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+--- Thread: Missing Opacity Slider in V10 Studio 64 (/showthread.php?tid=835)
Missing Opacity Slider in V10 Studio 64 - Sidnancee - 01-29-2011
Unless I'm missing something, when working in the skin selection area and attempting to extend or cut back I don't see an opacity control. I only see two brush controls: Brush size and Detector size. I do not see an opacity control as in version 9. If I exit the skin selection tool and use the restore or touch up brush then I see a brush opacity control, but then I can't see the highlighted/selected skin area. If the program is supposed to be this way, that's a big problem for me because it creates a difficult two step process to fine tune the skin smoothing enhanements. I used the opacity slider in version 9 to alter the mask and create very natural enhancements.
Please tell me my workflow is wrong, or there's a better way to do this. If this is just a software bug, please fix it soon.
Help...
RE: Missing Opacity Slider in V10 Studio 64 - admin - 01-30-2011
It is meant to be that way. The skin extend and cut back brushes are meant to be for selecting skin or not skin. There isn't such a thing as see through skin, so that's why there's no opacity slider. If you want to tune the amount subtly using the touch up and restore brushes which do have opacity controls, then having a wash over your picture will obscure your results making it difficult to see what you are getting. Does that make sense?
Tony
RE: Missing Opacity Slider in V10 Studio 64 - Sidnancee - 01-31-2011
Not really. I don't think I explained my issue very well. In V9 I was able to fine tune the selection of skin area by using a different opacity with my brush strokes. This allowed me to go right into the skin smoothing controls only one time because I had used more or less density depending on the area of the portrait that needed more or less of an effect. Now, in V10 I have to apply the mask to an area as either an on or off selection process and then use the touch up brush to lessen the effect in specific areas. This seems a bit cumbersome to me. Previously, a typical scenario would be in a portrait where a forehead needed less smoothing than a cheek. In V9 I would reduce the density of the mask on the forehead through brush strokes on the mask. I would make appropriate adjustments using the sliders in the skin control and that was it. Now, those sliders in V10 apply changes to the entire area evenly becuase no gradation is possible in the mask at that point. In order to reduce the effects, I have to include a touch up step to reduce areas needing it by "restoring" an area. In my example, I'd be restoring texture to the forehead.
RE: Missing Opacity Slider in V10 Studio 64 - admin - 01-31-2011
Ah, sorry, I think I can explain it better. What I didn't make clear was how the touch-up brush and the extend brush are kind of the same thing. The touch-up brush allows you to add to areas with an opacity slider. However, when the touchup brush is at 50% opacity it does the same as the extend brush, which is to touchup skin the amount that the sliders are set to. When the opacity is more than 50% it touches up skin more than the sliders say, so you can remove spots even with low slider values. When the opacity is less than 50% it touches up less than the sliders say, so you can have a subtle effect in some areas. You can also build up the amount by going over an area repeatedly. Similarly the restore brush reduces the effect in an area by an amount set by the opacity, and again you can go over an area several times with a low opacity to gradually reduce the effect.
This way if you want to really fine tune an area you can just use the touch up and restore brushes at a low percentage, just like you would have with the extend and cut back brushes. However, the touch-up brush can 'go further' than the extend brush if you wind up the opacity to more than 50%. What you can't do is see the mask at the same time as using the touch-up and restore brushes. Which we think isn't necessary as it wont be a better indication of what your end result looks like than the end result itself.
I hope that better answers your question! Please let me know if I can clarify any point further. It might sound more complex than is necessary, but we have found that 'selecting skin' and 'touching up spots' are more easily grasped tasks than manipulating selections with opacity, for new users.
Tony