Hi guys...I make worlds...I am also working on this thing called "Commandments" - but I'm savin that stuff for later on - after I introduce the concepts of temptation and sin - so no worries. ANYWAY - I need to find some nifty freeware apps to help me do some cool wrap around planet textures.I can't afford Photoshop,Corel Draw,Paint Shop Pro,or any of those other high priced-overly complicated messes, as I feel that morgaging one's house in order to pay for an overglorified paint program is a tad bit over the top,spank you very much! Now here's the thing - I have found this little program called "WILBUR" - more or less a hieght field generator created by some dude named Jay Slayton.It's got paint and editing options for drawing terrain features to - and it's the predecessor of Profantasy Software's "FRACTAL TERRAINS PRO" (Which I'll be purchasing soon). These programs are pretty good for flat out wrap around planet textures with lots of well defined reproduceable surface detail,but I'm looking for anything and everything I can get my greedy little sausage fingers on to snag and bag for my tool box and bag'O'tricks.Paint programs,image editors,just about anything that's FREE that you can point me to would be helpful...NOW GO FORTH AND BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY OR I SHALL SMITE THEE!!! Thanks - and "Let There Be Tacos"...

Nothing specific to offer but you might try "zdnet.com", lots of free apps on there, some are try before you buy but others are totally free. thefixer, poser coord.

Thank you fixer, much appreciated - I bless you thusly;tommorrow morning you will be well endowed, and Viagra will no longer be an issue for you:) Now - more input from my fellow creative folks please - keep'em rollin in!

Try Planet Genesis

Snagged it - MORE MORE MOOORRRREEEEE!!!!!!

Have you looked up Celestia?

Attached Link: The Gimp

I'd take a look at "The Gimp" for a free image editor...

Attached Link: MojoWorld Viewer

You might consider trying the FREE "Viewer" from Pandromeda. yes it does render with a watermark..however, it's in one corner..With a little planning one could render a planet and crop out the Watermark..However...I'd check to see if you could use it commercially.. The Focus product is pretty cheap..($50) and it comes with a couple of image editors as a bonus..

I've looked into the MOJOWORLD VIEWER and it's - well - a dead end pretty much, but I DO appreciate the thought, it's nice to have folks to help you out when you need it.Anyway - I have the GIMP and "GIMPSHOP" - they are both life savers! Almost everything Photoshop has - and without the "Look how spiffy our brand name is - buy us for the sheer prestige of it" mentality.The guys over at the GIMP are the heroes of the working class underdogs and all of us lower middle class and dirt poor humble slobs - BRAVO!!!Lots of heart - and zero price gouging!

Gee, isn't it funny how everything is an over-rated, overpriced pile of crap when you can't afford it? I'm telling ya man, all those people who buy Adobe and Corel crap products are big ol' dumb showoff snobs if ya ask me.

"I have the GIMP and "GIMPSHOP" - they are both life savers!" Good score, Mugsey, and nice review! Did you donate some cash to support the software? I sure hope so!

Ok...um...uh...well Terradreamer - I guess unresolved issues can be a big'ole "Tick In The Proverbial Fur" huh? Sorry about your apparant unresolved hostility - but I'm sure someday you'll get a special friend who might help you relieve some of that tension - and then you can smile again! Sorry but - yes - paying $650.00 for a paint program is - well - not exactly being fruegle and thrifty - and that's a DISCOUNT price for a no frills version of Photoshop.By the way - thanks for being condecending towards the poor and downtrodden - I'm sure that really put them in THEIR ughly ole'place! Don't blame me if there was a way that you could save cash - but didn't,that was your decision,not mine. And - no - I haven't contributed any money to the GIMP - that's just the point - I don't have any to contribute - DUUUUHHHHHHHH.People pay big money for advertising - well - I'm giving them good P.R. whenever I can - and that ain't hey! It really irritates me when people think that just because you can't afford something (i.e. - your "poor"),that your an unmotivated bum whose financial status in life is soley by virtue of bad personal choices. Remember - control is ultimately an illusion, and people who are able to achieve all of their personal goals that they've neatly itemized on a "to do" list in order to be successful are successful because they're lucky - not because they're on top, and everybody else are "slackers".People like that can take they're socially Darwinistic "sink or swim sucker" attitude - and shove it...Now - back on topic please...

