drew

Would any type of media player suffice as an application?

I'm even more impressed that you even used just those two plug-ins. I'll be toying around with this for awhile. Keep up the awesome work. I can't wait to see what else you create!

That is an awesome effect. Which plug-ins (or other skills) did you use to create this effect?

This tutorial is available as a PDF. Click here to view or download it Today, we are going to take an ordinary, "flat" flag and add some waves to it. We're also going to add some shadows to make it look realistic! Don't worry though, this is pretty easy. I did not "invent" this tutorial. I "translated" it from Ps language to PdN language. The video I used is here: https://archive.org/details/pixelperfect/pixelperfect--0017--displacement--hd720p30.h264.mp4 Result: Required Plug-ins: Bleek II's Displacement and Alpha Mask Optional Plug-ins: KrisVDM's Drop Shadow STEP 1 Find a flat (non-waving) flag. I suggest use Google images and type in "[your country] flag". When finding a flag, make sure that the flag takes up the whole picture and that there aren't any extra items. STEP 2 Paste your flag into PdN. Lower the "Transparency" of your secondary color until it is completely transparent. Now change the canvas size under "Image -> Canvas Size". Make sure the anchor is in the middle. Change the canvas size by percentage. Change it to about 150%. (You can make this smaller at the end, but we need some room for the waves.) STEP 3 Fill a new layer with a gray (#808080). On a layer above that, take a big black brush and make some strokes. On that same layer, make some white strokes next to your black strokes. Blur this layer with Gaussian blur very well. (I did about a 50px blur, but it'll be different for different sized flags.) Now combine the gray layer with the blurred layer. Press Ctl+A to select all. Press Ctl+C to copy. And paste this layer into a new image (Ctl+Alt+V). Save this image as "displacement_map.png" or something similar. STEP 4 In your flag picture, hide your top layer. (There should only be two layers.) Make sure your flag layer (the bottom layer) is selected. Now use the "Alpha-Displacement" plug-in. Find your displacement map image. See the screenshot for the settings. STEP 5 Now you have a wavy flag! But it just looks like a distorted flag, I know. So now we're going to make it look real with shadows!! WOOT! This is why we saved that top layer. Now make that layer visible. On the layer properties, change the blending mode to "Multiply" and lower the opacity until it looks good to you. STEP 6 Add any last-minute effects now. (Such as a drop shadow.) Using the magic wand at 0% tolerance, click on the outside of the flag (on the bottom layer). Press Ctl+I to invert the selection. Now press Ctl+Shift+X to crop the image to the selection. (I used a somewhat advanced Alpha Mask technique [using the same plug-in!] to cut this image out cleanly, but the magic wand works moderately well.) TA DA! WE'RE DONE! Here's the final result again with an added drop shadow and layer rotation. I hope you all enjoyed it. Did you use the effect on something else other than the flag? Let's see what you did. Post a reply with your unique creation. Notice any typos? Is something I wrote unclear? Let me know.

I figured you would do this some time or another. You did a great job! Much better than mine. Your's looks "warmer". I don't know why this used to be so hard for me, but I just got the hang of simulating the "simulate pressure" Ps feature.

I'm glad you somewhat liked it. You gave me some good advice, too. I appreciate it.

"New something in red" looks great. It reminds me of a Christmas ornament. (That's a good thing, though. ) Part of it looks see-through and the background is quite nice. Using a Ps tutorial, I created a Blackberry-style Wallpaper. It's not perfect, but I want to know what other people think of it. This is moderately close to "New Something in Red", so people, PLEASE NOTICE THAT PIECE, TOO! Click to enlarge

That looks amazing. The pencil looks a little fat though. And just for a nice effect, it would be nice to have a simple gradient going on in the background. Besides those little things, everything looks great! I have recently become very interested in the Displacement plug-in. I decided to create a waving flag from a flat, non-waving flag. (I found the flag here: http://www.thegio.net/kazakhstan/american-flag.jpg.) I used a Ps tutorial for this flag that BarkBark recommended. The tutorial can be found here: http://revision3.com/pixelperfect/displacement/ Before: After:

That is a great video. I actually found it before you posted that because I was searching frantically to understand how to use it. I've been playing around with this plug-in some, and I made a waving flag like that guy's. Original from http://www.thegio.net/kazakhstan/american-flag.jpg: After plug-in/tutorial:

I'm not sure how to use the displacement plugin. How do you use this?

How'd you create the glowing lines in your current signature? They're very nice, bright, and colorful. Your gallery looks quite nice.

:oops: I don't use or look at dA ever, so I 'pologize about that.

It's a BMW!!! Your transformer! Random, I know. I'm probably the last person to look at it that closely and notice.

Yeah, that just wouldn't be right to call 'em that. Too long to say, too. :wink: Haha.

I thought so, but I didn't know if there was some complex process behind the lines. And are the glowing lines actually glowing lines (lines with the glow effect)?

Expiration, you are doing a great job in Paint.NET. Your new piece is quite something. I've noticed the new "rings" around the bubble. How do you get the glowy, red rings to fade towards the end (similar to the "simulate brush stroke" or whatever feature in Ps)?

HAHAHA! This is so funny. I'm not laughing at either of you, but it's just ironic that -Expiration- answered this post. EDIT: I just realized that I'm not helping anyone out here. I apologize for interrupting this grave conversation.

I hate to do post again, but I'd like to point out that my post is somewhat relevant to the topic. I only posted again so people wouldn't miss my post.

I have a very important issue. I'd like to nominate someone's piece for the Galleria. One of their pieces has already been nominated and accepted into the Galleria. Therefor, whenever I try to report a post for nomination to nominate ANOTHER piece, a message displays informing me that this post has already been reported. Is it okay to report another post in the same topic by the topic author? Has anyone else encountered this issue? Do the mods plan on doing anything about this?

Thank you. This is very nice, and I do very much appreciate this. The sparkles. Were they created in PdN, also?

I do believe that this was created in PdN. However, I still wouldn't mind viewing the (understandably watermarked) .pdn file, and I would greatly appreciate it.

Yes, this is quite true. Every day I use this amazing program, I always discover methods for improving my "pieces" (if you can call them that). This glassy lettering has definitely inspired me to find a way to recreate it using all of PdN's power.

Hi, I'm amazed by your Glass Lettering piece. It is very nice. However, I was wondering if it was 100% PdN or PdN at all. I've found a tutorial for making lettering nearly identical to "your" lettering. Could you please confirm the validity of this piece somehow? You could do this by generally telling me how you created the lettering, or (if you dare) release a PdN file of this magnificent piece. (The last option is obviously completely optional, but I would be astounded to see such a creation in PdN.) I don't mind if you wish to get back with me privately (via PM or email), but I do hope you will be able to reply. Thank you. EDIT: I've just found your post introducing this new glass lettering. The post contains the tutorial I was referencing earlier. I'm quite sure, now, that your new piece is PdN. I still wonder a bit, though, if it is 100% PdN. An actual tutorial for this text would just be brilliant if this is 100% PdN! People who haven't "discovered" you will soon find (from your tutorial) that you are a great artist. Aside from recognition, the tutorial will most definitely be sticky'd and will be very, very popular. I thank you once again for your putting up with me and my dumb skepticism.

Wow, thanks so much!! This really did help.

I guess I could be considered somewhat a noob, but I have a serious question that is really bothering me. Could anyone possibly show me how to use this plug-in? I have been really intrigued by the effects that can be achieved with this, but I can't seem to get the effect right. I've studied tutorials using this plug-in, but I just can't seem to understand what's going on. Thanks, guys (and gals).