In this tutorial I will show you how to create an animation similar to this:



The tutorial will require the following scripts to expedite the process....

Animated Fire
Polar Coordinates All Layers
Gaussian Blur All Layers
Plastic Wrap All Layers
Edge Detect All Layers

After downloading the scripts, place them in your GIMP Scripts folder (ie...C:\Users\Name\.gimp-2.8\scripts). Refresh your scripts and you're ready to go. I will point to the appropriate menu location at the right time.

The settings I'm providing are only examples. As always, I encourage you to experiment.

Let's begin!

Step 1

On a new image, go to Filters > Animation > Animated Fire... and choose the following settings (I'm going with the script’s default settings).




Click OK and you should have an animation that resembles this (mine's not animated, just showing the top layer)



Step 2

Let's blur the fire animation to smooth things out a little bit. Go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur All Layers... and apply these settings (again I’m using the defaults):



Click OK and your image will now resemble this:



Step 3

Next, we're going to give additional motion to the flames by running the Animated Polar Scripts filter, which is found here: Filters > Distorts > Polar Coordinates All Layers... Use the following settings:



Click OK and you should have an image that resembles this:



Step 4

I discovered that we need to add some shiny spots to the animation to give the final result the effect of "flying bits". To add the shine, we'll use the Plastic Wrap All Layers script. It's found under Filters > Light and Shadow > Plastic Wrap All Layers... I'm using the following settings:



This script works differently with each gradient type. I recommend that you use higher numbers at first (adds less shine) and run the script a second or third time to get the desired effect. Too much shine may result in a "busy" result. Again, experiment.

Click OK and here's the result:

Notice there's just a little shine.



Step 5

Now, to finish the animation, we'll use the Edge Detect All Layers script (Filters > Edge-Detect > Edge Detect All Layers...) using the following settings:



Click OK

Your animation is now finished and should look something like this:



I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Let me know if you need clarification.

Happy GIMPing!!

Art

Neon Fountain Animation Tutorial (PDF)

Nice one fencepost

thanks!

Thank you so much Fencepost, I post your tut in .pdf

Thanks Fencepost. I added the "Feathers" Gimpressionist preset to give more texture and I also left out the last step.

Thanks for this cool tutorial and the scripts FP!
I decided to colorize all layers the same copper color. Although i did name it "Fountain Of Gold".

By the way fencepost, is it possible to script a colorize all layers filter using gimp-colorize?

I'm responding on my phone, so forgive me if I mess up. Lol

Thanks, everyone, for trying out the tutorial. The results look great. Experiment with different script settings and see what you can come up with.

Thank you, Isabella, for converting it to a PDF. That's a great idea.

Graechan, I'll see if I can come up with a single script. My skills are quite rusty!

Rod, I'll check into that. I'm thinking I may have started writing one for colorize. Will let you know

I did my FireMountain, too. Thanks you fencepost. It's been funny and easy.

Thanks for the tutorial .... Love animation.

Awesome! Nice work, Issabella and SeriousTom!

I'm writing one right now. BAHAHAHAHA

Yes, send it to me and we'll compare notes!

FP, why don't you submit your scripts to Gimp Scripts and Plug-ins?
http://gimpscripts.com/
easy access for all gimp chatters

I have a number of them posted there and I'll certainly add these. I also like to host them on my deviantart account for those people who watch me there.

I really like that, Graechan.

Finally! I tried to upload this file yesterday but I kept getting a weird error message and would not upload. Today the same thing. I changed the title drastically and it finally uploaded.

FencePost: Love this script. If you like to write tutorials, I would love to learn more about animation. I believe there are others that would also. Would need to start out very basic, and progressively get more complicated. Maybe this has already been done, and I haven't found it. If
you know of these tutorials, would you let us know? I have always found animation intimidating.