Ever wanted to create planets? In this tutorial you’ll learn how to create a planet, and more importantly how to create planet textures. We will have a look at several different planets to see how they are created, and how to easily change the look of planets using layer modes.
These are the planets we’ll have a look at, we will focus mainly on how to create that blue one:
Here is a larger preview of the blue planet we will create:
This tutorial is split into three parts, in the first part we create a basic planet with atmosphere and shadow, but with no textures. In the second part we create and place textures on the planet we made making it look like an actual planet (the fun part in other words), the third part is rather small and just gives you some planet making tips and a quick look at how to create some other planets.
So if you just prefer to read along, or if you’re already comfortable with making the basic planet and just want to learn about textures then you can download this xcf file and just read part1. The xcf file contains all the work we do in part 1 of the tutorial (except installing the script of course).
To make our task easier we’re going to use a script, you can download it here. (depending on your browser, you might need to either right-click and choose Save Link as, or click on the link and then choose File->Save as). If you can’t get that to work then download this zipped version of the script instead, remember to unpack it.
To install the script simply place the file called “planet-render-gtuts-edition.scm” inside your Gimp scripts folder.
WINDOWS
Place the script in C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\.gimp-2.6\scripts
UBUNTU
Open your Home folder, then press Ctrl-H to see hidden files, place the script inside .gimp-2.6/scripts. Press Ctrl-H again to hide the files.
MAC
In Gimp go to Edit->Preferences.
Select Folders, and then Scripts. In the window on the right it should say where to put the script. (in many cases there are two different folders you can put them in, it shouldn’t matter which one you put it in).
After the script has been placed inside the folder:
In Gimp go to Filters->Script-Fu->Refresh Scripts.
That’s it, now it should be installed.
Many thanks to Rore for making the script possible!
Now go to File->Create->Misc->Planet render Gtuts.com edition.
Set the Planet size to 600, and make sure the Planet color is 0a4664.
The outer atmosphere color usually works best with white or a brighter version of the planet color, since our planet is blue we set the atmosphere color to a bright blue such as b0eeff.
Also set the sun orientation to 315, and untick the Add Glow box.
That should give us this:
See that selection around the planet? We’re going to need it for a path so click on Select->To path.
It looks like nothing happens, but the path is actually stored in the paths dialog.
We also need another path from that as well, but we want it slightly smaller, so first go to Select->Shrink, and shrink by 1.
After you’ve done that go to Select->To path.
Now we have two paths, one slightly smaller than the other, we’re going to use them both later when we work on the atmosphere.
Just get rid of that selection we don’t need it anymore. Select->None.
We’re going to customize our planet a little, we’ll start out with the shadow.
Delete the layer named “planet shadow”, and then create a new layer and name it “shadow”.
Use the Ellipse Select tool to create a circle about 800×800 covering a large portion of the planet like in the image below:
Now fill that selection with black. (by using the Bucket Fill tool).
Next, get rid of the selection. Select->None.
Then Gaussian Blur by 250. Filters->Blur->Gaussian Blur.
Set the opacity of the layer to 95, this will allow a little bit of the planet to shine through the shadow.
Now we’re going to customize the atmosphere. I want it a bit smaller, and mainly focused on only one side of the planet.
To do this we’re going to add a Layer mask to the atmosphere layer so that we can control the opacity for different areas of the layer.
In the Layer Dialog, right-click on the layer named “planet atmosphere” and choose Add Layer Mask.
Set it to White (Full Opacity).
Now we need something to put inside that layer mask.
So duplicate the layer named “shadow” twice.
Your Layer dialog should look like this know:
Now merge our two new shadow layers into one. (Right-click on the top one and choose Merge Down). Change the name our new merged layer to “shadow mask”.
Select the “shadow mask” layer, and press Ctrl-C to copy it, then select the layer mask and press Ctrl-V to paste the layer into the layer mask, and then click on the anchor.
Make the “shadow mask” layer invisible by clicking on the eye, we will use this layer later.
The atmosphere could look a bit stronger, so duplicate the atmosphere layer, and reduce the opacity of the duplicate to 50.
We need to remove part of the shadow layer since it goes outside the planet.
To do that first select the layer named “planet base” in the layer dialog.
Next, grab the Fuzzy Select tool and click once in the middle of the planet so we get a selection of it, after that invert the selection. Select->Invert.
Now we have a selection of everything except the planet.
Select the “shadow” layer in the layer dialog, and then hit the “delete” button on your keyboard.
Our image should look like this afterwards:
Get rid of the selection. Select->None.
Remember those paths we made earlier? Well now we’re going to use them to add a little extra to our atmosphere.
Create two new layers, name them “line small” an “line large”. Make sure they’re both placed above the “shadow layer”.
Select the “line small” layer, and then doubleclick on the top Path in the Paths Dialog so it becomes active.
Next, set your color to c8ffff and click on Stroke Path.
Set the line width to 3.
Now Gaussian blur it by 3. Filters->Blur->Gaussian Blur.
Also, reduce the opacity of the layer to 50.
It should look like this afterwards:
(just click on a random tool to hide the path)
Now we’re going to do the same with the other path.
So select the “line large” layer, and doubleclick on the bottom path in the Paths Dialog to make it active.
Stroke it by 8.
After that you gaussian blur it by 12. Filters->Blur->Gaussian Blur.
Also remember to reduce the opacity to 50.
Next, add layer masks to both of those layers. (right-click on the layer and choose Add Layer Mask).
We’re going to use the “shadow mask” layer again as a layer mask, but we first need to make it a bit larger since “line small” and “line large” are a bit larger than the planet.
To make it a bit larger, first make the “shadow mask” layer visible, then duplicate the “shadow mask” layer once.
Now merge the two “shadow mask” layers into one layer.
After you’ve done that copy that layer and paste it inside the layer masks of our line layers.
Just delete the “shadow mask” layer afterwards, we don’t need it any longer.
