Basically a tribut to Denis Sirenko, he had the basic idea of creating space nebulas in a new and spectacular way.
His outstanding and georgeous thread can be found here...
https://planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,23403.0.html
Based upon his idea and input, I created this space nebula scenery for my own desktop in 4K.
First I rendered a few main nebulas in original 4K resolution, followed by some smaller ones in 1K for details in the main nebulas.
Main nebulas rendered with Micropoly detail 1.0 and AA 0.8. Different overlays to add faint structures or subtract dust bands and globules rendered in 1024x1024 with 0.6 and AA 0.3.
The original .psd file (16-bit depth to receive a pefect colour result) contains many layers with all the different nebulas. Background stars are from HST and ESO photo plates (see Screenshot).
Maybe there is somebody else who would like to have it also for his own computer, so I share it here in its original resolution.
Star Forming Region SH1 4K.jpg
Final 4K Desktop
Star Forming Region SH1 4K (Clean).jpg
Clean version for other compositions
Screenshot Photoshop.jpg
Photoshop Screenshot
STORMLORD
Looks very nice.
Wow, this is so good! I especially like the 'organic' shapes in the low left. Thanks for showing, and sharing.
That's awesome! Curiously, why are you using MPD to influence cloud detail? Isn't defer better and just AA?
Thats really great work!
Thanks a lot, Dirk! It's nice to see that my business lives on :)
Quote from: Stormlord on March 28, 2021, 08:24:17 AMFirst I rendered a few main nebulas in original 4K resolution, followed by some smaller ones in 1K for details in the main nebulas.
STORMLORD
This is exactly the process that I ended up with in order to get more detail and variety :)
Ups... I did it again! This is my latest nebula which is more complex.
In the scene is also the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Instrument from NASA.
The Mesh has been converted from LWO to MAX and rendered separately in 3DsMax 2009. It can be downloaded with more other stuff here (great link!).
https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/models -> https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/detail/wfirst
Supernova Remnant (Clean Nebula).jpg
Supernova Remnant (Clean Nebula)
Supernova Remnant WFIRST.jpg
Supernova Remnant (WFIRST)
I hope you like it!
Comments, constructive critric and opinions are welcome
STORMLORD
I love it. No criticism or ideas, whatsoever. Perfect stuff!
Very nice picture !
This week I have created another great Desktop. I had in mind creating something in cool and blue colours this time.
So spontaneously came the astrophotos from the star cluster Pleyades in my mind, because they have this special look.
So I did it and name this picture therefore "Star Forming Region Plejades", I really hope you like it!
Star Forming Region Pleyades (Clean).jpg
This is the clean version, main nebula with fine details
Star Forming Region Pleyades (WFIRST).jpg
Star Forming Region Pleyades
I invite everyone to create his own nebulas and space sceneries, it makes fun creating beautiful pictures like that!!!
STORMLORD
Awesome!
I like the images very much.
Just the object looks out of place, to me at least. Needs probably a different lighting.
Thank you Kadri...
Yes, it is just a pre-rendered NASA satellite and simply put into the image without paying attention to it's lightning. It's just my standard lightning from inside 3dsMax.
I did not really pay attention to the lightning in/or from the nebula (except the blue colour fading), next time I have a closer look to the lightning also.
Screenshot WFIRS.jpg
So thank you for your very constructive comment Kadri!
(It's better than always say something like "Oh yeah, like it" as so often here in this forum. These are nonsens comments because they say nearly nothing.
Also, by giving such a flat statement, it degrades the hard work of the artist which flowed into his work trying to do his best. Better to give a negative but true
statement which is constructive, than a simple and flat comment that just say's nothing. Valuable input helps the artist to try harder and better next time!
Flat or no input at all is not really helpful for improvement. So better to stay with the truth or don't comment anything if it is not really helpful or motivating.
This is just my own opinion!)
@DuneThis was really a statement which motivates me, because your artwork is really very impressive and inspiring to me. If you just say "Awesome!", I know, you really mean it!
This motivates me to created more stuff like "Star Forming Region Pleyades", so thank you for your simple but true-hearthed comment, which I really appreciate!
@WASI now use defer, thx for your hint! Here I really learned something by looking into the Planetside Wiki.
STORMLORD
Thanks. I don't always comment in debt, as I don't always have valuable (in my eyes) feedback. But some renders are interesting enough for some 'encouragement', if you will. Or acknowledgment. It's a bit disappointing if you post something you've spent a lot of time in, and hope to encourage or help others, and you get no comments at all (perhaps because there's nothing 'wrong'). Like a singer getting no applause, and the audience just leaves. It's not important, but you feel like; "Why bother posting?"
