I got curious when I asked a PS question a few days ago and only 2 persons responded (*Nice People too!) But I was redirected to other sites (*Adobe), since everyone in this forum uses PS I wonder why there are so many unanswered posts here? This is just an observation, and it seems there should be mods answering if members aren't? I just wanted to ask this.

Not to be rude, just to ask.

Ariana

PhotoShop® folks likely are too busy working to have as much time here as 3D guys like me....LOL.. ...

my reasons for not responding are laziness (not a good reason) and/or ignorance (a good reason). my apologies if they redirect ya to other sites.

Ah I am just pissed off that my CS2 has a bunch of issues combined with a lot of ignorance on my part! As I peruse back through the other posts looking for info and tips, I see many were not even responded to. That sort of struck me as too bad. I try not to wander too far from my "Home Base" ren, and I trust the members and people that participate to be my best source of instruction and advice. As far as forums i should say.

HuggerZ!

Ariana

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/browse.php?username=kurtsart

"Ren is not the all above answer. period"  I have found with experience, that you have to go to the proper sources to get the info you need.  Honestly, some of the best tutorials and tips come from the Adobe crew. This "Ren area" is simply a forum that has a variety of folks with a variety of experience  from beginner to expert :)  There are many usefull PS workshops  that are specific to CS2 online as well.  I have some issues with CS3,  however, I'm not posting them here. In addition, many 3rd party books are available at the local Library and book stores . As a Pro-Photographer/PS/Artist guy, I cruise these forums once in a while to see if I can find some questions or tips  that might interest me ..  (Or a specific question I can answer) Thats it ..  Now I'm on to the Photography Forums, then I have to get back to work :) This is the first PS post I've responeded to in almost a year lol

Cheers!

Kurt

I'm usually swamped at work and haven't perused the PS forum in quite some time - sorry if I missed ya.

I think Bobbystahr is right - for the most part, if you're good at PS (and clientelle knows it - otherwise you're a good little secret, or you're not good at marketing yourself) then you don't usually have too much personal time.

As Kurtsart said above, yep, go to Adobe for some great tuts, and also (if you're serious about PS) go to www.photoshpopuser.com and get yourself a membership. Anyone following my posts recently will feel like I'm pimping them as though I own stock, but it really IS worth it as an educational resource.

Post some links to questions that went unanswered - I'll get the ebots and see what I can tell ya.

Good luck - and sorry for your frustration-
-Lew ;-)

Sorry - just realized it was a typo if you're trying to copy/paste - www.photoshopuser.com
(missed the 3rd "o" above - fat fingers typing fast)
-Lew ;-)

LOL! ThanX both of you! I seem to see a pattern in many forums, not just here, of "Hoarding INFO". So that is how i learned poser...from scratch...alone. And now I am learning PS/CS2 again...alone. I am one of those weird people who gain more from one on one conversational training it seems. But I do tend to whine a lot in the forum when feeling ignored. You know several people peek in on any given thread...but no one responds. So, I have made a major purchase and I appreciate the advice on the photoshopuser site Lew!!! :) And kurtsart, I apologize I never got a Bot on your reply...so THANX!!!! :) I am getting a bit of a hang of things...but Damn it is so hard! I have used PSP for 7 years and still have to fall back on it when the PS gets too tough! LOL! You know I actually offerred to pay someone to help me and they never even responded back. So if it gets too aggravating it can sit on a shelf for a year like some of my other "Complicated" programs until I get a big ole bug up my rear and decide to dedicate a solid 2 or 3 months to it alone, ignoring poser and vue. See I whine!!! LOL! I'm an Aries and we are impatient! Add a bit of Irish and Red hair and I am damn near impossible! LOL! ThanX again guys! You ROCK! IM me if you want to do some freelance tutoring...I learn quick, at least I am told I do. Oh wait...we're talking about programs! LOL! have a great nite....

HuggerZ!

