Edge Lit Portrait?

[KWiK]

A friend of mine saw some edge lit projects and now wants me to make a edge lit portrait of a image of her granddaughter. Most edge lit things I have seen are generally line art. Has anyone made a edge lit portrait and if so care to share any tips? I am just getting started in the whole edge lit , lithophane deal, so pretty green here.

[Xxray]

They aren't easy, a couple guys here have had reasonable success doing them.

If they don't chime in I'll see if I can dig up the thread I'm thinking about.
You would still basically be doing line art, unless you can come up with a modeling pro who will do a model for you.

Have you told your friend about lithos, those would be a whole lot easier and better IMO.

[martin54]

Not something I have really done but from what I have read on the forum then a litho would probably be a better option for you, especially if you are quite new to the software for this type of work

Think this may be the post (or one of them) that Xxray was referring to:

http://forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php? ... nt#p122199

[Xxray]

Yep thats the one Martin, pretty sure it stands almost alone here as a decent plexi portrait.

I think the most anyone can expect with plexi portraits is that it is recognizable, and it will take some work just to do that.
It will mostly come down to modeling/software abilities, the cutting is the easy part.

[KWiK]

Thanks guys. I have done some 2d to 3d work, but far from being a expert at it. I just spent nearly 2 days trying to get a Family crest to look decent in 3d. Up side I did learn a lot more about Gimp.

A guy in one of the Facebook groups I follow did this. I wish my ability to convert images to 3d was that good. I realize that is a comercial 3D image, but someone had to make it. Seems like the people that are good at it won't share many of the secrets. Then again, I suspect at some point it comes down to artistic talent, which I don't seem to have a lot of in picture manipulation.

Anyhow thanks again. I might play with it a bit, but suspect Lithophane is the way to go.

[Xxray]

I've done dozens of 3D models in plexi with great success, but doing a particular person is another story.

Don't want to be discouraging but I have never seen it done. You'd either have to cook up a model yourself, or pay someone to do it if you don't have the skills.
If guys can make Jesus Christ models they could do models of anyone, problem is only 1 person would be interested in it since they are not famous.

Here is one I did better than average I think, also unique that I did it in 3/8 plexi, usually use at least .5.

[KWiK]

Thanks Xray, that is a beautiful piece. I keep working at it in gimp and each one I do is a little better, than the last. But in the end, I suspect it doesn't matter how well you know the tools if you don't have the artistic touch, it is never going to be like the pro's do.

I appreciate your feedback, I was looking at some of your pieces in other threads. Very nice work.

[Xxray]

Usually don't post links to other forums but I don't think they would mind this one, here is a thread at the SB forum I made some time back devoted to plexi 3d that may be of interest.

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showth ... 8-Plexi-3D

There are a few talented model makers here, wouldn't hurt to get a quote and you'd just have to pass the cost on to the customer.
Be prepared for possible sticker shock though.

[BDM]

Yep thats the one Martin, pretty sure it stands almost alone here as a decent plexi portrait.

I think the most anyone can expect with plexi portraits is that it is recognizable, and it will take some work just to do that.
It will mostly come down to modeling/software abilities, the cutting is the easy part.

Thanks for the complements. I only do those for special occasions because of the time involved. Considering that the original request is for a friend (who usually don't want to pay much ) I would get as high a quality photograph that you can and do a lithophane on 1/4" cast plexi. I think they even have some new types of plexi designed for edge lighting, but I haven't tried it to see how it compares to standard. With PhotoVCarve, it isn't too hard to get good results on plexi, you just have to remember to keep the max depth really shallow, cut from the back (reverse the photo), and play with the dark/light areas regarding depth. Then hope the plexi doesn't stick to your bit and make a mess. One other thing, remove the background on the photo of the person, unless it is really necessary to have it.