Stars on world map

[anitaemile Profile Private messageWebsite]

Pd

To make the stars blink individually you would need the stars on individual layers . I guess a different method, using masks would also work, but I don't see a solution where you would not need more layers than the three you are working with. Anybody?

Anita

[videolove Profile Private message]

To me your solution works great Anita
Thanks for sharing a very good tip that can be used with other Photoshop brushes as well ( Christmas Tree Ornaments if they exist for example ).

Regards,
Marcela

[bellzerr Profile Private message]

How about rotating a mask or using a random wave in modifiers to "blink out" the stars randomly? I would need to play with a few masks, but I'm thinking a B/W checkerboard with squares big enough to completely obscure the stars and enough movement in the mask to make the stars twinkle.

For my old (original) opening production slide I used one layer of a white light starburst (from Photodex) and another mask layer of the same slide. Rapidly rotating the mask back and forth with modifiers made the starburst "twinkle" with exploding rays of light. Watching the mask layer move by itself looked lame and useless, but together it was a surprising effect
Mark

[anitaemile Profile Private messageWebsite]

Marcella:
Ornament brushes do exist . There are various sites where you can find free brushes. I have downloaded a few of these free brushes and have made use of some , although very often you will need to add to or alter the results for a nice result. .Also: It is very easy to make your own brushes in photoshop for reusable shapes or patterns.

Mark:

Making each individual star blink on it's own , but not just randomly, would require a different technique though .
I can only think of a tiny mask that would only reveal one star at the time , moving around exposing each star. But heck.. that would be way more work than just save each star on an individual layer.

[bellzerr Profile Private message]

I feel a challenge coming on...
Mark

[heckydog Profile Private message]

Make your world map a png file and where you want the stars, have a cutout for each star.

Then, in photoshop or similar editor, create a blank, white canvas, 3 or 4 times longer than your map. On the canvas you will place different colored circles using a soft round brush that is slightly larger than the star. Place them at different intervals and use different colors if you like. It would look roughly like an old player piano roll except there'd be color splotches instead of holes. I suggest the soft brush so the stars can blink on and off gently

Place that underneath the map and just move it along the X-axis at whatever speed you choose. By varying the spacing between the color splotches the stars will appear to blink randomly. You'd want the colors to line up with each star on it's Y-axis, of course, but if two stars are on the same Y-axis it doesn't matter.

No need for masks, extra keyframes, or extra layers when done this way.

[anitaemile Profile Private messageWebsite]

This would not have the stars blink individually where chosen, but just rather randomly. Why go through such ordeal ?
It would be much easier just to create individual layers with individual stars and have these appear wherever and for how long you want. Saves you the trouble of having to figure out exactly where to put these dots so they appear fully in the open slots..

[heckydog Profile Private message]

This would not have the stars blink individually where chosen, but just rather randomly. Why go through such ordeal ?
It would be much easier just to create individual layers with individual stars and have these appear wherever and for how long you want. Saves you the trouble of having to figure out exactly where to put these dots so they appear fully in the open slots..

I was under the impression that the stars (approx 20) were in a fixed position over each country and that the OP was asking for them to blink randomly. The color dots would be placed in a straight horizontal line (not much of an ordeal there) but each one would have random spacing, and coloring if desired. This would create random "twinkling"

However, if the stars are to appear at random positions, then this idea wouldn't work.

[Osgood Profile Private message]

Anita,
Thanks for doing this for me. It's exactly what I wanted.
All the stars blink at the same time which is fine for this particular purpose!
I knew that making all those stars blink randomly would be a much more complex task, so I didn't ask for that.

This is a great place to get answers and help with the software!