The Photoshop Guru's Handbook - The Guru Studio: Session 4 (pg2)

Creating 3 Dimensional Pictures page 1 / page 2
Now we're going to begin 'molding' our objects to the shape and size we'd like them to be in our picture. To give you a basic idea of how we might 'visualize' our finished picture take a look at the example image to the right. This image shows the angle that our picture is viewed from, as well as the general size & shape of the elements in our picture.

Ok let's start:

The Floor:

Pick the Rectangle selection tool and select the top half of the Floor layer. Then hit the Delete key.
Now go up to the Layer menu and choose TRANSFORM / PERSPECTIVE.
Grab the handle on the top right side of the selection and drag it into the center of the canvas. Let go of it when it's right beside the center handle.
Go to the Layer menu again and choose TRANSFORM / SCALE. Grab the center handle and drag it down until you get half way down the height of the texture. Then let go of the handle.
Now go up and choose the TRANSFORM / PERSPECTIVE function again. This time you will grab the top right handle, but only drag it towards the center until the top part of the texture is the width that you want the Door to be.
Take a look at this image:
Floor Shape Example
Notice that the top of the dark floor texture here (which is the shape it would be after the Perspective tool is applied) is roughly the same width that we'd like our Door to be, and maybe just a little wider.

When you're done shaping the Floor, use the Move tool and nudge the Floor texture up a bit from the bottom of the canvas. Move it up until you can see a bit of the white background showing beneath the Floor. This is just to get it away from the bottom of the canvas.

The Floor is now done.

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The Door:

Now we'll shape and position our Door.

Activate the Door layer now, by clicking on it.
Go back up to the Layer menu and choose TRANSFORM / SCALE.
Drag the left & right center handles inward until the Door texture fits into the width of the top area of the Floor texture.
In other words: until your Door is as wide as you'd like it to be.

Now drag the bottom center handle upward until the bottom of the Door texture lines up with the top of the Floor texture.
Lastly, drag the top center handle down until your door is as tall as you'd like it to be.

NOTE: we all know that most doors are at least 2 to 3 times taller than they are wide. So use that as a reference for the shape of your door. Technically though it's your door, so you can make it any size & shape you want.

When you've finished shaping your Door, use the Move tool and nudge the Door layer down a few pixels so that it overlaps the floor a bit.

The Door is now done.

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The Wall

Now we'll shape and position our Walls.

This is not an easy procedure to explain, so don't mind me if I repeat myself a few times ok? Just be sure to pay close attention to each step as we go.

First activate the Walls layer, by clicking on it.
Now go to the Layer menu again and choose the SCALE function.
Drag the center handle on the right side of the layer inward, until the right side of the Wall texture lines up with the left side of the Door. Get it?
That's: right side of Wall lines up with left side of Door.
Next drag the bottom center handle upward until the bottom of the Wall lines up the bottom edge of the Door.
Now drag the top center handle down until the top edge of the Wall lines up with the top edge of the Door.

Go back up to the Layer menu and choose TRANSFORM / PERSPECTIVE.
Grab the bottom left handle and drag it downward until the bottom left side of the Wall meets the bottom left side of the Floor.
Now just double-click in the selected area to apply the changes.

There. You should now have ONE Wall, a Floor & a Door. Right? If not, then please go back and review to see what you may have missed.

We're almost done the basic design for our picture.
Now all we have to do is just duplicate our left Wall & flip it over horizontally. To make this easy for ourselves we'll do that using the following procedure in 3b.

3b) Load the Layer Transparency of the Walls layer.

To do that go up to SELECT / LOAD SELECTION.
The default Selection should be for the layer that you are currently on. Therefore for this picture the default name in the list should be 'Walls Transparency'.

When the selection has been loaded go up to the EDIT menu and choose COPY.
But don't deselect the Wall yet!
Now go to EDIT again and choose PASTE.
Next go to the Layer menu and choose TRANSFORM / FLIP HORIZONTALLY. When the pasted Wall has been flipped over, hold down the Shift Key on your keybaord and use your mouse to drag the Wall over to the right side of the Floor. Stop moving the Wall when the bottom of the Wall lines up along the right edge of the Floor.

And there we have it.
A virtual hallway!

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End Quote:
Some extra ingredients...

In this Session we've discovered how we are able to create a basic 3D environment. What you do with it from this point on will be left up to you and your own imagination.

Here are a few suggestions I can give you to help put some 'life' into your 'world':

a) Wall thickness is a nice touch.

b) If you'd like to put this small environment into a larger picture, just flatten the layers and then copy & paste the image into a larger picture, or into a new document with a larger canvas.

c) Add some other smaller elements into your picture:
either other small objects such as litter, lamp posts, tables, etc, or perhaps some signs and/or graffiti on the walls and/or floor. Putting a door handle on the Door would be a good idea, as well as some hinges and maybe even a window.

d) Put a sky or background image behind your walls and/or door.
An interesting effect might be to make a large keyhole on the topmost level of your Layers palette and let the picture you've created be seen through it.

Well I hope this has been an interesting and fun Session for everyone.
I certainly had a time writing it up! ;?)>

Until next time...
Onward'n'Upward!
theKeeper

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