Making a Rocky/Gas Planet Mix - Also question on image distortion

[Xbwalker]

Hey guys. First off, Hello! I am new around here and am fairly new to Terragen2. I used to use Terragen back in the day and am finding TG2 quite amazing.

Anyhow, I am attempting to make a "Dying World" using cracked lava textures. I have figured out applying image maps to shaders easily enough but I am having a bit of trouble with the clouds. I have somewhat figured out how to stretch them but I can't figure out how to stretch them across a different axis. I want to have them circle around the planet assuming the poles are on top rather than where they are now (see image).

And my second question, when I create images from space, the spherical shape of the planet is distorted. I assume that this is some default camera lens effect but for this particular photo, I want the planet to appear spherical. See the second image for that one.

Thanks guys!

That is my problem with clouds.


As you can see in this one (an older one. One of my first attempts) the planet looks like it needs to go on Jenny Craig.

[freelancah]

There's a fairly simple way to make a gas giant.. I added a simple setup as attachment. Personally if you are at that distance, I wouldnt use volumetric clouds at all. Just add some displacement to the planets texture and it should look good enough.

Essentially "Tweak noise" tabs "Noise Stretch XYZ" is the most important thing here.

[Kadri]

For the planet distortion please look here .

http://www.planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=15047.msg146460#msg146460

[Xbwalker]

Thanks Freelancah. I was essentially doing just that. I figured out that my problem was easily resolved by moving my camera to a different angle of the planet.

After playing with it, I realized it looked cheap and unrealistic so I am going with a dirty haze instead.

My next question is - is there a way to cause an image map to glow? I'd like the red lava border to glow even when the sun is not lighting it. See the image below.

[freelancah]

You can connect it to the luminosity tab in surface layer or perhaps default shader

[Xbwalker]

Thanks Free! Much better. I finally found an angle I like too. Here is my progress (pre photoshop sun blurring) thus far.



I may lower the luminosity of the shader to make it a bit more realistic. Now, to add in some scenery.... Maybe some ships escaping the planet? Or perhaps view the scene through the window of a spacecraft with someone watching their world burn...hmm