Creating a 3d open book in illustrator - Pt2

This is the end result of these following tutorials. Quite an impressive effect.
Here is the next video tutorial. It is done in parts as it is quite complicated. This is the second part, which is based on a tutorial I saw on the web. I have altered some aspects of the tutorial to ad additional effects as well. The second part covers making the inner pages of the book.

The video of this effect can be found here! Be patient it is 196MBs. Will take some time to stream.

Creating a 3d open book in illustrator

This is the end result of these following tutorials. Quite an impressive effect.
Here is the next video tutorial. It is done in parts as it is quite complicated. This is the first part, which is based on a tutorial I saw on the web. I have altered some aspects of the tutorial to ad additional effects as well. The first part covers making the spine and cover and the under pages of the book.

The video of this effect can be found here! Be patient it is 172MBs. Will take some time to stream.

Multiple Layers in One Mask! - video tutorial

Here is the next video tutorial of a simple trick of having multiple adjustable layers with only one clipping layer mask. There is only a video tutorial, but it shows the effect of doing a group mask to allow for clipping and object and doing multiple layers behind, and allowing for their re-manipulation.

The video of this effect can be found here! Be patient it is 57MBs. Will take some time to stream.

Torn Paper and Realistic Shadow - video tutorial

Here is the next video tutorial of doing torn paper and realistic shadows.

The video of this effect can be found here! Be patient it is 145MBs. Will take some time to stream.

Torn Paper and Realistic Shadow

I have recently been asked to show how to do a torn paper effect on a photograph, such as this charming one of myself. So the following tutorial I have decided to combine two simple effects into one tutorial, in order to achieve the effect that you see above. Basically, what we are trying to achieve (especially with the shadow) is a more natural idea of depth.
First we start off with our background plate. Choosing the colour that we want to use in order to get any necessary blending later on. On a new layer above, we then place the image that we wish to manipulate. For this example I have enlarged to be at the correct size I require.
Then using the 'Pen Tool' we need to cut the necessary section of the image as if it were tears of paper. This can be achieved quite easily by doing a random zig-zag down the selected path. The reason to use the 'Pen Tool' over the 'Diagonal Lasso' Tool is ease of use and the simple fact that we can then save the path and reuse or manipulate the path later on.
One the path has been completed, the end result is like the image above. What you need to do is to quickly save the path and cal it "Tear1". This is simply because if you start creating a new path this new path will override the one you created previous. Once this has been achieved you can then go to the bottom of your 'Paths' Palette and select the middle icon. Which is the marque selection option. It is a circle of dotted lines. This will turn the path into a marquee, like below.
With the 'Marquee' active you simply use the 'Move' Tool and placing the cursor over the image selection area, drag the area to the desired location. Whilst the section is still selected you need to press Ctrl-T to bring up the 'Free Transform' option.
With this option selected you can now rotate the torn selection to the degree of rotation you require. Once achieved simply press "Enter".
Now, with the two pieces of torn photograph selected, the next step is to make the border of the photograph. If of course you need to generate this effect without a border, you still need to go through this process, but delete the parts that you don't need later on. This is so you can generate the basic starting point of the torn paper. So, selecting 'Stroke' from the 'Image' menu, you add a stroke at the depth you think is appropriate for you image and make sure it is on the outside of the image. Press 'OK', and the frame appears on the photograph.
The image should look like the picture below. At this point you will see that the torn section is parallel on both edges. Rarely do you get this affect of such symmetry.
So, using your pen tool again, you need to create a second and third path to represent the torn paper on the outer edge of the photograph. Again, save these paths as you make them, and then fill the marquee selection with white, as before.
You will end up, like the image below, with a torn edge on both parts that have a different width down its length.
Once this has been achieved, you then need to select the 'magic wand' tool, and placing it on 'Contiguous' and '0px', you need to click on the white element. If, for some reason, there are elements of the image that are also selected, you need to deselect them by using the 'diagonal lasso' tool and pressing the alt key whilst drawing around the selection that needs to be deselected. With the white border selected you need to copy/paste to a new layer.
With the new layer selected you then simply choose the background colour of your image and, using the 'paintbucket' tool, fill that colour into the areas not taken by white. This is important, as the filter effect we will use only works with a contrasting edge, not between transparent and white.
Now, go to filter>sketch>torn edges and release, in order to bring up the filter palette.
You may notice that the white turns to black, but not to worry. Adjust the levels in order to have a strong definition in the contrast and definition. For my image I used "50/4/19" on the sliders. Once you have set these press 'OK' and the effect will be added.
Now, on you 'magic wand' tool, deselect 'contiguous' and set the tolerance to "32", which is the default. Click on the blue areas and delete them. Then select the black areas and image>fill with white. This is the end of the necessary steps for the frame apart from deleting the element around the image that don't require the 'fuzzy' effect.
Now, once that has been done. We reselect the 'photo' layer and going to the 'layer' options we will select the "Drop Shadow" effect.
This will bring up the following palette. First thing to do here, is the necessary process of not using the default 'black' shadow colour. Instead we will select the background colour. Because we are in 'multiply' mode, this will automatically make the darker tone against the image's background colour. Now, on the sliders, make the shadow a little more fuzzy and spread than the default. Once you are happy with the outcome...
...on your "Layers" palette, right click on the 'fx' arrow and move down to where it says "Create Layers". Release this and Photoshop makes a new layers of the effects which you apply to the original layer.
Select the element of the one part of the shadow layer. As in the image below. Then again, using Ctrl-T, bring up the 'Free Transform' tool.
Then, by right clicking, select 'Warp' from the options on the 'Contextual menu'. This will bring up the mesh grid like in in the image below. Then, by selecting the handles, you move the points to create the necessary effect of raised and lowered elements on the corners of the photo.
This means that your grid will end up looking a little like the image below. Once you are happy with the effect you simply press "Enter" and this aplies it to your shadow layer.
To finish off the effect you can use the 'Blur' tool to soften the points of the raised shadow section. That is it. A torn photo with a realistic looking shadow. If you want to follow more closely look at the video tutorial above.

