Today we will create some abstract energy flares inside Photoshop by using simple filters and a few adjustment layers. Why am I calling them flares? Because the photos are created with distorted lens flares. So we will create something similar to the pictures below:
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NOTE: The tutorial is not really precise because it's an abstract one and you could get different results than mine but what I'm insisting on is the technique used to create these energy flares.
So let's get started...
Step 1: Create a new document having 1600 x 1200 pixels:
Step 2: Fill your Background with pure black:
Step 3: Go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare:
Step 4: Choose Movie Prime as Lens Type and hit OK:
Step 5: Now press CTRL+J to duplicate the Background Layer:
Step 6: Press CTRL+T to bring up the Free Transform then right click inside the picture and hit Flip Horizontal:
Step 7: Next set your Layer Blend Mode to Liniar Dodge (Add), this should make both Lens Flares visible:
Step 8: Select both Layers and press CTRL+E to merge them into a single layer:
Step 9: Now hit CTRL+J to duplicate the layer that we just merged. Then in the new Layer press CTRL+T and Right Click > Flip Vertical:
Step 10: Set this new layer Blend Mode to Liniar Dodge (Add). You should now see all 4 lenses. Hit CTRL+E to merge the 2 Layers into a single one:
Step 11: Duplicate the Background Layer by pressing CTRL+J. Now go to Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates:
Step 12: From Polar Coordinates tab make sure Rectangular to Polar is enabled and hit OK:
Step 13: Now hit CTRL+F a few times to repeat the Polar Coordinates process until you get something like this:
Step 14: Set this Layer Blending Mode to Liniar Dodge (Add):
Step 15: Next duplicate the Background Layer again (the undistorted lenses):
Step 16: Inside the Background Copy layer press CTRL+F once to use Polar Coordinates, then hit CTRL+T to Transform and hit Flip Vertical:
Step 17: Repeat the Polar Coordinates and Flip Vertical process (CTRL+F & CTRL+T > Right Click > Flip Vertical) about 2 times until you get something like this:
Step 18: Make this Layer's Blending Mode to Liniar Dodge (Add):
Step 19: Duplicate the Background layer again and do the same thing as we did before, repeat the Polar Coordinates and Flip Vertical process about 4-5 times until you achieve something that you like:
Step 20: Duplicate one of your layers (NOT the undistorted flares) and use Polar Coordinates and Flip Vertical command from the Transform tab to add more light to the flares:
Step 21: When you are happy with the result create a New Layer on top of all your Layers. Fill it with Black and set its Blending Mode to Liniar Dodge (Add):
Step 22: Inside this layer we will add some Lens Flares. Go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare and add a lens flare to the top left part of the energy beams:
Step 24: Add an Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer on Top (by clicking the 3rd button from the Layer Palette) and change the Contrast value to 50:
Step 25: Next select the Lens Flare layers (the layers under your Brightness/Contrast) that you added and desaturate them by pressing SHIFT+CTRL+U in each one:
Step 26: Time to add some color. Go and add a Color Balance layer on top of all layers and play with the colors until you get something you like or use my values:
Midtones:
Highlights:
End result:
The secret of getting nice flows is that you have to play around with the Polar Coordinates and the Flips inside the Transform tool. Because of the Polar Coordinates system if you don't move the image around while pressing CTRL+F to repeat the process you will get a mirror effect which I find kind of cool but which as well be annoying for some users. Well that might be all for this tutorial.
Thanks for watching! Hope you learned something new and if you have any question about the tutorial please use the facebook comment section below. Also you can use the Blog's Facebook Page which is : www.facebook.com/VenomX3D . Don't forget to LIKE the page to keep in touch with the newest tutorial that I post on the blog.
I'll see you next time with another tutorial!
