Hi there! "Distant Rings" is something of a culmination of techniques I've been working on lately. Most of the elements here are re-used from "Blue Giant." The planet, planet textures and the ships are all the same elements. Please check the description text on that image for details on how the planet and ships were created. The rings are a trans-mapped plane with textures created in Photoshop. You can find tutorials on Deviant Art for creating ring textures. The Nebula texture was created in Apophysis, drawing on some tutorial information over at Digital Heavens. Once again, his tutorials are highly recommended. There was a lot of painting and fiddling about with the nebula, but ultimately I think I've finally come up with something that looks really nice. Multiple elements rendered in DAZ Studio and composited in Photoshop to produce the finished result. Once again please see the description text from 'Red Sun,' 'Blue Giant' or 'World of Ice' for a rundown on how these images are rendered and compositied. Lens flares courtesy of Knoll Light Factory, which was money well spent. Many thanks to all of you for occasionally checking in and commenting. Constructive critique and questions are always welcome.