GIMP Animation Tutorial: The ellusive rain effect
Requested by: aralana
I promise this is my last tutorial today, lol. Here's a tutorial for that popular "rain" effect, tailored specifically for GIMP users. x-posted to
icon_tutorial gimp_users and my own journal (check out the end of this tutorial for information on how to see the rest of my icons/tutorials at my journal).
1) The standard crop/resize to 100x100. I'm working with this:
2) This is your opportunity to be as creative as you like. For this particular icon, I created a new layer and filled it with a blue (#0a81e3) and set it to blending mode Overlay (on the layers palette. This is in the dropdown box labeled Mode). I then erased the part of the layer over the roses to make them stand out more. Next, I created a new layer and used this brush from Miggy in #c22929:
. Now to merge the layers together. This may be a quirk of my GIMP, but the order in which I have to merge the layers is: New Layer merge down to Background, then NewLayer#1. Here's what I get: 
Christine looks so sad and pretty.
3) Now duplicate your image.
4) Go to Filters->Noise->Hurl. I happen to be using seed 208516845. I haven't noticed much difference between the seeds, so use whatever you see fit :-) Randomize it even. Everyone's life needs a little more randomness in it. Here's what your image should now look like:
5) Go to Fliters->Blur->Motion blur. Under "Blur Parameters" set the length to 10 and the angle to 45. Feel free to experiment, however, and find what works best for you. This is what I end up with:
6) This is another step that lends itself well to experimentation. On the layers palette, adjust your opacity and blend mode. Different combinations will give different rain effects. I'm going for a "pouring" look, so I chose screen at 100% opacity:
. Make sure to save this step as a .gif file. We'll be needing this image seperate from the next steps
7) Now that you have the image from the previous step saved (when I repeat myself, it means that what I'm saying is important), delete the top layer with your rain effect. Don't panic! That's why we've saved.
8) Once again, duplicate your background layer. Repeat steps four through seven, but decrease the randomization percent by 10 (mine is set at 40% now). Make sure to leave your blur parameters the same!
9) And just for good measure, repeat step eight, changing your randomization percent this time to 60% (so I have one layer at 50%, one layer at 40% and this last one at 60%)
10) Now to start animating. Open the first rainy image you saved (for me it's). Now go to File->Open as Layer to open the other two (or more, if you chose to continue with the noisemaking and bluring) as layers in your image.
11) Arrange the layers in your palatte as you choose. You shouldn't need to duplicate these layers. If you go to Filters->Animation->Playback you can preview what your finished effect will look like and add/remove/rearrange layers as you like.
12) Now to save precious space, go to Filters->Animation-Optimize (for GIF). This won't change how your final image looks, just save space so you can upload it to LJ.
13) Finally, save as an animation. I set mine to loop forever and the delay between frames is 10 milliseconds.
And here's my final product!
Okay, I think I'm done with my tutorialing for tonight. Please comment if you have any questions/suggestions about this tutorial. Also be sure to comment on my journal's icon page to join my Icon friends lock and keep up to date on all my latest icons and tutorials.
I promise this is my last tutorial today, lol. Here's a tutorial for that popular "rain" effect, tailored specifically for GIMP users. x-posted to
icon_tutorial gimp_users and my own journal (check out the end of this tutorial for information on how to see the rest of my icons/tutorials at my journal).1) The standard crop/resize to 100x100. I'm working with this:
2) This is your opportunity to be as creative as you like. For this particular icon, I created a new layer and filled it with a blue (#0a81e3) and set it to blending mode Overlay (on the layers palette. This is in the dropdown box labeled Mode). I then erased the part of the layer over the roses to make them stand out more. Next, I created a new layer and used this brush from Miggy in #c22929:
. Now to merge the layers together. This may be a quirk of my GIMP, but the order in which I have to merge the layers is: New Layer merge down to Background, then NewLayer#1. Here's what I get: Christine looks so sad and pretty.3) Now duplicate your image.
4) Go to Filters->Noise->Hurl. I happen to be using seed 208516845. I haven't noticed much difference between the seeds, so use whatever you see fit :-) Randomize it even. Everyone's life needs a little more randomness in it. Here's what your image should now look like:
5) Go to Fliters->Blur->Motion blur. Under "Blur Parameters" set the length to 10 and the angle to 45. Feel free to experiment, however, and find what works best for you. This is what I end up with:
6) This is another step that lends itself well to experimentation. On the layers palette, adjust your opacity and blend mode. Different combinations will give different rain effects. I'm going for a "pouring" look, so I chose screen at 100% opacity:
. Make sure to save this step as a .gif file. We'll be needing this image seperate from the next steps7) Now that you have the image from the previous step saved (when I repeat myself, it means that what I'm saying is important), delete the top layer with your rain effect. Don't panic! That's why we've saved.
8) Once again, duplicate your background layer. Repeat steps four through seven, but decrease the randomization percent by 10 (mine is set at 40% now). Make sure to leave your blur parameters the same!
9) And just for good measure, repeat step eight, changing your randomization percent this time to 60% (so I have one layer at 50%, one layer at 40% and this last one at 60%)
10) Now to start animating. Open the first rainy image you saved (for me it's
). Now go to File->Open as Layer to open the other two (or more, if you chose to continue with the noisemaking and bluring) as layers in your image.11) Arrange the layers in your palatte as you choose. You shouldn't need to duplicate these layers. If you go to Filters->Animation->Playback you can preview what your finished effect will look like and add/remove/rearrange layers as you like.
12) Now to save precious space, go to Filters->Animation-Optimize (for GIF). This won't change how your final image looks, just save space so you can upload it to LJ.
13) Finally, save as an animation. I set mine to loop forever and the delay between frames is 10 milliseconds.
And here's my final product!
Okay, I think I'm done with my tutorialing for tonight. Please comment if you have any questions/suggestions about this tutorial. Also be sure to comment on my journal's icon page to join my Icon friends lock and keep up to date on all my latest icons and tutorials.