3D Rendered Helmet Tutorial

[Davidson]

no, no go ahead.

the renders i have done in the other thread actually take into account relief in the logo. it uses the colours in the logo for a bump matte and so you get some funky lines here and there but i quite like it.

there are probably easy ways to achieve a little relief for the templates in this thread. ill try and have a look at that later. im at work all day today so i may get some time later on.

fd

[9erssteve]

Does anyone know how to create a decal look to the logo?

Briefly I can say that some water based decals have a border of clear decal material, with a slight shade or color shift from the color of the helmet below, surrounding the entire design. The type of decals as used on scale modeling. (dip in water and release) Used particularly on lower priced applications. Something for high school levels and below. Bubbles and slight blemishes and scratches can be added for realism.

The next type of application would be the vinyl (peel & stick) self-adhesive decal. The outline would surely have a very subtle highlight and shadow based on light source due to the base material's thickness. These stickers scratch easily, rip, and oozing adhesive can build up on the rim which will catch dirt. Finally sharply cornered edges may peel a bit.

The highest level of application (higher level colleges and pro teams) is using a very thin inked film that is applied similarly to the first example above, but applied with chemicals. This decal makes the design the most permanent and durable. To see this type of decal, check out the markings on a good quality, recent model bike or metal baseball bat. Try to scratch it with your fingernail. Look for thickness of material & ink. Check for a possible clear border. So with these high end decals, wear and tear would be minimal.

davidson nailed to when his decal on the British Lion logo contained a subtle "bevel" applied. For all three of the above decals are most likely screen printing when produced, providing a slight thicker buildup of ink.

That's my 2 cents, davidson may fill in on the "how to" in order to complete your desired results. If not, I can offline.

Sorry davidson, I started this intended to be brief, but I then thought folks may want to consider the quality level of the decals based on the level of their team.

I beg to differ, the vast majority of pro teams still use 2mm vinyl decals. If you check the Image (ignore bumper on back that's a photoshop mockup by me) there is clearly 3 or more mm of clear vinyl around the logo.

There are exceptions, I believe the Rams and Bengals paint theirs due the size and resulting complex curves that the decals would have to form round, and the Raiders use white vinyl and cut it exactly to size.

The reason you never see damage to NFL decals anymore is that the helmets are stripped down every week and the graphics reapplied so the helmets always look as close to new as possible, unlike in the 80's when decals were never changed and a player could get to the probowl and he'd be lucky if he had much of the graphics on his helmet intact depending on the position played.

I have an article about the company that produces the decals for the NFL bookmarked somewhere, if anyone interested I'll try and find the link.

The easiest way to achieve that look in photoshop would be to simply select your logo expand the selection by a few pixels, fill the expanded area the same colour as the shell colour then use a very subtle layer emboss. You could perhaps look at a VERY subtle plastic wrap or something like that to add some extra highlights, or try messing about with distorting the colour as if it's being viewed through the vinyl but having played with Davison's template already I think all the highlights etc that are already on the overlay layers are more than enough.

9erssteve

[WoosterGenerals]

This helmet template gave me an idea for a senior gift for the football players, that is the make a shadow box with the helmet, a jersey and pictures. I could add a shadow to the edges, so when it is in a frame, it would look like there is depth to it, as it is 4 inches deep.

Anyone got a realistic jersey that would be big enough for something like 24x36 poster? JerseyDatabase images are way to small. I had seen somewhere how to do mesh, anyone have a tutorial? and yes, I found it in the past by Google, and I have been searching again, but cant find it.

Thanks

[9erssteve]

This helmet template gave me an idea for a senior gift for the football players, that is the make a shadow box with the helmet, a jersey and pictures. I could add a shadow to the edges, so when it is in a frame, it would look like there is depth to it, as it is 4 inches deep.

Anyone got a realistic jersey that would be big enough for something like 24x36 poster? JerseyDatabase images are way to small. I had seen somewhere how to do mesh, anyone have a tutorial? and yes, I found it in the past by Google, and I have been searching again, but cant find it.

