Have you looked at a photo and wished you were there, or wondered what the scene looked like to the photographer? Now you can bring your photos to life by adding motion and depth. Author Rich Harrington reveals how you can transport your photos into a three-dimensional world using Adobe Photoshop and After Effects. The technique is useful for documentary filmmaking, web content, and TV commercials. Choosing the best photos Using Quick Selection, Quick Mask, and Refine Edge Identifying planes Timing the move Organizing the composition Adding a 3D camera to your scene Animating with multiple views Adding depth of field and blur Re-lighting the scene Mixing in footage Creating 3D perspective with vanishing point

2. Session Agenda
● Choosing the best photos
● Using Quick Selection, Quick Mask, and Refine Edge
● Identifying planes
● Timing the move
● Organizing the composition
● Adding a 3D camera to your scene
● Animating with multiple views
● Adding depth of field and blur
● Re-lighting the scene
● Mixing in footage
● Creating 3D perspective with vanishing point
●

3. Bringing Photos to Life in
3D with Photoshop and
After Effects
with Richard Harrington
facebook.com/
RichHarringtonStuff
linkedin.com/in/
richardharrington
twitter.com/
rhedpixel

4. Description
Have you looked at a photo and wished you were there, or
wondered what the scene looked like to the photographer?
Now you can bring your photos to life by adding motion and
depth. Author Rich Harrington reveals how you can
transport your photos into a three-dimensional world using
Adobe Photoshop and After Effects. The technique is useful
for documentary filmmaking, web content, and TV
commercials.

11. Richard
Harrington
I'm a visual storyteller exploring
the fusion of photography and video.
I'm also a husband & father

12. Vital Statistics
• Author 40+ Books
• Author 200+ Video Courses
• Publisher of Photofocus & ThinkTAP Learn
• Conference Speaker
• Business Owner
• Photographer

14. Past Projects
• America Online
• American Diabetes
Association
• American Israel Public
Affairs Committee
• American Red Cross
• Apple
• Children's National
Medical Center
• Department of Veterans
Administration
• Drobo
• Federal
Communications
Commission
• Google
• lynda.com
• Microsoft
• Skylum
• Smithsonian Institute
• Under Armour
• US Air Force

15. Advisory and Consultant Projects
• Television Networks
• ABC News
• CNN
• Discovery Channel
• Major League Baseball Network
• NASCAR
• Turner Networks
• Technology
• Adobe Creative Cloud
Advisory Board
• Apple
• Athentech
• Pearson Education
• Skylum Software

18. linkedin.com/in/richardharrington

22. Motion Control 3D twitter.com/
rhedpixel

23. Workflow
• While the technique of extruding photos in three
dimensions has become quite popular, there are several
options that most ignore.
• Learn how to speed up the design process using options
like Content Aware Fill and Smart Objects in Photoshop.

25. Resolution and Image Selection twitter.com/
rhedpixel

26. Resolution and Image Selection
■ Not every photo is ready for movement or the screen.
■ In some cases, you won’t have a choice if an image
should be used.
■ You’ll need to prep whatever photos they want to use.
■ You were hired you because of your good judgment,
sophisticated taste, and artistic abilities, you should
have some input.

27. Resolution and Image Selection
■ Out-of-focus pictures lower the quality of the
production.
■ If the photos are cropped too tightly or lack
headroom, you’ll need to add some back in.
■ Look for photos that have a sense of action. Is there
“captured movement” within the shot?

28. Resolution and Image Selection
■ Be sure to identify a minimum of two planes. The best
Motion Control however will use three planes:
foreground, subject, and background.
■ When prepping digital files, ensure that they are high
resolution.
■ Screen width and multiply it by your zoom ratio. This
will give you a total pixel width minimum.

29. Planning the Move twitter.com/
rhedpixel

30. Planning the Move
■ Block out your moves before After Effects.
■ Create a staging diagram.
■ Determine how much separation between your
foreground, subject, and background.
■ The more distance the better depth of field and ability
to harness parallax to create a sense of movement.

33. Planning the Move
■ Parallax is the concept of “apparent motion” of a
nearby object against a distant background.
■ By increasing the distance between subject and
background, then moving the 3D camera, you get a
greater sense of photorealistic motion.

34. Working in Photoshop twitter.com/
rhedpixel

35. Making Selections
■ Avoid the Tragic Wand
■ Quick Selection tool
■ Color Range command
■ Refine Edge command

36. Filling in Holes
■ Clone Stamp
■ Healing Brush
■ Vanishing Point
■ Pattern Maker
■ Content-Aware Fill
■ Content-Aware Patch

37. Organizing the Comp
■ Properly organize your layers in Photoshop. Every
layer needs a unique and descriptive name that
clearly identifies the layer.
■ Check that the width or height of the image does not
exceed 4000 pixels. Unless you really need that much
of a zoom, going bigger can really bog things down
when RAM previewing camera moves.

38. Organizing the Comp
■ Reduce the number of layers to only the essentials.
■ Leave a copy of the background layer on top of your
layer stack. This should contain no masks and it will
be used to check composition later.

39. Working in After Effects twitter.com/
rhedpixel

40. Build the Comp
■ When you import your layered file, be sure the layers
stack up like this:
■ Full Composite Image
■ Foreground (with imported layer mask applied)
■ Subject (with imported layer mask applied)
■ Background

41. Vanishing Point Exchange twitter.com/
rhedpixel

42. Vanishing Point Exchange
■ Requires Photoshop Extended
■ Requires After Effects CS3+
■ Does not work for all photos

45. Advancing the Technique twitter.com/
rhedpixel

46. Advancing the Technique
■ Mixing in Video
■ Using Time-lapse
■ Using Lights
■ Using Particles

49. Getting In Touch
twitter.com/rhedpixel
facebook.com/RichHarringtonStuff
linkedin.com/in/richardharrington
Photofocus.com
vimeo.com/rhedpixel

54. Two Free Classes | http://bit.ly/ttlmax2free

55. We hope you enjoyed this session.
Please be sure to fill out your attendee
evaluations which provide us with valuable
insights to improve future conferences!
Plus, you may even win a raffle prize during
our keynote sessions!
Platinum Sponsors Gold Sponsors

56. Don’t forget to fill
out your evaluation!