Hey everyone! I was in a really James Bond mood (I watched the opening credits like 8 times on google video), so I decided I wanted to try something new.
One thing that’s constantly eluded my projects is the famous gunfights I have going on in my head. What’s the point of doing a gunfight if your gun doesn’t look like it’s shooting? Well, after looking around the internet a LOT I found the most amateur way to do this possible:
Step 1: Record your video, and when you “fire” the gun, don’t make too much of a movement.
Step 2: Take a still image from the video (your player should be able to do this) of when you think it would be appropriate for the bullet to be fired. Try timing it with a “clicking” sound if your gun makes one. It helps because the audio bar will make a pop to help you pinpoint the right moment.]
Step 3: Using MS Paint or Photoshop, simply crop an image of a muzzle flash (there are image packs all over the net, I suggest www.matthawkins.net…I think…I’ll get the link back later after I talk to him) and place it over the gun barrel. You can do this from multiple directions depending on what your shot looks like.
Step 4: Save the image file and paste it into the video over the clip of you firing the bullet.
Step 5: Lower opacity of the video to a darker tone, then keep the opacity of the gunshot area up as high as possible. This will make it appear as if the lighting has filled the room not just the area around the gun barrel.
So there ya go folks! A simple, easy way to make a cheap muzzle flash, even if you don’t have a special effects program or Adobe Premier and Photoshop.
Here’s the James Bond-esque video of me as a super-spy: