Compositing question

[chriscaldwell]

Hello there, 

I'm trying to put an item on top of a swimming pool so it appears to be floating and realistic looking. I tried a few things, like applying a blur, and experimenting with outer shadow in the FX panel, but don't trust my eyes to see if it looks realistic.

Is there a technique/trick that would help me get the perspective and realism a bit better, or does this look okay to you guys, or perhaps can it be improved upon?

Thank you as always for any help. I've attached my mockup/screenshot, the .png product, and the swimming pool pic.

Chris

 

another floatron.afphoto pool.afphoto

[carl123]

That water is very hard to work with

 

[henryanthony]

@chriscaldwell Shadows are the glue that hold the world together. To my eye, the shadow of the floating device is gray and should be similar in color and should be affected by the ripples and refractions as the water. Google "floating in a pool" and you will see what I mean. Same goes for the part of the device below the black ring. I think they look good but, why are there patches of blue on the pool deck? Overall a very cool, surreal looking image. I like the sparkles too. They add a sense of fun and fantasy.

[chriscaldwell]

Thank you Carl123 and henryanthony! I really appreciate your input and help. Sometimes, it's hard to be objective with your own projects, so this is so very helpful.

I was wondering Carl, can you please send the affinity file you created? Did you just create an oval, fill with black, and then gaussian blur it? Also, is there a formula/technique to knowing how far away to move the shadow to get the proper shadow effect? I guess I need to train my eyes better. I'm thinking the shadow on the ladder is the guide, but I feel like I'm always a bit off. Whereas, you nailed immediately.

I attached another example to see if I'm more accurate in this shadow placement, just wondering if it should be more to the right of the floating device. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Chris

[carl123]

File is attached

I don't know if there is any formula for placing the shadow, I just go with what I like the look of. Sometimes taking into account the other shadows in the image (if any) or the light direction

 

pool2.afphoto

[chriscaldwell]

Thank you very much, Carl. I see there are a lot of little things you did in the file, and I hope to be able to learn from it how to approach this in the future.

[walt.farrell]

26 minutes ago, chriscaldwell said:

I attached another example to see if I'm more accurate in this shadow placement,

The shadows for the two objects are not consistent; they show different locations for the light source. For the round object, the light source is centered left-to-right in the image, but below center in the top-to-bottom direction.

However, the light source for the floating rectangular object is far to the left, and further down than for the other object. Also, the rectangular shadow tapers unrealistically, I think.

[GarryP]

39 minutes ago, chriscaldwell said:

I attached another example to see if I'm more accurate in this shadow placement, just wondering if it should be more to the right of the floating device.

I would say that the offset of the shadow should be about the same for the device as it is for the air bed, in other words much further to the right and maybe up a bit.

You can measure the distance from the lop-left of the bed to its shadow top-left and then use the same distance for the offset of the floating device’s shadow.

9 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Also, the rectangular shadow tapers unrealistically, I think.

If the image is from real life then the pool could be changing depth across its length, which could account for the ‘taper’ (I think).

Maybe the size of the shadow of the floating device needs to have this taken into mind also.

[David in Яuislip]

38 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I would say that the offset of the shadow should be about the same for the device as it is for the air bed

Yep, so would I

So I had a quick go and it looks pretty ropey

[thomaso]

36 minutes ago, David in Яuislip said:

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

I would say that the offset of the shadow should be about the same for the device as it is for the air bed

Yep, so would I

So I had a quick go and it looks pretty ropey

The head/left edge/corners of the airbed is probably more above the water level than the round objects edge. Means, the different object heights may get considered too (and e.g. move the shadow of the round object a bit closer to it.) (... compare the shadow of the hat)

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, GarryP said:

I would say that the offset of the shadow should be about the same for the device as it is for the air bed....

But if the depth of the pool is not the same below both items I think the shadow offsets would not be either....

[David in Яuislip]

2 hours ago, thomaso said:

compare the shadow of the hat

Yes, umbra, penumbra and twaddle, twaddle being my second choice