Tutorial 29: Tales of the Abyss
Requested by inutaka_karuki.
How to go from
to
with Photoshop. Uses Selective Coloring, so probably not translatable.
1. First things first, so prepare your base. I'll be working with this ToA image, but unfortunately I don't have the original anymore (it was a screencap I made from the anime ending).
2. It's a bit grainy and lacks contrast, so make a Soft Light, 100% duplicate of your base before we start working on the coloring.
3. Next I wanted the image to have a gradient look and some structure. So take this texture by bambinainnero and set it to Multiply, 71%. Then duplicate this texture layer and flip it around 180°.
4. Nice, let's start the coloring! First I wanted to turn the beige colors more into a more metallic gray. Open a Curves... adj. layer and put in these settings:
[I=Input, O=Output]
Green: I 69, O 81; I 181, O 181
Blue: I 72, O 82; I 175, O 193
Playing around with the greens and blues will give your image a slightly cooler touch. Lower the opacity to something around 65%.
5. It's a bit dark, so we should fix that with another Curves... adj. layer which will work better than a screen duplicate, since the image isn't that dark.
RGB: I 72, O 82; I 180, O 199
Red: I 70, O 73; I 200, O 200
Green: I 60, O 60; I 169, O 175
Blue: I 90, O 105; I 199, O 194
Lower the opacity to something between 40-50%.
6. I wanted the icon to go into a greenish direction, so make a new layer and fill it with #C3C4A0 on Multiply, 30%. Then create another new layer, but fill it with a light gray like #FAF6F6 on Multiply, 70% for more structure and contrast.
7. More green and brightness, please. I guess on that day I liked playing with curves a lot, so let's make a third Curves... adj. layer with these settings this time:
RGB: I 77, O 77; I 200, O 237
Red: I 57, O 67; I 197, O 217
Green: I 29, O 37; I 182, O 200
Blue: I 100, O 91; I 199, O 182
Lower the opacity to 55%.
8. The greens were enhanced quite a bit, but for going crazy with the colors and saturation later on, we need to tone the image down now. Actually, this is something I do in the end... going back to change or add something when I think my result is too bright or dazzling, but this would be too confusing so I'll continue to explain everything in the order of my layers.
Just wanted to note that going back to earlier layers in the end can be pretty helpful.^^
To tone the image down, make a Channel Mixer... adj. layer like this:
Red: 86 -12 12
Green: -13 52 55
Blue: -50 74 68
Lower the opacity to something around 40%.
Then create a Color Balance... adj. layer with these settings:
Midtones: 27 0 -15
Shadows: 0 0 7
Highlights: -50 0 30
Lower the opacity to 20%.
9. Brighten the image again a little with a Brightness/Contrast... adj. layer: set the brightness to +5.
10. Now a big Selective Color marathon will start... open a Selective Color... adj. layer and put in these settings to make the greens a bit darker:
Reds: -60 20 30 0
Green: 55 0 0 10
Neutrals: 0 -6 -12 0
Lower the opacity to 50%.
11. And now onto the real thing: make another Selective Color... adj. layer, with these settings this time to bring out the yellows and reds, which will be a nice contrast to the greens! :D
Reds: -100 25 45 1
Yellows: -100 94 -10 -33
Cyans: 100 -34 -6 15
Blues: 100 30 10 10
Neutrals: -22 -22 22 -10
Lower the opacity to something between 65-70%.
12. I felt the right side was a bit boring... take a scratch texture (I erased so much I can't tell which I used... just take some kind of scratch texture xD) and set it to Screen, 75%.
13. The reds are all nice, now let's concentrate on the greens (and blues) again. Duplicate the first Selective Color layer from step 10, drag it to the top and change the opacity to 100%.
Then duplicate the Selective Color layer from step 11 and do the same: drag it to the top and set the opacity to 100%. Duplicate this layer, too (you should have the Selective Color 2 layer three times now: one from step 11 and two from this step 13), but lower the opacity again to around 25%, which should give you this nice green while keeping the reds:
14. To increase the greens even further, make one last Selective Color... adj. layer like this:
Reds: -55 0 0 28
Yellows: -60 -10 0 30
Whites: 100 -2 -60 24
Neutrals: 20 0 20 9
Blacks: 0 0 0 45
Lower the opacity to 30%.
As you can see, it can be pretty interesting to go overboard with the settings and then simply adjust the opacity until it fits. :D
15. Fine, but we need more brightness again: make a Brightness/Contrast... adj. layer with brightness set to +7, and a Color Balance... adj.layer to give just a little bit brown back:
Midtones: 35 0 -12
Shadows: 0 0 18
Lower the opacity to 60%.
16. Texture time!! To make the image reeeaally bright, shiny and green take this texture by bambinainnero and set it to Overlay, 70%. Then take this texture by cdg on Multiply, 100 and erase everything but the green swirlies.
For some shines, take this lens texture by gravira, I think, as well as this light texture (by ?), both set to Screen, 100%; erase parts you don't like.
Now take this texture again, but set it to Multiply, 70% this time.
17. Very, very nice but our image got washed out due to the massive texture abuse... fix it with a Soft Light, 100% duplicate of your base, and that's it!
Questions? Just ask! :D
Other examples:
Be creative and experiment however you want, and I'd love to see your results! I'm curious what you come up with. :D
Please comment to this post since I'll most likely respond there.
This post is open for tutorial requests.
