Want to Learn Post Work Using GIMP
n.aspros123
Posts: 332
I haven't messed around much in terms of post work for my renders that are created in Daz. Can anyone instruct me on making some subtle tweaks using GIMP to the renders I create? https://ibb.co/B5T1r0m8
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I seldom do postworks. Usually only if there is an error I couldn't get rid of.
What kind of changes are you looking for?
I would get rid of the lamp, as it catches the eye instead of the characters. And I would make the picture overall brighter, which also can be done in Daz Studio by changing tonemapping. Can also be done in postprocessing, if the dark colors haven't been compressed to much.
I was just after a grain tint with brighter highlights. The brightness level can stay as is. Same goes for the light.
Do you want brighter highlights in the existing bright areas, or more general? Or do you want the tint only in the highlights?
Anyway I would load the image into Gimp and then duplicate the image 2 times. Then in one layer add the brightness and in another the tint. You can then either use the oppacity of the 2 new layers or the blend mode. If you don't want it to the whole picture add a mask to each layer.
As I am not really sure what you are trying to achieve it is a generic description.
AFAICS, if you're after a cinematic + film grain effect or something like that, a couple of clicks in GIMP cannot literally get it done... but you can search by GIMP cinematic on youtube, there're quite a few good tutorials.
Well, if you need a faster free solution, I recommend ON1 Effect 2023 which is now totally free. There're lots of good filters you can quickly apply + tweaking the settings to make stunning postwork. https://www.on1.com/landing/effects23-free/
A quick example: in below screenshot 1, one of my original renders from Daz Studio. In screenshot 2, effect of stacked filter layers with default settings. More flexible tweakings can be further made as you wish.
I was also going to suggest using presets, but with Darktable... (it's a free alternative to Adobe Lightroom and actually integrates with GIMP)
...filmic, vignette and bluring some distracting areas with a mask.
Stacking filter layers? As in add 1 filter layer and adjust it then repeat the step mutluple times?
Do you use the same filter or use different ones?
Stacking filter layers means you add filter that you want one by one ~ just like how layers work in Ps or GIMP. After adding filter layers, you can freely tweak settings on each of them as you wish.
The general principle of using filters is that you add different filters (like a combo) to make good visual effects... Certainly you can add the same filter for times though it's not literally necessary.
A tutorial of getting started with it: https://youtu.be/WV39Q1PdhEw?si=7GZsUK60I1BmW7Vt
And check others on their official channel.
Is it possible to provide steps of what editing was done using Darktable. I tried ON1. I still don't know what effects to use and how to adjust them to make the render look nice. @prixat
How do you save the image as a .png which is around the same size as the original using ON1 @crosswind ?
Just as what you do in GIMP to export images ! i.e. File > Export ...
Well... Effects is powerful and very easy to use, and 100% WYSIWYG with high performance... but if you cannot well understand how layers work, you may not be able to make good use of any software that use the technics of Layers, incl. Ps / GIMP.
There're tons of tutorials there on youtube... better go for an in-dept learning 1st of all.
In Darktable, once you have got your selected image from the 'Lighttable' to the 'Darkroom'...
You find the adjustments/presets sorted into the marked sections.
for the 'filmicRGB' for example I just accepted the defaults but you can go into it and adjust it as you want.
To get rid of the bright floor I decided on Vignette, with a slight adjustment of it's position, size and orientation...
It was the same with blur, a little mask to blur the back of the benchseat...
Question: What kind of filters and adjustments that were used on these renders?
Reason I asked about ON1 effects .png saving is it saves a large file size. Over 60mb. The original I was testing was around 17mb. @crosswind
I had a quick play around with ON1 last night. Lots of filters to apply. I liked the 1980s filters but turned the opacity down and some other levels. I've been getting over a cold/flu and one of my family members is in hospital for cellulitis and gout in their feet.
Sorry I don't know... as they're not really photoreal and lack of contrast, etc.
I added some effects to the 2nd one as an example... well I prefer to cinematic effects for such a render. Yes, it should be always up to your preferences to use the filters that you like. Since PNG is with no compression, the file size will be big if you give it no resample. You can directly export as JPG with quality 100%.
Take care my friend !
@n.aspros123,
Michael Davies has dozens (maybe more than 100) of videos/playlists on GIMP on his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@DaviesMediaDesign/featured). One regarding layers in GIMP is GIMP Layers and Layer Masks Explained | In-Depth GIMP Basics Tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvWoQ8_HhBI). When I could not reinstall my legacy Photoshop Pro last year because Adobe had taken down the authentication servers, I went with Corel’s PaintShop Pro 2023 (for the cost of two month’s subscription to Photoshop) and GIMP. I need to watch a lot of the GIMP videos again.
Search YouTube for Darktable and you’ll find many videos also.
This is what I'm trying to find out. Which kind of filter they use in image that's attached to give it a contrasty tint?
Looks like it has depth of field and an atmosphere applied to soften and fade the background elements.