We will do that i two parts:
- In the first part you will see how to do the background (the hallway itself)
- In the second part you will see how you can adjust the tracks to fit into perspective
1. The hallway
Start with an empty image of square ratio (e.g. 400x400)Our first layer will be the texture for the wall. I made it with filters->render->clouds->plasma, then image->colors->desaturate. After that I used filters->distorts->ripple with horizontal orientation, a period of about 20 and an amplitude of 30.
Your picture now should look like this:
Now we adjust the ambient lights. Create a new layer, and use the blend tool to fill it with a black to white gradient from top to bottom. After that adjust the opacity to about 65% and set the layer mode to "Multiply (Burn)". (this layer is for the corridor getting darker further beyond)
Now create another new layer, use the blend tool with a "Bi-Linear" gradient and a "Triangular Wave" repetition from the left border to the middle of the image. Set the layer opacity to 55-65% and again set the mode to "Multiply (Burn)" (this layer makes the floor darker than the ceiling) Your image should now look like this:
Now you can merge all layers (don't flatten, we need the alpha channel). Now apply filters->distorts->polar coords with a circle depth of 0 and an offset of 180°. This should create a black and grey hallway. Afterwards set the remaining layer's mode to "Multiply (Burn)" and create a new layer underneath it. Now you can adjust the color of the new layer with image->colors->hue-saturation (i took a color of #e98854 for the layer). If you did everything like I did, your picture should look like this:
So much for the easier, more artistic part.
2. The Footprints
Make all existing layers invisible. Now create a new, transparent layer and call it "trails". Now you have to create an auxiliary layer (i.e. it will not be in the final image). It shall contain a grid. I created it using script-fu->render->make grid system. If you set the options like this:
, your image should look somehow like this:
Now create a new image of about a tenth of the size of the current one, and paint a paw; it could look like this:
Select the whole picture and copy the paw to the clipboard. Make the "trails" layer active, paste the paw into it and adjust it to the bottom of the second-to-lowest row, in the middle column of your grid (this seems to work good for the aspect of the paws later). Now paste the paw 6 times, each time using the scale tool to scale its y-ratio (i used 70% resp 143%, correct would be sqrt(0.5), because i put 2 paws in each grid field). After that use the scale tool to set the x-ratio of the whole paw row to about 65%. (You can play with it, if you're not satisfied with Your trail later). Your image should look like this now:
Now select all of the paws, copy and paste them. Use the flip tool to flip the row horizontally and adjust it so that the uppermost paw hits just touches the second horizontal grid line. Now use the scale tool again to adjust the y-ratio in such a way that each of the paws lies between two of the opposite row (i.e. make a trail out of it).
Now you can delete the grid layer and filters->distorts->polar coord the trails layer with circle depth of 0 and an angle between about -15° and 15° to make the trails follow the floor of the corridor (shifted a bit to the left or right, look at the preview).
Now you can make all layers visible again, and you are nearly finished. You can use an airbrush with black ink and a medium size brush to blur the end of the tunnel, after that flatten the image, and You can be proud of yourself, You have understood my weird ways of describing my thoughts :-)
tutorial created by lorindol 12-06-2000 download zipfile