Adding realistic clouds to sky or rendering

Timothy Saunders · April 27th, 2006

Here's a quick photoshop fix I figured out because I wanted clouds in the reflection image I was using in my scene.

1. First I start with the original image. blue sky.jpg
2. Then I stretched thesky so I would have more sky in the reflection. This can be done a number of ways. I just added the color, then used the healing tool to smooth it out. blue sky-taller.jpg
3. Now find a sky image that has some good contrast such as this one that is offered for free by 3dallusions.com 3D Allusions - ReMOSitory sky_020.jpg
4. Now, to copy only the clouds into your image, in the sky image, push ctrl+L (levels). Now if you click the bottom left ink dropper (set black point) then click on the darker areas of your sky image. You will notice the blue in the sky turns black. If some areas are still pretty blue, click one more time in a blue area with the black dropper. Your result should look something like this. sky_020black.jpg
5. Now push ctrl+a (to select all) then ctrl+c (to copy), then in the channels palette create a new channel. Now push ctrl+v (to paste the black sky as a channel).
6. Now on the bottom of the channels palette, click the dotted circle which is the "load channel as selection" button. You will notice the imagenow has some areas selected. It may look like it isn't selecting everything you want it to, but it is. Click back on RGB channel, then drag the selection with the move tool on to your original image.
7. Adjust the whiteness in the hue and saturation adjuster (ctrl+u). Adjust the size of the clouds (ctrl+t). If you need the clouds stronger or more opaque, then duplicate the layer. sky-fixed.jpg

This should work on pretty much any sky.

Please note, the imags I attached to this tutorial are downsized for the forum standards and not the original image size. You will want to find your own images to use in your renderings

Timothy Saunders · April 27th, 2006

Here is a rendering with the same concept applied to get a foggy look.

TheAllusionist · April 27th, 2006

Nice one Timothy and good luck in the AVC! I was also wondering if anyone has used the Aurora plugin which is intended for this type of operation: Aurora

Of course Tim's method is completely free

Geoff · April 28th, 2006

Cool, I'll be using that.
Thanks for the tip
Geoff

Chris Potts · April 28th, 2006

Look useful tips...I alway took photo of sky or download from website then slap into background sky using by Photoshop but I never thought of that...I will try use your tip

Cheer, Thank for Tips....

antonio_frias · April 28th, 2006

I tried that out and it works great! Thanks

pBarrelas · April 30th, 2006

Nice tip!! Thanks for sharing mate!!

3DSMaxresources · July 2nd, 2008

Thanks man for sharing the trick to all.

redzuan3828 · August 14th, 2008

Thank alot Timothy Saunders
I can image to use this tip on other things
very usefull.

Thank again

Claudio Branch · August 18th, 2008

If you compare the underside of the clouds in the third image with the final image, you will notice that you are losing the dark gray shadows.

I am seeing the color of the sky behind the cloud where the original shadow was. This does not look correct.

Thoughts?

April 27th, 2006	#3 (permalink)
TheAllusionist Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 409 Name: Russell Thomas	Re: Adding realistic clouds to sky or rendering Nice one Timothy and good luck in the AVC! I was also wondering if anyone has used the Aurora plugin which is intended for this type of operation: Aurora Of course Tim's method is completely free __________________ The Opinions Expressed Here Do Not Necessarily Reflect Those of a Rational Mind. 3DAllusions \| 3DAllusions Studio \| MrMaterials

April 28th, 2006	#4 (permalink)
Geoff Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Eastbourne, UK Age: 36 Posts: 110 Name: Geoffrey Packer	Re: Adding realistic clouds to sky or rendering Cool, I'll be using that. Thanks for the tip Geoff

April 28th, 2006	#5 (permalink)
Chris Potts Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: York Age: 31 Posts: 135 Name: Chris Potts	Re: Adding realistic clouds to sky or rendering Look useful tips...I alway took photo of sky or download from website then slap into background sky using by Photoshop but I never thought of that...I will try use your tip Cheer, Thank for Tips....

April 28th, 2006	#6 (permalink)
antonio_frias Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: France Age: 39 Posts: 287 Name: Anthony Miguel De Frias	Re: Adding realistic clouds to sky or rendering I tried that out and it works great! Thanks

April 30th, 2006	#7 (permalink)
pBarrelas Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Portugal Age: 34 Posts: 11 Name: Paulo Barrelas	Re: Adding realistic clouds to sky or rendering Nice tip!! Thanks for sharing mate!! __________________ "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein

July 2nd, 2008	#8 (permalink)
3DSMaxresources Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Guntur Posts: 13 Name: Gurijala Srinivas	Re: Adding realistic clouds to sky or rendering Thanks man for sharing the trick to all. __________________ 3dsMaxResources.com \| CGOnlineTutorials.com \| PhotoshopOnlineTutorials.com

August 14th, 2008	#9 (permalink)
redzuan3828 Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Malaysia Age: 27 Posts: 97 Name: Redzuan Ayub	Re: Adding realistic clouds to sky or rendering Thank alot Timothy Saunders I can image to use this tip on other things very usefull. Thank again __________________ sorry if my english very hard to understand

August 18th, 2008	#10 (permalink)
Claudio Branch Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Arlington, Texas Age: 43 Posts: 864 Name: Claudio Branch	Re: Adding realistic clouds to sky or rendering If you compare the underside of the clouds in the third image with the final image, you will notice that you are losing the dark gray shadows. I am seeing the color of the sky behind the cloud where the original shadow was. This does not look correct. Thoughts?

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