[Jabberwocky]

I use both. It really depends on what you need to darken. You should learn how to use both burn tool and darker shades of the colour. Both have different effects.

[balistic]

You should probably forget about the idea of "shading" entirely, if you're after realism. Everything you see is either emitting or reflecting or refracting light . . . the color that something appears to be is determined by that surface's local color, plus the color of the light that strikes it. Simply picking a darker shade of your diffuse color will rarely lead to realistic shaded areas . . . as a surface begins to face away from one light, not only do you need to consider translucency, but also the intensities and colors of other lights and reflectors that will affect the surface.

If you're not after realism, then dodge and burn are useful . . . but for realistic stuff, tangible stuff, its best to think hard and then pick colors from the color wheel, painting them directly instead of relying on a one-dimensional multiply effect.

[Socar MYLES]

I find that the burn tool does not offer enough control. I am very picky about the colours which appear in my images--I don't like very bright ones most of the time, or very saturated ones, and using dodge/burn often results in a high-saturation look.

I prefer to use subtle complementaries, ambient light, and the occasional sharp highlight to define my objects.

[Dr. Bang]

quote:

---

Originally posted by balistic:
You should probably forget about the idea of "shading" entirely, if you're after realism. Everything you see is either emitting or reflecting or refracting light . . . the color that something appears to be is determined by that surface's local color, plus the color of the light that strikes it. Simply picking a darker shade of your diffuse color will rarely lead to realistic shaded areas . . . as a surface begins to face away from one light, not only do you need to consider translucency, but also the intensities and colors of other lights and reflectors that will affect the surface.

If you're not after realism, then dodge and burn are useful . . . but for realistic stuff, tangible stuff, its best to think hard and then pick colors from the color wheel, painting them directly instead of relying on a one-dimensional multiply effect.

---

oh god.....succcccccch good addddviiice. Thnx

[balistic]

*edit*

Sorry Dr. Bang, thought you were being sarcastic.

[ December 19, 2001: Message edited by: balistic ]

[Dr. Bang]

huh, what happened?

i wasn't

[Jabberwocky]

Actually I found that the burn tool works great if you are going to use it for small areas. Like on my car I did I used it to add the minute shading I needed to make the line where the door meets the car was. I used a dark shade of color for the "shading", but then went over it witha light airbrush with colour (green cause reflextion of grass). But balistic's right. Never thought of it that way. Thanks man!

[Jezebel]

I tend to use the burn tool for smaller areas as well, but I don't use it on default settings usually. I generally turn it down to use the lower saturation burning but I also almost always go over the top with an airbrush to add some color variation. For the most part I just paint my shadows and highlights in, but D/B helps is very helpful at times... if you use it right of course. Which I probably don't

They are all just tools. Its up to you how you use them

[Osmodius]

Which do you prefer...using the burn tool or just geting a darker shade of the color you're using? Personally the burn tool is too annoying for me, keep making circular patterns in it. just wondering what you people think.

[Sukhoi]

I would have to agree whith Jezebel on this one.... Dodge works well for steel and other glossy surfaces I think. The thing about dodge and burn is that you get a result very quickly and you tend to stick to that result...I do atleast, even if it's not correct. So I think one should use it whith great care....i.e. the ring from LOTR hehe.

Sukhoi

[balistic]

This thread ties in a bit with Nori's one about values in shadowed areas, so I figured I'd post a link to that one:
http://www.sijun.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=002160

I go into a bit more detail about how I choose colors and values.