Whisp of smoke.

[101jinx101]

hey,
I'm tryin to do some sorta thing like a whisp of smoke, and i don't think i'm doin a very good job... could someone point me in the right direction? i got a pic of what I got so far here, take a look...

 

[Erik]

The principle is ok.
I would choose a white line on a black background to start from, and then smudge that; repeat this on several layers whilst playing a bit with transparancy and blend modes; then make these a layerset, duplicate them and blur that duplicate so as to get a halo-like effect.

also: smoke is never dense, but partly transparant and very whimsical. Chaotic. Unpredictable.

success!

 

[austizmo]

*nods* Yep, start with a white line and smudge it. For final touches use the 'swirl' tools of liquify to subtly twist the smoke in areas. Once you create the base it's just a matter of duplicating that layer and modifying it with the same technique.

As for smoke never being dense, I'll have to disagree. Light an incense cone and watch it for a moment. It's never solid, but it's often very dense. Especially in a still room and close to the base.

 

[101jinx101]

awesome, thanks guys
I don't have time to test taht theory right now, but i'll post up a pic of what I come up with...

 

[Erik]

You are right. English is only my third language, and from time to time I do choose the wrong word. It should have been "solid".

 

[Ferlin]

I was inspired by jinks wisp of smoke. I think it looks pretty good.
Erik I did what you said about the layer sets. Boy that opens a lot of door duplicating them and all! Good stuff. I've never made a layer set before but I sure could have used them. Here is a little wacom fun with a whisp of smoke

 

[A Squarecan]

I played with it for like 5 minutes and came up with this...

Nothing special but it is what I came up with.

Keith

 

[101jinx101]

actually, thats pretty damn good!
I found one tutorial, but can't seem to get it to work...
here is the link if u guys wanna try:

http://www.bluesfear.com/submittuts/ps/1/

anyway... but ya, thats pretty good for 5 minutes...

 

[Lee]

Very cool, Keith. You did a great job with that, buddy. Only change I would have made is to use the gradient tool and make it fade into nothing at that top. That's not a criticism, just a suggestion.

 

[John1]

What kind of smoke are you looking for? Cigarette smoke, smoke that comes out of a chimney, explosion related smoke, traling smoke, etc. ?

 

[101jinx101]

Um, hmmmm, i dunno, all of those sound intruiging, I suppose something like what would come off of a just put out candle (like the pic above)... But now that you mention it, I would LOVE to learn how to make smoke from an exposion!

 

[A Squarecan]

Thanks for the kind words guys

I achieved the smoke form the candle using almost exactly what was mentioned up above. I sumple made a fairly thick white on on a seperate layer and then "smudged" it to make it look more "smoke" like. From there I used the liquify tool until I got what I was looking for, lucky for me I was happy with the results quickly.

Keith