SAPTA DESIGN

Create a Light Effects Abstract Composition

2009-04-17T05:57:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a variety of light effects using glows and lots of neon, that can be applied to photography or illustration with equal impact.

Let’s create a new file (File>New) of 1280x1024 px and 72 dpi. Then apply the Rectangle Tool (U) to represent the background of the picture to be.

Use the next shown parameters for the made layer by making a mouse click on this layer on the layers’ palette. Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Find a picture, having represented a girl on it (I used this picture from SXC. I would like to thank the author of this picture):

Cut her figure out and insert it on the main picture:

Click on the bottom part of the layers’ palette on Create new fill or adjustment layer>Curves

Press Alt button and make a mouse click between the Curves effect’s layers and the girl’s layer (on the layers’ palette)

Next click on the bottom part of the layers’ palette on Create new fill or adjustment layer>Black & White

Press Alt button and make a mouse click between the Black & White effect’s layer and the previous layer (on the layers’ palette)

Next create a new file (File>New) of 50x50 px and 300 dpi. Delete background and use the Pencil Tool (B)

Pencil Tool (B). To use the pencil tool, simply select it from the toolbar by depressing the pencil tool icon. When you do so, you can draw on the canvas. Try it out. And don\'t forget to modify your brush size, roundness, angle, etc ...'); return false">Pencil Tool (B) to represent a black square instead of it of 31x34 px.
Select then the option Edit>Define Brush Preset
Now we shall create a new layer and apply here the created brushe, set brushe options in Brushes palette (F5), that may be chosen on the lateral panel on the right side. The brush’s color is #E6E6AC. Let’s represent a shape looking like a train on her both hands. This layer needs to be placed lower than the layer containing the girl.

Next you may see the parameters for the layer containing the brushes: Blending Options>Outer Glow

Let’s represent a kind of wing of white color for the girl, applying in this case the Pen Tool (P)

Pen Tool (P). allows you to make lines that change colour and shapes on the project.'); return false">Pen Tool (P). Place this layer lower than the girl’s layer:

Make a copy of the last made layer and select Free Transform option to turn the copy around, placing it the same way from below. This layer will be situated also lower than the girl’s layer:

Next we’ll rasterize the wings’ layers into a single one. Press Ctrl button to mark out the necessary layers and then press CTRL+E. On the new layer we’ve got make a mouse click on the bottom part of the layers’ palette on Add a Mask selection. After this operation, try to use a standard brush (Brush Tool (B)

Brush Tool (B). The brush tool is used for making good backgrounds and also on new layers they have different types so that you get a different effect with every brush you use.'); return false">Brush Tool (B)) (Opacity of 30%) to clean out with black color the layer containing the wings.

Next we’ll represent a line, starting with drawing path, applying the Pen Tool (P), Path Mode.

You can find created path in Path palette.

Move in Layers palette to Create a new layer and choose for it a standard brush of grey color (Diameter 9, Hardness 100%), select Pen Tool (P), and make a right click on created path in Path palette to Stroke Path (Brush Mode, Simulate Pressure)

Using the same method, try making one more:

Finished!

Another Planet

2009-03-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

image sea
image sky
image Planets1
image Planets2
image Planets3

Step 1.
We will begin with the size of our linen. At first – vertical location. Secondary, the pictures, which are prepared for our work, will help us to define the size.
Step 2.
We cut out a part of the picture with the sea landscape and place it on the canvas.

Step 3.
We’ll take sky from another picture. We’ll place it on the sheet, by means of Eraser Tool we will neatly touch up the line of connection between two pictures.

Step 4.
Something is missing on horizon. We’ll try to add mountains. We’ll insert them between layers with sky and sea (the layer with sea, certainly, is higher; so it will cover the lower line of mountains).

Step 5.
With Burn Tool we’ll darken mountains. Now look at the following tunings: Range-Shadow, Exposure-50%.

Step 6.
We’ll increase exposure to 70% and darken the upper area of water (kind of brush-soft, big size).

Step 7.
We’ll lower exposure to 60% and darken the lower part of sky. We have to work neatly, not to injure the clouds.

Step 8.
We’ll decrease the Size of brush, and Range of the Tool we change to Midtones. By one motion on the horizontal line (pressing “ctrl”) we’ll darken lower part of mountains.

Step 9.
Now we pass to sky. We place the picture of planet on the canvas. By means of Eraser Tool we’ll wipe up all superfluous areas, because clouds are nearer to us, and through them it must not be visible.

Step 10.
We change the Blending Mode of layer with the planet to Screen, Fill: 100%.

No related posts.

Step 11.
The upper right corner seems empty. We’ll correct it by placing there another planet, but a little smaller.

Step 12.
We change the Blending Mode of layer with the second planet to Screen, Fill: 100%.

Step 13.
Now we’ll change the color of mountains by means of Brush Tool in color regime. The color of brush has to be dark blue, nearer to black.

Step 14.
In the options of layer we will lower Fill to 50%, to make mountains more transparent.

Step 15.
We’ll add the picture of another little planet. Than we dispose it above that big one, in order to seem that it is smaller, but nearer to us.

Step 16.
We change the Blending Mode of layer to Screen, Fill: 100%. With Burn Tool (Range - midtones, Exposure – 50%) we’ll darken the lower and upper part of firmament.

Step 17.
We’ll increase Exposure to 60% and we’ll make water darker.

Step 18.
We’ll return Fill: 100% in tunings of the layer with mountains that it was more comfortable to work with them.

Step 19.
We choose Eraser Tool and, pressing “ctrl”, we make one horizontal motion on the line of connection of mountains and water. Than we take Smudge Tool and we spread clouds neatly (by very short horizontal motions).

