How to create a bonsai virtual
From BonsaiWIKI
This article originally appeared on http://www.bonsaichat.org and is used with the permission of its author (James L. Doggett).
A brief explanation of how I do a virtual.
I use PaintShop Pro version 8, most of the commands I use can be found in most generally available paint programs.
Contents |
A Neutral Background
To begin it is helps to have a sharp picture with a neutral background. The busier the background, the more difficult to do the virtual. I use a wall that has been painted black as a background, if you do not want to do this, a dark coloured sheet or poster board can be hung on a wall for a backdrop (avoid green as a background)
For this article I chose a Mountain Laurel
image001.jpg
Reduction to Basic Elements
As you can see it is a very lush plant, with a fairly sinuous trunk. I want to bring out the curves and reduce the bush-like appearance. Doing a virtual from this pic would be harder, the foliage is far to compact and would be hard to distinguish. Before doing a virtual I like to reduce the foliage and expose the trunk line. This will also allow for an even better base picture for the eventual virtual.
image003.jpg
A New Front?
Once the foliage has been removed I discovered a better front.
image005.jpg
Now that the best front has been found, the virtual can begin…
image007.jpg
Beginning the Virtual Bonsai
Open your paint program and bring up the photo of your chosen tree.
Removing Branches
Before I remove a branch, I first outline it,
image009.jpg
Copy it image011.jpg
And paste it as a new picture (in case I want to use it later to fill in where I want future development).
image015.jpg
image017.jpg
Cutting and Pasting
Cutting and pasting will be the most useful commands to master. The images can be enlarged for ease of outlining.
When you have the limb as a separate image, you can remove it from your virtual. The easiest way is to select a section of the background and use it to fill in the area you had chosen to save.
Once you have copied the background,
image019.jpg
use the undo button to take you back to the outline of the branch,
image021.jpg
and paste the copied background into the selection
image023.jpg
voila, the branch is gone.
image025.jpg
Cleaning up
to clean up the stump, you can use that same copied bit and paste it over the stump. I suggest saving the image with discrete names until you are happy as this will give you ways to change your mind and not have to redo your images.
image027.jpg
image029.jpg
You can use this to remove any and all limbs.
image031.jpg
image033.jpg
image035.jpg
A Virtual Trunk Chop
It can even be used to create a virtual trunk chop…
image037.jpg
image039.jpg
Rebuilding the Tree
So you have chopped your tree, it is time to rebuild it. Remember that branch we saved as a separate image? It can now be manipulated to fill out your tree.
I want to use it to show what would happen if I chopped the tree but left that second right hand branch to be the new leader.
Since I had saved that branch as a new image I can now rotate it to be upright.
image041.jpg
It needed to be rotated to the left 33 degrees to bring it to upright.
image043.jpg image045.jpg image047.jpg
It is then copied,
image049.jpg
the original image maximized, image051.jpg
the copied limb can be pasted in as a new selection,
image053.jpg
and the new selection moved to the desired location.
image055.jpg
Adding Limbs
Further limbs can be added by changing the angles on the cut parts and pasting them in.
image057.jpg
When you have mastered the cut and paste aspect there is little that can not be done with your program.
image059.jpg
image061.jpg image063.jpg image065.jpg image067.jpg image069.jpg
(c) Copyright 2005, James L. Doggett - Free use of this article in its entirety is allowed by the author provided it retains all posts, combined or as separate posts and this copyright notice. Do not make any edits or omissions to the contents.
