In this tutorial I will be teaching you how to create a war themed 3D type explosion text effect with Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended. This is a advanced level tutorial so some steps can be a little tricky, but if you have your basics down  and you have copy of Photoshop CS5 Extended you should do fine.

Tutorial Details

Type: Text
Software: Photoshop CS5 Extended
Difficulty: Advanced

Step 1

Create a new document that has a resolution of 1280*720, Then paint the background black.

Create a new layer called “clouds” and set your background color to gray (#898989) and the foreground to black. Go to Filter > Render > Clouds and create some clouds. Then go to Images > Adjustments > Levels and change the input level and output level until you make the clouds neither too dark nor too light.

Step 2

Now create your text and go to 3D > Repousse > Text Layer.  Set your Depth to .30 and your scale to 1.

Then use the Rotate tool at the top left to rotate your text to the right. Then click OK

Go to your 3D panel and select the Lights option. Create a new spot light and set the Intensity to 2. Then use the 3D light rotate and pan tool to position the spot light so that it is shining on the front side of your text.

PS. At the bottom of the 3D panel click on the “toggle misc 3D extras” and select the Show All option. This will allow you to see the wire frames for the your light and it will allow you to have better control over were your spot light is placed.

Step 3

Create a new folder named “textures” then add these textures: Brushed_Metal.jpg,  gray.jpg and Rust.jpg. Next create a new layer named “black” and color it black. Then go to your 3D text layer and use the Magic Wand tool to select a outline of your letters.

With your outline selected go to each texture and add a layer mask.

Then go to the “Rust” layer mask and use the paint brush tool to paint away parts of the texture.

Next select your Brushed_Metal layer and set the opacity to 62%. After that set the following blend modes.

Step 4

Create a new layer and paint it black, then go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare and set the lens type to Movie Prime.

Place your Flare on the right side of the “W” then use the layer mask to make it look like your flare is penetrating the “W”. Also set the blend mode to Color Dodge.

Duplicate your Flare and go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation, and set the color to red.

Step 5

Create a new layer and place it under your texture folder, then add this particle picture Particle_23.png and set the blend mode to Darker Color.

Duplicate your particle layer and your texture folder and place them underneath your 3D text layer. Then take away your layer masks from your textures and use the same step you used in Step 3 to create new layer masks for your particles. (Remove the “black” layer from your new texture folder)

Step 6

Know we’re going to add some pictures behind our text. I use these free stock photos building.jpg, wall.jpg, airplane.jpg, gun.jpg, tank.jpg from www.sxc.hu

Place each picture behind your 3D text then go to Image > Adjustments > Black & White, and change them to a black and white picture. Then select each picture and set the blend mode to Divide.

With these pictures airplane.jpg gun.jpg tank.jpg use the layer mask to hide their backgrounds.

Create a new folder named “pictures” and place your photos inside, then select the pictures folder and use the layer mask to fade the edges.

Step 7

We’re going to add some color to the background by painting some areas with a dark red and yellow brush. I used the basic soft brush and 50% opacity to achieve the effect I wanted.

Then were going to create a new layer, paint it brown and set the opacity to 16% and the blend mode to Color.

  Step 8

Now we’re going to add more detail to our 3D text by adding these particle pictures Particles_13.png, Particles_24.png and Particles_5.png

Done.