Our image should look like this now, notice how the atmosphere and those lines we added are only visible on one side of the planet, that’s the magic of layer masks.
A quick final touch before we proceed to part 2, add a new layer below all the other layers and name it “simple stars”.
Grab the bucket fill tool and fill it with black.
Next add some HSV noise. Filters->Noise->HSV Noise
Set Holdness to 8, Saturation to 50, and Value to 200.
That should give this result:
Our basic planet is ready, now let’s head over to part 2 and texture it!
Click here to continue to part 2
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Charlie
December 18th, 2008
Thanks! Really enjoying your site and working through the tutorials. I’ve got my own planet sitting on my desktop now.
yay
December 19th, 2008
Charlie thanks for your comment, I’m glad you find them useful, there’s nothing like having your very own personal planet
lexor
December 19th, 2008
thanks for the nice tut
yay
December 19th, 2008
Your welcome lexor, thanks again for your help with the script. I cleaned up the comments a little so other readers won’t get confused with our wicked computer skills troubleshooting talk
brian
December 21st, 2008
great tutorial, yay. how did you make your avatar?
have you ever thought about doing a video tutorial? Rolf Steinort of Meet the GIMP solicits contributions. your tutorial is first rate.
yay
December 22nd, 2008
Thanks brian
The avatar is basically a bi-linear incandescent gradient created a little bit below the middle of the image, then whirled and pinched (by 360 if I remember correctly). Then that layer is duplicated and rotated 180. Make the rotated layer blue (with curves or colorize or whatever get’s the job done). Put it all on a black background, make a selection around the good-looking part and then Image->Crop to selection. Rotate or flip the image the way you want it.
That was all by memory so I hope I didin’t forget anything.
I don’t have the hardware to make a video tutorial unfortunately, my computer is prehistoric. I will get a better one eventually though, even if I have to sell all my Christmas presents!
Maybe then I could make a more advanced avatar and do a video tutorial on that
Jason
December 24th, 2008
Um….I saved file as….to my desktop and now I have no idea of how to get it into script-fu. I am on an Intel MacBook.
yay
December 24th, 2008
I’m not familiar with Mac, but from what I’ve heard all you should need to do is to move that file into the gimp scripts folder. To find out where that folder is, in Gimp go to Edit->Preferences, and then inside the Preferences window find Folders->Scripts. On the right it should say where you can find that folder. (there’s usually two folders, it shouldn’t matter which one you put it in).
See this image for an example from Ubuntu: http://gtuts.com/images/planet/1.jpg
After you’ve placed that file inside the folder, in Gimp just click on Filters->Script-Fu->Refresh Scripts. It should work after that.
Paul
December 27th, 2008
Thank you for an outstanding tutorial. I just went through Part 1 and am I impressed! This will definitely help me on rendering realistic planets. My hats off to you!
Paul
December 27th, 2008
In Part 2 Step 2:
“Open all of the textures in Gimp.”
You don’t specify, so do you mean to open one, and then the others “as layers”, or is the preparation on each done as separate images?
yay
December 28th, 2008
Thanks Paul, I’m glad you like it
You should open them as separate images.
AkRonin
December 30th, 2008
This is a fantastic tut! Thank you for the effort you put into it. It was real easy to follow and I had no problems creating my own little worlds. It’s a lot of fun to make these…
Srikar A
January 3rd, 2009
Awesome tutorial!
Denis
January 4th, 2009
Amazing tutorial. Love the pictures makes it all so easy
geekanddiva
January 6th, 2009
Thank you for this tutorial. I’m pretty much a Gimp beginner, interested in working with my photos, but I came across your site when searching for tutorials on layers. It covers a lot of ground in an easy-to-follow way and makes a lovely planet too.
Since it helps my memory to do a little recap, I’ll post one here as a favour:
Here’s what the tutorial covers:
Installing and running scripts
Select (To Path, Shrink, None, Elipse, Fuzzy, Invert, Rectangle, Free)
Paths (Select>To Path, Stroke Path)
Filters (Gaussian Blur, HSV Noise, Apply Lens, Emboss)
Tools etc (Bucket Fill, Colors>Desaturate, Crop to Selection, Clone, Scale Image, copy/paste textures, Move, Color Brightness & Contrast, Rotate, Feather edges, Fuzzy Brush)
Layers (Delete, Create, Opacity, Duplicate, Add Layer Mask, Merge Down, Anchor, Make Invisible, Merge Visible, Overlay Mode, Grain Extract Mode)
So – thank you!
yay
January 11th, 2009
Wow! I had no clue I covered all that stuff!
I’m happy to see that even beginners pull this one off as planet creation can be kind of tricky.
Albert
January 22nd, 2009
Howdee.
Man what a fantastic tutorial.
I have been using gimp for a while now and have done a few tutorials.
This is a very well documented one.
Excellant work!
Bring us some more!
Clixint Support
January 24th, 2009
Outstanding effort. May be one of images must be provided in full version so that users may use them as desktop wallpapers, such as
http://gtuts.com/images/planet/part3/6.jpg
Clixint support.
yay
January 24th, 2009
Thanks for the kind words guys
Clixint support: That is full size I’m afraid, it was only a small demonstration image so I never thought about making it larger. A planet wallpaper would be really cool though, I thought about making one many times I just never found the time, but hopefully there will be more planet wallpapers around now since a lot more people know how to create planets now
Punk7623
January 26th, 2009
Thank you very much. I used this tutorial to make an object for an object for a project for one of my classes. Very helpful.
bounty
January 28th, 2009
why my planet render will not work !?
help !
yay
January 28th, 2009
bounty: make sure you save the script as a .scm file (which it is by default), and not something else like notepad, because then it would become a .txt file.
