Article Focus: In this tutorial, Ayman Abdel-Basset demonstrates how to create the effect of rays without 3rd party plug-ins by using the keying operator and dolly blur operator -- creating the illusion of light using simply basic blurs in Combustion.
Note: this technique can also be done in After Effects using the blur tools found there.
Let's get started...
Begin by downloading the image to the left and saving it to your machine.
Open Combustion and Import this image.
Duplicate the layer and hide the lower layer in order to notice the key result.
apply >KEY OPERATOR and select the sky color (cuz we wanna the sky color to make rays from it)
press invert (of matte>result) to unkey the sky.
Apply>blur/sharpen>dolly blur on the upper layer (which you just keyed).
make value of (amount=100 & quality=100)
now show the lower layer to c the effect of RAYS.
now you can change the source point of the rays by changing the values of CENTER axis of dolly blur.
to get the great effects of sunshine for the rays you can apply the LAYER mode of the upper layer as seen in image to the left -click to enlarge-
Want softer rays??? :)
Easy...
apply>blur or remove grains
LAST step: If you want the rays white, open COLOR CORRECTION and change brightness or gamma of the upper layer to get the degree of white you want.
or do as i did in this tutorial and give the rays colors by changing the values of the HIGHLIGHTS or SHADOWS.
The biggest advantage to this technique is that it gives the artist total creativity in applying the "rays effect" from any color of the image. Just choose the color you want to key, then invert your key, then complete the rest of the tutorial.
Now the final result!!
I'd be sooo happy to receive any comments.
--- Ayman
Please discuss this technique in the Combustion forum at Creativecow.net.
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