Photoshop and Parallax Effects

 Introduction

As I approach the end of my final Term in DMUIC I want to create a project that is an embodiment of the way I evolved as a student and a media producer and creator. I conducted a lot of software research that I will be showcasing in this post and the ones following.

In this blog post I will be explaining the way I learned about this technique, as well as the way I achieved it and also testings and results. This effect was achieved using photoshop and rendering the file and exporting in mp4 format.

The ideology behind this is simple. You create two layers and then use keyframes to manipulate the movement and scale of the layers as the layers progress.

Once we opened photoshop we choose a picture. In my case I used a photograph I edited a long time ago on Adobe Lightroom and then imported it in Photoshop

After that I used the pen tool to define the area I want to cut and create a new layer

I click on the area I want to cut out and then right click, make selection and finally Command "C".

Once the layer was copied I added a new layer and pressed Command "V" to paste it.

After that I pressed Command click whilst I had selected the background layer and clicked on the new layer with the hand, so that it would me selected. After that I pressed 'Alt' 'Delete" and it oped a page that allowed me to make that layer content aware. I pressed okay and now if I hide the hand layer, my arm would disappear. The reason I did this, was to make the movement with the timeline effect more realistic and I did not want my background to be transparent once the hand started moving.

Once I did that then I had to import it on a new photoshop file. So i clicked on File>New and I added my dimensions to fit the image. I then pressed Shift>click on my layers and drag and dropped them to the blank white page. It is important to make the image fit the template you selected. So I was pressing the command and (-) keys to decrease the size of the template and then I adjusted to to fit the dimensions

I converted both my layers into smart objectives and opened the Timeline effects on the "Window" panel at the top of the screen.

Then we use keyframes in order to establish the way that the layer will increase or decrease in scale. To establish the new scale, I needed to go at the end of the timeline and press Command T to mange the size of the layer at the end of the sequence.

I did this with the background, coins and the wallet.

This is the final look:

How will this inform my work?

Answer: I believe that variety adds more in a project like this, I want to include this technique in my video because I believe it will make the video more professional, as well as more entertaining. It is important to learn new things, whilst we are students, so I found the "Parallax Effect" technique to be great and exciting.

Reflection: By researching this technique, I have unlocked vital skills that helped familiarise myself further with these techniques on photoshop, and cannot wait to add some of this features in my video

Reference List: Make your photos MOVE and COME TO LIFE! Photoshop Tutorial. 2017. [video] Directed by P. McKinnon