Digital Space Art |
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I used these software applications to create the images on this site:
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Image Details |
The images on this site are all composed of three main elements: 1) three-dimensional (3D) models, 2) an array of lights, and 3) a background image. Combining these simple elements in different ways provides a wide range of creative possibilities. |
The Models |
I modeled the boosters, spacecraft, planets, moons and other elements in these images using trueSpace “primitives.” Primitives are simple geometric objects, such as cubes, spheres, cylinders and cones, that can be manipulated and transformed and then used like building blocks to create complex objects. By stretching, shrinking, warping, cutting, deforming and combining simple primitives, you can create any shape you need. |
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The models in these images are all a lot more complicated than they seem
at first glance. For example, the upper stage that appears in several of the works has a fully detailed engine, including pipes, pressure spheres, valves, electronic modules, hydraulic gimbal actuators and brackets, etc. See the detailed view at left. The top of the lower stage includes gas spheres, plumbing, engine igniter module, acoustical padding on the interstage petals, etc. These details can’t be seen in any of the images. But the beauty of 3D modeling is that, once you create the model, you can view it from any conceivable angle and under any conceivable lighting conditions. So if I ever want to do a close-up view of the booster separation, looking right into the interstage area, the model is ready. |
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Texturing is another aspect of 3D modeling that has a big effect on the
finished product. When you “texture” a model, you essentially “paint”
its surface with an image that simulates the material it is made of. You can vary a
texture’s reflectance, transparency, roughness, refractive index and other attributes
to get exactly the look you want. You can also apply images as “bump maps,”
which interact with the lights in your scene to create the illusion of surface
irregularities such as grooves, ridges or depressions. The best example of texturing in these images is the wrinkled insulating foil blankets on the interplanetary probe’s electronics modules on the “Leaving Earth Orbit” image (see the close-up image at left). |
Digital Space Art |
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The Lighting
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Lighting is arguably the most important factor in creating good-looking
three-dimensional rendered computer artwork. You can spend 90 per cent of your effort
creating an incredibly detailed, richly textured model, but it can look awful when you
render it if you don’t pay attention to the lighting. On the other hand, the right
lighting setup can make even mediocre models look good In space, the lighting is usually fairly simple. You typically have a big, bright light (the sun) and one or more smaller, dimmer sources that shine only because they reflect the light from the sun (planets and moons, for example). Such a simple lighting setup, while strictly accurate in the physical sense, would not necessarily produce an attractive piece of artwork. In this kind of artwork, the glaring, high-contrast light of space often must be tempered by the addition and placement of other subtle light sources in a scene in order to create a pleasing image. Most of the scenes in the Gallery are illuminated by at least three lights of different intensities and colors. Some have many more. The “Encounter with the Giant” scene is lit by seven separate lights to simulate the sunlight, the light reflected from Jupiter and its moons, and the light reflected by the spacecraft upon itself. The screen print at left shows the scene in trueSpace before rendering--the red objects (you can tell they’re cones at higher resolution) are the lights. As you can imagine, playing around with lighting setups can be a long, painstaking, trial-and-error process, especially when you usually have to render the scene before you can see the effects. Version 4 and later of trueSpace has a “radiosity renderer,” which accurately models the reflection of light among objects in a scene. However, using radiosity drastically increases render times to the point that you have to do a tradeoff to decide whether to use radiosity or to approximate its effects by just adding multiple lights. |
Digital Space Art |
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The Backgrounds
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I got all of the planetary background images in these works from stock
photo sources such as the Corel Stock Photo Collection and other clipart vendors. In all
cases, I modified them somewhat before using them in the final artwork. For example, I
usually had to adjust the color balances to remove bluish casts on some of the earth
pictures. Although stars usually cannot be seen in pictures of planets taken from space (the planet’s brightness washes out the comparatively dim stars), for these images I grafted on star backgrounds behind the planets simply because most people expect to see stars in a space picture. Using Picture Publisher or PhotoPaint, I created the simple star-filled black space backgrounds for some of the artwork. Starting with a blank “canvas,” I filled it with pure black, added stars either by using a noise filter or by dabbing on individual white points, and then cloned madly to fill up the image with stars. The big, bright stars blazed to life courtesy of the airbrush tool. To create an accurate Jupiter, I downloaded an image map (seen at left) that was assembled from many actual photographs of the planet taken by NASA’s Voyager and Galileo space probes. In trueSpace, I “wrapped” this image map around a squashed sphere and ended up with a great-looking Jupiter. |
Comments? Compliments? Complaints? Commissions?
Copyright © 1998 - 2006 by Terry L. Sunday.
All rights reserved. Please ask permission before using any of these images for any
reason.
Some of the background images for these works are available in the public domain.
