Coolest police car in 2018? Welcome the AC Schnitzer BMW i8 Polizei!

If the US gets some of the ugliest, yet pretty powerful police cars, the rest of the world gets to enjoy the likes of BMW, Mercedes and even Lamborghinis when it comes to chasing alleged criminals. So it comes as no surprise that German tuning shop AC Schnitzer has once again decided to create their own version of a police car. Welcome the AC Schnitzer BMW i8 Polizei, a car introduced today a the 2018 Essen Motor Show as part of the initiative TUNE IT! SAFE! of the Association of German Automobile Tuners e.V. (VDAT). This campaign is also supported by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. The aim of the initiative is to combat illegal and unsafe tuning with a nationwide campaign.

The Polizei BMW i8 hybrid sportscar wears a cool and flashy police livery, thanks to a vinyl wrap. Other upgrades to the i8’s design include AC Schnitzer carbon-fiber accessories for the roof, front spoiler and canards, grille, mirror covers, air outlets and side skirts. The “Racing” rear wing and the three-part carbon rear diffusor improve the suction effect in the underbody area of the i8, resulting in a better pressure distribution, which provides even more downforce.

Inside, an aluminum shift paddle set, an aluminum pedal set and the aluminum cover for the iDrive emphasize the lightness of the interior design and at the same time the elegant appearance of the Police BMW i8 TUNE IT! SAFE! by AC Schnitzer.

The AC1 lightweight wheel set saves approximately 4.4 kg weight per wheel. The 21-inch AC1 Lightweight Forged Wheels in BiColor (or optionally anthracite) were specially developed for the i8 series. The i8 Polizei by AC Schnitzer was also lowered by approximately 20 mm on the front and rear axle, thanks to an AC Schnitzer spring kit.

On top of the roof, the AC Schnitzer BMW i8 gets a light bar and a set of Hella lights that project the AC Schnitzer logo.

No power upgrades were announced, so it’s fair to assume that the i8 has the standard 1.5 liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine, making 228 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque. The electric motor that powers the front wheels makes 141 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque.

The article Coolest police car in 2018? Welcome the AC Schnitzer BMW i8 Polizei! appeared first on BMW BLOG

from BMW BLOG https://ift.tt/2ShtmcG

CoffeeShop "Winter Dreams Extreme" Photoshop/PSE Action, Snow Texture, & Tutorial Repost!

As you probably know, I have hundreds and hundreds of actions on my blog, so sometimes it can be a little overwhelming to find a specific one. Or perhaps something seasonal. 

So today I wanted to repost one of my favorite winter editing kits called "Winter Dreams Extreme". Heck, this is one of my favorite actions for any season.  I was inspired to post this today because Tracy of Picture Perfect Photography posted a before/after using this kit on my Facebook page and it looks amazing. I posted her edit below in the post. 

This kit includes the gorgeous "Winter Dreams Extreme" action, a realistic snow texture, and a step-by-step tutorial so you can turn any outdoor image into a winter wonderland without freezing your client or the photographer. ;-)

Read all about it below!

I live in Texas and in our part of the state we don't get snow. I remember one year we had a small freeze and I turned on the news and the weather people were excitingly zooming in on some ice on the leaves of a bush. I wish I were exaggerating, but I am being completely serious. Yes, our bushes were icy... Not the roads, just the landscaping. THE HORROR!

I am not complaining because I used to live in Dallas and I hated dealing with icy conditions. But I do love the look of snow and thanks to the magic of Photoshop I can create my own snowy portraits without the drama of real snow and freezing kids. So today I am so excited to post my newest action, snow overlay, and tutorial called "Winter Dreams Extreme".

I just took this image of Imp this week and you can see it is still pretty green here. But no problem, thanks to the magic of Photoshop!!!! Grab the Santa hat here.

Last year I released the first version, Winter Dreams, which included a really amazing snow brush. I use this action often, but I found that for images with summer/fall colors, it really wasn't enough to make them wintery.

So I decided to make a new version that has additional layers that allow you to turn almost any spring/summer/fall image into a beautiful winter landscape. I also adjusted some of the other layers to create less contrast, more matte effect.

One of the most important parts of this edit is adding snow and there are so many ways to do this. You can use my snow brush, add snow with my nifty Snowy Day action,  or use a snow texture. You can even create your own custom set of snow overlays by using my snow brush on a black background.

I used my snow brush to make one snow texture that is included in the download below so you can start playing right away. :-) It takes about one minute to make a snow overlay using that brush. So fun!

In my tutorial below,  I used one of the amazing free snow textures from the Shadowhouse Creations Snow Overlay set. This set actually inspired me to write this new action. If you haven't grabbed this yet, go get over there, they are amazing! And think about leaving Jerry a donation, he has so many gorgeous photography freebies on his site. Click on the button below to be redirected to Jerry's site.

I was sent this amazing before/after from Tracy of Picture Perfect Photography. Wow, this looks amazing! If she hadn't told me I would have assumed that the edited image had been taken in snow.

Here is another before and after example using this new action and one of the Shadowhouse Creations snow textures. This image is also from Jill Wellington. Gorgeous, right?


CoffeeShop "Winter Dreams Extreme" Editing Tutorial:

I started with this image of Vintage Val by Jill Wellington (Etsy Shop, Facebook, Blog, YouTube Videos, Pixabay). This image is perfection, but I wanted to show you how you can take a colorful fall image and magically turn it wintery in a minute or two.

I ran the "Winter Dreams Extreme" action on this image. This is what it looked
 like with no adjustments.  In some images you won't have to make any adjustments, but all of the layers are completely adjustable.

In this image, the background colors have too much green/yellow, so I turned on the "Remove Greens/Yellows" bottom layer (circled in red above).

The background is looking much better, but Vintage Val looks really washed out. Not a problem thanks to the amazing layer mask!

I grabbed a black brush set at 50% hardness, 100% opacity and clicked to select the "Remove Greens/Yellows" layer mask and painted that layer off Val.

Click Alt/Option, Shift on the layer mask to see red where you are removing that layer. Click it again to remove the red.

Much better, but I still think the background needs to be more wintery.

I turned on the "Remove Greens/Yellows 2" layer. Now the background is perfect but Val looks incredibly washed out.

You can either paint on that layer mask with a black brush, or copy the layer mask just below. To copy it, just hold Alt/Option while clicking on the layer mask below and drag it to "Remove Greens/Yellows 2". You should have two identical layer masks now. Vintage Val doesn't look frozen anymore!

Now the magic happens! Grab your favorite snow overlay and drag it on top of your image. For this example I used a snow texture from Shadowhouse Creations. I have also included one of my own snow overlays in the download below.

Put the snow overlay in Screen blending mode. I usually remove snow off faces as it would melt anyway, so I added a layer mask.

Then I  used a soft black brush on the snow layer to remove the snow from her face and reduce some of it off her neck.

If you are on a computer you can hover over the image below to see the before and after.




I hope you enjoyed this new editing kit and I would love to see your own winter edits on my Facebook page!

Download the CoffeeShop "Winter Dreams Extreme" Editing Kit.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop PSE/Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

More from Rita:
Facebook |Pinterest | Twitter



from The CoffeeShop Blog https://ift.tt/2BJzl4E

Photo Comparison: Audi e-tron GT Concept vs BMW i Vision Dynamics

There’s a lot of unfair comparisons currently happening between the Audi e-tron GT and the BMW Vision iNEXT. While it’s fun to poke shots at the iNEXT for looking like a metallic beaver and compare it to the sleek e-tron, it’s just not a fair comparison. The e-tron GT is designed to be a sporty, exciting and fast grand-touring electric four-door. The iNEXT is designed to be an everyday, highly-automated crossover. However, BMW does have its own design for an exciting and fast four-door electric GT, called the i Vision Dynamics. So we thought it’d be interesting to take a look at both cars and see how they compare.

While the BMW i Vision Dynamics is likely going to be the design on which the upcoming BMW i4 will be based. But since we don’t know what the i4 is going to look like exactly, we’re using the concept car it’s based on.

It’s also worth noting that the BMW i Vision Dynamics is purely a concept and while the e-tron GT is also a concept, it’s one that’s far, far closer to production than the Bimmer.

Up front, the BMW i Vision Dynamics isn’t a bad looking concept at all. Personally, I like it. I know there are a lot of fans that dislike it but it’s nowhere near as bad as ole Beaver Teeth that hit LA. Still, it’s not as good looking as the Audi e-tron GT Concept. The Audi’s front end looks low and wide, like a supercar’s, and its headlights are aggressive and exciting. It’s a seriously mean looking machine. While the i Vision Dynamics looks uber futuristic and smooth.

In profile, the Audi e-tron GT extends its lead a bit. Again, it’s low, sleek and muscular looking, while the BMW is ultra smooth and a bit bland. In fairness, the e-tron is a much more production-ready car while the BMW is designed to be ultra-futuristic and minimalist. Still, the Audi is the better looking car.

Out back, it’s no contest — the Audi e-tron GT kills it. Those wide, muscular hips extend out far, almost like they do on a Porsche 911 (which isn’t much of a surprise, considering the e-tron is based on the Porsche Taycan chassis) and they give it so much presence. The i Vision Dynamics looks like a white blob by comparison.

So the Audi e-tron GT Concept is far better looking and more exciting than the BMW i Vision Dynamics. It must be remembered that the Audi is much newer but, at the same time, it’s also basically a production car while the BMW is a pie-in-the-sky concept still. So it might not be the fairest of comparisons but it’s the closest thing BMW has to the instant sensation from Audi.

The article Photo Comparison: Audi e-tron GT Concept vs BMW i Vision Dynamics appeared first on BMW BLOG

from BMW BLOG https://ift.tt/2KMbrbE