Gimpdome

In this tutorial I will show you how to create an animation similar to this:



The tutorial will require the following scripts to expedite the process....

Animated Fire
Animated Polar Coordinates
Gaussian Blur All Layers
Plastic Wrap All Layers...
Edge Detect All Layers

After downloading the scripts, place them in your GIMP Scripts folder (ie...C:\Program Files\GIMP-2.0\share\gimp\2.0\scripts). Refresh your scripts and you're ready to go. I will point to the appropriate menu location at the right time.

The settings I'm providing are only examples.  As always, I encourage you to experiment.

Let's begin!

Step 1

On a new image, go to Filters > Animation > Animated Fire... and choose the following settings.



I'm going with the Mexican Flag Smooth gradient.



Click OK and you should have an animation that resembles this (mine's not animated, just showing the top layer)



Step 2

Let's blur the fire animation to smooth things out a little bit.  Go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur All Layers... and apply these settings:



Click OK and your image will now resemble this:



Step 3

Next, we're going to give additional motion to the flames by running the Animated Polar Scripts filter, which is found here: Filters > Animation > Animated Polar Coordinates...  Use the following settings:



Click OK and you should have an image that resembles this:



Step 4

I discovered that we need to add some shiny spots to the animation to give the final result the effect of "flying bits".  To add the shine, we'll use the Animated Plastic Wrap script.  It's found under Filters > Light and Shadow > Plastic Wrap All Layers... I'm using the following settings:



This script works differently with each gradient type.  I recommend that you use higher numbers at first (adds less shine) and run the script a second or third time to get the desired effect.  Too much shine may result in a "busy" result.  Again, experiment.

Click OK and here's the result:



Notice there's just a little shine.

Step 5

Now, to finish the animation, we'll use the Edge Detect All Layers script (Filters > Edge-Detect > Edge Detect All Layers...) using the following settings:



Click OK

Your animation is now finished and should look something like this:



I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Let me know if you need clarification.

Happy GIMPing!!

Art

Hmmm Gave it a try wanted to try make it look more watery but it looks more ... Brain goopy

It is ? O.o what planet are you from that they have brain goop fountins ? Lol

It is ? O.o what planet are you from that they have brain goop fountins ? Lol

I'm a biologist by education...anything goopy excites me! 

You got something against blue alien brain goop? Huh? Well do ya?   

eh?

 

I happen to like it.. its all the rage in Fiji and some other place I can't pronounce without swearing in Klingon.