[Help] Gate texture - circle pulled inside?

[Tweve]

 

I'm looking to create something like the attached image;

a circular line with some width, transparent outside of it, and black inside of it, but as you can see - it looks as if the black is pulled in.

A bit like a demon gate if you ask me.

 

I thought about using the zoom with bulge, but I just can't get anything like it.

Any tips?

[Pixey]

Hello @Tweve and Welcome to the forum

 

If you want to make the same image as you have posted, you could use the Smudge Tool on the white ring, on it's own layer.

 

 

To end up like this:

 

 

I only did 1/2 of it to show you the idea.

 

[LWChris]

I can think of some other idea:

 

1. Get the "Light Rays" plugin by MadJik (download link and installation guide in first post; don't forget to restart Paint.NET)
2. Create a new, square image, and clear the white background
3. Select white as primary color
4. Create a white disk (aka filled circle w/o outline) in the middle
5. Create a second layer above the one with the disk
6. Select black as primary and secondary color, but set the secondary color to fully transparent
7. Open the plugin dialog from "Effects > Texture > Light Rays...", and adjust the settings:
   1. Disable the "Use anti-aliasing" (it renders faster now and we'll blur the layer in the end anyway)
   2. Enable "Use random"
   3. Set "Reseed" from 1 to 0 (this will be important later)
   4. Set "Random factor" to 80 (the rays will now have their ends slanted)
   5. Set "Ratio of the rays" from 0 to 100 (don't worry if it looks chunky for now)
   6. Reduce the "Radius External" slider from "100" to a number so that even the rays reaching out the furthest still don't touch the disk's edge, effectively leaving the "white ring". Adjust the slider so that you're satisfied with the thickness of that ring. Memorize that number, but reduce it by about a quarter for now (so 40 becomes 30 for example).
   7. Set "Quantity of rays" from 50 to several hundred, depending on your image size. The larger the image, the greater the number of rays to make them "fine".
   8. Confirm
8. Repeat the effect a few times, until there are just a few white dotted lines remaining in the center. Don't repeat it too often though, or the outer edge will lose its spiky appearance. Rather undo then re-apply (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+F) the effect several times for other
9. Using a wide black brush, paint out the most obvious white lines from the inner area that shall become pure blackness.
10. Open "Effects > Blurs > Zoom Blur..." and set the Zoom Amount to 100 (this is why we reduced the external radius by 25% in step 7.6)
11. Add a third layer
12. Open "Effects > Texture > Light Rays..." again
13. This time, select the actual external radius you memorized earlier (e. g. the 40)
14. Repeat the effect several times again
15. Use "Effects > Blurs > Zoom Blur..." once more, but this time with the default "Zoom Amount" of 10

 

You may want to try out other effects from the "Blurs" menu as well. Fragments with a high "Fragment Count" (see 2nd image) and/or "Unfocus" on "Radius" 1 work very well, too. Try around and take what pleases your aesthetics.

 

My results (black background added for better visibility):

 

Edited December 4, 2019 by LWChris

[Tweve]

@Pixey wow so simply yet it works; nice!

@LWChris nice solution too! Even though Pixey solution is "simpler", It might be easier for me since I"m not much of an artist.

 

Thank you both!

[LWChris]

Btw, I loved your idea so much, I created an image using the portal I made. I used my "Modify Channels" plugin to "isolate" the portal so I could put in another image inside it.

 

First, you may want to use "Effects > Distort > Dents..." on the "disk" layer to give the outer edge a little "flaming" look. Maybe duplicate that layer and give it a beefy Gaussian Blur with a huge radius for a "halo" effect. Then on the other layer again, apply slight Zoom Blur. Finally, apply "Dents..." with low "Tension" on the two black spike layers for a more "smokey" appearance. Finally, merge all layers onto a black background:

 

 

Then find my plugin under "Adjustments > Modify Channels...". Using two steps "Alpha = Identity Average" and then "Grayscale = Constant 255", you will isolate the portal. Together with two beautiful stock images from pexels (Road, Countryside), I created this:

 

Edited December 4, 2019 by LWChris

[Ego Eram Reputo]

^ that looks really cool @LWChris

 

White circles on transparent layers and some creative use of dents on the inner edge of the circles.

 

 

 

[Tweve]

Oh wow I see I sparked some great ideas in here

@LWChris WOW! That is amazing! Also, I can't believe I didn't know about your plugin until now; I needed something like that so many times and had to do it manually, sort of. Amazing!