There are so few people on this forum for several years who comment and post images that we should not accuse their comments of insignificant because we consider that they do not make us move forward. ! Comments remain and will always be relative. It often happens to me to make images without plants because I have the taste that to work the ground or the atmosphere... and even if one told me you should put vegetation that would not be very useful to me... and then is it really serious? Terragen remains for me and many more than a simple hobby, nothing more and especially not art! ;)
Quote from: Dune on April 11, 2021, 04:07:10 AMThanks. I don't always comment in debt, as I don't always have valuable (in my eyes) feedback. But some renders are interesting enough for some 'encouragement', if you will. Or acknowledgment. It's a bit disappointing if you post something you've spent a lot of time in, and hope to encourage or help others, and you get no comments at all (perhaps because there's nothing 'wrong'). Like a singer getting no applause, and the audience just leaves. It's not important, but you feel like; "Why bother posting?"
This is something I 100 % aggree!
A little bit I must admit I'm happy that Kadri and you talked about "that thing with the object", because I didn't know how to describe that I had a strange feeling about it but could not describe, what annoyed me...
But the starry background is a dream! :)
@All
Well, it was just a reflection of my own opinion (as I wrote).
@DocCharly65Thank you!
And if the starry background is a dream, then here comes the anoying nebula without "that thing with the object".
Nebula without that thing with the object.jpg
Star Forming Region Pleyades
STORMLORD
Great! :)
Here comes my latest nebula, a virtual look inside the center region of the Virgin Nebula.
It's a real beauty and I love the colours and the stars inside the center of this space scene.
But to be honest, I don't know if there are now to much stars inside the nebula?
Maybe only a few would be better? You be the judge...
Virgin Nebula (Clean).jpg
Virgin Nebula Center Region (Clean)
Virgin Nebula.jpg
Virgin Nebula Center Region
Virgin Nebula (Zoom).jpg
Virgin Nebula Center Region (Zoom)
It's my real first attempt to create more complex and realistic structures in my space scenes.
So this time I started to embedd more complex structures just by adding faint dust lanes and also dark matter structures inside of it.
In the result the whole nebula looks much more visual in its apperance and adds more three dimensional depth into the whole sight.
And for all those of you, who have no clue how to do it, here is the way I did it...
How to embed fine dust structures inside space nebulas.jpg
Poposhop example
By the way, the original 4K Photoshop File now has 390MB in total, it's heavy stuff to earn such a result!
Hope you like it! As usual, critics and comments are welcome.
STORMLORD
No criticism whatsoever, I love it! Beautiful structures. It's not really my line of work, but I am very tempted to try stuff like that as well. Thanks very much for showing.
Superb image and beautiful depth. I prefer the second. Just a matter of taste like that I'm not a big fan of star filter effects.
Looks great. I like the second one.
Also I feel nebulas look much cooler with stars. They are more commonly star nurseries than remnants of stars.
Quote from: Jo Kariboo on April 15, 2021, 08:49:04 AMSuperb image and beautiful depth. I prefer the second. Just a matter of taste like that I'm not a big fan of star filter effects.
There are no star filters which I use in my images.
I've got rendered stars. I rendered all possible different components as single layer and combined them in Photoshop for a maximum of flexibillity.
So I have a whole collections of options like different glows, stars with/without streaks, with lens reflections, rings, lights, colour modifikation, ect...
Rendered Star.jpg
Rendered star with it's different layers
STORMLORD
@DuneWell...it may not be your line, but its good for your portfolio and it's fun, because it makes so much joy to create them!
The last space picture which I have in my line, is from my point of view the best TG space rendering, that I've ever produced so far.
I'm not sure if I go with it as a final, but it's really close to it. I see that from scene to scene it's getting better and more realistic.
I make new experiences, learn in new ways and at the end stands a very beautifull space rendering! I really love it!
So come on... create also space scenes and let's go further together! Jordan likes it also very much to create space stuff.
So Denis, Kadri, Stormlord, now WAS (Jordan), YOU and others next, would breath new life into this side of Terragen.
Dust and Debris.jpg
Current Rendering (Got only an old Pentium IV with 2.66GHz, Rendertimes are terriffic)
STORMLORD
Thanks for your enthusiasm and stimulating words. I can imagine it's fun, and I might delve into it. First have to read up on how to start the renders. I remember it's rendering a lot of whirling colored clouds with light sources and mixing in Photoshop in principle....
Yes that's the basic process Dune!
