Super Fast - Speed Lighting Effect

In Photo Effects by Arik Take an image of a fireworks display and turn it into an intense sensation of speed. Manipulate natural lighting to fill a motion filled scene. Use masks to blend the effect over a car image to make the car appear to be in motion. This tutorial shows you exactly what to do. Let's get moving.

Step 1
First, you'll need two stock images for this tutorial, one of the car, and the other is of fireworks. Start off by duplicating your background layer. Now desaturate this image to get rid of the annoying hue by pressing Ctrl+Shift+U. Next, we'll add our own color modifications, which are more subtle, and cover the entire vehicle. Add a new adjustment color balance layer and fill in the values as shown in the screenshot. Next we place everything in a layer set called "edit". The layer set is so that you can turn off all the visibility on all the work you did. This will allow you to see the difference between the original image and how far you are in the design.


Step 2
Using the Dodge and Burn Tools with soft round brushes around 150–200px in size, with the Dodge Tool set to Highlights, the Exposure at 45-50%, the Burn Tool set to Highlights, and with the Exposure set to about 85-90%, start dodging and burning certain parts of the image. For instance, you may want to dodge the front wheel arch, the lights, Mercedes logo, grill, and the mirror. You may want to burn the rear end, the bottom, the back door a tad, and the windows until they turn completely black. You should decide what you find adequate. If you are using a mouse like me, simply tap, instead of constantly pressing, this way you have a lot more control. We are doing this to add contrast. The After image below shows the windows blackened, and other areas as well.


Step 3
Now open up the fireworks image. Go to image > rotate canvas > 90°CW. Next go to filter > blur > motion blur. Set the angle to 0° and the distance to 750px. Hit OK. Then cut and paste this picture onto our car. We won't be using this entire image, the areas of interest have been marked in the image below. The area with the big red X over it is pretty much useless.


Step 4
Paste this "light" layer above the background copy layer and below the color adjustment layer. Set its blending mode to screen. This gets rid of the black background without hurting the other light values. Now rotate and position the spot marked with the green arrow in the previous screenshot above the right headlight, as shown below in the screenshot. You can stretch the image if you want; it's blurred already so blurring it more won't hurt.


Step 5
Duplicate the light layer and move the spot that was marked green in the previous screenshot to the left headlight. Hit Ctrl+T and size it down just a bit. Now add a layer mask to this layer. Then with a soft, black brush get rid of most of the surrounding light. Below is the image of the mask.


Step 6
Go back to your "light" layer. Select the Clone Stamp Tool (S). Set it to Linear Dodge (add) in the settings at the top of the window. Then get a decent sized brush, about 500–600px. With the settings below, start cloning different parts of the existing light onto the windows and the roof. Cloning is an easy task, you Alt-click to set a source. This is where the material will be cloned from. Then simply click on another spot on the canvas to clone a piece there. One word of caution, make sure that Sample is set to current layer!!


Step 7
Add a new layer below the "light" layer. Call it "flare". Fill this layer with black and set it to screen. Next go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare. The 105mm prime at 110% brightness looks good, but perhaps you like something else. Put the flare a bit off-center, hit OK. Then position the flare over the left headlight. You might notice a white box appear when you move around the flare—that's because the flare stretches beyond our canvas. Use a layer mask to get rid of this box. Now make sure the "flare" layer is selected (and not the mask), hit Ctrl+U, or go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. Then in the dialog box, tick Colorize. Then enter 60 for Saturation. Hit OK, duplicate this layer, make it a bit smaller, and place it over the other headlight. Tip: if you don't want to repeat the flare process again, but you do want a brighter flare, then you can duplicate the layer without moving it.


Step 8
I don't like monotone images. This image is far too red. Let's add a splash of color. Create a new Color Balance adjustment layer just above our first one. Then fill in the following values in the images below. This will give you more tones.


Step 9
Duplicate the "background copy" layer and go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur. Then set the angle to about 35° and the distance to 25px. This gives us a very blurred image. With a layer mask, mask out areas of focus, such as the headlights, the grill with the Mercedes logo, and the windows. Also, mask out the black background, this will focus the blur more. If the background were not black, but rather there was scenery there, then it would make far more sense to leave it blurred. Since it's black, by masking it we will obtain a soft edge around the blur (since we are masking with a soft brush). Name this layer "motion blur".


Step 10
This next step is to get a bit of detail back. Duplicate the "background copy" layer. Move it above the "motion blur" layer. Now hit Ctrl+L ,or go to Image > Adjustments > Levels. This will bring up the Levels dialog. Then take the white slider, located at the right, and move it towards the middle. Next add a Layer Mask, and mask out most of this layer, except for the front of the car. I called this layer "grill detail".


Step 11
Let's light up the window a bit. The next step is to create a layer above all other layers and call this "window light". Take a low Opacity (15-20%), white, fuzzy brush, which is just big enough to cover a decent part of the window, and slightly tap a few times on the glass. This should add brightness to the light there. Last but not least, create another layer on top of all the other layers. Fill it with black. Then go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Set the amount to 10%, Uniform distribution, and tick Monochromatic. Set the layer to screen, and drop the Opacity to around 40%. We're done.