It should be as easy as just downloading the script file, then place it in the scripts folder, and then refresh scripts (Filters->Script-Fu->Refresh Scripts)
Let me know if you run into problems
Laura
February 1st, 2009
Thanks for the tutorial! I’m also a beginner.
one thing i noticed you can do, is use a supernova filter, in the upper left corner, and make it so it looks like a sun there.
filters -> light -> supernova. just an idea.
Mordie1001
February 1st, 2009
Very cool, now if I could learn how to make a sun I could make a whole solar system
MangnumP
February 4th, 2009
This tutorial is great. I’ve learned a lot. Thanks !
Pat
Miller
February 9th, 2009
Hey, Yay, something cool in that style of your avatar is switching the layer mode to addition.
(There is an example at my website)
bounty
February 11th, 2009
ok Yay i try again thx And very great tut ! ;D
bounty
February 11th, 2009
How do i save as scm file ?
yay
February 11th, 2009
Bounty: You shouldn’t have to do anything special to save it as a .scm file, when you save the file it should automatically save as a .scm file. What operating system and browser are you using?
bounty
February 11th, 2009
i use notepad to write the script in but notepad can only save as .txt
so accully my questing was what program shall i use to save as scm ?
yay
February 11th, 2009
You shouldn’t have to use notepad at all. All you should have to is to open this page http://gtuts.com/images/planet/planet-render-gtuts-edition.scm
Then in your browser choose File->Save As
If the script doesn’t work after doing it like that, it’s most likely your browser messing up and saving it as an .html file instead of an .scm file, some browsers do that, like Internet Explorer 6. If you have Firefox or Opera installed try doing that with one of those.
If all else fails, download this zipped version of the script, you have to unpack it after download, and then move the unpacked script into the scripts folder. http://gtuts.com/images/planet/planet-render-gtuts-edition.zip
bounty
February 12th, 2009
Yay : thx it was the zip version i needed
yay
February 12th, 2009
No problem
Joshua
February 13th, 2009
Very thorough tutorial. Well done on the step by step explanations, this is very important but often forgotten.
Keep up the good work!
GentlemanGezzy
February 17th, 2009
Wow. I did my own using your tutorial and it came out really cool, I really love this tutorial. My first masterpiece thanks to you. I appreciate this a lot. Thanks. If you want to see how it came out, check my blog:gentlemangezzy.blogspot.com/
kelley
February 18th, 2009
Thank you, very easy to follow.
yay
February 19th, 2009
That’s a sweet planet you got there GentlemanGezzy, and thank you for all the kind words on your blog!
matt
February 21st, 2009
i get this really weird error message after i press ok on the planet script fu thing, its says this…what do i do?
Error while executing
(script-fu-planet-render-gtuts-edition 400 ‘(10 70 100) ‘(0 255 48) 320 1 FALSE)
ERROR: unbound variable (errobj gimp-layer-set-lock-alpha)
yay
February 21st, 2009
I’ll look into it right away, what version of Gimp are you running and what OS?
EDIT:
The only way I’m able to recreate your error message is by using an old version of Gimp (version 2.2). Simply updating to the latest version of Gimp should solve your problem. You can find the latest version of Gimp here: http://gimp.org/downloads/
Roger
February 22nd, 2009
This tut is top-notch!!
I’ve made planets with other programs and they haven’t turned out any where near as good as this – Whooo Hooo
Time to go play with textures
Thanks!!!
matt
February 22nd, 2009
ok thanks, im using 2.2.17 i think or something like that…im used to that interface and it sucks that i have to learn the new one…maybe i will, anyway thanks
Alex
February 25th, 2009
Hi yay,
Im stuck on the layer mask part. I’ve got my white (full opacity) layer mask set up correctly on my planet atmosphere layer. I’ve selected my shadow mask layer and pressed Ctrl-C to copy it. You then say….
“select the layer mask and press Ctrl-V to paste the layer into the layer mask, and then click on the anchor”
However when i do this it doesnt paste into the layer mask, it creates a new layer called “floating selection (pasted layer)”, and the layer mask is still empty.
Help please!
Cheers.
yay
February 25th, 2009
Sounds like you forgot to click on the anchor, try that and see if it solves your problem
RobW416
February 26th, 2009
I’m just a beginner. This is so cool. I created a planet. Thanks.
Alex
February 26th, 2009
Yes, thats done it! Thanks yay
Brittany
March 1st, 2009
This is a great tutorial
Im a total beginner and it was very easy to follow
your instructions where very clear
i have been trying to add a sun to my picture
but i cant get it to look right
any tips?
yay
March 1st, 2009
Brittany: Thanks I’m glad you liked it
Creating a really realistic sun takes a bit of practice and hard work, but creating a quick one with Gimp’s light and shadow filters is pretty easy, I’ll see if can create a mini tutorial on how to do that.
cjborodin
March 2nd, 2009
man this is great! just what i was looking for
thanks so much!
Harri
March 3rd, 2009
I’m not sure how to do the script part. I’ve down loaded it and i can’t figure out how to get started. I did refresh scripts. then i wet to file create and it wasn’t there…
Harri
March 3rd, 2009
I’ve tried downloading it with internet explorer.. still the same thing.
Here is how im downloading it
Right click your link up there (zipped version of the script) Then clicking “Download with free download manager” Then in the “Save to file” Drop box I paste that file we were talking about earlier(C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\.gimp-2.6\scripts) Then i click OK, Let it download. Then i go to gimp
•Filters > Script-fu > Refresh all.
Then I go under “File” Hover over “Create” and that “Misc” Box isn’t there.. That’s is far as I can get.
(( And yes this is the only account, Thus being the Admin account. ))
yay
March 3rd, 2009
You didn’t unpack it
after it’s downloaded, open up the C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\.gimp-2.6\scripts folder, then right-click on the file and choose Exctract Here.. (or something similiar like Unpack here)
Harri
March 3rd, 2009
Omg.. your not going to believe this. but it worked! -hugs ever so tightly- OMG! kay, if i need any help ill let you know. I’m getting started on my planetary work :3
Harri
March 3rd, 2009
One question ;o How do you get the layer diolog up. Where you can see your layers. its not on mine :C
yay
March 3rd, 2009
Excellent
by the way that unpacking thing works with all zipped files just in case you run into another one in the future.
yay
March 3rd, 2009
you can find the layer dialog in gimp under Windows->Dockable Dialogs
Or you can use the Windows->Layer, Channels, Paths, Undo..
