Pat, I haven't been ignoring you, but have been juggling projects during my few good hours... and this isn't something which could be done via IM (200 word limit?). I said that there were at least 3 ways to get a moon into Poser, since you said that you wanted to apply it there rather than in PhotoShop. 1) You can use a sphere prop with a map. 2) You can use a disk prop. 3) You can use a transmapped square. 4) you can import a photo as background for the render. In my files I have a disk prop from Nerd, a transmapped square from Cyphre, a pz3 file from Thorne (with a raven transmap and spotlight to throw the raven's shadow on the moon), and a 3ds moon from Matt Anderson. The first render is straight out of Poser, with props basically out-of-the-box. I used Inyerface's desert and a blue tint to background color and Traveler's dramatic spots #10. With time I would have played with other lights Some notes: day sky to my eyes is around hue 200 on the color wheel going greener near sea level and purpler at high elevations. Set your color depending upon where your scene takes place. Most of the sphere props out there use the NASA/JPL maps regardless of whether they are 3ds or obj files. You can make your own or nab one of these. In any case, if you have the map you can alter it to suit circumstances. Also, one of the files mentioned changing the ambient light on the prop to color correct as needed. Importing Thorne's pz3 reset my sky and widgetted the transmap of Cypher's prop, so it isn't included... but it is a lovely, detailed, large, lush moon complete with bumpmap. Nerd's disk works just fine (yellowish one on left). Shine a spot directly on it. It looks flat, just like in daylight. You can alter the map beforehand to reduce contrast. Cyphre's transmapped square (called "simple moon") has a bit of glow already, and just pops right in. Because it is a map, you can adjust in PS to turn it green or add the rabbit, whatever. Anderson's moon really is a sphere, and needs brighter, flatter lighting and some playing with focal length to appear as though seen through atmosphere. The spheres are perhaps more suited to deep space images. Anderson has the entire solar system, and I believe that I found them at www.the3dstudio.com (it was the site with the cartoon spider). Cyphre, Thorne, Nerd's props were probably from free stuff here or on their sites. Carolly

...and here they are with a bit of postwork. Bottom layer is "filter > render > clouds" with 2 shades of blue to get some disturbance. The second layer has a gradient, slightly translucent. This could have been popped more if I wanted a hazy horizon. I grabbed the moons together as a selection and under "image > adjust > brightness/contrast" I boosted the brightness all the way up. Then went into "layer effects" and added an outer glow, accepting the default cream but lowering opacity and spreading it a bit more. The sphere still looks round, but either of the flat props would work for a daytime moon. Because I rendered from the Front camera (my default) there is no perspective and I threw the props in and scaled them rather than translating them in space. They all come into a scene much bigger. Now that there is something to look at and point to, you can IM me with questions. :) Carolly

You can download highly detailed tex maps of the moon, or any other planet from nasa. There's also a totally cool free app called 'celestia' which allows you to zoom around the universe and render the scenes you see. mac

Attached Link: http://ennui.shatters.net/celestia/index.html

celestia screenshot mac

WOW When I asked for a how-to, I never expected all this! THANK YOU! Now I can get back to work on the (presently, but not for long!) moonless image that I was stuck on :)

Pat, Just tell me which of the props you like and why and we'll work with it. I think they are all still available. (Hemlines fluctuate with the seasons and so do moons?) ;^) Sams just offered a crescent moon prop, and I'm pretty sure that there was a man-in-the-moon face out there, too, but the biggest decision you'll need to make is flat or sphere. Getting the light right on the sphere will be harder. You'll probably need to parent a spotlight to your camera (think of a flash unit) and have it "point at" the sphere in order to wash it out. Having a full moon shot in PhotoShop and importing it as a backdrop works if it is close enough to what you need... and you don't have anything else that you are rendering over. Penguinisto created and uploaded (PoserPros?) a bunch of nice moons using the Celestia program Maclean links to, but they are on black with stars. I think Celestia is Windows only, but there are similar Mac programs (I was drooling over them at MacWorld). We've come a long way from Dance of the Planets. I'd probably go with a prop over a photogragh background because there is more control over placement and size. However, with any of these props you will almost certainly have to brighten the image before or after rendering. Carolly

Where do you get the maps from Nasa? Thanks, Marque

Attached Link: http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?Who=geoegress

By useing the same texture as a transmap and changing the transmap values on these you can get very realistic daytime moons with this.

