Preserved Topic: Useful Filters?

Seeing some of the posts around about filters lately got me thinking.... (that's not a dangerious as it sounds)

Are there any 3rd party filters for PS that are really worth it? (I'm not talking about alien skin and eye candy here)
Are there any filters that aren't all about eye candy like stuff?

Like filters/plugins to streamline how you work with colours ect. I remember Web Sharman <-sp? doing some research on colour for a GN tute a while back. There was also some talk about how cool it would be if there was a plugin for PS that could generate all of the comp's and split comp's of a given colour ect.. Does something like this actaly exist or would it be possible to create filters or plugins that do similar things??

On another note, I don't quite understand all the negativity sourounding filter sets like Eye Candy. If you combine these effects with some real talent you can get some amazing images. Take a look at www.blueskyheart.com and you'll see what I'm getting at. She uses Eye Candy all the time, but she does it stupidly well.

Layne is a she? Huh, I din know that...

I heard Steve (the smart one, er, the Boston one, sorry there other Steves) talk once of some kind of gradient designer that sounded cool. I believe it was a Kai Krause thing, may have been part of KPT or mebbe a seperate thing. It sounded quite useful, but then, I like gradients.

That's all I know, I've never actually seen any 3rd party filters or their work. Point me to a gallery so I can see what all the ick is about.

Jason

whats wrong with eyecandy? ~smirk~

huh, got unlazy and checked out a gallery (yeah, you guessed it: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=alien+skin+gallery ) of alien skin stuff. Impressions:

First page of the AlienSkin site was a study in cheap bevel effects. I was immediately skeptical. Went to the gallery page that I assume was the creme of the crop as far as ~cough~ alien skin arteests go. The only consistent thing that I could tell from the gallery was a sense of randomness. Granted, I didn't stay and study too long but the randomness factor was obvious and immediate. Read a few of the explanations of how the images were created and several say "this was done in many layers. one layer with this filter, another layer with this filter, and ..." mostly in regards to backgrounds cuz the foregrounds were rendered in a 3d app.

randomness and lack of effort

Rembrandt would be proud

Jason

Lack of effort maybe but that doesn't always mean lack of talent.

This almost streatches into the same debate about photography not really being art. Which is wrong, but there are far more talanted and knowledgeable people who have already proven that argument so I wont go there.

However, I fail to find the randomness in this image (Big Image! By Layne Karkruff). Filters are simply tools, you use them how you see fit to create your artwork. If it means that you don't need to go to as much effore to achieve a desired result then hell, why not?

Edit: Found a better example image...

[This message has been edited by Dracusis (edited 10-09-2001).]

coffee filters are useful ! help keep out those gritty bits eek ~Vp~

by no means did I say 'all' if you look there. And yes, that Dutch guy impressed me the most really. But even he looked a little canned.

I definitely agree on the filters as tools thing, I've been known to use the ~gasp~ plastic wrap filter myself on occassion heh

I still gotta say, If that's the creme of the crop, then something's wrong. I think it lends credence to the argument that you'd be better off learning what Photoshop can do so you can have more control. When I first came here, I thought that argument was a little silly, but as I've learned more, it's much nicer to be able to tweak something a little bit because of your knowledge. Where maybe if you get filter dependant and you wish you had that little tweak available, too bad, you can't quite pull it off...

All depends on what you want out of it.

Jason

What about cigarettes filters??

play dough factory? ~Vp~

Why put filters on those Wakkos? Their gonna kills us anyways.

JK, Yeah most 3rd party filter sets seem to be targated towards the kind of people who could be bothered learning how to do it themselves. Which is mainly why I was asking if there were any filters designed with people like us in mind. Filters that added more functionality to PS but didn't ~can~ it the outcomes in any way.

Why bother with filters? You can get the same effects with Layer Effects in PS 6.0!

*slaps krets*

You got that with layer effects? Cool.

~slaps krets again~

Why bother with Layer Effects? You can get the same effect on a piece of paper by learning to draw.


Wait..that might be artistry of some sort....nevermind.

"Any tool, if used well, and not as a crutch may be just that...a tool. When it replaces the artist in the creation, it is the artist that becomes the tool."

Wow..I quoted me...how narcissistic.

3rd Party filters..old debate, old opinions, moving on?



[This message has been edited by DarkGarden (edited 10-10-2001).]

Hey Krets! I did that same exact thing fiddlin around one day after a trip to the book store. That's so weird man.