Harri
March 3rd, 2009
OOH! look at mine!
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/treelanka009/Planet1part2finish.jpg?t=1236119440
Luke
March 5th, 2009
Hello everyone, could anyone help me?
I am stuck on the second part of step 5, where it says to Copy the shadow mask layer and put it in the layer mask. Whenever I copy the shadow past and try to paste it into the atmosphere layer mask, instead it becomes a new layer on top called Floated Selection (pasted layer). What am I doing wrong?!
All help is deeply appreciated.
Regards,
Luke.
yay
March 5th, 2009
Luke: You’re doing it right, that’s how Gimp works, when you paste it becomes a floated layer, and then when you click the anchor the floated layer is placed inside the layer mask.
So basically, just click the anchor and your problem is solved
Luke
March 5th, 2009
Thank you very much yay! Still good to know there are nice people on this planet.
Regards,
Luke.
cool gimp tutorial
March 6th, 2009
OMG!!!!!…so amazing….awesome tutorial!!!
Zen00
March 10th, 2009
Great tutorial, just wish for some better clouds is about all, more realistic, any suggestions?
yay
March 10th, 2009
Zen00: If your unhappy with the clouds you could create a seperate cloud texture instead of using the planet texture, close-up photos of mossy rocks sometimes make good cloud textures. Another (and probably quicker) way is to base your texture of a satelitte image, this website generates cloudmaps of earth: http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/clouds.php
A third way, that requires some painting skill, is to paint a cloud texture by hand (using the Iwarp tool could prove useful).
Harri
March 13th, 2009
Also an add on clouds, I don’t know how to make them on my planet. I’m good on EVERY THING else besides that :’x
love
March 14th, 2009
hey i’m confused at the part where it says to open all the textures do u just choose 1 you want to use or do you have to do it to all of them then merge them?
yay
March 14th, 2009
Open all the textures as separate images, desaturate them, then choose one of them as your base texture. There is no merging involved, later on in the tutorial you will be copying bits and pieces from the other images onto your base texture.
Alayna
March 15th, 2009
Wow! This is awesome! I added a little sun in mine! XD
love
March 15th, 2009
k thanx and i made 2 planets ones the blue one and i made a green one and fooled around in the colors section and it looks as if i have a really big cloud at one spot i will post link to green on later on
love
March 15th, 2009
heres the link for my green one only prob is the edges are a bit to green
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19622720@N02/3355995574/
love
March 15th, 2009
if u can post a comment on it or tell me here if you like it and wat i should improve
yay
March 15th, 2009
The green color is too sharp and intensive, making it hard to see details, if you could make it less bright or a different more natural color it would probably look better. If you feel it loses detail when you adjust the color, try increasing the contrast of the texture.
Are you perhaps using a dark (CRT?) monitor? Try to view your planet on different monitors.
Other than that the texturing job (which is the hardest thing to learn) looks nice, that large cloud looks really cool. If this is your first planet you should congratulate yourself, planet texturing is tricky business and you seem to have pulled it off.
So basically, just try to adjust the colors so they look less intensive, but rather more soft and natural
love
March 15th, 2009
yea i was kind of sleepy at nigh but ill see and try wat i can do
Harri
March 20th, 2009
I have a question and maybe you could add it to the tut.
How would I add rings to my planet? Would it be hard?
yay
March 20th, 2009
Creating rings is semi-complicated, it can be tricky to create rings that match the planet nicely. Here is a quick and very crude recipe for rings:
Basically what you do is to create a new image about two or three times the size of the planet (or just shrink the planet, your choice), then you create a a large circular selection and fill it with whatever color, pattern, texture you want your rings to be.
Shrink your selection by how thick you want the rings (e.g if you want them 100px thick, shrink by 100), then hit delete. Get rid of the selection (Select->None).
Use the Perspective Tool to tilt the rings and position them correctly.
Copy and paste the planet to a layer underneath the rings. Erase the top part of the rings where they overlap the planet in order to create the illusion that the top part of the rings go behind the planet
Harri
March 21st, 2009
Alright, I’ll try it out. And another question:
Lets say we make the planet sentient. And sentient people (like ourselves) Have light. And at night the planet is lit up. How would you do that on the night side of the planet and not the day side?
Lisaro
March 22nd, 2009
Great tutorial! I’m in the process of making a neat background and so far, it’s going great – even though I’ve only been using Gimp for about a week now. Thanks for posting it.
yay
March 22nd, 2009
Harri: If you make a separate layer with light on, and then add a layer mask to that layer, you could control the light with the layer mask (maybe it would work to copy the shadow layer of the planet into the layer mask and invert it? won’t now until you tried
)
SilverSage
March 24th, 2009
When I go to File> Create there’s no misc. option
yay
March 24th, 2009
SilverSage: If there is no Misc option you either forgot to refresh the scripts (Filters->Script-Fu->Refresh Scripts), or the script wasn’t installed correctly.
If the latter is the case, download this zipped version of the script: http://gtuts.com/images/planet/planet-render-gtuts-edition.zip
You have to unpack that file, then after it’s unpacked place the unpacked file in C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\.gimp-2.6\scripts
When you’ve done that, refresh the scripts (Filters->Script-Fu->Refresh Scripts)
SilverSage
March 25th, 2009
Thanks, I didn’t unpack the file correctly
NordicA
March 28th, 2009
Great tutorial… But i just wondering is the script an action script?
yay
March 28th, 2009
Thanks, the scripting language is called Script-fu, it’s a variant of Scheme.
Dallas
March 30th, 2009
Excellent tutorial. I’ve been wanting to learn how to do this for a long time now and my results turned out great! Thank you!
NoName
April 1st, 2009
Great tut, just what I was looking for
. Just wondering, I finished making my planet and I want to make the stars a bit more visible. Anyway I can do it without starting over? Thnx.
yay
April 2nd, 2009
NoName: Sure, all the stars are on the layer named simple stars, so editing that layer will not ruin the rest of the planet. Just select the simple stars layer, then adjust it as you please, maybe Colors->Brightness and contrast will help, just play around with it.
NoName
April 2nd, 2009
Thanks alot!! That did the trick!
Luc
April 9th, 2009
Wow, that’s very cool. I did the tutorial and now I’m gonna make some more planets and stuff. Thanks a lot!
Ramses
April 12th, 2009
Thanks a lot. Amazing work and very useful tutorial!
What do you think about to put some snow on planet poles? What would you suggest how to do it? Thankx.
Marcus
April 15th, 2009
Wow, speechless, I really don’t know what to say. See I recently got Ubuntu and it came with GIMP which i had no Knowledge of how to use (I’m used to paintbrush for windows) and so I began looking up tutorials but I’d have to say out of all of the ones that I viewed, yours is by far the most informative as well as fun and interesting. And I learned How tho make a SUPER-REALISTIC planet on the way!
Thanks for doing this tutorial, And I hope you make some more like it,
Marcus
Robin
April 15th, 2009
I got a question in the last stap when u use filter for the noise when i press ok i only see the black layer with the stars on it, i dont see the planet?
Ricky
April 17th, 2009
Thank you so much for this tutorial. This is the best one that I have seen so far. The way you explained step by step made it easy even for someone who is still a begginer. You have the best tutorials that I’ve used so far. I was wondering if you get a chance to make a tutorial on how to crop out a picture of a person that has a lot of fine hair strands. I’ve seen a couple but they make it hard to follow the steps.
Thanks Again
s-one
April 18th, 2009
can you make the planet without using the script?
yay
April 18th, 2009
Ramses: To create snow I would probably just paint the snow on a new layer and experiment with layer modes until it looks good.
Robin: Did you place the “simple stars” layer below all the other layers in the layer dialog?
s-one: It’s possible yes, but the script makes it easier. If you do not wish to use the script you need to manually create that blue circle with those bright blue edges you see in the first image in step 4.
Marcus and Ricky: Thanks for the kind words guys, I’m glad you found it useful.
Ricky, masking is probably the best way to deal with tricky selections like that, see this video tut: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEIORoqIi4c
s-one
April 19th, 2009
thanks dude,
the planet look awesome after its done.
TakashiKiD
April 20th, 2009
Thanks YAY thanks for the tutorial it was really easy for me to do and im not like expert at gimp either… was like the first time i used gimp and i found most of the thingys that i need to go, got a bit confused, but anyways heres what i did http://i310.photobucket.com/albums/kk424/GrimezyKid/desktop.png , and your avatar is awesome, did you make it yourself, if so how?
yay
April 20th, 2009
TakashiKiD: I’m glad to see beginners pulling this one off, since planet creation is kind of tricky
Yes I’ve made the avatar myself, it’s basically a bi-linear incandescent gradient created a little bit below the middle of the image, then whirled and pinched (by 360 if I remember correctly). Then that layer is duplicated and rotated 180. Make the rotated layer blue (with curves or colorize or whatever get’s the job done). Put it all on a black background, make a selection around the good-looking part and then Image->Crop to selection. Afterwards just rotate or flip the image the way you want it.
That was all by memory so I hope I didn’t forget anything.
TakashiKiD
April 20th, 2009
:S that to me sounds hard
i dont even know what half of that is
yay
April 21st, 2009
Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be able to do it once you have gotten some more gimp practice
Just keep learning gimp and you’ll easily be able to create an avatar like that.
rodo
April 30th, 2009
hey that looks really nice…
so far I’ve been doing some planets with some other tutorials and the last one and this one do not use the “map to sphere” option which I find really cool ’cause it turns my layers to a planet with shadows and all stuff… although it doesn’t give that realistic touch you got on those ones.
I’m thinking that’s because I was just making a planet from 0, with no texture at all.. the base images where just difference layers created by myself and the mixing with some other cloud layers and some layer mode modifications.
So.. what I wanna know is if there is a particular reason for me to not use the map to sphere option with your tut instead of using the lens thing?
yay
May 4th, 2009
rodo: I personally don’t like the map to sphere because it stretches the texture a lot, and it’s hard to control what details will be where on the planet. I have seen good looking planets made with map to sphere though, I just prefer not to use it
Sam
May 5th, 2009
I can’t figure out how to put the textures into GIMP! I’m running WinVista, btw
Can you help me? :/ lol
rodo
May 7th, 2009
Yay!! I just finished doing a moon prototipe (after a lot of failed attempts) but I got into trouble because of the shadow mask you use… I don’t understand how it works, so I just used the shadow the map to sphere option gives me and then I used the gradient tool to delete the small and large rings for the atmosphere glow on the dark side… still I keep getting a faint atmosphere effect on that side which I don’t seem to be able to get rid off..
So the layer mask… how do I use it?? I just create one and then … how do I make the dark part cover the actual rings? do you set the layer mask to a special mode or something like the normal layers?
test image: http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8580/testnui.jpg
ohh and you might wanna come around here and share your planets! I’m sure some of the guys working in campaigns will find your planets quite interesting for their mods. (it’s a game forum for “Freespace2″: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,41939.0.html )
Spence
May 26th, 2009
Probably a dumb question but I’m stuck after getting the zip file. I’m on a mac and this will be my first time using gimp seriously. I just don’t know how to get the file into my gimp scripts folder, or better yet where is my script folder? lol
Dazza
May 31st, 2009
Awesome tut! Easy to follow, thorough and clealry illustrated throughout. It was a wonderful adventure in creativity with just enough extra tips to ensure we can all make our planets ‘our own’. Thoroughly enjoyed following you =) Keep up the great work!
Merei
June 10th, 2009
Absolutely amazing. Thanks for this. I have been searching the web for the perfect tutorial in GIMP and I have found it.
Darklorddc
June 14th, 2009
This is a top notch tutorial. The only thing I changed is that I save the planets as pngs with no stars and use them as layers on more complex starfields.
Fantastic!
One question: Any idea on how to do worlds with ring systems?
Tyler
June 19th, 2009
Amazing. Just amazing, how all thr textures and colors work together.
Spud
June 22nd, 2009
Well, I am really stuck for words on this. It’s just such a well detailed tut with gob-smacking results and perfect. I can see I will be toying with what can be achieved for a long time to come
Eric
July 2nd, 2009
Thanks! What a great tutorial for learning some more advanced features of the GIMP. You know those pictures you take of the ground when you’re in an aeroplane? most people have a few in their personal photo collections, well some of them work great as planet textures, no cloning required.
Eric
July 2nd, 2009
oh and any tips on how to create ’saturn’ type rings?
Jacob
July 9th, 2009
I LOVED THIS TUTORIAL!!!!!!!
I think this is the best tutorial I have ever seen.
Thank you for this beautiful tutorial. Please make more.
Scott
July 16th, 2009
I feel sort of stupid, but I am TOTALLY stumped at step #6, where I am trying to delete the shadow layer that resides OUSIDE the planet base. As instructed, I go to select the Planet Base layer, then do my inversion which selects everything outside the base. Then when I go to delete the shadow layer, it removes the entire shadow layer in the dialouge box.
First off, my image does not look as dark on the shadowy side as the tutorial screenshot. Secondly, now I have no “shadow” layer which is referenced in step 7. How am I supposed to put the “line large” and “line small” layers above the “shadow” layer, if I deleted it in step 6?
Please help. I think I am missing something really basic….but I am just stumped on this and cant really move on.
oddy
July 16th, 2009
Fabolous !!!
I gotton to know this programm in school today
and now i have my own planet.
Wondefull.
thanks for your dedication.
It helped me really much
yay
July 17th, 2009
Scott: it seems like you’re deleting the entire shadow layer, instead of just the selection. After you got the selection like you want it, and you’ve selected the shadow layer, try hitting the delete button instead of deleting the layer. (alternatively, you can select Edit->Clear instead of using the delete button).
Scott
July 17th, 2009
YAY!!! Your advice was SPOT ON!! Thank you so much for helping me through that critical step. The key is doing “Edit -> Clear”. I very much appreciate your advice. Now I look forward to doing the rest of this impressive project. I love the idea of being able to create our own planets.
Thanks again!!
Plasma Snake
July 18th, 2009
Hey, when I try to save the script, I click File>Save As but then it doesnt let me save as an .scm, it gives me the option of .htm, .html, .mht, and .txt
I would use the zipped one but I have no clue how to unpack and I tried looking it up but it used a lot of terms I didnt understand.
Plasma Snake
July 18th, 2009
Nevermind I got it
Austrian_asdf
July 20th, 2009
YEAH!!! DUDE!!! xD
Your tut is an outstanding work and honestly the best GIMP tutorial I’ve ever seen in my … erm… carreer.
Keep it up!
Greetings
question
July 26th, 2009
wen u tell me to delete the shadow layer to get rid of the shadow oustide the planet it gets rid of all the shadow HELP
question
July 26th, 2009
nvm i pressed wrong delete button
Maurice.A.95
July 30th, 2009
hey great tutorial but i was thinking if it was impossible to make a planet with a ring on it like saturn
Kobs
August 2nd, 2009
Good tutorial. But, I’m still stuck on the whole script part. I have GIMP 2.6.6 and I put the file in my scripts folder.
When I click File>Create>… there is no “misc”option. Help?
Kobs
August 2nd, 2009
Wait, nevermind. I some comments of people who had the same problem as me. Thanks =]]
braille
August 4th, 2009
I will prolly have figured this out by the time you see this post but I have a reoccuring problem with extracting files. My computer asks me if I want to choose a program to do it manually or if i want to use the browser to find one. Either way, I still can’t open zipped files and this is really starting to annoy me, I read all the comments on your page and this tutorial looks awesome and you are very patient with even the people who ask the same questions others already have. So I was wondering if you could tell me a program to download which would allow me to extract this file and many others lol. Thanks.
Nick
August 4th, 2009
Hey this is a great tutorial so far but I am stuck on step 7, where it says “double click on the top path in the paths dialouge” I don’t have a paths dialogue my “layers” window doesn’t look like yours either, I just have the “layers” not the layers,channels,paths. Umm, so that’s it, that’s where I am stuck lol, what do I do?
Nick
August 4th, 2009
Okay i got it, The little arrow in the layers dialogue box that faces to the left, right across from the word “layers” you click on that and you can add your “channels” and “paths”. I feel a little silly for asking befor I tried to find that out but oh well, I hope someone else learns from my mistake!
Chriss-Cross
August 5th, 2009
Hey Ho, greetings in thanks from Germany^^
Thats a really nice tutorial to make gorgeous and real planets.
Above all to learn the exposure and options of GIMP.
My english isn`t the best, that’s just the point that i take it non-verbal^^”
I don`t know how long the pics are online, but i hope you see examples as helpful suggestions…
http://s854.photobucket.com/albums/ab109/Chriss-Cross/SG-Realities/
The clouds are formed with the IWrap filter additional ~.^
Ross
August 15th, 2009
Thanks a lot, man! This was a great tutorial. I made an awesome-looking brown planet with it~ ;P
Phil
August 16th, 2009
Very nice set of tutorials mate. Even a gimp idiot like me could follow them…
Now how about a tutorial to do a star close up with solar flares and stuff, then we can design whole star systems….
