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Above is the final image which we’d like to create – and in the following comes how you do it!

Just first off a few added extra tricks to keep in mind for taking your SL shots. As a rule of thumb, the better you know what you’re doing in advance, the quicker it will look great afterwards!

1. Know what you’re doing

If you go into your bathroom, bedroom, or any other mirror you have at home (even the surface of your TV will do for the basic understanding) – check what you actually SEE in the mirror depending on which angle you look at it.

Example:
if you’re straight up in front of it, on the same level looking inside: you see yourself straight upfront from the same hight level in the mirror as well.
If you’re sitting on the ground looking up into it… you see the higher ends of the walls if not even the ceiling. (imagine how your view through the glass would be from the backside: you’d be sitting on the ground as well looking up at that ceiling, right?)

If you make yourself aware of what angle will be seen, your images will turn out MUCH more real appearing than if you just take a random angle!

2. It’s a mirror – flip your reflection image horizontally!

Even if it would look okay otherwise – everybody knows a mirror in real life – any will notice “something is wrong” if you forget the flipping.

3. Blur/Desaturate the reflection a little

True, in RL it has the same colors – but with the 3D the eye can see, it is easy to understand that it’s a mirror. In a flat image, you need to be a little more helpful to the watching eye to show ‘distance’ to it. gentle blurring and desaturating is one way to do it.

Please click the following image to see large to better read the text:

I’ll search you some wiki links on how reflections work and post them here once I found them ;-)

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