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The Photoshop Guru's Handbook - "Creating the NUI"
Part 3 - 2D & 3D (inDepth Interface project)

Creating Main Interface Sections:
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Trying different Light Styles

One of my favorite light styles i like to use in the Lighting filter is the "Reflections" light style i created. You can either downLoad it here or, you can view this screen-shot of the Lighting Filter window showing the settings i use for the 'Reflections' light style.
If you view the screenshot, don't pay any attention to the way the effect looks in the 'preview window'. The real detail was lost when the image got compressed as a gif, using the Web Safe palette. But trust me, it's a nice effect.
To create the effect of 'reflections' (as from an outdoor environment - sky, sun, earth, etc.), i've used 5 lights. Four are Omni lights and one is a Spotlight. There are only 2 colours used for this Light style, a pale blue & a pale yellow (both of which are 'web safe' palette colours).

The reason i like using this light syle is because it creates a simulated 'daylight' effect of light reflections on the shape. It also makes for some good metal effects, when used on multiple layers. This is what the above shape would look like if you used the steps above, but used my 'Reflections' light style instead of the default one, and applied it to 2 layers instead of just one.
Reflections Lightstyle example

The trick to getting more light reflections is in running the filter on 2 separate layers of the same shape. And as well as that, when you run the filter the 2nd time, you would turn OFF the 'White is High' option. That will reverse the coloured lights that are used, so they're shining from the opposite directions. Then, this 2nd layer, which should be above the first layer, would be set to either Multiply, Overlay, or Colour Burn blend mode. It's the combination of the 2 layers that make the lighting effect much more complex looking. And each blend mode creates a whole different look to the 3D shape. But the effect is just as nice looking even if you only use one layer.

For the above sample image, i only ran the Lighting filter once. I wanted you to know that so you wouldn't go trying to rush and figure out how to do the 'double application' method at this time. So if you don't understand it thoroughly right now, that's ok, then try it later.

Understanding The Lighting Filter
To get the most from this filter, you have to understand *why* it creates these 3D effects. Simply speaking, the main reason is due to the amount of contrast and blurring you use on your texture channels (the copies of your shapes that are in the Channels palette). The more contrast and blurring there is, the more 'depth' you will get. The less contrast and blurring you use, the more crisp and flat your effect will be. And part of these results are also dependant on the amount you set the 'Height' slider to within the filter - 0 being 'Flat' (no depth effect) and 100 being 'mountainous' (maximum depth effect).

Look at this example of how the 'Height' setting can affect the texture channel: Lighting Filter ExampleNotice that in the 'texture channel' frame of this animation the greyscale image has a maximum of contrast - completely black to completely white areas. Those are the peaks and valleys you see in the rendered images. But it has only a small amount of blurring, which therefore makes the edges around the indents in the texture very sharp and clean. If the texture channel was blurred more, then the edges around the indents would be much softer and rounded. Understanding these facts about this filter should help get you well on your way to creating some striking new texture patterns and bump maps for your art work and interfaces.

GURU TIP:
Try using the Clouds/Difference Clouds filter, Fractals, or the Radial Gradient tool (set to Lighten Blend Mode) to create a texture channel. These 3 techniques will give you the most bumpy, carved, and crunched looking effects for your textures. Also, experiment with Photoshop's many native filters to see what kinds of textures they can produce.



3D Shapes / Inset Lines / View Screens
Buttons / Texture Mapping / Adding Text

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