From the course: Deke's Techniques (2018-2021)

805 Applying distortions as Smart Filters

From the course: Deke's Techniques (2018-2021)

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805 Applying distortions as Smart Filters

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In the meantime, I'm going to show you how to augment that technique by applying Photoshop's old school Distort filters so that we can see that we have a Smart Object with one dynamic filter applied to it, Radial Blur. Alright, we're going to add to that by going up to the Filter menu, choosing Distort, and then of course, you can play around with any of the filters you like. But the one we'll be applying is ZigZag. Now, notice that the ZigZag filter has a preview inside of it that's actually pretty darn accurate. So I've gone ahead and zoomed out by clicking on this minus icon. You can zoom in by clicking on a plus. And so notice if I were to increase the Amount value that the center's going to start bending in on itself like so. We can also increase a number of ridges, and we get this kind of 3D relief pattern over here in the bottom right-hand corner. You also have other styles, such as a round center, for example. And so, if I were to crank the Amount value up to 90, let's say, then I'll just take the Ridges value up to 10, what we're seeing inside of this preview is pretty accurate. Now, we're not previewing the effect out here in the Image window. If you want to do that, then you actually have to apply the filter by clicking OK. And you can see that we get a pretty wild effect. It doesn't happen to be what I want, however, which is so great that I can modify the effects of my Smart Filter just by double-clicking on the word ZigZag here inside the Layers panel. And that is going to once again, bring back that dialog box. I'm going to take the Amount down to 10. I am looking for a Ridges value of 10, but I want to stick with the default style which is Pond Ripples. And the I'll go ahead and click OK in order to apply that effect. And you can see that it makes a big difference, And then, I'll go ahead and click OK to apply that effect. And you can see that moves things out. So this is before where that's concerned, and this is after. Alright, now I want to make one more change. It's actually going to have a profound effect, and that is to change my Radial Blur setting. So I'll go ahead and double-click on Radial Blur. If you see this message that's telling you that you're not going to be able to see the effects of Spherize and ZigZag, while you're editing Radial Blur, well, guess what? You're not going to be able to see what you're doing with Radial Blur either, so just click OK. And notice, nothing changes on screen and that's because Radial Blur doesn't actually have what you would call a preview. It's got just this thing over here. Don't mess with it because we don't want to change the center of the effect. Instead just reduce the Amount value to 50, and then click OK. And a moment later, you will see all of the filters recalculated. So this is how things looked before I made that modification and this is how things look now. And so you can see we've got a lot more action in the center of that effect than we did before. Alright, now I want to move that highlight right there into the center of the effect. So I'm going to go ahead and double-click on this thumbnail associated with the Brighter layer which is going to go ahead and open up the Gradient-filled dialog box. Now, if you're working along with me, you want to click on this Gradient strip to open the Gradient editor and then double-click on this first color stop and go ahead and change the Hue value to 190 which is that shade of cyan that we've been using. And then set the saturation value to 33% and click OK. Now that keeps things pretty bright right there, and I'll show you why in a moment. But for now, I'm going to go ahead and click OK But for now, I'm going to go ahead and click OK to accept that effect. to accept that effect. And then, you can drag this center And then, you can drag this center to a different location if you'd like, to a different location if you'd like, such as right about there, such as right about there, or I'll just leave it up at a different location. or I'll just leave it up at a different location. Notice how scary this hole is without the highlight. Notice how scary this hole is without the highlight. But you can also, by the way, But you can also, by the way, at least in the newer versions of Photoshop CC, at least in the newer versions of Photoshop CC, you can click on this Reset Alignment button, you can click on this Reset Alignment button, and that's going to go ahead and center that highlight and that's going to go ahead and center that highlight at which point, go ahead and click OK at which point, go ahead and click OK to accept the effect. to accept the effect. It's pretty bright right now, and that's partially It's pretty bright right now, and that's partially a function of this topmost Gradient layer right here. a function of this topmost Gradient layer right here. Notice if I turn it off, the hole darkens a bit, Notice if I turn it off, the hole darkens a bit, and when I turn it back on, it brightens up. and when I turn it back on, it brightens up. In any case, that's going to do it for now. In any case, that's going to do it for now. I'll just go ahead and press Shift + F I'll just go ahead and press Shift + F in order to switch to the Full Screen mode. in order to switch to the Full Screen mode. And then I'll zoom on in and just so you can see And then I'll zoom on in and just so you can see how much we were able to accomplish with so little effort, how much we were able to accomplish with so little effort, this is the before version of the artwork, this is the before version of the artwork, and this is the after version. and this is the after version. Thanks to your ability to apply distortions Thanks to your ability to apply distortions this editable Smart Filters here inside Photoshop. this editable Smart Filters here inside Photoshop. Okay, so like usual I got half the way there, Okay, so like usual I got half the way there, which is why if you're a member of LinkedIn Learning, which is why if you're a member of LinkedIn Learning, I have a followup movie in which we complete the project I have a followup movie in which we complete the project by combining dynamic distortions with Blend modes by combining dynamic distortions with Blend modes to create this mind-altering piece of artwork. to create this mind-altering piece of artwork. I shouldn't show it to you for too long. I shouldn't show it to you for too long. You could get hooked. You could get hooked. If you're looking forward to next week, If you're looking forward to next week, new topic, I'll show you how to draw new topic, I'll show you how to draw a seamlessly repeating pattern that I'm calling a seamlessly repeating pattern that I'm calling 24-Sided Stars Surrounded By 12-Sided Voids, 24-Sided Stars Surrounded By 12-Sided Voids, pretty catchy, in Adobe Illustrator. pretty catchy, in Adobe Illustrator. Deke's Techniques, each and every week! Deke's Techniques, each and every week! You can't not watch, you're hooked. You can't not watch, you're hooked.

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