Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Posted on January 18th, 2009 under Photo Effect

In this tutorial, I will show you the processes I used to transform an avarage day photo into a really nice golden sunset scene in Photoshop. This tutorial is inspired by this magnificant work from the Ubisoft game Fry Cry 2.

Together we will explore techniques such as layer blending, image adjustments, non-destructive photo editing, use of pen tool and various image filters. It’s an easy tutorial, have a go!

Meanwhile, if you would like to find some more info about non-destructive photo editing, I have another post here:

Bring Colour and Light out of Ordinary Image

Or if you would like to find out some basic info about Pen Tool, I have another post here.

Here is a before and after preview of this tutorial:

Before

before 500x375 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

After

sunset scene final 2 500x375 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

An alternative Version

sunset scene 4 500x375 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

OK let’s get started!

Step 1

Download a copy of this image and load it into Photoshop. Duplicate the background layer Three Times as shown below:

1 duplicate1 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Change the layer blending option for “Background copy”, “Background copy 2″, “Background copy 3″ accordingly:

“Background copy” – Overlay

“Background copy” – Hard Light

“Background copy” – Color

And you will have the following image:

2 effect 2 499x375 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Step 2

Duplicate the Background once more and drag the duplicated layer on top of all other previous layers, apply the following Surfuce Blur settings to it:

3 surface Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Change the layer blending of this layer to “Screen” – this will add a glowing effect to the image.

3 effect4 500x371 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Step 3

Now we will seperate the sky bit from rest of the image so that we could edit it without affecting other part of the image.

To do this, hide all previously duplicate layers and go back to the background layer, use the Pen Tool to create a path around the sky portion of the image:

Then right-click and choose Make Selection, choose 0 px feather and this will transform the path into a selection:

3 make sel 500x188 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Then hit Ctrl + J to make a layer via copy, name it as “Sky” and Drag it above all other layers. (Optional: you can use the Clone Stamp Tool to refine the edges of the sky so it fits better with the landscape.)

Apply the following Channel Mixer image adjustment to the “Sky” layer:

3 channel mixer Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

And the effect so far will look like this:

3 effect 2 500x375 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Step 4

Now duplicate the “Sky” layer once, apply the following Gaussian Blur settings to the duplicate layer:

4 gaussian1 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Change the layer blending option to “Overlay” and this will add some extra softness to the cloud:

4 cloud 500x199 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Duplicate the “Sky” layer once more and drag this dupcliate layer on top of all other layers, load the selection of this layer by holding down Ctrl key + Left-click the thumbnail of this layer within the layer palette, fill it with colour shown below:

4 fill 500x373 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Change the layer blending mode to “color” and you will have the following effect:

4 effect4 500x164 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Step 5

Now we add some colour for the grass and the landscape as well. To do this, create a Gradient Map on top of all layers:

5 gradient map Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

and apply the following settings:

5 gradient map 2 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Change the layer blending mode of this adjustment layer to “Soft Light” and opacity to 80%. And you will have the following effect:

5 effect4 500x346 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Step 6

If you would like to add some more lighting and reduce the amount of the brightness of the sky a bit, you can go back to the origianl “Sky” layer, use the Eraser Tool with a big round brush and 0% hardness, erase to the parts you want:

6 eraser 499x283 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Here is the effect so far:

6 effect4 500x373 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

Ok that’s it for this tutorial! The rest is again left upon your own creativity :)

Below is my final image for this tutorial: (Click to Enlarge)

sunset scene final 2 500x375 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

An alternative version:

If you have any questions, just drop me a comment :)

Cheers and have a nice day!

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http://www.photoshoplady.com/forums/photo-editing-tutorials/214-render-far-cry-2-inspired-golden-sunset-scene-photoshop.html#post770 Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop – Photoshop Lady Forums

[...] preview of this tutorial: Before After Alternative Version: You can access this tutorial here. Thanks very much and have a nice day! PSD Vault – My Online Photoshop Resource Site My [...]
Smoq

awesome effect, and nice tut.
but i would welcome it if you would explain “the rest is upon your creativity” ;)
cause your second photo looks best!
http://hitutorial.co.cc/?p=227 Hitutorial » Blog Archive » Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop

[...] http://www.psdvault.com/photo-effect/render-a-far-cry-2-inspired-golden-sunset-scene-in-photoshop/ Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a [...]
http://2000ah.blogspot.com/ Edward

Loove IIIt
http://www.yellowseo.com Yellow SEO

James, Thanks for the tutorial, Very nice overlay and layering effects the end product comes out very clean.
Ashley_A

Wow! gotta love photoshop!
http://iran-ps.com EndGrafix

Hi…
Thanks for Tutorial
But I Need FraCry Text Effect..
Help Me Please…
http://www.elcoes.com/ Dirnov

Hi there,
Great job. But not enought info. Where can i read more?

Have a nice day
Dirnov
http://photoplustutorials.blogspot.com/ Pradip Chowdhury

Very good tutorial
http://www.uprinting.com/Business-Cards.html Business Cards

This was a nice tutorial. I’ve seen some of your better works though. Still a fun and informative tut nonetheless. Thanks for sharing this! Keep up the good work!
Rich Tinker

nice colloorsss ooeh shiney
http://www.youtube.com/clancy30 sam

your work is amazing ,i wanted to follow your steps but as a beginer in photoshop you have one thing is missing for people like me ,your steps is not clear you dont name the layer i cdont know what layer you talking about and you dont show the steps of applying the effect ,you just say do this and that i love your work but please help us navigate around the tools step by step would be great .
admin

@sam: thanks for your comment :) Although I’m not new to Photoshop however I’m very new to tutorial writing. I’m constantly trying to improve the quality of my tutorial each time and hopefully that would be sufficient.
http://www.youtube.com/clancy30 sam

sorry for the misunderstaning i meant me iam the beginer,
your website is the only website i added to my fav , the farcry tutorial is the one where i dont know how to apply cartain effects and i did not know nor understood how to do the effects thats all but for future tutorials cuse i love to do photo effects if you can show the steps . i do after effects and i learned it from my friend andrew kramer videocopilot.net http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2009/03/more-frame-grabs/
thats me working with him on a new product anyway you are my next teacher now:)
admin

@sam: some of the tutorials I have here are for intermediate – advance users and it will be difficult for a beginner to get a grip. I would suggest you read the basics of Photoshop (Tools, layer effect) via some beginner site, or try out some other easier tuts here on psdvault.com. (I have a tag called “beginner” attached to those tutorials)
http://www.miraztutorials.com huwaw69

Great image manipulation great for some other images i’m gonna use
http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-blog/2009/06/08/30-fascinating-video-game-inspired-photoshop-tutorials-and-brushes/ 30 Fascinating Video Game Inspired Photoshop Tutorials and Brushes

[...] Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop [...]
Ana

Great Tutorial!
Your site is an inspiration for me being a beginner in photoshop. Just want to know how did you change the grass color to gray at the bottom and also the sky.
Thanks!!
http://workathometomakemoney.net/ jay @ work at home

WOW! These renders of Far Cry is really amazing. I can tell you took your time on these.
http://proeex.com Proeex

great!

thanks a lot!
http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/www.psdvault.com/photo-effect/render-a-far-cry-2-inspired-golden-sunset-scene-in-photoshop/ uberVU – social comments

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taryarL

i love this one too
great effect
how’s about ur alternative version?
how did u do that?
http://www.webdesign-creative.com/35-photo-editing-tutorials-for-photoshop/ 35+ Photo Editing Tutorials for Photoshop

[...] Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop [...]
http://www.upsu.net/marketingblog/2009/12/35-photo-editing-tutorials/ 35 Photo Editing Tutorials « UPSU Marketing

[...] Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop [...]
tibet

great job!
a very inspiring tutorial, i like it!
would you like to try another one , similar to far cry design?
i´d like to make it by myself, but i have to learn alot.
is there any way how to create like f.c. characters with your eg.friend´s pic?
best of luck
http://mahfuzweb20.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/35-photo-editing-tutorials-for-photoshop/ 35+ Photo Editing Tutorials for Photoshop « The mAHFUz's Diary

[...] Render a Far Cry 2 Inspired Golden Sunset Scene in Photoshop [...]
http://www.mangoprojects.com mango

Thanks James, Simple yet effective tutorial
ZonariAn

Here is my outcome from this tutorial…I actually made this back when I was still huge into Farcry 2 and played it frequently, about a year ago. I just sifted through tons of abandoned photoshop projects and this was in there:

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/1696/dogon.png
http://fotostudia.net/zolotoj-zakat/ ФОТО СТУДИЯ » Золотой закат

[...] Перевод: Иванов Михаил. Ссылка на источник [...]
http://Website Bas

Hey man,
amazing tutorial. Still don’t get it, how did you create the last “alternative” version? Seems so you added a gradient map to it, with a lower opacity am I right?

The link to the far 2 cry pic is also a nice example to create. That kind of matte painting that belongs to experienced level :-)
http://No Murali

Hai……..Excellent…………….
http://Website Daniel Boakye

This tutorial is very clinical and nice