Day: November 13, 2003

Neat effect huh? With the bubbles? It’s the “Xtremely Xtreme” logo as seen in the GhostHouse movie “Xtremely Xtreme.” How did I do this?

1. Make a new layer for your border.
2. Make the shape that is roughly the dimensions you want the core of the “toned” border.
3. Select the shape… I usually use the magic wand.
4. Invert the selection (Select : Invert).
5. Hit “Q” to switch to mask mode. Everything should turn your highlight color, for example pink.
6. Use the halftone filter in the menu bar: Filter : Pixelate : Color Halftone.
7. Mess with the radius and angle settings a couple of times. I find it easier to use a solid color that is a single key, like say black. That way you are only changing the offset angle of a single channel.
8. when you get the effect you want, you should have a selection with a lot of bubbles… while on the selection tool, do a “fill.”
9. just to be anal, invert the selection and fill with a different color.
10. Alternately, choose one of these and just hit “delete” (backspace on the PC). This will make this a big mask, so for example if you want some complex pattern on a layer underneath to show through the bubbles, or be the background underneath the bubbles.

Since I’m using this for video, I need a thin border in a contrasting color around the halftone bubbles- I don’t have control over the background, because it will be constantly changing.

1. Select the mask you made by using the magic wand with a large tolerance (for example 30).
2. Grow the selection uniformly by choosing Select : Modify : Expand in the menu.
3. Now you have a background mask for your mask! Without changing the selection:
4. Pick a foreground color which is contrasting to the mask body.
5. Make a new layer and make sure it is active for editing.
6. Use “fill” on this grown selection.
7. Make sure the layer is the immediately next one from your first “border” mask.

That’s it!

Looks like someone is implementing my wacky dream of building Messerschmitt 262 replicas.

The Me 262 is the experimental Nazi Fighter Jet which thank goodness was delayed in production due to the decimation of the German-controlled resources towards the end of World War II… In an era where the entire air campaign was being fought with propeller planes it would have made short work of the entire Allied fleet.

The Me 262 came in a couple of variants, including the base fighter and bomber models. Mine would be the “Me 262A-1a Nightfighter” which was intended to be used as a night-flying jet, equipped with radar… of course since radar was a new technology in 1944 it had these giant antennas on the front of the plane that look like the monstrosities suburbanites used to put on their roof in the days before cable or satellite televsion. All it’s missing is giant skull & crossbones – the perfect supervillain transport!

The Me 262 has a brutish and functional look, and fits well with all the “alternate history” stories where the war continues past 1946, like “Luftwaffe 1946” by Ted Nomura (from Antarctic Press).