Nebulas!

Curufinwe_Fëanor

Thanks to zombat's great tutorials on how to make nebulas, i have 6 nebulas in my page.... i would like some comments or critisism on them.... since i ran out of space at .mac , youll have to go to my page, then under 2D > Space Images

yes, this may seem as a desperate attempt to get visitors, fact is that i dont give a rats ass if i get 1 or 200.000.000.000.000.000 visitors per second. i Actually want to know if my images are good. Here's my webpage: (url="http://"http://www.infini-dmaniac.tk")www.infini-dmaniac.tk(/url)

Isnt .tk amazing?

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(url="http://"http://www.infini-dmaniac.tk")Infini-d Maniac's Studios (aka curufinwe studios)(/url)
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Mantaray

They llok pretty cool, but I have a few suggestions:

go overboard with the "Render difference clouds" filter. Your nebulae look a bit too solid.
for future reference, post in the EV Image Gallery for this sort of thing.

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Vaumnou

Good nebulae. The starry background is way too tiled, though.

-Vaumnou

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Curufinwe_Fëanor

I dont have the webspace to post all this in the image gallery.... believe me, i would love to, rather than making the fool out of myself in here

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(url="http://"http://www.infini-dmaniac.tk")Infini-d Maniac's Studios (aka curufinwe studios)(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.dreamtheater.net")BEST PROG METAL BAND(/url)
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what_is_the_matrix

Your starfields are kind of obviously tiled, and a bit too dense. The nebulae are a bit dense as well. The second image is extremely artifacted. Otherwise, quite interesting stuff.

Matrix

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mrxak

Quote

Originally posted by Curufinwe_Fëanor:
**I dont have the webspace to post all this in the image gallery.... believe me, i would love to, rather than making the fool out of myself in here

**

I'm not sure I understand. Why do you need more webspace to post at the image gallery?

Admiral Zombat

Alright, some suggestions!

First off, never use the same star map for multiple images. It gives it a really fake look.
Another note on starfields: When your spraying out an area which you'll eventually copy-paste a couple times, its usually a good idea to use a larger area ... it looks to me like you used a 1x1 inch square for the copy-paste. Don't be afraid to use large areas, work that mouse!!
more information on building starfields in photoshop can be found (url="http://"http://www.roosteredge/com/~zombat")here(/url)

Secondly, You need to use difference clouds a lot more!! from what I can see, you only used one, or didnt use one at all. For (url="http://"http://www.roosteredge.com/~zombat/nebula/mysr.jpg")my nebulae(/url) I use at least 5 layers of different clouds, at different levels. (try rendering difference clouds, then rendering again). Another important part about difference clouds, that I have found out for myself, is altering the contrast of the difference cloud layers. This will stop the over-contrasted/(url="http://"http://www.roosteredge.com/~zombat/nebula/nebya.jpg")'sharp'(/url) nebula from occuring. (see upper center of image = the abrupt darkness, hole)

What I am happy to see, especially in nebula 5 that you did, is the fact that your usuing the image as a whole - many people make the mistake of making a nebula in the center of the image only. The key to making really realistic nebula is to making the nebula fade off the screen nicely.

Good Job!

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Some more Nebula-Making pointers -

- When spraying the base gray for the image, don't just make a big blotch, screw around with different patterns, look at (url="http://"http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/")places like this(/url) for realistic nebula shapes, but DONT HESITATE to crop the nebula off the screen. Also, use the Gaussian Blur tool to smooth out sharp shapes perhaps caused by small brushes.
- Try inverting difference cloud layers - especially when you notice that the nebula seems a little too veiny (see: 'sharp' link for example) ... it can stop the veins from occuring, and sometimes add a nice cloudy look to it. (this usually occurs when you invert level 2 or 4 difference clouds. )
-Don't use too many levels of difference clouds - your nebula will start to become like marble stone.
- ALWAYS distort the Difference cloud layers usuing filters like; Polar Co-Ordinates, Pinch, Twirl, Vortex, Waves. Again, however, don't overdo - Use everything in moderation.
- Use the 'sponge' tool with a big brush to lightly desaturate (but not turn completely gray) areas like the fringes, or the centers (bright spots) of the nebula.
- Try copy-pasting star layers into a new document, rotating the new document 90° or something, and copy-pasting back in to prevent repetitave stars.
- Use the Burn tool or spraypaint can to darken particularly bright patches of stars. Also use the eraser to erase or dissolve stars 'within' the thick parts of the nebula.
- Lens flares won't always help an image, so unless your 3D program won't render them, dont use lens flares made in photoshop!!