Realistic drop shadow for complex item in Photoshop

[jkhest]

Hi there,

I need to add realistic drop shadows to images of playground equipment (think jungle gyms with ropes Criss crossing everywhere and multiple legs connected to the ground). I am struggling to manipulate my drop shadows so that they connect with all of the legs and look realistic. Google searches have brought up anchor or pivot points, but I can't seem to find an option to add either in my program. One thing to note is that due to the complexity of the objects, it doesn't seem possible to separate into individual legs. See attached file

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

thanks! 

[Semaphoric]

It sound like what you want is a cast shadow, rather than a drop shadow. Try searching for that, there are lots of tutorials for it out there.

[jkhest]

I'll look into this. My adobe class only showed us how to make a cast shadow using a drop shadow/distort method...which works well for simple objects.

thanks!

[Nancy OShea]

I can't see your attached PSD file.  I prefer embedded images so I don't have to download a file.

A Divide & Conquer approach might work.  Put each element or object on it's own layer so you can concentrate on the  shadows for one region at a time.  For concealing and revealing regions, Layer Masks are your best friend.

[jkhest]

Thanks! I might end up resigning to this.

[jane-e]

Hi

You might want to read this thread where realistic shadows were discussed after a couple of folks got them wrong in last week's photo challenge:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop/something-for-the-weekend-part-92-going-underground/m-p/111...

You can paint the shadow in on a new layer with a soft brush and lowered opacity.

I can't download your psd on my iPad.

~ Jane

[Stephen Marsh]

This appears to be a 3D render on a transparent background.

So why render without a cast shadow/ground plane?

The light source is obvious in the render, so you know where to cast the shadow.

Perhaps doing a little bit of research into fine art painting would help.

For others, here is the PSD saved as a PNG with alpha.

[jkhest]

Thank you for your response. A few notes. I did not create this rendering, otherwise I would have already added the shadow. It is not the concept of shadows that eludes me, in fact, I have a Bachelor of Arts in art history and analysis. I fully understand where to place the shadow, it is the process of doing so that is difficult, given the complexity of the object.
I think it might prove helpful to fully read the question before providing arrogant responses.

[Ussnorway]

for fast mockups of shadow its hard to bet Adobe Dimension

I agree with Stephen_A_Marsh that getting [or making] the 3D model will give best results

[davescm]

Hi

For realism, outside of rendering a shadow catcher layer when rendering the 3D object, there is no substitute for manually painting.

Put a new empty layer between your subject layer and the background. Set this empty layer to blend mode multiply. Paint in the shadows with a soft, low opacity ( around 20-20%) brush set to black. If you go to far, then to remove shadows switch the brush to white and paint again. This will lighten the shadow.

Build you shadow in sevetsl stroked. Shadows should be darker at the point where the object touches the ground and fade from there depending on the light sources.

Dave