The Solar System: September, AD 15605

[töff]

Glad you like it so far. I hope it will finish out nicely.

Meanwhile, for the story ...

======================================================================================
FROM/TO ___|_ Rings of Saturn _|__________ Io ____|_______ Ceres ____|________ Mars __
===========|===================|==================|==================|================
Titan _____|__ 0.008094008 au _|_ 5.313132633 au _|_ 7.523863720 au _|_ 10.50541091 au
___________|______ 1210846 km _|___ 794833328 km _|__ 1125553991 km _|__ 1571587102 km
___________|____ 0.0673158 lm _|______ 44.188 lm _|_____ 62.5741 lm _|_____ 87.3708 lm
===========|===================|==================|==================|================
Rings of __|_________ X _______|_ 5.311954336 au _|_ 7.524210785 au _|_ 10.50802281 au
Saturn ____|_________ X _______|___ 794657057 km _|__ 1125605912 km _|__ 1571977837 km
___________|_________ X _______|_____ 44.1782 lm _|______ 62.577 lm _|_____ 87.3926 lm
===========|===================|==================|==================|================
Io ________|_________ X _______|_________ X ______|_ 2.559599670 au _|_ 6.516402266 au	
___________|_________ X _______|_________ X ______|___ 382910660 km _|___ 974839903 km
___________|_________ X _______|_________ X ______|_____ 21.2875 lm _|_____ 54.1953 lm
===========|===================|==================|==================|================
Ceres _____|_________ X _______|_________ X ______|________ X _______|_ 4.173665495 au
___________|_________ X _______|_________ X ______|________ X _______|___ 624371471 km
___________|_________ X _______|_________ X ______|________ X _______|_____ 34.7113 lm
======================================================================================

[töff]

So I was thinking about how to do the planets, and suddenly I realized, I have fictional planets! I have to make them from scratch.

I was vaguely thinking to use photos -- I know, I said I didn't want photos! lemme finish! -- start with photos and create stylized versions via photoshop filters or autotracing or who knows what (my technical term for this process is "dinking") ... but then, I can't use the typical photos out there because they're all, as they said in Snatch, "at a funny angle." Equatorial views would look just STUPID in a birdseye map. But all polar views would look just stupid anywhere.

Finally I decided I need all the planets back at that jaunty angle, somewhere around 45° ... and my chances of finding 'start-with' photos of the planets at 45°, without shadows(!) (because the shadows all have to point away from the sun) is very VERY low, and my chances of finding pix of the fictitious planets, at any angle, is very VERY close to zero.

INSPIRATION STRUCK LIKE A BALL PEEN HAMMER: Get Mercatorish surface maps for the real planets, make such maps for the fictional planets, map them onto spheres, and then I'll have a whole consistent set of planet images that I can stylize away from photographicality via dinking.

So I have begun to gather up surface maps of the planets (screenshot 1) and map them onto spheres (screenshot 2).

I'll make fictional planet maps easily enough with some noise & filters. I need to make some representations for asteroids and space stations, too. They'll be small, so they can be simple, so they ought to be not too difficult.

Then I get to dink

[torstan]

That's looking very cool. What's the 3D program?

[ravells]

Happy dinking! This is looking glorious!

[töff]

Then when I render the planets, I can shade them (white inset) and position them around the sun with the shadows on the far side. This is totally not the final shading, and I know the planets are in the wrong place ... but I'm just checking to see if it looks anywhere near decent. I think the idea is sound.

The 3D program is this one, very expensive to license but fortunately I have access to a few things at my day job. I have looked into Blender and I might have to switch to it for various reasons. Bad news is, hate to abandon all the investment in Max's learning curve. Good news is, Blender is free. There's a boatload of proggies that will map onto spheres, though. A zillion boatloads.

[töff]

I somehow wanted to separate the rings from the planetary spheres, but I think that would just be too abstracted. I think I have to concede to visual expectations on that point.

[töff]

Got a set of planetary surfaces. Made the fictional ones.

Not worried about tiling, because I can rotate the seams to the back.

Can vary the single asteroid by rotating to different views & adjusting levels up & down, to make a dozen different ones to be scattered around. That ought to be enough.

Gotta get some rings data & images now.

[töff]

Mapped all my surfaces onto spheres. Thought the shadows would cover the polar distortions, but they don't ... so I'll have to tweak the surface maps to repair that. I can almost remember how to do it, something about Photoshop: Distort: Polar Coordinates, on half the image ... meh, I'll finger it out.

Also, not happy with using Photoshop's shadow effect. I think I will have to light these guys in 3DS Max, especially once I get the rings placed around the gas giants.

[SeerBlue]

Toff, there is a post here about the Panorama plugin for photoshop, which BigBen at Planetside forums uses to adjust planet/moon texture maps.
His zip contains the plugin and a pdf on it's use.
SeerBlue

[töff]

SCREWWWWWW