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Posted on 13/08/25 10:25:17 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5753 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Anthony, you constantly come up with humorous unexpected 'sideways' looks at life. It always makes me smile. This lovely simple idea is no exception. Here in tiny Belgium we take our beer seriously! There are over 800 different beers. Belgian beer is listed as a UNESCO cultural heritage. Only a very few ordinary beers are sold in cans. Aside from draught, it is almost always bottled. Drinking straight from the bottle is not the common habit it is elsewhere. It is considered very important that each beer is served in its correct glass. Here is a small selection ....... we could turn your simple idea into the stuff of nightmares!!  
 _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 13/08/25 3:48:35 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 948 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Lovely work everybody. Love your idea Ant...lol. Nice banner David, even though it took you from 65 to 66 to make. Although I am doing a 3D scene to depict Steve's confusing brief, the amount of PS work has been phenomenal but I'm finished on the roof at last and have more time to play...for now! _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 13/08/25 9:51:13 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 948 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
England's notorious 66's. Riddle returned in image, Steve. Make up your own story... 
_________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 14/08/25 11:43:36 AM |
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Ben Boardman
Printing Pro Posts: 636 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Here is chatGPT5's answer to Steve's request |
Posted on 14/08/25 12:32:17 PM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3117 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
The idea for this picture I once again stole from Edmund Blair Leighton and his lifelike painting The Accolade. I have tried to make it even more lifelike. 
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Posted on 14/08/25 12:33:12 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 948 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Not bad at all. The burning soccer ball on the left is out of place but apart from that, it's a great representation of the brief...and all in the same style. _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 14/08/25 3:53:24 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 948 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Great job, Mariner. _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 14/08/25 4:03:15 PM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3117 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Thanks Dennis. |
Posted on 14/08/25 8:26:46 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5753 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
But not very exciting. You did far better! _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 14/08/25 8:32:29 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5753 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Mariner it's beautifully done. Lovely work ..... but apart from the gold cup, which doesn't seem particularly 'footbally', I don't see a football connection. Am I missing something? _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 14/08/25 8:41:14 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5753 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Dennis the first thing that strikes me in your entry is the lighting! That's to be expected it's my 'thing'. But that makes me curious as to how you achieved it. Because your work is primarily 3D driven I am guessing that you not only posed and composed in 3D but rendered the fires as 'emitters' and thus did the basic lighting in the render with, perhaps, fine post render tuning in Photoshop. Whatever the method the result is just terrific! _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 14/08/25 8:56:31 PM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3117 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
David, thank you. Yes. If you zooom in on the World Cup you can see that the writing on its base is inverted. My mistake, but it doesn't matter. The cup is totally out of place, and I nearly left it out altogether. |
Posted on 14/08/25 11:03:05 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 948 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Thank you, David. I placed a VDB (volume data base) box into the scene and enlarged it and incorporated it at 10% to affect the whole scene. 3D artists use it for fire, smoke, haze etc. Very effective and offers a great atmospheric perspective. Only thing it bounces light around in Iray for ages. The render took short of 3 hours to render. Lovely for light shining through windows into a dim room. The fires are emission lit. What I posted was almost the original render apart from sharpening it in strategic places and I painted the smoke in with PS. Then used an overlay filter on the smoke layer. I had to reduce the percentage quite considerably as at 100%, it was very bright. It reacted nicely on the smoke, fire and environment, brightening it in the expected areas. I did waste my time and add King William and King Harolds coins to the trophy table. The bigger ones, not that you can make them out. I added those with PS and colour matched them with the original environment layer to give it a similar tint to the rest of the image. I colour match almost every item I add to any PS image. Even if its a fraction. I suppose it works the same as a 3D HDR light, which is; lighting your models in a scene with your chosen environment, reflecting off the inside of a huge shiny sphere. Everything in a scene is affected by the light and colour within it. If it works in 3D it should work in 2D...and it does. Try colour matching your layers with the environment you use as your background: eg; in the desert, match all items to a fraction of the desert colour; a sea scene, all items with the sea and sky colour match. Tweak until its married into your scene. It works most of the time. Here the original render. Very impressive even without tweaking.  _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 15/08/25 08:41:54 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7045 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
First to get historical this week was Ben Boardman, with an astonishingly quick entry. Very nicely composed, with a bunch of Normans in the goal mouth and London flaming in the distance. I like how you’ve carried the fire colour through. A splendid triptych, neatly blending the three events across time. I like how you’ve allowed the latest event to intrude upon the first. A history poster from Frank, with Bobby Moore looming out of the flames. I like the fact that it’s a period-appropriate London, white blends perfectly with the army in the foreground. A more recent pic of the England squad from lwc – I’d be interested to know when this photo was taken. I like how the events have been combined on the painting behind, which we can see more clearly in the Time Bandits entry. Good flame, smoke and sparks here. I enjoyed seeing the Time Machine zipping through the ages, although I seem more interested in gazing at the camera than at the events going on behind me. I like the historical re-enactment, with its vast 66 coins. A beautiful composite from Mariner, although it’s curious that none of the seated subjects are interested in the flaming city behind them. I think you’ve missed a trick by not including 1966 in the image, and it’s easy to fix that slightly off perspective on the Tower: 
The Accolade is very fine. I wasn’t aware of Leighton’s original, but was surprised to find it only features the two central characters: this really is an extraordinary composition. So much detail, from the opened door to the World Cup on the table. Very fine work, Michael. One tiny point: check the perspective of the red shield, it’s trivial to make it match the stonework behind. A labour of love from DavidMac, with an extraordinarily detailed adaptation of the Bayeux tapestry. The 1665 (oops!) flames are are beautifully realised, the smoke and buildings perfectly judged. I love how you’ve put ERII in medieval dress, handing the cup to an embroidered Bobby Moore. This must have been a vast amount of work. (I remember those brown footballs very well. Always got waterlogged, ended up weighing a ton.) Welcome back tooquilos, with your splendid incorporation of Bobby Moore (wielding the World Cup) into the Norman horde. A fine view of flaming London in the distance. Some glorious images in the animated version – I particularly like the view of the England team all wearing helmets. Except… aren’t those Norman helmets? An innovative approach from Ant Snell, with an excellent selection of beer labels – I especially like their reflections. Very good sourcing of the World Cup beer glass! Now if only there were a simple way to get those plinths in perspective… I’m intrigued by dwindt's idea of the Battle of Hastings as a sort of extended board game – now that really is thinking out of the box. Beautiful lighting, of course, and an outstanding array of soldiers. A beautiful image. One of those braziers might well get out of control, though… |
Posted on 15/08/25 09:36:45 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3117 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Thanks for (twice) correcting my perspectives Steve. With the Tower I thought something was a bit out but didn't know what.
Steve, in your own picutre you can just see the cup on the table. Thanks for a very enjoyable challenge. |
Posted on 15/08/25 09:42:46 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5753 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Took me right out of my comfort zone so it was good to put work into learning new techniques.
Me too. Mind you, because of my lack of binocular vision and true depth perception, I hated all ball games anyway. Especially cricket. That damn ball hurt! _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 15/08/25 10:21:34 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7045 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Ah! I'd missed that. Hope you noticed the football tucked under his arm. |
Posted on 15/08/25 10:22:40 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7045 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
[quoted] DavidMac wrote: Took me right out of my comfort zone [quoted] Best place to be! |
Posted on 15/08/25 10:40:53 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5753 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Sometimes!! _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 15/08/25 10:45:33 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5753 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1066: Battle Royale
Thanks for the detailed info. As you say the original is very impressive. The difference is extremely subtle. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
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