Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Water reflections with realistic ripples


Recommended Posts

In a YouTube Tutorial called 'Water Reflections with Realistic Ripples' ~ By ~ PSDDISRE.

And, even though it's a 'Photoshop' tutorial I managed to follow all his actions up until minute 2:34.  This is where he the following happens.

***

Create New Document 600 x 1000px →  make sure it is in Portrait format →  Add a Black Fill Layer → Then → Go to Filter →  Noise → Add Noise → Set amount to Maximum → →

Next → Go to Filter →  Blur →  Gaussian Blur →  set Radius to 1.3pixels →Click OK → →

Then →Go to Layers panel →  switch to Channels →  Click on Red Layer → then → Go to FilterStylise →  Emboss → Set angle to 180˚ with the Height at 1 and the Amount at Maximum 500% → → Repeat with the Green selected ~ Going to → Filter → Stylise → Emboss →  Angle 90˚ → Set Amount to Maximum500% → set Height to 1 → Then reselect the Layer

***

The above was the difficult part for me, simply because I have never owned nor used Photoshop and so, I need to figure out how to do what he has done but using Affinity Photo 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’m not a total beginner with Affinity but even-so…I'm still on the learning curve and need some help to see if this can be done within Affinity Photo & if so what steps to take to get me past this 'creating a document' part; after that I think all is achievable I've attached his before and after images so as you can see what I'm trying to do.  Thanks for any and all help offered. 

Screenshot 2022-06-03 at 13.34.26.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the  'See Related'  v_kyr  but I have already looked at those and found some of them most helpful.  However…The thing about this tutorial that I'm trying to complete is that he does not use any equations whatsoever ever but instead… He creates a 'Separate Document' and then starts to use the Red & Green Channels with Filters ~  'Stylise' ~ & ~ 'Emboss'.   I can find Emboss but not Stylise so perhaps, Affinity calls it something else or, if its not there, then there's something else to use instead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Digbydo 2 said:

I can find Emboss but not Stylise so perhaps, Affinity calls it something else or, if its not there, then there's something else to use instead.

Depends on what (or maybe which Stylise filter) is meant by PS with "Stylise" ? 

So if Stylise in terms of this here ...

... or instead maybe something from the PD filter gallery ...

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

AFAI can see in that PS video you mentioned ...

... with Stylise then there in PS is just the filter menu category name (which hosts several stylise filters like "Emboss") meant and thus no specific filter on it's own with that used name! - Aka there is no specific filter named "Stylise", it's just a submenu naming where stylize related filters do reside in!

Further note that Affinity Photo already has a ripple effect filter which isn't equation based!

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, having had a quick look v_kyr I think just sticking with Emboss might do the trick for now but even-so… when I create the New Document at 600 x 1000px and fill it with Black absolutely nothing happens when I click on the Red Channel nor the Green one either.

 In PSDDISRE YouTube video you can see both colours appear on screen on the document... So-oooh,  how can I get this to happen in Affinity?  ~ or  ~ have I just come across a bug?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the channels panel select Composite Red + Composite Green and click/enable the small "Visable + Editable" buttons ...

channels-composite-red.jpg.a15352a61c01d3a2430dbf5b93bc3cb7.jpg

channels-composite-green.jpg.013a8991a703a1ee9615d4c65e091562.jpg

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you v_kyr ~ I replied earlier via my phone but it lookalike it didn't come through.  So, perhaps for the 2nd; time I just wanted to say that you for the screen shots and helping me with the Chanels and how to make them work. I'll get to work on it soon ~ thanks again for all your help.👏 .👏 .👏.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The trouble with the displace filter is it doesn't behave the way the photoshop displace filter does, the Affinity Photo displace filter seems to detect contrast edges and distorts that, instead of taking the pixel layer as a whole and distorting it.

One could always take the fast track path and use Flaming Pears Flood 2 filter
image.png.6facea2b40c63f25308766355e674b8f.png

Please be aware, most plugins are designed for Photoshop and as such they may not work exactly as intended when used in Affinity Photo.

iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9  
B| (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum)

Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for that firstdefence & thanks for the explanation regarding the differences between PS & AP displace filters.  Is it just me or is everything we'd like answers to somehow manage to turn into yet another rabbit hole to go down? 🤪

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The workflow of the Photoshop-Tutorial is not completely clear to me, but I tried to translate some Photoshop-Tuts into AfPhoto too in the past and experienced that it often doesn't work 1:1. So you have to look for alternative ways. Possibly also the free G'MIC-Plugin could help you. It offers about 570 additional filters in different categories. Of course also Ripples, other distortions and stuff like that. Very recommendable.

But attention: even there is a filter called "Stylize", it does very different things then what you are looking for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

But attention: even there is a filter called "Stylize", it does very different things then what you are looking for.

There is no filter called "Styize" but there are several filters in a Stylize filters category!

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you iconoclast ~ I've had a look at this free G'MIC-Plugin ~ the only problem is I'm working on a Mac and although there seems to be some workarounds for it & mostly it still remains a Windows based plugin. However I'll keep an eye on it simply because  the previous time I was told about it,  it was only Widows and now they actually mention Mac but even-so it comes with a warning. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

There is no filter called "Styize" but there are several filters in a Stylize filters category!

image.png.dee875dae7e5624a2876e433f88e3e9a.png

iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9  
B| (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum)

Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Digbydo 2 said:

Thank you iconoclast ~ I've had a look at this free G'MIC-Plugin ~ the only problem is I'm working on a Mac and although there seems to be some workarounds for it & mostly it still remains a Windows based plugin. However I'll keep an eye on it simply because  the previous time I was told about it,  it was only Widows and now they actually mention Mac but even-so it comes with a warning. 

Sorry, I always forget that there are different Operating Systems out there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

There is no filter called "Styize" but there are several filters in a Stylize filters category!

I understood that, but I wanted to prevent the OP from misunderstanding this filter, because it is a very complex and slow one that does in fact completely different things. There are often massive differences in the designations of filters and functions between different apps. Often the same functions have totally different names and often completely different functions have the same name. By the way; I'm not sure if this filter works in Photo anyway. The last time I tried it, it doesn't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

I understood that, but I wanted to prevent the OP from misunderstanding this filter ...

Then you expressed it in a way which might lead to confusion, so that it could be understood as that there is an explicite (on it's own) filter called "Stylize" !

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

Then you expressed it in a way which might lead to confusion, so that it could be understood as that there is an explicite (on it's own) filter called "Stylize" !

There is a single filter, a very interesting one, that is called "Stylize". But it is very special and it takes a very long time - of course depending on the power of your computer. You can merge two images with it in a very special way that is not easy to describe. Parts of an image of your choice are getting merged randomly, as it seems, to a main image. These parts are scattered on the resulting image, seemingly randomly merged to areas with a certain luminance, hue, saturation, depending on several settings. The result is a strangely texturized version of your source image. But as I said,  it takes a lot of time to compute, and often several tasks until you get a usable result.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another reason this process will not work is the displacement map created, see image below for the end result in each app using the same process. I believe the process fails when the perspective tool is used, prior to that you can get similar texture results up to and including the emboss process.

Affinity produces grainy porridge, Photoshop produces quite realistic water undulations.

image.png.966416780843d721e87eddd1f31921bb.png

The next fail is how the Displacement filter applies the created displacement map.

iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9  
B| (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum)

Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

Another reason this process will not work is the displacement map created, see image below for the end result in each app using the same process. I believe the process fails when the perspective tool is used, prior to that you can get similar texture results up to and including the emboss process.

Affinity produces grainy porridge, Photoshop produces quite realistic water undulations.

image.png.966416780843d721e87eddd1f31921bb.png

The next fail is how the Displacement filter applies the created displacement map.

What would the "Porridge" look like if you simply stretch it horizontal? Probably not the same (haven't tested it), but maybe usable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

What would the "Porridge" look like if you simply stretch it horizontal? Probably not the same (haven't tested it), but maybe usable.

I ran through the processes in Photoshop and then Affinity Photo the result for Affinity Photo is a consequence of how the perspective tool distorts the displacement image, I doubt Affinity can match the clarity of the colours and the way the texture elongates.

Stretched horizontally by about 3 times its original width. Having done this the perspective tool leaves the red practically untouched, its the green that is affected... odd!
image.png.2b44c2c0bc7bee9b532369337c41ef72.png

iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9  
B| (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum)

Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, firstdefence said:

I ran through the processes in Photoshop and then Affinity Photo the result for Affinity Photo is a consequence of how the perspective tool distorts the displacement image, I doubt Affinity can match the clarity of the colours and the way the texture elongates.

I was afraid that you would say something like this. I think Photo will not do it the same way as Photoshop anyway. I experienced that with almost every workflow I tried to transfer to it. But I thought that there might possibly be a way to get something smoothly similar. I have no access to Photoshop, so I can't precisely compare the workflows. So, Sorry, I didn't want to disturb.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have Photoshop and the process can be replicated almost exactly, so you can go through the workflow side by side.

The grey areas are the channel manipulation and how exactly the displacement filter works compared to Photoshop. I have just tried using separate layers for the red and green channels and for some reason the red channel is not distorted by the perspective tool, very odd. 

Its close and I'm sure a "workaround" can be found to get the displacement map but the fail is how the displacement filter applies that displacement map.

iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9  
B| (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum)

Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another way of achieving similar effect would be using a real water ripples photo as a map for a live displacement filter.
It gives us more control and realism over how we want our image look like in the end.

We can apply various water ripple images and try them with live displacement to find the best look.
We can control how much water overlays, shadows and highlighs you want over your house reflection.

I just played a bit with your house image and here's my modest attempt.

image.png.cc51afd85bc29cd1bcce036e7e396619.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.