Creating Perspective with Layers

Let’s use a scene with Buck from Cash Cow as an example. Right now this document has three layers: A solid sky color, an image of Buck, and some tall grass so that we don’t have to worry about the ground.

Now let’s make few duplicates of Buck, resizing each one so we have a whole field of Bucks. Be sure to keep each copy of Buck on it’s own layer.

Now comes a slightly tedious part: I’m going to make several copies of the sky layer, one for each copy of Buck. Then I’ll arrange each copy of the sky in front of it’s corresponding Buck layer.

Next, we’ll arrange the layer clipping masks so that each duplicate sky layer affects only its corresponding Buck image. You can do this by clicking on each sky layer, and then choosing Layer->Create Clipping Mask. This will cause the sky layer to be clipped by the image of Buck that it’s in front of. You still won’t be able to see anything, because each image of Buck is obscured by its clipped sky layer.

Now comes the fun part. For each copy of the sky, adjust the layer transparency so that the copies corresponding to closer images of Buck are more transparent than the copies that are further away.

And there you have it, totally adjustable atmospheric perspective. Just by changing the sky color, transparency levels, and overall coloration of the scene, you can create limitless atmospheric effects.

Here’s the same grassy field in thick fog:

And the scene at sunset:

Note that on this one, I had to adjust the color balance of the scene to account for the warmer lighting.

The Ground Plane