How to enroll in Curvemeister 101

[ggroess]

Greetings!

The Curvemeister 101 class is a self paced class, offered approximately every two months that covers the basics of using Curvemeister, including the new features of Curvemeister 3.  Class costs $50 US, and lasts for seven weeks.

To join the class purchase a Curvemeister 101 ticket.

After buying your ticket, please join the forum if necessary, then click on the Reply tab at the top of this message and post a short note here to show that you are ready to begin the class.  If you used a different email address for your purchase, please include your purchase date and time so that we can match you up to your ticket.  You will then receive information you need to join the class discussion group, and to get started. 

Please email class@curvemeister.com if you have any questions before or during the enrollment process.

This class is about improving the colors in your photographs using an enhanced curve control that is supported by the Curvemeister plug-in. You will be able to use the principles you learn in this class with any photo editing program that uses curves.
Prerequisites:

You must have access to a Windows system with any version of Photoshop 5.5 through CC6 this includes the 64 bit versions of the plug-in or any version of Elements installed, and the Curvemeister 3 plug-in.

You may use the demo version of Curvemeister 3 for the class.

Enrollment:

The Curvemeister 101 class is $50 for the full session, normally six weeks, with an extra 1st week; for the first week of the class we do warm ups and getting to know you type activities.  We will also be using a screen share program and Skype for audio this session for at least one 1 hour interactive session weekly if the class is interested.  These sessions have been very informative and fun for all the students.


Syllabus
Week 1
    The class will start off with an experimental week of "free forum" image editing, using an image a day provided by students and instructors.  This will give you time to learn how to post images to the forum, how to participate in discussions, and asking general housekeeping questions.

Week 2

    The Color Wizard: 60 Seconds to Brighten Up a Photo
    How Curves Work
    Setting Up Your Work Space
    Finding the Shadow and Highlight
    The Hue Clock, a Visual Speedometer
    Increasing Contrast using RGB mode
    Increasing Contrast using Lab mode
    Adding more color using Lab mode

Week 3

    Adding texture to Highlights
    Adding texture to Shadows
    Adding texture to MidTones
    Correcting Exposure with Curves
    Say Hello to Lab Color
    How Color Spaces Work
    Color Casts and How to Remove Them
    Finding the Neutral Point in a Photo
    Using the Hue Clock to Correct a Neutral
    Using Floating Neutrals to control Overall Brightness

Week 4

    Philosophy of Color Correction "By the Numbers"
    Fixing Multiple Color Casts with RGB and the Hue Clock
    Pinning a Skin Tone
    Pinning a Neutral for a Warm or Cool Effect
    Pinning a Logo Color
    The Pin Library
    Defining Your Own Pins

Week 5

    Double Pinning to Increase the Contrast of an Object
    Histograms
    Copying a Channel for use in Photoshop or Elements
    Comparing Colors
    Measuring Statistics
    Smart Filters (Photoshop Only)
    Painting a Car Green
    Painting a Car Yellow

Week 6

    The Wonderfulness of Mask
    A Quick Example: Adding Color Without Creating "Demon Eyes"
    Adding detail and color to skin tones
    Selecting a Mask Channel and Inverting the Mask
    Selecting the Amount of Mask Blur
    Darkening a Sky and Making it Bluer

Week 7

    Adding Color to Bright Objects
    Controlling Texture in Skin Tones
    Adding Color to a Photo, Leaving Skin Tones Alone
    Adding Color Where it is Needed
    Using Masks With Selections
    Using an Alpha Channel as a Mask (Photoshop only)

Happy Curving
Mike and Greg

[Doug.S]

I'm considering joining the class but have questions:

- Approx. what time on Fridays would the class be held (I'm in GMT-5, eastern US, daylight savings time, Mich.)?  (I have some things planned during the day every Fri. and every weekday, despite being retired.)

- I have taken an on-line Skype type class before (painting) and it works very well (with a minimum of about 3 students and max. of maybe 10)... any indication of any others interested? I'd think one-on-one is not very cost effective for you and learning for me is better with several people involved.

- I am somewhat comfortable already using Ps, CM, and PPW, but sure I can learn more starting with week 3 listed topics. I have watched all your videos posted to date. Does the class cover topics/methods different than the videos already released?  I'm torn between time to take the class vs. how much I'll learn...I know it is a personal decision...just thinking out loud.

Doug
PS I hope others considering the Aug 25 start class date will post here just to indicate interest so we all have an idea of class participation.

[ggroess]

The Friday time is flexible. 

We often have people from Europe so we tend to be later in the evening over there 3-5 PM central time USA puts them in the 9-11PM time frame.  In general we have from 3 to 6 people in the class and I will hold the on-line session if even 1 person is interested. I do record the sessions and you will be able to playback anytime.  I'd love to have a 5 or 6 person class as we did in March...It was very effective and a great deal was learned.

Methods are very similar but we focus on more of the details rather than the high level in some of the videos.  The methods is there but we get into the why and the tweaks. 
Week 2 and 3 are the operational type things and there are some very good tips in the materials.

Keep asking questions...
Greg