Conclusion Starting with the natural lighting of a fireworks display image, we created a motion effect. You can apply this to many different objects—think sunglasses, and other reflective surfaces. It works great as a tool to enrich a scene, like a club scene where you might want some extra lights, or a whole design element for a poster. It's a strong effect you can add to your Photoshop skill set.

source from psdtuts

Create an Energy Drink Ad Design (tutorial)

In Effects by Alex Beltechi Featuring a product in an ad is a common task for any designer. In this tutorial, we'll look at a flexible design solution that you can use to create one for an energy drink. It relies on a combination of the Difference Blending Mode and the Radial Blur Filter to achieve unique colors, contrast, and lighting.

Step 1
The first thing that you need to do is plan a color palette. But in order to choose your colors, you need to understand how the Difference Blending Mode works. It looks at the color information in each channel and subtracts either the blend color from the base color, or the base color from the blend color. This depends on which has the higher brightness value. Difference only works when transforming dark to light, and not light to dark. However, if you apply any type of blur to a difference layer, you'll get smooth gradients and dynamic lighting. Since the end result needs to be dark, choose bright colors that in combination with a radial blur will create gradients from light to dark. So begin by opening a new Photoshop document at 1600px by 1280px. Fill the background layer with this color: (#b1c900).


Step 2
Bring up your Custom Shapes Menu and select the Ray shape, as shown below. You can find it under the Symbols Folder. Then draw the first one right in the middle that is large enough to spread outside the canvas. Use this color: (#bddc01). As soon as you create the first one, duplicate it. Then rotate the copy so that it leaves just a thin line of the background. Then change it to this color: (#d3eb45). You should align them so that they match the image below.


Step 3
At this point, begin painting with a Regular Circle Brush at different sizes. Set your Brush Opacity to 60%, change the color to (#7a263e), and click individually while changing the size for each spot. By manually creating each spot, you have more control over your layout. Once you've created the first set, add a few spots on a separate layer with this new color: (#93133d).


Step 4
Next, make a new layer and add smaller spots with this color (#cdde67). Again, on a separate layer, paint even smaller spots with a slightly more saturated color: (#d9f14a).


Step 5
Now it's time to add some contrast by using a saturated version of the color that you used for the very first spots: (#93133d)


Step 6
To finish off the effect, create some small spots that follow the original layout, and others that fill the unused space of the canvas. Make sure to fade them out gradually as they approach the edge of the canvas. You don't want those to become distracting later. As a final touch, add a new color that will later be transformed into a vivid pink: (#7b2dc1).


Step 7
As pointed out before, the radial blur effect plays a crucial part in the overall image. Select all the shapes, spots, and background layers and press Ctrl+Shift+E to merge them together. After they are all merged, duplicate the layer. Name this new layer "radial blur". Then go to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur and insert the values shown below.


Step 8
You should now have two layers: the background layer that you recently merged together and its duplicated version that you named "radial blur." Select the "radial blur" layer and change its blending mode to Difference. You should now get a dark image with bright green and blue colors. It's not the hue that we want, so merge both layers together. Then go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation, or simply press Ctrl+U. Then change the Hue to 73.


Step 9
In this step you'll add some depth to the image that will guide the viewer's attention to the center of the design. Enter Quickmask Mode (Q), and use the Bucket Tool with the color set on black to fill the whole canvas. Next select the Eraser Tool, and add some scattering to it's preset. Now drag across the canvas while focusing on the center. As soon as you're done with that, exit Quickmask Mode (Q) again, and invert the selection by pressing Ctrl+Shift+I. Then right-click on the canvas while the Marquee Tool is selected. Then chose the Layer Via Copy option. As soon as you have the selection in a new layer, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and blur it by 4 pixels.


Step 10
At this point it's time to add the can. So download this image from stock.xchng. Then cut it out with the Pen Tool. Don't worry about the bottom, since you will only need the top. Once you have that done, position it in the center, and rotate it at a 45 degree angle. Then change the hue by 180. The use the Burn Tool to darken the lower left half of the can.


Step 11
Now you need to hide a part of the can in order to fade it into the rest of the photo. A simple layer mask should suffice. So enter Quickmask Mode again. Then fill the entire canvas with black. Erase the part that you want left out with a soft brush. After that, exit Quickmask Mode. Then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Hide Selection. You may also want to sharpen it at this point. To do so, go to Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen.


Step 12
Now if you'll look closely at the photo, you'll notice that it's simply too smooth. Rather than adding noise or grunge, we'll mimic the can texture by using one of Fabio's tutorials: Creating a Cool Brushed Metal Surface in Photoshop. So first off, fill the canvas area with white. Then go to Filter > Pixelate > Mezzotint. Select Medium Dots and then apply the filter. Then set the layer's Blending Mode to Color Burn.


Step 13
In the final step is to add the title on the left side of the canvas. I used a font called Incised901 NdIt BT, which is the abbreviated name for Incised 901 Nord Italic. After typing it in, double-click on the layer, and use the layer style described in the photo below.


Final Result And that's it! One energy drink ad ready to go!


Conclusion
The unique feature of this technique is that it can easily be adapted to suit a variety of different needs. Below is an example of how you can change the outcome simply by modifying the colors and shapes. It's all up to your creativity! Hopefully you will have found this tutorial helpful and useable in your designs.

sourced from psdtuts