Yesterday (11/03/18 - Sunday in Oz) I went searching for that illustrious Aussie scene that I could use for a back scene on my NSWGR inglenook layout I'm currently building. First of all, I had to find a suitable location... This is where Google Maps comes into it's own. By searching over google maps, you can find what looks suitable, which may be the case or may not be. The simplest way to find out is to drop down to street view. I picked a location approximately 65 km (40 miles) from home for this thread. On google street view, it looks like this... Whereas, on arrival and in panoramic view, it looks like this... ...and no, I didn't cut down the sapling ! Please note that I have used the 'panorama' feature on my phone for this pic below. So, to get it to a reasonable back scene, it needs to be cropped. This is done by using Windows Paint3D. I chose to take out some foreground and sky for this example... Now, I would argue the point that the trees to the left and right are too large for a backscene, so by using Gormo's method of using Photofiltre 7, these can be removed, or you can simply crop them out. Gormo's method : http://platform1mrc.com/p1mrc/index.php?threads/episode-36-creating-backgrounds.1005/ So, I have removed the trees and added a few clouds using Photofiltre 7... (free to download) Now it's starting to look like it will work ! The next step is to use Gormo's method of converting this to individual pics so that it can be printed on a household printer, either inkjet or laser. The method used is detailed in Gormo's Shed video here : http://platform1mrc.com/p1mrc/index.php?threads/episode-35-print-your-own-backgrounds.996/ (free to download) This isn't very hard hard to do, you just need to follow the few steps. This is how it would look in PosteRazure to suit an 8' long back board... Each of the individual red lines indicates the joins in the sheets it will be printed upon. As you can see, this back scene image will use 12 sheets of A4 paper. To which this can be saved as a PDF for future printing, all on the program. I would highly recommend watching Gormo's great videos and having a play with the different programs. If I can produce a back scene, so can you. Now I won't show you the scene I have chosen for my layout, you'll have to wait until it is installed ! Cheers, Gary.
It will be good to see how the finished backscene looks! Try as I might I couldn't get the programmes to work for me, so I gave up and bought one for my layout. Cheer's, Pete.
Looks like a great way to provide a big range of back scenes. Will certainly try and give it a go. Cheers and happy modelling Richard
If you have a camera with the panoramic feature included, all you then need is a tripod. The images I used above were taken with my I phone, using the panoramic feature and all hand held. Give it a go and see what sort of results you get. If it doesn't work, well the programs are a great tool to play around with !! Cheers, Gary.
Thank you all. I do have a range of scenes that I photographed last weekend. Maybe I could make a quick quid from a few of my backscenes.... Cheers, Gary.
You would certainly get a sale to me mate. I am a complete numpty when trying to work these photo editing programmes . Pete.
Thanks for posting this Gary, will come very handy when I'm doing my local branch line. hugs and kisses Phil