First Moments

This tutorial is written by me using a FTU (Free to Use) Image by Darren Hiles. Any similarity to any other tutorial is coincidental . You may use this image in your creation as long as it is copyrighted as directed in the tutorial. The rest of Darren's work is available to use by purchasing a license. Details can be found on his site DHIL.

Supplies Needed:-

Paint Shop Pro

Animation Shop

The Render supplied in the Zip File

Gregs Factory Output Vol II Pool Shadow

Font Used Storm from Dafont

Unzip the render, Shift + D to duplicate the image, close the original and and minimise the copy in PSP, unzip the font and also minimise it so that it shows up on your fonts drop down. Remember to save your work often and to rename your layers if you find it easier to work that way.

Restore the copy of the image to your workspace:-

Look on the left of your workspace, locate your Layers Palette :

Right click into the blue area and promote your background to a layer:

Right click again and this time Duplicate your layer twice:

Close off the top two layers and make sure your Raster 1 Layer is your active layer:-

Now take your Freehand Selection Tool (Lasso)Lasso Tool with the following settings:-

We are going to highlight two separate sections of the Image and use different effects on them. So firstly zoom into the centre of the Image and draw around the yellow centre , similar to this:-

Now, staying on the Raster 1 layer go to Adjust, Brightness and Contrast and apply the following settings:-

Close off the Raster 1 Layer, and open Copy of Raster 1. Apply the Brightness and Contrast Settings again, changing the Brightness to 50. Now close the Copy, and open Copy 2 and apply with the Brightness setting at 80. Selections, Select None

Now close your Copy 2 and go back to the Original Layer. This time select the area that spreads upwards to the right from the centre, as shown here :-

Now find Greg's Factory Output II, Pool Shadow in your plugins and apply to the Original Layer with the following settings:-

Repeat the Pool Shadow on the other two layers changing the first diagonal setting to 48 and 56 respectively.

Now let's add some text to the Image. Find the Storm Font and set it with the following settings. N.B. The Leading and Kerning Settings need to be set in this so that your letters are separated.

I set my Foreground Colour to #FFFF45 and Background to #FF1E01. Apply your text and then rotate it Left 90:-

Stretch your text out to your liking and convert to Raster Layer.

Add a drop shadow to your text with the following settings:-

Your tag is almost ready to take to Animation Shop, but first we need to add the artist copyright. Change your Font to Arial at Size 16, Foreground Null, Background White and add :-

Render © Darren Hiles DHFTU www.opticalsorcery.com

I placed mine at the very bottom of the tag.

Now comes my quick way of creating your animation.

Make sure you have the Copy 1 and Copy 2 or your original Image closed. With the Original Image as your active layer, right click on the Image in your workspace:-

Click on Copy Merged, then paste that as new Animation into Animation Shop. Now close off the raster 1 Layer in Paint Shop, open Copy 1 and make it the active layer, Copy Merged again and then paste it after the frame you have already placed in Animation Shop:-

Now close that layer in Paint Shop and repeat the procedure with your Copy 2 layer. You will now have three frames in Animation Shop.

Right Click into the First Frame and select Frame Properties:-

I set mine to 30, but it's up to you if you want to slow your animation down or speed it up. Remember the higher the display time, the slower the animation.

Save your tag as a Gif and that's it.

If you have any queries on this tutorial , please contact me. I would also love to see your results.

This Tutorial was written in July 2010 by Helen Peachey, and the concept of the tutorial is copyrighted.
Please feel free to LINK to the tutorial and/or print it out for your personal use,
but please do not copy it in any way to put online, pass out or re-write without permission.
The image you create using this tutorial is for you to do what you wish except for monetary gains or for merchandising.
© Peachies Designs and Tutorials. Any Resemblance to another tutorial is purely coincidental.