This is a Photoshop tutorial showing you all the steps you
need to take in order to photo-manipulate yourself into a Na'vi (based on the
characters in James Cameron's movie "Avatar").
But before we start, check these useful resources for
photo manipulation that will help you create an amazing effect on your photo:
I used Photoshop CS2 in order to create this, but newer and
older versions should do the same, as I used basic Photoshop tools only. I hope
you will find this helpful.
Step 1
Import a photograph of your choice, but make sure its size
is relatively large, as it gives more room to play with. Also, make sure that
the person on the photograph is well lit - but not overlit - perhaps taken with
a flash, so that enough sharp details are visible.
Step 2
Choose a "hard" brush from the"Tools"
window (I tend to use a "Chalk" brush) and set its "Mode"
to "Color", and its "Opacity" to 50%. Now pick a shade of
blue from your Color Palette and brush over the entire skin area, leaving out
the hair, eyes, and clothing. Now repeat this a couple of times using different
shades of blue. In order to get the kind of blue I wanted, I did this four
times in total using these colours: #5d7a99 - #32576a - #3c6986 - #54809b. However,
every photograph is different, so you may prefer different shades of blue for
your image.
And finally, pick a shade of purple, I used #472a50, with a small brush and its Opacity set to 10%, paint the lips with it, and then randomly brush all over the face with it, as this breaks everything up a bit, thus making it more "natural" looking.
Step 3
Now in my case, I was working on a picture of Tom Cruise
with facial stubble. The Na'vi, however, don't seem to have facial hair, apart
from the eyebrows - but only if they are a human hybrid (those hybrids also
have smaller eyes, and five fingers on each hand instead of four). So I removed
the stubble with the "Clone Stamp Tool". You have to zoom right in
and press "alt" on your keyboard to select the source area, click
once, then let go and paint as normal. Always make sure you pick a source area
that looks most similar to the area you want to copy to, and if something
doesn't look right, try a different source.
Step 4
Now remove the ears! In my case this was very easy, as I
simply had to paint them black / match the background. The person on your
picture may have long hair, in which case you could just hide the ears by using
the "Clone Stamp Tool" and copy hair over. However if you have short
hair this step could be tricky, for the Na'vi (and the hybrids) have their ears
set higher up than human ears. In any case, I would probably use the Clone
Stamp Tool again.
Now either you can paint the Na'vi ears yourself, do as I
did - import a screenshot I found on the Internet. There are many movie
screenshots you can find on the Internet. Save the image onto your computer and
go to "File" then "Open..." and select the image.
You can also download the ears I've prepared to
make your life easier.
Now select the "Polygonal Lasso Tool" in the Tools
window, and create a mask around the ear you wish to import. Once you have done
this, either drag the image over into your project, or you can go to
"Edit" and "Copy" the ear and "Paste" it onto
your image. It will now be on a new layer - which you can see in your
"Layers" window. Now place the imported ear wherever you want it to
be - you may need to resize it, so click on the "Move Tool", then
click on one of the corners of your selection and click on "Maintain
aspect ratio" which is the little "chain" icon in the menu (you
don't have to do this if you don't wish). Now drag on one of the corners of
your selection until the ear has the right size you want.
Step 5
If it's a frontal face shot you're working on, you simply
need right-click with your mouse on the layer with the ear, and select
"Duplicate Layer". Then right-click on one of the corners around the
selection and choose "Flip Horizontally", and move the second ear to
where you want it to be. As you can see, the image of the ear that I had
originally imported had the tip of the ear missing. I fixed this by painting
the rest in, using the Clone Stamp Tool, and the Brush Tool set to
"Normal" (use the "Eyedropper Tool" to select colours from
the actual ear itself).