Ariana 

An Aries, Irish, and red hair... Oh my...! ;-)
Was trying to think of where else you might find good tuts, and actually, go to the bookstore (yes, I know - unpersonal learning - but trust me, this guy is a kick) and get all of the Scott Kelby books you can afford.

There's everything from tuts ("Photoshop xxx for Photographers" is a really good book for getting started - just get the one for your version CS, CS2 or CS3) to Tips&Tricks, to the Down&Dirty Tricks series of books which get to be some very bizarre tuts. They're step by step - open an image, start with a blank canvas kinda stuff, and then do this and this and this - viola!

He has a good sense of humor and the books show it - it's not like reading stereo instructions, and they're easy to follow even when it's gettinginto complicated stuff.

Yes, he's the editor of PhotoshopUser Magazine, and the Down&Dirty Tricks (DADT) series is merely a single publication of all the DADT column in the mag - but it's good to have them all together instead of hunting through issues.

PS looks pretty complicated and daunting when you get started (I've read one thread here where people started to refer to it as PhotoSnob), but once you know your way around you can start to play and have more fun with it, and then realize you can really do some complicated stuff fairly easily.

Would it make you feel better to find out Poser, which I've owned for probably 3-4 years now - completely mystifies me...? I just create a basic character, pose it, export as an OBJ, then bring it into Vue, C4D, or XSI, place them in the scene, and I'll paint the rest as far as clothing or hair. Yes, I have a better hang of C4D and XSI (even 3DS MAX!!!) than Poser. (bows head in shame, goes to sit in the corner and cry...)

Hope this helps-
-Lew ;-)

Ah Lew...

You made my morning! I have a few programs that do that to me...Shade! UGH! Hexagon...get out of town! I want to invest in a paint program, but I vasilate between what to get...I here you can paint in CS?! Well....Listen I have to fly at the moment...let's chat later. I have just 2 basic questions...maybe you can help? I'l IM them, because I don't want to look any more dense then i do at the moment! But the Books sound good...I like reference material! :)

HuggerZ!

Ariana

I am an experienced PS user (I'm actually pretty good with the Pen Tool as well - this statement will make sense later), I also use Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Encore and Audition - get ready to laugh - Illustrator gives me the heebie-jeebies!
;-)

I WISH I was swamped with work lol.
I respond when i know the answer. Otherwise I'm just wasting electrons. Just doing my little, very little, part for the 'green' movement.

Lol Lew ("Illustrator gives me the heebie-jeebies")  I do use that quite a bit, but I'm not an expert. PS I am quite adept at since I started with version 2.0 ~ dates me lol.I also am a Premier guy, just getting into Final Cut, Not yet sold on InDesign, a Quark guy here:), and moving from Pro-Tools 7.0 to 7.3 he he .. My biggest dissapointment with Adobe is when they stopped supporting Live Motion, as that interface was so premier like.
And Arianna, best of luck! I plan to purchase Vue soon, which as a typical guy, will not even open the manual unless absolutely necessary. As a side note, why on earth Adobe added "the Bridge" in CS-2 and beyond .. Really slows down the work pace, so most often I still revert to the more elegant v 8, "CS". Additionally, I am a Mac guy that also can run OS9, where I can launch PS 5.5 so I can use my old KPT filters...

All the best!

Kurt

I never liked Illustrator. I use CrelDraw instead. Does the same stuff, just seems easier to work with. Plus, one thing that irritated me is that with a few exceptions, you can always tell when a graphic is done in illustrator. I dislike that rigidity.

I use Illustrator, only because it is one of the industry standards for print. Corel is not. Since I also do Ad and print work, I have to stick with what magazine printers accept. Plus, Corel ruined Painter lol.. Got from an elegant, fun program to a mess that uses too much Ram, with a horrible interface and is so slow (even with 2 gig of RAM). :)

So my minor rant against Corel lol ..

Kurt

See and I do print work, but on a free lance level and for my own showing. So I know I have to do the leap...just...can't...reach...the ....cliff   faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!