Suggestions!

Hi
Just wanted to add that I see that there is a large number of people looking at this site.
I am just making a simple post to ask two things.
Firstly, if you like the site, it would be good if you follow it. There is a link for both Facebook and Google follow links. And secondly, this is an open site. If you have any suggestions to tutorials you'd like to see, just send a message. Would be glad to do, if I know how.
The next tutorials will be for torn paper and effective shadows.

Colourizing a T-Shirt - video tutorial

Here is the next video tutorial of a way to colourize a plain white T-Shirt.

The video of this effect can be found here! Be patient it is 76MBs. Will take some time to stream.

ABRViewer

Found some useful tools. Ever wanted to check the brushes before installing them, in Photoshop. Or even check the ones that are there?
Well here is ABRViewer:
PC: Here!
Mac: Here!

Repeat patterns - video tutorial

Here is the next video tutorial of the repeat pattern technique.

The video of this effect can be found here! Be patient it is 84MBs. Will take some time to stream.

Repeat patterns

There are many tutorials on the internet about repeat patterns or seamless pattern creation. However, what I have noticed in my research is that they seem to miss one important aspect; that of doing a more complex pattern that covers the corner elements of the repeat. As you can see in the image above (which I created earlier for this tutorial) there is a grid structure, but the combination of images all overlap each other. So it is hard to see how the pattern was made and repeated. Which is the trick. First things first, I will credit the maker of the brush that I used in this tutorial. You can find this brush here, and the maker is nineveh.
What I did first is to create a document the size I felt good to work with. In this case it was 700x700px. I say that you have to choose a file size you are happy working with simply as with the use of brushes, you can resize them like vectors. However, you may find you are working with the paint options and not brushes, so need a bigger canvas.

Then I simply made a new layer. This is for the safety of not making errors. On this layer I coloured the background colour. This can be whatever you want.

Then, with the 'Rulers' showing I dragged my cursor from the ruler area to make grid lines at the 100px mark on both the horizontal and vertical and also on the 600px mark on both axis.

This ends up looking like the image above.

Then using the brush tool (If you need to know how to add brushes to the list follow the video tutorial) start adding the designs to parts of the central area. When you meet a line make the pattern once and then using the 'alt' key drag your shape across to the opposite line (vertical to vertical, etc). Once you start dragging also press the 'Shift' key. This allows you to maintain the straight line for copying on either the horizontal or vertical axis. As seen in the image below.

When you have populated the entire image with images and have made sure that they have repeated on all the necessary axis, then you are ready for the crop. Note however, that as in my example, the four corners must hold the same repeat if the image you place there is in the small corner section. Using the 'Crop' tool drag around the grid line you created for the repeat and make sure it is exactly on the line. You may need to zoom in for this.

The end result of the crop should look like this, below. Once you have cropped it, according to your needs, you may want to reduce the size of the pattern. In my case as the original document was 700px I basically reduced the cropped document by 50%. However, you can make it even smaller if you require a smaller pattern that covers more.

Now we must define this as a pattern. This is quite simple. You choose the "Edit>Define Pattern..." option and release.

