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Advanced shadow tips-Perspective
Most drop shadow techniques only suggest the idea of a drop
shadow, rather than creating one that really looks authentic.
To create extra realism, remember these additional tips:
Watch the perspective
The shadow is being cast onto a plane that is receding away
from you in space. This means that the shadow needs to compress
and follow the lines of the plane itself. For objects being
viewed from the side, the shadow will reduce down to a sliver
at the base of the object. The receding ground plane isn't
noticable with many text effects because the object and
shadow are positioned so that the viewer
is looking straight down onto the object, and the ground
plane does not recede in a noticable way. On the other hand,
objects are usually viewed more from the side, and their
shadows need to take perspective into account
To adjust the perspective, make
a selection and feather it, then skew the selection to follow
the ground plane. It's important to work in a program
that lets you reposition the shadow, since it might take
you a few tries to get it right. Placing the shadow on a
separate layer is a good approach. For cases like this,
it's important to use your gut, crafting a shadow that just
feels right rather than trying to follow a numeric or mathematical
approach.
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