Skip to content

GUG Gimp User Group


This little tutorial will show you how to create really w31rd textures within a few minutes. I named it Matrix because when I discovered this effect (really didn't search for it) I remembered the cool Matrix movie.
This texture will be seamless without using any filter or script-fu you need for most other texture, it's auto-magically seamless. 		The final result:

matrix texture --- the final result
get the xcf-file
First we need a new image (YES), I choose 300x300.
Then two new layers, one is 1x300 (named vertical) and the other 300x1 (named horizontal).
Now in both Filter => Render => Clouds => Plasma to get them colored.
Last thing for the first step is to resize the two layers (Ctrl+S in the layer box Ctrl+L) to the whole image size, here 300x300.
Be sure to click the ratio-lock, otherwise you'll get an image of 300x90000.
 Step one:

matrix texture --- the first step
Now we need to move the layers until they are centered, use the statusbar and the zoomer to get it right.
Set the upper layer's mode to difference and keep the other's normal. It don't matter which one is top cause it will look the same.
The result is now black with some horizontal and vertical lines, looks kinda three-dimensional, no? 		Step two:

matrix texture --- the second step
In the third step we create a new layer (named gradient here) size 300x1 or 1x300, as you like it.
Now Filter => Render => Clouds => Solid Noise it and resize/move it like the two other layer.
Set the layer mode to Divide (Dodge) and there we are.
 Step three:

matrix texture --- the second step
Some more stuff to make it look cool:
  • Offset the noise-gradient layer to highlight a different part (Image => Transform => Offset or Ctrl+Shift+O)
  • "delete" a color, only green and blue looks the best I think
  • add another noise-gradient, but be sure that it is mostly white with only a strip grey
  • lighten one of the colored layers to stress the horizontal or vertical lines.

For the topmost result I added a horizontal grey-black-grey (the darker the gradient the lighter the result) layer (mode: Divide), played around with the vertical layer's color curves until I got rid of red and green, did similar with the horizontal one, some k3wl text and violá :-)

Some variants:

matrix texture --- the second step
Created with XEmacs and WML
Copyleft Y2K+ by Thomas R. "TomK32" Koll TomK32
Last modified: Thu May 31 22:26:09 CEST 2001