How should I create smoke with ps?

[Jochem]

hey guys!

I've been trying to create 'believable' smoke in photoshop but i didn't seem to get it just right...

The smoke in this pic is just amazing..but how i should make this? Could anyone help me with this?

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n16/Gamedesigner/Starcraft_almost.jpg

[jrr]

first if you're going to post the art, you should post the poster, chenzan.
second, with the smoke it's very simple. find a textured brush you like, and while you're putting it down, put it in layers, blurr the bottom and lower the opacity. or just lower the opacity of the brush as you're painting. mad easy.

[Datameister]

Well, it's not that easy if you're using the wrong sorts of brushes. I find that the best cloud/fog/smoke brushes often have a little scattering, 100% angle jitter, and a rather rough-edged brush tip. (Also, set pen pressure to control Opacity and Flow.)

Keep in mind that you can use the Smudge tool. Many people heavily advise not to use it, claiming that it smears the image in an ugly way. But this isn't true if you activate Scattering. Often, great cloud brushes do equally well with the Smudge tool if you increase the Scattering.

[JazGalaxy]

I did a Halo image a while back and needed to do clouds. I basically reverse engineered the cover of the game, and found an easy entry-level process.

I reccomend this: Set your bush opacity to low and use the standard round airbush. With LOW LOW LOW opacity, start to paint a general shape and the lift the brush. Put it back down and do the same again. Build up the area toward the bottom to create density and leave the area on the top light to produce a sense of airiness. Hopefully that will help you along. If you're past that level then by all means do the above thing with creating brushes.

[Datameister]

One thing I forgot: the ULTIMATE cloud brush in my brush library uses a jagged rectangular tip. With the scattering and other options I mentioned, it can be used to produce some very nice cumulus clouds.