# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Sci-fi/Modern Mapping >  Hey... I made a planet!

## delgondahntelius

I just finished this, my first full color piece of artwork in PS, though it was done thru a tutorial in Advanced Photoshop Mag, I was rather proud that it looks like I can actually draw... Anyway... sorry its not a map guys... but I had to share.. even though it pales in comparison to the actual tutorial one the artist did... I was just happy I made it through with something that actually resembled a working piece of art....

*edit: this is 35% the size of the original, just an FYI for those interested...

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## pyrandon

Hey--that looks very cool!  I saw that tutorial & thought it was a neat idea--and now I see it was a VERY neat idea!!!  Good work!

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## AidyBaby

I've done loads of planets too. Here's one I did in PS from scatch. I now have the flaming pear stuff and generally just use that.

Yours looks fantastic.

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## Darth_Gimp

Here are some of the space things I've done from scratch in Gimp. A couple include a Star Wars model rendered in Blender though... LINK.

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## delgondahntelius

Very nice Aidy and Darth... ya'lls make mine look pale and weak in comparison... Guess its back to the practicing board for me  :Very Happy:

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## Redrobes

This ought to be in the reference section I guess but... This :-

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

is the popular "Astro Image of the Day" which is a large selection of the best of NASA's images including lots of planets, nebula etc. All NASA pics (without peoples faces) are deemed free to use.

A few matted clips of these can make some 'stellar' space scenes.

Edit -- Actually, todays (Mar 18 200 :Cool:  is a bit of a doozy !

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## Darth_Gimp

> Very nice Aidy and Darth... ya'lls make mine look pale and weak in comparison... Guess its back to the practicing board for me


Please don't feel that way. I've been doing space scenes for a while now. Some tuts you might enjoy are over on:

http://www.solarvoyager.com/tutorials.asp

and

http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com/t..._a_planet.html

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## delgondahntelius

Thanks for the advice and the links, I'll definitely be checking those out  :Very Happy:

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## jabascus

> Here are some of the space things I've done from scratch in Gimp. A couple include a Star Wars model rendered in Blender though... LINK.


I'm developing a LARP and was wondering what he chances are that I can use that picture in the main picture for the webpage?  Also, which programs did use to make it?

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## someguy

> Here are some of the space things I've done from scratch in Gimp. A couple include a Star Wars model rendered in Blender though... LINK.


How easy is blender to use? And where can i get it?

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## Steel General

> How easy is blender to use? And where can i get it?


Not sure how easy it is to use, having never used it myself but here's the URL to the homepage; http://www.blender.org/

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## Redrobes

Its powerful but I could not get the hang of the UI. I should spend more time with it tho. Torq said he used it a bit so maybe he can post a first time blender beginners guide tut for us noobs ? How do you create a sphere planet, texture it with a fractal terrains type image, render it with some basic lighting and then save the render result ? When I tried it - ok years ago.... - it was all custom key strokes and I lost the will to live. I hope its got more user friendly since then.

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## ravells

Wings 3d is also free and I found much easier to use, but not as much functionality as blender though (I found the UI on blender really hard to get to grips with).

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## someguy

I know its not much, just a basic skin stretched around a ball and a bit of a haze added around the edge. 

But hay It Tattooine!

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## bryguy

almost tatooine, but not quite  :Smile: 



i should know, im like one of the biggest star wars geeks in a... um.... 2 foot radius  :Laughing: 



but yea, needs some slight brown, a little brighter color, and those weird circular things towards the end to disappear, and you have tatooine  :Smile: 



I actually got really interested in making planets a while back, and so I amassed a lot of different tutlets that I found (although the 2 posted earlier make the ones I found look like junk  :Razz:  ) and I also found some planet render scripts. 

http://home.tele2.fr/auroreblender/gimp/planet_en.html

http://registry.gimp.org/node/8172

http://registry.gimp.org/node/9489

http://sglider12.blogspot.com/2008/0...n-in-gimp.html (used this link+ original ps tutorial+ some of my own techniques to create my avatar)

http://www.bartendavid.be/doc/howto/...olevortex.html

http://www.hardwareforums.com/planets-gimp-18707/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlKu_...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4-kOvj11H8

http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic/...2-20283-1.html

http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/s...-tutorial.html

http://www.gimptalk.com/forum/topic/...al-5221-1.html

and also maybe try finding a downloadable pdf tutorial by blend_roid (blend roid, blendroid, dont know exactly how to spell it) which i found helpful

sorry that most of these are for GIMP, but others are for PS


edit: google 'blendroid tutorials', and found the one i was talking about, http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?p=962601 and/or http://hellswinter.wdfiles.com/local...t_Tutorial.pdf

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## delgondahntelius

or Arakus <sp?> ... Dune in other words.