More tutorials are here, and these will be coming next.
How to go from
to
with Photoshop. Uses Selective Coloring, so probably not translatable.
1. First things first, so prepare your base. I'll be working with this ToA image, but unfortunately I don't have the original anymore (it was a screencap I made from the anime ending).
2. It's a bit grainy and lacks contrast, so make a Soft Light, 100% duplicate of your base before we start working on the coloring.
3. Next I wanted the image to have a gradient look and some structure. So take this texture by bambinainnero and set it to Multiply, 71%. Then duplicate this texture layer and flip it around 180°.
4. Nice, let's start the coloring! First I wanted to turn the beige colors more into a more metallic gray. Open a Curves... adj. layer and put in these settings:
[I=Input, O=Output]
Green: I 69, O 81; I 181, O 181
Blue: I 72, O 82; I 175, O 193
Playing around with the greens and blues will give your image a slightly cooler touch. Lower the opacity to something around 65%.
5. It's a bit dark, so we should fix that with another Curves... adj. layer which will work better than a screen duplicate, since the image isn't that dark.
RGB: I 72, O 82; I 180, O 199
Red: I 70, O 73; I 200, O 200
Green: I 60, O 60; I 169, O 175
Blue: I 90, O 105; I 199, O 194
Lower the opacity to something between 40-50%.
6. I wanted the icon to go into a greenish direction, so make a new layer and fill it with #C3C4A0 on Multiply, 30%. Then create another new layer, but fill it with a light gray like #FAF6F6 on Multiply, 70% for more structure and contrast.
7. More green and brightness, please. I guess on that day I liked playing with curves a lot, so let's make a third Curves... adj. layer with these settings this time:
RGB: I 77, O 77; I 200, O 237
Red: I 57, O 67; I 197, O 217
Green: I 29, O 37; I 182, O 200
Blue: I 100, O 91; I 199, O 182
Lower the opacity to 55%.
8. The greens were enhanced quite a bit, but for going crazy with the colors and saturation later on, we need to tone the image down now. Actually, this is something I do in the end... going back to change or add something when I think my result is too bright or dazzling, but this would be too confusing so I'll continue to explain everything in the order of my layers.
Just wanted to note that going back to earlier layers in the end can be pretty helpful.^^
To tone the image down, make a Channel Mixer... adj. layer like this:
Red: 86 -12 12
Green: -13 52 55
Blue: -50 74 68
Lower the opacity to something around 40%.
Then create a Color Balance... adj. layer with these settings:
Midtones: 27 0 -15
Shadows: 0 0 7
Highlights: -50 0 30
Lower the opacity to 20%.
9. Brighten the image again a little with a Brightness/Contrast... adj. layer: set the brightness to +5.
10. Now a big Selective Color marathon will start... open a Selective Color... adj. layer and put in these settings to make the greens a bit darker:
Reds: -60 20 30 0
Green: 55 0 0 10
Neutrals: 0 -6 -12 0
Lower the opacity to 50%.
11. And now onto the real thing: make another Selective Color... adj. layer, with these settings this time to bring out the yellows and reds, which will be a nice contrast to the greens! :D
Reds: -100 25 45 1
Yellows: -100 94 -10 -33
Cyans: 100 -34 -6 15
Blues: 100 30 10 10
Neutrals: -22 -22 22 -10
Lower the opacity to something between 65-70%.
12. I felt the right side was a bit boring... take a scratch texture (I erased so much I can't tell which I used... just take some kind of scratch texture xD) and set it to Screen, 75%.
13. The reds are all nice, now let's concentrate on the greens (and blues) again. Duplicate the first Selective Color layer from step 10, drag it to the top and change the opacity to 100%.
Then duplicate the Selective Color layer from step 11 and do the same: drag it to the top and set the opacity to 100%. Duplicate this layer, too (you should have the Selective Color 2 layer three times now: one from step 11 and two from this step 13), but lower the opacity again to around 25%, which should give you this nice green while keeping the reds:
14. To increase the greens even further, make one last Selective Color... adj. layer like this:
Reds: -55 0 0 28
Yellows: -60 -10 0 30
Whites: 100 -2 -60 24
Neutrals: 20 0 20 9
Blacks: 0 0 0 45
Lower the opacity to 30%.
As you can see, it can be pretty interesting to go overboard with the settings and then simply adjust the opacity until it fits. :D
15. Fine, but we need more brightness again: make a Brightness/Contrast... adj. layer with brightness set to +7, and a Color Balance... adj.layer to give just a little bit brown back:
Midtones: 35 0 -12
Shadows: 0 0 18
Lower the opacity to 60%.
16. Texture time!! To make the image reeeaally bright, shiny and green take this texture by bambinainnero and set it to Overlay, 70%. Then take this texture by cdg on Multiply, 100 and erase everything but the green swirlies.
For some shines, take this lens texture by gravira, I think, as well as this light texture (by ?), both set to Screen, 100%; erase parts you don't like.
Now take this texture again, but set it to Multiply, 70% this time.
17. Very, very nice but our image got washed out due to the massive texture abuse... fix it with a Soft Light, 100% duplicate of your base, and that's it!
Questions? Just ask! :D
Other examples:
Be creative and experiment however you want, and I'd love to see your results! I'm curious what you come up with. :D
Please comment to this post since I'll most likely respond there.
This post is open for tutorial requests.
More tutorials are here, and these will be coming next.