Reply to thread

Hi Dalem...

I'd have to highly recommend that a drawing Tablet be used for this type of effect. Mainly because it makes it much more simple to achieve.

I've done up a quick and dirty example below...

Note the sample image below has 2 sprays of sparks, the bottom one is the real one, the top is one i very quickly made up. With the proper attention to colour, it can look more realistic than seen here.

All that was needed to do this was to use a 1px brush and 'scrub' away with the appropriate colours until the desired effect was created. Then the layer's Blend Mode was changed to Screen -- Lighten works also.

Other than this method, manually painting the effect, you'll just have to experiment using filters because this effect has a very specific look to it. Filters might take a fair bit of time to create the specific look needed. Unfortunately, not all effects can be done by pushing buttons and pulling sliders. [oops]

You can TRY painting the effect using a mouse, it's not impossible. Just move slower when painting the outer distance sparks. And in case you're wondering... i sampled the proper colours from the source image with the Eye Dropper tool. That helps.

Hope that helps somewhat.