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How to make Lightning Graphics animation light up text.
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I used Adobe Photoshop version 8.0 CS, however it should work in earlier versions.
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First, create a new document, I made mine 600 x 200 to start out with, It will end up being a sig size of 600 x 100.Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
Select two very dark colors, I selected black and navy blue.
Go to menu: Filter > Render > Clouds.
That should give you a nice stormy feeling.Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
Now use the Lightning brushes, if you don't have them you can download them here: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13922966/ Put them in your Presets > Brushes folder.Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
Select a lightning brush, make sure your opacity and flow are both at 100%
Now make a new layer and click where you want the first lightning strike to be.Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
For each lightning strike you need a separate layer. I used 6 different lightning strikes. It should look something like this.
Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorialNow type your text. I used white to give it some contrast, you can use whatever color you want.
Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorialNow create a layer mask for the text layer and duplicate for a total of 6 layers of text. Realign the layers, It should now look something like this.
Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorialNow switch over to Adobe ImageReady.Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
First hide all the layers but the bottom two. Click on the "Layer Mask Thumbnail" of the text layer, then select a regular soft brush size of 100. I made the Opacity 50% for this next part. It should look like this right now.
Free Graphics Adobe Photoshop Adobe ImageReady Tutorial Free tutorialMake sure the two colors you have are black and white. When you paint over the text with black, it will hide the letters (i.e. decrease the opacity). If you paint over the text with white, it will show the letters (increase the opacity.Free Adobe Photoshop Adobe ImageReady Tutorial Free photoshop Graphics tutorial
Now using black, paint over the letters farthest from the lightning strike, the further away from the strike, the darker the text should be. It will look something like this.
Do this for each set of Lightning and Text, making the Text lightest where the Lighting strike is.
Free Adobe Photoshop Adobe ImageReady Tutorial Free photoshop Graphics tutorialNow add a glow to each of the lightning layers. I used the default settings for the glow. Make sure you turn all the glows off, we won't use them just yet.
Free Adobe Photoshop Adobe ImageReady Tutorial, Free photoshop Graphics tutorialNow time to make the Animation.Free Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady Tutorial Free photoshop Graphics tutorial
Select a new frame (frame 2), set layer 'Lightning1' and the first text layer to 45% opacity.
Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorialOn the next frame (frame 3), set lighting2 and text layer 2 to about 35% opacity and Lightning1 and text layer1 to 100% opacity.Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
On frame 4, set lightning2 and text2 to about 75% opacity, use some artistic license. Leave Lightning1 and Text1 at 100% opacity, but turn on the glow.Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
Frame 5, set lightning2 and text2 to 100% opacity and unhide the glow on lightning2. Set Lightning1 and Text1 to 50% opacity, and hide the glowFree, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
Frame 6 set lightning2 and text2 to 60% opacity and hide the glow. Set Lightning1 and Text1 to 20% opacity. And now activate lightning3 and text3, set their opacity to 40%.Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
I set all the layers to 0.1 Seconds.Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
Continue doing this for as many frames as you like, remember, the longer you have a lightning layer appear, 5-6 frames or more will make the lightning really slow. Whereas if you only make a lightning layer appear for 3 frames, it will be a very quick flash.
Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorialOne last thing, we need to crop the image to make it 600 x 100. Select the Rectangular Marquee tool. Set the style to fixed size: 600 px width, 100 px height.Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
And now click here for the finished product...
http://michaellewismusic.com/test/Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
Tip: Be creative, try things. Don't worry about messing up, you might turn out something really cool.Free, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Tutorial, photoshop tutorial
Let me know if this tutorial was helpful.FREE free Free FREE, "FREE" "free" "Free" "Free IPod" Graphics
