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I am aware there are tutorials available on how to do the proton stream in Photoshop, but I have my own little technique to it and have gotten numerous requests to share it so here it is. This is not intended to be the end-all guide to doing a screen accurate stream, just a quick and dirty on how I add the streams to our event photos. I have been planning an in depth analysis guide to the streams in both movies with screencaps and animations, but this guide will have to do for now.

Thanks for putting this up, I've got some pics that I can use this technique for them when I get Photoshop!

Sent from Teletraan-1

Awesome, I'd love to see the results if you guys use this technique.

Do you have any tips for adding appropriate lighting for shade/dark areas? I just recently shopped a stream on for a friend, and it just ended up looking like a bright beam on top of a dark background.

Can you post or send me a link to the image so I can see what you mean?
Generally, setting the lens flare layer to Lighten or Screen gives the necessary contrast with the background to indicate a burst of light. But I realize sometimes doing the proton stream in either very low or very high lighting conditions means adjusting some of the glow effects. I did proton streams in broad daylight that did not look right until I adjusted the settings on the different layers. This is something I will have to go into more detail on when I do a more in depth guide to the streams. But for now maybe I can look at your image and give you some advice.

This was my first attempt.



This was my second attempt



This was my third attempt

They all look good man, but the top photo I think looks the best. The electricity is not as crisp as the other photos so it looks more natural. Good job.

Thank you!

Thank you for this guide is just used it on a program called GIMP. There were a few differences but still good.

Adapted this technique a bit by using the Pen Tool>Stroke Path for the stream to allow more control on curves and Layers Masks as to not disturb the original stream while adding depth. Those small changes make it great for animation and editing later.

Great little technique and one of the best General Setup I have come across! Nice work and thanks for posting it!