Anthony DiMaria's Blog

Me and Me - Video and Tutorial

2010-11-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

I recently experimented with video in Photoshop for the first time. This is what I got...

And a couple of my friends asked if I would write a tutorial on how I did it, so here that is as well:

Step One

What I did was set up my camera on a tripod and film two different shots, one where I’m on each side of the room. You have to be careful not to bump the tripod (like I kinda did) or it will make it hard to mask it later on. Also, try to make sure that the lighting is the same in each shot. (Having auto exposure on the D5000 adds to this challenge.)

Step Two

So, after you have both your shots recorded, bring the footage into Photoshop as Smart Objects. You have to have an extended version of photoshop to do it (not sure if CS3 extended will work as I haven’t ever used it - especially not for video). I use CS5 Extended.

Step Three

Once you have your footage open in Photoshop, make sure both clips are in the same file with one directly over the other on the canvas.

Step Four

Then, with whatever clip is on top, add a layer mask. Using the layer mask brush over the side of the video that you do not appear on so that the video on the layer beneath can show through.

Step Five

Go through the video and check to see if you need to adjust the layer mask because of movements you make in the video.

Step Six

Now, check to see if the lighting in each shot is the same. If it is, then you can skip this step, if it isn’t... well, then you can’t.

Okay, so what you want to do is add an adjustment layer where you can adjust the lighting. Either the Brightness/Contrast option or the Exposure option - whichever you prefer, as long as you get the correct result. Adjust until you are satisfied.

Step Seven

This step is if you (a)couldn’t get lighting to be similar by using the method in step six, or (b) you want to add a unique look to your video.

I filmed my video with my Nikon D5000 which has Auto-Exposure, so it made it hard to get the lighting right as both videos exposed differently at different times because I was on the opposite side of the room in each clip. So to make the difference in lighting less noticeable I added a texture.

What you do is just add a texture of your choice into the file and make it the top layer. Then lower the opacity so that it blends in well with the footage.

To finish off this step, add the adjustment layer Hue/Saturation below the texture layer, but above the video layers. Mess with the saturation and color until you achieve a Sepia-like look.

And that’s it!

I’m sure there’s an easier way to do it, but this is the first time I tried doing something like this and it worked well this way for me. If you try it, let me know how it goes!

Thanks for reading!

-anth-

Water Fountain

2010-11-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

This water fountain is located in downtown Charleston, South Carolina... definitely one of the coolest fountains I've seen!

Taken with my Nikon D5000 and edited in Photoshop CS5 extended.

-anth-

Pets

2010-10-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos of my family's black lab puppy named Dude. Yes... his name is Dude... ;)

When he was 10 weeks old...

And now he is 8 months old...

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

-anth-

Siblings

2010-10-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

Siblings...

Musical Instruments - Theme Picture(s)

2010-09-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

I couldn't decide on just one theme picture this week so two of them are going up! Let me know what you think!

-anth-

Theme for the Week

2010-09-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

This week I'm going to try to do a theme again. I'm not going to do a graphic this time, though. Just gonna come right out and say what it is.

This weeks theme is: Musical Instruments

Hopefully I'll have a picture up by the end of the week!

-anth-

P.S. I just designed a new web banner for the top of the page; lemme know what you think! =)

Before and After

2010-09-09T17:43:00.001-07:00

I have been really busy with school lately so I haven't been taking many pictures lately. Yesterday in downtown Charleston I was able to take a couple photos. I didn't take more because I was helping my brother with a video job. But, I was able to get a shot of a very cool house. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of wires and a busy street in front of it so a good picture was very hard to get. I realized that if I really wanted to get a picture without all the junk in front of the house, I would have to do edit it in Photoshop. So that's what I did.

Here is the before image:

And here is the after:

It's definitely not perfect, but it turned out a lot better than I thought!

Let me know what you think!

-anth-

Transportation

2010-08-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

Once again, I failed to get the theme up this week. School started up so I've been busy with that. I think from now on I'm just going to post a theme when I get around to it instead every week. Anyway, this week the theme is Transportation. I decided to combine the graphic with the picture.

Let me know what you think!

-anth-

Trains - Theme Picture

2010-08-15T18:45:00.001-07:00

First off, I'm very sorry for posting this picture so late! A lot of stuff came up over the past couple of weeks that I didn't expect, and I wasn't able to get out and get any photos until today. Another disappointment is that while shooting at the train tracks, a train did not come by so I was not able to get an actual train for the theme picture. But, I still had fun messing around with different angles and edits with the photos I got of the tracks!

Here's the theme picture:

Let me know what you think!

-anth-

Trains - Theme of the Week

2010-08-04T15:20:00.001-07:00

I had some trouble coming up with a design for the theme this week, but today I finally thought of one and did it. This weeks theme is Trains.

-anth-

History - Theme Picture

2010-07-31T15:40:00.000-07:00

Here's this weeks theme picture:

Taken on my Nikon D5000 and edited in Photoshop Camera Raw 6.0.

-anth-

History - Theme of the Week

2010-07-27T10:44:00.001-07:00

This weeks theme...

-anth-

Forest - Theme Picture

2010-07-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here's the picture for the latest theme - Forest. This picture was taken on one of the trails at Santee State Park in South Carolina.

Let me know what you think!

-anth-

Theme of the Week - Forest

2010-07-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

So, I totally missed last week. I just couldn't come up with anything for a theme... but this week I was able to think of something: Forest.

-anth-

Fourth of July - Theme Pictures

2010-07-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

This week I couldn't decide on just one picture for the theme. So here are several that I took at the Patriot's Point 4th of July Celebration. The Fireworks were shot off of the USS Yorktown! It was a great show.

Pictures were taken with my Nikon D5000 and were edited in Camera Raw. Hope you enjoy them!

Theme of the Week

2010-07-05T17:30:00.001-07:00

Okay, so here's the theme of the week (it was a pretty easy one to choose this week):

Macro - Theme Picture

2010-07-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

It's time for this week's theme picture!

I tried some macro shots this week, but none of them really turned out how I wanted them to. The picture in this post is one I took a few months ago. I don't have a macro lens, so I used a technique that a great friend of mine told me about. I flipped my lens around and held it in front of my camera's sensor. It can work quite well! But, it can also be very difficult.

Here's one of the ones I took a couple of months ago:

Here's one I took this past week:

As you can see, results will definitely vary!

The West

2010-06-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

I recently put together a montage video with footage from my latest trip out West. It is the first video I've ever filmed and edited by myself. Hope you enjoy!

-anth-

Macro

2010-06-25T08:36:00.001-07:00

I've decided that I'm going to try to do a theme each week. I will announce the theme with a graphic (hopefully!) and then later on in the week I'll post the Theme picture.

This weeks theme:

-anth-

Welcome!

2010-06-24T11:40:00.001-07:00

Hello!

Welcome to my blog! Here I am going to post my learnings, experiments, and updates on any projects I have in the areas of photography, graphic design, filmmaking, and acting.

I am not a fantastic writer, so please don't expect awesomeness out of my writing skills. Rather, I want you to follow me on my journey through the various art forms.

-anth-