⚜ How To: Edit Realistic Sims pt. 2 ⚜

Hey there and welcome to a detailed blog post about realistic sims :)

In this part I will discuss two different editing styles I use, both very beautiful, both realistic.

In part 1 we talked about everything you need to know BEFORE taking your screenshots in CAS, so if you haven't seen that one the link is here:

Create Realistic Sims Pt. 1

WARNING: LONG POST.

I usually call these styles ‘’Hard Light’’ editing and ‘’Softlight’’ editing. If you’re familiar with Photoshop you should know what I’m referring to, but for those who don’t know here’s a quick definition:

Hard Light is solid light

(When ordinary light seems to have (or really does have) actual substance),

while softlight is not

(it comes from a light source; like a lamp).

These two are blending options often used in Photoshop. Now, we don’t actually use these two blending options while editing in these styles. I know, weird right?

But the reason why I call it that, is because they do look like they have been edited with these options. Again, if you use photoshop frequently you’ll know what I’m talking about.

This is, in short, what I use to edit in both these styles:

Hardlight:

Dodge tool

Burn tool

Paint brush 2px - white

Dark background

Smudge Tool

Sharpen/Blur tool

Softlight:

Paint brush - black/brown

Skin brushes

Dodge tool

Blur Tool

Smudge Tool

Light background

The main difference between the two is how I make the shadows. With hard light I use the burn tool A LOT, which results in more ‘vibrant’ shadows. With softlight I use many, many layers of black paint which is why those shadows come out more ‘grey’ or less vibrant.

So with that in mind, which one of these two do you think is hard light and which one is softlight?

The one with the light background, my sim BK, is softlight. The dark background, my new sim who has no name yet but seriously needs one because he’s so freakin handsome (he now has a name: Clyde), is hardlight.

How do I determine which one to use?

Hardlight usually creates a perfect image, as if it’s digital art. The contrast is fairly high which makes it look like an enhanced version of a real person.

Softlight on the other hand (other than taking a lot more time) is more natural looking. It achieves the goal of a normally taken picture of a person.

I really like both styles and depending on what competition I’m in I’ll decide which one I’m going for. But personally, if I were to edit a screenshot just for fun, I’d go with softlight. I do feel that softlight is more rewarding, it takes a lot more time to make it look perfect/realistic and does require more knowledge and skill regarding to natural lighting and drawing.

Now, there is actually a very thin line when it comes to what is what. Like, when is something hard light and when is something softlight? I often also use them together making my edits a mix between the two. I mean, look at this example:

Here I HAD to mix these styles. Some highlights are definitely hard light (like the on his nose and around his mouth) but the on the cheeks the highlights was created using light pink paint and abskin brush. With the shadows I had to mix in some black, blue and even pink paint to make it look good. I did use the burn tool around his eyes and nose, but If I had JUST used the burn tool, this pic would’ve looked a whole lot different! The shadows would have been a lot darker (for example: around the cheeks and jaw) and the color would’ve mismatched the entire color palette.

With the next one I did the same thing: hard highlights, softer shadows (around her face, not talking about the hair and mask.)

I just want to say, there’s no such thing as ‘rules’ that you strictly have to follow. It’s more an idea or feeling to achieve what you want your pic to look like.

But, you know, talking about them rules… if you were to follow them..

Softlight:

No white lines/highlights

No burn tool for shadows

No black

Skin+hair brushes

Hardlight:

Opaque white highlights with paint brush + dodge tool

Vibrant skin colors

Mostly very dark/black shadows

Default or smooth brushes

A huge difference also with these two styles are the eyes. They both have various things to pay attention to depending on either style.  I won’t say too much about it since we’ll be making these in photoshop later on, but here you can see both styles side by side:

Now that you know all this I think you’re ready to work with it in photoshop. I have to make that a separate blog otherwise this one would be way too long. So hopefully I'll see you in the next part :two_hearts:

#tutorial

#photoshop

#realistic