Keetee

This post will demonstrate how to create a burst streak lighting effect. If you missed it, Part 1 of this series was smooth streaks.

Final Image Preview

The Process

1. Open a new, 400×400 canvas and fill the background with black.
2. Create a new layer above the background and name it Streak.
3. Use the Brush Tool to draw series of white lines like this:
   
   I’ve used a pressure-sensitive tablet with size jitter on to achieve the tapered effect. If you don’t have a tablet, just erase the edges so that it looks similar.
4. Go to Filter » Blur » Motion Blur.
5. In the Motion Blur dialog box, set the angle to 55 degrees and the distance to 160 pixels. You may need to adjust the angle depending on the direction your lines are going. Here’s how mine looks:
   
6. Duplicate the Streak layer. Select this new layer and select the Move Tool. Use the right arrow on your keyboard to move the new layer slightly to the right to fill in the gaps. Result:
   
7. Select the Streak layer, hold down SHIFT, and select the Streak copy layer. This should select both at the same time. Go to Layer » Merge Layers to merge them.
8. For a more pronounced streak, duplicate the Streak layer again. Select the Move Tool and move the layer upward and to the right. You can play around with this to create a streak you like.
   

Final Image

This completes a basic burst streak. For the final image, I just duplicated, rotated, and moved the streak a few times. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions.