Here I will demonstrate a very simple method to create glass balls. You can also use this technique to create water drops reflecting background somehow bumped and ovaled.

Expected Result:
.
And if used to create water drops, result may be something like this:

NOTE: Leaf image is property of mayhem-chaos.net


Preferences:
Image size: 300x300 or as per your needs, this tutorial will work for any sized image. For this tutorial am using 300x300 image.

[NOTE]
NOTE : You can directly start reading from Step 1, if you wish to use some other image as background of the glassy ball.
[/NOTE]

Let's go forward. Create new image of 300x300 and follow steps below.

First of all we need to create the stage / floor on which we will place our glassy ball.
When you created new image, there must be a default layer named 'Background' filled with white. Delete this layer.

Add a new layer to image and name it 'floor'.

Resize the layer 'floor' to 500x500, by goung through menus, Layer > Scale layer, st width and height both to 500 and click ok.
Now go to patterns window, choose desired pattern that looks best for floor tiles, I chosen pattern named 'Parque #2 (6 x 64)', you may choose any. Drag that desired pattern and drop over the image window, which will fill the selected with pattern. Now what we have to do is change the perspective of the layer so that it looks somehow like real tiled floor.
Select 'Change perspective' tool , click within the image window, you will see a new window appeard entitled 'Perspective', simply move this window away from the image window, since we have to change the perspective of the layer manually using mouse clicks.

Now grab the top-right anchor of the layer and drag in down as shwon in following figure, then release the mosue key near the actual top-right corner of the image, see image below:


And do the same with the top-left anchor, drag and drop it over the actual top-left corner of the image, as shown here:


Now get the Perspective window back to focus and click button 'ok', which will let your modified window look as following:



Ok, upto now we just have created the floor, now we get started with the creation of glass ball.


Step 1:

Duplicate the layer named 'floor' and rename duplicated one to 'grown-texture', rightclick and press 'i' from keybard or rightclick and select menu item 'Layer to Image Size', select elliptic selection tool and draw an elliptic selection of about 100x100 which will be the size of the ball, your image window must look something like this upto here:


Press Ctrl+i to invert selection, or go through menus, Select > Invert, then press Ctrl+K or go through menus Edit > Clear. Then again invert selection by pressing Ctrl+i.

Now go through menus, Filters > Distorts > IWrap. A new filter window will appear, where you select Deform mode to Grow and set Deform radius to 75, as shown here:


Within this new filter window, you see the image in top-left corner, simply click within it using mouse, from position A ot position B, positions are not mentioned anywhere in the window, see image below to have clear idea.

Now click button 'ok', and texture in your selection must look something like this now:


Is our ball done :l:? ofcourse not :@. we have to give it some shadows and lights so that it looks mroe real.

Step 2:
A. Create new layer over the top, and name it 'top-shadow'. Select color black from colors.
Select a blurry kind of brush something like this one:


Now select brush tool, and draw some on top of the selection, as shown here:


Set opacity of the layer to '50' %.

B. Create new layer over the top, and name it 'reflection'. Now take a solid big brush, select white color, and draw a white big dot on layer 'reflection' near the midle and top-right corner of the selection, as shown here:


Select the Erase tool, and erase corners of this dot in a way that it finally looks something like this:


We create the drop shadow now. Create new layer right over the bottom layer and name it 'shadow', so that the layers order looks like this:


Remove prior selecion by going through menus, Select > None. Again select elliptic selection tool and draw selection on the layer 'shadow' as below, then fill it with pure black color.


Remove selection again, and go through menus, Filters > Blur > Gussian Blur, when window appears enter values
Horizontal : 20
Vertical : 20

and click button 'ok'. Then set opacity of this layer 'shadow' to '60' %.

And it is done....Your result must resemble to following one:


Related article by ClayOgre:
http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic.php?t=6468&start=1

Let me know if you need any help, or if any step is not clearly written and you cant understand it.

regards

Whoa dude ! That's just unbelieveable ! Thanks for the tut. I'll try it when I have time.

AOA
definitely have to try that out

WS

Will be waiting to see your results Ali :h:.

regards

can you change the color of the ball so its translucent not transperent????

Ya sure, when you are done, select layer 'grown-texture', select colorize tool , click in image window and change color.

Here is some different color result:


Or may be try decreasing opacity of the layer after changing color.

regards

I can see none of the images. :s:

Seems imageox is down.

Reopend imageox for a while. Actually we are moving it to Virtual Private Server.

regards

Hmmm....I wonder how that would work with soap bubbles..... It looks more realistic than the the results from that tutorial I wrote a while back.

You had one clay ? Then I defiitely skipped it, tell me so I add reference to it.

regards

I PMed it to you....I bet combining the two methods would be very interesting, and your method is simpler to do than mine and looks more realistic. All you'd have to do is to add the swirly plasma and maybe some kind of distorted reflection. I tried using the lens filter, but unless you are working really large, it gets kinda jaggy and pixellated.

I got it and updated first post's bottom.

Can you try one clay with the one you called "swirly plasma and maybe some kind of distorted reflection" ?

regards

Well, here's my attempt. I added one step from my tutorial, a sort of blurred black ring around the outside of the ball, since the glass gets sort of "thicker" at the edges.



Edit: I didn't see the post above this one. I just was trying for the glass ball.

Seems brilliant on this background. Great work mate :w:.

Jsut a little suggestion though. The way you created black gradient from top, create one white from bottom, some heavy white gradient from bottom to top, and set layer mode to overlay, that will look more like light on the stage.

regards

Well, the soap bubble didn't work as well, it looks kinda "cartoonish", not quite as real as the plain glass does.



Here is the "leopard ball" with the gradient added.



Edit:

Another variation with the soap bubble...

A o, You added gradient as light which looks much more better than what I was saying :w:.
Very nice work clay. I just compelte a bottle usually found in chemistry labs :l:

Actually, in some ways, it makes me think of a Leyden Jar, an early capacitor, but still very cool.

And finally adding another good example, you rate it :h:.

I think that one might be your best yet. Looks real to me. I think the trick is in the highlight... I haven't been able to master that.

If you notice the shadow of ne wone closely, you will find another blurred light bluish thing inside the black.
For the top highlight, better use stroke selection using some brush, invert selection and cut extra, then invert and select tool erase, and erase extra.

I hope that makes some sense.

thanks for the comments btw

regard

Thank you for this awesome tutorial. :l:
Here's my try at it:

Nice try. But sided are not clear enough. I think you used less amount of grow radius in IWrap filter.

regards

Thank you, I knew it didnt look quite right. I was having problems with this part of the tutorial:

I did that and I also clicked in a circular motion (so that the sides of the ball would turn out clear), but that didn't seem to work. I have been practicing, though. I think these look a little better. :l:







Thank you for your tutorial... I'm so addicted! :l:

In the step I was talking about following image
[img]http://www.gimptalk.com/io_images/47447-gb-8.jpeg[/img]

Click mouse botton where 'A' starts and release the mosue button where 'B' ends.

btw, the first one rocks. great work.


regards

I did one, i don't think it's too bad from 4 hours with the gimp. :h: I can't get my images to upload. :c: