Nikerun147 PM'd me and asked how I did my gunfire effects that I've used on a few covers. Here is my reply, which he suggested I post for all to see...
I warn you, I threw this together in about 30 minutes, so it doesn't represent the "perfect gunfire" effect, but I think it's enough to get folks started...
--
Here's how I do it. It's actually fairly simple... no special plug-ins or images. Just plain old Photoshop filters and styles.
Original Image:[attachment=15236:step1.jpg]
Step 1:Create a new Solid Color layer (100% White) and apply a Layer Mask (PS should do this automatically by making a new Solid layer). Invert the layer mask so that you see nothing to start off with. Using the Lasso or brushes on the Layer Mask, make the basic shape of your gun blast so that you have a white area over your image.
[attachment=15237:step2.jpg]
Step 2:Blur the mask with a Gaussian blur or something similar. Don't blur it too much, you still want a "white hot" center to your gun blast.
[attachment=15238:step3.jpg]
Step 3:Apply an Outer Glow to your Solid Color layer. Use the gradient option for your glow color. Have the gradient start at yellow and fade to orange, dropping the opacity of the gradient to 0% along the way. Play around with the glow settings (Blend Mode, Size, Opacity, etc.) to get it to look right with your image.
[attachment=15239:step4.jpg]
Step 4:If you have a splatter brush set, you can paint white onto your layer mask to add some sparks or whatever to give it a more realistic look.
[attachment=15240:step5.jpg]
Step 5:Run a Filter>Distort>Glass... filter on the mask to further distort the gun blast, if necessary.
[attachment=15241:step6.jpg]
Step 6:The above image is okay, but the gunfire needs to interact with the environment a bit more. So add a Radial Gradient layer that uses the same yellow and orange from the Outer Glow. Put a Layer Mask on this layer that starts at white (around the barrel of the gun or the gunblast itself) and gradually changes to black as it gets further away from the source (the gun blast).
[attachment=15242:step7.jpg]
Step 7:Set the Blend Mode of the gradient layer to Overlay and the Opacity to 50%.
[attachment=15243:step8.jpg]
I hope this helps. I threw it together kind of quickly, so it's not the greatest, but I think it gives you the basic idea of how to do this effect and you can certainly do more if you take the time to play around with it. Pretty simple, right?? It's just a blurred white layer with an outer glow...
--
So anyway, that's what I gave nikerun147. Again, not the most refined end-result, but it's quick, simple, requires no additional plug-ins or filters, and if you spend more time on it that I have, you can end up with something fairly sweet. There might even be gunblast PS brushes out there, where all you have to do is use the brush on the layer mask of a white layer, which would simplify the process even more. But I never looked into that, but now I will!
Yeah... umm... enjoy!!!
Nikerun147 PM'd me and asked how I did my gunfire effects that I've used on a few covers. Here is my reply, which he suggested I post for all to see...
I warn you, I threw this together in about 30 minutes, so it doesn't represent the "perfect gunfire" effect, but I think it's enough to get folks started...
--
Here's how I do it. It's actually fairly simple... no special plug-ins or images. Just plain old Photoshop filters and styles.
[b]Original Image:[/b]
[attachment=15236:step1.jpg]
[b]Step 1:[/b]
Create a new Solid Color layer (100% White) and apply a Layer Mask (PS should do this automatically by making a new Solid layer). Invert the layer mask so that you see nothing to start off with. Using the Lasso or brushes on the Layer Mask, make the basic shape of your gun blast so that you have a white area over your image.
[attachment=15237:step2.jpg]
[b]Step 2:[/b]
Blur the mask with a Gaussian blur or something similar. Don't blur it too much, you still want a "white hot" center to your gun blast.
[attachment=15238:step3.jpg]
[b]Step 3:[/b]
Apply an Outer Glow to your Solid Color layer. Use the gradient option for your glow color. Have the gradient start at yellow and fade to orange, dropping the opacity of the gradient to 0% along the way. Play around with the glow settings (Blend Mode, Size, Opacity, etc.) to get it to look right with your image.
[attachment=15239:step4.jpg]
[b]Step 4:[/b]
If you have a splatter brush set, you can paint white onto your layer mask to add some sparks or whatever to give it a more realistic look.
[attachment=15240:step5.jpg]
[b]Step 5:[/b]
Run a Filter>Distort>Glass... filter on the mask to further distort the gun blast, if necessary.
[attachment=15241:step6.jpg]
[b]Step 6:[/b]
The above image is okay, but the gunfire needs to interact with the environment a bit more. So add a Radial Gradient layer that uses the same yellow and orange from the Outer Glow. Put a Layer Mask on this layer that starts at white (around the barrel of the gun or the gunblast itself) and gradually changes to black as it gets further away from the source (the gun blast).
[attachment=15242:step7.jpg]
[b]Step 7:[/b]
Set the Blend Mode of the gradient layer to Overlay and the Opacity to 50%.
[attachment=15243:step8.jpg]
I hope this helps. I threw it together kind of quickly, so it's not the greatest, but I think it gives you the basic idea of how to do this effect and you can certainly do more if you take the time to play around with it. Pretty simple, right?? It's just a blurred white layer with an outer glow...
--
So anyway, that's what I gave nikerun147. Again, not the most refined end-result, but it's quick, simple, requires no additional plug-ins or filters, and if you spend more time on it that I have, you can end up with something fairly sweet. There might even be gunblast PS brushes out there, where all you have to do is use the brush on the layer mask of a white layer, which would simplify the process even more. But I never looked into that, but now I will!
Yeah... umm... enjoy!!! :D :D :D