Flaming Text Animation - by Spacific Designs.com

FLAMING TEXT ANIMATION

This Tutorial will show you how to Create Flames and Animate them in Text.

1.) Open Photoshop. Create a New file. Go to New > File. Create it 400 X 100 pixels on a White Background at 72 dpi, then click OK to Create.

(Alternately, you may use the supplied file that has the Flames already created for you.) Go to the Samples folder for this CD and open it. Find the file named Flaming Text.psd and Double-Click it to Open in Photoshop, Then go straight to Step 10.

2.) Press D on the keyboard to set Foreground Color to Black. Now, use Alt+Backspace to Fill the Document window with Black.

3.) In the Tool palette... click the Foreground Color well and the Color-Picker will appear.

Select a color or simply type in #FF0000 at the Bottom input box to select the color I used, then click OK to apply.

4.) Select the Brush tool

. Go to the Option bar and click the Downward triangle (next to the brush preview) to Open the Brush library. Select the Soft Round 45 pixel brush.

(If the Library is different than the one displayed, click the blue arrow

at the Top Right corner and a pop-out menu will appear. Select Reset Brushes and the correct library will load.)

5.) Go to the work area and paint an arched shape as shown below.

6.) Click the Foreground Color well once again and the Color-Picker will appear. Change Color to #FFFF00, then click OK to apply. Carry the brush to the work area and start spraying the Bottom of the Document window. As you paint Upward, adjust Opacity setting to a lighter spray to get a good blend. (If you make a mistake, just go to Edit > Step Backward to Undo and start over.)

7.) Now, go to the Layers palette and Drag this layer to the Create a new layer button

to Duplicate layer.

Repeat procedure until there are a Total of 5 layers. Now, click the Bottom layer to Select and click the Eye icons

to the remaining layers to turn Off their visibility.

8.) Next, select the Smudge tool

. Go to the Options bar and click the Downward triangle (next to the brush preview) to Open the Brush library. Select the Soft Round 13 pixel brush. Set Strength to 75%.

(If the Library is different than the one displayed, click the blue arrow

at the Top Right corner and a pop-out menu will appear. Select Reset Brushes and the correct library will load.)

Go to the work area and Click+Drag Upward to create the Flames. Continue to pull Flames until you are happy with the results, then change brush to a larger one and adjust Strength Down to about 35 and smooth out further as needed.

Here is my First layer completed.

9.) In the Layers palette, click the Next layer Up to Select. Paint the Flames. Repeat procedure until All layers have been completed.

10.) Click the Create a new layer button

(located Bottom of the layers palette) to Create a New blank layer. Press Q on the keyboard to enter Quick Mask Mode. Now, Select the Horizontal Type tool

. In the Options bar Select the font. I used Impact Roman 100 pt Smooth.

Click on the work area and Document will turn pink. Type your Text.

11.) Select the Move tool

and a Selection will be Created. (You can Drag Text to Center at this time if need be.)

Now, Press Q on the keyboard again to return to Standard Mode.

12.) Click the Foreground Color well to launch the Color-Picker. Enter #333333, then click OK to apply. Now, press Alt+Backspace to Fill background. Next, turn Off Selection with Ctrl+D.

13.) Go to Layer > Layer Style > Stroke. The Layer Style palette will appear, set Size to 2, then click OK to apply.

14.) Go to the Layers palette and set it up as shown below. (This will set up the First Frame of the Animation.)

We are now ready to move to ImageReady...

15.) Click on the Edit in ImageReady button

. (Located at the bottom of the Tool palette.)

16.) Now, in the Animation palette, click Duplicate Frame button

to create Next Frame.

Go to the Layers palette and adjust visibility to this Frame by clicking the Eye icon

back On to the Next layer Up.

Repeat this procedure adding 3 More Frames and adding visibility to the Next layer Up in the Layers palette each time.

17.) Animation is now ready to play by hitting the play button. (For a more precise animation speed) click the Preview in Browser button

, to view in a browser.

18.) Optimize and Save the file with File > Save Optimized As... Images Only (*.gif)