Blancer.com Tutorials and projects

A lightweight version of the paragraph styles you would find in Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator’s Paragraph Styles help you set your type in many different ways. Learn more about how to save time styling your type in this Video Quick Tip.

Continue reading “Quick Tip: Paragraph Styles”

We have another great Vector Premium tutorial available exclusively for Premium members today. Would you like to learn how to create a detailed vector illustration based on the Cheshire Cat? If so, we have an awesome tutorial for you.

Continue reading “Creating a Mysterious Cheshire Cat in Adobe Illustrator – Vector Premium Tutorial”

At Audiotuts+ we irregularly put up a reader track for workshopping and critique (find out how to submit a track). This is how it works: you upload your song, and every week or so we’ll publish one here and step away from the podium. The floor is yours to talk about the track and how the artist can fix problems in and improve upon the mix and the song.

This track has been submitted for your friendly, constructive criticism. They have put their track (and their heart and soul) in your hands to learn and get useful feedback.

• Do you enjoy the song or track itself? Does it have potential?
• Can the arrangement be improved?
• How did you find the mix? What would you do differently?
• What do you enjoy about the rhythm track? What can be done to improve it?
• Is the choice of instruments relevant and effective for the style/song?
• Are the lyrics (if any) effective? Does the style, arrangement and genre of the song suit them?
• Can you suggest any specific techniques that might improve the track?
• Do you have any other constructive feedback?

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Rollover Juicy by Tyson Willert

Artist’s website: soundcloud.com/tysonwillert

Description of the track:

The aim of this game is just to see if anyone is feeling it…

Tyson Willert ft Erin Ragland – Rollover Juicy by TysonWillert

Terms of Use: Download, play it out, show everyone you know and let them know.

Have a listen to the track and offer your constructive criticism for this Workshop in the comments section.

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Submit Your Tracks for Workshopping

Need constructive criticism on your own tracks? Submit them using this form.

This is a subject I touched on briefly in a previous tutorial on gating and people were pretty interested in the technique. This tutorial aims to show the various ways of creating the effect in more detail.

I’ve used Logic but this can be achieved in pretty much any DAW that supports native side chaining and has a gate plug-in.

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Step 1: Feeding Your Gates

If you plan to use the techniques outlined in this tutorial you’ll have to ensure your DAW has a gate plug-in that supports native side chaining. To be honest most of the major players include this as a standard feature now, so it should be pretty easy to translate the methods I’ve used to your favourite app.

Routing audio to our various gate plug-ins is really not the challenging part of this technique, it relies more on what you feed your gate with and the settings used. To get an idea of what I’m talking about let’s get stuck in.

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Step 2: Our Target Sound

At this point you want to think about the sound you want to gate. I find this works very well with sustained sounds, such as strings, pads and vocal effects. In this case I have opted for a synth/string sample.

Download audio file (2.mp3)

The untreated synth loop.

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Step 3: The Trigger

The whole aim of the game here is to create a rhythmical, groove based effect so a good starting point is to use a percussion (or drum loop) as our trigger or source. I have chosen a well defined, simple loop to get things going.

Anything with sharp transients will work here, try and avoid anything too busy though as the gate will find it difficult to clamp down on the individual sounds.

Download audio file (3.mp3)

The raw percussion loop.

Download audio file (3b.mp3)

The two raw sounds mixed.

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Step 4: Routing the Gate Effect

Now we can route the percussion loop into the gate via the side chain input. In Logic this is simply a case of using the drop down menu in the top right hand corner of the plug-in. You should now see the available source and amongst them the percussion loop.

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Step 5: Setting the Gate’s Parameters

With all the signal flowing in the right direction it’s time to setup the gate. Move the threshold up until you hear the peaks of the loop effecting your treated sound. You should hear the sound ‘flashing’ on and off in time with your trigger sound.

Download audio file (5.mp3)

The gate effect comes to life.

With the threshold set you can now adjust the attack and release settings. You’ll find that you can get away with a pretty fast attack time but the release might take a little more time to tweak. Try and time the recovery of the gate with the tempo of your project, this way things shouldn’t sound too choppy.

Download audio file (5b.mp3)

The gated string in isolation.

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Step 6: Using Loop Slices or Audio Samples

Using a loop to trigger your gate is a great way to dial in a quick pattern but if you want something a little more ‘custom’ you could try slicing your audio and creating a new groove.

One of the easiest ways to do this is cut your existing loop into small sections and rearrange them. This gives you much more control over the gated pattern and can allow you to match the rest of your projects groove with ease.

Download audio file (6.mp3)

The loop slices in isolation.

Download audio file (6b.mp3)

The sliced loop and the new gated string.

Download audio file (6c.mp3)

… and finally the new gated string in isolation.

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Step 7: Using a MIDI Part to Trigger Your Gate

If you have success with creating grooves using audio parts but crave even more control over your gate patterns you might want to try using a MIDI triggered sound. Using a soft sampler or drum machine can give you ultimate control and you can even experiment with release times and various different samples.

Download audio file (7.mp3)

The MIDI part and gated effect.

Download audio file (7b.mp3)

… and the gated effect in isolation.

Photoshop’s wide variety of tools enable you to perform complex photo manipulations with relative ease. Today, we will demonstrate how to combine Photoshop’s tools with photo manipulation techniques to create a medieval fantasy castle gate. Let’s get started!

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Resources Used

The following resources were used during the production of this tutorial. Each item is freely available to you on CG Textures; just sign up!

