- 5,842
- Forgotten Wing
Ok, I've said it's been coming for a while, and so here it is. This is the
Introduction: Now, the question is where to begin. Well, you must first read this guide presented by sn00pie. It has alot of information on how we run things here, and saves me the trouble of explaining the very basics of photoshopping. Now, the first thing you have to know is that Photoshopping is not restricted to cars alone! Many people do cars as a second hand thing, and so come in pretty strong when they post their first car chop. Now, In these forums, you will find that most of the PSCs, or Photoshop Competitions, relate to cars. There are a few, like the struggling abstracts or the "different" comps that deal moreso in other things, however this guide is just about photoshopping cars (sorry Gian, Darin).
Note: My advice is to try out the Abstracts for a while until you know photoshop and her abilities. I'd say go for at least 2 competitions before beginning your actual competitions.
Step One: Chosing the car to chop.
Often times in the forums, your car will be chosen for you. The weekly comps, the Racecar comps, even Darin's Different comps all have base cars (the only ones I can think of that don't have bases are the PSC: draw, which are run by Cano, and the PSC: Abstracts, which are run by Klostrophobic). In most cases, the author of the thread will try to find cars that are at a good angle for photochopping. What defines a good angle? Well, the best way to describe a good angle is a car that has alot of transferrable parts and alot of parts that are available on the web. An example of this can be found here. Now, on to step two.
Step Two: Beginning Your Career
Ok, the moment you've been waiting for has arrived. you are ready to start yoru first car chop. now, I can almost guarantee that if you did not take the time to get to know the program that it will look bad; don't worry, we all started out that way. The key to calming this monstrosity that you are about to create is to not try to do too much. So many times I have seen people come in here thinking that they have the best chops in the world, when really it's just a first chop. They try to do fancy background changes, light transplants, eyelids, fender adjustments, lowerings*, rims, tires, exhausts, fenders, ground effects, wings, skirts, and anything else Iforgot to mention. This is not the way to gain crowd appeal. I will only say this once, so mayke sure that you catch it the first time: Photoshopping is not about how much crap you can load onto a car. To tell you the truth, there is no real definition of what a good chop is (once you've been doing it a while, you will know a good chop from a bad chop). Generally, the way I see it, most of the "good chops" have three characteristics: they aren't first tries, they contain at least one thing that I (in your case, it'd be you) can't accomplish, and they look realistic. Now, let's get started. To begin, simply cut, paste and blend, that's all photoshopping is (others can airbrush, but you have to be really good with a mouse to do that stuff). Now, once you've cut, pasted and blended (hopefully using techniques you've learned from past experiences with the program), save the file and post it here. Again, I can't emphasize this enough, don't try to do everything the first time. Post it on the boards for a review, and I recommend posting it here. You will be criticized, and your next chop probably won't be so great either. just keep going no matter what you do.
Conclusion: Your first few chops won't even begin to measure up to some of the stuff you've seen other people do, so don't try to measure up. Just do what you feel confident in and you'll do fine (remember, Ctrl + Z works for several steps, use it and cherish it). As time goes on you will begin to recognize what will look good and what won't. Over time, you willl climb the ladder to the top of the ranks of GTP choppers (one of our most successful is Mr. Deap, however due to circumstances, he is unable to visit the forums anymore). What follows are some unwritten rules about photoshopping, the rules in blue apply here moreso than elsewhere, although I follow all of them whenever possible.
Disclaimer First off, let it be noted that I wrote this for the benefit of the people new to photoshopping; not to show off how much I know or control all the new people. This is written because I want to help them, and I believe that after being called one of GTP's best I am in a position to do this. Note that I am by no means the best at photoshopping, and am certainly not the best at giving advice.
Ultimate
Beginner's
Guide
To
Photoshopping
Introduction: Now, the question is where to begin. Well, you must first read this guide presented by sn00pie. It has alot of information on how we run things here, and saves me the trouble of explaining the very basics of photoshopping. Now, the first thing you have to know is that Photoshopping is not restricted to cars alone! Many people do cars as a second hand thing, and so come in pretty strong when they post their first car chop. Now, In these forums, you will find that most of the PSCs, or Photoshop Competitions, relate to cars. There are a few, like the struggling abstracts or the "different" comps that deal moreso in other things, however this guide is just about photoshopping cars (sorry Gian, Darin).