Step 20.
Well, mountains are selected somehow from the general picture. They are not enough detailed. We’ll correct this by means of Sharpen Tool.

Step 21.
In tunings of the layer with mountains we’ll lower Fill to 85%.

Step 22.
With Smudge Tool we’ll spread mountains a little (The motions must be horizontal!).

Step 23.
By means of the Brush Tool (using the same navy blue shade) with Opacity 20% we’ll paint out the foundations of planets (we make it on the clean layer).

Step 24.
We take Eraser Tool and wipe up neatly superfluous (those areas which we can’t see because of the clouds).

Step 25.
By means of the Dodge Tool (Range - highlights, Exposure - 100%) we will light up mountains. One smooth motion of brush will be enough for the desired effect.

Step 26.
Now we take Blur Tool and with one even horizontal motion transform mountains. To make it easier and quicker, you have to press “ctrl”.

Step 27.
By means of Eraser Tool you have to do lower part of mountains more transparent.

Step 28.
Between layers with sea and mountains we add a new layer, draw on it an even white horizontal line, in thick somewhere 5-6 pixels. Then we take Smudge Tool and spread it, converting into fog.

Step 29.
By means of Dodge Tool (Range- midtones, Exposure-50%) we will light up the overhead part of water.

Step 30.
It is time to work above the quality of our collage. It is more comfortable to do all these corrections on a whole picture. Therefore we save our collage as jpg file, and then open it in Photoshop. So, first we change adjustments of Brightness (-15) and Contrast (+5) – you do it in the Image- Adjustments- Brightness/ Contrasts menu.

Step 31.
Then we press “ctrl” + “B” and put tuning, as it is shown on pictures 1, 2, and 3. Into Image- Adjustments- Brightness/Contrasts and Shadow/Highlights menu we put tunings as it is shown on pictures 4.

Step 32.
Let’s take Dodge Tool (Range- Highlights, Exposure-18%) and will make some areas of sky brighter. We will add stars. For this purpose we take the ordinary brush of little size and draw them on all firmaments, except for areas, where we can’t see them because of planets and clouds.

That is all. Use your fantasy. I hope that this lesson was interesting.

Colorful Glowing Text Effect in Photoshop

2009-02-14T10:47:00.000-08:00

After seeing some recent Type work by Vicenç Fontanet (or, Drasik), in his recent project for “Miniblack“, I just had to give the effect a shot myself in Photoshop. It’s a wondeful little style that could easily be integrated into any dark graphic design where some upbeat text is needed.

Step 1 - Choosing a Background

For the best results with this effect, you’ll want to use a dark background. The background should have a hint of color, and should avoid from being too dark (such as pure black). Being inspired from Drasik’s work, I’ll use a dark violet (#120612).

Just to get this out of the way, as you may notice throughout this tutorial, there are LOTS of different ways to go about accomplishing this effect - this is just the way I found to be most convenient.

Step 2 - Setting the Type

We’ll be setting the type in a not-so-traditional way, which will allow us to get a special layering.

Using the Type Tool, type whatever it is you’d like to apply the effect to, BUT only type one letter per layer. That is, you need to type a letter, apply the text, then create a new type layer with your next letter. When all is said and done, you should have a separate layer for each letter.

You’re image probably looks something like this (Quick Note: Type used below is Century Gothic):

Well, that leaves something to be left desired.

Rather than wasting too much time trying to get things aligned perfectly, let’s handle it all in a quick step. Select the Move Tool. Create a selection around the first letter (Ctrl + Click the Layer Thumbnail in the Layers Palette). Next, Select ALL of the Type Layers (Click the Bottom Type Layers name, hold shift, then click the top Type Layers name). Now, in the Options bar, Click “Align Bottom Edges” - the icon that looks like this

Deselect everything (Ctrl + D), and now start moving your individual letters so that they slightly overlap one another.

Step 3 - Add a Gradient

Create a new Layer above your type layers. Using the Gradient Tool, and a White to Transparent gradient, fill in the work area so that the Gradient is not TOO OPAQUE, or TOO TRANSPARENT where it overlaps with the text, but fades nicely in that area. The gradient should move from top to bottom - Top being the most opaque (Hold Shift to make a perfectly straight gradient).

Step 4 - Cutting out Letters

Imagine that we’re making shaped-cookies. It’s a stretch, but stay with me. In a way, this gradient will serve as our ‘dough’, while the letters will be our ‘cookie cutters’. Those individual type layers created earlier are tools we can use to create shapes from the gradient.

Let’s go through it step by step and see if it makes more sense. Create a selection of the layer contents for your first letter (Ctrl + Click the Layer Thumbnail in the Layers Palette). Now, Select the Gradient Layer (By “Select”, I mean click the layer - do not select the layer contents. We want the selection of the first letter to remain). Copy (Ctrl + C) and Paste so that you’ve created a copy of the gradient in the shape of the letter. If you were to disable ALL of the layers except for this new layer you just created, and the background, you’d now have this:

It’s really a lot simpler than it sounds. Repeat this process for the rest of the letters, always making sure to selecting the gradient layer (the dough) prior to cutting out your layer. When you’re finished, put away all your letters and gradient layers (delete them, or hide them).

Step 5 - Just Add Color!

You may want to name all of your individual layers, that way you don’t lose track of which letter is which, but perhaps you’ve got a manageable number and that’s not necessary.

Create a new layer above all your ‘gradient-letters’. Grab the Paint Bucket Tool, and a bright color (I’m starting with #7fff5d). Create a selection of your first gradient-letter (Ignore any messages you may or may not see about no selection being shown), and fill in that selection with your selected color on the new layer. Set this layers Blending Mode to Screen.

Repeat this process for the remaining letters (each color on a new layer). Try using the same colors more than once every now and then.

Step 6 - Merge

When you’re sure that the type is set correctly, Merge all of your gradient-letters (Select the layers, then Ctrl + E). Then, Merge all of your colors into one layer (Make sure the blending mode is still set to screen).

You should now have two layers - one with the plain gradient layers, the other with the colors for the letters. We didn’t have to do this, it’s just easier to manage.

Step 7 - Getting the Glow

Duplicate your gradient-letters layer (Not the color layer). Apply a Gaussian Blur (See our Filters Tutorial) with value of 1-3 on this layer.

Repeat this step (Duplicate & Blur) on your Color layer. Set this layer to Lighten or Screen (use best judgment). Depending on the saturation and intensity of your colors, you may choose to duplicate the color layer a second time.

Step 8

Using the Eraser Tool, and a soft brush, go back and erase parts of the colored layers so that the type appears to fade from color to a ghostly white.

Step 9 - Reflect

Select ALL of the layers being used for the text effect, then Duplicate them. Merge the duplicated version into one layer. Use the trendy Surface Reflection Technique shown in our 5 Essential Reflections for Photoshop Tutorial to mirror your type.

Step 10 - Adjust as Needed!

From here on out, I’ll let you play on your own with the effect. I’d recommend playing with lighting effects in the background — simple things like adding some highlights behind the text… though you certainly could go all out as Drasik does in his work!

Here are some additional steps I took to improve upon the effect:

Playing with additional blurs can also add a bit of liveliness to the text. Try Duplicating a layer, and applying a motion blur to see how that works out for you!

Animated Gifs

2009-02-14T10:32:00.000-08:00

This tutorial will demonstrate how you can create an Animated GIF logo. I used Corel DRAW! 7.0 for Windows for this technique. Some things may be done differently with other versions.

Putting a New Spin on Your Logo

I'll be the first to admit that I'm probably the last person to jump on the "Animated GIF" bandwagon. To be honest, I didn't really see the potential for animated GIFs. Most of the early images I saw were kind of cheesy. On top of that, I prefer keeping my images' download time to a minimum, and animated GIFs can get rather large very quickly.

Recently, though, I've seen the light. Done right, animated GIFs can be pretty cool. And, with today's GIF animation software, animated image file size can be kept quite reasonable. Animated GIFs can be real attention-getters on banner ads, can really add to the appeal of a static logo, and they can certainly add some pizzazz to a web page.

Animated 3D text has become so popular on the web, in fact, that there are now several dedicated programs available for you to choose from. These programs, produced by software companies such as Xara and Ulead, make the creation of animated 3D text as simple as point-and-click.

What if you need to do more than animate simple text? Normally you might think of resorting to a dedicated 3D-rendering program. These programs can be expensive, though, and they often have pretty steep learning curves. So what can you do? Well, you can use Corel DRAW! to create the frames for your animated masterpiece. That's right! Corel DRAW! has all the features necessary to help you create a 3D animated logo.

Here's how you can use the extrusion features to give depth to, light, and spin your creation...

Open a new graphic in Corel DRAW! (I'm using version 7, but the method should translate well to other versions).

I'll be creating a simple logo using the first letters of GrafX Design, my design company.

First I entered the text using the Text tool. I then selected the text by clicking on the Pick tool. This enabled me to change the font and the size of the text. I chose Braggadocio at 72 points.

Because I didn't want to create just simple text, but rather I wanted a logo, I decided to cut the text out of a simple oval shape. To do that, I selected the Ellipse tool and dragged an oval shape around the text.

To line these elements up, marquee-select them all with the Pick tool and choose Arrange, Align and Distribute. In the Align and distribute dialog box, check Center of Page and click OK.

With the elements still selected, click the Combine button on the property bar. This will combine, or cutout, the text from the oval.

You can change the color of the oval logo by left-clicking a color on the color palette. I choose a light blue color (see figure 9.1).

figure 9.1

Now that the logo design is complete (as simple as it is), it's time to extrude the image, light it, and start creating the separate frames you'll need in order to complete the animation.

Choose Effects, Extrude to bring up the Extrude dialog box (see figure 9.2). This is where you'll do most of the work needed to create the frames of your spinning animation.

figure 9.2

In this dialog box you'll see 5 tabs. The first three, Extrude, Rotate, and Lighting are the ones you'll need to use to create the frames for your animation.

The first thing you should do is extrude the logo. This process gives your logo some depth, i.e. it adds the 3rd dimension to your image.

Click on the first tab if it's not already active. You can now set the basic shape, viewpoint, and depth of your image. I set the shape to "Small Back," the viewpoint to "VP Locked To Object," and the depth to 2.0. You can play around with the various choices until you get the look you're after. When you're done, click Apply.

The next thing you will do is create the lighting.

Click the third tab. Turn on the first light by clicking the first lightbulb icon (or Light switch 1).

You can now position the light by dragging the small black icon around the 3D grid. You must place the icon on an intersection. I chose the upper-right corner. Once you've chosen the position for your light, click Apply.

At this point you won't really see much difference in your image. It's coming, though.

Click on the 2nd tab. This option enables you to rotate the logo in 3D space. You'll notice the Corel symbol that's visible in the middle of the dialog box (see figure 9.3).

figure 9.3

This symbol can be dragged around with the mouse, and its position will correspond to the position of your image in 3D space once you click Apply. Changing the position in this manner is a lot of fun. However, you'll need to be more exacting when creating your frames. Below and to the right of the Corel symbol is a small, bent-cornered, rectangular icon. Clicking on this icon will replace the Corel symbol with a set of coordinates, or rotation values. The first controls the rotation about the x-axis, the second about the y-axis and the third about the z-axis. Because I'll be spinning my logo around the y-axis, I'll only need to change the values for number 2.

Before you start to apply the rotation values you should save the first frame. Obviously the first frame doesn't need to be rotated.

Before saving the first frame, though, create a white (or some other color, if you prefer) bounding box around your logo image. You'll need to do this because of the way Corel DRAW! saves an image. When Corel DRAW! saves an image it doesn't keep all of the white space you see around the onscreen representation. Instead, all of that white space is cropped off. It's best to have all of the frames of your animation the same size, and adding the bounding box will assure that this is the case.

Select the Rectangle tool and draw a box around your image. It doesn't have to be much bigger than the image but it should give you a little extra elbowroom.

On the color palette, left-click the color that you want the box to be. This hides your logo, of course. Press CTRL-Page Down until the box moves to the back and your logo is again visible.

To center everything again, marquee-select all of the objects and then select Arrange, Align and Distribute. Place a check mark in the Center of Page box and click OK.

To save the first frame of your animation, choose File, Export. In the Export dialog box, choose a folder in which to store the image, give your file a name, and choose a file type. I like to use the BMP file format, (because it's 24-bit and it's a format most animation programs recognize) and let the animation program handle the palette. I also like to name the frames in sequence. I started this sequence as GD00.BMP.

Click Export to bring up the Bitmap Export dialog box.

Set the colors to 16 Million Colors. Set the Size to Custom and place a checkmark in the Maintain Aspect Ratio box. You can leave the Resolution at anywhere from 72 dpi to 96 dpi because the animation is intended for screen viewing. I always like to set Anti-aliasing to Super-sampling. Once you have entered all of the settings, click OK to save the image.

Now you're ready to rotate the logo.

By adding the bounding box you de-selected the logo. Simply use the Pick tool to re-select the logo.

Back at the Extrude dialog box, click Edit and enter 10 in the 2nd spin control. Click Apply to apply the rotation. You could rotate the logo by a value of 1 rather than 10 each time, and this would result in an extremely smooth animation. However, it would also result in an unacceptably large final file size.

The 2nd frame (see figure 9.4) is ready to be saved. Not so bad, eh?

figure 9.4

Choose File, Export and name the second frame. I named mine GD01.BMP. You'll need to select the Maintain Aspect Ratio and Super-sampling boxes again.

That completes the 2nd frame.

Back at the Export dialog box, click Edit and enter 20 in the 2nd spin control. Export this frame.

Continue on until you hit the value 70. You'll notice that the image is now at 90 degrees (see figure 9.5).

figure 9.5

This occurs because Corel DRAW uses the values -100 to 100 for the rotation values and not, as you might expect, 0-360 degrees.

After saving the frame with the value at 70, start back down using negative values. Start with -60, then -50, etc, until you hit -10. Although, technically, using these values won't spin the logo so that you see the back of it, using these numbers will give your animation the appearance of spinning 360 degrees around the y-axis.

You should now have 14 frames numbering 00 through 13. You're ready to animate your logo!

It's time to fire up your animation program. I'm currently using Ulead's GIF Animator. I like it because it's relatively easy to use-it offers animation and optimization wizards, has good palette control, and accepts a fairly wide range of file formats.

After opening GIF Animator, I created the final animation, which can be seen below. Because the wizards work so well, I simply chose to use all of the defaults.

When the animation program opens, it offers you a chance to use the Animation Wizard. This wizard enables you to Add Images/Videos. From this first dialog box, you can add the images, or frames of your animation. Simply point to the folder where you stored the separate frames. There's a small quirk, though. The frames will not be in sequence unless you follow this simple rule: Choose the last file in the sequence and then, while holding down the shift key, click on the first filename in the sequence. Click OPEN. You can click through the remaining choices by choosing Next each time. The one place you might want to stray from the default is the Frame Duration. I like my animations to run more quickly than the default and usually choose 10/100's of a second rather than the 25/100's. In the last dialog box, choose Finish to close the wizard.

To see how your animation will appear, click on the Start Preview button. You'll see your animation for the first time. Pretty cool, eh?

If everything looks okay, you can choose File, Optimization Wizard. Again, you should be able to just let the wizard do its thing. My final, optimized, spinning logo weighs in at a pretty good 11K. If you're not happy with the final result, re-run the wizard and tweak some of the settings. Some of the biggest savings can be achieved by lowering the color depth. I saved the logo with 64 colors, but I probably could have gone lower without sacrificing too much of the image's quality. You should spend a little time getting to know the animation software. Most of the packages I've tried are fairly easy to use and come with pretty extensive online help.

That's it. I invite you to play around with some text and some different shapes in Corel DRAW!. Try adding a bevel (use the last tab in the Extrude dialog box), or adding a second and third light, etc. Extrude your images to different depths and try filling them with textures as well as solid colors. Pretty soon you'll be wowing the visitors at your web site with all manner of spinning and moving logos and buttons.

figure 9.6

Coffee Cup Animation

2009-02-14T10:13:00.000-08:00

This is an easy animation you can do with CorelDRAW®. This tutorial uses CorelDRAW 8 or 9 to create the frames and Adobe® ImageReady™ to animate them. For those who don't have ImageReady, you can use any other animation program to make the animated GIF (click here for Royal E. Frazier's software page). For this tutorial, you also need the clip art image COFFEET.CDR (in the Food/Drinks folder of the CorelDRAW 8 or 9 clipart collection) or COFFEET.CCX (in the Food4 folder of the ccx clipart in one of the Corel Gallery collections available commercially). You can probably find this image in most any Corel clipart collection or substitute one of your own.

1. First, startup CorelDRAW and open the file. Next, click the "Landscape" button on the toolbar to switch the page orientation. This will give us enough room to make the frames.

2. Select the object group and drag it to the left of the page.

3. Your workspace should look something like the one below.

4. We need to modify some of the objects so while the group is still selected, click Arrange > Ungroup.

5. Now the drawing will appear as separate objects.

6. Next, click the Rectangle Tool and drag a rectangle around the coffee cup. This will provide a common frame of reference for each frame so they will align with each other when they are assembled.

Tip: Creating a rectangle as a common frame of reference for each image is a standard way to make frames for animations. Do this whether you keep the rectangle in the finished animation or get rid of it by cropping it out.

7. The rectangle will still be selected after you draw it.

8. Click the "To Back" button on the toolbar to send it to the back of the stack, then click a color button to give it a fill. In this case I used 20% black for the fill.

Tip: If you want a transparent background for the finished animation, then set the background color to be the same as the background color over which it will be displayed. Then export each frame as a GIF image and select "Anti-aliasing" in the Bitmap Export dialog. You will see another dialog where you can set the background color to be transparent. This will provide a matte color which will blend the anti-aliased pixels into the background perfectly.

9. Your workspace should look something like the one below.

10. You are now ready to export the first frame image. Using the Pick Tool, marquee-select the frame.

11. With the first frame selected, your workspace should look something like the one below.

12. Next, click File > Export... to export the frame as an image.

13. In the Export dialog, choose the "Selected Only" check box. This will export only the selected objects as an image. Use a True Color file format. In this case I am using the Photoshop PSD file format. Give it a filename and click "Export". Save all the frame images in the same folder.

Tip: Name the sequence of frame images with the same file name ending with 1, 2, 3, etc. Many animation programs recognize files named this way as an image sequence. You can take advantage of this and load the whole frame sequence at once.


		Note: You don't have to save images in Photoshop format. This format is just my personal preference. You can choose any of the other true color raster formats such as TIFF or PICT or BMP. Just don't use a lossy format such as JPEG or a format that isn't true color like GIF (more here on color depth and true color). The reason is that when the finished animated GIF is created the color depth will be reduced to a maximum of 256 colors. You don't want to start with a limited palette. Rather, you want all the colors available before the GIF animation is generated.

14. Next, you will see a dialog. Use the following settings circled or underlined in the graphic below:

RGB Color
Anti-aliasing
1 to 1 Size
72 dpi resolution

We want RGB color (24-bit True Color). The GIF file format only supports a maximum of 256 colors more here on True Color and the GIF file format. If you save the frames as individual GIF images, each will have a different palette and and there may be flickering between the frames because of the different colors. By saving the frames in True Color, the animation program will generate a common palette for all the frames. Alternately, you can export frames as GIF images if you want a transparent background. You just need to be aware that there is a tradeoff between color depth and transparency.

Anti-aliasing will give the images a smooth appearance. Otherwise the images will appear jagged more here on anti-aliasing.

Choose a 1 to 1 size. If you want the finished animation to be smaller or larger, then adjust this amount.

Since the finished animation is for a screen display, choose 72 dpi for the resolution more here on resolution.

15. Next, we want to duplicate the frame. Click Ctrl-D or Edit > Copy followed by Edit > Paste, then drag the duplicate to the right of the first frame.

16. The duplicated frame appears to the right of the first one.

Tip: This is the best way to animate frames in a vector graphics application such as CorelDRAW®, Deneba Canvas™, Adobe® Illustrator® or Macromedia® FreeHand®. By duplicating the previous frame, you can make small changes to the vector objects and achieve a smooth animation.

17. In this frame we will modify the steam objects. There are 3 columns of steam (left, center and right). We are going to make the left one fall, and make the center and right ones rise. Start by selecting the left steam column.

18. Using the Pick Tool, grab the top center handle and drag downwards slightly.

19. Select the right steam column and drag upwards slightly.

20. Then select the center steam column and drag upwards slightly.

21. You are now ready to export the second frame. Using the Pick Tool, marquee-select the frame.

22. The selected frame should appear like the one below.

23. Export the frame using the same settings as in a previous step. Give it the same filename as the one before ending it with a "2" instead. Make sure to choose "Selected Only" (circled below) just like before.

24. Duplicate the frame using Ctrl-D or Edit > Copy followed by Edit > Paste, then drag the duplicate to the right of the second frame.

25. Select the left steam column and drag it downwards slightly.

26. Select the right steam column and drag it upwards slightly.

27. Select the center steam column and drag it upwards slightly.

28. Marquee-select the frame with the Pick Tool.

29. Once again, export the frame using the same settings as before. Give it the same filename as the two previous ones and end it with a "3". Remember to choose "Selected Only" (circled below).

30. Below is a shot of the document with the three frames. You should save the document and quit CorelDRAW®.

31. Launch Adobe® ImageReady™ and click File > Import > Folder as Frames.

32. Navigate to the folder containing the frames and click "Choose" on the Mac®...

or "OK" on a Windows® system.

33. You will see the first frame in the document window.

34. The Animation palette will display the 3 frames.

35. Click on frame 3 in the Animation palette.

36. Click the "Duplicate Frame" button. This will add a 4th frame that is a duplicate of frame 3.

37. Then in the Layers palette, click layer 2 to make it visible (below left), then click the visibility icon on layer 3 (below right) to hide it. This makes layer 2 visible in frame 4.

Note: Alternately, you could have duplicated frame 2 and dragged it to the right in the Animation palette.

38. The default timing for imported frames is zero seconds delay. You can adjust the timing on all the frames at once. Frame 4 is still selected. Shift-Click frame 1 to select all four frames.

39. Click the small triangle to the right of the words "0 sec." under one of the frames.

40. This brings up the Frame Delay menu. In this case choose .2 seconds.

41. Notice now that all the frames are set to .2 seconds delay (5 frames per second).

42. Click the play button (circled below) on the Animation palette to preview the animation.

Click here for
the animated
version of
this image

43. Now we are ready to export the animated GIF file. Setup the Optimize palette with these settings:

GIF
Adaptive
No Dither

GIF89a file format
Uses an adaptive palette
No dithering of colors

The example below is set for 256 colors. You can make a smaller file by selecting fewer colors for the palette.

44. Next click File > Save Optimized As... and in the following dialog provide a file name.

45. Here's the finished animation.

reference : sketchpad

How to Create a Three Color Wolf Skull in Illustrator

2009-02-13T06:10:00.000-08:00

Step 1

This time I will not use a hand draw sketch, but an image of a real skull. I got mine from a museum that I've visited a while back. Note: If you try using pictures from museums or expositions please check the copyright issues with the museum's personnel before using pictures of exposed items. If you don't plan to visit a museum soon, you can access the source image of this tutorial, and use mine.

Open a new file in Illustrator (Command + N), browse on your computer to where you have the picture of the skull, select and copy it (Command + C). Go to Illustrator again and paste it (Command + V) into your Illustrator file.

Step 2

Now that you have the skull image in Illustrator, you need to lower the transparency so you can trace it easier. Select the picture using the Selection Tool (V) and bring down the Opacity to 70% from the Transparency Box (Command + Shift + F10).

Step 3

Now lock the layer with the image and open a new one on top so you can start drawing the vectors.

Step 4

Before you start drawing the vector outlines you need to make sure you have the proper brushes handy. For PLUS Members, I included a set of eight custom brushes I usually use for tracing.

Step 5

New lets start tracing! Set your Fill Color to none and Stroke Color to black.

Step 6

Bring up the Stroke panel because you'll need to change the stroke weight of the brushes in the next steps.

Step 7

Bring up the Brushes panel Window > Brushes (F5) and select the brush you will use for tracing.

Step 8

You start with the contour and then you continue with the inner shapes. For the contour you select a regular calligraphic brush (7 pt. Round) and use the Pen Tool (P) to start tracing.

Step 9

After finishing tracing the contours, now let's try to spice things up by adding stylized (jagged ) interior lines to the skull. I will start with adding them to the outer side of the drawing and continue towards the interior using Art Brush 2.

Step 10

To draw the eye socket you need to change the brush to Art Brush 12 with a stroke of 3 px and draw the outer part of it.

Step 11

Next add the jagged lines to the eye socket as well using Art Brush 4 with a stroke of 3 px.

Step 12

Next, continue adding shades (jagged lines), using different brushes and stroke weights until most of the line art is done. Feel free to experiment, and take hints from the image below.

Step 13

Now add a few lines to the interior of the drawing to give it more depth. If the skull doesn't have any, it doesn't mean you cannot draw any, use your imagination here.

Step 14

Now that you've finished drawing the lines, you have to add the grey part of the design. Before you go further; Select all (Command + A), Expand the appearance (Object > Expand Appearance), and Clean up (Command + Shift + C).

Step 15

Using the Pen tool (P) with no Stroke color and a grey fill color, start drawing towards the black outlines without overlapping them.

Step 16

Now select the gray shapes and Send to Back (Command + Shift + Left Bracket).

Step 17

Repeat Steps 15-16 until you think the amount of grey is enough to add some shading and interest to the design.

Step 18

Now we need to add the white, so select white as a fill color. Next, select all (Command + A), bring up the paint bucket (K), and-double click on an empty area of the skull to fill the color. Finally, press the expand button.

Final Image

Below is the final image. Have fun making this!

reference = http://vectortuts.com

How To Make Logo Animation With Macromedia Flash

2009-02-12T10:35:00.000-08:00

improve your creations to make animation logo from flash.
This tutorial showed a Lemon fall to some characters and moving the animation.

For the first start please open the vector logo design in Adobe Illustrator.

Export vector logo file above into some Macromedia SWF file and select file then select Preserve Editability checkbox.

Open the Macromedia Flash then create a new document with dimension that you have setting before, and make sure the frame rate change into 24fps for some smooth animation.

File > Import > Import to Stage and choose your file "SWF logo". this would placed the logo into Vector format in Flash artboard.

Select all objects that makes lemon shapes form and the group ken they with press (Ctrl/CMD + G), then "Cut" lemon and "Paste" to new layer. Don't forget to give a name to your layer for the next reference.

Choosed frame 50 at both layer and input some Keyframe (Click Right > Insert Keyframe), this would give some space at timeline for working.

On the first frame, Copy the lemon image then drag the image into stage with vertical. Input some Keyframe to frame 5 and Edit > Paste In Place, the lemon, delete the lemon above at this frame.

Clik right between this both Keyframes and select Create Motion Tween. you would see blue color and arrows symbol between those frames.

Input some Keyframe at frame 7, then back to frame 5 move lemon downwards with slowly using Free Transform Tool, hold ALT for changed one side.
Created some Motion Tween between frames 5 and 7.

Created new layer below lemon layer and named Shadow. in this layer draw some oval with gray gradient to white from center. Use Gradient Transform Tool for edit form from gradient to gived perspective.

Input some Keyframe from frame 5 at this layer and minimize the shadows scale and gives impression that the lemon looked far. Created Motion Tween between this frames.

For Starting the lemon vibration, input some Keyframe at frame 53 and 56. Changed the size of lemon more bigger. Slowly at frame 53. Created Motion Tween between frames 50-56.

Copy this frames and Paste to frame 65 for repetitive vibration.

To created more fast vibration input some Keyframe to 75, then Copy frame 68 and Paste to frame 77.

Copy frames between 75-77 and paste to frames 79, 82, 85 and 91 for repeat low vibration and fast.

Creates some vibration more fast with Copied frame 77 and Paste to frame 94, Copy frame 77 and Paste to 95, then Copy frames 94-95. Paste this frame to 96, 98, 100, 102, 104, 106, 108 and 110.

For the finishing, create lemon pop and disappear input one Keyframe at 112 and enlarge the lemon. At panel properties changed color to Alpha dan set into 50%.

Input some Blank Keyframe (Right Click > Insert Blank Keyframe) at frame 114.
Move layer2 Shadow and Logo into layer this time at the timeline with inserting frames (F5) in frame 150.

If you want to play this animation press (Enter key) you will see how all Motion Tweens gives lemon some animation, however this same thing must happen to the shadow to following the movement form of lemon.
at the Shadow layer input Keyframes for equalize Lemon layer above and change shadow more bigger in precisely at frame 53. Created Motion Tweens between 50-55.

Copy frames 50-55 and paste at frame 65.
repeat this process like what you have done to the lemon, until the shadow have the movement vibration same with the lemon. input some Blank Keyframe at frame 113

one more last step is to making the white color precede the shadows at logo text. simple with dragging the layer Text above the layer Shadow.

push Ctrl + Enter for published animation into SWF.

Reference : ilmuwebsite

How to Create a Flaming Photo Manipulation

2009-02-12T10:34:00.000-08:00

Step 1

For this project, I used two nice images that suits for the manipulation; image1, image2. I would like to thank the author of this two great pictures, which is thiquinho and huibidos from sxc.hu. And before we continue with the steps, I need to inform you that this tutorial is written using Photoshop CS3.

Step 2

Let's start with image1, open and duplicate this image by using the Image > Duplicate command from the menu bar. In the Duplicate Image dialog box, you can name it anything you like, but to follow this tutorial reference, name it "PassionFire" and hit OK. By doing this, we kept the original image. Be sure to save.

Step 3

With the "PassionFire" image active, duplicate the "background" layer. Set the foreground and background color to black and white by pressing D on the keyboard. Click the "background" layer again and fill it with the foreground color ~ which is set to black. See the images below.

Step 4

Reactivate "Layer 1," then press Command + Shift + U to apply desaturate command. Now invert the color by pressing Command + I. Your image should look like a film's negative now.

Step 5

Duplicate "Layer 1," then apply the find edges filter from Filter > Stylized > Find Edges. Next, invert the color by pressing Command + I and change the Blending Mode to Hard light. There, your image now has contrast white line and a very dark background.

Step 6

To give the white line more contrast, duplicate the "Layer 1" copy then change the Blending Mode to Screen.

Step 7

Now we move to the second image. Drag image2 into "PassionFire" document image window using the Move tool. If the Paste profile mismatch dialog appears, just click OK to fix it.

Step 8

The fire image from "image2" should be in "Layer 2" now. Change its Blending Mode to screen, this will hide all the black colors in "Layer 2." If done right, your image should be similar to the one below.

Step 9

Duplicate "Layer 2" by pressing Command + J. Make sure you use the Screen Blending mode, same as the original "Layer 2." Next, make "Layer 2" become invisible by hiding it from the layers panel.

Step 10

Click the "Layer 2 copy" to make it active, then use the Free Transform command ( Edit > Free Transform) to rotate and resize the fire image like shown below. Don't forget to press Enter when you're done transforming.

Step 11

Still in the same layer, now use the warp command (Edit > Transform > Warp) to bend the fire image - so it following the hair flow. Press Enter when done. See the example below as a reference.

Step 12

If you feel the result is not quite good enough, simply use the Liquify filter to fix it. I assume you already know how to use the liquify filter; the Forward Warp tool and Twirl Clockwise tool is the only tool I used to get this result (see image below).

Step 13

Duplicate the "Layer 2" copy, then use the Free Transform command to resize and rotate the fire image in the current layer. Don't forget to reposition the fire image too. Once you get this composition (see image below), hit Enter.

Step 14

Repeat the previous process to get the hair covered with fire. Just duplicate and modify the layer until you get all the hair part covered. If needed, use the Liquify Filter again. The end result of this process should look like the image below, notice how many layers are used.

Step 15

Okay, now activate "Layer 2" and make it visible again. Then Change the Blending Mode to Vivid Light. This step will colorize only the white line in the layer below it.

Step 16

Still in "Layer 2," apply the Free Transform command to resize and rotate the fire image like shown below. The purpose is to cover up the girl's body and hair with the fire texture. Press Enter when you're done transforming.

Step 17

We're gonna blur the fire image in "Layer 2," To do so, apply the Gaussian Blur filter from the Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur menu. Fill the Radius around 10 to 15 pixels, then click OK when done. Blurring the fire image will cause its texture to blend smoother with the layer below it.

Step 18

Now add a layer mask to "Layer 2." Then use a soft round Brush tool with Opacity at 100%. Set the brush size according to your need, then just mask until the fire outside becoming hidden. See the process below.

Step 19

Sure we will remove the white line shown in the image (marked in red rectangle below). First, add a new blank layer below "Layer 2." Then simply paint it with black using the soft round brush tool.

Step 20

Now go to the top most layer (mine is: "Layer 2 copy 6"), add two adjustment layers which is Hue/Saturation and Brightness/Contrast. Careful not to change the layer adjustment order, or the color effect will be wrong. Below you can see the setting I used to complete this step, also pay attention to the adjustment layer order.

By adding a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, we unify all colors. The Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer brings more color contrast and makes sure the image color's looks like real fire.

Step 21

I'm sure you notice the fire sparks effect. I create it using the Brush tool with this simple setting. No special brush needed, but if you have one that will be useful then feel free to use it. Below you can see all the settings I used within the Brush palette, of course you can change the setting as you like. Just make sure the brush spatter enough and vary the size.

Step 22

Now to use the modified brush, create a new blank layer below the adjustment layers ( mine is named "Layer 4"). Choose 50% gray from the swatches palette, then you can start creating the fire sparks. Remember not to be monotone, resize the brush size if needed. I start using a big sized brush, then reduce it to smaller size (you can change brush size faster by pressing the bracket keys on the keyboard ).

If you're not sure how to do this steps, just imagine where and how the fire sparks will flow if it was real fire. For me, imagining stuff is very helpful.

Step 23

To make it more interesting, create a new layer and change the Blending Mode to Screen. Then use a normal soft round brush (not the one we modified earlier), with an Opacity of 50%. Just click in the part of body, neck, and hair. I'm not sure how to explain this, but you can see the difference between the above and below images.

Conclusion

And that's all of it! Hope you learned something new and had fun. You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.

reference : psdtuts

3D Animated Glass Globe

2009-02-12T09:44:00.000-08:00

Open SwishMAx set your movie width an height i have used 200 x 150 pixels with a white background

Step.1

Select the Elipse tool, from the tools layout, draw a circle whilst holding down the Shift button.
name the circle mask and colour it #0099FF see Fig.1 below.

Fig.1

Step.2

Copy the mask shape and paste in place twice. rename one of the shapes sea and the other overlay
make sure that they are in the ascending order overlay, sea and mask
select the overlay shape and choose Linear Gradient with the colours running from solid white #FFFFFF
to transparent blue #0099FF and rotate the shape by 90 degrees.
Now select the sea shape and give a Linear Gradient of light blue #0099FF
to dark blue #0066FF and rotate by 90 degrees see Fig.2 below.

Fig.2

Step.3

Using the Elipse tool, create an oval shape with a Radial Gradient
give it the colours light blue #99FFFF to transparent darker blue #0099FF
place at the base of the globe and name light see Fig.3 below

Fig.3

Step.4

Now Import the world-map.PNG graphic previously downloaded from the link at the begining of the tutorial.
and duplicate two more times, so you have 3 copies all at the side of each other
group together as a shape and name Top-Map, now place the middle map image in the center of the globe.
move the Top-Map underneath overlay and light see Fig.4 below.

Fig.4

Step.5

Now duplicate the Top-Map shape and name as Bottom-Map
select the Bottom-Map and choose Transform and then flip Horizontal
now click on the image properties and set as seen in Fig.5

Fig.5

Now align Bottom-Map so that the 2 middle South American Continents are kissing one another see Fig.6.

Fig.6

Step.6

Now select Top-Map and on the timeline give it a move action over 100 frames.
do the same for the Bottom-Map see Fig.7 below.

Fig.7

Now highlight the Top-Map move action on the timeline now using the left arrow key
move the map untill the Two South American Continents are kissing one another again.
do the same again for the Bottom-Map image but this time use the right arrow key.
you have now created the map animation for the globe.

Step.7

select everything on the stage and group together as a sprite
name the sprite globe and select use bottom object as mask see Fig.8 below

Fig.8

Step.8

Now for add ing the shading to the globe
select the rectangle tool and drag a square to cover the globe choose Radial Gradient
and give a colour of Black #000000 to Transparent Light Blue #0099FF.
See Fig.9 below.

Fig.9

Duplicate the same rectangle, rotate and place at the bottom, so black is at the bottom,
with the transparent blue running towards the top of the globe.
Dublicate once more place at the right hand side, this time change the black to white #FFFFFF
see Fig.10 below.

Fig.10

To add the shadow at the bottom, use the Elipse tool drag an oval out
place it underneath the globe sprite name it shadow
and give a Radial Gradient of black to transparent white.

reference : swish-design

3D shining text

2009-02-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

Step 1

Tipe new text layer.

Step 2

Rasterize layer and with selected parts of text and free transform tool conect leters.

Step 3

Duplicate layer.

Step 4

To duplicated layer give stroke.

Step 5

First layer who's now inside of second layer, select and trim second layer.

Step 6

Delete first layer. now we use only duplicated (second) layer.

To second layer give Gradient Overlay like in picture.

Step 7

Duplicate layer and give him vertical transformation.

Step 8

Then select both layers and tranform them with Perspective Transformation.

Step 9

Duplicate them and merge them togheter. then color them and move just a little in front off.

Step 10

Open new layer and start to drawing lighting effects.. Use Pen Tool.

Step 11

Color layer.

Step 12

With Eraser Tool erase some part of light.

Step 13

Then give Lighten effect.

Step 14

Open new layer as background, color him, put him behind and give Gradient Overlay like in picture.

Step 15

Final

menu list

2009-02-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Colorful Glowing Text Effect in Photoshop
Animated Gifs
Coffee Cup Animation
How to Create a Three Color Wolf Skull in Illustrator
How To Make Logo Animation With Macromedia Flash
How to Create a Flaming Photo Manipulation
3D Animated Glass Globe
3D shining text