I play Battle Fleet Gothic btw so making my own star systems would be a very handy skill for campaigns…
Phil.
Matt
August 20th, 2009
Brilliant, I only started on gimp a few days ago and cant understand most tutorials, but even I could follow this one
10/10
Ruben
August 21st, 2009
Simply perfect! It’s the best tutorial I have ever seen, it goes slowly and makes all the work easy and interesting.
I have always wanted to learn how to do this type of pictures and you have given me te perfect solution, I will do more difficult and impressionant pictures when I will have parctise in it, it’s too funny and the results are… no words.
But I have a question, I would do pictures with some land in the first plane, like mountains and things like that, any suggestion?
Thanks for all ;D
yackobe
August 26th, 2009
Hey! I put a sun on mine using the supernova tool. only that made the whole background kind of yellowish. so I turned up the contrast and it was sorted.
Wah-hey! I fixed a problem on GIMP all by myself!
Your tutorials are amazing. Make more!
waterbuddy16
August 28th, 2009
i made theese http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4642/sekhmet.png
and theese with a little help from this tut http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7365/serenity.png
waterbuddy16
August 28th, 2009
yackobe for your sun prolemoe instead of supernova try lens flare it gives it a more real touch ;D
stephanie
September 2nd, 2009
this is a great tutorial but i need help on the copy and pasting to our line layers
hheeellppp!!!
stephanie
September 2nd, 2009
never mind i got it!!!!
sweet to the next step i go!!!!!!
stephanie
September 2nd, 2009
i did it and it was pretty easy your instructions are great and easy to fallow
(even though i got a little stuck that was all me lol)
mahvin
September 2nd, 2009
Awesome tutorial! Thanks so much for creating it. Can’t wait to find more.
You can see my Planet rendering results on my blog at http://www.mahvin.com/?p=997
Wemerien
September 5th, 2009
Hi All !
Thanks for the tutorial. I just tried to figure out how to realistically render seas and continents. Here is the result, a desert/lakes planet called Andarta :
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1782/andarta.jpg
I just added one more layer by duplicating the “texture” one, rotated it 180° then set it to “Color” mode. There, you just have to play with color balance (cyan and/or blue), brightness and contrast to make that look like seas or lakes.
I guess the opposite way is good too : playing with color balance of the “texture” layer to get it green or yellow with a blue planet base and erasing some aeras to make them blue.
Just my two cents, for what they’re worth.
teddbear55
September 6th, 2009
Amazing tutorial! Thanks for creating it, really easy to understand and the result is awesome!!
Michael Oppedijk
September 30th, 2009
Thanks for the tutorial. Your explanation was great and easy to follow. Keep up the good work!
daniel
October 2nd, 2009
wouldn’t it be much simpler to create a cool texture/gradient-based filter and map it to a sphere?
yay
October 2nd, 2009
map to sphere tends to stretch the texture a lot, and gives you less control over what goes where, I’ve seen good planets created with map to sphere, but i prefer doing it the other way.
Hunter
October 12th, 2009
hey this is a great tut on how to make planets! i’ve just started to really use GIMP and this has helped me heaps!
check out my planet and tell me what ya think!
http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/HunterRavenwood/?action=view¤t=Planet.jpg
Headdie
October 21st, 2009
Nice one mate just turned me from near novice to passable for a pro in about 4 hours (including tweak time) time to start background work for my little mod, that script helped loads thanks to you and Rore
Kayray43
October 25th, 2009
This tut was great! I made the planet in Part 1 perfectly! Thanks! Then, when I got to part 2, my computer pretty much failed from so many gimp windows. Sadly to say, I lost all of the work I had done. I had not saved anything yet, because I was not nearly done, but I should have. I am so sad, mad, and disapointed in myself. I restarted my comp and saved the planet picture on part 1 and tried to add the brand new texture layer I made, but it didn’t work because, OF COURSE, I needed to have the other layers for it to fit right. So here I am, after around 2 hours of hard work, without ANYTHING
I wish there was some way I could go back in time and save both parts.
yay
October 26th, 2009
Kayray43:
You can download the xcf from part 1 here: http://gtuts.com/images/planet/part1/planet-part1.zip
WillX47
November 1st, 2009
Man, this is the best tutorail I have ever used and I have used my fair share. I’ve been using Gimp for a year or to yet I still found some good tricks in here. The out come was amazing, now I just need to make one big enough for my laptop background.
Aaron Kapp
November 2nd, 2009
Nice tutorial. Do you have any tips for creating our own textures from scratch? i tried to do that rather than copy and tweak satellite photos and i am not sure how well i did.
Aaron Kapp
November 2nd, 2009
sorry for the double post, but @ eric: what i did was render a plasma cloud, desaturate it, then i went to filters–>distorts—>Iwarp and then i just applied a swirl distort repeatedly. i am sure there is a better and faster way, but thats just one way i did.
Janet
November 4th, 2009
Great tutorial! Easy to follow and fun! Thanks!!!!
Minda
November 16th, 2009
I can’t click to path, in step 3.
what should I do?
Dave
November 21st, 2009
Great tutorial. I wonder what would need to be different to change the light source? The light source on these planets shows much more darkness than light. I tried taking your tutorial, and at the end, inverting the colors of the shadow layer and the layer masks, but that didn’t give a great effect. The light side of the planet was way too bright, while the dark side wasn’t dark enough. Any suggestions?
Keiron
November 23rd, 2009
I have gotten to step 3 on the 2nd part of the tutorial no problems upto now, the clone tool. I have done as said hold ctrl click let go select the other and try to paint. All visible options are the same but when i “paint” / click/drag what ever it just seems to move a lined box that starts the size of the image around into what ever shape you like, after moving that around does nothing. I don’t know how the clone tool is meant to work as i’ve never used it but wondered what i’m doing wrong. When i did the ctrl click like told to i never got the circle round the tool, i get a irregular square shape and the cross Axsis, nothing selects/deselects at all. Any ideas?
