FOOTWEAR RENDER

Below is a quick demo from some simple inspiration images to a presentation rendering. I don't normally do fashion footwear, but I thought it would be a fun way to quickly show a clean process. Total time from image gathering, to signature on the presentation board was about 4 hours.

Step 1: A few images to draw from around a current trend. This trend is already on its way out, but it will serve our purposes. This took about 8 minutes. Typically this might be a few days worth of work finding an emerging trend relevant to the consumer I am designing for. I would also be looking at what is relevant in their world outside of fashion, what they do, what is important to them.

Step 2: Quick thumbnail sketches. I want to combine some sport detailing and color blocking, with traditional constructions into a kind of hybrid street sport look. These took about 15 minutes. Normally I would spend at least day or so on this.

Step 3: refinement sketches. A few quick layouts of some design options. These took about 25 minutes. Typically I would spend a few days here, drawing up 5-10 options and doing some quick marker color ups to convey materials and color blocking.

Step 4: Illustrator line art. I scan in the closest concept and trace it in illustrator. This took about 45 minutes. Usually I would draw up all the views and start drawing up cross sections through the tooling as well. Notice I flipped the drawing. At Nike we always draw the lateral side of the right shoe. I'm not sure if this is typical, but I feel that the curves flow better when I draw the design pointing left. When I trace it in illustrator I just flip it.

Step 5: colorways. Some quick color blockings in illustrator. 15 minutes.

Step 6: I copy the colorway I want to render and paste it into photoshop.

Step 7: I make a new layer in photoshop, drag it to the bottom, and fill it with white. I want to do a light background so I don't take away from the design, but I want to hint at the light source to help myself as I render, and the viewer. Zoom out and with a large, soft airbrush (opacity and flow turned way down) I darken the lower left corner, showing the light is coming from the upper right. I also add a shadow to the lateral view. Notice I also moved the bottom view away from thee lateral view to give the shadow more space.

Step 9: I have created a new layer and named "primary shading". Here I've started roughing in the shading using white and black with the airbrush tool.

Step 8: Using the magic wand tool, select the outside of the design. Then from the select pulldown menu choose Inverse. This will make a selection mask out of our design so we can shade freely without worrying about going outside the lines.

Step 10: I use the original layer with the illustrator artwork as a way to select specific areas. Here I have selected Layer 1, and clicked the inside of the heel with the magic wand to create a selection limited to that area.

Step 11: Using white, black, and a little blue, I render this area with the airbrush tool, and make new selections using Layer 1 to render other areas more precisely.

Step 12: Zooming out you can see how it is starting to take shape. I frequently go from zoomed way in, to zoomed way out to make sure it is all working together and that it reads as an overall form, not a collection of details.

Step 13: using layer 1 and the magic wand, I have selected the green trim. This trim is a piece of piping with a cord inside in the upper. It transitions to a secondary piece on the heel, and then a colordam of rubber on the outsole. It has a consistent round cross section that I want to render. I copy the selection and the paste it. The green trim is now copied onto a new layer.

Sep 14: When I double click this new layer, something called the Layer Style window appears. This pop up menu has all kinds of goodies, like drop shadow, and pattern overlay. To render this round cross section, I choose bevel and emboss. By increasing the size and softness of the bevel I am able to create the illusion of the round cross section. I also make sure the shading angle matches my light source. When I click OK, the effect is applied to the layer. It is editable by double clicking on the layer again.

Step 15: You can see I've cone the same thing with the outsole, to show the recessed circle pattern, and colordams. After copying and pasting the areas I want the effect to be on from layer 1, I double click the layer and adjust the bevel and emboss, note the list of layers to the right where you can see the effects.

Step 16: Now it is time for some finishing touches. I've duplicated layer 1 in case I screw this up (it happens). I've selected a part of the upper that I want to have a leather texture on. From the filter pulldown menu I choose texturizer. If you click the circle with the right pointing triangle, you can load textures from any .psd file. I've loaded a scan of a lizard embossed leather, and using the scale and relief I create the texture. I like these textures to be very subtle. Some people texture their rendering so heavily, you loose sense of form and shape, and only read the texture. Don't get too carried away.

Step 16B: Here you can see the Load texture pop up menu. You can see I have built up a library of meshes and textures over the years. Some were given to me by friends, others I've scanned, and others came off Google image search. You can find quite a bit online. Buying swatches at a fabric store is also good. Make sure you get pieces big enough to make the pattern convincing.

Step 17: On some of the manufactured surfaces, I like to add noise to give the look of a sandblasted texture. Select the area you would like to texture, and in the Filter pulldown menu select add noise. Be sure to set it to monochromatic.

Step 18: I've pumped up the background and added my signature.

Ready to print, email or add to a powerpoint presentation.

FOOTWEAR RENDERING