If you search Google Images for smoke, you can find a lot of different representations of smoke. Only you can prevent forest fires can determine the exact effect you’re after, but it may help with ideas.
As far as the animation itself, when I do this kind of thing in Flash, I start out with the final image, and then erase pieces in frames. IOW, you can have multiple layers, each with sucessively less amount of smoke, so that when you re-order the layers, it looks like there’s progressively more.
Just my penny’s worth…
Peace,
Tony
I’ve searched google in hopes of possibly even finding an animated gif of smoke that i could import into imageready but there’s no luck there. I have the Eye Candy package that contains the smoke filter in it and i tried to make my own animated gif using this filter but the final product doesn’t flow naturally like smoke would.
For the final effect that im looking for, i’d like to either try and have it just sort of billow up from the pipes like cigarette smoke would, or perhaps the opposite end of hte spectrum and have it shoot out like a steam vent. I haven’t really decided which would look best yet.
Well, my point with google was not to find a pre-created animation as much as it was to try and find an idea for a look. Optionally, if an image were large enough, you could actually use that to create your smoke effect, using IT as your "finished" look, and by tweaking copies of the layer to remove (clone tool, etc.) smoke.
It seems like an awful lot of work though…
Peace,
Tony
Yes you are correct it does seem like a lot of work. are there any other programs that would let me create an animation like this easier, and somehow import that to photoshop or imageready?