Making a Realistic Space Art

Making a Realistic Computer Generated Space Scene in Blender.

Follow Along!

Software/Tools needed:

Blender 2.9 (as of writing of this)

Download — blender.org

Begin with pressing "Shift + A" then under shapes click on icosphere to add an icosphere. Here we are using an Icosphere because essentially it's easier to unwrap it for the texturing. Now, from the drop down menu in lower left corner turn the subdivisions upto "6" (Can be lower but it'll look a bit jagged, Also can be higher but it'll increase the render time). Finally Scale up the sphere on all axis by pressing "S" & then "5".

Scene is incomplete without a light! So, Let's add a Sun Lamp, Press "Shift + A" under light click Sun Light. Rotate it to side ways by pressing "R" then typing "90" for 90°. In Properties panel on the right click on the World Settings & change the color of the Background to complete Black. Don't worry this is not the final lightning & Background we'll be adding other lights & stars later down the line.

Firstly, Download the Earth Textures from these Resources:

Solar Textures | Solar System Scope

Now, we have a Diffuse Map (It defines the color and pattern of the object.), a Normal Map (Texture map that introduces fake bumps and dents – an implementation of bump mapping), a Specular Map (Black and white image that determine the shininess or reflectivity of an object.)

After downloading make sure to unwrap the Icosphere by going into edit mode (Press "Tab"). Select all (Press "A") then Press "U" to unwrap click Sphere Projection.

We now need to setup the material utilizing all these maps to achieve a realistic look. In Blender it's easy we just need to input these maps through "Image Node" (Which can be added by pressing "Shift + A" then type the name in the search bar :P). Connect Diffuse map to color input & Specular map to specular input. Also the normal map's color input needs to be converted into Normal map info then connect it to a bump node to connect it to the Principled BSDF's Normal Input. Finally, We need to specify how should the texture be projected onto the mesh for this. We need to connect a "Texture Coordinate node" UV output to all these images textures.

We now have the material complete. But still the Earth looks a bit incomplete. Let's add a Cloud layer Duplicate the Earth's Icosphere & scale it a bit. Remove the previous material add a new material, delete the "Principled BSDF node".

Add a "Image texture node" & a "Texture coordinate node" (As in previous step). Now add a "Diffuse BSDF", "Transparent BSDF" input these into a mix node. Connect the "Image Node's output" to the "Mix Shader's Factor Input". (You can add Color Ramp Node to customize clouds but it's not necessary.).

Again Duplicate the Earth's Icosphere & Scale it a bit. Remove the previous material add a new material, delete the "Principled BSDF node".

Just as in Cloud Material, change the Image node to a "Layer weight Node" connect to a "Color Ramp node" & customize the Color Ramp as your needs (Bright White for dense atmosphere, Dark grey for light one). Make sure to add a black in right corner as well to achieve fading effect as shown above.

To make it unique add Asteroid, Ring, BlackHole, Comet or even another Planet!

I have added a Red Rocky Planet (I used Mars textures tinted red.) You can be creative, be yourself!

Mars Textures:

Planet Mars Texture Maps | Planet Pixel Emporium

Lightning with lights other than sun is very unrealistic but for Artistic Purposes I've added sine Spot lights to emphasize attention on the other Planet. The secondary lights are very faint. Remember don't over do it. You can even light the whole scene with just one Sun Lamp, it's up to you. Rotate the lights, decrease the intensity, increase the Radius, Change the color & achieve the look you want. These settings can be adjusted if you select the light & go into "Properties Panel" on the right then under "Light tab", you can modify all these parameters.

You can render the scene out by pressing "F12". Alternately, Click "Render" on info tab then select "Render Image".

Download EasyFX addon from here:

EasyFX Blender Add-on - Download

(This addon can do the above node network automatically)

Extract the downloaded Zip file to desired location. To install this addon Click on "Edit" then "User Preferences" click "Install" locate the "EasyFX.py" file & double click on it. Now press "F11" (it will open up the Render Window). Press "N" click on "EasyFX".

Play around with it, to achieve what you want. I recommend you following effects:

• Chromatic Aberration (Color distortion that creates an outline of unwanted color along the edges of objects.)
• Vignette (Gradually Darkens in corners.)
• Bloom (Increases the luminosity of light source.)