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Galaxy Tutorial


jerry533482

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This tutorial is available as a PDF. Click here to view or download it

Hey guys. I've done some searching, and i couldn't find any other galaxy tutorials, so i figured I'd make one. This was inspired by learning a couple other tutorials, and watching star trek TNG. Forgive me if the screenshots are a bit hard to see; this is my first tutorial.

 

First you're going to need a few plugins:

- Color Filter

- Sinewaves

- Feather

 

Your goal is this:

1

 

1. Create a new picture, at 800x600, with white as your background.

 

2. fill the background with black, or press ctrl+shift+I to invert colors.

 

3. Add noise at the following settings(effects>noise>add noise):

2

 

4. Add a new layer. Make sure your primary color is black and you secondary is white. Render clouds at the following settings(default), with the mode set to difference:

3

 

5. Repeat the clouds effect 3 to 5 times(ctrl+F). If you do it correctly, it should look like this:

4

 

6. Run color filter(effects>color>color filter). Set the wheel to the color you want your nebulae to be. I choose dark blue because it looks more realistic:

5

 

7. Once you've rendered the effect, go to layer properties for the current layer and set the blending mode to glow. Once you've done this, reduce the visibility bar until you can see most of the stars in the background.

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8. Hit okay, then add 2 more layers. Select the uppermost layer(it should be layer 4). Set you primary color to white with an opacity of 255, and your secondary color to white with an opacity of 0. select the gradient tool, choose radial mode, and make a small sphere in the center of screen.

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9. Switch to layer below(should be layer 3). Leave your secondary color alone, but change your primary color to the color you want your galaxy to be. I choose light blue because it looks more realistic. Make another radial gradient that overlaps the white one.

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10. Merge the top two layers. Now we have to add stars, so we're going to need the magic wand. Select the magic wand from the toolbox, change selection mode to add(union), and keep clicking the blob until you've got the whole thing selected. You're probably going to have to reduce the tolerance. you can also select the outside and press ctrl+I to invert. Once you've got it selected, go to effects>noise>add noise, and render with the following settings:

9

 

11. Next. deselect(ctrl+D), and go to effects>distort>sinewaves. Use the following settings:

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12. Now we're going to start building the actual galaxy. Go to effects>distort>twist. Use the following settings:

11

 

13. Now, we've got too much galaxy, so we're going to have to crop it. select the eclipse selection tool from the toolbox, and select the portion from the twist that you want to actually be in the galaxy. Hint: hold shift as you select, to make a perfect circle. If you have to move the selection, remember to select the white arrow from the toolbox, so you move the selection; not the actual pixels.

12

 

14. Hit ctrl+I to invert selection, and press delete.

13

 

15. If you've finished the previous step correctly, it should look like this:

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16. The edges are probably a bit sharp, so use the feather effect(effects>object>feather) at the default settings.

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17. Time to finish up. Go to Layers>rotate/zoom, and use the following settings.

16

 

18. You're done! It should look something like this:

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Congrats on your PDN galaxy. Remember, these are only basic guidelines, you can mod the steps to your preferences to make your own unique design.

18

Thank you for trying my tutorial.

 

Space...The Final Frontier. -James Tiberius Kirk; circa 2260s

YLOD VICTIM

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Thank you very much jerry533482. I been looking for something like this tutorial as well. As suggested, I did modify some of the steps. After I was done with Layer 3, I duplicated that particular layer, employed Displacement, then set the blend mode to Color Dodge, opacity at 186.

Hidden Content:
galaxy.png

schmang.png

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I have to add that this is aa great use of the sine waves pulgin! The only problem that I have with this is that the noise effect got stretched out due to the twirl. I would have made a separate layer for noise or add the noise after the twirl.

finalsig2.jpg

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You know if you guys want to the stars to appear more fine, you could just try adding more noise after steps 11 and 12(same layer or different layer); but if you do you're probably going to have to blur it up a bit or use feather at higher settings, otherwise the galaxy will look pixelated. Or you could skip the noise step all together. Experiment with it.

Space...The Final Frontier. -James Tiberius Kirk; circa 2260s

YLOD VICTIM

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You know if you guys want to the stars to appear more fine, you could just try adding more noise after steps 11 and 12(same layer or different layer); but if you do you're probably going to have to blur it up a bit or use feather at higher settings, otherwise the galaxy will look pixelated. Or you could skip the noise step all together. Experiment with it.

True, very true

finalsig2.jpg

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You're doing it fine. It's just when you use layer rotate/zoom, make sure you don't zoom in too far, and you twist the galaxy so it looks good. You're gonna have to experiment with it a bit.

Space...The Final Frontier. -James Tiberius Kirk; circa 2260s

YLOD VICTIM

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I ran the alpha displacement plugin on the galaxy without providing a mask. Doing that can make stuff look 3D. After running the plugin at -1 pixel shift on the y-axis, it looked too aliased :AntiAliasingOff:. I decided to run a little bit of a surface blur on it.

galaxyc.th.jpg

finalsig2.jpg

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I'm trying this effect right now, but I've noticed that a shift of -1 doesn't do anything. However, I also noticed that the pic you provided is of fairly low resolution. So, if the image you're working with is large, you should use a larger shift, right? Cause this seems to be a cool effect.

Space...The Final Frontier. -James Tiberius Kirk; circa 2260s

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I'm trying this effect right now, but I've noticed that a shift of -1 doesn't do anything. However, I also noticed that the pic you provided is of fairly low resolution. So, if the image you're working with is large, you should use a larger shift, right? Cause this seems to be a cool effect.

The shift of -1 doesn't do much is the point. Repeat the effect like 10 times. If you do a -10 shift, you won't get a smooth look, it will only me like Bam, Bam. Not a smooth glide.

finalsig2.jpg

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Hey Jerry this is a really good tutorial . I`m going to have to try this one. Your right about the lack of decent galaxy tuts, I`ve looked all over for them and they are hard to find - if you find one at all!. :wink:

 

 

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And my Alternatives to PDN

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I've actually implemented this before I posted this tut, but I never knew where to post it.

rotatinggalaxy.gif

The animgif plugin is responsible for the white bar at the bottom, but I think that's normal.

Space...The Final Frontier. -James Tiberius Kirk; circa 2260s

YLOD VICTIM

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I've implemented this before I posted this tut, but I never knew where to post it.

rotatinggalaxy.gif

The animgif plugin is responsible for the white bar at the bottom, but I think that's normal.

Amazing job! Just need to make it a bit smoother, if you have time. I will eventually. I think it might be a bit :AntiAliasingOff:, but that could just be me.

finalsig2.jpg

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Astronomy Fans group on facebook

I see things, I'm an astronomer

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Hey mcamp14, remember the 3D galaxy effect you did on page 1? Well, could you try animating it when you have some spare time? That would look awesome. I'd explain how I did it my animation here, but it would be too complex to fit into a single reply. WTH, maybe I'll make a tut for it. :)

Space...The Final Frontier. -James Tiberius Kirk; circa 2260s

YLOD VICTIM

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  • 4 weeks later...

A sort of an update:when you add noise, set the coverage to 100, the color saturation to 0 and the intensity to less than 50 to get a more smooth look in your galaxy's stars while spreading them more evenly. I'm trying to implement this with my upcoming sig.

Space...The Final Frontier. -James Tiberius Kirk; circa 2260s

YLOD VICTIM

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  • 6 months later...

I really love this effect! I'm adding it to the sun I made from your other tutorial... I did feather just a bit more than you did, because it made the ends look a little less sharp, but I like it!

Tigereyes2001Sig1-1.jpg
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  • 2 years later...

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