Note: My advice is to try out the Abstracts for a while until you know photoshop and her abilities. I'd say go for at least 2 competitions before beginning your actual competitions.
Step One: Chosing the car to chop.
Often times in the forums, your car will be chosen for you. The weekly comps, the Racecar comps, even Darin's Different comps all have base cars (the only ones I can think of that don't have bases are the PSC: draw, which are run by Cano, and the PSC: Abstracts, which are run by Klostrophobic). In most cases, the author of the thread will try to find cars that are at a good angle for photochopping. What defines a good angle? Well, the best way to describe a good angle is a car that has alot of transferrable parts and alot of parts that are available on the web. An example of this can be found here. Now, on to step two.
Step Two: Beginning Your Career
Ok, the moment you've been waiting for has arrived. you are ready to start yoru first car chop. now, I can almost guarantee that if you did not take the time to get to know the program that it will look bad; don't worry, we all started out that way. The key to calming this monstrosity that you are about to create is to not try to do too much. So many times I have seen people come in here thinking that they have the best chops in the world, when really it's just a first chop. They try to do fancy background changes, light transplants, eyelids, fender adjustments, lowerings*, rims, tires, exhausts, fenders, ground effects, wings, skirts, and anything else Iforgot to mention. This is not the way to gain crowd appeal. I will only say this once, so mayke sure that you catch it the first time: Photoshopping is not about how much crap you can load onto a car. To tell you the truth, there is no real definition of what a good chop is (once you've been doing it a while, you will know a good chop from a bad chop). Generally, the way I see it, most of the "good chops" have three characteristics: they aren't first tries, they contain at least one thing that I (in your case, it'd be you) can't accomplish, and they look realistic. Now, let's get started. To begin, simply cut, paste and blend, that's all photoshopping is (others can airbrush, but you have to be really good with a mouse to do that stuff). Now, once you've cut, pasted and blended (hopefully using techniques you've learned from past experiences with the program), save the file and post it here. Again, I can't emphasize this enough, don't try to do everything the first time. Post it on the boards for a review, and I recommend posting it here. You will be criticized, and your next chop probably won't be so great either. just keep going no matter what you do.
Conclusion: Your first few chops won't even begin to measure up to some of the stuff you've seen other people do, so don't try to measure up. Just do what you feel confident in and you'll do fine (remember, Ctrl + Z works for several steps, use it and cherish it). As time goes on you will begin to recognize what will look good and what won't. Over time, you willl climb the ladder to the top of the ranks of GTP choppers (one of our most successful is Mr. Deap, however due to circumstances, he is unable to visit the forums anymore). What follows are some unwritten rules about photoshopping, the rules in blue apply here moreso than elsewhere, although I follow all of them whenever possible.
- Do Not do a "Complete Conversion" They are frowned upon and not very clever. An example of this can be found in this thread. In particular, look at the car Epic made. It looks at first glance like he simply cut-and-pasted one body over another, which raised controversy. To avoid having people yell at you, you need to either A. Use a picture that you made yourself to do the conversion (in which case the angles and lighting need to match exactly and you need to use just the right feather). B. Don't do it.
- Regarding "eyecandy" Eyecandy is defined as something that cathes the eye. Pertaining to photoshop, eyecandy refers to women on the cars. Now, this is acceptable here, so long as the AUP is not violated. Jordan has set a clear rule stating that anything "less than what you would see at the local pool" is unacceptable. I don't use eyecandy, because in my opinion, matching the lighting, proportions, and other issues are way too difficult to do. If you have experience in enhancing pictures of people digitally, then feel free to use it, just don't break any forum rules in the process (also, it really doesn't work. If you use eyecandy, there will almost undoubtedly be someone with a better car than you and so you won't win the competition).
- Rice Tastes Bad, So Don't Cook It. Rice is a term that photoshoppers use to describe the absurd modifications people do to their Japanese Cars (e.g. huge spoilers, unnecessary ground effects, hydraulics, neon underglows, flashing lights to go with the sound system, etc.). In my opinion, too much rice looks bad. The craziest example I have of what not to do to a car is shown in the picture below:
Disclaimer First off, let it be noted that I wrote this for the benefit of the people new to photoshopping; not to show off how much I know or control all the new people. This is written because I want to help them, and I believe that after being called one of GTP's best I am in a position to do this. Note that I am by no means the best at photoshopping, and am certainly not the best at giving advice.
