Primus Ortus

[Primus Ortus]

You guys are funny. There are at least a dozen other peeps on this site that have advanced photoshop chops, while I am merely in the testing/learning phase. I really appreciate the kind comments but you could look to Big Ron or others for proper guidance. Seriously. 👍

That said, this rain effect is actually pretty simple. I use Gimp for the editing (because it's freeeeee!), so I'm not sure how it works in CS5 or other programs. I'm sure the concepts are similar though.
1. Open the picture you want to edit.
2. Open a "New Layer" with a "white" fill type.
3. Open another "New Layer". This one should be a "transparency" fill type.
4. Now, for the open transparent layer, add Noise. Go to "Filters", "Noise", "Hurl". When the Noise box opens, click "Randomize" and keep the other defaults. (50% and Repeat of 1)
5. The Noise will be colored, so you will want to desaturate it by going to "Colors", "Hue-Saturation", and moving the slider bar for "Saturation" all the way to the left (-100).
6. Now you want to add blur and motion blur to the noise. Go to "Filters", "Blur", "Blur". Repeat with "Filters", "Blur", and then "Motion Blur". Make sure "Filter Type" is "Linear" and then change the length and angle to suit your needs. For example, you could try a length of 31 and an angle of 45 degrees. (The rain will go from upper left to lower right of the picture at 45 degrees).
7. Now go to "Layer" and "Merge Down" so that the rain layer is merged with the white layer. The white layer can most likely be skipped altogether, it's just a preference.
8. In the "Layers" box, change the "Mode" to "Screen". Now you should see your picture under your rain layer. They aren't merged yet - you are still working with the rain layer.
9. Change the color levels. Go to "Colors", "Levels". Half way down the "Levels" box is an eye dropper with a default level of zero next to it. Move the number up to about 234 (or to some other number that you prefer. This will decrease the amount of rain and let more of the underlying picture through.
10. Merge the two layers. Go up to "Layer" and "Merge Down" to do this.
11. Now, if you want, you can repeat the above steps to add more rain levels. I had two levels of rain on the Ferrari picture, with slightly different angles and lengths to provide depth and variety to the rain.
12. You will notice the rain might not look good on the edges of the picture. Just crop the periphery slightly and add a vignette effect to take care of the edges and add some mood.
13. Also, if you skip the first "blur" and go straight to "motion blur", you may be able to simulate snow instead.

 

[Nato_777]

That's a great little tutorial. 👍

 

[Primus Ortus]

That's a great little tutorial. 👍

That's quite a compliment coming from you - you are one of the ones I was referring to with the amazing photoshop talent.

 

[ashes619]

Great tutorial there. But how did you get the glossy road and the reflection?
I'm new to editing but I just got GIMP and hoping to make great improvements in my editing skills.

 

[hawk2201]

Thank you for the visit and comments Soloracer3!


Rainy Day at Monza

Fantastic pics mate! 👍👍👍

 

[kanicky]

Mate great photos and great tips, going to try them out now. Cheers.

 

[Primus Ortus]

Great tutorial there. But how did you get the glossy road and the reflection?
I'm new to editing but I just got GIMP and hoping to make great improvements in my editing skills.

Thanks ashes. The reflections are a bit more involved, and I'm not quite sure I have the hang of it yet. I found the most important thing, though, is to make sure the picture you want to edit has a nice road with no shadows on it already. The reason for this is because the glossy surface is made by duplicating the original picture and slapping the new layer on top of the old layer like a reflection. If there are preexisting shadows on the road, they mess up the look of the reflections of the surrounding trees and clouds above. Also, it's easier if the photograph is lighter, including the road, so that you can see the reflections on the road after this edit. Then, you can add other things, like rain, grain, and darkening, color, etc. Basically I did the following:

Glossy road with reflection of trees, surrounding landscape and sky:

1. Open the photograph you want to edit in Gimp.
2. Duplicate the original layer and change the "mode" on the new layer to "Soft Light".
3. Transform the new layer (flip the layer to look like a reflection). Easiest way to do this for me is to start with the "Layer" menu, "Transform" and choose "vertically". This will turn the new layer upside down. You will notice that the new layer looks somewhat like a reflection of the underlying layer now. Now is the hard part. Using the move/rotate/perspective tools, move the new layer so that the surrounding trees and environment lines up like a reflection of the underlying layer onto the road. In GT5, the road barriers that run along the side of the track make good reference points to line the reflections up with the original layer.
4. Add Motion Blur to new layer. Go to "Filters", "Blur", "Motion Blur". Choose your setting to preference. I chose "linear", Length of 5 and direction of 90 degrees. This stretches out the reflections a little more.
5. Add ripples like water to new layer. Go to "Filters", "Distorts", "Ripples". I use the default settings unless I'm looking for a deeper effect/more volume. You will have to play with this setting. This step, like the step before it, is not absolutely necessary, but it gives the reflection more realistic character.
6. Erase the excess. Using the eraser tool, erase everything on the new layer that is outside of the road. In other words, the road is the only surface you want the wet reflections on. If you have a car in the road, make sure to erase the new layer off of the car as well. GT5 does a good job of reflecting the surrounding environment onto the car windows, otherwise, you could keep the reflections on the windows.
7. Adjust the opacity. Go to the "Layers" dialogue window and move the "opacity" bar from 100% to something less depending on your preference. This will lessen the opacity of the top/new layer so that it blends into the original picture better and makes it more realistic.
8. If you like the way the picture looks now, merge the new layer with the original layer. Go to "Layer", "Merge Down".

Reflection of the car on the road surface:

This can be done similarly to the instructions above, duplicating the original layer/photo, change mode to soft light, inverting the new layer and moving the car so that it hangs down from the original car and onto the road surface. Then, you could erase everything in the new layer with the eraser tool except for the part of the car you want reflected and fix the periphery of the new layer with blur, smudge, and repair tools.

Or, you can:
1. Use the lasso tool to cut around the car part that you want reflected.
2. "Copy" the cut-out portion.
3. Open a new layer and change mode to transparency.
4. Paste the cut-out of the car on the new layer and change the mode of the pasted picture to "Screen".
5. With the "move" tool, move the cut-out over to the car and place it next to it onto the road.
6. Transform the cut-out. Go to "Layer", "Transform", and "Flip Vertically". Now the image of the car is inverted.
7. Using the "Move" tool and the "Rotate" tool, move the cut-out next to the car and onto the road so that it looks somewhat like a reflection of the car. Line the bottom of the tires up if possible.
8. Change Opacity. Go to the "Layers" dialogue box and move the slider bar from 100% to something less so that the cut-out is less visible/more opaque.
9. Repair/fix the cut-out. Using the repair, smudge, and blur, tools, work around the cut-out to make the reflection more realistic on the road surface.
10. If you like what you see, merge down the reflection cut-out layers onto the original layer and you are done.

Fantastic pics mate! 👍👍👍

Thank you hawk!

Mate great photos and great tips, going to try them out now. Cheers.

Thanks kanicky! Good luck with the edits!

 

[Primus Ortus]

Here's another re-edit I did with the rain and reflections effect (among other things...). Notice the trees and sky reflected in the road... :

Click on it - it looks better big!


Here is the original picture:

 

[rpanico14]

That's very nice of you to say rpanico. The format looks good on my monitor. What size monitor are you viewing it on? I will try to limit the pictures to two across in the future - maybe that will help.

I'm viewing it on a 17" laptop screen (1366 x 768 px) so not the ideal screen really, I may have to upgrade

I really like your rain edits too, I did one of a Scuderia a while ago, the reflections on the road of the TZ3 photo are really good 👍

 

[Moglet]

I really like these rain edits but the reflections in the first one need to be moved a little IMO. They come off the car at an angle but should be 'straight down' from the side of the car. Real reflections reflect directly below the item (wheel, door, bumper etc.) not off to the side. 👍

 

[SMfan]

Whhooaa! Huge thanks man! I'll try to use your tutorial really soon.

