May and 3D Max are using in film industry for making special effects. These software have strong modeling and animation capabilities and contain everything which you need to make heigh0end 3D graphics and animations. These tools are now using in logo designing and web designing. Now most of designers are learning and working for give better look to there designs. It is quit hard to learn these applications but there are a lot of tutorials online which make easy to learn.

Below, you’ll find 125 Excellent 3Ds Max and Maya Tutorials and Best Practices for your Graphics & Animation related needs.

Creating A 3D Sopwith Pup, Part one: The Engine

Classic Ashtray

Furniture Modeling

Fuse Bomb

Realistic Dart

Wooden Stool

Open Umbrella

Fluorescent Lightbulb

Realistic Toothbrush

The Making of A Winter Amid the Ice

Virtual beer

Making of The Crates

Tire modeling in 3D Max

Create a Windows-Like Logo

How to create an icon in 3D

Creating a cool neon sign

DNA priority tutorial

How to create cool tribal symbols and signs

The Yellow House

Making of the Auditorium with 3dsmax

Making of The Phoenix building

MAKING OF THE OLD SHACK

Exterior Scenes Part-I Part-II Part-III Part-IV

Creating Grass Land Using Pflow

Making of Wood/Concrete WC

Modeling of Schwerin Theater

Making of Light House

Building a Pyramid of Stones in 5 Minutes

Creating A New World

Making ASANTI wheels by photo

How to make realistic trees with SHAG

Sunrise of the 80’s

Making a Water Fountain

Making a Pool

Interior Scenes Part-I Part-II

3d marble tomb model tutorial

Invisible Tutorial

Making of Jungle

Arcadia

The Making of The Tower

Making of The Hole

Upside down

Leather in vray

Illumination Tutorial (3dsmax MentalRay)

Realistic Spiderweb with Waterdrops

Camera Projection

Setup car rendering studio with V-ray

Lighting With Textures

IES light in Vray

Caustic effects

12 Tips for 3dsmax and your PC

Developing A Scripted Utility In 3ds Max-9

BASIC TECHNIQUES FOR V-Ray ADVANCED

3D Modeling Car Rim

Monster from a Teapot Part-I Part-II

Making of Autobot, Transformers

Studio & light setup Part-I Part-II

Knight modeling

Making of Tallgate

Roman soldier

Fat Monster – Gordo (modeling) Part-I Part-II Part-III

Rendering Objects using Vray

Poly Head Modeling

Skullhead Mobster
Making Skullhead Mobster, by Harsh Borah.

Box Modeling a Male
Brief tutorial on the box-modeling technique.

Low Poly Character
In this tutorial, you will see how to create a low poly character in 3D.

Real-Time Character Modeling
Modeling a real-time character.

Subdivision Surfaces
Use subdivision surfaces to model a character in Maya.

Face
This video tutorial teaches you how to model a face in Maya using polygons.

Texture Map NURBS Dragon
This tutorial teaches you how to paint 3D texture maps onto a NURBS dragon model.

Layered Texture
In this tutorial, you learn how to use the alpha channel of your projected image to “stencil” your image over or under other images in your geometry using a layered shader.

Fur
Basic tutorial on Maya fur.

Tree
Create a realistic tree in Maya.

Grass
Creating simple grass in Maya.

CG Nature
This tutorial shows you how to make terrain, trees and grass using Maya.

Realistic Ear
This tutorial shows you how to model a realistic human ear.

Human Anatomy UV Coordinates Setup for Texturing
Learn how to create your UV texture maps correctly so that they don’t blur or stretch.

Coin
This tutorial shows you how to create a very realistic coin using Maya.

Keroro Gunso
In this Maya tutorial, you learn how to model Keroro Gunso.

Coffee cup
This tutorial shows you how to create a coffee cup in Maya.

Screwdriver
This is a basic modeling tutorial that teaches you how to create a screw-driver and then use Final Gather to render global illumination, HDRI and depth of field.

Onion
Create a realistic-looking onion in Maya.

Mud Effect
Tutorial on creating a dynamic mud effect in Maya using soft body.

Wine Glass
This video tutorial teaches you how to model a wine glass in Maya.

LCD Monitor
In this tutorial, you learn the basic modeling of an LCD monitor in Maya.

Toilet
Tutorial on modeling a simple toilet in Maya.

Cigarette Box
In this tutorial, you learn basic modeling and UV mapping for a cigarette box.

Tea Cup
In this tutorial, you learn how to model and texture a tea cup.

Space Ship
Learn how to model a space ship.