Here is the thread from Denis Sirenko to start with.
https://planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,23403.0.html
The process, how Denis creates his nebulas can basically be found on page 10 in his thread. That's the base on which one can start, the rest is pure phantasie...
I start to render a big background nebula with 2-3 colored lights in it for illumination. Followed by a lot of black and white nebulas, which I embedd into the scene.
These are the dust clouds, faint structures, dark zones and also the fine lightning swirling and curling nebulas. I end up with a pure and clean nebula as backplate.
How to create Nebulas.jpg
The basic process illustrated
SCREENSHOT - How to create nebulas.jpg
Backplate examples in Photoshop
Some of them I have already posted here in my thread. Finally I add some stars, galaxies and dive into it. Then it rests a while...
When I am sure, that I am satisfied with it, I release it. I've made a few which I didn't posted, because I wasn't really lucky with them.
But wait... I have one in stock which is really great and now 99,9% final! This one will come up next...
STORMLORD
Thanks Stormlord. Sunday, so I decided to have a go right away. Started with a simple setup with 2 cloud layers, and a third in 2D for stars, some warp and an additional color PF, plus a few light sources. Took only half an hour to set up. It's starting to look nice, but it's taking very long to render! So I doubt if this will be my preferred 'hobby' before I have my new machine :P
So, just to show something, here's half the render after nearly 5 hours.
Dune...
I work with an old Pentium IV with 2.66GHz and 8GB RAM, that's it.
So what did I do to optimise it, to stick as long as possible with my old machine?
I THOUGHT... JUST KEEP IT AS SIMPLE AS YOU CAN!
So I looked into the settings and tried it again in a different approach.
First I kicked out all unecessary node stuff from my starter atmo. My goal, just colourfull clouds with 1-2(3) lights within, that's it.
Then it's about cutting render times. I ended up with these settings (See my pics, they are absolutely sufficient).
Defer atmo activated ->MP at 0.1, AA 3, GI in the clouds still/low, 1/64 samples and the speeding up was terriffic!
Settings.jpg
Speedy settings
Let me remark this... at the end it's all about just clouds (no geometry!)
If you have 5-15 backplate nebulas, then you can mix them and combine them in Poposhop as you like, endless combinations are possible as everyone knows.
Why rendering background stars, it consumes only rendertime. I rendered only a few great starfields (small-medium and big stars) and later negative multiply them in PS.
When you got a few ready to go starplates which are big enough, then you're done... Just cut out a portion and mix it in. Fast, simple and they're looking great at the end!
I have also some rendered stars with different glows, strikes and halos. These are the big ones in my pictures. I rendered them once and now I can use them for eternity.
Stars.jpg
Different stars
STORMLORD
Thanks again. I had MPD at 0.1 indeed (no geometry indeed), but AA 6, afraid to get grain. Cloud quality at 2. Didn't look at GI or samples (yet). I'll leave it rendering and experiment some more with lower settings and Photoshop mixing. In this first experiment I wanted to have all in one go in TG, just as experiment.
But you are right; it's fun! And beautiful.
So here comes my next beauty!
I call it "Flame Sector" because the colours of the nebula remind me on hot gases, flames and a lot of radiation.
Flame Sector (Clean).jpg
Nebula Backplate (Clean Version)
Flame Sector.jpg
Flame Sector (Widefield)
And this time I present a closer look into the core of this beautifull space nebula.
So you can see the fine details in all its beauty. It took a long time to figure out how to paint a really cool lightning inside the nebula to end up with a nice lightning show.
Fortunately now I have enough rendered nebulas at hand to try out which one fits best into the scene... It's so amazing, I really like the colours and details in the core.
Flame Nebula (Core Region).jpg
Flame Nebula (Core Region)
Flame Nebula (Zoom).jpg
Center Core (Original 4K Resolution)
Hope you like it!
It's fun to render such amazing artifical space nebulas. Try it, it's worth the effort...
STORMLORD
Terrific again, wonderful shapes. I understand the enthusiasm. My first attempt was messed up after 10 hours by the star filter set too high. Wish that were saved by choice, or as an extra version.
Keep them coming, Dirk!
Quote from: Dune on April 19, 2021, 01:50:29 AMMy first attempt was messed up after 10 hours by the star filter set too high.
It's a little difficult to get just right image by image. I kinda wish we could see it in RTP to just move about the slider.
@ Dune
Thank you, the final product really touched me because of its beauty. It's the most beautifull space picture I produced so far, I really like it.
But so sad that the star filter messed your render after such a long rendertime. Wish you luck for the next one...