• Concrete Texture
• Wood Planks Texture
• Soil Sand Texture
• Grass Texture
• Ornament
• Ornament Heads

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Step 1

First, create a new file with a size of 800 x 800 px and a resolution of 300 ppi.

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Step 2

Next, open the files: SoilSand.jpg and Grass.jpg then resize it (Cmd/Ctrl + T) as shown below.

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Step 3

Next change the Hue/Saturation (Cmd/Ctrl + U) levels of the SoilSand.jpg with the values below.

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Step 4

Next open WoodPlank.jpg then resize it and place it as shown.

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Step 5

Using the Pen tool (P), draw the shape shown below. After defining the shape, right-click and select Make Selection from the drop-down menu. Inverse the selection by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I, then hit delete.

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Step 6

Now press Cmd/Ctrl + L to adjust the Levels of WoodPlank.jpg and change its values as indicated below.

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Step 7

Next we’ll make a set of stones to form an arch. To do this, open Concrete.jpg, then rename it "Stone." Then press Cmd/Ctrl + T to resize it as shown. Use the Eraser tool (E) to erase the edges of the "stone". Then, use the Burn tool (O) to burn the indicated areas shown in figure (c). After that, apply a layer style to the “Stone” layer and apply a small Drop Shadow as shown in figure (d). Now, create a new layer and place it below the "Stone" layer and Cmd/Ctrl + click the thumbnail of "Stone" layer to activate its selection as shown in figure (e). Using the Paint Bucket tool (G), fill the entire selection with #000000 as shown in figure (f). Finally, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and apply a radius of 5.0px.

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Step 8

After merging the "Stone" layer and the blurred selection from Step 7, duplicate (Cmd/Ctrl + J) the layer until you’ve reached the other side of the arch.

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Step 9

Using the Burn tool (O), burn the areas as indicated below in the "SoilSand" layer and in the "Grass" layer.

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Step 10

Next, use the Eraser tool (E) to erase the areas as indicated below in the "SoilSand" layer.

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Step 11

Now, let’s create the gap between the doors. To do this, use the Pen tool (P), then create a line as shown in figure (a). Then, right-click and select Stroke Path from the drop-down menu. Make sure to set the Brush tool (B) as indicated in figure (b) prior to using the Pen tool. Lastly, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and enter a 2.5 px radius as shown in figure (c).

Repeat the same process to create the gap below the door as well.

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Step 12

Using the Pen tool (P), make a line as shown below. Next, right-click and select Stroke Path from the drop-down menu. Make sure to set the Brush tool (B) to a Master Diameter of 20px and Hardness of 100% prior to using the Pen tool. Next, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set it to 8.0px. After that, decrease its opacity to about 50%.

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Step 13

Now, let’s add the door hinges. To do this, open the file "Ornament." Then, using the Magic Wand tool (W), select the background of the image.

Next select the Refine Edge tool (Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + R) and check the box for Smart Radius. Then using the brush for Smart Radius, follow the outline of the hinge. After that, check the box for Decontaminate Colors and hit OK.

After hitting OK, add a Drop Shadow in the Layer Style window by double-clicking the "Ornament" layer.

Duplicate this layer three times and position them as shown below.

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Step 14

Using the Pen tool (P), make a shape as shown below. Right-click and select Stroke Path from the drop-down menu. Make sure to set the Brush tool (B) to a Master Diameter of 45px, Hardness of 0% with color #000000 prior to using the Pen tool. Finally, set its Blend mode to Soft Light.

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Step 15

Open the file "OrnamentHead.jpg." Using the Magic Wand tool (W), select the background of the image. Next select the Refine Edge tool (Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + R) and check the box for the Smart Radius. Then, using the brush for the Smart Radius, follow the outline of the Ornament Head. After that, check the box for Decontaminate Colors and hit OK.

Add a drop shadow to "OrnamentHead."

Duplicate the "Ornament" layer and place them as shown.

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Step 16

Next we’ll add some Sunrays. Using the Pen tool (P) make a line as shown below, after that right-click and select Stroke Path from the drop-down menu. Make sure to set the Brush tool (B) to a Master Diameter of 95px, Hardness of 0% with color #ffffff prior to using the Pen tool.

Add some more using the same technique. After that, merge them and name them "Lights."

Next, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with a 25 px radius

Finally, decrease its opacity to 50%.

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Step 17

Next we’ll add some sparkes. Using the Paint Brush tool (P) set to Hardness 0% and color #000000, apply varying sizes of “dots.”

Next go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply a radius size of 5px. Decrease its Opacity to 40%.

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Step 18

Next step is to add highlights for the stones of the arch. To do this, use the Brush tool (B) set to a Master Diameter of 7px and a Hardness of 0%. Add the highlights according to the source of light, like as shown below.

Then go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply a radius of 3px.

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Step 19

Next we’ll add a brownish tint for the image. First, add a new layer and fill it, using the Paint Bucket tool (G), with #714200. Next, change its Blend mode to Color Dodge and decrease its Opacity to 60%.

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Step 20

For the last step, we’ll add subtle shading to complete the effect. To do this, first add a new layer, then fill it with the #000000 and name it "Shade."

Using the Polygonal Lasso tool (L), make a shape as shown below, then hit delete.

Lastly, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and change its radius to 22px then decrease its Opacity level to 60%.

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Final Image

That’s it! The final product is shown below. Hope you had fun working on this project! Thanks for reading.