"The DaVinci Experience"

[debngar Profile Private message]

Some members of the other ProShow groups may have already seen this show. So please feel free to pass on viewing and commenting again if you wish. But I realized looking back that it was not shared here yet and thought some people might want to see some of the effects in this show.

I attended a private showing/reception of the DaVinci Experience at the end of May. The images in the slideshow are from this event. Most were captured with no flash in available light (which was awful) and needed a lot of post processing. LOL (I'm still learning.)

There are two parts, first - the exhibit images, second - the images of the people who attended the reception, mingling, food shots, etc.

Used 1 or 2 templates from somewhere I can't remember.

I broke a lot of my own rules. There are a few slides in spots with more
than my usual background movement to create a mood but hopefully not so much
to make the viewer dizzy. I also used more transitions than usual. There are
some fun effects along the way too.

Originally about 10 min, I cut out 3 min in transition time alone which I
think is much better.

CORRECTED LINK

"The Da Vinci Experience"
Length 6:55
http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewsho ... 5909&alb=0

Critiques welcome for future consideration since I have already archived the show off my PC. The show was given as a thank you to the friend of mine who invited me to the event.

Debbie G.

[KellyInAz Profile Private message]

Content Removed? Has the show moved?

[debngar Profile Private message]

Oops, so sorry, I must have copy/pasted from another link by accident. The link in the original post is corrected. Again, very sorry.....

[alcain Profile Private messageWebsite]

Debbie,

WOW opener!
Great choice of music.
We usually "fuss" about lots of different text effects, but this show "begged" for them.
Whoa - that food looks delicious!
Loved the "snapshot" effect.
Yes, most of the indoor people shots looked "flat" and in need of a contrast adjustment. Have you tried this method...

Open the photo in Photoshop.
Press Control-J to copy the background layer.
In the layers pallet, change the blend mode for the new layer from "Normal" to "Screen". This will lighten things up and add a bit of contrast.
If you need more of this effect to make it look better, press Control-J again, ...and again if necessary.
Lastly, "flatten" the image.
This method works great when you have to shoot indoors and can not use a flash.

~al

[debngar Profile Private message]

Hi Al,

I had not tried that particular technique yet.

So I just tried your tip on the shot of the woman at the end of "DaVinci". I set your screen layer it at 75% opacity, cranked up the saturation a tiny bit and then added another layer, gaussian blurred at 15% with luminous blend at 25-35% opacity. The screen layer helped a lot.

Yes, the people shots were pretty flat. Many started out really dark. It would have been much better had I used flash but almost felt like I was being annoying to even get those shots! LOL

Thanks for the screen layer tip. I'll have to remember that one in post processing.

If anyone is curious, here is a quick sample of what adding a screen layer can do to help rescue a less than decent image.

"Adding A Screen Layer" - Length: 56 seconds
http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewsho ... alb=125566

Debbie

[dcbyrne Profile Private message]

With my level of expertise I have no business in this conversation between you and Al. I do want to say, I thought the show was great. I liked the snapshot effects and just loved the start and the way you brought the hang glider into the show room and the action with the life preserver. The music was nice and went well with the show. It looks like you didn't go hungry while there... I do have one question. Was the invention you called a Mortar Boat misspelled or should that have been Motor Boat? Not that it matters to me, I was just wondering. Thanks for sharing this show.

Best regards,
Douglas

[lostdutchman]

Debbie,

Nice presentation of the works of a great human being. Where (what city) was this exhibition held? Do you know if it is traveling to other cities?

The hang glider effect fit with the tone of the rest of the photos, but the lifesaver on the ocean distracted from the focus on Da Vinci, in my opinion.
I also liked the "flash" effect for the people at the end.

Ken

[debngar Profile Private message]

Douglas,

Thanks for taking the time to view and for your comments.

The invention in question is as it was spelled, "Mortar" Boat, Other people have asked the same thing.

(definition)
a boat strongly built and adapted to carrying a mortar or mortars for bombarding; a bomb ketch.

Ken,

Someone else had commented to me that the ocean/lifesaver scene was distracting too. After hearing that and going back to view, I agree. A suggestion to turn that slide into a DaVinci sketch-style animation was made and I thought that was a interesting idea way to possibly keep it in the show and also provide the continuity with the other elements. Good idea and I wish I'd thought to do that that back then when I created the show. Not sure how well I'd be able to pull that off as my digital editing skills are somewhat limited but I might have been able to come up with something perhaps. There are a few layers involved in that slide and not sure how well all that would have translated into a sketch. But I can invision the pencil lines and maybe also would have colorized the lines to sepia or something.

Also would have considered a slight change in one of the slide sequences but too late for that now.

Thanks again guys for your honest critiques - much appreciated!