Thanks

There was a tutorial for a basket ball shirt, believe it or not, on a hockey graphics site but I cant remember which one. I thought I had it bookmarked but cant seem to find it. I downloaded the PDFs though so if you wanna PM me with your email addy I can send those over for you. I used it to attempt a photo real football jersey and it worked really well. There was only one mistake in it and that was the keyboard shortcut for creating layer masks but once I'd got past that it' was really clear to understand and the results were fantastic.

The one I started was nowhere near big enough for what you're after, it was only about 6 x 6.5 inches at 300ppi and weighed in at a hefty 116.5 meg so not sure how big your file will end up! I would send you mine and save you some time but sadly, like so many things real work got in the way, it was never finished and I moved onto something new, should really get it finished though.

9erssteve

[TornadoGTS]

Thank you so much Davidson for posting this, these helmets are unbelievable. Amazing work as usual. Heres two I did for some of my TeamBuilder teams. Havent really got the logo placement down, but put some stripes on there and added a little decal effect to the logos and I like the outcome. Any tips on how to make the logo look good in terms of placement?

[nbryant]

.....

[mania]

First try.

[The Fixer]

logo and helmet of a new concept

[rentz]

Beautiful. Thank you!

[TornadoGTS]

[Patchez]

Works like a friggin' charm. All of these fantastic templates you are bestowing upon us really puts me in the mood to create more football concepts. Great job on this.

Is that an Argos concept? It's sweet!!!

[Patchez]

Does anyone know how to create a decal look to the logo?

Briefly I can say that some water based decals have a border of clear decal material, with a slight shade or color shift from the color of the helmet below, surrounding the entire design. The type of decals as used on scale modeling. (dip in water and release) Used particularly on lower priced applications. Something for high school levels and below. Bubbles and slight blemishes and scratches can be added for realism.

The next type of application would be the vinyl (peel & stick) self-adhesive decal. The outline would surely have a very subtle highlight and shadow based on light source due to the base material's thickness. These stickers scratch easily, rip, and oozing adhesive can build up on the rim which will catch dirt. Finally sharply cornered edges may peel a bit.

The highest level of application (higher level colleges and pro teams) is using a very thin inked film that is applied similarly to the first example above, but applied with chemicals. This decal makes the design the most permanent and durable. To see this type of decal, check out the markings on a good quality, recent model bike or metal baseball bat. Try to scratch it with your fingernail. Look for thickness of material & ink. Check for a possible clear border. So with these high end decals, wear and tear would be minimal.

davidson nailed to when his decal on the British Lion logo contained a subtle "bevel" applied. For all three of the above decals are most likely screen printing when produced, providing a slight thicker buildup of ink.

That's my 2 cents, davidson may fill in on the "how to" in order to complete your desired results. If not, I can offline.

Sorry davidson, I started this intended to be brief, but I then thought folks may want to consider the quality level of the decals based on the level of their team.

I beg to differ, the vast majority of pro teams still use 2mm vinyl decals. If you check the Image (ignore bumper on back that's a photoshop mockup by me) there is clearly 3 or more mm of clear vinyl around the logo.

There are exceptions, I believe the Rams and Bengals paint theirs due the size and resulting complex curves that the decals would have to form round, and the Raiders use white vinyl and cut it exactly to size.

The reason you never see damage to NFL decals anymore is that the helmets are stripped down every week and the graphics reapplied so the helmets always look as close to new as possible, unlike in the 80's when decals were never changed and a player could get to the probowl and he'd be lucky if he had much of the graphics on his helmet intact depending on the position played.

I have an article about the company that produces the decals for the NFL bookmarked somewhere, if anyone interested I'll try and find the link.

