Digital Compositing Basics 1-Day Class

Overview:

This is a project-based class, intended to help students learn how to create a project, not necessarily to learn an entire program. This lesson is tied directly to its associated badge. Students will be able to earn a badge based on the project they complete in this class.

Outcomes:

• Understands the concept of layers in photo editing software
• Can select and combine different elements of images
• Is excited to earn badges!

Class Files: use the digital compositing files linked below

• Digital Compositing files

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Hook:

Start the class by showing them a project that someone (preferably you) has made using the tools you’ll learn today. They should be making a similar project along with you as you teach this class.

Lesson Outline:

Selections

• Selection Practice (cookies).jpg or Wedding Dress.jpg
• Selection tools
  • Marquee tools
    • Rectangle
    • Ellipse
  • Lasso tools
    • Lasso
    • Polygonal Lasso
    • Magnetic Lasso
  • Object Selection Tool
  • Magic Wand
  • Quick Select
• How to add to and subtract from selections
• Inverting selection (ctrl+shift+i)
• De-selecting (ctrl/cmd+D) or with some tools, just click off

Masks

• Wedding Dress.jpg and Niagara Falls.jpg
• Painting on a mask
  • Explain the concept of foreground/background-color
  • Shortcut X to quickly switch between the two
  • Black=reveal, white=conceal
• Make a mask from a selection

Select and Mask Workspace

• Select>Select and Mask
• This window will allow you to make more precise selections for masks
• Change view mode to the one you want (marching ants, onion skin, black & white, etc.)
• There are familiar selection tools here, but there’s a new one: refine edge brush tool
  • Use this tool to make finer selections. This tool works really well with selecting hair/fur.
  • Demonstrate by using a picture with detail (Wedding Dress.jpg)
  • Quickly select the person, then refine the edges using the tool
• You can also make a feathered selection by upping the feather under “global refinements”
  • A feathered selection will “fade in” instead of having a hard border
• Click “OK” when you are finished. You will see that a mask has been made from your selection.

Badges Plug

Make sure to tell the students about badges and direct them to our badges website. Tell them that they can earn a badge based on what they’ve done today and encourage them to continue to earn badges and learn the program.

Show Badges Video