Galleries Fractal Gifts

Ultra Fractal Tutorial - The Making of "Lords of Arrakis"
Part 8. Creating the "star enhancement" layer.

Page 1. Preparation and assessment.
Step 1. Open development file.
 
A. Open the development file.

 

Step 2. Assessment.
 
A. The scene now has all that I wanted in it. I like the look, the mood, and the "message" it sends.

Only one thing remains to do:

 
Notice how the "space ring" and the two "lords" on the right show through one another. This is because of the "Lighten" Merge Mode of the "space ring" layer combined with the fact that the "space ring" layer is immediately above the "lords 2" layer, which holds these two lords on the right.

I could block off the area where the space ring overlays the two lords on the right, but that would give too "solid" and "nearby" a feel to the somewhat nebulous space ring (try it: in the image, hold two fingers over the space ring's overlaying area on the right and watch the space ring solidify and also move closer to the viewer). It would also make the two lords on the right appear to be more solid, like the ones on the left. I prefer the air of transparency that the current arrangement gives to them, sort of a quality of spirituality. It also provides a horizontal transparency gradient among the lords, which in turn lends a further dimension of dynamism.

There are a couple of problems, though, with the star. For one thing, it has a small black spot at its center. You may remember that I mentioned this problem when we created the "star" layer, putting off correcting it until later (now).

Also, since we added the space ring, the area immediately surrounding our view of the star is no longer black: it is black mingled with blue. The star is farther away than the space ring, and is shining through it. Therefore the star looks out-of-place with its totally black-and-white coloring. It needs to have a bluish element to it.

We will address these two problems with the star by adding a "star enhancement" layer to correct them.
 

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© 2005 Troy R. Bishop