This is my latest upload. I think it needs something, but I have no clue what.

Any ideas? I really do suck at outer space scenes.

My first (and only) idea, is that maybe the nebula is too dense... EDIT: Sorry about all this. My internet is going haywire.

Message edited on: 05/30/2005 11:27

First off, awesome pic. I'm no expert on anything concerning Bryce, but I'll tell you what I find awkward. The Planetoids look more like floating balls in space, than celestial bodies. I don't know how else to put it. Maybe it needs a little DOF. And you're right about the nebulous gas. It is a little dense. Yeah, the planetoids are definitely throwing me off. I think its the small middle one. Its not showing any shadows or bounced ambience from the larger planets. If its really that small, it might not be as perfectly spherical as it is now. I'd make it a big asteroid from Bryce rocks or lattice. In fact I'd do the same with the larger planet to the right. Ship could also use some running lights and porthole lights to give the viewer some size perspective. Hope this helps.

sounds good..I'm pretty good with Sci-fi (have about 1,000 volumes of it), but Gimp I don't know. I think there's some tutorials on site. It's supposed to be a poor man's Photoshop..have to load it up one of these days..only thing I might suggest is some faint light on the major planet to pick up details, etc..

Hmm... I like the idea of the running lights, maybe some spotlights volumetric and fading off into space... that sounds cool and meshes with my generic idea of a space freighter... I originally thought about doing some DOF but it was too much, background planet was too blurry, and I didn't feel like going and rescaling the entire scene (I think that would work), thus throwing off all of my perfectly scaled world space textures. =) I think another problem with the planets could be that there are too many. It might be a bit crowded, something for further experimentation. Thanks!

lol trouble is, the texture on the biggest planet totally sucks. It's homemade, and one of my worst. But dark like that it looks fairly decent in my opinion... Thanks pakled off I go to check out your gallery for ideas... =)

oh..ok..this is already better than anything I've done..but that's ok..

I like the scene as it is. The middle planet/moon could use a little more bump if it is supposed to be a dead planet. You could try putting another sphere around one of the planets, a lot of transparency and a bit of turbulence to give an atmosphere edge. You also have a strange lens flare sort of effect at the end of the left wing.

mark--

Not sure what you are talking about; the only lens flare in this image comes from the star peeking out from behind the planet.

It was made in GIMP and unfortunately it doesn't seem to let me move the flare effect. It just auto-positions the flare so that it's where it would be in real life.

So if I want the sun there (which I do because that's my best planet and I want to draw attention to it if possible), flare effect can't move. =(

I could use gflare, but that doesn't look as good and I'm not good at it yet.

Thanks! pakled-- Your stuff is good. I'm thinking maybe I should do a Star Trek pic sometime here.... ...But much more likely to do Star Wars. I want to do a lightsaber duel one of these days. =)

Message edited on: 05/30/2005 13:54

Also I created a much better texture for it. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT LINK, Bandolin!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is an excellent tutorial and definitely one of my favorites. I created the texture completely from scratch in Paint shop Pro, then used it as a height map for a terrain and rendered from above.

It looks 2000% better in my opinion.

Any suggestions? EDIT: There is some minor postwork in GIMP for this; I added the "softglow" effect. Makes it look a lot better =)

Message edited on: 05/30/2005 14:00

Oooohh, yeah, yeah, yeah! Liken' it, liken' it a lot. Its way better. The texture in the 1st pic kind of gives the impression the craft was underwater. Lens flare looks fine to me. I assumed it was intentional. My pleasure for the link, but thank AgentSmith, he's the one who gave it to me.

I use GIMP too - and I'm NOT good with it - but it IS possible to move a flare around. You can easily move the center of the flare on x and y axis in the small preview window that pops up when you choose the flare.

bandolin--
thanks!

ek-art--
What I meant was the secondary trails only; the part that "flares" towards the camera. That was the piece that was in the wrong spot. Thanks though!

I need to go and find some tutorials for GIMP. =)

Message edited on: 05/30/2005 14:50

Attached Link: SPACE BACKGROUND TUT

Well that pic certainly catches the eye! Depends on your taste of course but I like it alot. I was worried about the ship but after seeing it on its own I find I like it too! Great stuff. Keep going!