Retouch yourself into the picture

Do you want to be part of that incredible scene in Star Wars or Bladerunner, Alien or Harry Potter, or maybe you just want a really nice photo of something you've made in an incredible setting. Well move over Hollywood, fantastic retouching capabilities are here for everyone.

In any case most actors are shot in front of blue screens and the backgrounds, animals, buildings and SXF are added digitally, so why not have a go at it. When you've made a model, what will survive in 10 years? The memory, a few photos... hang on, in the end the memory fades and the photos are what keep that paths open, so fantasize a bit and put yourself in the picture with this instructable, it's easier than you think.

Also why not put you own models in film settings. You'd be surprised how fantastic things look when put in the right setting, and you don;'t have to be a Hollywood model maker to make them look fantastic. At the end of this instructable I've posted an image of a paper rocket, looking ... well, you be the judge and tell me what you think.

For me there is nothing like Adobe Photoshop, now if you haven't got it or have never used a photo manipulation package before, this instructable is not a substitute for learning how to use it. What I hope to do is fire your imagination and show you a few tricks to help your composite retouches look better.

In this instructable I am going to show you how I dropped myself into a poster for the most recent Harry Potter film, wearing a Mad Eye I made from some junk (see another instructable about how to make that).

The picture you see here is a crop of the full image.

Step 1 Source an image you like and want to be in

Find a picture of a scene that you would have liked to be part of. make sure it is the biggest size and resolution possible. If you are going to make a poster of it then you will need it to be at least 1000 pixels wide and possibly more. If it for the web, then probably no more than 500 px wide is fine.

When I was looking to make the Mad Eye for my instructable, I looked for reference and found this screen saver / poster. It seemed a bit grainy but I liked that distressed look, it seemed to match the style of the project I was doing.

Comments

[wbd]

You should put yourself into a "House M.D." poster! You sorta look like Hugh Laury...a little bit.

[KaptinScarlet]

Do I look that rough? I'm gonna let you off this time becuase Hugh Laurie is one of my favourite actors. Anyway, do you think House would look good with a Mad Eye, he's already got a bad leg and is pissed as hell! I would have thought a ping poing ball patch is the last thing he needs (ho ho ho)

[chabias]

That rough??? House is HOT!!! I can easily picture him with the Mad Eye though.

[KaptinScarlet]

House is back! His leg is better, but now he is madder than ever. He has a magical eye. No need for old fashioned X-rays or expensive MRI scans, House is just a one-man radiology department... Did you picture him a bit like this? My best House / Hugh Laurie impression, although not quite enough stubble.

[srushti_2004]

brilliant.. and super funny! :)

[KaptinScarlet]

ta very much, had great fun doing it!

[chabias]

That's great! He's still hot, even with the Mad Eye! Thanks!!

[KaptinScarlet]

that's me! in that photo...

[watermelonhead]

LAWL

[chabias]

LMAO!!! My goodness, I should've looked closer! You really look ALOT like House in that pic! I guess you can take that as a compliment?

[KaptinScarlet]

After what you said about him being hot and all that I take it as a great compliment, thank you very much. As I said i was doing my best Hugh Laurie impression... are there any other people you think I look like, whom I could impersonate while wearing a Mad Eye... seems like it could be the start of a niche website cult type thing famouspeoplewearingmadeyesthatlooklikeme.com bet you know one has registered that URL

[chabias]

hmmm....Chris Martin of Coldplay looks a bit like House, I think, so you could easily do him. You could probably pull off a Tim 'the toolman' Taylor too. Maybe even Wilson from House. Heck...try & do ALL the House characters. ~:o)

[Meragness]

you are absolutley right about chris martin! they have long, gauntish faces!!! wow

[KaptinScarlet]

Chris Martin looks too young, I've got too many lines... and Tim Allen (is that who you mean?) I don't think he's cool enough, I get the Wilson thing, but that would be a little too much being John Malcovich for me... eeeuw

[chabias]

You're right...Tim Allen is a bit too goofy for the Mad Eye. But now that you mentioned John Malcovich.....(not that you look like him)...HE would look pretty creepy...or more creepy, I should say. Perhaps Keifer Sutherland or Nic Cage is more suitable?

[Win7Maniac]

Magic Wand tool!! ;P Sadly it doesn't work the best all the time. . .

[annafavela]

DUDE, THAT'S SOOOO COOL! :D

[KaptinScarlet]

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH, YOU GONNA MAKE ONE ;D

[annafavela]

yeaaaaah xDDDD buahaha, OH-MY-DEBBIECUPCAKE!!! Is it me or you kind of look like Hannibal Lecter in that pic? xDD COOOOOL

[KaptinScarlet]

Oh yeah??? Well, I always wear my fake mad-eye monocle when I am eating liver ... th th th ... which I find especially nice with a little chianti... if I can see the glass with one eye covered up!

[annafavela]

Oh my!!!! o.o whait.. did you eat another of the cencus guys...and was it a girl?? *sniffs on his shirt and laughs* Evian!! Don't tell me you -actually- ate Clarice..!

[whiteoakart]

Clarice and fava beans. mmmm... maybe I'll enter that in the holiday recipe contest.

[annafavela]

YEAAH!! May i have a spoonfull to try it?? :D!!!! yum... Clarice..

[mason0190]

Can I get fries with that? Extra salt? :P

[kcls]

This is officially awesome. It's official.

[briackman]

thee house picture was hilarious

[KaptinScarlet]

glad you liked it, I had fun doing it!

[Mitten]

Every time you retouch yourself, God kills a kitten.

[watermelonhead]

NOOOOOO! NOT TEH LOLCATS!

[tubbychick3n]

Every time you make a joke about god, it's not funny because god doesn't exist.

[watermelonhead]

everytime you act like an aithiest, nobody likes you.

[tubbychick3n]

Every time you are an atheist, you are smarter, because you are not religious.

[toogers]

every time you say something like this, chuck norris punches a little kid in the face.

[KaptinScarlet]

Chuck Norris doesn't retouch himself into a picture... he has a team as big as Rhode Island's population retouching him OUT of pictures

[Bobthewrecker]

What a relief, I thought the kittens would never stop multiplying.

[KaptinScarlet]

ooo think of all that fur.... (only kidding) ;-)

[cloudstrife7]

LOL - Great House comment thread. Made me laugh.

[GorillazMiko]

Awesome! So this is what the genius looks like...

[bmorris82]

Nice work. One trick that I found when doing this kind of thing, especially in PhotoShop, is instead of moving your "head" back and forth to see if it fits, try using the layer transparency option. Then you can see exactly how you fit, and you can even size and rotate your face accordingly to cover just what you need. Also, for those who don't know, there is a free alternative to PhotoShop called The Gimp, that does everything you need with out the price tag. I prefer PS, but if you are just starting out, free is better. Great job though, thanks

[DeadlyDad]

As a clearinghouse for 'shopping, http://www.worth1000.com is definitely the king, thought http://www.woot.com has some pretty good entries in their contests, as well. (Speaking of 'House'...<SHUDDER>)