Yep I really bite the big one here...and as an Aries I hate being wrong, uninformed and unable to do what I want when I want to! So I am trying to take those baby steps.....

drops to the floor and kicks wildly.....

Oh, sorry.

ThanX all...At least I feel like you care about my plight, and you know what? That is better than nothing at all! :)

HuggerZ!

Ariana 

"I want to invest in a paint program, but I vasilate between what to get...I here you can paint in CS?! "

Take a look at the 2d gallery at CGtalk. A LOT of people paint with Photoshop. I paint most of my textures in Photoshop, though I also have Painter and Art Rage.

Lol Ariana :)

As a pisces I often get side tracked~ I tend to let serindipidy lead the way during new adventures, but stick close to what I feel comfortable working with as an anchor :) Im currently on a "renewed adventure", having moved back to the Pacific Northwest after 5 years, where no one knew I have been doing gallery shows for the last 3 1/2 years in 2 other states. (I was talked into doing my first show in St. Louis during a graphics/web design meeting, did that at her Cafe/Gallery, and got hooked!)
24 shows later in Colorado, I decided to move back to a place that I have the most cantacts with. I might add that why I jumped to CS2 then CS3 (to see if they improved CS2), was the "warp" diistortion tool, which is useful for my architectural photography. Honestly with the pure clunkiness of CS-2 and 3, I'm considering a 3rd party lens distortion tool to use in the original CS (PS 8). And yes, I'm looking into shift/tilt lenses for my cameras, but a software solution is much more cost effective at this time.

Cheers!
Kurt

Take a look at Richard Rosenman's plugins. He has a lens distortion correction plug in I find very useful
http://www.richardrosenman.com/software/downloads/

Lol bonestructure! Yes, much is done in PS, ArtrRage and Painter ( I still go to painter once in a while for the cool brushes and textures ) I have some great friends here that do fantastic ArtRage work. Attached is a small sample from my gallery here :)

All the best,

Kurt

Quote - Take a look at Richard Rosenman's plugins. He has a lens distortion correction plug in I find very useful
http://www.richardrosenman.com/software/downloads/

Thanks for the tip and link! I will check out tomorrow..

Kurt

Oooooooo! Really nice Kurt! I love your tones and depth in this alot! Nature is amazing.... Colorado often reminded me of Alaska...spent 5 years there...so gorgeous! Fisher Eagles and Moose! I think Aries don't so much get sidetracked as they tend to thrive under pressure and pile too much on thier fork! Tend to choke that way...but moderation is not one of my key words for life! ;)

Actually I used to do Film photography(*love those filters!), just got a new Nikon D-50 8 months ago and I just hate digital...I like to develop film and get my hands all slimy! Ha! And somehow the sparkle isn't exactly what it is in a photo using a good star filter or prism.... Well so much for reminiscing. So you see I am trying to do a damn 180 at a time in my life where I should be not having to think so hard except where I put the car keys! LOL!

Gee I wonder if the site Lew reccomended has painting tuts?! I am testing PainterX right now, and if PS/CS2 could do most of the stuff this does...well why spend more. I will be exploring this before purchasing a new program....altho the brushes are killer in PainterX! I am starting to at least gain some verbage and knowledge from your input...please don't stop. I am listening!

HuggerZ!

Ariana

 

Well, as a Leo, I KNOW you should take everything I say and just run with it without question... and stuff... yeah... ooookay, nevermind...
Yeah, you can paint with PS, the difference of Painter is that it really does look like natural media brushes and response to paper - which is the difficult thing to do in PS. I like to play with it, but like Kurtsart says, it's sluggish. One thing I found I like to do is start with a smaller image size in PS like 800x600 and do the main blocking of objects and background "washes", then blow it up to 4000x3000 (and then bring in Painter) and what you have are nice soft blended washes that didn't take forever to "draw" in Painter (try a huge brush in Painter and run it across the canvas - bring a book to read...). Then you can start on the finer details and work faster.

