The Planet X Files #09

The surface map started out as a randomly generated Perlin Noise terrain with a relatively even surface. Then I manually raised and lowered areas to get the "atoll" shape with the volcano in the center. The toughest part was getting the sun's angle just right, so that the crater had a slight glow.

The only post-processing I did was the cloud of ash drifting out of the volcano. I used Photoshop for that. First I painted the ash on a separate layer with the paintbrush tool, using a pattern of grays and whites for a slight 3-D effect. Then I used the smudge tool, followed by a gaussian blur of 6.4, to make it "smokey." Finally I reduced the transparency of the ash layer to 60%, and merged the two layers.

"You could see the different directions of the wind in the upper & lower atmosphere"

"Nice job. I love scenes like this :)"

09

Volcanic Atoll	Paul Dexter
The surface map started out as a randomly generated Perlin Noise terrain with a relatively even surface. Then I manually raised and lowered areas to get the "atoll" shape with the volcano in the center. The toughest part was getting the sun's angle just right, so that the crater had a slight glow. The only post-processing I did was the cloud of ash drifting out of the volcano. I used Photoshop for that. First I painted the ash on a separate layer with the paintbrush tool, using a pattern of grays and whites for a slight 3-D effect. Then I used the smudge tool, followed by a gaussian blur of 6.4, to make it "smokey." Finally I reduced the transparency of the ash layer to 60%, and merged the two layers. "You could see the different directions of the wind in the upper & lower atmosphere" "Nice job. I love scenes like this :)"