Create Lighting Effect

Prevent indoor lighting problems with these great tips. -When a window is behind the object, bring lights closer to object or use a reflector using the light from the window to create a 3 point lighting effect. -To conceal someone's identity, eliminate all lighting and use a ...more

Film Noir, or black film, is a type of film that can easily be attributed to classics such as the Humphery Boggart films of old (Maltese Falcon, King of the Underworld, ect.). If you're looking on how to create the effect yourself without a big budget, check out this video! Jo ...more

Videomaker Associate Editor Tom Skowronski explains how four basic steps can be used to improve the lighting effects for a video and give it a more professional look. - There are four basic steps to improve the quality of the video 1) Camera Controls: Three basic camera contr ...more

This video shows how to properly set up a green screen, to set up the screen we are taking into account this four factors: -The screen: You must pull it tight making sure that there are no holes or cripples on it that would damage the effect, its also important to have enough ...more

This Photoshop video series is going to explain how to create a chiaroscuro lighting effect on an image. This art form was made famous by the Italian artist Rembrandt. Part one covers the origin of terms and how to create chiaroscuro dramatic lighting. Part two has instruction ...more

Have you ever wondered how to create that 'whoosh' effect, created by including a set of thin, glowing parallel lines? This tutorial shows you precisely how to use anchor points and blending tools to create this 'light rib' effect.

After Effects 6.5 shipped with many Cycore Effects one being the Light Sweep effect for fast and effective light gleams. In this video tutorial, DMN’s Stephen Schleicher walks you through the process of using the effect for your project.

This video focuses on dramatic portraits in Adobe Photoshop. Create a dramatic-looking portrait taking a picture that you already have, maybe something that's in an interesting pose, in Photoshop using lighting effects to manipulate the way it looks, making it unworldly and st ...more

This tutorial uses After Effects to design a quick animation that looks like several light streaks form the letters of a word. The letters burst from the light streaks with a particle explosion. This tutorial uses Trapcode 3D Stroke and Particular. Whether you're new to Adobe' ...more

This video tutorial will show you how to apply four styles of lighting. This video teaches you how to apply four styles of lighting, namely Rembrandt, Beauty, Cameo and filling in from the Key Side. You will learn about high contrast lighting schemes, dealing with the amount o ...more

Pixel Perfect is the "perfect" show to help you with your Photoshop skills. Be amazed and learn as master digital artist Bert Monroy takes a stylus and a digital pad and treats it as Monet and Picasso do with oil and canvas. Learn the tips and tricks you need to whip those dig ...more

Want to learn how you can make some awesome YouTube videos of your own? Maybe your own Internet show or maybe even a short indie film... well, one way to make things easy is a green screen. This two-part video tutorial will show you how to make your own green screen studio and ...more

Turn Cinema 4d into your own lighting studio! This tutorial shows you how to use the HDRI Light Kit Pro kit of plugins and addons to create unique lighting effects - add your own softboxes, ring lights and other sources to improve your renders.

The Northern Lights is a beautiful meterological effect, but it can be difficult to capture this beauty on film. This tutorial shows you how to use the Sony XDCAM (because it has a slow shutter) and a time lapse techique to photograh the Aurora Borealis. Shoot effective photog ...more

Three awesome film special effects, one video. Ryan at Film Riot sure knows how to make one-stop shopping filmmaking tutorials. This video will show you how to shoot someone's head off, use a jib and dolly together to get more dynamic shots, and also how to make a great cheap ...more

A green screen lets you add any sort of background to your movie in post-production. Part of a successful green screen shot is properly lighting your set so you can easily add the special effects later. Teach your camera crew these tips for your next film!

In this tutorial, we learn how to create ink drop and spread effects. You will need: coffee filters, fish tank, dropper, black ink, water, and a bowl. Next, pour water into your fish tank, then pour your ink into the dropper. After this, add in water into the bowl and place th ...more

In photography, good lighting can mean the difference between an amateur shot and a professional quality portrait. Whether you're taking photographs outdoors or in, using lighting to your advantage creates an artistic, flattering effect. In this tutorial, John Gray gives some ...more

How does taking photographs outside differ from taking photos inside? Well, unlike indoor photography, which boast easily adjustable artificial lighting and lighting effects, with outdoor photography the light you get is the light you use. Watch this video to learn how to pho ...more

Learn how to create a foreboding flickering light effect with just a single step when working in Blender. Whether you're new to the Blender Foundation's popular open-source 3D computer graphics application or are a seasoned digital artist merely on the lookout for new tips and ...more

After Effects allows you to do all sorts of amazing things to your videos and images, but it cannot do it all alone. This video will show you how to use an After Effects plugin called Normality 3 to make lighting adjustments to 3D assets on the fly, having already rendered out ...more

This video continues to elaborate the titles that the creators started working on in this tutorial on blur in-out effects in Premiere Pro. This time they focus on creating light spots and fast bumpmaps and how these techniques can be used to create even cooler titles. Downloa ...more

Nick from Greyscale Gorilla demonstrates how to master the Ambient Light and Area Light feature in Cinema 4D. These are great tools for creating believable and organic lighting effects.

Pixel Perfect is the "perfect" show to help you with your Photoshop skills. Be amazed and learn as master digital artist Bert Monroy takes a stylus and a digital pad and treats it as Monet and Picasso do with oil and canvas. Learn the tips and tricks you need to whip those dig ...more

Does your video look flat? By using Three Point Lighting, you will be able to give your flat video more dimension. In this tutorial, Israel Hyman demonstrates the effects of the key light, the fill light, and the back light. This is a long standing lighting technique that you ...more

Learn how to create basic titles with the Avid Marquee Title Tool as well as some advanced techniques including creating 3D effects, lighting, and animation. Create titles with the Avid Marquee Title Tool. Click through to watch this video on avid.com

Lights, camera and coolness! You've seen this effect in several music videos and it's time for you to learn the trick yourself. Using Sony Vegas you can create a slick 'cookie cutter' effect (essentially slicing up the screen with a B&W bar). Impress friends and family and roc ...more

If you have a DSLR, you can take some interesting photographs of Christmas trees and holiday lights this year. Here are six different ways to achieve a special effects look for your Christmas photographs by adjusting the settings on your camera.

Infrared photos are photos that are taken in such a way that they absorb light from beyond the visual spectrum, giving your pictures a cool, surreal effect. This video will teach you everything you need to know to take them yourself. You'll learn how to determine if you have a ...more

Motion tracking a movie scene in After Effects is a royal pain in the butt. It takes a long time, depends largely on the suitability of the footage you are working with, and is rather confusing. This video is here to shed some light on the subject, offering many tips and trick ...more

The helmet is the most important part of football padding and safety equipment, especially in light of recent research into the prevalence and lasting effects of concussions on football players. This video features an explanation of how to properly select and fit a helmet for ...more

Learn how to rig your Jack O'Lantern so smoke pours from its mouth! This is a simple and inexpensive Halloween pumpkin project. You need putty and incense to create the smoke special effect for your Jack'o'Lantern. Then light the incense inside the carved out pumpkin and it wi ...more

This tutorial shows you two examples of how to improve a dark or low-light photo. This video covers the auto Enhance feature, retouch brush tool, Effects menu (Edge Blur) and the Adjust menu (Reduce Noise).

This video shows you step by step how to choose the aperture to produce drastically different effects. The is the opening by which light enters your camera.

Starcraft 2, like it's predecessor before it, has a very robust level editor that allows you, the DIY modder, to create nearly any scenario within the bounds of the Starcraft 2 engine that you could imagine. We have compiled videos on how to do all sorts of fun things with it, ...more

In this tripartite video tutorial, you'll learn how to create image-based lighting and depth-of-field effects within C4D. Whether you're new to MAXON's popular 3D modeling application or are just looking to get better acquainted with Cinema 4D and its various features and func ...more

This tutorial walks through the process of building a grungy scene. Starting with an overview of the process and scene elements, you will learn how to use stacked layers. Mixing them with alpha channels you can build up complex materials; in this case rust and dirt on a nice c ...more

This clip presents a quick look at how to instance lights to particles in Houdini. Whether you're new to Side Effects Software's popular 3D production program or a seasoned graphic artist just interested in better acquainting yourself with the application, you're sure to be we ...more

This clip offers instructions on how to create your own lighting models using an illuminance loop in a VOP network. Whether you're new to Side Effects Software's popular 3D production program or a seasoned graphic artist just interested in better acquainting yourself with the ...more

This four-part guide presents an introduction to physically-based rendering in Houdini 10, covering what PBR will and won't do for you, sampling settings, environment lighting, objects as lights, shaders, issues with specular highlights. Whether you're new to Side Effects Soft ...more