That's a really cool relaxing pic Kurt!

As for the lens distortion problem... I really miss shooting 4x5! I've got a Horseman 6x9 field cam that does a nice job, but everyone wants it shot on digital now for the instant feedback - ugh! Been looking into the Nikon 85mm tilt/shift lens, but I don't have the $1,300 right now. I've gotten out of architectural photography, so when I do the lens corrections in PS it's not that critical.

BUT!!! Check out www.hartblei.com - their "Super-Rotator Lenses"! Costs about half the price, and the images look great - so there may yet be another lens coming in a couple of months...

Anyway, the boy was sick and up most of the night (he's 2 1/2 and VERY tired), and his mommy and I are gonna take him to the doctor in a little while - I'll check in later-
-Lew ;-)

Wow Lew, hope he is ok! 2 1/2 is a time when lots of fevers and flus hit young ones. Don't worry I know everything will be fine. Let us know how things go...

I'll send good thoughts out to you and yours.... :)

HuggerZ!

Ariana

Thanks for the additional info Lew, and best of luck for your son!

I'm back - local stomach bug - Gatorade and "light colored fruits" and wait it out.
Doesn't help trying to feed him the right stuff when he's recently entered the "terrible 2's" - he's learned the meaning of the word "no" and uses it for everything... If only he'd use his powers for good...

He'll be fine - cute little fella is wrapped in a blanket sipping his Gatorade on the couch watching "Cars" right now - HE'S SO CUTE!!!

BTW - more on tuts - dunno if you know about it already, but check out the magazine ImagineFX - Rendo's very own Kromekat writes tuts for it as well. PLENTY of "how to paint" tuts for both PS and Painter - some fantastic ideas, and clever uses of custom brushes (and how to make them).
-Lew ;-)

Fantasmic Lew! Glad he is doing well. No, the bane of all parents of 2-3 year olds!!! You know He's a cutie cause that is how all you guys get over on us gals! ;)

I got the IM info and I did save it to my puter!!! :) Since I just bought the Ron Deviney's entire Brush set from CP... Oh WOW! I was going to post the link...that sale is so over! 21 Brush sets by Ron for $99.00 Believe me it was a HUGE bargain!

Speak of brush sets...I do some truly bang up designs and fractals, I would like to do a brush set to share here....I know that it may be somewhat silly to ask, but I do want to make them the full size I would use them at? And then folks can downsize them...right? Let me know I have a starter set working.

HuggerZ!

Ariana

 

Yes, make your bitmap based brushes as big as you can - yes, people who use them can always downsize them for use, but upsizing them will make them soft.

For more brushes and, frankly, a TON of stuff from background papers to textures to layout templates, go to www.graphicauthority.com - and yes, if you're a NAPP member you can get a significant discount at Photoshop Seminars. (as well as constant discounts at B&H Photo, Calumet, etc.)

He's MUCH better now (his fever broke and he's running around with more energy now) - he tanked out in the living room for most of the afternoon - he only made it about 20 minutes into Cars - by the time I was finished typing my above response and came back into the room he was asleep :-)

Oh My! He is so absolutely adorable! He'll be a really popular boy by high school! (*right now he is all yours and your Lady's!) :) I am happy to hear he is on the mend.

I did not know I needed to use bitmaps! I will go convert the ones I was going to load. You think 1800 x 1800 is too big? I do large size renders, and everything I do is on a "Grand Scale"  Let me know.

Well I am off for a while (*laundry) UGH! LOL! ThanX for your help and friendship....makes this a more pleasant agony! ;)

HuggerZ!

Ariana

Well, "bitmaps" meaning you'll be taking some version of an image file and creating a brush from it - VECTOR based brushes are where they are infinitely scaleable. For that you would use the Pen Tool, or files from Illustrator.

So, yeah, 1800x1800 would be great!