This brings up this dialogue. All you need to do is to name your pattern. In this case I have called it "Anatomy". Then when happy press 'OK'.
Now that is your pattern defined. To test this pattern you can make a new document. Obviously a lot larger than the original pattern. In my case I made it 1200x1200px. Once the document is open you select the "Edit>Fill..." option and and release.This brings up the 'Fill' dialogue box. From that dialogue you choose "Use: Pattern" and then from the "Choose Pattern:" option you navigate to your design. Once it has been selected, choose 'OK'.
This will fill your document with the pattern you have designed. The result, like below, is a fully repeated, seamless pattern.

Adding an image to side of truck - video tutorial

Here is the next video tutorial of the perspective effect on a truck.

The video of this effect can be found here! Be patient it is 88MBs. Will take some time to stream.

Adding an image to side of truck

This is a simple tutorial to show how to affect a simple effect. Many people, when adding an image to the side of a building or truck or bus, basically do a copy/paste and change the shape slightly. This tends to make the image, literally look, like it has been stuck on. This tutorial (part 1) will show how to add an image to a truck. As seen in the final result below.First things to be aware of here are the values associated with lighting. This will become helpful later on. Here, the light is from top right. At the same time it is also good to look at the quality of the image. Most images contain grain, whereas artwork, being digital, does not.

NOTE: Make a new layer for each of these operations. So start here and make a 'new layer' called "Art".
First things first. We need to create a perspective plane for the artwork. This is instead of just pasting and distorting the image. Photoshop now has a useful tool, under 'Filter', called "Vanishing Point". Simply select it and release. The following dialogue appears.
Zoom in on the image so that you can get better alignment. It automatically has the 'Make New Plane' option selected, so using the target cursor click on the points where you need the artwork to sit.
You will see a blue line being drawn. After the third, the final point automatically closes before being made. This is the rectangle for the plane.
On final click you will notice a grid appearing with all the perspective lines. This is your plane.
Zoom out and paste your artwork. Note: If you didn't put it into your clipboard before you started this, no problem. Simply press OK, and then find your artwork 'copy' it and then go back to 'Filter>Vanishing Point...'
Then simply drag your artwork towards the plane, and it will automatically snap to the angle of the perspective you have created. It doesn't matter at this point that its aligned.
Then, using the 'transform tool' inside the 'Vanishing Point' filter, resize the artwork so that all of the marquee edges disappear behind the blue border lines. Like below.
The end result should look a little like this. However, this is the usual finishing stage for most people. One point to remember is that this can be redone if incorrect. Going back to 'Filter>Vanishing Point...' has the data still there for re-manipulation.
Next step. Make a new layer and call it "Lighting". Here we will affect the natural shading effect of cast light. What we need to do is to select the "artwork" layer and nudge it so we have a surround marquee. Then select the "lighting" layer again.
Using the "Gradient Tool" set at default black and with the gradient set to foreground color-transparent, we will make a gentle incline from left to right and bottom to top. The result is like below. You will notice that this is a little harsh.
So, what we need to do is to adjust the 'Fill' option on the "Layer" palette. It needs to be a subtle effect, so drop it down to about "15%".
Next, we must adjust the comparative affects of photo to digital artwork. This can be done simply using the "Noise" filter. Choose "Filter>Noise>Add Noise..."
The following dialogue appears. Again, according to the size of your image, you need to make a very subtle adjustment. Just enough to make it a little speckled. Once achieved in the dialgue box, press 'OK'.
If we look at the image we will see that the truck has some ribbing lines on it. We need to replicate these, as they add a slight shadow and highlight to panels on the side.
Make a new layer called "Lines". Select the main colour of your image. Here it is red. Make it a darker tone.
Then, with the "Line Tool" selected and with "Fill Pixel" selected (This is the third square on the 'options' palette). Simply draw lines past the 'still' selected marquee. Making sure its on the "Line" layer. Like below.
When you have achieved this, adjust the 'Fill' of the "Line" layer to be set at around 20%. This will make the lines more subtle and actually blend better to the panelling.
Now, simply duplicate this layer and then set the 'Layer' style to "Screen". This will convert the dark red lines to a light tone.
Nudge them to the right by one pixel. This then creates the effect of the highlight on the panels, of the side of the truck. As seen in close-up on the side of the truck.
The last part now. Make a 'New Layer' and call it "Dirt". Then select the 'Brush' Tool and make sure you reset the color palette to 'Default'. That means having black as the foreground colour. Then in the 'Options' Palette, choose the option of 'Dissolve'. Making sure you have the 'Marquee' selected around the artwork area, but on the "Dirt" layer, simply tap the mouse to make one spray at different points down the shape.
The result of a single tap should look a little like the image below. Continue to tap along until it is all covered with dots.
Then select "Filter>Blur>Motion Blur..." and release. This will bring up the 'Dialogue' for the 'Motion Blur' tool.
As seen in the dialogue, set the distance to a median amount, so that the dots turn into long faint lines. Once you are happy with the effect then press 'OK'.
Final thing to do is to drop the 'Fill' amount for the "Dirt Layer" to something like '30%'.
The end result is an image that 'hopefully' looks like the artwork is a little more like it is connected to the object it is sitting on. The next tutorial will be the same process, but showing how to add it to a billboard on a building.

