Goonfella Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 This tutorial is available as a PDF. Click here to view or download it I recently posted this tutorial on how to make clouds on the Fans forum and it has proved to be quite popular, so I thought I would post it here too. I know there are cloud tuts already but I have not seen another one using this technique or getting this outcome so I think it complements the others rather than competes against them. I hope you enjoy it. Only one plug in is required for this tut - Ed Harvey`s Dents which has now been incorporated into PDN, so this tut now has the added benefit of not needing any plug ins downloading Anyway , lets get started. First you will want a nice sky coloured background. I used 8cc2ff foreground and cfecfe background but you can used whichever you prefer.Then just add a linear gradient to get something like this. - Next, on a new layer, you want to make a white ellipse - Now use Dents to get a `jelly' look . Play around with the settings until you are happy. I used Scale - 85, Refraction 13. The rest I left at default settings. You can do it more than once if you wish using Ctrl-F. For this tut I repeated it once. You should now have something like this - New layer, select the cloud using the Magic Wand and on your new layer draw a light grey line along the bottom of the cloud. I used bcbcbc for the grey in this one. Deselect and use Gaussian Blur . I used 35 as the setting but it will vary from cloud to cloud. You want to end up with something like this - Merge your two cloud layers. Next it`s back to the Dents for the fluffy look . I used these settings - Use a transparent gradient as to blend the cloud in . I find using a radial gradient works best and gives you more control. You should end up with a nice fluffy cloud - Then just duplicate,move and use transparent gradients to blend them together like so For the best effect you should repeat the tutorial a number of times with different settings to get different shaped clouds each time. After all , when did you ever see two identical clouds? And that concludes this tutorial. Enjoy 2 2 Quote Please feel free to visit my Gallery on PDNFans And my Alternatives to PDN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCFuture Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 Nice Tutorial, but i've seen another tutorial which get allmost the same result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyggalag Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 (edited) Very good, it looks like a simple tutorial to follow. Edited May 19, 2010 by Jyggalag Quote "The Daedric Prince of Order! Or biscuits... No. Order. And not in the good way. Bleak. Colorless. Dead. Boring, boring, boring." - Sheogorath on Jyggalag Check out my gallery! And my blog! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goonfella Posted May 19, 2010 Author Share Posted May 19, 2010 Nice Tutorial, but i've seen another tutorial which get allmost the same result. As I said at the start of the tut, I realize that but mine is easier to do, only using one plug in(that is already part of PDN now) and also helps to get newbies used to using transparent gradients. I am wondering if I should have posted this in the Newbie Playground instead. Mods - feel free to move it if you think so. Quote Please feel free to visit my Gallery on PDNFans And my Alternatives to PDN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry533482 Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Bookmarked. Quote Space...The Final Frontier. -James Tiberius Kirk; circa 2260s My gallery: Jerry's Paint.NET creations My tuts: sun galaxy rings My youtube: http://www.youtube.com/jerry533482 YLOD VICTIM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hexratt Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Very nice, simple and effective tutorial. Used it in my Pegasus Temple scene. http://sites.google.com/site/jedifanaticart/artwork/pegasustemple.png Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfman 1990 Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Good job, looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chardove Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Thanks for posting the tut, it will be helpful to my daytime skies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a10sgoddess Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Thanks! That was fun to make. I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ventor1 Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 (edited) Using this tut., when you create many different shaped and sized clouds on many different layers, with different transparencies and finishes such us sharpen, etc, you end up with very realistic looking clouds: Great tutorial Goony! Edited May 28, 2011 by ventor1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goonfella Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Superb result ventor! Looks incredible. Thanks for doing the tut. Quote Please feel free to visit my Gallery on PDNFans And my Alternatives to PDN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdnnoob Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Using this tut., when you create many different shaped and sized clouds on many different layers, with different transparencies and finishes such us sharpen, etc, you end up with very realistic looking clouds: http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/6456/cloudsr.png Great tutorial Goony! That...is amazing. One of the first pictures I've seen that I would never have known was not real if I hadn't been told. Now I gotta try it... Quote No, Paint.NET is not spyware...but, installing it is an IQ test. ~BoltBait Blend modes are like the filling in your sandwich. It's the filling that can change your experience of the sandwich. ~Ego Eram Reputo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowman Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 @ ventor1, agreed this truly amazing effect of clouds, But the lower half of the image, especially that top of the cloud, showing part of it on the bottom line, have done using this tut? I think you need to add part-2 to this tut . BTW Goonfella, this a very helpful tut, thanks. Quote My GalleryMy YouTube Channel "PDN Tutorials" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChechuU Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Hi I am new to this! and I really hard time and I do not speak English and to learn a little more use the google translator and some words are not well translated ... I find it hard to understand some steps! But anyway this is what I came to my Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyPainterz Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 looks like cotton candy or for those that don't know that name it would be fairy floss LOL Quote Paint with PDN like there is no tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goonfella Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 