Challenge #29

[Grant Dixon]

The Challenge is up and as usual there is a wonderful diversity of ideas!

--
Grant

Home Pages [url]http://home.cogeco.ca/~grant.dixon/index.htm[/url]

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Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while
discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and
better ideas if our efforts are appreciated.

Alexander Osborn (1888 - 1966)

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[Jodi Frye]

Juergen, your #2 is fabulous ! Very cool

[Juergen D]

Thank you, Jodi! I hope Weary and his friend aren't upset about my #1..?

Juergen

[Jodi Frye]

Juergen, na, I'm sure they wont be. That masked man has seen quite a few challenges. ...I mean, has been in quite a few...He lurks within us all ....he's a classic !

To newer members; the creature in Juergen's #1 image was from a prior challenge weeks and weeks ago although he still shows his face from time to time....he loves us.

[RobertHJones]

> The Challenge is up and as usual there is a wonderful diversity of ideas!

I'm looking forward to seeing them! But, I'm going to wait until I at least
finish working on my first submission. I like to work initially on my own
without influence. I've been busy this weekend and haven't had time to do
much yet, but I am about half way through the first.

Bob

[Jodi Frye]

Chris, well i hope you don't think any less or any more of me now. It's all for the love of creation and how it can evolve and revolve around a subject. Nothing more, nothing less.

[weary landcrab]

WOW! The standard of work in this group is getting better and better, (note to myself, must try harder)
special mention to Bob Warren (AB?...) Juergan, Robert Schraven and of course Jodi.
tremendous work everyone
Weary

[Bob E. Warren]

The guitar player had inspired some great images this week.

BARBARA W: I really like the psychedelic colors and the blue outline figure in #1. The lighting in #2, particularly in the hair, is great.

CHRIS R: #1 could be a professional poster job -- is that a topo map in the background? Like the curl on #2. #3 -- well, what can one say.

CONNIE H: Liked the guitar theme -- the faded colors in #2 are interesting -- how did you create them?

IRENE K: #2 is terrific! I can get close to what you have there using a variant on a Scott Kelby line drawing technique, but not quite -- any hints?

JODI F: The more I look at #1 the more great details I see -- wonderful composition!

JUERGEN D: Love the light and shadow in #2 -- great job separating the player from the background.

MARILYN L: Really neat insertion of the player into the priest's garments in #2. Let's hope #1 is not a forecast of the future!

ROBERT J: Liked the coloration and techno setting for your #3.

ROBERT S: Nice rendering of the poster and compositing into the pictures. Is the car in #1 a motion-blur creation as well?

WEARY: Great compositing on #3. I can't see the joins at all -- you got the lighting just right.

[Bob E. Warren]

Weary aka AB --
Thanks! I learn something every week from these images.
Bob Warren

[Juergen D]

Thanks, Bob. For this kind of selection I always use the magnetic lasso
with 0 feathering in some magnification. When finished with that I go back
around the whole image and fine tune with a hard selection brush. BTW I
prefer the magnetic lasso over the other one because I don't have to hold
down the mouse button the whole time. :)

Juergen

[Chris Rankin]

Bob,
Thanks. I did use a topo to try and get a psychedelic effect.

I left out a "c" in #3, I was tipping my hat to Nancy and Pete 'cause I (mis)used their images.

CR

[imacgirl]

Bob Warren,

Thank you! The outline in my entry #1 is created by Blur>Smart Blur>Overlay Edges. I added the electric blue to make it stand out on the black. I'm always amazed by what these filters can do! I've also been playing around with Render>Lighting Effects using the Texture Channel on the past few Challenges. This filter combination really accentuates the details in an image, that's what I used on my entry #2 with a Triple Spotlight.

Barb (Barbara W.)

[Nancy S]

Chris,

You spelled my name quite right afterall, the way Pete spells it is Nanny :)

[Irene K]

Bob:
Thanks! My #2: The method I used is actually very simple and a result of
some testing with layer properties. I duplicated the background layer, then
used the Filter Stylize - Find Edges and changed settings of the new layer
to Luminosity and opacity 58 %. I also copied the guitarist alone to the
topmost layer and changed layer settings to Overlay. After merging the
layers finally decreased blue from the Color variations.

Irene K

P.S. I just learned that my messages shown in the newsgroup don't show in the Forum. Newsgroupers: Sorry for posting this twice.

[WOW-Man]

The WOW-Man sez....

My entry in this week's Challenge enters a new dimension.....the 3rd Dimension!
You'll need a pair of red & blue 3D glasses to enjoy the view.
If you need a **FREE** pair, go here:

<http://www.rainbowsymphony.com/freestuff.html>

Follow the instructions and ask for "Anaglyph 3D glasses".

Welcome to "The Third Dimension"!! >>

[Jodi Frye]

wow-man, my kids got some 3d glasses with their spy-kids happy meal so i checked it out. Cool ! Next question is ' How'd'ya do it ?'

[WOW-Man]

Greetings, Jodi, and my fellow "Challengers".

You asked about the technique I used in making the 3D effect in this week's Challenge.

First, a little background. There's a small group of us here in the Northeast corner of the U.S. who've been experimenting for several years with creating 3D imagery and we use several methods.

1-For NEW images, you can use an ordinary camera and take 2 shots of the same scene but slightly moving the camera horizontally between shots. When the 2 pictures are developed (or downloaded as in the case of a digital camera), you then use a special software program which merges them into one with the red and blue 3D 'shadows' which you see in this week's Challenge.

2-To make a 3D picture from a 2D scene as I did with the Challenge, you would mask off the area(s) you wish to move and shift the RED RGB Channel of the masked area slightly to the left or right depending whether you want to move the selected area forward or backward.

If you put on your 3D glasses, you'll note in the Challenge that the 'performer' is level with the surface of your monitor, while the drummer is pushed back a bit and the speakers and flag are further back still.
I could just as easily have brought the 'performer' out from the monitor and had him standing in the room with you!

Another method which uses Adobe Photoshop is provided by the folks at Eyewire.
Click here to see their method:

<http://www.eyewire.com/pdf/tips.threedimages.pdf>

I hope my explanation helps pull back the curtain a bit and gives you a peek at the wizardry behind 3D images.

One final note: As a relative newcomer to this group, one of the greatest things I've noticed about "The Challenge" is that even though some of us don't possess the amazing artistic abilities or vision of others, we may still have something to contribute and are welcome to join in and participate. Thank you all for that.

Cheers........ The WOW-Man!

[Jodi Frye]

WOW, interesting stuff ! i gotta tell you though...it strained my eyes with the kiddy 3-d glasses. had a headache for an hour afterwards...oh well, i guess I'm not meant to do 3D ;) Looks great though...thanks for the info on this...had wondered how they did it.

[Pete D]

Wow. Lots of good entries. Guess I have not looked or at least looked
closely for a few days.

Connie, all your entries are really good this week. (I especially like the
window).

Jodi, awww,.... you know.

[WOW-Man]

Jodi..... Sorry to hear you got a headache from the 3D pix. Perhaps the "Happy Meal" glasses you used from McDonalds were too tight for you! ;-)

But, take a couple of aspirins and click here to see more of my efforts:

<http://k1wow.home.comcast.net/>

Most of them started life as 2D shots and were re-worked by me using the method described in my previous posting.

Cheers......The WOW-Man >>