dodge burn tool

[acewombat]

I am using Gimp for skinning what exactly is the burndodge tool used for in skin editing, I was told it was essential.

[Hermits Shadow]

well in my expierence doge tool is to add light by making your tones lighter and the burn makes your tones darker.

 

Quote: I might be new here, but I assure you I know what I'm doing

[KMan]

Never, EVER use dodge or burn to create your values. NEVAA! Once you start down that path forever will it haunt your skinning skillz. Use an airprush tool with lighter and darker tones and smodge. Then repeat with smaller and smaller brush sizes.

[Hermits Shadow]

Yes once you start down that path you get addicted so stick with what Kman said it might be a little harder but you get a better product.

 

Quote:The easier path is easier but you will not get the knowleg and power that u get from the harder path.

[BradFu]

I think it's more of a preference thing. Try the airbrushing method, and try the dodge&burn method, see which works for you. I think you can accomplish the same results and level of quality with either method, depending on how you use them.

[KMan]

For most intents and purposes, the dodge/burn tools have innacuracies with how they handle light and darkness. They tend to shoot out of the color range of the source. The reason they do this is because of the intent of Photoshop (editing/touch up of photographs). The doge and burn is for correcting problems with the exposure of film. That makes it an inaccurate means of laying down values. By all means you can use it as a means of lightly laying in values on a base color, but once you go over a certain threshold the effect is lost and you get oversaturated blotches.

 

You can go here to find more information on "dodge" and "burn" in their photographic context.

http://www.scphoto.com/html/dodge_burn.html

[sights0d]

It just gives you a different effect. Use the right tool for the right job. If you don't know what the right tool is, try it both ways. To back-up your work before playing, grab the file with your mouse, pull it with ctrl, and let go. It'll make a copy.

[BradFu]

I can see what you mean, Kman. What I tend to do for my skinning is set it up as much as possible in greyscale, then colorize, which avoids the problem you described. If I have to add more after colorizing, I simply re-colorize with the same values when I'm done, and it works nicely.

 

When you use an airbrush, do you set it to a different blending option, ie Overlay? Or do you just airbrush on a new layer and then blend that?

 

I'm always up for learning new methods, whether I end up using them or not

[KMan]

For the most part I work on one layer in color. I then add color shifts on a separate layer. Good example would be Count Dooku's head. The skin is all one 'color' I use the airprush with a light and dark color to add detailing and value, then on a new blend layer, I add the dark purple tint under the eyes, add colors to the cheeks, lips, nose and other parts, give it a blur and tweak from there.

[acewombat]

Some where can I get some info on how to use this Gimp program -I pulled out some skins but they look like a 3 year old smudged over the imagewith a crayon-I really don't know what I am doing here.

[BradFu]

Well, I don't know of anyone in this skinning community that uses Gimp. The best bet would be to go to the official gimp site (http://www.gimp.org/) and check out the section titled "Documentation" There's manuals and tutorials there.

 

This gimp thing caught my interest a while back, always meant to get around to trying it. It sounds like it's got some good features, considering it's free.

[acewombat]

Do you think I would have an easier time learning if I were to just go and purchase paint shop pro?

[Nanodagiardino]

Kman you need so much to do a skinning tutorial! I agree with you, the dodge tool is a curse. Its a shortcut for most! And shortcuts aren't good to learn in the long run. I started down the dodge tool path and then struggled to get rid of it. Learn to work with black and white with low opacities(5-10-15%) instead! Learn to do without before learning to do without it, then you will know when to use it.

 

Acewombat, it looks like you don't have clear idea on what you want to do and can do. Sketch on paper before. It helps a lot to get the first idea on where you want to go, it's easier to judge your work if you know what you want before painting, not after.

 

Hermit, how come you have 0 posts? and posted 1 day before registering?

[Reiver]

I have Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop but I don't know jack about adding neat stuff. Everything I do looks so much like trash. I wish there was a skinning tutorial, that told you how to make neat texutred effects and stuff like that, with all the tools. I dunno jack. But, I'll try this GIMP thing out.

[acewombat]

Well it's not really that I don't have a clear understanding of what I want to do I just don't know where to begin with a painting program.

[Arco]

kman is VERY right. I just did photography for a year so I should know. You really wanna be using the airbrush tool on about 10% maybe. That is all I do. Just like kman (cept I usually do the groundwork in greyscale, colour, detail and finally variations in colour on different layers.) It just takes time and practice.... experiment and find your own way. we can only help you here and there.

 

Arco:deathii: