MAXON Computer Cinema 4D Tutorials: Orion Nebula

Tips & Techniques - Smells Like Almonds

Smells Like Almonds:
Orion Nebula
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Project Works with:
XL Requires:
Version 7.1+

With the release of XL 7.1 an advanced shader system has been included, SLA 2.5, which gives extreme control over the Material editor along with new powerful Volume Shaders. This tutorial will go over a technique that can be used to create a realistic nebula using only the bhodiNUT Channel Shaders. This tutorial was based off of the actual Orion Nebula.

Step 1: To begin, a starfield must be created to use as a background for this nebula. Create a Particle Emitter (Objects=>Particle=>Emitter). Change its attributes to the following: Particle tab - Birth Rate (Editor & Rendered)=350, Speed=3500m. Emitter tab - Emitter Type=Cone, X Length=1000m, Y Length=1000m, Horizontal=90 degrees. Copy the Emitter by holding Ctrl (PC) or Cmnd (MAC) then clicking and dragging until the mouse pointer turns into an arrow with a plus sign in the Object Manager, then release. Rotate this newly created Emitter –90 degrees on the P in the Coordinates Manager.

To have these emitters emit star-like objects create a Sphere (Objects=>Primitive=>Sphere) and change its attributes by double clicking on the Sphere icon in the Object Manager. Change its Radius to 1.5m and click OK. Copy this Sphere by holding Ctrl (PC) or Cmnd (MAC) then clicking and dragging until the mouse pointer turns into an arrow with a plus sign, then release. Drag and drop each Sphere into an individual Emitter. Group both of the Emitters in the Object Manager by going to Objects=>Group Objects and then dragging the crosshair cursor around the Emitters. Rename the Null Object ‘White_Stars’.

Step 2: With the White_Stars object selected use the Duplicate Function (Functions=>Duplicate) and in the Duplicate settings change Copies to 3 and the Y movement to 0m. Drag and drop the original White_Stars object into the newly created Null Object. Rename the Null Object ‘Stars’. Now inside of the Stars object rename the duplicated objects the following: ‘White_Stars’, ‘White_Stars’, ‘Blue_stars’, and ‘Red_Stars’.

Step 3: Select the first White_Stars object in the Object Manager and move to Z=1500m, also move the second White_Stars object to Z=-1300m. Move the Blue_Stars object to X=-900m, and the Red_Stars object to X=1000m. The placement of these emitters will give a sense of depth and randomness to the star field. To give a more random feeling to the blue and red stars change all of the emitters inside Blue_Stars and Red_Stars objects' attributes to a Birth Rate (both fields) of 50.

Now you don’t want all of the blue and red stars to have the same pattern, you want to randomize this as well. The Seed setting inside each Emitter will do this. Starting with the first Emitter inside the Blue_Stars object and ending with the last Emitter in the Red_Stars object input each Seed pattern in the following order: 50, 30, 80, 130. Each number is to go into each Emitter under the Blue_Stars and Red_Stars objects in the Seed field.

Step 4: Create a new material in the Material Manager (File=>New Material). Double click on the icon to open up the Material dialog. Rename this material ‘White’. Enable only the Color, Luminance, and Glow channels by placing a checkmark next to each. Under the Color channel increase the Brightness to 100%.

In the Luminance channel you will be using the bhodiNUT Gradient channel shader (Right Arrow=>bhodiNUT Channel=>bhodiNUT Gradient). Click on the Edit button to change its attributes. Change and move each color slider as shown, the other default settings are fine. Click OK. Under the Texture attributes of the Luminance channel change the Mix to Add. Now in the Glow channel change the Inner Strength to 150% and the Radius to 500m, click Refresh and close out of the window.

Step 5: Create another new material (File=>New Material) and make only the Luminance channel active. You will use the bhodiNUT Gradient channel shader again (Right Arrow=>bhodiNUT Channel=>bhodiNUT Gradient). Click on the Edit button to change its attributes. Change and move each color slider as shown, the other default settings are fine and click OK. Change the Mix to Multiply and move the slider to 45%. Rename this material ‘Red’.

Create the last new material (File=>New Material) and make only the Luminance channel active. You will use the bhodiNUT Gradient channel shader once again (Right Arrow=>bhodiNUT Channel=>bhodiNUT Gradient). Click on the Edit button to change its attributes. Change and move each color slider as shown, the other default settings are fine and click OK. Change the Mix to Multiply and move the slider to 45%. Rename this material ‘Blue’.

Step 6: Apply each material to its corresponding star color object, for example Red goes to Red_Stars, and use Spherical projection in the window that pops up. Play the scene to frame 150 then stop so you can render from this specific frame. Go into the Render Settings (Render=>Render Settings) and change the following settings: Output; Resolution = 1920 x 1080 HDVS, and Frame = Current Frame 150 to 150. Save; under Path specify a path on your computer for this image to be saved and name the image ‘Starfield’, and Format = TIFF. Antialiasing; Antialiasing = Best, and click OK. You may want to move the Editor camera into a position to view all of the emitters in the scene. Render to the Picture Viewer (Render=>Render to Picture Viewer), this will save the image to your hard drive from the path you specified in the Render Settings.

NOTE: The high resolution is for clarity when this image is applied to a huge sphere for the background in the nebula.

Step 7: Create a New scene (File=>New) to begin creating the nebula cloud. To give this nebula a certain depth you will use 3 Planes (Objects=>Primitive=>Plane). Rename each of the planes the following: ‘Blue_cloud’, ‘Orange_cloud’, and ‘Dark_Matter’. Change their attributes to Width = 2000m, and Height = 2000m. For the planes Blue_cloud and Orange_cloud change their Segments to 40. This is for the Displacement map that you will use later on.

Select in the Object Manager and move Orange_cloud to the following coordinates by inputting the settings in the Coordinates Manager: Y=-31.5m.

Move Blue_cloud in the same manner to X=-2m, Y=125m, Z=3m / H =-1.2, B =-1.5.

Also move Dark_Matter to the following coordinates: X=-5m, Y=195m, Z=2m / H =-1.3,P =-3, B =-1.5. This will give a little bit of distance between each plane.

Step 8: Now to create the materials that will actually make this nebula. Create a New Material in the Materials Manager (File=>New Material). Double click on the newly created icon to open its attributes. Rename this material ‘Mask_ Orange’. Enable only the Alpha channel by placing a check mark next to the channel. Enable Premultiplied in the Texture attributes of the Alpha channel. You will use the bhodiNUT Fusion channel shader for this Alpha channel. Go to Right Arrow=>bhodiNUT Channel=>bhodiNUT Fusion. Click the Edit button to open up its attributes.

In the bhodiNUT Fusion dialog use bhodiNUT Distorter channel shader in the Blend Channel of the dialog (Black Triangle=>bhodiNUT Channel=>bhodiNUT Distorter). Now in the Texture field of the Distorter settings use bhodiNUT Gradient (Right Arrow=>bhodiNUT Channel=>bhodiNUT Gradient). Click the Edit button to change the attributes of the bhodiNUT Gradient to the following: 2D-Circular, Interpolation=Smooth, change the color slider as shown, and click OK.

Now in the Distorter field use bhodiNUT 2D Noise (Right Arrow=>bhodiNUT Channel=>bhodiNUT 2D Noise) to distort the image map that you have already created. Click the Edit button to change the attributes of the bhodiNUT 2D Noise to the following: Global Scale=400%, U Scale=150%, Noise=Stupl, Low Clip=30%, High Clip=85%, and click OK.

Lastly in the Distorter settings change the following attributes: Type = Flow Field, X = 20%, Y = 20%, Step = 750% and click OK.

Now in the Base Channel of the Fusion dialog use bhodiNUT 2D Noise (Right Arrow=>bhodiNUT Channel=>bhodiNUT 2D Noise). Change its attributes to the following: Global Scale = 350%, Noise = Stupl, Low Clip = 30%, High Clip = 70%, and click OK.

Back in the Fusion dialog change the Mode to Multiply . To save time with the next alpha material copy the bhodiNUT Distorter texture in the Blend Channel by going to the Right Arrow=>Copy Channel, and click OK. Click Refresh in the Material editor and close the window.

Step 9: Create another New Material. Double click on the newly created icon to open its attributes. Rename this material ‘Mask_ Blue’. Enable only the Alpha channel by placing a check mark next to the channel. Enable Premultiplied in the Texture attributes of the Alpha channel. Select the bhodiNUT Fusion channel shader and click the Edit button to change its attributes. This material will be like the last material you just made only with a different Base Channel.

