Add Particle Simulations to your Images with Boris FX Optics and Particle Illusion in Photoshop

Boris FX Optics 2024 features huge improvements for creating particles on still images and cinemagraphs with Particle Illusion. In this in-depth tutorial, Ben Brownlee guides you through how to find, add, and customize any of the thousands of Particle Illusion preset emitters. You'll learn how to adjust how they look, where they sit in the image, and how to find the perfect moment in time that fits your project.
Ben explores a series of images and how to manipulate and mask off particles using the new Particle Masking modes in Optics. This even includes painting directly on the image where you want your particles to be emitted from. Great for fire and smoke!
As we all know, with great power comes great responsibility, so Ben also takes you through some of the most common gotchas you might encounter. And how to fix them.
Boris FX Optics 2024 is available now as a plugin for Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, as well as a standalone application for macOS and Windows.
Find out more here: bit.ly/3lwr0HY
// C H A P T E R L I S T //
00:00 Adding particles to still images
00:54 Particle Illusion Libraries and searching for particle types
03:05 Finding the right time with particle simulations
05:42 Understanding composite modes and seeing only particles
08:06 Adding dust and environmental particles
09:35 Exploring masking for particles
10:50 Adding multiple Particle Illusion layers
12:21 The importance of Particle Masking modes
16:15 Painting fire onto an image
18:15 Common problems and gotchas with Particle Masking
22:15 Summary and conclusion

[@Dracorubio76]

Rendering particles from Mask is just the thing I needed! Magic!!!

[@williamcarter6374]

Thanks Ben, love the new masking features! Really appreciate you going through these.

[@BorisFXco]

Me too! It's just so useful (and fun) being about to draw areas for particles to spawn. Thanks for leaving a nice comment.

[@uhligsu]

I always appreciate your videos.

[@BorisFXco]

And I appreciate that! Thanks for leaving the nice comment.

[@MuridFreelance]

can't wait mocha,

[@BorisFXco]

+1

[@rgarlinyc]

Amazingly complex and hence endlessly useful. With apologies to Robert Frost but "The Optics Woods are dark and deep...and I have miles to go before I (can master it and so go to) sleep."!

[@BorisFXco]

I never thought I would see Robert Frost paraphrased for an Optics video. I love it.

[@rgarlinyc]

@@BorisFXco 🤝😌

[@jameslandry5604]

Great!! Do you have a tutorial where you motion track the boris particle effects?

[@BorisFXco]

Yes! We have this one for 2D tracking : borisfx.com/videos/intro-to-particle-illusion-for-adobe-after-effects-part-iii/
And here's a sneak peek for this one for 3D tracking : ua-cam.com/video/-uiV-BpDzeM/v-deo.html

[@bobrob8839]

The "blend mode: none" is fantastic! Does that work with all rendered features of optics like ultra zap? I’ve been using a black fill layer and just change the mode to screen when back in PS. It always made it a little difficult guessing where to place the elements without being able to see the image.

[@BorisFXco]

UltraZap has a similar thing in its Composite section. It's called Zap Only and works the same way.