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Plasma Lights 01 Video

Image by Poe Tatum
My plasma lights.. Everyone is always asking me about them, here they are. This image took 10 minutes and 10 seconds to make. The track is "Move" by Thousand Foot Krutch. If you liked this video or the tutorial, please show your support by adding this as a fav. Thank you!

*** EXPLORED! 03-09-2009 *** thanks ;)

*** STEPS ***
01) Create a new layer above your subject
02) Select a paint brush between 3-5px (see note below)
03) Set the foreground color to white
04) Select the pen tool and set it to create paths
05) Draw loops around your subject as seen in the video
06) Right click the path you created and click "Stroke Path..."
07) In the next menu you get make sure Brush is selected and check "Simulate Pressure" (see note below)
08) Right click the path again and click "Delete path"
09) Erase every other loop so it looks like you duck behind the subject as seen in the video
10) Go to Layer -> Layer Style -> Drop Shadow...
11) Set blend mode to "Normal", Opacity to 100%, Distance to 0 and size to between 6-10
12) Select a color as demonstrated in the video (see note below)
13) Check Outer Glow
14) Set the Blend mode to normal, opacity to 100%
15) Set the color as shown in the video (see note below)

*** OPTIONAL STEPS ***
16) Check Inner glow
17) Set Blend mode to normal, opacity to 100%
18) Set color as shown in the video (see note below)
19) Select the dodge tool set the dodge to between 20%-50% (use your best guess)
20) Select a soft edge brush so it's slightly larger than your lights
21) Dodge areas on the original image corresponding to your lights above
22) Dodge areas randomly along your light beam to give it hot spots

***** NOTES *****
(02) The pain brush effect changes based on the hard edge or soft edge so experiment

(07) Simulate pressure creates the tapering out ends of the light beam, you can leave the option unchecked for different looks

(12a) The color should be light but the color phase is truly the "artistic" phase use your judgement of what looks good
(12b) You can also add noise to create particle effects around your beams.. Generaly 20% gausian and anti-aliased looks good

(15) The color chosen here should be your best judgement but I often use a slightly dark color than I did for shadow

(18a) The inner color is totally optional sometimes, use your best judgement
(18b) The color can be entirely different fromy our Outer Glow and Shadow colors as well

In step 21 we lighten areas on the original image to give the effect the plasma trails we created are casting light onto our subject. You will have to be your own judge as to what looks good here. I will very often go back with the dodge tool and dodge again to keep those lights looking bright.

Going back to the beam and dodging that seperately while it's still in a layer along various spots will give it "hot spots" so it looks more like neon. This is optional but I do this frequently

Also note you can right click on the layer and click "Copy Layer Style" so you can then paste it into other layers to create the same effect using the same colors elsewhere in your image. This is also great if you want to create additional sparkles for your plasma beam using the paint brush tool.


You can watch the video for the song by clicking here