I think you need to try blending the clouds into the background a bit more using the transparent gradient . Interesting colors. Quote Please feel free to visit my Gallery on PDNFans And my Alternatives to PDN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delpart Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Sadly, I've lost the file that had several much better examples, but here's my first draft I used to test this technique that Goon shared here. I've added a text effect as I'd always wanted to render something like this and was happy to be able to do it without actually setting up something in a program like Blender to achieve the effect. Same technique more or less was used for the letters. Had to add a drop shadow to keep them from blending too much was one difference and that bleeds through the letters a little. Though it appears you can get that effect with a small amount of curves use on nearly transparent edges of the lettering. I also had to use a jittering smudge in a few places as a test and to add some wisp. That's not as easy as I'd thought it would be either. Anyways ... here's my first draft of finally getting to do GF's most excellent tutorial: Quote *** Gallery at PDN-Fans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bardock72 Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 Hey, really informative tutorial. It gave me some great insight on Dents. I know this is old, but it's one of the first tutorials available when searching with Google, and one of the only I can find that focuses on the creation of "individual" clouds. I'm a n00b and I follow it up until "Use a transparent gradient as to blend the cloud in" and get something that looks very similar to the example cloud after the Gaussian Blur. I've chosen the radial gradient, tried using transparency mode and tried matching the background gradient and making those colors partially transparent, but, no matter how I use radial gradient, I can't get anything near the last example graphics. I've looked for tutorials on transparent gradients and blending, but none of the techniques they are using get an effect like the examples. I would be very grateful if someone could point me in the right direction - Even another tutorial that explains blending with transparent gradients in the way that is necessary for this technique to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ego Eram Reputo Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 Tip: Have your cloud on it's own layer. Using the Radial Gradient , select the Transparent mode from the Tool Bar. Click in the centre of your cloud and drag outwards. This should progressively fade the cloud from the center out - fading the edges the most. Quote ebook: Mastering Paint.NET | resources: Plugin Index | Stereogram Tut | proud supporter of Codelab plugins: EER's Plugin Pack | Planetoid | StickMan | WhichSymbol+ | Dr Scott's Markup Renderer | CSV Filetype | dwarf horde plugins: Plugin Browser | ShapeMaker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cc4FuzzyHuggles Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 (edited) Hey, really informative tutorial. It gave me some great insight on Dents. I know this is old, but it's one of the first tutorials available when searching with Google, and one of the only I can find that focuses on the creation of "individual" clouds. I'm a n00b and I follow it up until "Use a transparent gradient as to blend the cloud in" and get something that looks very similar to the example cloud after the Gaussian Blur. I've chosen the radial gradient, tried using transparency mode and tried matching the background gradient and making those colors partially transparent, but, no matter how I use radial gradient, I can't get anything near the last example graphics. I've looked for tutorials on transparent gradients and blending, but none of the techniques they are using get an effect like the examples. I would be very grateful if someone could point me in the right direction - Even another tutorial that explains blending with transparent gradients in the way that is necessary for this technique to work. I love blending images by using a Gradient in transparency mode, but I have also found the Alpha Blur plugin to be a handy alternative. You can find the plugin here : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/24280-alpha-blur-v2-2012-03-05/ To help with the fluffy look, you can also follow the tutorial up to the step where you fade and/or blur the edges of the cloud, and then run the dents effect again, but adjust the settings till you have something you like. Edited September 4, 2014 by Cc4FuzzyHuggles Quote *~ Cc4FuzzyHuggles Gallery ~* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goonfella Posted September 4, 2014 Author Share Posted September 4, 2014 Thanks for the tip Fuzzy. I'll have to try out that Alpha Blur. Must admit I haven't had a go at this for a while now so I'll probably be following my own tut! Lol Quote Please feel free to visit my Gallery on PDNFans And my Alternatives to PDN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cc4FuzzyHuggles Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 I've been fiddling with the tut now, I'm still preferring Gradient blending, but yeah, Alpha blur gives a new look to things. Quote *~ Cc4FuzzyHuggles Gallery ~* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goonfella Posted September 4, 2014 Author Share Posted September 4, 2014 I noticed a comment by Yellowman that Alpha Blur did not work properly in PDN4. Has it been fixed then? Quote Please feel free to visit my Gallery on PDNFans And my Alternatives to PDN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cc4FuzzyHuggles Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 (edited) I'm not sure if it works the way it should, as I sometimes get little artifacts from the plugin. However, I haven't done enough comparisons of the plugin in paint.net 3.5. vs 4.0 yet to know if it's the plugin or if it's an incompatibly thing. Nonetheless, the plugin does run in 4.0 and I haven't noticed any unexpected crashes specifically from Alpha Blur. Be sure you have the latest version of the plugin though, or else I guess it does crash. When I'm feeling lazy and don't want to gradient blend, Feather and Alpha Blur are the plugins I run to, haha. By the way, Great tutorial! I've been wanting to make clouds in Paint.NET but haven't sat down to figure out how. Seeing this tutorial I'm now finally making clouds! Yay! Edited September 4, 2014 by Cc4FuzzyHuggles Quote *~ Cc4FuzzyHuggles Gallery ~* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goonfella Posted September 4, 2014 Author Share Posted September 4, 2014 Thanks. Always nice to hear that a tut is useful. Quote Please feel free to visit my Gallery on PDNFans And my Alternatives to PDN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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