Trav and I put a multi-layered planet in the newsletter last Friday for download..... look to DNA's freestuff as it will be added soon, probably after the weeekend. It has an exterior layer for effects, and rings also.... multiple parts to turn on and off, etc.

Here's a preview :)

Geogress, If those work like Nerd's moon, they'll be pretty darned quick and easy... and you've got enough worlds there to keep a league of spacers hopping. :) Being able to sprinkle a few distant suns around is a plus. Judith, Duh! I've got your RDNA planet, but only went and unzipped all the files labeled "moon" for Pat. (I've had a constant migraine for 2 1/2 years, so my thinking isn't as logical and connected as it used to be.) I've used the Poser ball prop as a globe before, and it is adaquate. Anything with more and better points to the polygons is going to be sleeker, especially in places where the silhouetted edge is obvious. Having rings and things is good... now for a world called "Moth". :) Carolly

No probs Carolly, just throwing yet another option out there. ;-)

hauksdottir,
You realize that you don't ever really get a full moon in daylight unless of course it's from a rival hockey team.

Patricia,
I went to find the evil dr ganymede but he isn't there anymore although this one is. Planets mostly but I think there's a moon map as well - as I recall it worked in poser 4 anyway as maps for a sphere.

cheers,

• TJ

Bikermouse, Yes, I realize that if the sun is above the horizon, the moon can't be absolutely full... although there is a little bending of light and atmospheric blurring so that it will appear full to the naked eye. (The camera of course will reveal any lopsidedness!) Marque, The fastest way to find a bunch of planetary maps together is at a free texture site such as: http://3dup.com/index_eng.shtml (there are others, look for a category called solar system) If you look at the earth, you can find bump and specularity maps, too. All you need to do is uvmap a sphere prop cylindrically and then size the texture map to fit your template. Voila! Globe of any solar system object. If you want a globe of Arrakis for your freighter lounge, just take Mars or Mercury into your paint program and gussy it up a bit, then slap it onto a sphere. (By the time I'm done with a space image, its own galaxy wouldn't recognize it. I used part of M42 behind Tabitha in my contest entry... a hydrogen red nebula! After airbrushing and moving some stars and recoloring it still looks like a real space scene, barely. For Starseed, a poem on my website, I changed very little of the image and so gave proper credit to msx/ipac/nasa/.) The free sites get their maps from NASA, but it is a hunt to track them down (so many agencies!). Hubble.nasa.gov and photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/ and just about anything in front of .nasa.gov/ will yield a photogallery. Most of the individual worlds can be found under the agencies which had something to do with exploring them... there are at least a half-dozen Mars-related sites... the guys who built the camera, the guys who launched it, the guys who operated it, the guys who developed/processed the images... they are all proud of what they've retrieved. Thr free sites will save you time if you have a deadline, but the government sites contain thousands and thousands of pretty images to drool over. Carolly

Judith the planet looks wonderful...this is at RDNA? What section? Sharen

Attached Link: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

the link is to the NASA picture of the Day archive. I picked out one moon pic I found with a random search but I'm sure there are lots more if you dig around the site.

Hi Sharen, Thanks, if you signed up for the newletter, it's in last weeks (the 16th). We'll have it on the site soon, probably after the weekend.

Attached Link: http://www.shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2407

Here's some work that I've been doing in Celestia on rendering moons in a daylit sky. See the attached link for more.

--Chris

lovely image! I noticed in the headlines that MSSS with NASA and JPL has nabbed a clean shot of the Earth and Moon from Mars. Carolly