 

[20832]

I love the Rain - Shots and the Mustang - Shots!
Well done, sir!

 

[Nato_777]

Great photo edit - and a really good easy to understand tutorial. Excellent! 👍

 

[Skython]

The reflections look amazing Primus, great work 👍

 

[ashes619]

Nice shots. I would also like to say thanks for the tutorials. I will try them out sometime.

 

[SuperVeloce]

Wow, that's epic! Great work. 👍

 

[Primus Ortus]

I'm viewing it on a 17" laptop screen (1366 x 768 px) so not the ideal screen really, I may have to upgrade

I really like your rain edits too, I did one of a Scuderia a while ago, the reflections on the road of the TZ3 photo are really good 👍

Thanks rpanico. 17" should have been big enough I would think to view the pics the way I had organized them. Irregardless, I will change the format in future updates. 👍

I really like these rain edits but the reflections in the first one need to be moved a little IMO. They come off the car at an angle but should be 'straight down' from the side of the car. Real reflections reflect directly below the item (wheel, door, bumper etc.) not off to the side. 👍

You are absolutely right Mog! I don't know why I didn't think of that. Thanks!

Whhooaa! Huge thanks man! I'll try to use your tutorial really soon.

Thanks SMfan - I hope it works out for you!

I love the Rain - Shots and the Mustang - Shots!
Well done, sir!

Thanks 20832!

Great photo edit - and a really good easy to understand tutorial. Excellent! 👍

As always, thank you Nato. 👍

The reflections look amazing Primus, great work 👍

Thanks Skython! Great job yourself on your new edits. Well done! 👍

Nice shots. I would also like to say thanks for the tutorials. I will try them out sometime.

Thank you ashes!

Wow, that's epic! Great work. 👍

Thank you SV - I appreciate the comments and the visit!

 

[Primus Ortus]

Time for a new update. I went to the shortened Nurburgring course (can't remember name - GP something?) and first tried out the Toyota FT-86. I had it all pimped out proper like, kicked the tyres, and took it for a spin around the track. Problem is, I didn't really like it. I actually pulled some good times and had some fun poking around corners, but it's was just "meh". So, I changed it up and bought myself a handsome little MP4. Here is the problem with this one - I purchased all the engine and exhaust upgrades. Sometimes (as in this case), less is more. With no front-end downforce, this beast should stay stock in my opinion. Also, the titanium exhaust ruins the tone of the engine. In any case, here's the pics. I left out the ones where I was in the grass... I tried to make subtle differences in the editing for each picture. Click on them to get the full effect.

​

 

[rev91]

great tutorial! i use it in future!

 

[Nato_777]

There's a lot to like in this set! 👍

 

[nizmo_bro]

Love the Mclaren shots.
Made me realize I don't even own one in the game

 

[Solo]

Thats an amazing set, I still have much to learn about editing as yours look amazing!

 

[FosterG]

Really like your work with the Mustang, clean and well executed. Nice on the P4 as well.

 

[Pebb]

I love the first shot for a mix of reasons:

*Composition
*Lighting

 

[Skython]

This is stupidly brilliant. So real some of these in this recent update 👍

 

[uMadson?]

Lovin' the first and second-to-the-last photos. First one because of how you were able to exaggerate the two hairpins as a winding road, and about the other pic, there's a feeling of movement that I can't deny.

 

[Apok]

Beautiful shots. My favorite would have to be the second or the sixth. Very simple shots that are made beautiful with composition and a very nice tone.

 

[hawk2201]

Great Mp4-12c updating ,love this pics ( tiny pics with plenty content )👍👍👍

 

[FosterG]

Great set of shots and great presentation too.

 

[ceiling_fan]

Your best set! Great angles, action, and editing! 👍