Tutorial: Planet Rings

Here is a simple technique to make planet rings, done in Blender 2.64:

This tutorial will assume you already have at least some basic knowledge to how Blender works and that you know how to use the interface and such.
1.
First start a new scene, then add a plane (Add>Mesh>Plane).

 2.
Now go into the material settings and click the "New" button.
3.

 Now set the specular to 0, turn transparency one, and set alpha to 0 (right image).














4.
Now go into the texture settings (one button to the right of the material settings) and click "New", much like you did on the material settings.
5.

Next set the type to "Blend", progression to "Spherical" and under the "Influence" settings, turn on "Alpha".

 6.
Now in the "Colors" section (in the texture settings as well), turn on "Ramp", click the "Add" button to add a new point to the gradient and using the button circled in blue, set the color to black and the alpha to 0 on this new point, then slide the points around using the bar (not circled) to match the image to the right.






7.

Now you can add your planet to the middle of the plane, if your planet doesn't have a material add one.

Then go into the material settings, and turn on "Receive Transparent" under the "Shadow" panel.

This is so that the transparent areas of the plane do not cast shadow over your planet, just the ring.

Also do this to anything that is going to be in the planes shadow.

So far your rings might look something like this:









8.
What you'll want to do next is go back to the "Colors" section of the texture settings (If the settings don't show the first time you click them, click the material settings, then the texture settings) of your plane (ring) and add some points, adjusting the colors, alpha and positions as you've done before in step 6 until you get something you like:

Thanks for reading!

Skyboat

 Here's my most recent model, it's meant to be a floating boat, with the gas chambers inside the hull and the wings and such meant more for control than lift.

 

Feel free to comment or critique!

Thanks for looking.

Feel free to use these images for your own blog or website, just be sure to link back, thanks!

Tip: Using Contrasting or "Clashing" Colors

  A contrasting color can be used to draw attention to a particular part of an image it can be used to make a subject stand out against a background where it would otherwise blend in.
   A contrasting color is a color on the opposite side of the color wheel, a color does not have to be on the exact opposing side of the color wheel to be considered contrasting.

Here are a few examples of contrasting colors:

 For the next couple of examples we will be using the orange/blue contrast.

When you have an image where a subject seems to blend into the background, it may be good to use contrasting colors to make your subject stand out more.








If coloring the subject in the contrasting color of the background is not feasible, you may want to try using lighting to provide contrast, for example, if your scene is a blue winter scene, consider using the warm orange glow of  candlelight to provide a contrasting color light over your subject.

Here is an example of lighting being used to provide contrast, all the the spheres are a grey color and orange lights are being used to provide contrast to a subject that would ordinarily blend in.








I hope this post helps you in your future art projects, thank you for reading!

Images in this post may be used on your own blog or website as long as you link back, thanks!

Metal Monster

Here's my newest project, a metal monster, I suppose it's half octopus, half spider or something like that.

It's part Blender and part Gimp, the smoke and slight glare being done in Gimp.

If you want to use the image for your own blog or website, go ahead, just be sure to link back here, thanks!

New Item In My Shop Today!

   Added something new to my TurboSquid shop today, a sci-fi device of sorts.
It isn't much, but at least it's cheap:

Here's a link to the page, with more renders and some wireframe renders:
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/3d-model-device-parts/699546

New 3D model -- Space Fighter

I enjoy doing a lot of sci-fi themed works and such, here's my most recent model, a space fighter:

Want to use my pictures?

In case anyone wants to use any of my previously posted images for their own blog or website, go ahead, just be sure to link back to me, of course, if you want to use any of it for your wallpaper, go right ahead.

Old Airplane

Did some more looking through my pictures, here's an airplane model I did awhile ago:

Some renderings of it are included with a game making program called "Game Develop", along with some of my other graphics, (not all the graphics that come with Game Develop were made by me though).

Dinosaurs

Here is a few dinosaurs I made for a contest once, none of them got a spot, but I'm still happy with some of them anyways.

Tip: How to Use Depth of Field.

Depth of Field[DOF] can be a very useful tool for adding realism and defining scale of digital scenes, but it is often used improperly, sometimes giving scenes a bad sense of scale, hopefully this post can teach you how to properly use DOF on both large and small scenes.

  In this computer render, DOF is used improperly, the chairs look miniature, as though they were dollhouse furniture.
  The DOF makes the scene go from blurry to clear to blurry again as you get further from the camera, however the clear point is several feet from the lens, try to avoid this.
   In general it might be best to avoid staying away from DOF in large scenes, however there are instances where you can use DOF correctly in large scenes.


 
In this photograph, you can tell that the leaves in the background are quite a distance away from the subject in the foreground, the scene does not appear as though it could fit in a dollhouse. The focus is very near to the camera, and the amount of focus on objects far from the camera does not change very much with distance.

 You can also do the reverse of the above image, where objects close to the camera are blurry, and objects further out are clear.












I hope this post helps you achieve better results with your renders, feel free to leave comments or suggestions!

Thanks for reading!