This effect was generated in Filter Forge, a Photoshop plugin that allows you to create your own filters.
Smoke/Steam creates three variable layers of smoke or steam. Apply it on a background image, or on a solid background. Steam is additive and all white; Smoke is normal but contains grey pixels as well.
Back Layer – Thick Steam at the bottom, dispersing at the top.
Big Billows – Uniformly sized large billows of steam
Small Steam Columns – Vertical shafts of steam.
All three have roughness controls that modify the bottom (origin) of the steam. As steam dissipates, it loses definition, which is why the roughness sliders affect the bottom more than the top.
Size slider breaks this one mightily.
Smoke, steam, fire, water, noise, steampunk
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