The Title

For the title i started with the words 'TECHNILOGICAL OVERDOSE' then gave the layer a grey stroke with the effects layer and rasterized it. I then added a bevel effect the text to make it look 3D and then rasterized the effects layer again. I added inner and outer blue glow as well as a blue overlay.

I then added various gradient effects with the gradient tool and set the blending modes to overlay or normal.

I added some blurred colours to the text to improve the look. I did this with the polygonal lasso tool then filled the selection and added motion blur of 999px at 0 Degrees. I used the brush tool to add dots behind each letter then added a large amount of motion blur at 90 Degrees.

I added specular highlights with the gradient tool on parts of the text as well as lens flare. Due to the image being CYMK i had to make the lens flare myself.

I added dust particles with the brush tool by setting the flow to 1% and the hardness to 100% then added motion blur to them to make the dust look like its moving. This layer was then masked away from the centre of the text because it was too bright. I also added some black overlays over the text to make the text a bit darker and to sharpen the gradients.

This image wouldn't look as bright when printed.

DVD Front cover

I started this image in a larger size than needed so I could resize it later when I make the full DVD case and since it was going to be printed I use the CYMK colour space as well as a DPI of 300.

I started off with this picture

http://images.cdn.fotopedia.com/flickr-2222523978-hd.jpg

I then used the magic wand tool to remove the black background then added a layer behind it to make a black background. I did this to allow me to add effects to the planet only or the background only. I then added a dark shade, on a new layer, over most of the planet to make it look like the sun is behind the planet.

After this I added a blue layer and masked it so it only showed up on the side of the planet and switched the blending mode to overlay. I noticed that this didn’t look smooth enough and was too bright. So I added a black layer then set the blending mode on that to overlay as well. This made the gradient sharper, the shape smoother and the planet slightly darker with have more contrast. I then added a blue overlay over the image and added a mask to make it only show on the edge of the planet to make a more blue looking atmosphere and make the atmosphere look larger.

I then decided to add a lens flare but as the colour mode is set to CYMK i wouldn't be able to render a lens flare using photoshop so I had to create the lens flare myself. I started out with a simple radial gradient then added a vector circle then made the fill blue and the outline red. I then added red inner and outer glow using the effects to make the circle smoother and then lowered the opacity down to 5% to emulate real lens flare. I then added a white diamond gradient. I put slight orange hues over them then added a large white gradient behind these to make it look like the light is lighting the camera lens around the light source.

For the meteor i imported this flame from cgtextures.com. And these rocks from http://pixabay.com/en/wandering-rocks-stones-death-valley-3711/

I straightened it out with the liquify tool by making the brush size quite large and lowering the pressure down then nudging the middle of the flame inwards. I also made the flame look more violent by stretching it out. This made it look like the asteroid fly very fast. I then masked out most of the flame to make it look more realistic and added some embers to make it look more lively. To make the embers I used the brush tool, set the blending mode of the brush to dissolve, set the flow to 1% and the hardness to 100%

I then added a stroke effect of 1px to them in the effects menu to make them larger and more noticeable. I then rasterized the layer style to covert the effects to pixels, making them editable. I followed the motion of the flame with the liquify tool to make the embers look like they have motion and set the blending mode of the layer to overlay.

I added some extra rocks behind the meteor by cutting them out with the polygonal lasso tool. I then shrunk them down and added orange overlays to them. I also added an orange glow to the front of the meteors with the brush tool by setting the hardness to 0%. I then added several orange glow and blur effects to the meteor with the brush and using the motion blur filter.

I finally added some smoke behind the meteor and around the planet to give the planet more of an atmosphere and the meteor a trail. I did this by rendering clouds on 2 overlay layers and masking one of them to the atmosphere of the planet and the other to the area behind the meteor. I then added some embers behind the meteor and made a gradient mask to make them look like they are cooling off. I then removed part of the mask on the planet to make it look like the meteor is lighting part of the planet with the brush tool set to about 20% opacity.

Music Visualizer

The image above was made to be a desktop background for a 1680 x 1050 display, it is supposed to replicate a music visualizer. I wanted it to be high quality so i made the dpi 720 and saved it as a PNG. 

Here is how i made the image:

The shapes were made using the selection tool and then applying a stroke to the selection as well as filling it on a layer behind the stroke. These were greyscale to allow for colour modification later. Glow effects were added to the layers to get the effect that i wanted. A spectrum layer was then overlayed over the squares to make the colour effect that i wanted. I did also try other colours but i settled with the spectrum. I then made horizontal lines to give it a digital/hologram look and reduced the opacity to make them faint; these were also done in greyscale.

 

I then added small dots all over the screen using the brush tool, setting it to dissolve and reducing the flow to 1%. I then added motion blur to this layer to make it look like rain or dust and added a mask so it doesn't show up on the squares. This helped make the dark space a bit more lively.

 

I then copied the filled squares and then applied extreme vertical motion blur to make the shafts of light. I also copied the square outlines and added multiple blur affects to make the squares look a bit more interesting.

 

Finally i added a layer with a white circular gradient, then edited it to go along the bottom of the image, then created another layer and added more gradient to make the bottom of the bars to glow. I then finally added Gaussian Blur to these 2 layers to make them smooth.