Production Reflection

ProcessFor this project I will be creating a supernova (a star exploding) with its blast debris devastating a ringed gas planet.

The size of the canvas is 3200 by 1400 pixels. I started off by filling the background with a solid black using the Paint Bucket tool.

ProcessTo begin, I will be making the planet. I found this image of snowflakes through Google Images, and I decided to use it as the basis for the planet.

ProcessAfter duplicating the layer containing the snowflake image, I rotated it 180 degrees and set its blend mode to Overlay. I did this to make the colours in the image more bright and vibrant.

ProcessNow I am going to turn the snowflake image into the surface of the planet by applying Motion Blur to it a few times. The results of this can be seen below. It’s already starting to look somewhat like a planet.

Process

After applying the Motion Blur, I used the Smudge tool to make the lines more arbitrary. This makes it look more like an actual planet, since no planet consist of fully straight lines.

ProcessAfter smudging out all traces of the motion filter, I made the image more saturated through Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation, and moving the saturation-slider to the right.

ProcessWith the Elliptical Marquee tool, I formed a circular selection on top of the planet texture.

Process

Then I right-clicked on the selection and chose to ‘Select Inverse’, followed by deleting the inverted selection. This left me with a textured circle on a black background, as you can see on the left.

Process

To finalize the transformation into a planet, I used the Spherize filter to make the circle look 3-dimensional. Once the filter was applied, I used the Free Transform feature (CTRL+T) to slightly rotate it to the right – because real planets don’t have axes of 90 degrees.

ProcessI added a Levels Adjustment layer onto the layer containing the planet, and altered the levels so that it would appear darker.

ProcessOn the Levels Adjustment layer, I went over the edge of the right side of the planet with a black brush, to mask off the effect of the Levels Adjustment. I also placed the planet in the bottom left of the canvas.

ProcessHere I have made a start on the supernova. With a Brush of 0% hardness I clicked once on a certain point on the canvas.

ProcessTo keep my sights in the right place, I have made a perspective grid. I did this through Filter > Vanishing Point and in a new window, I pinpointed the four corners of the grid and selected Render Grids to Photoshop in the dropdown-menu to incorporate into my document.

Process

Here I lowered the opacity of the grid to 35%, so it wouldn’t distract me or intrude on my work progress.

ProcessNow I will be creating the rings of the planet. First, I created new document of 3000 x 3000 with a resolution of 300 px/inch, and filled the background with a medium-grey. Then I used the Ellipse tool to form a circle on the canvas of the same colour as the background.

ProcessIn Blending Options, I applied an Inner Glow and an Outer Glow to the circle. Both of the Blending Modes are set to Screen, and in the Quality section, I set up a custom Contour that gives a ‘ripple’-like effect.

ProcessAfterwards, I dragged a circular selection across the inner section of the circle with the Marquee Tool, and deleted said selection.

ProcessIn the Filter Gallery, I added a Grain texture to my rings, and then I made it greyscale by Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. Since the rings on planets can contain larger rocks and boulders, I added the Grain texture to give off this appearance.

The planetary rings are now finished.

Process

Back in the main document, I placed the rings on top of the planet, and with Free Transform, I compressed its size horizontally.

ProcessOnce the rings were in place, I formed a circular selection across the planet by holding CTRL and clicking on the thumbnail on the planet’s layer. Then, in the Adjustment layer containing the rings (Ellipse 1 copy) I used a black low-hardness Brush and went over the rings inside the circle, effectively removing them. In the Adjustment Layer that I emphasised below, you can see a white rectangle that represents the canvas, and a black blot that shows where I have gone over with a black brush.

CTRL + Click

Process

I have created a Levels Adjustment Layer that applies to the layer containing the rings. I made it apply to the rings only by moving the Adjustment Layer above the rings layer, and selecting ‘Create Clipping Mask’ inside the context menu of the Adjustment Layer. A context menu is a menu that appears after you right-click on something.

The settings I made for the Levels Adjustment layer can be seen in the second image below. Because of how I have configured the settings, the rings appear much darker than they were before.

Process

In the Levels Adjustment layer, I selected a black brush with a low hardness, low opacity, and low flow, and went over the parts of the rings that I didn’t want to be affected by the effects of the Levels. This resulted in some parts of the rings having their original colour, but some parts being darkened.

I made the area to the left of the star darker, because it is struck by the shadow caused by the light of the star.

Process

In the centre of the canvas, I formed a circular selection with the Marquee Tool, and with the Brush tool, I made yellow blots in the centre of the selection.

Process

After I made the yellow blots, I went to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur, and in the Radial Blur window, I changed the Blur Method to Zoom and the Quality to Best. The last image is the result of the Radial Blur.

Process

Clicked “radial blur” twice Clicked it 3 times

After I applied the Radial Blur, I drew more yellow blots on top of the last ones and applied a second Radial Blur. After that, I drew even more blots, but I applied a Radial Blur three times in a row.

Process

Afterwards, I faded the blur by going to Edit > Fade Radial Blur, and in the Fade window, I changed the opacity to 47% and changed the mode to Normal

Process

By going to Edit > Transform > Distort, I distorted the blur so that its perspective would be altered. This is where the Perspective Grid comes in handy, as I can alter the distortion so that it follow the path of the grid.

Once I was happy with the outcome, I changed the layer mode of the blur to Screen, duplicated the layer, and changed the layer mode of the duplicated layer to Overlay. This caused it to have stronger, and more vibrant colours.

This ‘blur’ is now the foundation of the supernova’s blast.

ProcessI changed the lighting on the planet by going over it with a black Brush in the Levels Adjustment Layer. Now the transition from the lighter side of the planet to the darker side is a lot smoother.

I downloaded a custom-made brush online that I used to expand the blast radius. This blast radius expansion has its own layer.

Process

After expanding the blast radius, I went to Edit > Transform > Distort to change the angle of the blast radius so it would conform to the Perspective Grid.

Process

With another custom brush, I expanded more on the blast radius, but in different areas. This blast radius also has its own layer. After I was satisfied with how it looked, I used Edit > Transform > Distortion so that its angle would conform against the Perspective Grid.

While I was doing this, I disabled the planet’s visibility so that I would be able to focus on making the blast.

Process

After distorting it, I used the Smudge tool to smudge the brush strokes into shape.

Process

I enabled the planet’s visibility, and with the Eraser tool, I erased the bottom half of the planet to make it look like it is being engulfed by the blast.

ProcessBelow I can be seen applying a Gradient Adjustment Layer to the layer of the blast radius. In my Pre-Production powerpoint, I mentioned that I would include the colour green in my gradient, but now I have decided not to, as there is already a form of green in between the blue and the orange section of the gradient.

The colour of my gradient are: white, yellow, orange, blue, and dark blue.

Process

I set the Blending Mode of the Gradient Adjustment Layer to Multiply, and then I changed its style from Linear to Radial in the Gradient Fill settings. Changing the Blending Mode to Multiply makes the colours of the gradient integrate with the blast. To explain what happened after I changed the style of the gradient from Linear to Radial, I made a quick example of it in the bottom left corner of this slide.

With my mouse, I was able to click and drag the centre of the gradient to the location of the star. In the third screenshot I indicated the last location of the centre of the gradient with a dashed red circle, and with a red arrow I indicated where I moved it to.

ProcessDuplicate gradient layer and rasterize the copy

I duplicated the Gradient Adjustment Layer, and rasterized the duplicated layer. Then, using the Smudge tool, I altered the flow of the colour so that yellow and orange would be present in the three streaks next to the planet.

Once I was done with that, I created a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer, and I created a Clipping Mask from this layer so that it would only apply to the rasterized Gradient Adjustment Layer.

ProcessBelow you can see the settings I configured in the Hue/Saturation menu. I lowered the saturation by 45, and I lowered the Hue by 3. I also disabled the Colorize checkbox.Afterwards, I used a black brush to mask off the layer effects within the Adjustment Layer. I have included the before-and-after images below.

ProcessThis time I made a Color Balance Adjustment Layer. You can see the settings I have configured for it below, along with the before-and-after images.

ProcessThis time I made a Levels Adjustment Layer. You can see the settings I have configured for it below, along with the before-and-after images.