Airplane
Video tutorial shows you how to model an airplane in Maya.

Tarantula
Tutorial shows you how to model a tarantula in Maya.

Paint Geometry Tool
The Paint Geometry Tool can be very useful when adding anything that needs to be duplicated and randomized across a given surface. In this tutorial, you learn all the basics of Maya`s Geometry Tool.

Using Bump Map to Sculpt Details

Rendering Wireframe
This tutorial shows you how to render wireframes on top of 3D models.

Subsurface Scattering
Simulating subsurface scattering with Mental Ray.

3D Cloud Shader
Create a realistic cloud in Maya using fluids.

Light Lamp
Creating a realistic lamp light using Maya.

Mental Ray Studio Lighting
This tutorial teaches you how to achieve a basic studio lighting setup with Maya and Mental Ray, using a single HDR image and Final Gather.

Maya Optics
A brief explanation of how lighting works in Maya and how it is different from physical real-world lighting.

Getting Started With Mental Ray`s Final Gather
Basic guide teaches you how to use Mental Ray’s Final Gather to render a model.

Light
A detailed tutorial on lighting in Maya.

Studio Lighting in Autodesk Maya 2009
Tutorial gives brief explanation on studio lighting in Maya 2009.

Image-Based Lighting
In this video tutorial, you learn how to create shadows under an object with a photorealistic image in the background.

HDRI in Mental Ray
This tutorial demonstrates how to use HDRI to achieve photorealistic rendering in Maya.

Realistic Lighting with LDRI Images

Chrome Car Rims
This tutorial guides you through the process of creating realistic-looking chrome car rims.

MapCreation in Maya 2009
Video examines how, using Maya 2009’s new render pass features, we can easily export a normal map from high poly geometry.

Realistic Glass
This tutorial explains three methods of creating realistic glass in Maya.

Tennis Ball Fur

Tire Cover
This tutorial shows how to model difficult rotating objects.

Cable
In this tutorial, you learn how to make a simple NURBS cylinder behave like a real cable, affected by gravity, elasticity and other real-life physical forces.

Hair styles with Maya fur
In this tutorial, you learn how to create various hairstyles with the Maya fur plug-in.

Hair Dynamics

Dynamic Telephone Cord
This tutorial shows you how to create a dynamic telephone cord using Maya Hair.

Crowd
Create a simple crowd in Maya with the help of the CrowdMaker Rendering Engine.

Cobblestone
This tutorial guides you through creating a 3D mesh in Maya that will be used for repeating material. It also includes instructions on how to create the model and then obtain a color map and normal map from the model.

Gear
This tutorial teaches you how to model and render a gear in Maya.

Sport Car Nissan 350-Z
Tutorial explains how to create 350Z’s body using polygonal modeling with blueprints in Maya.

Bee
This basic tutorial covers topics such as modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, rendering and particles.

Using Sun and Sky in Mental Ray with Maya
This tutorial demonstrates Sun and Sky system options in the Mental Ray Maya rendering engine.

Tire
In this tutorial, you see how to create realistic-looking sports car tire in Maya.

Candle Flame
Create a realistic candle flame in Maya.

Eye
Model and apply shaders to get realistic eyes.

UV mapping Techniques
This tutorial shows most of the UV mapping techniques and tricks of Maya software.

Water from Particle
Learn how to create realistic water, with effects, from Particle in Maya.

Pillow with ncloth
Maya ncloth provides excellent ways for CG artists to create realistic clothing. It simulates real-life factors such as forces acting, friction, rigidity, glue strength, pressure, tearing surfaces, etc. This video tutorial teaches you how to use ncloth to create a pillow.

Controlling Fog Density
Create and control a fog effect in Maya.

Optimized Caustics in Maya Mental Ray
In this tutorial, you learn how to make fast and optimized caustics effect with Maya and Mental Ray.

Coca-Cola Bottle
Modeling a Coca-Cola bottle in Maya.

Shelves And Mel scripts
Mel is a scripting language for Maya that is similar to C. Using Maya’s Mel scripts, you can link objects, loop an action, simulate real-world dynamics and do many other things. This tutorial teaches you how to make shelves and create Mel scripts to speed up repetitive tasks.

• January 29, 2010 -- 110 The Ultimate Collection Of Maya and 3D Max Tutorials (5)

Amazing results of Photo manipulation are possible with Photoshop. In this post well feature 60+ tutorials for creating your own photo manipulation. The tutorials shown here will teach a various variety of techniques and will work towards end results of all kinds.

How to Create a Flaming Photo Manipulation

Alien Photo Manipulation Photoshop Tutorial

Landscape photo manipulation

Making of Color Combustion a Photo Manipulation

How to Create an Abstract Photo Manipulation

Create a dynamic butterfly inspired photo manipulation

How to Create a Surreal Photo Manipulation with Twisting Water

Combine Photo Elements to Create a Surreal Photo Manipulation

Alien Invasion

Blissful Landscape Photo Manipulation Photoshop Tutorial

How to Create a Cute Green Apple Photo Manipulation

How to Create a Fantasy Photo Manipulation

Create an Explosive Cover with Precise Photo Manipulation Techniques

Design an Epic Fantasy Scene with Photoshop

Creating Medusa With Photo Manipulation

Vibrant Photo Manipulation

Design a Photo Manipulation from Sketch to Color

Create a Magical Image using Photo Manipulation

End of the World Photo Manipulation

Texture Photo Manipulation

Making of a Forest Magical Scene

Making of a Mythical Encounter

Create a High Flying Snowboard Illustration

Scared Photo manipulation Tutorial

How to turn Tom Cruise into an alien

How to Design a Dramatic Winged Dragon with Photoshop

Photo-Manipulating an Image Into a Realistic Night Scene

Create a Face Shattering Effect

How to Apply Textures to Uneven Surfaces

Creating a Touching Story Scene in Photoshop

The Making of Mystic

Eery Eye Photo Manipulation

Blissful Landscape Photo Manipulation

Manipulating a WW2 Fighter Aircraft

Making of a Sexy Humanoid

Design an Epic Fantasy Scene with Photoshop

End of the World Photo Manipulation

How to Turn Tom Cruise into an Alien

Hulk Eyes Effect

How to Create a Flaming Photo Manipulation

How to Create a Fantasy Photo Manipulation

Create an Explosive Cover with Precise Photo Manipulation Techniques

How to Design a Dramatic Winged Dragon with Photoshop

Photo Manipulation: Lonely Fairy

Storm Effect

The Garden

Making of a Mythical Encounter

Create a Nuclear Explosion Effect

Creating a Smoke Fading Effect

Eye Manipulation

How to Create an Abstract Photo Manipulation

Photo Manipulating an Image into a Realistic Night Scene

Transform a Person into an Alien

Vibrant Photo Manipulation

Create a Face Shattering Effect

Photo Manipulations “ Digital Art Training

Bloody Method Photoshop Tutorial

Age Progression

Modern Ruins

Combine Photo Elements to Create a Surreal Photo Manipulation

Making of Color Combustion, A Photo Manipulation

• April 24, 2010 -- 30+ Fresh Photoshop Photo Manipulation Tutorials (30)

3D Max and Maya are powerful 3D modeling, animation, texturing, rendering and visual effects software. These software were developed for the film industry and is now being used for design, visual effects, games, film, animation, visualization and simulation.

In this presentation we present to you a Ultimate Collection of Maya and 3D Max Tutorials and Best Practices for your creativity.

The Making of Al Pacino Sculpt

The Making of Wonded Ork

Making of “The Hunter”

Low-Poly Character Modeling and Texturing

The Making of Kehel, elf warrior

Modeling a Cartoon Duck

Modeling of Chipi

Young Rodeo

Making of Wolverine

Bad Pussy (Hungarian)

Making of Paragalis

Making of Binah

The Making of Lulu

The Making of Warrior

A female body from a cylinder

Modeling and Texturing of a Shark Part-I Part-II

Modeling Creature’s Details

Mecha Modeling: Gundam RX-78-2

Dinosaur

The last knight

Making of Bugatti

Z4 Unleashed

The Making Of Porsche

Modelling overview of a Mercedes S-Class Millau

Anchor Box Modelling tutorial

Create airplane model

The making of Bruttus 4Z

Making a Chair in 3ds max

Making of a Toaster

Golden Diamond Ring tutorial

Tyre Modelling

Compositing For Production Using 3DSMax and Mental Ray

Making of a coffee table

Creating low-poly foliage

Render Glass

Making puzzles with a picture on top

Caterham

Making of Nissan 350Z

Making of Dead Twice

Tutorial: It’s Time for Bullets!

3ds MAX + VRay Tutorial :: Time is running

Clock tutorial

Creating a Golden Jaguar Statue

Making of cafe

Computer case modelling

Advance Illumination in 3ds Max

Making of Quad bike

How to create a car using the polygonal modelling

Gold Material Tutorial

Lighting your Spaceship

Chrome Material Tutorial

Dotted Dice

Tank
This tutorial focuses on making tank treads using Mel scripts.

Making eyelid rig with driven keys and expressions
This tutorial teaches you how to create an eyelid rig with driven keys and expressions.

Growing Flowers
In this tutorial, you see how to create a growing flower animation.

Stormy Ocean
This animation tutorial teaches you how to create a realistic ocean storm.

Clock Animation
Create a clock animation using Maya Expression.

Lava Effect
This tutorial explains how to make a shader for lava effects using Maya’s material editor, called Hypershade.

Rocket
Model a rocket with a particle trail in Maya.

Particle Emission When Objects Collide
Emit particles at the exact location of the collision of objects.

Destroying A Wall
Destroy a wall using rigid bodies and particles in Maya.

Rigid Body Collision Detection

Spaceship Fleet
This animation tutorial shows you how to use the particle instancer to create a fleet of spaceships flying across a plain.

Bend Deformer
This Maya tutorial covers the use of the Bend Deformer, which links one attribute to another, and the use of math in expressions to create animation.

Rotating Wheels
Learn how to create an animation of a wheel that rotates in sync with the speed of the car. The final animation is more accurate and realistic.

Falling Leaves
Create a falling leaves animation in Maya using nCloth and Paint Effects.

Yoyo Animation
Tutorial on animating a yo-yo, with the string wrapping around the fingers of a deforming hand.

Muscle Rigging
Maya tutorial on creating muscles that contract and expand a few frames before the limb moves.

Instancing Animated Geometry To Particles
Particle Instancing saves time when animating many identical objects in a scene.

Mechanical Stairs
This tutorial teaches you how to create a set of mechanical stairs.

BlendShapes
This Maya tutorial explains the process of using BlendShapes for facial animation.

Domino Effect
This tutorial teaches you how to set up the geometry of a domino effect and apply a passive-to-active key switch.

Jellyfish
This tutorial shows you how to create and animate jellyfish. It covers many topics such as modeling, texturing, animation and paint effects.

Walk
This complex tutorial uses Maya Expression to add repeating actions to a model.

Motion Blur
Add motion blur to your 3D animation in post-production by creating 2-D motion vectors in Maya.

Maya Live
Maya Live is a set of motion-tracking tools for matching CG to clean plate footage. This basic tutorial teaches you how to use Maya Live.

Hotbox
Hotbox is a great feature of Maya that will increase your speed and productivity. It allows artists to access every tool in Maya with the keyboard space bar, without having to waste time searching for tools and menu items all over the large Maya interface.

Irradiance Particles in Mental Ray
Learn how to use the powerful irradiance particle system in Mental Ray to lower your rendering times while balancing the rendering quality of your image using custom techniques and settings.

The tutorials featured below come from skilled professionals who work in the CG industry and are intended for advanced users of Maya software. You can use these techniques in other 3D software packages as well. Some of the tutorials use other packages like ZBrush, Mudbox and Photoshop in combination with Maya for best results. Before you begin any of these tutorials, make sure you have enough processing power: most of these tutorials are resource hungry. If you perfect the basic techniques covered above, try to use your skills to work on some of the high-quality projects featured below. Practice is the key to success.

Modeling a Character
In this tutorial, you see how Carsten Lind creates a character model in Maya.

American Alligator
See how Massimo Righi creates a sunbathing American alligator.

Next-Gen Environment Textures
A tutorial by Daniel Vijoi on creating next-gen environment textures in Maya. This tutorial focuses more on texturing.

Sohrab
Making Sohrab, by Farzad Dalvand.

Male Green Frog
Tutorial teaches you how to create a photorealistic render and 3D model that can be used for animation.

Steam MasterNext
Making Steam Master: next-gen game head by Sorin Lupu.

Spitfire War Plane
In this tutorial, you see how to model a Spitfire war plane.

Swimsuit Babe
Make an attractive woman, by Jimmy Chow.

Fruit Tarts
Make lovely fruit tarts, by Hau Ming.

Last ELF
Make the Last Elf in Maya. The author, Piotr Fox Wysocki, has done everything in detail to give it a real-life look.

Prince
Making Prince, by Robert Vari.

Tiger Zoo
Making Tiger Zoo, by Massimo Righi.

Prehistoric Animals
A demonstration of how this artist renders realistic-looking prehistoric animals.

Ingrid Bergman
Making Ingrid Bergman, by Max Edwin Wahyudi.

Morgane
Modeling Morgane in Maya, by Cousigne Adrien.

Breaking Subsurface Scattering into Render Layers in Maya
This tutorial is about the process of breaking the subsurface into rendering layers and compositing them in post.

Portrait of a Troll
Jonas Persson creates this Portrait of a Troll.

Cheese Platter
Detailed tutorial on making a cheese platter, by Hau Ming.

Quiet Room
Making a quiet room, by Yan Chan.

Gladiator
Making a gladiator, by Christopher ADAJAR.

Joker
Making the Joker, by Mohammadtaghi Aibaghi Esfehani. The detailing is done with ZBrush, texturing and matte painting and shave and haircut with Adobe Photoshop, and the finaly rendering with Mental Ray.

Varga
Making Varga in Maya.

Old Farm
Creating an old farm, by Daniel VIJOI.

Trapped
Making Trapped, by Massimo Righi.

Fatjon’s Performance
Making of Fatjon’s Performance, by Qu Yu Cheng.

High Polygon Realistic Character Creation
Creating a realistic high polygon character in Maya.

Gordon Ramsay`s Caricature
Making Gordon Ramsay, caricature by Jason Edwards

Turtle
Maya tutorial on creating a realistic-looking turtle. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Street Cop
Creating a street cop, by Mashru Mishu.

Dr Julian
Maya texturing tutorial by Julian Jeremy Johnson-Mortimer.

Character Walk Through
Maya tutorial on creating a stunning character.

Meet You
Making of Meet You by Zhang Sheng.

Facial Animation Rig for Delgo
This tutorial from Warren Grubb shows how he created a facial animation rig for this character, which is more powerful and flexible than standard multi-targeted blendshape rigs.

Character hair
This tutorial shows how to create low poly hair for game characters using lots of images and some printscreens directly from the application used ( Maya, Photoshop, etc.)

Next-Gen Game Car
Model a game car without blueprints. This tutorial covers modeling, UV mapping and texturing.

Mini Cooper
This Maya tutorial focuses on shading and texturing.

Classical Girl
Making a Classical Girl by Wang Shiyong.

Foot
Modeling a foot in Maya, by Steven Stahlberg.

• April 7, 2010 -- 125 Ultimate Round-Up of 3D Studio Max and Maya Tutorials (11)

Digital painting is an amazing, beautiful and most popular art. Many of designers want to learn about its tips and techniques. Today, i have a collection of absolutely astounding digital painting tutorials. These tutorials will help you on your way to becoming a master digital artist, so if you’re looking to improve your skills.

Making of Transformers Death Blow

The Taming of Naas

Create Cool Comic Book Covers

How to Paint Feathers and Wings

New School Pinup Art

Children Book Illustration

Painting Realistic Looking Lips

Creating a Robot Concept

Making of Howling

Making of Superbad

Making of Funfair

The Making of Fresh Meat

Making of Transformer – Death Blow

Making of Spanish Girl

Mech Robotech Concept Environmental Scene [video]

Drawing and Painting Ballerina [video]

Demon Hunter [video]

Draw Manga

Digital Painting Steps

Advanced Digital Painting Techniques

Making Frodo

Making of Yuka

Drawn of the Dead

Fly Away Digital Painting

Equilibrium

Ashan Ray Digital Art

Pepper Breeze

Making of the Photographer

Making of Angel of War

Making of Lida

Tutorial on Digital Painting

Painting an Advanced Cutaway

Transformer 2 Meagan Fox portrait painting [video]

Paint a Dragon in Photoshop

The Making of Transformer

BioShock Videogame Digital Painting

The Making of Beauty on the Bed

Happy Like a Broken Doll

Human Skin

Painting an Old Man

Painting Human Lips

The Making of My World

Jim Zubkavich digital painting tutorial

Making of Hecate

Liberate Your Colors

Painting a faerie scene

Paint a Sexy Siren

Portrait Speedpainting

Draw and paint landscape water [video]

Photoshop Painting Tutorial

Making of Hecate

A Traditional Approach to Creating Digital Art

Spider Harp

Create the Assault Chick

Creating the virtual Character AYU

Making of Cold Sky

Painting Clouds

Paint a Dragon

The Making of Spanish Girl

Umbrella Sky

Making of Under The Root, My Kingdom

Making of Jealous Bodyguard

Making of Fire Energy

Bio Shock Digital Painting

Digital Painting Tutorial

Making of Under the Root

Spacecraft prototyping

Speedpainting tutorial

Draw face and paint portrait

Digital Painting Tutorial

How to Draw a Digital Portrait

• November 4, 2009 -- 50 Digital Painting Tutorials (5)

Digital painting is a beautiful art that requires too much experience, talent and discipline. Today designers are working on this art very much and sharing their tutorials on different sites. I have selected tutorials for beginners and advanced painters. Enjoy and practice!

How to draw Batman [video]

Hair Painting Tutorial

Digital Painting

Painting a Car Digitally

RoseVine Lady

Min Hyo Rin Step by Step

Pepper Portrait – Process

Digital Painting Tutorial

Skin Tones Part 1

Skin Tones Part 2

Gunman by Craig Mullins

Paint Realistic Hands

Making of Seheiah

Jade Fox

Making Of Boudicca 3060 A.D.

Pepper Portrait

Making of Equilibrium

Advanced Digital Painting

Making of Fire Energy

Paint Realistic Ears

Using Brushes for Fabric and Costumes

The Making of Fresh Meat

Art tutorial

Painting Hair

Wonder Woman Pin Up

How to Draw a Portrait in Photoshop

Making of Pandora

Portrait Painting Tutorial

Skin Painting Tutorial

Lip Painting Tutorial

Painting Eye

Painting Hair

Painting Really Old People

Revising Golongrias Picture

How to Make a Planet

Space Craft Prototyping

Sci-Fi Environment Concept tutorial

Making of Leg

So You Think Im Fat Do You?

Nemo Concept

Digital Painting in Photoshop

Digital Illustration Workflow

Scene Rendering

Abstract Dragon

Red Assassin Digital Painting Tutorial

Spider Harp

The Abstract Dragon

Painting a faerie scene

Digital painting from photography

Digital Painting Tutorial

• December 31, 2009 -- 70+ Mind-Blowing Digital Painting Tutorials (5)

This is the second Tutorial from the 100 Marathon Tutorial
As i have told you i will try to add a tutorial each day.

So today i will show you how to create a Logo 3D

Let’s start with a new document:
The size should be 400 x 400 pixels. We will use a green background
i will use green because you will be able to see better what i am doing

Now please download the following image:

This image will help you to give a nice perspective to your logo
After you will open also this image in photoshop, with the move tool drag the this image on your document.

Next select Rectangle Tool and draw a rectangle. i will use a different color. you can use what color you want.

You can notice that i have changed the opacity for this rectangle. This is very important.

Now with the same tool create another 4 small rectangles and one circle:

Now will have to select all the layers except the background layer and the black rectangle:

After you have selected the rectangles go to Edit > Transform > Distort and move the corners of the layers selected near the corners from the black rectangle:

As you can see the logo looks already good. It has a 3D look.

Let’s add a layer style for this white rectangle:

Now delete the black rectangle, and the blue rectangle.

Now add a layer style for the white circle:

After you have added this style to the small circle please change the background to white:

Nice isn’t it?

Select all the layers and resize the logo:

Now with all the layers selected go to Layer > duplicate layers

Now select the first layers ( if you have followed my tutorial it should be the tutorials from the bottom: ( do not select the background layer )

With this layers selected use the arrow keys press a few times on the down arrow.

You will give a 3D look to these logos.

You can repeat the steps from above, and duplicate another time the layers and with the arrow keys place them one more time. After i have duplicated a few times and after i have changed the layer style for the duplicated layers this is my result:

Do you think we are ready? Hmm . not yet. we will add a simple shadow and we will be ready.

Select rectangle tool and draw a small rectangle like mine.

Now go to Edit > Transform > Distort and move the corners of this small grey rectangle like in the following image.

Now go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur
You will be asked if you want to rasterize the shape. Press YES

Then set the radius to 7 Pixels
Press OK

Be sure you drag this layer above the background layer.

This is my result:

With this technique you are able to create nice logos.
Here are some examples:

these logos from above are available only for paid members. If you want to download access the VIP download area you have to pay 9,95 $ for one year and you can download all the stuff from the download area.

If you want to see how this logo is created please download the PSD file

• July 14, 2009 -- Taking 3D objects into Photoshop (3)

Typography is most important thing in designing world but with special effects we can make our typography more dazzling. Photo shop is a very powerful tool to make your text stunning. Below you can get a great collection of text effect tutorials of Photoshop. You can use these styles for web media, print media, multimedia and whatever you want.

Graffiti with Photoshop
When you don’t have the guts to pull this off in the real world, Photoshop to the rescue. Learn how to make graffiti with Photoshop.

