Here's my question: I'd like to be able to cut figures from one render and paste them into another.  My preferred way of doing it would be "bluescreening", kinda like they do for weather reports.  I know premiere does this, but is this possible in photoshop? If so, how?  If not, what other software can do it?  Thanks!

My first advice would be to read the PhotoShop® Help in the section regarding Alpha Channels and after that come backmand pose a question on what you didn't ubderstand. I always start every quest with a thorough reading of the Help in what ever application I'm trying to figure out.

Render your figure on a background of pure color. I suggest white. Try not to have any white on the edges of the figure. In Photoshop use the magic wand to select all the white area, invert the selection, copy and paste.

Attached Link: Archetyped Gallery from my website

This is a complex subject that many people earn a lot of money solving. I suggest you google for "bluescreen photoshop," "greenscreen photoshop," and "matte painting."

One simple, yet incomplete, method is to simply use the lasso to outline the subject, and then copy/paste it as you need.

The problem with this method will be the sharp edges which will look unrealistic. You can solve this problem by feathering the selection (Selection -> Feather).

The next problem you'll have is the the edges of your selection will be colored by the lights and nearby materials. Depending on image size and output resolution, this may not matter to you very much.

In order to do a true bluescreen effect, you need to very carefully regulate the light hitting the background so that it is very even, then you can remove the background color by a variety of ways. When doing this you need to prevent the light bouncing off the background from hitting the subject as much as possible. My preferred method to isolate the figure from the background is to use a color selection in order to create a mask, which you can then refine further.

This is how I made several of the images which I link to in this message.

I usually use the lasso. But instead of feathering, which doesn't give me an accurate sharp cut, I wait until the thing is completely finished then zoom in large and use the blur tool to just soften the edges.

"White is a bad background color, because it's very difficult to seperate (sp?) the highlights of the figure from the background. For this reason, black is also a bad choice due to the shadows."

Black is bad, yes, but white works IF you use magic wand tool to select rather than select by color. I also use a neon green for bg color.

The lasso tool works best for me, but most people dislike the amount of work involved. Many people use masks, but I dislike masks myself.

What software are you using for the "render"?

Most of them can render with an Alpha which would take care of your problem right there - you just pull it off the render and onto your new image/scene.

-Lew ;-)