KISHAN THAKRAR
A LEVEL ART PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO
Lego Stills
Superimposing computer models onto real photos
Final Image:
The Process:
Part 1: CAD & Cinema 4D
Part 2: Photoshop
To the right is a GIF image of a series of screenshots showing how I superimposed the rendered figure onto the background. I needed to balance the lighting, focus, and most importantly, shadows.
When taking the background image, I wanted to have as little blur as possible, to make the superimposing easier because this was my first attempt. Therefore I did not need to adjust the focusing on the render to match the background, as everything is in focus.
As I showed previously, I created a lot of the figure's own shadows in Cinema 4D, but for the sunlight shadows that spread onto the floor, I created them using brushes in Photoshop.
I used the curves tool and a clipping mask so that the curves adjustment layer would only affect the render, not the entire image.
I also used dodge + burn techniques to enhance the tone and shadow on the render, more to match the scene and add to the realism of the figure, especially enhancing the sunlight reflecting on the figure, which did not render.
The dodge + burn was a layer of 50% gray colour, set to 'Overlay' blending mode. This allowed me to easily undo the effect instead of actually editing the original image layer. The GIF on the left shows the difference of the dodge and burn effect before and after. I used the dodge and burn tools to draw highlights and shadows with different sized smooth brushes. The layer on its own looks like this:
I started by using an application called Lego Digital Designer to build a character for the image. I placed in the legs, torso, arms, and head. By default, the object was coloured red, and had no accessories or features. I decided to model the character based on Indiana Jones, as he would fit the background image well.
On the left is the model after having been coloured completely. I then exported this model as an LDraw file (CAD) and then imported it into Bricksmith, a Lego CAD application, which would let me import it into Cinema 4D.
Here, I also added some accessories. All the components are listed on the side of the screenshot, and the model can be seen from various angles. The model's textures and colours have changed slightly during the conversion from Lego Digital Designer (LDD) to Bricksmith. This has been to my favour, though, as the leg texture looks better than in Lego Digital Designer.
I then exported it as a .3ds file, which Cinema 4D can read.
I opened it in C4D and imported the image to use as a reference for positioning the model + camera angle.
I added lighting and adjusted the render settings, and then rendered it. I imported the rendered image into Photoshop for further editing.
