Creating animated smoke

Flash has traditionally struggled to make realistic looking smoke effects, mainly down to it’s vector graphics. However by applying the built in blur filter it is possible to get some really soft smoke effects, especially when used in conjunction with transparency.

A number of layers are animated in this demo to give the feeling of atmospheric smoke. This could eaily be applied to photographs to animate gently whisping clouds or mist across a lake. This was created for Web Designer magazine. Get the tutorial files here.

Get the tutorial here.

Advanced Lighting – Photoshop

This was created as a series of tutorials for Photoshop Creative magazine. In the supplied image you will see the original image on the left. On the right of the image are some of the the new changes to make the image more dramatic. I was asked to cover a variety of different lighting simulations including moonlight, street lamps, candles, light through glass etc.

Photoshop Creative Calendar

Commissioned as a tutorial for Photoshop Creative magazine. This calendar was created with Photoshop to give a craft like feel, using pieces of paper, fabric and rivets that might be found in a craft box.