80 Responses to “White Seamless Questions :: Part 1 (Video)”

1. Chris, on June 27th, 2008 at 9:53 am Said:

   I LOLd when you gave the corresponding PC shortcut. Thanks for that, and thanks for this phenomenal series of tutorials. Please do more!!

   -Chris

2. Jeff, on June 27th, 2008 at 10:16 am Said:

   I like blip.tv better as a player than youtube b/c the quality seems a ton better. Good video too btw!

3. Induk Han, on June 27th, 2008 at 10:21 am Said:

   That’s Perfect!

4. Kurt Damron, on June 27th, 2008 at 10:27 am Said:

   I don’t know much about Blip, but I’ve been on Vimeo for a while now. It rules over YouTube for several reasons. It will allow you to upload widescreen in full HD. That’s right, HD. And it plays back in HD. There are all sorts of other cool things about it, too.

5. Jason, on June 27th, 2008 at 10:47 am Said:

   Zack,
   Great tutorials – I really like the video and I like blip.tv very nice to see all of the screen.

   Keep up the great work…BTW when are you coming to Phoenix to hold a workshop?

6. Wes, on June 27th, 2008 at 11:04 am Said:

   Thank you so much for what you are doing. This is a great help to me. Looking forward to the DVD.

7. Nathan Hulse, on June 27th, 2008 at 11:18 am Said:

   Great, I’d already tried the crop tool method. but corrected the whites with slight levels adjustment. Now O know an easy method. Thanks.

8. Samantha Spears, on June 27th, 2008 at 11:18 am Said:

   This is great! I just shot some white seamless yesterday and I can save a LOT of time with these shortcuts over clipping masks.

9. Dean, on June 27th, 2008 at 11:22 am Said:

   Once again, nice job! i reeaally like to see the shot right out of the camera. Then all the post work. Makes me feel like I have a fighting chance. Love the dodge and multiply tricks.

10. Mart, on June 27th, 2008 at 11:30 am Said:

    WOW, thanks, even more to try now!

11. Shawn Cartagena (remember it), on June 27th, 2008 at 11:32 am Said:

    Ok Chief Love what your doing. I don’t know how involved you are with Dave Cross and the gang but to me I hold you right up there if not higher than a lot of the greats.

    Your passion eminates.

    Oh yeah wife kicked me in the arse for rushing out and pissing away$$$$$ to play like you.( White seemless, Background stand, additional Hensel head)I still need more toys and studio but still making due with what I have and still playing.
    Can’t get enough of what your doing.
    You got it so Keep on Keeping on.
    S.

12. Khara Plicanic, on June 27th, 2008 at 1:13 pm Said:

    Love it! What screen capture software is that? The green ‘click’ circles are fab.

    Looking forward to your workshop in KC!

13. Chris, on June 27th, 2008 at 1:24 pm Said:

    @Khara Plicanic

    ZA’s using ISHowU (http://www.shinywhitebox.com/home/home.html) for the screencasting. I’ve just started using in for work, myself, and I have to say it is very easy to use. It’s a $20 piece of software for the Mac. If you need something cross-platform and/or currently free, I’d suggest Jing (http://www.jingproject.com/). It saves files as .swf, and you can pull the embed code without alot of headache.

    Cheers,
    Chris

14. Alan B., on June 27th, 2008 at 1:39 pm Said:

    Dude! That was awesome! Thanks for sharing this info. The video quality was great too.

15. Trey, on June 27th, 2008 at 2:19 pm Said:

    fantastic work Zack!

    i just did a big test yesterday and your tutorial was referenced no fewer than 27 times. we were scratching our heads over the floor issue – i just couldn’t get it to go perfectly white in camera & spent time last night wondering how you do it…

    …turns out, you did it the same as me.

    you are awesome & i gave you a shout out on my blog. thanks for the inspiration.

16. Stuart Allen, on June 27th, 2008 at 2:57 pm Said:

    great video… I tried the PC shortcut for dodge and it didn’t work, guess it was user error

    thanks for the really easy to understand explanations on how to touch up white seamless. great video and now I know about blip as well.

17. zack, on June 27th, 2008 at 3:38 pm Said:

    @Chris – Yep, you are correct. I used iShowU for the screen capture. Its a great program. I also used their other product, Stomp, to compress the video for web. It brought the original 804 MB file down to 54 MB.

    Thanks for the shouts on the blogs!

    Cheers,
    Zack

18. Ian, on June 27th, 2008 at 4:08 pm Said:

    Love the video quality, and great tips. I use the same technique daily to get previews ready for our portrait customers.

    I made it into an action, so you hit go and it brings up a levels layer pushing the midtones so you can see dark areas, then leaves this layer on top of the background but selects the background layer again, then selects the dodge tool set to the right presets. Then you can dodge away any dark areas on the bg whilst still having the levels layer on showing where they are. Once your done you just delete the levels layer!

    Nothing revolutionary but I find it helps me.

    Cheers,

    Ian

19. Michael Tissington, on June 27th, 2008 at 4:18 pm Said:

    Great video – thanks mucho!

20. Martin from Hamburg, on June 27th, 2008 at 7:12 pm Said:

    Nice! Thanks for sharing this great video

    Greets from Hamburg,
    Martin

21. squilky, on June 27th, 2008 at 8:01 pm Said:

    I got the gradient portion to work, but for the life of me, I couldn’t get the part where you select with the marquis tool and hit delete to replace the areas that aren’t pure white with pure white. Anyone else have this problem?

22. D_2, on June 27th, 2008 at 8:04 pm Said:

    Dang…that was the bomb diggity

    I’m pretty sharp with Photoshop but never gave much thought to manipulating my composition by utilizing the rectangular marquee and dragging to make new compositions.

    Excellent…many many thanks Zack

23. zack, on June 27th, 2008 at 9:46 pm Said:

    Squilky – Is the photo you are working on a locked background layer?

    Cheers,
    Zack

24. peter bang, on June 27th, 2008 at 10:15 pm Said:

    Great Stuff man. I also use blip and I like it that it’s clean and converts it to flash.

25. Bliss, on June 28th, 2008 at 2:54 am Said:

    Great quality, and the contents… OMG, that’s awesome!! Thanks a lot, Zack

26. Stuart Allen, on June 28th, 2008 at 6:05 am Said:

    Zack,

    One more question regarding the screencast. Did you record it at the true resolution of your desktop then reduce it in the conversion?

27. matt miller, on June 28th, 2008 at 12:01 pm Said:

    freakin killing it zack. thanks for opening up your bag of tricks!!!!

28. zack, on June 28th, 2008 at 2:01 pm Said:

    Hey Stuart,
    I did capture at my full screen resolution (1920×1200). Then I used Stomp to compress it for blip.tv. iShowU has a lot of capture options. You can even capture at 1080 HD levels. Just hope you have enough room on your hard drive to handle it!

    Cheers,
    Zack

29. Brentv, on June 28th, 2008 at 4:21 pm Said:

    Zach, Great tutorial. Next time please turn up the Dr Dre Chronic Instrumental up a touch!

30. Levi Ely, on June 28th, 2008 at 5:23 pm Said:

    I about peed my my pants when you told PC users to hit control+alt+delete as a short cut to unlock the background layer. I don’t know If I enjoy the commentary or the actual tutorials more.

    Thanks,
    Levi

31. John, on June 30th, 2008 at 3:30 am Said:

    Zack, thanks for a great set of tutorials. The video was first rate as good as i have seen any where. Please please do more. A tutorial on light ratios balancing ambient with flash and how to meter would be great. Your blog is fantastic thanks for sharing the information and taking the time.

32. jimmy douglas, on June 30th, 2008 at 1:02 pm Said:

    Hey Zack,
    Really loved the tutorials – and blip.tv ROCKS with the full screen.
    I was really amazed the way you used the (for lack of a better term) the reverse crop tool. I never realized you could extend the boarders of a photo that way. So much easier then changing the canvas size.

    Thanks,
    Jimmy

33. Ed Bush, on June 30th, 2008 at 3:16 pm Said:

    I wanted to say thanks for a great tutorial. I went out and picked up all the stuff a few weeks ago when I first saw the posting. Tried and tried but kept having the less than white foreground and was beating my head against the wall trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Now all the pictures I shot I will go back and quickly fix. This was a great vid thanks again.

34. Jeremy, on June 30th, 2008 at 6:56 pm Said:

    Awesome!

    I thought I was doing something “wrong” still, since I had a little clean up to do (although after adding the tile board and a 2nd bg light, post work dropped a ton).

    I was still left wondering if my floor area around the subject should be coming out of the camera better. Since that area is basically being lit by the same light/lights as the subject, I guess that’s what you work with and PP it later. Glad to see I wasn’t totally off!

35. wale, on June 30th, 2008 at 7:40 pm Said:

    thank you so much!! this is incredible. i really can’t wait for your DVD.

    blip looks good.

36. David Burke, on July 1st, 2008 at 6:55 am Said:

    Blip.tv is awesome. The quality and lack of clutter rules. iShowU is great too, I am going to try Stomp as well.

    Thanks for this great tutorial. You are such a Giver dude!

    David

37. Jim, on July 2nd, 2008 at 4:08 am Said:

    Awesome vids and tips all around.
    I’m wondering if you have any ideas on a more portable solution for the tile board.

    I thought about simply cutting a piece, but I worry about seams and the pieces sliding apart and making someone fall.

    I wonder if there is a roll or something or other that would reflect just as well, but be more easily transported for location shoots.

