Photoshop synthesis example: Angel Knight’s expedition scene synthesis

Key points of learning in this article: Masks, clipping masks, adjustment layers, grasp of highlights and shadows, and rendering of atmosphere

I prefer this kind of atmospheric and mysterious scene , I saw a tutorial with this effect on a foreign website, turn it over and learn from it. Friends who like it should hand in their homework
Let’s take a look at the rendering first:

Material:

1. Create a new file with a width of 1700*2400 pixels and 300 PDI, and name it “Knights on the Battle”

2. Open the Gothic door material, drag it into the newly created “Knights on the Expedition” file, Ctrl+T to adjust the size of the picture and place it in the appropriate position

3. Execute Filter – Sharpen – Sharpen

4. Use the method you know to cut out the door. I used the pen tool combined with the mask tool to cut it out, as shown in the picture, and named the layer “door”
Note: below the door The steps should be retained

5. Open the cloud material, drag in the “Knights on the Campaign” file, name it “Clouds”, Ctrl+Alt+G to create a clipping mask, because the height of the cloud layer is not high enough, so copy one layer to get “Cloud copy”

6. Add a mask to the “Cloud Copy”, set the foreground color to black, select the Gradient Fill Tool, set the foreground to transparent, and pull the “Cloud Copy” mask from bottom to top, as shown in the figure.

7. Open the knight material and cut it out, drag in the “Knight on the Expedition” file, place it on the door layer, and name it “Knight”

8. Add a layer mask to the knight layer, and use a black soft brush to slightly erase the horse’s feet

9. Now let’s add lighting and shadows to the knight, create a curve adjustment layer, and use Ctrl+Alt+G to create a clipping mask, as shown in the picture

10. Select the Curves adjustment layer mask, fill it with black, and use a white soft brush to add lighting effects to the knight. Pay attention to the light and shadow, and apply it to the highlights

11. Create a curve adjustment layer again, Ctrl+Alt+G to create a clipping mask, as shown in the figure

12. Select the Curves adjustment layer mask, fill it with black, and use a white soft brush to add shadows to the knight, taking care of the dark parts

Contrast before and after adding highlights and shadows

13. Open the wing material, select the wings you like, drag in the “Knights on Expedition” file, Ctrl+T to adjust the size of the wings, and move it to the appropriate position, add a layer mask, and use Use a soft black paintbrush to erase the excess and name it “Wings”

14. Now let’s adjust the color of the wings, create a curve adjustment layer, and create a clipping mask, as shown in the picture

15. CreateUse the Amplitude/Contrast adjustment layer to create a clipping mask, as shown in the figure

16. Select the brightness/contrast adjustment layer mask and use a black soft brush to modify the wings

17. Open the shield material and cut it out, drag in the “Knights on the Expedition” file, Ctrl+T to adjust the direction and size of the shield, and move it to the appropriate position

18. Open the sword material, drag in the “Knight on the Battle” file, Ctrl+T to adjust the direction and size of the sword, and move it below the knight layer

19. Now the knight part has been completed, and the effect is as shown

20. Create a new layer group, name it “Knight”, select all the pictures and drag them into the “Knight” group

21. Add a layer mask to the “Knight” layer group, use a 50pX black soft brush, set the opacity to 60%, and paint around the wings and the horse’s feet

22. Now let’s add a shadow to the “Knight” group. Right-click the “Knight” group and convert it to a smart object. At this time, the “Knight” group becomes an image on the layer panel. Layer smart object layer, if you want to edit the “Knight” group, you can double-click the smart object layer, a new file will appear, save the edit (not save as), and the new changes will be applied to the smart object.

23. Press the Ctrl key and click on the “Knight” layer to get the selection, create a new layer, name it “Shadow”, fill it with black, and cancel the selection

Twenty-four, execute edit-transform-flip vertically and move to the bottom of the horse’s leg

25. Execute Edit – Transform – Distort, hold down the Shift key, select the middle node below and move it to the left to create a shadow effect suitable for light and shadow

26. Select the “Shadow” layer, execute Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur, value 2 pixels, and change the layer opacity to 50%, and drag it to “Knight” Below the layer

27. Select the “Knight” layer, add a gradient mapping adjustment layer, and set the colors from left to right: #252c2e/#26353c/#aabac2/#d1dde2

28. Select the Gradient Map adjustment layer, Ctrl+Alt+G to create a clipping mask, and adjust the opacity to 40%

29. Create a new layer, name it: “Mist”, set the foreground color to: #252c2e, the background color to: #d1dde2, execute Filter – Render – Clouds, press Ctrl +F two or three times to increase the contrast of the clouds layer.

Execute Filter – Noise – Add Noise

Execute Filter – Noise – Remove Speckle

Execute Filter ——Stylization——Diffusion

The effect is as shown below:

30. Select the “Mist” layer, add a layer mask, fill it with black, set the foreground color to white, select a 150px, 70% opacity.�Paint the brush underneath the mask

31. Now we need to create three adjustment layers. Remember to create a clipping mask for each adjustment layer

Create brightness/contrast, Ctrl+ Alt+G to create a clipping mask

Create a gradient mapping adjustment layer, set the colors from left to right: #161d1c/#322402/#6a5728/#fffbf3, set the opacity to 40%, Ctrl+Alt+G to create a clipping mask Board