Attached Link: http://povray.org/resources/links/3D_Programs/Height_Field_Modelling_Programs_and_Utilities/

Some free, some not. Also plenty more links both at the POVray site and at linked sites.

Thank you nruddock - MUCH APPRECIATED MY FRIEND - KUDOS!!!***

Look up sourceforge. many many free apps there, of all kinds

Paint Shop Pro answers my needs to the extent that I hardly ever look at PhotoShop

Attached Link: http://www.bakhter.com/index.html

My fave place :D Some freeware, some shareware..but there are loads there to look thru :)

Thank you kids - Jumpstartme2, Elowan, Bonestructure, Nruddock, Pushinfaders, TheFixer, you guys are great! Jumpstartme2 - I'm checkin it out buddy!

Attached Link: Cheap Paint Shop Pro

"It really irritates me when people think that just because you can't afford something (i.e. - your "poor"),that your an unmotivated bum whose financial status in life is soley by virtue of bad personal choices." Oh, now when did I imply that? I was making a remark on your calling things you don't want to pay for as "high priced-overly complicated messes." There are many starving artists here at Renderosity and they still manage to find a way to acquire the high priced-overly complicated messes they need. And I really don't think you're doing a very good job at shopping around for good prices on software. Just like Google, Newegg is your friend... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681131109SF And, if you shop around even more, you'll find Photoshop about $150 cheaper than you quoted here. "...but I'm sure someday you'll get a special friend who might help you relieve some of that tension - and then you can smile again!" I smile abundantly, thank you. But because this is the season of the Spirit of Giving, IM me your shipping address and I'll send you a never used, factory sealed box of Paint Shop Pro 7. This rather complicated, overly priced mess even comes with a decent manual. Cheers!

Fair enough - fair enough - I am retracting my claws and sueing for peace Terraformer - wisdom comes from knowin when to hold'em,and knowin when to fold'em - and I'm folding. As for sending me the software - my friend - much appreciated, but seeing as how we're not exactly living in the Magic Kingdom - giving my address out to anonymous names on the net is about as countably intelligent as licking a public toilet seat because you just HAVE to know what that odd brownish yellow film around the seat tastes like.As much as I'de love the gift - unfortunately I do NOT have a P.O.B. at this time - but nevertheless - the offer in and of itself is a rather shining good gesture of good tidings and solid condolences,and it is MOST appreciated - cheers.

Well, if you change your mind, let me know via IM. I have a few copies left that were never upgraded to versions 8 or 9. Hell, I may have a few Photoshop 7 copies left in storage on the 23rd floor. I just won't be able to ship outside of the U.S. Also, I see you're considering terrain generation...at least I think you are. Have you tried World Machine? http://www.world-machine.com It's node based, with a steep learning curve, but the results are spectacular. There is enormous support on the web for it. If your terrains don't need to be larger than 512x512, it's free. Add that to the free version of Terragen and you're in for massive fun.

Terraformer - Terragen is a piece of work that I drool for - honestly - it's perfect, but - those folks over their at the Terragen site are kinda prudish about unlicensed images from the demo version being used in commercial work - otherwise - I would've snagged that puppy up and used it so much that my hard drive would've melted like day old butter in Pheonix. I'm doing ATLASES of invented worlds of my own creation showing both global views and space / planetary views - and psuedo 3d flat relief maps. Some people build model airplanes - I build model worlds - oh well,it's a hobby. I aspire to be a combination of George Lucas and J.R.R. Tolkien - which is ironic since I'm niether a Star Wars fanatic - nor was I particularly crazy about either the Lord Of The Rings books - or the movie (But the books had kick arse maps in'em though!). I'm might sell my compilations someday - which is why I shyed away from Terragen. I'll get back with you if I can snag a Post Office Box. If you COULD get me paint shop pro AND photoshop - I would not only name my first born child after you - I would dance naked with exhuberant joy in the street clutching a daisy between my teeth.Remember - I wasn't knocking those progs - I just said that Photoshop was WAAAYYY too expensive to be reasonable. In my quest to find world building equipment and my impulse to impersonate a diety - I have glanced the world machine site but always assumed it to be Demo / Trialware.I despise demos and trialware nearly as much as I hate getting ice cold kitchen forks jammed into my kneecaps (don't ask :)) So - naturally I sighed a sigh of disappointment and moved on.I'll delve into it further and see whats what amigo.