The easiest way to achieve that look in photoshop would be to simply select your logo expand the selection by a few pixels, fill the expanded area the same colour as the shell colour then use a very subtle layer emboss. You could perhaps look at a VERY subtle plastic wrap or something like that to add some extra highlights, or try messing about with distorting the colour as if it's being viewed through the vinyl but having played with Davison's template already I think all the highlights etc that are already on the overlay layers are more than enough.

9erssteve

I sit corrected steve! Thanks!

Ultimately, as for photo realism, there truly is no wrong choice as to how thin or is is the clear outlined highlight is rendered.

I would like to see someone to show me their helmet after a game, before decal is replaced. Perhaps a bit of turf left in the mask? Dried, smeared blood and snots, etc. (I hope you weren't eating while reading this?)

Additional realism would be the occasional air bubble in the vinyl or sharp corner slightly earmarked. Again, considering the level one's team is part of. (pee wee, pony, HS, college, pros or in a galaxy far, far away!)

Now I am really curious if the Rams and Bengals use the third decal applied with chemicals, instead of still painting? This product is extremely flexible (ultra thin), durable and fairly easy to apply. Plus one might catch a slight buzz working with the chemicals! Frequently replacing staff rather than decals!!!

Did they spray paint these two helmets using stencil masks?

TornadoGTS has is going great with the decal look, and davidson has it nailed too! I hope to play with this myself soon!

[Patchez]

davidson, I wish I could have post a similar exercise for folks interested in the embroidered look. But I haven't mastered doing so in PS, and Corel DraWings, which I do use is too damn expensive for most folks!

It's great you share the power of knowledge here!

[jake22]

Alright first off this is the coolest thing ever and many thanks to davidson for making it and letting the public use it.

I have a dumb question though.

the very last thing you wrote in the first post was 'create a folder and place all these files inside it', how do you do that?

I am using a very old version of photoshop too, 5.0

I dont know if that makes a difference but i thought i would say it.

thanks alot

Jake

[TornadoGTS]

Alright first off this is the coolest thing ever and many thanks to davidson for making it and letting the public use it.

I have a dumb question though.

the very last thing you wrote in the first post was 'create a folder and place all these files inside it', how do you do that?

I am using a very old version of photoshop too, 5.0

I dont know if that makes a difference but i thought i would say it.

thanks alot

Jake

In the little toolbar at the bottom of the layers box theres a little folder icon (thats in CS3, just look for a little folder icon anywhere on yours), click it and a folder will appear in your layers box, then drag all the layers into that.

[trenshaw]

Okay here is my first Helmet.

I did have a problem with the mask in Photoshop CS3.

I had to select the mask layer and go to image>adjustments>invert.

Select all and Copy (Shortcut Control C)

While still on the Mask layer I then hit the add layer mask.

Then went to channels and pasted it in the mask layer as Davidson said...

Thanks just how I did may be an easier way..

BTW this is awesome Davidson thank you so much...

Tom

[slapshot]

Alright first off this is the coolest thing ever and many thanks to davidson for making it and letting the public use it.

I have a dumb question though.

the very last thing you wrote in the first post was 'create a folder and place all these files inside it', how do you do that?

I am using a very old version of photoshop too, 5.0

I dont know if that makes a difference but i thought i would say it.

thanks alot

Jake

You need at least Photoshop 8 (I think that's the first version of CS) to have all the layer functions.

[TornadoGTS]

This was a logo that I liked on here, I think it was a draw brawl entry, anyway wanted to make a helmet with it.....

[TornadoGTS]

Okay here is my first Helmet.

I did have a problem with the mask in Photoshop CS3.

I had to select the mask layer and go to image>adjustments>invert.

Select all and Copy (Shortcut Control C)

While still on the Mask layer I then hit the add layer mask.

Then went to channels and pasted it in the mask layer as Davidson said...

Thanks just how I did may be an easier way..

BTW this is awesome Davidson thank you so much...

Tom

I got CS3 and if you do it exactly how he explains it, it works fine.

[Spammy]

how do you get that logo-vinyl-sticker effect GTS?