PureWhoopAss
Legions Developer
Ok this is a simple tutorial i put together for those who might want to make special effects. This tutorial can work with most versions of photoshops. I believe the only thing thats different is the blending layers which I believe is done differently in ealier version of photoshop.. It's been a very long time so I'm not quite sure. But I am sure that most of what you can do now is there but harder to do and is located in different places.
You should have some knowledge of photoshop and use some of the various tools. If you don't you should get familiar with them, it's not hard once you have done something.. specially a million times.
1) The first thing you need to do is make a new file and make it 512x512 and make the background black with the fill tool
2) make a white bar going across the entire document. It doesn't matter if you start on a new layer or not but you will need to make it one layer before you apply filters.
3) Merge bar layer onto the black background layer, after this you want [cntrl + A] then [Cntrl + C] and [Cntrl + P]
PLEASE NOTE: copying and pasting on a new layer is necessary before you do any filter effects because sometimes after modifying the layer you end up with blank spaces and parts of the image extending beyond the viewable screen. You will know if you did because when you do a filter you will see transparency or other issues.
4) now goto "filter" menu and then go
to "blur" then "gausian blur" then set it to about 4-6 depending on how big the width of rectangle you made. The blur is needed if you wish to
make colored effects.
5) ok next step is going to use a wind effect. Go to filter menu again and then stylize/wind. Here you want a simple wind going both left and
right. To do this just simply do one then come back to this menu again and do the other so it looks like the following.
6) next flip the document so that the effect is in the center horizontally in menu image/image rotation/90 CW
7) now we make the effect happen go to filter/distort/Polar Coordinates... make sure the box is set "rectangle to polar".
PLEASE NOTE: You should be able to see if you made a mistake in the window.. it should be a simple circle as below. If it is not then you did one of two things.. the image doesn't fill the entire screen or the image extends beyond 512x512 viewing screen.
8) Now go to filter menu. Then distort/twirl choose -150 or you can go higher if you like
9) observe what you created, understand that using simple filters you just created an effect in less then 10 steps. You can really do anything with this process, you can make your own rocket flares using this same method as well as unique muzzle flashes/flag halo which I'll show in another tutorial
Now we can color this effect. To do this you can do various ways but i'll show you one that really stands out. The color that you use for effects does not and I repeat does not always appear the way it does in-game. You will have to do various attempts to get the coloration where you want it. The more white in the color the more bright it will be, so its best to go very subtle with white. The best thing to use that uses very subtle colors is burn linear, it makes it the best.
The best effects use two colors which are close to each other on the spectrum, you can do others but you want the most realistic you should stick with colors close to each other. Such as red/orange, green/yellow, blue/light blue, violet/pink. These typically are the best for glow effects as well. Theres also red and yellow which typically produces firey effects.
10) To make the color select left click the bucket icon and hold until you see the gradient tool. Using the gradient tool select your colors by selecting the gradient box on the upper left of the screen.
11) After you have the gradient tool selected you should see a color pallet on top right of the tool bar, select this and a window should appear
12) Now we can select our gradient, theres an upper set of arrows on the gradient and a lower set. The lower set is what controls the color. Select one on the bottom left. When you select a pointer on the color you can change the color by clicking on the color box. You have to select the other pointer to change the color for that pointer.
13) Once your done choosing your colors click "ok" button. We now need to make the gradient apply to our effect layer. On the bar above the effect you can see gradient attributes. You will see icons that demonstrate how to apply the gradient. You will need the second icon from the left, which is the radial gradient. You will also need to change the "mode", select mode box and find "Linear Burn" and select it. Now change the opacity on the bar on the left of mode to 80 percent. (refer to below image and make sure attributes are same)
13) Now with your cursor, click the center of the effect and drag to a corner (as picture below).
After a few tries you will get the idea. I will be expanding on this tutorial because this is great intro on how to make some cool effects which I will show you how. In mean time you can use this to explore for flag halos.
Heres various some various results
below are some other examples which I may explain how later to do
You should have some knowledge of photoshop and use some of the various tools. If you don't you should get familiar with them, it's not hard once you have done something.. specially a million times.
1) The first thing you need to do is make a new file and make it 512x512 and make the background black with the fill tool
2) make a white bar going across the entire document. It doesn't matter if you start on a new layer or not but you will need to make it one layer before you apply filters.
3) Merge bar layer onto the black background layer, after this you want [cntrl + A] then [Cntrl + C] and [Cntrl + P]
PLEASE NOTE: copying and pasting on a new layer is necessary before you do any filter effects because sometimes after modifying the layer you end up with blank spaces and parts of the image extending beyond the viewable screen. You will know if you did because when you do a filter you will see transparency or other issues.
4) now goto "filter" menu and then go
to "blur" then "gausian blur" then set it to about 4-6 depending on how big the width of rectangle you made. The blur is needed if you wish to
make colored effects.
5) ok next step is going to use a wind effect. Go to filter menu again and then stylize/wind. Here you want a simple wind going both left and
right. To do this just simply do one then come back to this menu again and do the other so it looks like the following.
6) next flip the document so that the effect is in the center horizontally in menu image/image rotation/90 CW
7) now we make the effect happen go to filter/distort/Polar Coordinates... make sure the box is set "rectangle to polar".
PLEASE NOTE: You should be able to see if you made a mistake in the window.. it should be a simple circle as below. If it is not then you did one of two things.. the image doesn't fill the entire screen or the image extends beyond 512x512 viewing screen.
8) Now go to filter menu. Then distort/twirl choose -150 or you can go higher if you like
9) observe what you created, understand that using simple filters you just created an effect in less then 10 steps. You can really do anything with this process, you can make your own rocket flares using this same method as well as unique muzzle flashes/flag halo which I'll show in another tutorial
Now we can color this effect. To do this you can do various ways but i'll show you one that really stands out. The color that you use for effects does not and I repeat does not always appear the way it does in-game. You will have to do various attempts to get the coloration where you want it. The more white in the color the more bright it will be, so its best to go very subtle with white. The best thing to use that uses very subtle colors is burn linear, it makes it the best.
The best effects use two colors which are close to each other on the spectrum, you can do others but you want the most realistic you should stick with colors close to each other. Such as red/orange, green/yellow, blue/light blue, violet/pink. These typically are the best for glow effects as well. Theres also red and yellow which typically produces firey effects.
10) To make the color select left click the bucket icon and hold until you see the gradient tool. Using the gradient tool select your colors by selecting the gradient box on the upper left of the screen.
11) After you have the gradient tool selected you should see a color pallet on top right of the tool bar, select this and a window should appear
12) Now we can select our gradient, theres an upper set of arrows on the gradient and a lower set. The lower set is what controls the color. Select one on the bottom left. When you select a pointer on the color you can change the color by clicking on the color box. You have to select the other pointer to change the color for that pointer.
13) Once your done choosing your colors click "ok" button. We now need to make the gradient apply to our effect layer. On the bar above the effect you can see gradient attributes. You will see icons that demonstrate how to apply the gradient. You will need the second icon from the left, which is the radial gradient. You will also need to change the "mode", select mode box and find "Linear Burn" and select it. Now change the opacity on the bar on the left of mode to 80 percent. (refer to below image and make sure attributes are same)
13) Now with your cursor, click the center of the effect and drag to a corner (as picture below).
After a few tries you will get the idea. I will be expanding on this tutorial because this is great intro on how to make some cool effects which I will show you how. In mean time you can use this to explore for flag halos.
Heres various some various results
below are some other examples which I may explain how later to do
Nice work!