Lightning Effect - Video Tutorial

Here is the next video tutorial of the lightning effect.

The video of this effect can be found here! Be patient it is 113MBs. Will take some time to stream.

Lightning Effect

OK! This again goes with an easier to follow video tutorial. I have been looking on the internet for the best lightning tutorial, but only managed to find half baked ones, that only covered a part of the aspect of doing a really good lightning strike effect. Here is my attempt to correct that. What I will do is try to make the above effect from scratch using a set of predefined images and some effects inside Photoshop CS3.
I first began with this image of a 'hummer' parked on a street. We first notice that there is no clouds in the sky, which is a little necessary for the lightning that we will do later.
So I found some random clouds to use. Basically did a search for 'storm clouds' It doesn't matter at this point that they match the same colour values as the primary image. We can adjust them.
I copied and placed the clouds inside the first image and then scaled them to fit into the area behind the buildings.
Using the 'Polygon Lasso Tool' I made a marquee around the city landscape and the pole.
Then selecting the cloud layer and making it visible again I pressed 'delete' on the keyboard in order to remove any unwanted clouds.
The end result being the image above. Then the next phase was to adjust the edges of the clouds to allow them to fit into the composition. This was done simply by using the eraser tool and cout away enough of the clouds to see a natural blend.
The next phase was to duplicate the cloud layer to have two above the Background. This was simply to allow the blending options to have a separate affect on highlight and shade.
On 'Layer 1' I chose 'Luminosity' on the layer options selection inside the layer palette.
For 'Layer 1 copy' there was a choice of 'Overlay'.
Next we concentrate on making the lightning bolts themselves. First was to create a 'New' document. I made this 600x600, as it needs to be roughly the same size as area you want to cover with the lightning.
Inside the document we create a gradient using black and white. It really doesn't matter what type of gradient you do, and you should experiment to get the right angle and curve.
Next, under the 'Filter>Render>Difference Clouds' option I selected this and the result was a disturbed effect on our gradient.
The result from the 'Difference Clouds'
Then, as we needed to have a white lightning bolt I simply selected the option 'Image>Adjustments>Invert' This literally converts the colours or tones to opposite values.
The result from the 'Invert' option.
To make this affect more like a real lightning effect and to slim the beam down, we need to go to 'Image>Adjustments>Levels...'
This brings up the following palette and you simply drag the black slider towards the white. Before they all seem to merge into one, you need to drag the gray slider closer to the white to alter the values there a little. What you will end up with is the affect of a lightning strike.
Once you press OK, yo can copy this image into your main composition. Then I rotated the image to sit correctly to the clouds and the car.
Next, NOT in the 'Layer Effects' at the top of the layer palette, but in the 'Blending Options' palette at the bottom, under the 'fx' button, yo select 'Blending Options...'
Like in the 'Layer Options' select "Screen" from the pull-down menu and notice that the black disappears.
Next using the "Blend If" area, manipulate the black slider to take away any extra black or gray that may have remained in the lightning. If you require subtle changes simply use your 'Alt' key to split the arrows sliders and manipulate further apart.
Now in the 'Layer' palette go to the 'options' (the three small lines in the top right of that palette) and choose 'Convert to Smart Object'. You will instantly notice that the black box has now disappeared, leaving only the lightning.
Now in the 'Layer' menu select 'Layer>Smart Object>Rasterize'. This makes the layer back into a BitMap layer.
Once this has been achieved, go back to the 'Blending' options under the 'fx' button and select 'Outer Glow'.
The default is yellow, which doesn't usually look good. Plus lightning is blue. So select the option to change the colour, and find a blue that you feel is appropriate. Then press 'OK'
To make it look a little more effective adjust the 'size' of the glow to make it look a little more electrified.
The end result being a fantastic bolt of lightning from a brewing storm. What you can do as well is to add extra bolts and highlights, etc. Good end result!