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       #Post#: 57--------------------------------------------------
       Clouds DMP tutorials
       By: Ludo Date: July 3, 2014, 2:59 pm
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       It’s always quite tricky to work with clouds. We never find the
       correct sources and most of the time we need to be able to make
       them move, which means that they have to be on separate layers.
       Here is a quick tutorial to give you few tips and tricks.
       Let’s start by creating the background. You can start with a
       proper sky photo without clouds, or you can paint something. In
       this example, I just painted something with different values,
       some blue but also some purple. The idea was not being too
       monochromatic at the start. What’s important is to have nice
       ramp, nice colors. Be careful not to be too stylized. It has too
       look reel at the end.
  HTML http://ludoiochem.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/76-1.jpg
       Then, we’ll work on the distant layer. You want to add depth,
       you want your eye to go through your image and understand the
       perspective. To add this depth, you need to work on the
       atmospheric effects, by creating a bit of haze. Feel free to
       paint a heavy haze, you’ll be able to fade it out later anyway,
       so don’t be shy. You can ben a little bit the horizon line, it
       will give you a better feeling as well and the impression you’re
       high in the sky.
  HTML http://ludoiochem.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/76-2.jpg
       Then, we’ll start to bring the clouds. There are different
       techniques to extract clouds from a sky, but the easiest way to
       do it is probably by finding some clouds on a clear blue sky and
       do a Key. You’ll be able to do it in Photoshop by playing with
       the Channel and do a selection from the Red one. By transforming
       this selection into a mask, you’ll be able to keep the cloud.
  HTML http://ludoiochem.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/76-3.jpg
       You need to start with the distant clouds and come closer to
       your camera. Make sure the scale is correct, and try to follow a
       realistic way to dress your painting. At this stage, everything
       is about composition and scale. You need to think about the
       depth and the way the clouds are in a real sky. Don’t forget to
       grade your clouds according to their distance to the camera, and
       be careful of the light direction which needs to always go in
       the same direction, of course.
  HTML http://ludoiochem.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/76-4.jpg
       You need to vary your clouds. You’ll need a lot of them,
       otherwise you’ll see that you just duplicated them. Focus on the
       light which is supposed to travel through your clouds and feel
       free to add few layers in between your clouds, just to grade
       them or to add a bit of haze.
  HTML http://ludoiochem.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/76-5.jpg
       At the end, you’ll do a final grade to put the type of color and
       the amount of haze you’re after. Everything depends on the
       effect you want to achieve, but in any case, you have to keep
       everything on layers and adjustment layers so you can change
       them, address some notes, and make them move.
  HTML http://ludoiochem.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/76-6.jpg
       You can save your layers on different files and do a quick
       projection in Nuke on cards in order to add a small camera move
       with a bit of parallax or just some movement in your clouds.
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