How to make spectacular nuclear bomb explosion effect with Photoshop

1. Create a new document. I use a document size of 800*600 pixels here. You can also use a larger document than this. Open the material file we need.

2. Create a new layer and name it "First Smoking", and then use the pen tool to create the path as shown in the figure below.

3. Create a new layer. Make sure the foreground color is set to white and the background color is set to black. Then filter-render the cloud. After the cloud is completed, we use CTRL+T free transform command to adjust its size and add more details to the later explosion effect.

4. Now return to the Path Panel, hold down the ALT key and click the "Load Path as Selection" button in the Path Panel, and set the feathering value to 10 pixel in the pop-up dialog box. Then go back to the cloud layer in the Layers panel and execute Layer-layer mask-Show Selection in the Layers menu.

5. Create a new layer folder at the top level, named "Little Smoke" and then create a new layer in this new folder. We will set up three "mushroom columns" of "mushroom clouds" with different shapes in this new folder later.

Repeat step 3 to create a new layer. Then use the lasso tool to create an elliptical selection as shown below. Then repeat step 4 (this time just set the feathering value to 2 pixels). Then create two other layers separately and repeat this step twice until you are satisfied.

6. We created a new layer-by-layer folder on "Little Smoke" and named it "Smoke Layer 2." Then repeat steps 3 and 4 again, but this time we only need to make a "mushroom cloud" selection area.

When we repeat step 4, we use a spherical filter (filtering-twisting-spheroidizing) for it.

7. Now let's add some details to the mushroom cloud. Create a new folder named "Smoke Details" and create a new layer in the folder, then repeat step 3, and then perform filter-distortion-extrusion. Then use the eraser tool to set the brush hardness of the eraser to 0 and the size to 20 pixels, and trim off some "burrs" on the edge. Repeat this step several times until you are satisfied.

8. Set the layer blending mode of "First Smoke" and "Smoke 2" layers to strong light, and set the layer blending mode of their respective layer folders to strong light.

Now back to the background layer. Then in the layer menu above, execute Layer-New Adjustment Layer-Hue/Saturation.

9. Go back to the "first smoke" floor. Then execute Layer-New Adjustment Layer-Level in the Layer menu.

10. When executing Layer-New Fill Layer-Gradient, other settings of gradient color are as follows: #ffa200 and #2f2200, then set the layer blending mode of this layer to overlay, and then copy the enhancement effect of this layer.

1 1. Now, the highlights and dark parts of the mushroom cloud are processed with deepening and thinning tools to enhance the sense of reality.

12. Let's create smoke effect on the ground again. Use the same method as the third step, but this time you need to narrow down the constituency. You may need to repeat this step 2-3 times, because the effect of this ground smoke needs to be wider and wider. Then trim off some burrs with an eraser tool.

Finally, use the image-adjustment-color scale command to make the next adjustment.

13. Repeat step 12 and use the eraser tool to erase the irregular areas in the clouds. Then set the layer blending mode to color gradient.

14. Double-click the layer to add a color overlay layer style.

15. Repeat step 12 again, and set the layer blending mode to strong light this time. You can repeat step 12 multiple times. If you want to make your flame effect more realistic and show more details, I suggest you do so.

16. Finally, let's make a diffused mushroom cloud. Select the Ellipse Marquee tool in the toolbox and set the feathering value to 20 pixels. Create a perfect circular selection and fill it with white.

After that, create another round selection in the center of the filled selection. Set the feathering value to 5 pixels, and press the DELETE key to delete the middle pixel.

After that, press CTRL and click the layer to load its selection. Then perform Filter-Render-Cloud.

17. Edit-Change-Distortion again, with the following adjustment options.

18. Now perform image-adjustment-color scale, and then adjust with image-adjustment-hue/saturation.

19. Copy this layer. Then move the copied layer below the original layer. Then perform filter-blur-Gaussian blur. Then set the layer blending mode of this layer to color filter.

20. Finally, use the eraser tool to erase the excess part at the bottom.