This very short tutorial looks at using image planes, and the new 'per light' option in Houdini 10 to create extra image planes to separate out diffuse, specular, and gi lighting. Whether you're new to Side Effects Software's popular 3D production program or a seasoned graphic ...more

This Blender 2.5 video tutorial tackles something that is on most people's "create -before-I-die" list, a Jedi light saber. This tutorial focuses in on the post-processing aspect by setting up a node network to create the effect of the glowing blade. Modeling is not covered in ...more

Looking for a way to light your flame with flair? Look no further! In this clip, learn how to light your Zippo by smacking it on something - the bar, a hand, a friend.. without ever flicking the starter. This is a cool little trick to earn you some cred in your local pub. So, ...more

Why not make the best of an icy cold winter day and make something even cooler? In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a natural ice sculpture in your yard and light it up with LED lights for a cool, nighttime effect. You will definitely have the best house on the block ...more

This is a video tutorial that is showing its audience how to make a super cannon arm. The first thing you need is a plastic jug, a switch, a wire, a wooden dowel, spray paint, a tap light, nick nacks, foam lining, and a pin light. The plastic jug will be the casing, cut out a ...more

In this Photoshop tutorial, Richard Harrington takes a look at balancing out exposure issues inside of Photoshop CS4. Mixed lighting on a photo can cause portions of the image to be too bright or too dark, fortunately Photoshop gives us some great tools to take care of these t ...more

In this tutorial, Broadcast Designer Jason Brown will show you how to knock out a vector logo from Adobe Illustrator into a 3D logo in Maxons Cinema 4D. The tutorial also touches on basic texturing, lighting and animation. Creative Cow is a support community for digital video ...more

This After Effects tutorial will show you a nice underwater scene, complete with light rays, rising bubbles and cloudy ocean mist. You don't have to be a professional AE user to recreate this great animated scene, either! Laurence Grayson demonstrates all the techniques for th ...more

This video tutorial speaks about how to create a dramatic effect to an image using only Camera Raw in the Bridge program of Photoshop. In this example, the picture was first brought into the program and the fill light was turned upwards in order to lighten up the dark foregrou ...more

In this video, we learn how to reduce shoulder injuries with stabilizing exercises. This will not build your muscle, but it will help prevent you from hurting your shoulder, which will cause you not to work out. The first exercise you can do is to lay on your side and place a ...more

We have no doubt that famed photographer Annie Leibovitz takes perfect photos right at the photo shoot that require minimal retouching. But for the rest of us, as it is for most photographers, the photo editing process is just as important as the photo taking process, if not m ...more

There are a lot of videos out there that offer instructions for creating all sorts of fake wounds. Most of them, however, focus on cuts and gashes rather than that other devious and action-packed type of wound: the burn. This three-part video features detailed instructions for ...more

In this tutorial, learn how to do the popular Zippo trick, "The Twilight Zone". Basically, you will need to make a simple modification to your wick so that your flame looks extra spooky. With this effect, you will be able to "light" and "put out" your flame using only your fin ...more

In this video tutorial, CreativeCOW leader, Eran Stern demonstrates how to create flower trails using Trapcode Particular in this special holiday episode. You'll also work with the light emitter and use 3D layer to obscure particles. Creative Cow is a support community for di ...more

This makeup style is fun and vibrant, without being too over-the-top. This "fresh berries" makeup look plays around with layering colors, which create a unique effect when you turn your hair, making the colors gleam. This berry fresh look is great for spring or summertime (pro ...more

This video demonstrates the split tone effect in Photoshop. A split tone effect makes a picture look more rustic by changing the tones. First, add an adjustment layer to the picture by opening the channel mixer window. Select Monochrome and adjust the RGB values to create a bl ...more

This step-by-step instructional video shows how Photoshop can be used to purposely over-process a photo and give it a more gritty effect. First, a High Pass filter is applied to give the photo a gray buzz. Next, hard light blend layers are applied to give the photo more contra ...more

In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Michael Park shows you how to create a realistic 3d earth, complete with clouds and atmosphere, using only After Effects' built in effects. Special attention will be given to combining multiple instances of the CC Sphere effect to cr ...more

Using After Effects 3D layers and light sweep effect to create this text that moves in 3D space. For more Adobe software tutorials from Layers Magazine, search Layers Magazine on WonderHowTo. WonderHowTo indexes all Layers Magazine tutorials for Illustrator, InDesign, Photosh ...more