CompuServe Thread

#Dumb question-Stars

3 messages in this thread
#1154From: Joe CotelleseOct 10, 1994 9:15 PM
Ok, a dumb question. How can I successfully create stars in Imagine? I first did the obvious and used the the Stars setting in the Globals dialog. This worked but I couldn't animate it. Then, I got a little more creative. I created a very big sphere, put all of my objects inside of it and then mapped the 3.0 sparkle texture to it. Same problem, couldn't animate it. I think I am on the right track but I have hit a wall. Any suggestions that don't involve a brush map? Thanks, Joe Cotellese
#1156From: Philip GrossblattOct 10, 1994 9:32 PM
>> Any suggestions that don't involve a brush map? << Yeah, but it DOES involve 100$- get in on the constant upgrade program. Version 3.1 can animate the stars, supposedly (haven't tried it). (assuming you mean: make the stars move when the camera moves, if not disregard this whole message<G>).
#1159From: GreG tsadilasOct 10, 1994 11:51 PM
Joe, Imagine 3.1 (Part of the constant update program) has fixed the non-animatable starfield. However, you are on the right track to creating a better looking starfield. Create a large sphere, make it black in color. Make it BRIGHT. Apply the confetti.itx to it. Give it the two colors to use to interpolate all the different colors…give it a dark grey, and a light grey or white. Read the texture doc for all the parameters in CONFETTI.ITX, and how to control how many "stars" are rendered, and how their size is controlled. Keep in mind, that stars that are too small, when animated will "twinkle". This is an inherent problem that is even noticeable in Star Trek:TNG, and Babylon 5. The effect is reduced with larger resolutions, and larger star sizes. -GreG P.S. The built in star-field generator does not render the stars, so the "twinkling" problem doesn't happen.