Request for HemiLess

[dragon_rider10]

HemiLess,

The gallery photos you're adding in of all your rockets are great! Can you tell us how you did the backgrounds?

 

[foamy]

I'm not sure how Hemiless did it, but you will need Adobe Photoshop or an equivalent raster program.

Since this is all 72 dpi and not hi-resolution, I'm doing this the easy way.

Get your rocket photo and duplicate the base layer.
Fill the base layer photo with white so you can see what your erasing on the copied layer.
Take the eraser tool and outline your rocket, select the cutout rocket with the lasso tool and copy it. The white you see is the white base layer, there is no color in that area on the layer you erased. It should look like this when you copy it.

Next, find a nice space image. www.nasaimages.org is an excellent source. Since the model I'm using is a pseudo sounding rocket, I'm going for the edge of the atmosphere.

Paste your rocket on top of the photo layer, then angle and size it to your satisfaction. If you're familiar with Photoshops tools you can have a bit of fun by adding exhaust, etc. on layers underneath the rocket. This is a quickie:

This is my '69 Centuri Javelin w/o decals. It's my second build since becoming a BAR. I hope this was helpful. Hemiless is on to something and I'm afraid I'm going to have to copy his format as it's a nice way of showcasing a rocket. Thanks Hemiless.

 

[HemiLess]

Sorry for the late reply. Most photos were taken using a green screen. in cases were the rocket is green I use a blue screen.

The transformation occurs using a program called Photokey which will remove the green/blue backgrounds and allows you to insert the background of your choice.

 

[Cyril's Scribe]

Sorry for the late reply. Most photos were taken using a green screen

Ah, so that leaves us poor mortals with teh Photoshops. Can you make a quick n' dirty version of a green/blue screen with a tarp, or does it have to be an absolutely smooth surface made for the purpose?

 

[HemiLess]

Sure. I used a plastic table cloth from Party City for my blue screen photos. Initially tried the dollar store variety, but they were too thin and didn't work so well when the time came to remove the background.

To smooth it out, I just hung it up in the garage and let nature, heat, take it course.

Incidentally, I haven't been to happy with the background I use and jumped over to www.nasaimages.org as foamy suggested and found a better background.

 

[Cyril's Scribe]

I used the former technique, as I don't have access to a green muslim screen or some such backdrop. I used gimp instead of Photoshop, so here is my result, a scale ASROC. How did you do the exhaust stream?

 

[HemiLess]

Here's a free Photoshop Script folks might want to try.

https://www.photoshopgreenscreen.com/scripts.html

It does the same thing as Photokey. I only wish I had found it sooner.