(And that's why I composit them all in Photoshop which gives you more flexibility and options).
At the moment I think about that....
Maybe it's a good idea to render them all again, but much bigger to make a poster and let it print on glas for my house? The original has only 4K.
@ WAS
Maybe this will be possible with the next generation of graphic cards (RTX 3080) and TG 5.0? I hope so...
STORMLORD
Great stuff again!
Really beautiful !
Here is my latest composition, "The Trapezium". The name origines from the prominent tripplet star system in the center.
Most of the sapce nebulas consists of gas and dust. The gas is mostly hydrogen, which lights up in astrophotos in red while oxygen is green.
So consequently I designed this nebula in typical red colours to stay close to reality.
In our oceans waves are running through to give everything in its path a push. It's like standing at the beach and a wave is coming in.
Space is also like an ocean but in space you have gravity waves, which are running through space. These waves bend the space at their path.
This gives everything in its way a push. And these pushes are the clear defined shocklines which you can see in many of astrophotos of nebulas.
This sudden push (thrust) then leads to clumping at these frontlines, which leads to concentration of the matter here.
That's how stars are formed in the beginning.
In my nebula you can also see some sharper defined shocklines, that's where I placed a few more prominent stars in the nebula.
You see them clearly at the bottom and in the center in the version without stars.
The Trapezium (Clean).jpg
The Trapezium (Clean Version, only the nebula without stars)
The Trapezium.jpg
The Trapezium
The Trapezium (Zoom).jpg
A closer look into the center
Hope you like it!
STORMLORD
It's absolutely wonderful! A real pleasure to look at and intriguing to find all these interesting shapes.
Stunning work!
Sometimes golden dust is shimmering through space and time while new stars are formed.
So it is in this next nebula. I invite you to explore my next image and dive into a region of golden stars and rusty filaments.
Golden Dust (Clean bw).jpg
Golden Dust (Clean nebula without stars)
Golden Dust.jpg
Golden Dust
Golden Dust (Zoom).jpg
Golden Dust (Central Region)
Golden Dust (Zoom Square).jpg
Golden Dust (Central Region)
STORMLORD
Awesome again!
The Calix Nebula
----------------------
Dive into space and see my latest nebula, made last week as a new 4K Desktop.
This time I decided to create a bright nebula with some star forming regions in it.
To make it more appealing, a lot of fine and colorfull details and dust lanes as well has been embedded.
You can find some masked galaxies and a starcluster all very attractive to look at.
Maybe not realistic, but very beautiful.
I really love this one, so I hope you like it and get some space feeling!
So... there is a clean version, my final desktop, a zoom in and a cutout from the original resolution.
Calix Nebula (Clean).jpg
Clean Version (50% Resolution)
Calix Nebula.jpg
Final Version (50% Resolution)
Calix Nebula (Zoom).jpg
Zoom
Calix Nebula (4K Resolution).jpg
Cut Out (Full Resolution)
STORMLORD
I can only repeat what I said last time; they are amazingly beautiful! Dreamy stuff.
I'm sorry, but I can't help myself.
I just like those space scenes, especially these colorfull nebulas.
The last one came in violett colours, this time I decided to create another star birth nebula in cold blue colors. Three master layers serve here as nebula base.
I embedded a lot of dark dust structures, then I added the main stars, my starfield and some galaxies including one small globular cluster this time (right below).
Total Render time... countless hours with my old quadcore pc.
Gateway Nebula (Clean).jpg
Gateway Nebula (Clean Starter)
Gateway Nebula.jpg
Gateway Nebula
Gateway Nebula (Zoom).jpg
Gateway Nebula (Zoom)
I have another one in stock, but it isn't finally done yet.
Such a composition takes a lot of time to render all the different fragments.
STORMLORD
They're absolutely wonderful! I can really understand your fascination with these structures. What depth of cloud do you use? V2 of v3? I guess the first. Maybe if you use smaller clouds, rendertime will be less as well.
Thank you Dune, the structures are truly fascinating (can't get enough!).
The main base of the Gateway Nebula has been rendered with 3 Cloud Layers of V3 with 3 Light Sources embedded.
I use Denis Sirenkos method to render them. Mostly I use a few of the renderings and mix them together.
I just try out different methods until I end up with a good and pleasing result (see Screnshot with marked layers).
Gateway Nebula (Photoshop).jpg
Screenshot Photoshop (The final Gateway Nebula consists of 4 different layers of different cloud nebulas)
STORMLORD
Oh, yes, I now remember it's a Photoshop collage of different renders, and not a one-go (as I was trying a while ago). Thanks for your explanation.