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## Steel General

> or Arakus <sp?> ... Dune in other words.


OK I'll play "Spelling Police" here  :Very Happy: 

... I beleive its *Arrakis*

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## bryguy

> OK I'll play "Spelling Police" here 
> 
> ... I beleive its *Arrakis*


hmm.... i dont have a clue about what either of those are  :Smile: 




oh well, im trying to use some of the tutorials from a link posted earlier to make a good planet scene, but for my big planet (the moon was easy, now comes the hard part  :Confused:  ) im making without a tutorial, and using tricks ive learned over the ages (ages, months, whateva  :Smile:  ) and so far its turning out prettty good  :Smile: 


Ill post a picture when Im done

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## delgondahntelius

Frank Herbert's ""Dune"" series Bryguy  :Very Happy:  ..... that is the name of the desert planet where Spice comes from... Arrakis or ...also known as Dune.  :Very Happy:

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## bryguy

> Frank Herbert's ""Dune"" series Bryguy  ..... that is the name of the desert planet where Spice comes from... Arrakis or ...also known as Dune.


huh, never heard of it  :Confused:

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## Ascension

It was a good story turned into a bad movie back in the 80s.  I did like Sting's platinum blonde spikey hairdo tho...had one myself for the first year of college until my fraternity brothers told me that sorority girls liked preppy better.  Who knew?

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## delgondahntelius

Billy Idol had a much better hair style... and he's much cooler  :Smile: 

I know a lot of DUNE fans might disagree but I loved the SCIFI miniseries that they did for DUNE .... I thought it rocked.... so much so I have it on DVD  :Very Happy:

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## Ascension

I never had the guts to watch the miniseries after being so disappointed with the movie.  Guess I'll have to check it out.

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## Steel General

> Billy Idol had a much better hair style... and he's much cooler 
> 
> I know a lot of DUNE fans might disagree but I loved the SCIFI miniseries that they did for DUNE .... I thought it rocked.... so much so I have it on DVD


Billy Idol > Sting for the win!

I liked the Sci-Fi Channel version too, except for William Hurt as Duke Leto was a bad choice, his acting was fine, but he just didn't look the part to me.

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## bryguy

whats the storyline? i dont think ive ever seen the miniseries or the movies, yet something about the name rings a bell.... oh well, if i think to hard my head will hurt  :Smile: 


heres a picture I just finished that took roughly 2 and a half days to make

tell me what ya think of it (and if you think the clouds look realistic, cause I do, but I like to get opinions  :Smile:  )

Oh, and this is at half the original size, the original is 1500x1500, this is 750x750

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## jfrazierjr

Nice job... have some rep....

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## alaskanflyboy

You can get Blender at http://www.blender.org/. I've tried using it, but it seems to be about the same as all 3D modeling programs in ease of use, which for me is not easy at all. I find difficulty in grasping concepts in 3D modeling.

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## Dracontes

For the deviant in you: dA's Resources gallery's search results for "planet" (use other keywords at discretion). 

Since the subject is up are I might as well post my tinkerings with space art or astrography as I like to call it  :Wink: 

The first one: http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Draco...py_resized.jpg 

My best: http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Draco...opyresized.jpg

This one's not too shabby either: http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Draco...in_resized.jpg

The last: http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Draco...ion_copy_1.jpg

All made in Photoshop 7.0.

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## Steel General

> whats the storyline? i dont think ive ever seen the miniseries or the movies, yet something about the name rings a bell.... oh well, if i think to hard my head will hurt


Bryguy, the story line is pretty involved. I would suggest you rent/borrow/beg/steal either version and give it a view.

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## Valarian

I'll give it a go ...

The year is 10,191 of the Imperial Throne. The Emperor Shaddam IV rules over the galaxy, granting fiefdoms to the Great Houses of the Landsraad. During this year, the planet fief of Arrakis is transferred from the control of House Harkonnen to House Atreides - bitter enemies. Arrakis, also known as Dune, is the home of the Spice. The Spice extends life and is vital for space travel, used by Spacing Guild navigators to navigate the space between stars. The planet is a desert, home to the Giant Worms and the ragged Fremen. 

The story is one of intrigue, betrayal and the wars of the Houses.

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## ravells

It'll never sell, Valarian  :Smile:

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## someguy

> Frank Herbert's ""Dune"" series Bryguy  ..... that is the name of the desert planet where Spice comes from... Arrakis or ...also known as Dune.





> huh, never heard of it


I sit at my computer, almost paralyzed... Filled with a looming dread... 
Some one that has never even heard of Dune...
I just don't know what to say...

Has anyone checked his IP address to make sure he's actually on earth? :Wink:

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## Redrobes

Amazing isnt it. My better half had never heard of either Pink Floyd or Fleetwood Mac.

HOW ????

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## Hoel

The spice must flow!

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## jfrazierjr

I have to admit I have never seen Dune, though of course I have heard of it.

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## Asharad

Someone was asking about Blender.  It is awesome for 3d illustration.  You can find some of the best modern art in the world made with blender.  See this site for sample art: http://blenderartists.org/forum/index.php 

The UI is a bit intimidating at first.  I recommend you follow the tutorials until you get the hang of it.  I've been using it for a year, and I'm still learning.  Here are some of my efforts.

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## Nomadic

I'll just leave this here...

Something I did awhile back in photoshop with the help of several tutorials. I also have some 3d stuff I have done in 3ds max 7 but nothing of note. I don't use it enough to have anything worthwhile done.

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## Ascension

Quite nice, me diggin it.

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## bryguy

Love the look of it nomadic  :Smile: 

@-->Someguy




> Join Date: Jul 2008
> *Location: Planet Earth =)*
> Posts: 196

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## bryguy

I happened to be over at deviant art looking at a friends pictures, and I happened to start searching tutorials, and i found some good tutorials for making planets/nebula etc
http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=tuto...ials&offset=72
http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=tuto...ials&offset=24
http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=tuto...anet+tutorials
http://photoshop-tutorials.deviantar...#Space-related

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## amehatrekkie

> I just finished this, my first full color piece of artwork in PS, though it was done thru a tutorial in Advanced Photoshop Mag, I was rather proud that it looks like I can actually draw... Anyway... sorry its not a map guys... but I had to share.. even though it pales in comparison to the actual tutorial one the artist did... I was just happy I made it through with something that actually resembled a working piece of art....
> 
> *edit: this is 35% the size of the original, just an FYI for those interested...


while photoshop would work for a whole solar system , it unfortunately doesn't for close up pictures of a planet...it's just not detailed enough.....

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## Ascension

Have you seen my planet-making tutorial?

http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=3388

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## amehatrekkie

> Have you seen my planet-making tutorial?
> 
> http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=3388


i just did....can't wait to give it a try...thanks!!

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## Daerun

Hey, planets! I found a couple of tutorials some time ago, and I thought it was so cool, I started to create, and those were the results.

The earth-like one has a quite lousy starfield because when I started to erase around to randomize it, didn't notice what the result would be; anyway I think it looks pretty cool  :Razz:

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## alaskanflyboy

This has been my most recent attempt at a planet scene. It's part of a project I've been working on, and its page is here: http://nhnd.thewildblue.net/wiki/Spero

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## darkcodemonkey

I love designing planets using Gimp. Is it possible to design a "star map" in Gimp, or other imaging program. (Example: Sun in the center and then several planets, moons, and an asteroid belt or two orbiting around that, as well as showing the orbital path of the planets and moons) Is this possible to do, and do 'well'? Thanks in advance.

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## Fluesopp

Made using Vue7 and NASA's Blue Marble.

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