Debbie

[alcain Profile Private messageWebsite]

Debbie, Thank you for the "thank you". I have a "deal" for you. I thought the Photo Rescue 101 idea was fantastic. You could do shorts showing some neat and cool tricks with Photoshop for those less experienced. I love the idea. Anyway, I've had a few pm's asking for more of my "Discovery Series" shows. I'll "get on the ball" with them if you can consider the idea of more "Photo Rescue" shows!

Blessings, ~al

[debngar Profile Private message]

Ha! I kind of thought this might encourage you to produce some more shows!

I am not that skilled in Photoshop - especially since I'm still only using PS Elements. CS2 is loaded on my PC and on my list to learn but I'm still housecleaning my old shows off my hard drive to get that scratch disk situated.

There is someone far more qualified to do how-to shows on Photoshop that has already produced a boat load of them to view in ProShow.

I don't think this person is a member of this forum - only a member of the other two ProShow forums in Yahoo.

If you like, I will ask her if she is ok with me posting a link to her album and see what she says.

I don't have the screen capture software necessary to do an adequate job explaining the Photoshop stuff and to produce a show like that.

I have done some tutorials on what you can do in Producer with little or no Photoshopping. I think I'll probably stick with that direction since it seems to fit me and what I know how to do for now. When I stumble upon something else neat that I think would be valuable to share with the group, I'll make other tutorials.

I have a tutorial folder with some shows that demonstrate things I've discovered along the way while I've been tinkering around in Producer this year since January or so.

For anyone interested, feel free to check them out if you haven't already done so. Meanwhile, I'll check with my friend from the other group about posting a link to her tutorial album too.

My Tutorial Sub-Album Link:

http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalb ... alb=127032


I also have an older PSGold show online from last year that demonstrates the value of learning how to use software like Photoshop Elements or Paint ShopPro to digitally fix and/or restore your old photos or current images that need some help and what a difference it can make in the way the corrected image looks as compared to the original.

"Restoration Samples" - 4 min (done in PSG and hope this is ok to post here)
http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewsho ... alb=125566

Debbie

[Jerry Cole Profile Private message]

Debbie,
Thanks for posting, very informing as well as entertaining .... always have enjoyed Da Vinci inventions.
Now get to enjoy "Debbie inventions".

Al, thanks for your comments regarding screen layers ... very handy for those of us that dislike or are restricted from using flash photography. I did like the flash snapshot effects in Debbie's show. Does that make sense? Like flash/Hate flash? Oh well, very nice show.

Jerry

[debngar Profile Private message]

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for your comments - ha ha Debbie inventions.... LOL I can't take credit for them - I didn't invent them.

I usually see an example somewhere, work hard figuring it out and then use it in a regular type show. People started to ask how I did them so I decided to just go ahead and make tutorials I could point them to rather than explain and re-explain and re-explain - well you get the idea. LOL

An example of that is in that "backwards fold in/out" caption effect. I first saw that in a Mark Ridout wedding show. I put it in the DaVinci show (the chamber of mirrors slide) then created a tutorial to demonstrate how to do it.

The Photo Rescue 101 has to assume the viewer knows a little about digital layers and editing to some extent. There will always be those that come along and ask what's a blend mode, etc so I think those will have to spend some time getting layering basics down before trying some of the other stuff. Otherwise I could spend a lot of time telling people just where to find that stuff in the program. It might be helpful for people like that to consider also joining a PS Elements group or something since this is really a Pro Show forum. So perhaps I opened a can of worms when I made the Photo Rescue 101 show.

Also, I'm still using Elements version 3. Adobe is up to Elements 5 and Photoshop CS3 so I'm way behind, besides not really fully utilizing what I already have! LOL

I left out information in "Masking Possibilities" tutorial about how to add the additional arrows to edit the gradient layer in Producer and had a few people ask how to do that. I assumed people would kind of fiddle with the arrows and follow some of the info to catch on. But there were some that couldn't figure it out after I posted the tutorial and even after I posted about 3 or 4 times to explain over and over how to get the extra arrows on the color line. Some, it turns out, just didn't really follow the tutorial in the first place and left out a few crucial steps. LOL So even if I had put it in the tutorial, people that have a tendency to skip over things would still not have gotten it regardless. OH well.

I should have probably blamed the crummy people images in DaVinci more on my poor exposures than the fact I didn't use flash.

Nuf said.

Debbie

[debngar Profile Private message]

Where (what city) was this exhibition held? Do you know if it is traveling to other cities?

The exibition I saw was in Sacramento and is gone now to Palm Springs that I know of.

Do a search online to see. You should find it also appearing in other parts of the country too.

http://www.davinciexperience.info/press.php

I think info on that link changes from time to time regarding current location of the tour.

[GabBill Profile Private messageWebsite]

Hey Debbie,
I very much enjoyed this show. It's amazing how many contemporary ideas he had. Things we take for granted today.

Very nice transition from the show to the food.

Bill

[dcbyrne Profile Private message]

Hi Debbie,
Education, how wonderful it is, and the better yet, your never to old to learn...

Thanks,
Douglas