Create a trendy typographic poster design
Using simple shapes, you can produce some great-looking contemporary designs that create a big impact on posters; another good example being the recent Trendy Geometric Lines tutorial.

Dramatic text-on-fire effect in Photoshop
Learn how to use a photograph of fire to strike text to the match. This is a beautiful tutorial, a must-see.

Paper-craft text effect
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create paper-craft text effects.

Reflective liquid type
Create liquid text, a very handy trick.

How to create a gold text effect in Photoshop
Learn how to create a gold text effect. I personally love this effect, so subtle yet powerful.

Text in stitches
In this Photoshop tutorial, you will learn how to convert text to a path and stitch that path using a custom brush set.

Paint-splodged text
This is a quick text effect tutorial. It shows you how to simply create paint-splodged text.

Create a spectacular grass text effect in Photoshop
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a rather cool-looking grass text effect.

Quick and dirty Photoshop text effects from scratch (six tutorials in one)
Learn how to make six different effects using just layer styles. So really, this is like six tutorials in one!

Create a dream-like design with 3D typograph
This detailed tutorial shows you how to create a 3D typography-based design. All the elements revolve around the theme of dreaming.

Create a 3D flowery text effect

Design soft stylized 3D type
Learn the basics of creating polished 3D type using Illustrator and Photoshop.

3D text with a touch of grunge
A pretty detailed tutorial that shows you how to create grungy 3D text.

Stunning 3D effects in 30 minutes
Together, with a pinch of this and a dash of that, we’ll figure out how to create this cool effect in just 30 minutes.

3D texture
Create amazing 3D-textured text with Illustrator and Photoshop in this in-depth tutorial.

Funky 3D-style letters
A straightforward guide to creating funky 3D-style letters.

How to create high-quality metal 3D text in Photoshop
This tutorial shows you how to create 3D text and give it a high-quality metal look using only Photoshop.

Create a spectacular flaming meteor effect on text
Take typography one step further by having text falling from the sky in a burning inferno. Yes, this is the text-on-fire tutorial to end all text-on-fire tutorials. It uses a little Illustrator for the text and a lot of Photoshop to burn up the screen!

Vanity License Plate
In this tutorial you’ll learn how to create a custom vanity license plate using a few basic Photoshop tools a piece of reference material and some creative layer stylings. Barbed wire
Wrap your text in barbed wire!

Slow-shutter effect
Learn how to create this beautiful slow-shutter text effect.

Vibrant pop text effect
In just a few moments, you can add a vibrant splash to your text that will really give your design a pop-culture flavor!

Create a layered glowing text effect
In this tutorial, we will create this effect using very basic Photoshop tools and layering effects.

Scan-line text
Create a style dubbed “Scan-Line Text,” which is basically text that glows like bright scan lines, with a smart reflection as well. Learn how to create this amazing yet simple effect with this easy-to-follow tutorial.

Transparent glass lettering in Photoshop
In this tutorial, you’ll use some super layer effects and a bit of magic to make a lettering style that looks transparent and stunning.

Smoke type in Photoshop in 10 steps
Learn how to create a smoke typography effect by playing with some brushes and adjustment layers. It’s a very easy tutorial, and you will be able to finish the whole process in 5 to 10 minutes.

A slick supernatural text effect
Create a smoky night effect with text, giving it an eerie supernatural feel. It’s a good exercise in using the wave distortion filter.

Typography wallpaper in Photoshop
Why not design your own typographic wallpaper from now on?

Super-cool frilly bits typography
In this tutorial, you will learn how to mix some vectors with letters to create a really nice design. This one is a personal favorite.

• November 10, 2009 -- Overlay Inset Tutorial (1)
• July 14, 2009 -- Taking 3D objects into Photoshop (3)

Taking 3D objects into Photoshop is going to get more popular thanks to the latest release of Photoshop Extended. But you don’t need Adobe’s latest high-end version of Photoshop to create some unique 3D effects – this masterclass works for Photoshop CS and above.

In it, type-effects guru Nik Ainley shows how to create the above image. The key is to create the letters in a 3D package first as individual characters, then bring them into Photoshop for further post work.

Through clever use of Photoshop’s masking tools and layers, Nik has created type with characters that weave in and out of each other. The characters’ faces also provide a handy canvas for further effects, such as patterns, gradients and lines.

01. Start by producing each letter separately in a 3D program, which Nik did here in Xara 3D, and import them into a Photoshop document. Keep each letter in its own layer, and then arrange them around each other, in whatever way looks good to you.

It might seem odd to create 3D text in this way, but Photoshop offers a lot more control than a 3D program and you will be able to produce a larger than life effect. To save time, the PSD file with the 3D text is included on this issue’s CD.

02. One advantage of working in Photoshop is that letters can appear to be both behind other letters while having parts in front of them at the same time. To achieve this effect, you need to mask parts of individual letters to make it appear that they’re behind others.

To mask part of a letter, start by adding a layer mask to the appropriate letter. The next step is to select which letter you want to appear in front – in the screen above, we’re making the E appear as though it’s partly in front of the H.

Select its outline by Ctrl+clickingon its layer thumbnail. Using the brush tool, brush black onto the H’s layer mask. It should now appear that the bottom tip of the E is in front of the H. Repeat this for as many letters as you like.

03. Next, you’ll start working on the lighting and shadows, starting with adding shadows onto the F. Create a new layer above letter F. To make sure the shadows fall only on the letter, give it a mask.

The shape of the mask must correspond to the shape of the F, minus parts masked off in the previous step. To do this, Ctrl+click on the F layer’s thumbnail, then Ctrl+Alt+Shift click on the layer mask’s thumbnail to get the intersection of the two. Now select your new layer and add a layer mask. It should be the same shape as your selection.

04. Using a large soft brush – say 70px – brush black onto this layer around the parts of the letter that should be in shadow. In this case, the top bit that falls behind the R and the bottom that falls behind the S. Repeat this process for each layer and you should end up with a lot more depth.

05. With the shadows on the letters done, now we need shadow on the background. Create a new layer below all of the letters. Select the outline of all your letters, and fill it with black. Run a Gaussian blur on this layer. Now, use a Warp Transform to pull it downwards slightly so it seems that the letters are floating above the background. Blur again, and drop the layer’s opacity if the shadows seem too harsh.

06. Next, add some more-controlled shadows beneath the layers to give greater depth. Create a new layer above your first shadow layer and, using a soft 50px brush, add black into this layer. Where you add it is down to what looks good. Add more underneath the base of the letters to give the impression that they’re standing up vertically.

07. Now start working on the actual letters. The first step is to isolate the front face of each letter, using either the magic wand or pen tool. When you have a face selected, create a new layer above your letter but below the letter’s shadow.

Fill it with whatever colour you want, but make it slightly darker and duller. If you have masked off part of the letter in step 2, you will need to duplicate the letter’s mask to your face layer.

08. To style each letter face we are going to use layer styles. The exact settings are really down to personal taste, but the basics are something like this: Inner Shadow: Color dodge, white, opacity 15 per cent, distance: 0px, size: 45px Inner Glow: Screen, white, opacity 75 per cent, size 2px Gradient Overlay: Soft light, black to white, opacity 100 per cent, angled to make the letter lighter at the top, darker at the bottom. Satin: Color dodge, dark grey, opacity 50 per cent, distance: 20px, size: 40px

09. Once you have got something you are happy with we are going to start working on the sides of each letter.

10. Next, you need to change the colours and lighting of the sides, as well as get them to look more consistent with each other.

To do this, you need to use Photoshop’s adjustment layers. Start by selecting the outline of the F shadow s layer mask and creating a new gradient map adjustment layer just below the face layer.

11. Now it’s possible to stack additional adjustment layers above and below the layer created in step 10 to change the lightness, contrast and colours as much as you like. Next, copy the adjustment layers onto each other letter and go through making small adjustments to get a more consistent colouring.

12. To give a little extra gloss, run Filter > Artistic > Plastic wrap on the body of each letter with the settings Highlight strength 14, Detail 1, and Smoothness 14. After each filter is applied, fade it to a soft light blending mode (Edit > Face).

13. Now to bring all the colours together to give a more harmonious feel, add some adjustment layers right at the top of the image. Start by applying the same gradient map as before using a soft light blending mode at 50 per cent opacity.

14. Try different adjustment layers to get the right colours and balance. Add curves layer to lighten it, a photo filter layer to add more red, and a colour balance layer to add more orange.

Add as many or as few as you like to get the effect you want. As a final tweak, mask all these adjustment layers so that they didn’t have so much of an effect on the background colour.

15. From here you can do as much or as little as you want. Add more details to each letter, add more highlights and shadows, change the colours, whatever you can think of. This example has a few more details, but you can take it much further.

Nik Ainley

• November 10, 2009 -- Overlay Inset Tutorial (1)
• July 27, 2009 -- 3D Logo Tutorial (9)
• July 22, 2009 -- 30 Gorgeous Text Effects of Photoshop (13)