I would dance naked with exhuberant joy in the street clutching a daisy between my teeth. Oh my goodness! TD...send the progs...this I wanna see!! ~hehe~ * gets camcorder then slaps own hand..BAD Jump, BAD Jump!*

HAAARRRR HHHAAAAARRRR DEE HAR HAR...

excuse me TERRADREAMER - no "TERRAFORMER",sorry - it's all that darn cough syrup I've been chugging.

Diard have a freebie version of Universe creator.
Deep paint also free now.

If you want to do planets, and you're using a 3D app of any kind, be careful in your UVmapping - a sphere will very often get spherical distortion at the poles, so you may want to check out Richard Rosenman's photoshop plugins.

I did my Heart of Space set using particle systems and shaders in order to avoid distortions of any kind, so if you have a modeler already, (use a geosphere, not a sphere if possible) it may be worth it for you to see if you can use shaders - If you don't have a modeler, but have Poser, Poser 5 or 6 will help you there, since it has a rudimentary shader function.

If you want to go the handpainted route, which will take as long as writing shaders but is equally aesthetically satisfying, check out this tut

~s,
Who loves sci-fi art ;-)

Hi spinner... I have Universe Creator and am using it - yes! great prog - if you ask me the freeware version is all that you need since Universe's galaxy and planet options - that are disabled unless you buy the full version - aren't really all that great anyway. I'm using several 3d freeware progs for planets and such - ANIM8TOR, WINGS 3d, BLENDER, AND THE FREE DAZ STUDIO (I'm gonna try to import .obj / .3ds / .DXF format files into it - haven't really worked with it all that much yet.) - I also have Milkshape 3d, Hamapatch, Splatch, the old freeware version of AMAPI, and the old freeware version of Truespace (don't really use it since I don't like .COB format files as they are rarely used by other progs). I mainly use Anim8tor and Wings 3d. I am not currently using photoshop plug ins since I don't really have photoshop yet, but yes I am aware of the sphere problem.I have had to learn a few tricks using the careful placement of polar caps to hide the crinckling and pinching effect that can otherwise screw global textures every which way but loose. I would like to find some way of decidedly fixing that little catch 22 though - as not all Earth like planets theoretically will have polar, as I have done a little research and discovered the the Earth for MOST of it's geological history didn't have polar caps - but instead our poles have been warm to cool temperate forests most of the time.I do have Mr. Rosenman's filters on stand by though - just in case I DO aquire Photoshop or a prog that can use shop filters. I'll check out deep paint.

Rosenmans's plugins are also compatible with the irfanview freebie on top of his page. I think Right Hemisphere/Deep Paint allows photoshop plugins.

If wings or Anim8tor have shaders capacity and geospheres - look into using them. The polar caps as such isnt an issue - the fact you get pinching distortion at the sphere top and bottom is.
This is why a geosphere is a better option if you i.e have a procedural fill or a shader - it doesn't have poles.

~s edit - typos

Message edited on: 01/01/2006 09:31

Spinner - downloaded deep paint - will review it later. Anim8tor doesn't have shaders per se,just standard texture and lighting options (uses an inbuilt UV MAPPING OPTION). I think Rosenman's filters might be my best bet. Haven't tried Infranview yet - always assumed that it was just a batch converter / viewer when I saw it listed on the freeware sites, I'll snag it and have a look see.

There is Celestia, a real-time 3D space simulation that is free. http://www.shatters.net/celestia/ Then lots and lots of add-on you can get too. http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/ But some things are 3ds format and there there are .jpg. .png images of textures too.