I wanted to subordinate certainly me to you to ridiculous. But I was nevertheless not the none, the problems
had. NOW - approximately after that 12. Attempt (!) hats folded.
And now I can also reconstruct why the Site am so good - thx <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/cool.gif">

Which your last paragraph concerns can I the only following say: I didn't assume the OZONE forum was a forum only for professionals. Doc's Sites of through forests I for over one year, due to the
tutourials provided there I already thought the forum would have similar purposes... Reliably, it is correct that I can look myself an enormous amount at pages, which deal with themselves with various
finishing techniques up, Steve, but then ask I to which one "the forum" invented itself. Normally I prefer interactive communication
between humans and users. Stubborn learning of the paper (or book) wasn't ever my world. I just hoped to be guessed here into the
correct pool, since I am so convinced of Doc's work. Finally are according to the latter mailing also over 600 people.

Anyhow I become in the future three times superior whether I a question place myself, which could possibly turn out at perfectionism.

and so on .... cycs

*looks around confused*
I think I have a headache now. <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/confused.gif">

Ah guys! New people in the forum, never NEVER "laugh", bad form, that.

I can understand the skepticism, chrome is one of the most god-awful things to try and re-create. I did a guest lecturing gig at a small university in Minnesoat once, and we discussed "chrome". I made everyone bring in a small bit, and brought bunches of extras myself for those who couldn't find any good bits. Chrome really is nothing more than a distorted mirror, so everyone realized we had to start by creating an image of the room first!

For most people, they just want something that reads to the eye as chrome. We can thank the car manufacturuers, they tend to photograph all of their shiny new chromed monsters in the desert, lots of good blends to be had there, so most folks see a desert scene in the background and the brain shouts "chrome!". That's where the colors from the chrome blend in photoshop come from. I use a series of Desert shots I've taken in South dakota, they're in my FTP zone.

Your pal, -doc-

Doc: I've placed myself in the time-out corner for the rest of the evening, for not playing nicely with others.

Cycs: the language difference makes communication somewhat difficult, but I think I'm following what you are saying, and I understand and respect that the pool of 600 users is tempting. Here's the problem with chrome: there is no single "recipe". Post a sense of what you wish to treat as chrome, and perhaps someone here can help. With that specific project. I'll tell you, I began this discussion with a vision of something like the villan robot in Terminator II, the one that could do the mercury thing. That was my vision of a "realistic" chrome object, and that is an almost unobtainable goal for most of us. Maybe I set the bar too high.

I'll behave better tomorrow. I promise. Can I have my cookies now?

I kinda like the dbm (designsbymark.com) tutorial on chrome. That method works well for realistic looking chrome. Another good method, without using reflection maps is just to play with lighting effects on a medium gray layer and curves. Eventually you'll get something good. <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/smile.gif">

By far the best results I have ever had with chrome were with the "Kai's power tools 5" filter "Shapeshifter". Use the environment map from the gel filter, and then tinker with the settings. an example of the end result can be seen here:
http://www.aqa-d.se/

and then click on the HTML side, not the flash side. Anders used the same method I do, the kai's shapeshifter on the upper left pieces.

If you dont have access to the Kais 5 filter set, then lighting effects on a gray layer and using curves definately produces the best result for 'generic' black and white chrome.




It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

Tycho; do you know where I can download a demo of KPT? (I tried metacreations>said they sold it to corel :: corel>no demo.)

: : M a h j q a : :

Great chrome tute here at designs by mark... I'm sure with some tweaking you can apply it to objects other than text...
http://www.designsbymark.com/pstips/text_chrome.shtml

Actually if you want quick nice looking chrome get kpt power tools 5. Oooooh he said plugin oooooh. Most of us dont use them much, but hope it helps you.



[This message has been edited by Nevex (edited 11-09-2000).]

Thank u all <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/wink.gif">

Cycs

Ahhh...chrome, don't we wish that photoshop had that one feature of renderers, RayTracing and environment maps.




Don't make me come down there! - God

http://www.designsbymark.com/pstips/text_chrome.shtml <--- this link is a great link. works fine for me thx also... <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/biggrin.gif">

Here is the correct address for the Curves tutorial: http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorials/photoshop/curves1.html

Pat Richard
Web weenie
http://www.gurusnetwork.com
ICQ 23113317

alrighty, i was sitting out by my pool starting to read the Adobe Premiere book. and i
saw.. in a halo.... the steps leading down to the blue water of the pool... the metal latter... take a look,
http://cerebralboy.tripod.com/ozone/cromeish.jpg

there is no fine detail in it... that was what i liked.





simplicity in perfeciton

I have to disagree with Steve saying there is no simple one click solution to a chrome texture. If you've got a bland grey 3D object, maybe something you created using channels and lighting effects, you can easily give it a chrome look by doing a simple fiddle with the curves. Take the curves typical straight line and make it into something that resembles a rollercoaster track. up and down and up and down and up again... just play with it and you can easily get it to look like chrome. It's the fastest and easiest way I know to make chrome.