How to Create realistic fog?

[j_haiser]

Does anyone know a good tactic creating fog?

[Jin]

Traditional media or digital media?

If digital, what software and what version?

[j_haiser]

What is a good way to create fog with painter 8?

[Jin]

Hi,

If you also have Painter 7, the version 4, 5, and 6 art materials come with the software. In the version 6 folder, you can load the Painter.nzl file and use the Image Hose brush category and the Cumulus Cloud nozzle to paint your fog on a Layer. Use the largest brush your system can handle and make several tries until you get a big cloud. Then scale the cloud up and adjust the Layer Opacity as needed.

If you don't have Painter 7 (or Painter 6), you can go to the Patterns palette menu and choose the Make Fractal Pattern command. In the dialog box that opens, check the Size radio button that fits what you need best (I'd choose Size: 2048), then in the Channel: drop down list, choose Height as Luminance and click the OK button.

To test this Pattern, use Select > All and in the Patterns palette menu, make sure the Define Pattern command is checked. Then go to your working image, create a Layer, and use Ctrl/Command+F to Fill, Using: Pattern.

Highlight Canvas in the Layers list and fill your Canvas with a dark enough color for contrast.

Highlight the Layer and change it's Composite Method to Overlay.

Use Effects > Orientation > Scale to scale the Layer up. I'd suggest at least 200%, maybe more depending on what works best for you.

Use Effects > Focus > Super Soften and experiment with the number until you get the right amount of softness.

You may want to try different Composite Methods for your Layer to see if another one works better than Overlay.

Once you have your Pattern just how you want it, go to the Patterns palette menu and choose Capture Pattern. Give it a unique name not already used by Painter and click the OK button to save it to the currently loaded Patterns library. Or, if you don't want to add such a large Pattern to your Patterns library, just save the file as a Painter RIFF giving it an appropriate file name. Then when you want to use it again, open that file and in the Patterns palette menu, choose Define Pattern, and Fill, Using: Pattern.

Hope this helps a little. Though this is not painting, it's certainly faster and may give you some ideas for actually painting your fog.