Optik Tutorials |

Outcome:

Start off simply by placing your render into your signature (click here for mine). Choose a good color from the render to use as your background color. In this case a Dark red or a reddish brown color was added as the background. This can be chosen with the eyedropper or just getting a color out of the Color picker. Click here for the picture I used.

Now duplicate and move the render into the empty space of your signature. Now set this layer to Lighten, and lower the opacity to about 40%. Also, erase with a soft round brush where / if the render overlaps your actual render.

Now you need to add some “effect” c4d renders. These can be found at gamerenders.com and other such graphics sites. Add these on either lighten or screen, and make sure they are the same color (or at least close. you can change their color by hitting ctrl + u and moving the first slider around.) or something that goes well with it.

Now make an applied image. This can be done by creating a new layer (Ctrl + Shift + N) and then going to Image > Apply Image. Now change this layer’s blending mode from Normal to Screen, and lower the opacity to about 35-40%. This should make the signature a bit brighter.

Now for this step you will need even more c4d “effect” renders. Again, set them to lighten or screen (screen is used in this case) and align them to go with the flow of your signature. You don’t always have to color them correctly, because you will either recolor the whole signature later, or like in this case, you will be making it black and white.

Now make an applied image like you did earlier. This time though, set it to lighten. Now, in the Filter menu, go to Blur > Gaussian blur. It is suggested that you use 1-2px, more if absolutely needed. Now, lower the opacity on this layer to around 40-50%. This should make a blur effect on every light part of the signature. Now, erase around your render with a soft round brush so that your render does not look blurred. If it looks blurred, that’s bad. The main thing that should be blurred in this case is the C4D renders. This should add a cool little effect to the renders.

For this step you will need to make another applied image. This time though, instead of using the Gaussian Blur filter, you should use the Filter > Brush Strokes > Spatter filter. This should grunge it up ALOT and make it so it essentially looks like garbage. So erase the bulk of this layer and place what is left where there is only background showing. Try not to place it over your C4D renders or your main render. Here is what it looks like, the circled area is the area that is actually changed by this step.

Now you need a light source. The way that it is done in this signature; start off by making a new layer and filling it with black. Then, take out a soft round brush, around size 200px. Now brush where you want to add the lighting, in this case the bottom left hand corner. Instead of brushing you can also use Filter > Render > Lens Flare and desaturate (ctrl + shift + u) it. Now take out your smudge tool, and select a small (~27px) brush, and smudge it upward in this case, towards the top of your signature, making the lighting seem a bit more realistic then just a simple brush. Now, set this layer to Screen. This should make it so only the light shows, not the black filling. This is what both the layer itself and what it looks like when it is on screen. If you don’t like the outcome, try some variation in the brushes that you use to smudge.

Now, on a new layer, add some black brushing in areas that are still red (the original background color). Set this layer to Soft light and on about 40-50% opacity.

Now we are going to add some adjustment layers to add some depth and some decent coloring. Just follow the images.