Step 1: Create a blank document of any size (800px by 600px is a good start) and fill the background with a solid black colour. Select Filter > Render > Clouds from the main menu & make sure you have black and white selected as your background and foreground colours respectively. If you do this right you will have a cloudy texture like the one on the left.

http://biorust.com/tutorials/ps-energyburst/30000000.jpg

Step 2: Apply Filter > Pixelate > Mezzotint with the type list-box set to Short Strokes. After a little processing time you should end up with an image that resembles the one opposite.


http://biorust.com/tutorials/ps-energyburst/50000000.jpg

Step 3: Its now time to create the main effect. Run Filter > Blur > Radial Blur with your settings defined as follows:

Amount: 100
Blur Method: Zoom
Quality: Best

Do this twice and you should end up with a common 'warp' effect like the one on the left. Once you have done this, duplicate the layer once (there should only be one layer in your document - i.e. the background).

http://biorust.com/tutorials/ps-energyburst/70000000.jpg

Step 4: With the bottom (background) layer selected in your layer palette, twirl the image a little by running Filter > Distort > Twirl with an angle of +120.

NB. Don't be too alarmed if your twirls and/or final result does not exactly match my own. Steps 1 and 2 have an element of randomness, so the image is a little different every time. It makes this tutorial more fun, dontchathink?

http://biorust.com/tutorials/ps-energyburst/11000000.jpg

Step 5: It looks interesting so far, but we can make it look better. To make your image look like the one opposite, select the top (duplicate) layer, and repeat Filter > Distort > Twirl, this time with the angle set to -180. Change the layer's blending mode to Lighten to phase the two layers together. Other blending modes have different funky effects, so feel free to experiment!

http://biorust.com/tutorials/ps-energyburst/13000000.jpg

Step 6: Its time to add a little colour. Choose Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation from the main menu and enter in the following settings:

Hue: 0
Saturation: +25
Lightness: 0
Colorize: Checked

This will give your layer a reddish hue. You aren't limited to this colour, of course - feel free to choose a different one if you wish.

http://biorust.com/tutorials/ps-energyburst/15000000.jpg

Step 7: It looks good, but we can still improve upon it. Repeat step 6, but this time on the original background layer, and with these settings:

Hue: +202
Saturation: +63
Lightness: 0
Colorize: Checked

http://biorust.com/tutorials/ps-energyburst/17000000.jpg

Step 8: As a final touch, merge both layers together by choosing Layer > Merge Visible from the main menu. Once this has been done, run Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask with these settings:

Amount: 100%
Radius: 0.5px
Threshold: 0

These settings can be varied to your own personal taste. And that's it - you're finished! It may be prudent to crop away the outsides of the image to remove filter grain, but I'll let you do that. Have fun!