Digital make-up

Granddad · Jan 6, 2018

I've been a fan of Portrait Pro for a while and have used it a fair bit but I'd never seriously tested out the make-up feature until earlier this week. I managed to persuade SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED to let me shoot her without her face paint so I could give it a shot. I didn't set up my backdrop so apologies for the trim on the closet door that cuts into her head. This was a "Just for fun" experiment so here's where it belongs. I don't think I used any of the program's features except the make-up sliders... although I may have given her a touch of "smokey eyes" and possibly a smidgeon of iris brightening (memory issues!). I deliberately avoided all the skin smoothing and face sculpt sliders. I'm quite pleased and I probably took less time to do this than a MUA would to get similar results.

Note: I'm not impressed with the eyebrow pencil results; they must assume your subject has eyebrows to start with.
Note2: To be fair I'm using an older version of Portrait Pro, PP 15 which is a few years old now, that may have been fixed by now as they're currently on version 17.

Rick50 · Jan 6, 2018

I think it still came out well. Good job....

Braineack · Jan 6, 2018

The problem I have with the make up feature is that it's a different set of lips/eyes they layer over top.

Granddad · Jan 6, 2018

Braineack said:
The problem I have with the make up feature is that it's a different set of lips/eyes they layer over top.

That's so but if you're starting from scratch that's not so noticeable (apart from the eyebrow pencil). If you try it on top of an already heavy make up job it will be a disaster but I've had subjects who wanted glam but had no idea how to do it and no money for an MUA. It's not ideal but it's another tool in the tool bag.

Braineack · Jan 6, 2018

I have the trial, and I've actually been impressed with it -- especially the modeling lighting.

jcdeboever · Jan 6, 2018

Pretty cool

Derrel · Jan 6, 2018

Not too bad, really. I agree, the eyebrows are not that great, but the lip shape and color looks pretty good. I do think I see the iris brightening, which is a tool I use often in Adobe's Lightroom.

As to the original, SOOC lighting setup...I'd be greatly tempted to shoot this with a dual-light setup, with one umbrella or one small softbox on top of the lightstand, and a second one immediately below it, clamped onto the light stand using a Manfrotto clamp-and-spigot setup, so that all the micro-shadows the main light creates are filled in directly below, and the skin looks very smooth and lovely, right out of camera. The classic over/under lighting look.

Granddad · Jan 7, 2018

Derrel said:
Not too bad, really. I agree, the eyebrows are not that great, but the lip shape and color looks pretty good. I do think I see the iris brightening, which is a tool I use often in Adobe's Lightroom.

As to the original, SOOC lighting setup...I'd be greatly tempted to shoot this with a dual-light setup, with one umbrella or one small softbox on top of the lightstand, and a second one immediately below it, clamped onto the light stand using a Manfrotto clamp-and-spigot setup, so that all the micro-shadows the main light creates are filled in directly below, and the skin looks very smooth and lovely, right out of camera. The classic over/under lighting look.

As it was I shot with a Yongnuo 560, on camera, with an ebay flash reflector. I had about 10 minutes - and my studio was relegated to a dining room at Christmas.

Derrel · Jan 7, 2018

Yeah, understood, a quick speedlight type lighting set-up is not the ideal for all subject matter. Anything that could have eliminates the under-nose shadow would have cute the skin wrinkling down by a substantial margin, so something like an under-chin reflector placed just outside of camera range might have made the skin appear smoother n the SOOC file. But still, the two-lights, one right above the other is dynamite to create a super-smooth-skin lighting look, right out of camera.

But, this is a demo of the software's capabilities, and as such, I think the software did a pretty good job of smoothing the skin,and of applying a reasonably realistic-looking lipstick application. Her under-eye eyeliner application looks quite good too! Pretty amazing what software can do these days.