Bella
November 25th, 2009
This helped SO much! Thank you!
Chris
December 1st, 2009
I’m actually having trouble with this tutorial. I havn’t gotten to the textures yet. When I tried to delete the shadows in the shadow layer after inverting the fuzzy tool selection, nothing happened. Neither the line large or line small part worked for me and those layer masks applied incorrectly. I followed all instructions correctly a double checked them. I don’t know what happened. I’m still going to go through with the texturing to see what it will look like at the end.
Derelicht
December 4th, 2009
I tell you what…I have never seen a more amazing planet tutorial!
Josh
December 6th, 2009
Question:
I’m working on the textile part of the tutorial. Should the textures be open in the same Gimp window, or multiple ones?
Cody
December 10th, 2009
dude it sooo easy thank you!!!!!!!!
David
December 11th, 2009
yay,
I’m fascinated by astro-physic and the beauty of our universe, use often Celestia and have been working for years on open-source software now.
I took 2 hours working on your tutorial and I finally got my new and absolute unique planet. I’ve been starting working with Gimp 2 years ago for work purposes and this is the best drawing tool ever. I want to thank you so much for this more than fantastic tutorial, which is brilliant documented and leads to a perfect result. Now I’m gonna build a much bigger one for my twinview ! I just wonder how you happen to come to this kind of realization, because regarding the numberous steps, it is really a very complicated process and should take years to learn, shouldn’t it?
Thanks again
David
Roberto
January 6th, 2010
Great tutorial. It’s clearly explained, the screen prints are comprehensive and if you follow the instructions it works. Let me know if you ever write anything on how to set up a computer network!
Roberto
demck85
January 6th, 2010
awesome tutorial. I learned something and the results are great.
Gipato
January 9th, 2010
Great tutorial! Thanks!
dee
January 13th, 2010
Thanks so much for sharing this tut, it’s fabulous! I’m a GIMP newbie, and still able to follow (well ok, I deleted my first planet and started over, and now it looks good). Still have to do part #2.
I can’t imagine how you could even think of putting this together, there are so many steps, you’re brain is amazing! Please do more tuts, would love to see one on how you created your avatar.
dee
dee
January 13th, 2010
Q on part 2, around step 7. How do you get the textures to take on the sphere shape? When you merge the visible layers, the textures are still square?
thx
dee
yay
January 13th, 2010
dee, thanks for the kind words
as for your question, the Apply Lens (Filters->Light and Shadow->Apply Lens) we use in step 7 will make them sphere shaped automatically. Just remember to check the “Make surroundings transparent” checkbox.
David
January 16th, 2010
Thank you for this tutorial textures can be used in blender as well
dou
January 16th, 2010
whoaaa…it is been a year since you post this awesome tutorial. I am newbie of Gimp, hope I can useful this stuff like you. Sir, would you share again some awesome tuts for us?
Adam
January 25th, 2010
Thanks for sharing this tutorial man, you’ve done the community a great service.
Here’s what I came up with, following your tutorial almost by the letter. I literally installed GIMP, and then 5 minutes later tried this out. I’ll experiment with the colour of the planet at the start, aswell as using different textures and seeing how they work out. You’ve helped one more noob. Thanks again.
Adam
January 25th, 2010
A link might help. :S
Adam
January 25th, 2010
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/iFatAdZ/BluePlanet.jpg
Alex
January 26th, 2010
How would I attempt to make “city lights” on the planet, so it appears there is indeed a civilization on the planet… Great tutorials though!
Jesse
January 28th, 2010
I never got past step one
it is trying to open it as a starcraft file, and it says
“Make sure this is a valid starcraft file”
yay
January 28th, 2010
Jesse, download the zipped version of the file, unpack it, then move the script inside your Gimp scripts folder. That way you don’t have to open the script, you just move it
rhys
February 5th, 2010
ive got the texture sphere and i go to change it to 600×600 but the numbers keep changing
rhys
February 5th, 2010
DONT WORRY IVE DONE IT KNOW AND I ADDED AND SKIPPED BITS OF THE TUTORIAL SO MINE LOOKS COMPLETLEY DIFFERENT. BUT STILL AS GOOD
Gibbs
February 7th, 2010
Fantastic. Straight forward and flawless.
10/10
Faizul
February 9th, 2010
my…my… i’ve been creating the planet my own way.. but yours are even better.. gotta switch to your method immediately… your tut rocks!!
andré
February 18th, 2010
damn!!
best tutorial ever
Ash
February 22nd, 2010
Awesome tutorial. I had a ton of making the planets. Thanks for making it detailed so that newbies like me can learn a lot and still make something super neat. One of the best tutorials I have found. Thanks!
Blacksmith
February 26th, 2010
i had a problem with step 3.
i cant press the “from path” button
please Help
B.S
yay
February 28th, 2010
Blacksmith, if the Select->To path is grayed out, it means you currently dont have a selection in your image, perhaps you clicked somewhere in the image by accident and lost the selection. Just redo step 2 to get that selection back, then go to Select->To path
Alex
March 1st, 2010
Okay, I completely love the straight-forward instructions so far, but I can’t find the fourth texture that’s supposed to be in the CGTextures site. Please help!
yay
March 1st, 2010
Alex,
sorry about that, they seem to have reorganized their site after I wrote the tutorial. The texture is now found under Soil->Rough
I’ll change that in the tutorial, thanks for letting me know about that problem
Traa1703
March 4th, 2010
Really good tutorial thanks.
airaani
March 6th, 2010
This tutorial is wonderful, thank you so much for posting it! I experimented with some different textures and got some great effects.
Domestic Delinquent
March 6th, 2010
This is a really excellent tutorial. I made a nice blog template using the techniques I learned here!