Now in the bhodiNUT Fusion dialog you will use the channel that you copied from the last material, go to Right Arrow=>Paste Channel and the same settings are fine.

Now in the Base Channel of the Fusion dialog use bhodiNUT 2D Noise. Change its attributes to the following: Global Scale = 250%, Noise = Wavy Turbulence, Low Clip = 20%, High Clip = 65%, and click OK.

Back in the Fusion dialog change the Mode to Multiply and click OK. Click Refresh in the Material editor and close the window.

Step 10: Since nebulae have dark matter covering random parts of the interstellar gas this next material will do just that. Create a New Material. Double click on the newly created icon to open its attributes. Rename this material ‘Dark_Matter’. Enable only the Alpha channel by placing a check mark next to the channel. Enable Premultiplied to antialias the edges of this Alpha channel. Use the bhodiNUT Fusion channel shader once again and click Edit to open its attributes.

In the bhodiNUT Fusion dialog use bhodiNUT 2D Noise channel shader in the Blend Channel of the dialog. Change the attributes of the bhodiNUT 2D Noise to the following: Noise = Wavy Turbulence, Low Clip = 35%, High Clip = 85%, and click OK.

Now in the Base Channel of the Fusion dialog use bhodiNUT 2D Noise channel shader as well. Change its attributes to the following: Global Scale = 450%, U Scale = 250%, Noise = Stupl, Low Clip = 30%, High Clip = 80%, and click OK.

Back in the Fusion dialog change the Mode to Levr, and Blend to 45% then click OK. Click Refresh in the Material editor and close the window.

Step 11: You will now create the actual textures for the clouds, create a New Material and double click on the icon to open its settings. Rename this material ‘Orange cloud’. Make the following channels active by placing a check mark next to each: Color, Luminance, Alpha, and Displacement. Under the Color channel lower the Brightness to 0% then select the bhodiNUT Fusion channel shader. Click the Edit button to open its attributes.

Use bhodiNUT 2D Noise channel shader in the Blend Channel of the dialog. Change the attributes of the bhodiNUT 2D Noise to the following: Global Scale = 50%, U Scale 150%, Noise = Luka, Low Clip = 0%, High Clip = 70%, and click OK.

Now in the Base Channel of the Fusion dialog use bhodiNUT 2D Noise channel shader as well. Change its attributes to the following: Global Scale = 350%, Noise = Stupl, Low Clip = 35%, High Clip = 100%, and click OK.

Back in the Fusion dialog change the Mode to Levr, and Blend to 40% then click OK. Copy this channel by going to the Right Arrow next to the texture window and select Copy Channel.

In the Luminance channel change the following attributes: R=100%, G=30%, B=0%, Br=100%, and Mix to Multiply. You will be using the channel that was just copied by going to the Right Arrow next to the texture window and select Paste Channel. Now the only thing that needs to be changed in this channel shader is the High and Low Clip for the Base Channel. Click the Edit button to open the bhodiNUT Fusion dialog then once again click the Edit button under the Base Channel. Change the Low Clip to 25% and the High Clip to 70%. All the other settings are fine so click OK for both of the windows.

For the Alpha channel paste the copied channel once again but there are a few changes that need to be made. In the bhodiNUT Fusion dialog click the Edit button for the Base Channel to change the Low Clip to 25% and the High Clip to 95%, click OK. Then in the Fusion dialog change the Blend to 10% and click OK.

Finally in the Displacement channel just paste the copied channel once more. The default settings for this channel are fine, click refresh then close out of the window. This Displacement map is just to give the cloud a puffy look.

Step 12: Finally create the last New Material for the nebula and double click on the icon to open its settings. Rename this material ‘Blue cloud’. Make the following channels active by placing a check mark nest to each: Color, Luminance, Transparency, Bump, Alpha, and Displacement. Under the Color channel change the following color values: R = 30%, G = 62%, B = 75%, and Br = 100%.

You will be using the bhodiNUT 2D Noise channel shader for this Color channel. Change the attributes of the bhodiNUT 2D Noise to the following: Global Scale = 350%, