Reaction Diffusion In Photoshop

Reaction Diffusion is an algorithm that mimics the chemical process that's responsible for a lot of patterns we see in the natural world. The stripes on a zebra, the spots on a cheetah or giraffe. Fish have these sorts of patterns, plants, coral, etc. And considering how often these patterns appear in nature, its amazing how little commercial software there is out there to create them. Here's a trick in Photoshop that, while not as full featured as a dedicated piece of software, can still make some really interesting reaction-diffusion type patterns.

Based on a technique by SkyBase, original video here:

[raf.visuals]

This is such a unusual video. And because of that, its soooo cool. Thanks for doing this. I need to take a afternoon free to try this out, definitely!

This is truly remarkable! During my experimentation, I realized that it also incorporates edge detection. I sincerely appreciate your generous contribution in sharing such an exceptional thought process with us. Thank you!

[porkpieSamurai]

Such an exciting presentation and looking forward to trying this out to texture aquatic animals. Thanks so much for sharing this .

[ArnoReels]

Very interesting, will definitely play around with this!

[echopathy]

In psychology there's a term called Reactive Abuse. This kinda reminds me of that 😀 That they naturally find their peace/space in the world, it could act a good lesson for people and that yin yang balance of things.. Another great lesson, Mr. Blevins! Still using the maxScripts! Happy 2023!

[miningbay]

I can trip with this for hours just with dots and black holes.

[VSWRKS]

So much fun! Thank you for sharing this!

[petermgruhn]

Original KPT... sigh. RIP.

I would adore that m-set filter back. And many of the others. That was a GOOD product.

[crustysoda]

interesting, set of transformations mentioned in photoshop is similar to non-linear activation in neural network

[studionotwar]

There is a software called reaDDy which is super cool to play with.

Additionally, what I like to do with this technique in photoshop is to test how a action reacts and then edit the image to your liking in between iterations. That way you're able to steer the RD effect to your liking a bit.

[DaviCamelier]

Amazing! but, why the HIGHPASS? What it do?

[Anonymous_User]

Quite interesting and organic results! I do wonder if there is a possibility of replicating this workflow in Substance Designer or Painter

[AEmiliusLives]

I get a 404 when I try to download the photoshop actions :(