SitePoint.com

dc dalton · Jan 9, 2005, 20:57

I wrote this a while ago for my p'shop students ...... its jus plain fun! It creates an "earth-like" planet in a very short amount of steps..... I hope you enjoy it!

The Earth in Seven Minutes

1. Create a new image 800 x 800, color pure black

2. create a new layer above it, name it planet

3. select the elliptical marquee tool, hold down shift and drag out a perfect circle, leaving about 50-60 pixels open on all sides of the circle

4. fill the circle with white - do NOT deselect

5. change your foreground color to 94,94,198. Background color pure white. NOTE: the color used for the foregound is very important to the formation of your land masses. If the color is too blue they will be pink instead of brownish.

6. While holding down the shift key choose filter -> render -> clouds

7. While holding down the shift key choose filter -> render -> difference clouds

8. hit cntrl (cmd) F to re-apply the last filter - the blue / white pattern returns

9. Repeat step 8 as many times as required until you have a nice "cloud" pattern, along with some nice land masses (it can take up to 15-20 times to get a nice one)

10. Once you have a nice looking pattern deselect your "planet". Find a nice clumpy cloud pattern & draw a round selection around it, almost to its edges. (HINT: if you can find a nice "clump" near the edge grab it, but make sure you are NOT selecting outside of the planet. This gives a really nice effect later)

11. With the selection intact choose filter -> liquify

12. Using a brush size that is slighty smaller than the selection area and a
brush pressure of NO more than 50% (40% is ideal) choose the twirl CCW feature and gently twirl the cloud formation (DONT get too crazy here or it wont look real)

13. Repeat steps 10 -12 if you'd like on a seperate "cloud formation"

14. You may also "twirl" a few clouds W/O a selection to add some roundness to the formations. Purely optional though.

15. Once you have all the clouds you would like hit cntrl (cmd) D to make sure
everything is deselected.

16. Making sure you have your planet layer selected (cntrl click the layer) choose filter -> distort -> spherize with an amount of 100% and normal mode

17. Starting to look like something! OK we need to add that slight haze earth always has. Deselect your plant and create a new layer behind your planet layer, name it glow.

18. Set your foreground color to white, choose the gradient tool, click the radial gradient option, click the gradient drop down & choose foreground to transparent. Drag a gradient out from the middle of your glow layer to about 3/4 of the way to the edge of the canvas. We only want a slight glow to protrude past the planet edges so try it one or twice to get it right, hiding the planet layer as needed. It takes a little bit to get it right.

19. OK lets attack these edges and make this thing look REAL. Cntrl click your planet layer to select the planet. Choose select -> modify -> contract and input 3 pixels then choose select -> modify -> feather and enter 2 pixels. Then choose select -> inverse (shift-cntrl(cmd)-I). Now make sure your planet layer is the active layer and choose filter -> blur -> glaussian blur and enter an amount of 3. Click OK.

20. Looking COOL! Now the final adjustment will crispen up the colors a tad. First merge your glow and planet layer (cntrl (cmd) E) then choose image -> adjustments -> levels Make sure you are on the RGB level and drag the bottom slider (shadows) up ever so slightly. Drag the center slider (midtones) up a hair also & the top slider (highlights) down just to "perk up" the clouds and make them look fluffy.

There ya go ....... very cool looking!

BTW I have never had two come out the same ..... you can get some amazing results by "playing" with the clouds! ...... Just good fun! Here's a quick sample:

Steelsun · Jan 10, 2005, 08:42

Nice, I'll have to try it.

macarthur · Jan 10, 2005, 18:32

Sting_2004 · Jan 10, 2005, 18:53

great tutorial. ill have a try at it

dc dalton · Jan 10, 2005, 19:31

BTW, I have the file in .txt format for those of you that may want to print it out (I cant read long stuff on the web myself) ......... Ill attach it here

Glad you enjoy it ...... as I said I have NEVER been able to use it in anything really functional (like a website) but damn its fun feeling like "the creator" for a few seconds!

dc dalton · Jan 11, 2005, 19:51

I was playing tonight in front of the TV and made a new one, then grabbed a REAL space image for a bg, another planet and a moon & this is what I came up with.... what I wanted to show (and add to the tutorial) was the shading on your planet...

If you notice the other planets in this one Ive made up, they have an area that the sun cant get to so you have a crescent.... to do this to your "earth" just control click your planet's layer and then choose the selection tool (round of course) ... hold down the alt key (so your new selection will subtract from the first) and then remove the part you DONT want shaded. you may have to cntrl alt z a few times (or edit undo) until you get it right.... once you have it where you want it create a new layer above your planet. Fill it with pure black and bring the opacity down to about 60%... On that "shadow" layer do a filter > blur > gaussian blur and input anywhere from 4 - 6 in the amount (it depends on how much opacity you have and the size of your planet.)

If you not happy with the first blur feel free to add another at about 1/2 of the original.. now your planet has that realistic shadow we all see in the "real pics"

Ive attached an example ........... glad you enjoyed it!

macarthur · Jan 11, 2005, 20:06

The yellow parts look like sulfer islands...

KC · Jan 11, 2005, 20:12

This is a great tutorial. Thanks for contributing.

dc dalton · Jan 11, 2005, 20:53

the yellow comes from how many times you repeat the clouds / difference clouds ---- the more you do it the darker it gets. I have yet to find a way to get green looking continents ........ any ideas Im all ears!

BTW ..... always willing to contribute. This site has given me so much I want nothing more than to add to it in a way that will help others..... this tutorial isnt so much help as it is a great relaxation, fun toy........ heaven knows we all need to chill out and "play" every once in a while..

ckita · Jan 13, 2005, 06:15

Very Nice Thank You....

i've sent u a pm...

Sonar Visuals · Jan 17, 2005, 16:18

Thanks a ton!

o.hizzle · Mar 21, 2005, 09:15

very nice tut.

and if you do image->adjustment->levels and choose some red color you can create a nice sun too..

cracker2 · Mar 21, 2005, 10:41

I have no doubt this will get me laughed off the boards (only been using photoshop for less than a month, so going around using tuts to learn techniques), but I have tried doing this tut (4 times actually), and I just don't understand where the land masses come from. I get the clouds showing up, and I do see that the land masses are made when you Filter > Render > difference cloud, but when I do the repeated ctrl-F's, it just goes back and forth between the blue/white look and the black/yellowish look, but never both at once. Everything else in the tutorial I am understanding, but not the land issue.

Anyway, if you're done laughing at the silly guy who is having problems with easy techniques, anyone have any suggestions on maybe a setting I don't have right, or where I am going wrong?

justin

brayk · Mar 22, 2005, 15:40

haha nice one...good effect with photoshop

YCDC182@yahoo.co · Mar 23, 2005, 20:16

this is my first photoshop creation. How'd I do??

Egor · Mar 23, 2005, 22:32

YCDC182@yahoo.co looks good to me

And dc dalton, that's a great tute.

bcr · Mar 23, 2005, 23:29

Yep, good job YCDC182, looks very nice.

I'll have to give your tutorial a shot over this long weekend, dc dalton ..

rokc · Mar 24, 2005, 03:58

hi,

That was really nice tutorial..thanx dalton...Here's what I got..Now i have proved that I am a good designer which people think I am not...

BTW how do u got those stars out there

Dark Tranquility · Apr 1, 2005, 03:39

great tut DC Dalton

Well detailed very creative

CrustyGeek · Apr 1, 2005, 17:59

Great tut! Great fun to do and very effective. It helped me create a new world for my RPG site

Mephistopheles · Jun 8, 2005, 14:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by YCDC182@yahoo.co

this is my first photoshop creation. How'd I do??

I learned, also, that if in the early stages, you saved your selection (select>save selection...) you can use it in the later stages(Before you merge the planet and the background). By loading the selection(select>load selection) and then Filter>Distort>Spherize. Personally, I do that twice, the first time would be 100% the second time would be 70%. But you guys can experiment, right?

Then, you could use the blending options for the planet, Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options (Or double-clicking the planet layer) and clicking outer glow. Then you can experiment with the options it offers. I suggest putting the blending mode on Outer Glow to Normal, though, with 100% opacity.

macarthur · Jun 8, 2005, 18:25

I've a tendancy to just save an alpha channel.

Just my own way of doing it

Good observation though!

Varelse · Jun 8, 2005, 18:31

And I always have plenty of layers - for example I backup every element in its original state and size in separate layer set (caller "org"). Having each element on its own layer it is really easy to make changes later.
I wouldn't recommend leaving only flat version for sure...

Jan 10, 2005, 08:42	#2
Steelsun ʎ1ʇuɐɹ/ Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Houston, Tejas; Future Capital of the World Posts: 2,528	Nice, I'll have to try it. __________________ Brian Poirier SunStockPhoto: Stock Photos, Fine Art Photos, Event Photography ShootHouston.com : Photo Locations In Houston, TX

Jan 10, 2005, 18:32	#3
macarthur »-(¯`v´¯)-» Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: B.K.A.C Posts: 2,529	Cool __________________ `·.¸¸.·´´¯`··._.·FLAMING`·.¸¸.·´´¯`··._.· -==×º°”˜`”°º×MONARCH×º°”˜`”°º×==-

Jan 11, 2005, 20:06	#7
macarthur »-(¯`v´¯)-» Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: B.K.A.C Posts: 2,529	The yellow parts look like sulfer islands... __________________ `·.¸¸.·´´¯`··._.·FLAMING`·.¸¸.·´´¯`··._.· -==×º°”˜`”°º×MONARCH×º°”˜`”°º×==-

Jan 11, 2005, 20:12	#8
KC Fine Tuned Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,468	This is a great tutorial. Thanks for contributing. __________________ Former Design Your Site Team Leader

Jan 11, 2005, 20:53	#9
dc dalton SitePoint Wizard Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Right behind you, watching, always watching. Posts: 5,794	the yellow comes from how many times you repeat the clouds / difference clouds ---- the more you do it the darker it gets. I have yet to find a way to get green looking continents ........ any ideas Im all ears! BTW ..... always willing to contribute. This site has given me so much I want nothing more than to add to it in a way that will help others..... this tutorial isnt so much help as it is a great relaxation, fun toy........ heaven knows we all need to chill out and "play" every once in a while.. __________________ Article Site Manager, the smart way to market your business! davidcdalton.com - Java, PHP - database Development, SEO Services 55,000 Free Articles For Your Website-Adsense sharing for Authors

Jan 10, 2005, 18:53	#4
Sting_2004 SitePoint Wizard Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Des Moines, WA Posts: 1,281	great tutorial. ill have a try at it

Jan 13, 2005, 06:15	#10
ckita See The Morning Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Truly Asia Posts: 1,714	Very Nice Thank You.... i've sent u a pm... __________________ WordPress Themes & Plugin flickrville - showcasing the best of flickr Failure is not an option, it comes bundled with the software.

Jan 17, 2005, 16:18	#11
Sonar Visuals SitePoint Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 22	Thanks a ton!

Mar 21, 2005, 09:15	#12
o.hizzle SitePoint Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1	very nice tut. and if you do image->adjustment->levels and choose some red color you can create a nice sun too..

Mar 21, 2005, 10:41	#13
cracker2 SitePoint Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1	I have no doubt this will get me laughed off the boards (only been using photoshop for less than a month, so going around using tuts to learn techniques), but I have tried doing this tut (4 times actually), and I just don't understand where the land masses come from. I get the clouds showing up, and I do see that the land masses are made when you Filter > Render > difference cloud, but when I do the repeated ctrl-F's, it just goes back and forth between the blue/white look and the black/yellowish look, but never both at once. Everything else in the tutorial I am understanding, but not the land issue. Anyway, if you're done laughing at the silly guy who is having problems with easy techniques, anyone have any suggestions on maybe a setting I don't have right, or where I am going wrong? justin

Mar 22, 2005, 15:40	#14
brayk SitePoint Addict Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: manassas Posts: 359	haha nice one...good effect with photoshop __________________ Photoshop Tutorials

Mar 23, 2005, 20:16	#15
YCDC182@yahoo.co SitePoint Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1	this is my first photoshop creation. How'd I do??

Mar 23, 2005, 22:32	#16
Egor Non-Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 8,133	YCDC182@yahoo.co looks good to me And dc dalton, that's a great tute.

Mar 23, 2005, 23:29	#17
bcr SitePoint Addict Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 323	Yep, good job YCDC182, looks very nice. I'll have to give your tutorial a shot over this long weekend, dc dalton ..

Apr 1, 2005, 03:39	#19
Dark Tranquility The Mind's I ® Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Mediterranean (TN-FR-IT-ML-MR) Posts: 8,130	great tut DC Dalton Well detailed very creative __________________ *Play the Game!.EPS? Not a fan!*\| Création site web TrueText: advanced NotePad for your PDA SCRIPTOMANIAHTML, CSS and PHP EDITOR Tuts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Gfx design Read the latest industry news!**

Apr 1, 2005, 17:59	#20
CrustyGeek SitePoint Enthusiast Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 66	Great tut! Great fun to do and very effective. It helped me create a new world for my RPG site __________________ GirlieGeeks - For Geek and Gadget Girls everwhere! Free Invision Skins \| Salroth Online Roleplaying \| RPG Links

Jun 8, 2005, 18:31	#23
Varelse Night Elf Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Middle-Earth-European wilderness Posts: 5,751	And I always have plenty of layers - for example I backup every element in its original state and size in separate layer set (caller "org"). Having each element on its own layer it is really easy to make changes later. I wouldn't recommend leaving only flat version for sure... __________________ █ 30+ Unique Professional Logo Designs for SALE! █ FreelanceDaddy - freelancer's personal advisor █ Guide and advice for freelancers starting their career █ Over 1000 projects posted on freelance markets every day
&nbs