2. Step 1
• Open Photoshop CS6 and create a new document. Fill the
background layer with any color, then go
toLayer>Layer>Styles>Gradient Overlay. Use Radial for the
Style and for the colors use black and#38556f for the center.
3. Step 2
• Add a new layer and fill it with a pattern. I am
using one from http://subtlepatterns.com/ called
Broken Noise. Use Soft Light for the Blend Mode.
4. Step 3
• Add a text you want to use for the light effect. I am using
the letter A of Abduzeedo using a stencil font called Major
Snafu. You can download it
at http://www.dafont.com/major-snafu.font?text=a+A
5. Step 4
• To create the
light effect we
will use Layer
Styles. Just
follow the
instructions
below
for Bevel &
Emboss, Inner
Shadow, Inner
Glow, Color
Overlay, Outer
Glow and Drop
Shadow.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Step 5
• Duplicate the layer and disable the layer
styles. Use Inner Shadow and Inner
Glow using the settings below.
12.
13. Step 6
• This is the results
you will get after
the layer styles. It's
very similar with
another tutorial I
wrote a few years
ago showing how
to create a neon
effect in
Photoshop. Again
the idea of this
tutorial is to play
with the timeline
feature. That's why
I will cover the first
steps quickly.
14. Step 7
•
Add 2 layers on top
of the other layers
and name them right
and left. After that
group these 2 layers
in a folder. Change
the folder's Blend
Mode to Color
Dodge. With
the Brush Tool
(B) and a very soft
brush, paint with
white on top of the
right part of the
letter A. Select the
left layer and paint
another spot of light
on top of the left
part. Use the image
below for reference.
15. Step 8
• Go
to Window>Timeline. Y
ou will see the timeline
panel. The first thing
you will notice is that
all layers are in the
timeline. Select the 2
layers in the folder.
Expand them in the
tree and make sure
that the timeline is in
the 0 frame. Click on
the Position option to
create a keyframe.
16. Step 9
• Move the
timeline to
the position
1:00 and then
move the
layers in the
composition
where you
want them to
move to.
17. Step 10
• This would be the second position of the light
spots.
18. Step 11
• Move the timeline again and after that move
the layers to create new keyframes.
19. Step 12
• Keep moving them until you complete the
animation you want.
20. Timeline
• This is how the timeline looks like. Note the
keyframes for the points where the animation
changes position.
21. Conclusion
•
After a few steps this is the final animation. Using the timeline is quite simple if
you compare the number of steps necessary to create the light effect. The cool
thing is that Photoshop makes our lives much easier when it comes to create
simple animations.
