AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2.x Tutorial - Gallery Image B1 (We Can Create a Can)

AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2.x Tutorial

Gallery Image B1 - We Can Create a Can

The Idea
The idea was to create the cored metallic cylinder ("can") with the engraved text on it.

The Plan
Using the curling abilities of AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2.2 we will roll up the image. The metallic look will be achieved thanks to the appropriate lighting settings of the plug-in and the engraved text will be the result of the correctly prepared bump map.

The Pre-Process
Please click here to download the Zip file that contains all files that are necessary for this tutorial. Then unzip the file in order to use the files that are inside.

The Process (An Easy Way)
Here is explained of how to prepare the Can from the images that we have prepared for this particular sample using the appropriate settings of AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2.2.

1. Create the new RGB document: 2000x1400 pixels. (Background is white.)

2. Take the Can_Source.png image from the downloaded Zip file and place it in the new layer, somewhere in the center of the document. (Note: this image has the dimensions equal to the ones that you can find in our site's Gallery (large view). It's quite big, but otherwise it would be difficult to show the engraved text that is pretty small.)

Fig.1.

3. Start AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2.2, then go under the plug-in's Main menu and choose the Load Settings (Relative)... menu item and load the We Can Create a Can_Settings.avcps file. (In fact, in this particular case, it is not important whether you choose the Relative or the Absolute settings, because we used the same image when prepared these settings.) The result is on Fig.1.

4. In the Bump Mapping palette click the Define button of the Front Side and choose From File - Tile... menu item. In the standard File Open dialog that will appear, choose the pass to the folder in which the un-zipped files are stored and select Can_Bump_map.png file. For the Back Side choose the same file. Set the value of the Blur to zero (0) and the Level value to 11% for both sides of the page. The look of the Bump Mapping palette is shown on Fig.2.

Note: in the small preview windows of the Bump Mapping palette you will see the black and white images. This is normal. Use the invert buttons in the palette, if necessary to get exactly the same look if, for some reasons, it is different. (E.g. both images are black.)

5. Click the Apply button and you will obtain the created Can inside your host.

Fig.2.

6. The only thing that you should add is the external shadow. Please see the topic Preparing the Outer Shadow, below.

Note! That was a very short process that might not let you "feel" the plug-in. It is obvious fact that the best way to understand the product is to play with its controls and see of how this affects the result. We recommend that you change the parameters that were loaded. For example play with the Lighting options including the parameters of the internal shadows. Or adjust the orientation in 3D space, etc. There are a lot of controls in the plug-in located in various palettes, just make sure that the appropriate palette is active.

You can also read the text below where the process of creation of this sample is explained more detailed.

The Process (A Step by Step Way)
This is a more detailed explanation of how to prepare the Can that you can see in our Gallery.

1. Create the new RGB document with the width/height dimensions of 2000x1400 pixels. (Background is white.).

2. Take the Can_Source.png image from the ZIP file and place it in the new layer of the created document, somewhere in the center.

Comments: To make things easier, we recommend that you use our image for preparing the Can. But, of course, you may prepare the source image, which you will curl into the Can, by yourself. We just think that in this case it's a good idea to keep the dimensions of the image equal to the dimensions of our image (1445x895 pixels) for obtaining the adequate result while following our instructions below. But anyway, the width of the source image should be multiplied by Pi (~3.14), as close as possible, because we usually operate with the integral pixels in image edition applications. In particular, our 1445 pixels let us obtain the radius of the Can equal to 230 pixels (1445/2x3.14). It is important to know the radius value, because we will shortly use it (see Step 4 below).

3. Call AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2.2. For preparing the Can from the "scratch", reset to the default all settings of the plug-in by clicking the Defaults button in the Main window.

4. Specify the following parameters of the plug-in:

On the Content panel, click the Define button of the Back Side and choose "Custom Color" and specify the red color(R: 255, G: 0, B: 0).
On the Surface panel, specify the parameters that you can see on Fig.3. This will let you curl the image into the Can. Yet the draft, but already the Can.
Now, orient the obtained Can in 3D space using the controls located in the 3D Transform palette. Then, we have specified the parameters that you can see on Fig.4.) If the Real Time Preview option (See User Guide pp 8 & 16.) is enabled, then you can make the desired orientation directly in the Main Preview area, by dragging the Can.

Fig.3.

Fig.4.

5. As you may see in the Main Preview, the obtained Can looks pretty "lifeless". For making the natural metallic look, we should set the correct lighting. We recommend that you play with the controls located on the Lighting (Advanced) palette to feel this part of the plug-in. Then, you may compare the obtained results - yours and ours, which parameters are shown on Fig.5. Pay special attention on the parameters of the Active Light Specular Reflection, because these are parameters, which just make the metallic look of the Can. Pay also attention that we have enabled the inner shadows.

Note! If you enter the parameters of the Azimuth and Altitude of the Active Light directly into the edit boxes, rather than drag the active light onto the light sphere, then enter the value of the Altitude first and only after that the value of the Azimuth.