Process

On the planet’s layer, I created a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer with the settings as pictured on the left. Then, within the Adjustment Layer, I proceeded to fill the entire canvas with black with the Paint-bucket tool, and then I masked in the yellow effect using a white brush. In between the two images of the planets below, I included images of the Adjustment Layer that I used to achieve the yellow hue.

Process

I duplicated layer of the original gradient, then rasterized said layer. Then I moved the duplicated layer to the very top of the list of layers and I changed its layer mode to Screen, and reduced its opacity to around 20%. Afterwards, I masked off the layer influence that I didn’t need with a black brush, as can be seen from the black blots in the adjustment layer.

Process

I have created a new Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer for the planet’s rings. The settings I configured for the hue and saturation can be seen on the left. I made it so that the rings would have a yellow glow to them. The before-and-after images are on the right.

ProcessI have created other smaller planets that will be very far away from the foreground, and as such they are very small.

Formed a circle using the Ellipse tool, rasterized it, and placed a lock on it.

Then, in a new layer, I held CTRL on my keyboard and clicked on the layer containing the circle. This forms a selection marquee in the new layer of the same size of the circle, meaning that all my brush strokes will be contained inside it.

ProcessSpherized twiceShrinked downJust like what I did to the first planet, I am going to spherize this smaller planet through Filter > Distort > Spherize. I applied the Spherize filter twice in a row. You can see the settings for them in the bottom left corner.

After Spherizing the planet, I placed in the bottom right in my canvas.

ProcessAfter I placed the planet where I wanted it, I created a Levels Adjustment Layer. Following this, I made it apply only to the planet’s layer by creating a Clipping Mask out of the Adjustment layer. Below you can see the settings I entered for the Levels Adjustment Layer.

The Levels Adjustment Layer made the planet look considerably darker. Afterwards, I went over the planet with a black brush to bring out the lighter side of the planet.

ProcessI created a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer for the planet that gives it a subtle yellow colour. The settings for this can be seen to the left.

Process After I finished on the first planet, I began working on a second one. The process of making the second one is the exact same process as in the last two slides. The only difference is the location of the planet, and thereby the placement of the planet’s shadows.

The images on the right are screencaps detailing the process of adding a Levels Adjustment Layer.

The images on the left are screencaps I made while I was adding Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer.

Process

The process of adding miniature planets to my image has almost been completed. Below you can see what it looks like so far

.

ProcessAfter having made the planets, I added a long dark trail behind them that signify their shadows in relation to the overbearing light of the star.

I did this by making a triangular selection with the Polygonal Lasso Tool. Once the selection was made, I right-clicked on the selection, and in the context menu I selected Feather. In the new Feather Selection window, I specified that the Feather Radius should be 5 pixels.

ProcessAfter I applied a Feather to the selection, I used a low-hardness black Brush to go over the selection. Then I de-selected the selection by pressing CTRL + D on my keyboard, and done is the shadow.

An important thing to keep in mind while making the shadow is taking into account the placement of the planet in proportion to the placement of the star. In an image below, I marked the trajectory of the light of the star hitting the planet with a red line, and as you can see, the shadow I made conforms perfectly to this line, meaning that the angle of the shadow I made is scientifically accurate.

ProcessIn this slide I have included screenshots of the making of the second planet’s shadow. There isn’t much to say here, as this planet underwent the exact same process as the first one (: Polygonal Lasso Tool > Feathering > Brush tool).

To the left you can see a larger view of the image I made, with the planets and their shadows also in view.

As can be seen by the image above, this planet’s shadow was also made with the trajectory of the star’s light kept in mind.

Process

From this slide onwards, I will explain the process of making stars in the background.

I started by making a new 1000 by 1000 pixel document with a resolution of 300pixels/inch, and filling it in with black using the Paint-bucket tool.

ProcessTo actually make the stars, I selected many variously-sized Brushes, and with my mouse I clicked on random areas in the document. I started with 5px, then 2px, and then 21px for larger stars.

You can see the process of adding these stars in the images I have provided in this slide.

It is important to note that to make the stars, nothing more than a click is required, and because of that the mouse is the best tool do this with, as opposed to a graphics tablet where you don’t have as much precision.

Process

Aside from 5px, 2px, and 21px brushes, I also used 4px, 7px, and 1px brushes as well.

