3d drawing of the moon

Astronomy is an crawly scientific discipline. Backyard astronomy & astrophotography are very fascinating, too. Personally I tin spend hours gazing the beauty of the Creation through my telescope.

Don't you accept a telescope? Don't worry: In this tutorial I'll testify y'all how to use Photoshop CC or CS6 Extended to create some amazing photos and animations of moons and planets. And you won't take to stay out in the cold to create these.

Y'all need to download a panoramic image which is called a 'planetary map'. It is a special project of the 3D surface of a planet or a moon on a flat surface. NASA has made available a loftier resolution map of the Moon on this folio: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4720

Click the "Download" button and pick the map resolution you'd like to utilise. College resolution maps volition produce sharper details when you render the 3D Moon model. This is useful if you zoom the 3D camera on the Moon surface. The 16384x8192 and the 8192x4096 map versions will conform most users' needs.

You can also notice a range of splendid hi-resolution maps of other celestial bodies on this page: http://stevealbers.internet/albers/sos/sos.html
I would like to give thanks Steve Albers (NOAA affiliate) for granting united states the permission to use these maps.

This is a demo video created using the steps in this tutorial:

Case 1: Creating a 3D Moon.

Download the Moon map and load the paradigm in Photoshop.

Double click the Groundwork layer and rename it to "Moon map". Create a new blank layer below, name it "Space" and fill with blackness color (to make full with blackness color printing D, and then Ctrl-Backspace or Cmd-Backspace):

Click on the "Moon map" layer. From the main menu select 3D > New Mesh from Layer > Mesh Preset > Sphere.
This will map the "Moon map" image layer inside a 3D sphere. We have simply created a digital full moon on the screen:

The bending of view doesn't await exactly the same with the familiar image of the full moon we see from World. We will have care of it now:
If you oasis't switched to the 3D workspace, please practice so by selecting Window > Workspace > 3D from the menu.
In the next step nosotros volition rotate the moon around its Y axis and then that we look the familiar face of our digital moon.

Press V to select the movement tool.
Go to the 3D panel and click on "Sphere":

Hover your mouse on the Y axis rotation handle (yellow pointer below). A tooltip proverb "Rotate Around Y Axis" should show upwards:

Drag with your mouse to the left till yous come across the familiar epitome of the "homo in the moon":

Now we volition illuminate the moon from the correct side (Waxing Gibbous):
In the 3D panel click on the "Filter by Lights" icon (yellowish pointer):

At present elevate your mouse and move the calorie-free direction, so that the moon is illuminated from the right side (Waxing Gibbous):

You can also change the Intensity for this light from 1 to 1,5.

When yous look at the moon through a telescope what yous find is non a apartment terrain just a crude surface total of craters and mountain ranges. Information technology doesn't wait like the apartment moon y'all are currently looking at on your screen. Allow'due south requite some texture to our digital Moon'due south surface:

Go to the Layers panel and double click the "Sphere_Material - Default Texture":

This volition open a new document with the original moon map. Press Ctrl-A and so Ctrl-C (PC) or cmd-A and and then cmd-C (Mac) to copy the layer content into the clipboard. We will use this image to create a texture for the 3D object. Press Ctrl-W (PC) or cmd-Due west (Mac) to close this certificate.

Go to the 3D panel. Click the "Filter past Whole Scene" icon (arrow 1). Click on "Sphere Fabric" (arrow 2):

At present get to the Backdrop panel (Window > Properties).
So click the trivial folder icon to the right of "Crash-land" and select "New Texture":

A "New document" window opens up. Click on "OK":

Click again the icon to the right of "Bump" and select "Edit texture":

This will open a new document. Press Ctrl-Five (PC) or cmd-V (Mac) to paste the moon map. Press Ctrl-S (PC) or cmd-S (Mac) to salve the changes and close the certificate.

Presto! Y'all can now encounter the Moon's mountain ranges and crater rims continuing out. Depending on the size of the original image map, you may need to better the bump percentage value which is 10% by default.

We are gear up to return the 3D Moon. Select 3D > Render from the bill of fare.
The scene volition be rendered in a few minutes. Flatten the paradigm, accommodate the levels to preference and sharpen slightly. You have merely created a beautiful shot of the moon:

Case 2: Create an animated (rotating) planet.

Y'all can utilise other planetary maps to create similar images or animations of rotating planets:

Note: Jupiter is not a rocky planet hence there is no point in creating a bump map in this case.

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Source: https://www.panosfx.com/photoshop-tutorials/3d-moon

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