6. Now it is time to engrave the text and add some "stylish stuff". To do this we will use the option of the plug-in that lets you texturize an image using bump maps. To simplify the things, we recommend that you use the prepared image Can_Bump_map.png for this purpose. Please pay attention that there are the special thin (1 pixel width) lines that emulate the slightly beveled edge around the holes. You may, of course, use or create any desired bump map... But in this case, don't forget to apply the plug-in (Page Curl Pro remembers the last used settings.) or, at least, save the settings that have been prepared to the moment. Otherwise you will lose all your work when you close the plug-in and will start preparing the bump map.

Fig.5.

So, lets assume that this way or another, but you have the appropriate image that will be used for texturizing and Page Curl Pro is still (or again) opened. Be sure that the Bump Mapping palette is active. Click the Define button of the Front Side and then, choose the From File (Tile)... menu item and after appearing the standard Open File dialog window, choose the Can_Bump_map.png.

Note: taking into account the fact that our image has the same dimensions as the main image, it is not important which method is used - Tile or Resize to Fit. And one more note: Can_Bump_map.png was stored on your hard drive and as a result we have used the From File command. But if you prepare the bump map by yourself, then, for further usage, you may not only save it on the HDD, but also place it in the current document's channel. Thus, you will need to choose the appropriate command for loading this bump map using the Define menu. Now set the Level value to 11 and remain the Blur value on zero (0).
Do the same for the Back side of the page. See Fig.2. Pay attention that we have inverted the bump map for the Back side. It is hard to see the influence of such inverting on the preview, but if you apply the plug-in and then, compare the results in case when the bump map is inverted and is not inverted, then you will see that such inverting of the bump map is a powerful solution to emulate the correct texturizing.

7. Click the Apply button! The Can will be created in the left bottom corner of the canvas, thus it's a good idea to move it to the center of the canvas. In fact, the Can itself is ready - see Can_result_noshadow.jpg. The only thing that we need to add to complete the composition is the outer shadow.

Gallery Image B1 - We Can Create a Can (Can_result_noshadow.jpg)

Preparing the Outer Shadow

As was already mentioned in the "With All Respect to Genius" tutorial, the manually dropping the realistic outer shadow of 3D object is not a one click operation.

And if, in some cases, creating the acceptable outer shadow requires special "solutions", such as method called "get the look from the point of view of the light", (See the tutorial: "With All Respect to Genius".) in other cases it is possible to go the easy way while creating the outer shadow! For our Can, the "easy way" means that we will use the created Can as the "direct" source for the shadow. Here is what we'll describe below:

1. Make a copy of the layer with the Can. Place it beneath the layer with the Can and name it - "Shadow Source".

2. Make the content of Shadow Source black. We have used the standard Photoshop's Hue/Saturation palette for this purpose and simply specified the Lightness to -100.

3. Now correctly distort the Shadow Source to obtain the most suitable (as it seems to you) size of the shadow (We have used the Free Transform Tool of Photoshop for this purpose.), and then adjust the distorted Shadow Source's position. The obtained result is shown on Fig.6.

Fig.6.

To complete the outer shadow, we should keep in mind two general statements: (i) the shadow becomes as lighter as further it is from the object and (ii) the edge of the shadow is as sharper as it is closer to the object. "Graphically" speaking, the latter statement means that the shadow has the gradient (or perspective) blur.

4. Now we'll explain of how we have prepared the gradient (perspective) blur: make two (2) copies of the Shadow Source layer. Turn OFF both the Shadow Source layer and the Can layer. Add the Gaussian blur with the radius 2.5 to the "Shadow Source Copy 1" layer and Gaussian blur with the radius 8.0 to the "Shadow Source Copy 2" layer. Now turn OFF the "Shadow Source Copy 2" layer and add the layer mask to the "Shadow Source Copy 1" layer. Use the Gradient tool (Linear) and make the look of the "Shadow Source Copy 1" layer similar to the look that is shown on Fig.7. Select the obtained layer mask (Ctrl + click for Windows and Cmd + click for Mac) and turn OFF the "Shadow Source Copy 1" layer. Now turn ON the "Shadow Source Copy 2" layer, then make it active and add the layer mask. The added layer mask uses the current selection, so you need to invert it. On Fig.8 you can see not only the look of the "Shadow Source Copy 2" layer, but also the look of the Layers palette after the last action. Turn ON the "Shadow Source Copy 1" layer. The gradient (perspective) blur is ready (see Fig.9.) Thus the part (ii) mentioned above is complete.

Fig.7.

Fig.8.

Fig.9.

5. To fulfill statement (i), we should merge the "Shadow Source Copy 1" and the "Shadow Source Copy 2" layers and then, add the layer mask to the obtained layer (You may make the copies of these layers first, if you are about to use them in the future.) and then, use the Gradient tool (Linear) to obtain the desired look of the shadow (see Fig.10).

Note: steps 4 and 5 could be made more "elegantly" if using Photoshop CS2/CS3, but we decided to show the process that could be repeated even on earlier version of this host.

Fig.10.

6. Turn ON the Can layer - the Can design is ready! See Can_Final.jpg image.