Blur Effect Tutorial

Steven-V

OK, I found your sonic pic and here is an example.

I loaded the pic in Photoshop, applied a Motion Blur filter at 0 degrees (flat horizontal), 500 pixel size. This makes it very streaky and very faint. You could do more pixels if you want it even more faint, or else you can play with the opacity. But this is just to show an example. With one layer, you get the first image.

Then I duplicated the blur, and you get the 2nd image.

Then I copied it again (3 total) and out 2 layers behind the default sonic pic, and one above it, to make the blur look a little more "3D". That is the 3rd pic.

Also, note... motion blur goes both ways, but you only want the blur behind him. You can do this a couple of ways. For instance, you could put sonic on top and erase everything in front of him. But what I do is, I select all the blur layers, and pull them back, and sonic and move him forward, so the blur only affects him behind and not in front.

Note that I did this in like 6 minutes, so it may not be perfect and you may see some artifacts or imperfections that some more time would easily correct. For example, the streak on the bottom should be going all the way back to the edge of the pic, which would require some copy-pasting or other futzing to get it that way. Also you could play with the opacity (I probably would).

KC Riley-Gyer

One of the things a PSP user must come to grips with is that it will take more steps and effects to achieve the same in PS.

After duplicating the image to be blurred, click on that layer to activate it. Then go to Adjust > Add/Remove Noise > Add Noise... and use these settings:
Random
Noise%: 100
Monochrome: Checked

Then go to Effects > Distortion Effects > Wind... and use these settings:
From left or From right < your preference
Wind Strength: 100 (unfortunately, this is as high as it goes in PSP)

As you will see, the noise gives you your streakiness. You may want to play with the Noise% and Monochrome checked or unchecked settings to see which suits you best.

Unfortunately, no matter how much I played with PSP, I couldn't get that loooong streaks without repeating the steps 4 or more times.

The only other thing I can think of is to do a search for PS plugins that will suit your purpose and will work in PSP. While I love PSP, I understand it does have limitations and these are the best work arounds that I can come up with. Someone else might be able to come up with something else.

MJ007

Im gonna give that a try later on KC. Thanks.

-MJ

KC Riley-Gyer

You're welcome MJ007. A few hours later, I thought of the clone brush alone with some of those other tips but you need a steady hand if you want straight lines. Make sure the Step is 10 or lower and play around with the Density to help with the streaky effect. Also looking at applying a brush effect to the clone brush. Who knows, maybe a combination of all of them will give you what you are after.

towdow3

Steven-V said:

how has the comic fared?

MJ007

towdow3 said:

Steven-V said:

how has the comic fared?

If you're referring to mine, it has faired pretty well.  In terms of the blur tutorial, i changed the abilities of the character that needed the blur effect to another character who's abilities handle.

-MJ