Rons Sci-fi Optical Flares ~ Please Explain
K T Ong
Posts: 486
The item Rons Sci-fi Optical Flares looks good, but exactly how are you supposed to use it? Is it strictly (1) for postwork only, as in you complete your DAZ Studio render, open it up in Photoshop (and not Paint Shop Pro?) and then apply the flares? Or can you (2) apply the flares to various parts of the scene you put together in Studio before rendering, and when you render the flares will then show up? If it's (2), then how are you supposed to use the flares? Do you use them the way you use, say, Jepe's SpecialZ or ElementZ? Or do you apply them directly to lights?
Or is it neither (1) nor (2)?
It would be appreciated if someone could explain this item to me. Oh, yes, I'd be interested in taking a look at some renders using this item, too. ;-)
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What's Included & Features
450 Photoshop Brushes (.ABR)
14 2500px x 5000px Photoshop Files (.PSD)
165 Total Layered Sci-Fi Optical Flares (.PSD)
450 PNG's of Brushes (.PNG)
PDF of all Items included (.PDF)
Photoshop CS and Above
The PNG files can be used in 3D or paint programs so if you know what you're doing, you could use them in DS or poser with a little creativity
Rons Sci-fi Optical Flares and other Photoshop brushes can be used for both postwork creations and image creations as well. It doesn't have to be Postwork specific. Brushes can be used with drawings and photographs as well. In terms of it's use with renders it's these brushes are used for the purpose of adding effects that otherwise aren't possible with 3D rendering software. You can create 3D models of these effects, but that takes time and you won't get the same flexibility that you do with brushes. Think of it in the same way the movies use green screens and special effects. Depending on the version of Paint Shop Pro that you have you may be able to use the brushes in that software. I think only the newer versions of Paint Shop Pro will allow you to do this. If you are still using Jasc versions then it's not going to work.
I'll see if I can get enough time to edit one of my old renders and apply one of the effects to those images.
Thanks for the help, fellas!
I was in fact expecting the item should be useable via both (1) and (2). I just thought I'd get some confirmation just in case.
Just got and tried this item... Have to say I was very disappointed.
All I'll have to say regarding this item is to give everyone here a big CAVEAT EMPTOR: don't touch it even with a ten-foot pole UNLESS YOU HAVE PHOTOSHOP. Whoever created this is clearly prejudiced against non-Photoshop users. Virtually all of the files are files that can only be read by Photoshop.
Heck, even if you have Photoshop, you might still want to entertain second thoughts regarding this item. The 'readmes' were just all pictures; there were no explanatory notes as far as I could tell.
I wonder if I could ask for a refund?
The product clearly states what files it has and what software it works in so...the error would be yours. I have these and I think they're an amazing product, lots of versatility. To each their own I guess.
The files can all be read by GIMP as well.
I read this post and immediately took a look at what you weren't happy with so lets see if I can help you with your disappointment.
1. I think Adobe is still giving away Photoshop CS2 for free (get it directly from adobe).
2. The PNG Files are optional use which can be used an any program that can read .png files, The .png files can be used to create brushes that will work in the program that you want to use. This will help to salvage any issues of it not working in other software. I tried to import it into my Corel Paintshop Pro X4 and I got the message that it was a newer brush file format so this will actually be my solution. I have Photoshop CS 2 (got it from Adobe), but my wife likes Paintshop Pro better than Photoshop.
4. The PSD layers (which are awesome, just looked at them) can be opened in Corel Paintshop Pro x4
I teach online workshops so all we would need to do is to set up a date and time to meet online and you can actually see me use these brushes, png files, convert the brushes. Whatever. I just want to show you that your purchase isn't a total lost and that you can still get some use out of them. Just let me know if you are interested in me helping you out with this.
...PSPX6 can load .abr files without conversion. If you have an older version of PSP, the price to upgrade 39$
PS Elements 12 should also be able to open them. Right now Adobe has it on sale for 69$.
fightingtiger:
Thanks for offering to help. Hey, didn't know Photoshop CS2 is for free. Will check this out! (Always thought Photoshop is a frighteningly expensive piece of software, like so much of the other stuff by Adobe.)
I was actually hoping (or shall I say, expecting) that this item could be used in a way similar to Jepe's excellent special effect items, such as CosmicZ, ElementZ and SpecialZ, where you have but to select an effect image and it appears as a transparent plane with the effect on it in your DAZ Studio scene, to be positioned in your scene as you see fit. Didn't look at all like you could use this item in this way. (Or could you?) To all appearances, it can only be used in postwork, which -- call me a purist -- I don't really like. (Am I right on this? Let me know before I decide whether to ask for your help. Thanks again!)
Okay, maybe if I could CONVERT all the brushes into say PNG or JPG format, that would solve everything for me. I WOULD then be able to use the brushes WITHIN my Studio scenes. Is this possible, though, and if so how?...
I'm really not sure if this is a fair accusation against me. In the product description was mentioned '450 PNG’s of Brushes', so I took that to mean that the brushes (or whatever you call them) were available in PNG format, which my system should therefore have no trouble handling even without Photoshop. Besides, the 'Photoshop CS and Above' thing was stated under the 'What’s Included & Features' heading, which was very misleading. If instead it were stated under the 'Product Requirements' heading, then there would have been no problem.
You won't be able to use them directly in DS. The main reason for this is because they do not have any geometry, unlike the props that form a part of Jepe's offerings. If you create an image in a graphics program that can utilise the brushes, pngs, and layers the you can use that to create a texture to use on an existing prop or figure in DS.
I don't think Jepe's effects have any geometry either. They're actually FLAT images on a plane, but you can scale, angle and position the plane with the image on it in your DS scene.
I've also created (using Paint Shop Pro) various flat images of my own which I then applied to plane primitives in DS. Again I was able to scale, angle and position the planes with the images on them in my DS scenes -- even control which parts of the image/plane will be visible or the degree of opacity. ;-)
And BTW, I've FINALLY found out a way to RIP OUT the individual effects images from the Rons Optical Flares in the form of PNG files -- with transparency, too. (I used GIMP.) Looks like I haven't spent my money on the wrong thing, after all. :lol:
(Anyone interested in how I did it?...)
Handy skills to develop IMHO! Quick tip: if it's a light effect then turn off the plane's shadow-casting, drop the surface's diffuse strength to 0%, and its ambient strength to 100% (if you're using a diffuse map I think you should put it in the ambient control too, but I don't remember and won't be home to check for a while) -- this prevents your effect from reacting to lights in the scene.
A plane is geometry. The Ron's sets are all primarily for use in post-work though you can apply them to a plane, directly if there's a PNG or by stamping the brush into an image.
No problem. Adobe created new activation process so the old serial numbers for Photoshop CS no longer work. Their solution was to offer Adobe Photoshop CS 2 for free. Photoshop wasn't the only product affected so you'll find and older version of illustrator, after effects and some other adobe products for free. All you'll have to do is create a free account on their site in order to access the downloads.
I haven't used any of Jepe's effects products. I think I purchased it but never got around to using it.
As far as I know these brushes can only be used in postwork efforts. If you are a purist then you may want to invest in some high end special effects programs that can be used to do what you are trying to do. Daz Studio is a good program but it does have limitations. From how you are describing what you want to do, the only way that I know is to actually make a special effect 3D model or to buy a special effects program like Adobe After Effects or so other 3D environment special effect program. Maybe Blender has the ability to create that type of effect or maybe Daz Studio has a tutorial product on how to create lighting effects that will give you similar results.
To Richard:
When SimonJM told me those effects have no geometry, I took it he meant that they were not 3D (the way actual particles in 3D space would be, as opposed to flat images). ;-)
Thanks for the tip. I actually already knew about this, but it was cool of you to remind me of it, too! :cheese:
I would be interested in seeing how the flares look when you render your scene.
Maybe these couple days I'll do a quick render and post it here! ;-)
Thanks for your offer to help, by the way. And thanks to fixmypcmike for letting me know about GIMP, too!
I've used the technique (everything but the in-hand effect here, and the holoscreens' contents here), but for the most part I use HeroFX-XT (+ add-ons) and Jepe's plane-mapped effects (here, here, here, here, & here), although I've used Ron's water brushes to make opacity maps for splashes (here).
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Here's a rough one I slung together.
No postwork. :) (Though a lot of 'pre-' work.)
That actually looks quite nice.
That actually looks quite nice.
Yep, good work.
abrViewer's export-to-png?
Actually Beth, I gave up on abrViewer and now use abrMate as it's much better for brushes created in the CS versions of Photoshop -->
http://www.texturemate.com/abrMate
That's not a bad render at all it looks pretty good
...I'm still looking to upgrade to PSPX6 which can open .abr files without needing conversion. Never could get the abrViewer to work quite right.
As to Jepe's effects, I use them a lot and they work very well. You can easily adjust them with the scaling parameter sliders and in the surfaces tab to fit your needs. I also have and use HeroFX as well which is another "in scene" special effects tool.
I missed the sale that Corel recently had where I could have upgraded for $39.99. I'm hoping they will have a similar sale in January
...they seem to do that rather frequently. Actually there was a Black Friday special for 29.99$ however I had rent coming due.
Keeping a roof over ones head vs. a software update...no brainer.
Thanks for the kind comments on my render, fellas. And thanks for all the help, too!
Call me old-fashioned, but I still use the old Paint Shop Pro (version 9) by Jasc. :lol:
I use Photoshop more than PSP on this newish laptop, but I'm even more old-fashioned, as I'm still using PSP 7. I have PSP 8 and 9 on my external hard drive, but I always liked PSP 7 best. :coolsmile:
And I'm still sticking to the old Genesis.
Newer isn't necessarily better, is it? :)
LOL I think we can be safe to say that the Corel Paintshop Pro has made some improvements since the days of Jasc.
I think Jasc is more of a comfort level issue for people. Sometimes change is hard when the comfort isn't there. Not to get off topic but it's sort of like how Microsoft changed the User interface of it's office products. It didn't go over well with many people. Paintshop Pro had the same response. At one point in time it was actually a much better program than Photoshop.
Currently Paintshop Pro is the only software out there that combines graphic editing software with photo editing software. The average person will get more value per dollar with Paintshop Pro than they will with Photoshop CS6. I like Paintshop Pro now than I did when Corel first got their hands on it. They have come a long way.