by David Peters
Step 1 - With the circular marquee tool, create a simple circle in any color. We will use red in this example.
Step 2. Give the circle an inner glow layer effect, just change the glow color to black and the blend mode to multiply. Why am I using the Inner glow instead of the inner shadow? Because inner glow doesn’t have an angular deflection, and thus is easily uniform.
Step 3 - Load the selection from the circular area. Drag the linear gradient (white to transparent) downward from the top making sure it is close but not completely at the bottom in a new layer.
Step 4 - Press Ctrl/Cmd T to change the white gradient. Drag the handles bringing them up going halfway through, and drag it just a bit inward from the top and sides. Now lets create a merge composite layer. To do this, hide the background, create a new blank layer on top and press Alt Ctrl Shift E or Option Cmd Shift E on Mac, creating a merged layer on top.
Step 5 - Taking this merged layer, make a circular selection above larger than the original circle. Use your judgment on what looks right and then copy the section and paste it into a new layer. Now the top segment of the orb is done. Place it again in the exact position.
Step 6. Now to go onto the base of the orb. In a new layer create an eleptical shape that fits into the lower half of the circle. Duplicate this layer and reduce the size a little, as shown in fig.6.
Step 7. Select the larger ellipse layer and load its selection by pressing Ctrl/Cmd and clicking on the layer thumbnail. Now select the cylindrical gradient tool and going with the grey-white-grey-white-grey color combo, drag across.
Step 8 - Again, duplicate this layer bringing the duplicate upward. Arrange the small white portion to above the actual gradiated layer. Link both of these layers while reducing their size some, to ensure that the outer gradiated ellipse is just within the red circle.
Step 9 - Choose the duplicated gradient layer, giving it a slightly different gradient of greys and whites. Bring the duplicated gradient layer down, positioning it under both of the other layers. Move it to where it is seen from both sides as it is the rim of the orb.
Step 10) Remove the areas of the orb that are not needed. Keep Ctrl/Cmd pressed and click on the layer thumbnails; first choose the big outer rim ellipse, having the gray gradient, and then Shift Ctrl/Cmd Click on the thumbnail of the upper top portion layer. Now the 2 ellipses will be selected, but we need to also select the bottom portion of the orb. Choosing the Rectangular marquee tool, hold down shift and drag over the bottom portion. Inverse the selection (Ctrl/Cmd Shift I) and delete the central part of the orb.
Step 11) Let’s create the glass portion. Make a circle of the same size of the orb in any color and place it behind the other layers.
Step 12. As with the initial outer orb, give it the same kind of innerglow effect, and now bring it forward so as to cover all but the red outer portions of the orb.
Step 13) Go to the layer palette and make the fill amount =0 to make the layer invisible, but keeps the layer effects visible.
Step 14. As you had done with the red circle, ie, creating a white gradient reflection, create the same in a new layer above the glass layer, so as to create a more realistic lighting effect. Adjust the settings as required to make it as realistic looking as possible.
Step 15. Now select the base layers, ie the grey metal gradient layers and the white elipse, and merge them together. After this press Cntrl U to adjust the hue of the layer. Since it’s grey, click on colorize, and adjust to a reddish colour in keeping with the colour of the orb itself.
Step 16 -Lastly, make a very small drop shadow to the upper piece of the red orb, in order to create more realism. The lower portion may seem off, so create a new layer above the red lower orb portion. Select the radial gradient tool in the white to nothing option and drag from a point over the red to just a bit inward. Erase parts that are not enclosed within the red portion.
Now you have a glass ball. Any items can be displayed inside the ball now, but make sure they have a good reflection effect added on. This effect will provide the base a shiny and realistic look.