planet 3ds max

by Didik Wijaya

In this tutorial you will learn how to create nice space scene. There are several objects you need to create: simple planet, asteroid belt, and then making all asteroid moving in circle. Also you will create a starry background. This scene is created from scratch.

1.First step, you need to create asteroid object. Create a sphere in Top viewport. Use Radius=10. After that, go to Modify tab, and choose Noise from Modifier List. In Parameters rollout, activate Fractal, and use Strength in each axis=50. You will get random asteroid shape.

2. Next, you need to texture the asteroid. Open Material Editor (shortcut "M"). In Blinn Basic Parameters, change Diffuse color to brown. Apply this material by dragging from sample slot to asteroid object in viewport.

3. Right click and save image below. You will use this image later. In Material Editor, open Maps rollout. Increase Bump value to 500. Click None button right next to Bump. Choose Bitmap and use image below. In Coordinates rollout use Tiling U=4 and V=4. Bump will simulate roughness in asteroid surface.

Right click and save image above.
Image is created using Photoshop (Clouds and Fresco filter)

4. Do a test render. Using Bump channel, asteroid is looks more realistic now.

5. To achieve more random looks, I should create another asteroid. I simply clone the original asteroid. Hold Shift+drag to create cloned asteroid. Make sure to use Copy for Cloning Method. Select each clone and go to Modify tab, change Seed and Strength value to create different asteroid shape.

When finished, select all asteroid and group them (Group>Group). Name this group = asteroid.

6. Next, we are going to create planet. Create a sphere with Radius=50. Open Material Editor. Click Get Material button. In opened window, Make sure Browse From=Matl Library. Search for Space_Jupiter material and double click to use this material. Apply this material to sphere.

7. Create tube in Top viewport. Use parameters below. Move tube until it is in the same axis as sphere. You will use this tube later for asteroid placement. Right click tube and choose Properties. Uncheck Renderable to make this object invisible when rendered. In next tutorial, you will create a whole bunch of asteroid surrounding the planet using Particle Flow.