    Best,
    jim

38. zack, on July 2nd, 2008 at 6:54 pm Said:

    I think vinyl is the portable option although I have yet to find the perfect vinyl that doesn’t have some sort of pattern placed in it.

    Cheers,
    Zack

39. Jim, on July 3rd, 2008 at 3:47 am Said:

    Hmmm, I saw a clip where someone uses the back of vinyl as a white backdrop that is durable and paintable. . . Just maybe, I could make it work if I can keep it from flaking. When rolled up. . .

40. Suellen, on July 10th, 2008 at 6:41 am Said:

    OHG!! Thank you so much for these tutorials! You make it so easy to understand. The only other person I’ve found that can make the complicated seem easy is Scott Kelby. You rock!!

41. Peter, on July 13th, 2008 at 9:30 am Said:

    Nice video!

    Just an additional little tip: If you want to use a background that is not really white in the area where the subject is going to be, you can use the “blend if” sliders in the layer blending options of the subject layer instead of switching it to multiply mode as you demonstrated.

    Just double click the layer with the subject on white and drag the white slider under “this layer” to the left. This drops out all the white. If you hold down the option key while dragging, you can split the white slider in two, which gives you a softer transition.

42. Mark, on August 4th, 2008 at 7:24 pm Said:

    Thanks for this detailed instruction on the white seamless. You are a savior. This has helped my high key tremendously. THANKS!!!!!

43. michaeldrager, on August 5th, 2008 at 12:32 pm Said:

    Thanks so much for the time you invest in making us better photographers and more importantly better people.

    You are appreciated my friend!

    michael

44. Phil Monk, on August 11th, 2008 at 11:51 am Said:

    Just a note to say thanks for the white seamless info… just used it for work, very very cool. Best to you for sharing w/ other.

    Kindergarten musta been a breeze 4u.

45. chi, on August 18th, 2008 at 2:35 pm Said:

    all tutorials should be video for us who cant read. Thanks

46. ML Photography, on August 20th, 2008 at 5:29 pm Said:

    Thanks a ton for these tutorials! They have greatly reduced my learning curve and efficiency.

    Sincerely,
    Mckay

47. Tricia, on August 23rd, 2008 at 1:28 pm Said:

    Thank you SO much for generously sharing all of this information with us! It is greatly appreciated!

48. ale, on August 29th, 2008 at 10:15 am Said:

    Awesome!!!
    THANK YOU
    THANK YOU
    THANK YOU!!!!

49. Carl Weaver, on September 1st, 2008 at 7:30 pm Said:

    This was a great video. Very informative and interesting.

    Blip.tv is awesome. I use it almost exclusively for my videos. Tried others but none really compare to Blip.tv.

    Thanks for the tips!

50. Neil Cowley, on September 2nd, 2008 at 10:15 am Said:

    that’s a fat high-res look, are they hosting Hi-Def? I’ve switched to Vimeo cause they’ll host hi-def….but that’s really sharp too

51. Noel, on September 23rd, 2008 at 1:04 pm Said:

    ¡Muchas Gracias!

    My isolated micro-stock images are at 100% acceptance since employing your technique!

52. Serge, on October 1st, 2008 at 3:59 am Said:

    This is an awseome tutorial! I used another technique for whitening backgrounds, but yours is much faster and easier. Why have I never thought of this?

53. Faze One Studio, on October 1st, 2008 at 7:59 am Said:

    Really interesting, i just thought it was a bit redundant that you repeated \the tut , when i could have watched it again…..lol

54. Mario Monti, on October 4th, 2008 at 8:33 am Said:

    Thank you.

    I’m a PC user, but I still find your Ctrl-Alt-Del comment funny…

    -Mario

55. danny, on November 21st, 2008 at 7:11 am Said:

    zach im gona call u that now after seing that video lol

    Realy good work there mate i never thought of that before with the crop idea.

    also you mention tileboard what is that and where do i get it?

56. Samantha, on January 4th, 2009 at 6:19 pm Said:

    LMFAO at your Bob Ross reference!

    Thanks for the video. It was very informative.

57. Bookmarks for Enero 20th from 11:31 to 11:55 | FACIL TUTORIALES, on January 20th, 2009 at 4:04 am Said:

    [...] Zack Arias – Atlanta based editorial music photographer " White Seamless Questions :: Part 1 (V… – [...]

58. Bookmarks for Febrero 14th from 05:37 to 23:56 | FACIL TUTORIALES, on February 14th, 2009 at 4:05 pm Said:

    [...] Zack Arias – Atlanta based editorial music photographer " White Seamless Questions :: Part 1 (V… – [...]

59. David Clark, on February 18th, 2009 at 8:58 am Said:

    Zack you are the man i swear to goodness.

