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Create Glow On Costume
Hey everyone, i’m wondering how one might create a glow, or make it look like there is a light on your clothing. For a video, with the actors moving.
Something like the shoulders on this guy from the video game Gears of War:
My first thought is to put blue material on the shoulders, and key it out.
I’m not sure how to make the underlying color or glow extend beyond the keyed out section of the shoulder. If that makes sense. Wouldn’t want it to look like there’s just something under a keyed out section on his outfit. But, would want it to look like the glow shines out, beyond the border of the key.
Maybe i could use the shink/grow and soften in Keylight now that i think about it. But if anyone knows a neat way to make it look like an actual light, that’d be great.
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5 Replies
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There’s a Glow filter that does exactly what the sample image you posted is doing. Glow is based on a threshold, which means it takes the brightest parts and creates that glowy, halo look.
The most basic process is good ol’ blur and blend modes. If you were to isolate the glowing part of the character (by keying, if you wish, or rotoscoping, motion tracking, or a combination of these), you could make that a separate layer above the base layer. Then apply a blur to the isolated footage and change the blend mode from Normal to Screen or Add. Adjust the opacity as needed. If you want it brighter, consider duplicating the layer and increasing the blur. There are a lot of options here, and if you’re careful you can get a nice organic-looking glow.
Ben Unguren
Motion Graphics & Editing
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[Chad Nikolaus] “My first thought is to put blue material on the shoulders, and key it out. “
that would work. once you have the key/alpha you can put any color material in there and add the glow effect. you may even be able to just fill the key with a cyan color, add a blur and set the blending mode to add.
Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
[Chad Nikolaus] “Hey everyone, i’m wondering how one might create a glow, or make it look like there is a light on your clothing. For a video, with the actors moving.”
Honestly, I’d try to do this practically, with actual lights on the costumes. While you could duplicate the glow effect with the technique you mentioned, it won’t look real.
A glowing object on a costume would cast light on other surfaces in the environment. Look at both sides of the face in the reference image, and you’ll see a touch of cyan light spill from those illuminated shoulder pads. Missing little details like this make the shot feel wrong, even if the viewer can’t identify specifically why.
Even with all the amazing CG in Tron:Legacy, they still used practical light strips on the costumes.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
theres a fantastic product you can buy for relatively small amounts that will give you a battery powered flexible sheet of light.
https://www.microstru.com/Experimenter-Kits.html
It looks really easy to use, and should give you a much better starting point than trying to fix it in post.
Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UKhttp://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk
My YouTube Animations Page -
Awesome link, Adam!
Now I just have to find a reason to buy some of those 🙂
I would definitely recommend using a practical light source as previously suggested. These practical light sources should also be relatively easy to isolate in post to enhance the glow (change the color, intensity, add atmosphere etc.)
Darby Edelen
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