Step 6
Now we're going to enlarge the eyes. Normally you can try
and do this by eye, but because Mr Cruise is looking directly at the camera in
my picture, both eyes had to be enlarged identically. First of all, duplicate
the overall main image you have so far, so that you have two identical copies
lying on top of each other as layers. Then use the "Polygonal Lasso
Tool", with "Add to selection" selected from the menu (that way
you can select several areas at the same time). Create two masks, one around
each eye, including eyelids and eyebrows. Click on "Move Tool" from
the Tool bar, then enlarge the selection until the eyes have the size you want.
Now click on "Move Tool" again and select "Apply" on the
pop-up window. Now "Copy" and Paste" from the Edit Menu. The eyes
should now be on a new layer. Duplicate that layer. Then use the Eraser Tool to
erase the left eye on one "eye layer", and the right eye on the other
eye layer. Basically this means that you now have one layer for each eye,
though both enlarged, their proportions to each other are still correct. Press
"ctrl" on your keyboard and select both "eye layers" and
use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the eyes up and down, then select
each individual eye to move it left and right, once again by using the arrow
keys.
Step 7
You can now use the "Eraser Tool" and brush around
the eyes with it to remove what is overlapping and the border lines. Doing this
will reveal the layer underneath, so don't erase too much.
Step 8
This is the most difficult part - the nose! This could
potentially take quite some time, so don't get frustrated, just try your best.
Use the "Rectangular Marquee Tool" and generously
select the nose along with its surrounding area. Select "Filter" from
the main menu and go to "Liquify...". A new window opens and you may
want to zoom in a little. Select the "Forward Warp Tool" - with the
"Brush Density" and "Brush Pressure" set to 100. And now
"shape" the nose into that of a Na'vi's. If you make a mistake you
can use the "Reconstruct Tool". It will probably look a little
strange, but that's ok, just click "OK" when it looks remotely like
the one in my picture. If yours looks better, excellent!
Step 9
This is still fairly difficult. You will now be using the
"Burn" and "Dodge" tools from the Tools window a lot. Use
both tools, with their "Range" set to "Midtones", and the
"Exposure" set to 5% and continue to "shape" the nose by
carefully adding definition. "Burn" darkens, while "Dodge"
highlights, so make sure you figure out where the light on your picture is
coming from. Because this step is so tricky, it is okay to carry on with the
next steps and return to the nose from time to time.
I also used the "Dodge" tool, set to
"Midtones" and "Highlights" in order to brighten the irises
of the eyes. And finally I dyed the tip of my nose pink, with the Brush tool
set to "Color", and the colour itself taken from the ears by using
the "Eyedropper Tool".
Step 10
I continued to use the "Burn" tool - a combination
of both "Midtones" and "Shadows", to further add definition
all around the face. Check out the differences between images 9 and 10. You may
choose not to do this on your photograph. However, you might have noticed that
I went back to "Liquify" the nose a little more....
Step 11
My overall image had turned a little too dark in my opinion,
so I went to my Layers window, and at the bottom I clicked on the "black
and white" symbol that has the name "Create new fill or adjustment
layer", and selected "Levels..." from the menu. Now a new window
opens up and and all I did was click on "Auto" and "OK".
However that option doesn't always turn out a good image, so you may want to
play around with the sliders. Alternatively, if your image is too light or
pale, you can change this here too, using the sliders.
Step 12
For the pattern and sparkles on the face, use the
"Burn" tool - Midtones and Shadows, as well as the "Brush
tool" - this time a circle shape - with its Hardness 50%, Opacity around
10%, so there's room to build up colour depth, the "Mode" set to
"Normal". You'll need to play around with this, as it can take a
while to get it right.
Step 13
Now it's time to enlarge the irises of the eyes! Basically
we're repeating Step 6 here. So follow every single step, just apply them to
the irises alone. Once you're happy with their position, use the "Eraser
Tool" to bring back the eyelids from the layer underneath.
And finally I did some additional lighting effects, by using
the "Burn Tool" set to "Shadows" and the "Dodge
Tool" set to "Highlights". Check out the differences between
Image 12 and 13. However this may not be relevant to your image. All done, I
hope you are pleased with your results.