Again, you can see the process of adding these stars in the images I have provided in this slide.

ProcessAfter I was done with adding stars, I went to Image > Adjustments > Invert to invert the colours of the document, meaning that the white stars on a black background are now black stars on a white background.

Then I went to Select > All to select the whole document, and then I went to Edit > Define Brush Preset to turn the stars I have made into a custom brush.

Process After clicking on Define Brush Preset, a new window appeared asking me what I wanted to name my new brush. I named it “stars.psd”. The default size of the brush is 595 pixels.

With the star-brush selected, I clicked on random areas in the main document until every square inch or so had a star in it.

ProcessOnce I added enough stars, I removed some stars manually with the Eraser tool to give them a more natural layout. Some of the stars were located in the foreground, i.e. on top of the planet, so I removed these stars to maintain some semblance of logic in my work.

ProcessOnce I was satisfied with the layout of the stars, I zoomed in on some of the larger ones, and used smudge tool to drag bursts out of them.

As I was dragging them, I held the Shift tool on my keyboard so that the bursts would be straight aligned.

ProcessAfter I was done smudging, I used the Brush tool to go over some of the stars in a shade of blue, and some in a shade of yellow. I made it so that the Blending Mode of the brush was set to Overlay, in order to properly apply a colour to it.

In the areas of the blast where blue was the most prominent colour, I made the nearby stars yellow, and in yellow areas I made the stars blue.

Process

Below you can see what the full image looks like after having coloured the stars.

Process

I have changed the Blending Mode of the layer containing the stars from Normal to Hard Light, and then I duplicated the star layer and changed the duplicated layer’s Blending Mode to Overlay.

Process

I added a Gaussian Blur to the duplicated star layer by going to Filter > Blur and selecting Gaussian Blur.

Back on the first star layer, I desaturated the stars by Image > Adjustments > Desaturate, to remove any traces of colour and turning them completely white. New blurred layer provides a hint of colour while the original provides intensity. This makes the stars look much more realistic.

Process

I added a new Levels Adjustment Layer to the main planet. You can see the settings I entered in the screenshot in the bottom left corner of this slide.

Increase blast intensity

Process

I added a new Levels adjustment layer to the main planet’s rings. You can see the settings I entered in the screenshot below.

ProcessFrom this slide onwards, I will explain how I put more emphasis on the center of the burst radius.

With the Marquee tool, I formed a circular selection in the centre of the document.

ProcessWith a low-hardness brush, I drew yellow blots within the circular selection, as can be seen pictured to the right. Once the amount of blots was to my satisfaction, I went to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur, and in the Radial Blur window, I specified the Blur Method to be Zoom, and the quality to be Best.

After I applied the Radial Blur, I drew more yellow blots on top of the blur, and applied another Radial Blur.

ProcessAfter drawing yellow blots and applying a Radial Blur a couple of times more, I went to Edit > Transform > Distort, and changed the angle of what it is I’ve made to conform to the perspective grid.

Process

After Distorting it, I placed it on top of the central point in the supernova and changed its Blending Mode to Screen.

Process

Here I have drawn two orange blots beside the centre of the supernova. After I did this, I applied a Motion Blur on them, with an angle of 90 degrees, and a distance of 613 pixels.

ProcessI have drawn two more orange blots, and applied a second Motion Blur. As you can see by the last image, what I am doing has a lens flare-kind of effect to the supernova.

Process

I used the Gradient Tool to add a radial gradient on the central point of the supernova, consisting of white, blue, and grey. Then I changed the Blending Mode of the gradient to Hard Light.

ProcessI have created a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer and made it apply the radial gradient only by making a Clipping Mask out of it. The settings for the Adjustment layer I entered can be seen in the upper right corner.

Process I used the Smudge Tool to add more detail to the clouds. It had a 0% hardness and its Strength was set to 25%.

Before After

ProcessI used a very pale yellow to add highlights to some areas in the document with a low-hardness, 1px brush.

Process

After drawing in the highlights, I applied a Field Blur to the layer containing them, and placed the ‘blurring-circle’ somewhere near the centre of the document. In the Field Blur settings, I changed the Blur to 20px.

It has been completed. Above you can see what the finished product looks like.

Process