60. Dale, on February 18th, 2009 at 11:24 am Said:

    The Video seems to have been replaced with a different video. It was there yesterday but it’s a different video today. I enjoyed it so much I wanted to play it again.

61. zack, on February 18th, 2009 at 1:33 pm Said:

    I uploaded a new video to blip today and it replaced this one. I’ve now fixed the embed code.

    Cheers,
    Zack

62. Mark, on February 20th, 2009 at 9:56 am Said:

    Is there going to be a part 2?

63. Jim, on February 25th, 2009 at 9:47 pm Said:

    Very good info Zack. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us. You make it look too easy.

64. Melli, on February 28th, 2009 at 5:15 am Said:

    This was a very helpful video! Thank you!

65. jjp, on March 22nd, 2009 at 3:21 pm Said:

    this whole set of white seamless tutorials is awesome — i’ll be going back and rereading/watching many more times.

    one nice tip to add:
    for those who like to work non-destructively, you can do the dodge/burn on a separate layer. hold option and click on New Layer (layers palette), then set the blending mode to Overlay and check the “Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray)” box.
    from there it’s the same as what you’ve done, except using the Paintbrush instead of the Dodge tool (white to dodge, black to burn).
    this also works using Soft Light mode, with slightly gentler effects.

66. Stefanos, on March 26th, 2009 at 9:13 am Said:

    You are an constant inspiration and i ‘d like to thank you for this.

    Stefanos.

67. JimA, on April 18th, 2009 at 12:33 pm Said:

    That was great. Thank you.

68. anita, on April 25th, 2009 at 4:57 am Said:

    I have been up since 6am this morning looking at your stuff, i have hit the mother load you are great! i have been tempted to call you at 6:30 am to ask you questions (im real eager to learn) i live in a small town of moultrie ga. and i am tring hard to be the best i can in photography but with little money and four kids its hard to get the stuff i need. can i use a halogen light(s) (worker light from hd) for the lighting or do i really need the strobe lights? and how do you keep the seam from showing up on the tile boards? Im just learning so some photography terms are forein to me. and could you post more links on were we could get some of these things that you say we need please. i know, im needy. sorry

69. KeenB, on May 7th, 2009 at 11:30 pm Said:

    Great post-processing technique. I learned a lot just watching your video. I’m a big fan of your shots. Hopefully I’d get to pick up a nice white seamless backdrop soon and try out more full body length shots. Thanks again!

70. wade, on May 23rd, 2009 at 10:40 am Said:

    how can i changed my white background to a solid color?

71. zack, on May 24th, 2009 at 12:28 am Said:

    @wade – Instead of making a gradient, make the bottom layer the solid color you want. You will just need to then make a layer mask on it to paint out the area affecting your subject.

72. Sheri Johnson, on June 8th, 2009 at 4:31 pm Said:

    this video is awesome. it stopped playing at a certain point, but it’s still good stuff.

73. Little, on August 2nd, 2009 at 3:01 am Said:

    what’s the name of the song in the background? I love it!

74. Craig Allen Photography » New White Seamless Background & Photoshop Actions, on August 2nd, 2009 at 3:15 pm Said:

    [...] images shot on white seamless.  I based this action from information Zack presented in his  White Seamless Questions :: Part 1 [...]

75. Wayne, on September 16th, 2009 at 8:47 am Said:

    That clean up tip with the dodge tool is too awesome. I have spent days laboring over those very details in my on-white shots ….. THANKS!!

76. Rhonda, on October 23rd, 2009 at 11:00 am Said:

    I really enjoy your helps…the videos especially. I have been watching and reading on getting a seamless white background.

77. Todd, on November 4th, 2009 at 11:32 am Said:

    Man I don’t know what I’d do without my dodge tool…I need to pick up some tile boards. I only own one strobe, but even with just that I can do a lot. Using a white shower curtain tacked as a ghetto-fabulous backdrop, head and shoulders type shots over white are coming out great. Having a decent past as a graphic designer I’m good with the pen tool, but the pen tool isn’t as fun or as easy as the dodge tool for these types of isolations.

78. Eric Codrington, on December 20th, 2009 at 9:19 pm Said:

    That was a great video! I learned so much. Now I’m off to practice on my sister. Thank you for sharing.

79. Kris, on December 25th, 2009 at 2:02 am Said:

    Zack,
    This tutorial is the best I’ve seen so far (and I have seen a lot!)! I’ve learned so much simple things. Before the tutorial I used much more difficult things to have the same result. No I can spend more time with the kids! Thanks!

80. Photographer Post Production – White Seamless Tutorial | Alabama Portrait Photographer - Jerrell Terrell, on January 25th, 2010 at 7:18 am Said:

    [...] part tutorial that walks you through shooting on a white seamless or cyc wall. You can find it at Zack Arias’s blog under  the “technique” [...]

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