Draconian put in a request for a script based on a Water FX tutorial and I think the request got waylaid with other suggestions.

A written text tutorial is available here.
http://www.gimpchat.com/viewtopic.php?p=31375#p31375

The actual video tutorial


This is an image Draconian created using the Water FX tutorial.

O, that's the one I used in my last post on the other thread. The last two pics I posted there shows a vast difference in using the method that xgeous uses compared to doing it from scratch. It may not be as good, but it's still the best method out there that I've ever seen.

Yes. I thought your script request was for that particular water effect tutorial.

I thought Draconians request was for a way to be able to play with bump map and light settings.

You are correct Rod. Originally it was but now I'm leaning toward a whole new script with better quality internal settings. There are just too many variables to fool with, especially if it's a newb trying to use it. In order of script quality you have the Liquid Water script, then teh Xgeous method (a script could be created using his method) and then there's the scratch method. On the pic with the bees I made, I started with a background that was actually a bubblewrap png with a transparent background and the highlights were from the opposite angle than the settings used by Xgeous in his Video hence the requirement for lighting angle.(guess it would have been easier to just flip the image)

In almost every pic of a water droplet you have some basic components:

Drop Shadow
Highlight (sometimes two)
Two inner shadows - one broad and low opacity
- one narrow to create the edge effect
Inner Glow
Distortion (Displace only seems to work in one direction whereas a Lens effect is better)
Maybe even a glow effect on top of the drop shadow

You don't really need a bump map to get the 3D effect if the inner shadows are done correctly. I tried bumping but sometimes to get enough bump you get distortions that you end up blurring the heck out of to get rid of and scrificing quality in the process. I even tried using the blurring tool selectively to sort of "blend" in the distortions better. I'm still experimenting.

OK. The gauntlet is on the ground. Let's see if someone else out there is better at rendering a liquid look better than I can. That shouldn't be hard to do given my limited skills and all the pros here.

How come it won't let me post more than three images?

there's always mother nature

I took these pictures a few days ago at a local park. It's for reference and comparison.

Prexactly! Those are more like the third one I posted above. You can really see all the elements it would take to make a really good script.

I have attachments limited to 3 per post but you can add unlimited images using the upload image button.

Tanks Tux. Good to know. (only been here a year)LOL

Well I tried this tutorial... I don't think it would be too hard to code into a script.

Overall the tutorial gives a great result but the real trick to a script is the complete randomization of the size, shape, opacity and displacement of the individual "drops." The tutorial fails to accomplish this to a high degree of authenticity. A script that is unable to do so would be of limited use.

DD, is it possible to code the script so users can see a preview?
Especially for lighting and bump mapping.
It would be nice if those effects could be controlled by the user also.
Is it possible to allow the bumpmap and lighting dialogs to be adjusted like Tux's Liquid Water script as the script runs?

Well, a python script could be made with a similar type of preview as my bevel script - ie. a button that shows the preview in the image window, but a separate preview window wouldn't be possible with a script...

All things can be adjusted with a script, yes.

Thanks DD!
Hey welcome back.

Pretty darn good Graechan! What method did you use to accomplish the distortion?

The thing that stands out in your image is the really dark edges on everything. They look better on most of the letters where one side is weaker or feathered out more, but not so much on most of the water drops. It kinda looks like the drop shadow goes all the way around the drops instead of just to one side like it would be as a result of the lighting angle.

When I was working some of mine, I found this to be one of the more difficult parts to get just right. I ended up making a black copy, shrink, cut, and Gaussian blurring to get sort of a ring, then using Alpha to selection on a different "control layer" to cut off the blurr effect outside the image. This way I could control how wide a feathering effect I got and make it appear to start at the edge of the drop and fade toward the center similar to using the selection feather fill method. This was only for the shadow on the side away from the light. The side closest to the light needs to be really a really sharp thin line that seems to be cast by the reflection from the drop rather than the light itself. What method did you use for the highlights, they look great? Checkout how the shadows vary on the drops in the pic below showing the depth or thickness of each drop. This would be a real challenge to work into a script. I'm assuming everything would have to be uniform.

Hope this was clear and didn't come off sounding critical.

Mike, what font did you use in your water image...it looks great for the water effect.

What about a plug-in. Would this be a candidate for something like an add on for GMIC where you had a set of variables or controls to work with as well as a preview window?

That would be cool to see a water drop effect in GMIC.