Alien Summer

Just for fun ...
My first attempt of combining a scene with a background photo.
alien_plus_house.jpg
hatteral_lighthouse_keeper__render_1280w.jpg

Matching the lighting is the hardest part.
To get reflections and lighting, I created a faux-probe in Photoshop:
  • Copied section of background image
  • Created file sized to 2:1 format
  • Converted to 32-bit
  • Repeated copied section to fill area
  • Added sun
  • Saved as HDRI for use in C3D
 
Funny idea, well done.

Maybe you know this:

But you can't convert a jpeg or whatever with less then 32-bit to a hdri. The information you'd need for a real hdri is just not there and sadly can't be created automatically. At least not with photoshop or any other program I know. The only 'real' hdr-part in your image is your sun.

What would give more information is simple if you would create 2 additional versions of your pic, an overexposed and an underexposed one. Then you create a hdri from this 3 pictures. Now you have a real hdri, badly faked, and it would contain a bigger exposure range, probably getting a better looking result. And then creating the sun.
 
... you can't convert a jpeg or whatever with less then 32-bit to a hdri. The information you'd need for a real hdri is just not there ... The only 'real' hdr-part in your image is your sun.

Correct. I probably should've written "faux-hdri" instead of "faux-probe".

My main goal was to find a way to make use of what I had available to make the 3D object fit in the environment more convincingly.
Using part of the same photo provides the ambient color and light to illuminate the 3D object, and is used for background reflections.

In Photoshop, I did have to adjust the image using the exposure modifier (making darker) in order to get some needed contrast, and for some directional light, added the "sun" (in same Photoshop file) as a white disc with color intensity set to +20.

Edit: I checked back on the Photoshop file ... I actually adjusted the gamma instead of the exposure on the original photo; giving better results.
 
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Try out creating a (semi-)real HDRI out of your jpeg. It should take you a few minutes only. (if it wasn't just a test, I'd recommend getting taking out the woman on the side. And for photorealism you'd need some DOF).

Somehow, for me, the Alien got lighted a little bit too warm; almost as if the sun went down soon.
 
I like the warmer look - the sun does seem fairly low (just a little over the trees if you look at the reflection in his eyes).
Does this sun position match up with the shadows you can see of the house's rooves' eves? It's hard for me to say for sure.
A little DOF might be nice and not quite as hard edges on the alien's outline - the latter may require compositing in raster image editor (unfortunately).
Looking forward to any more work you do on it.
--shift studio.
 
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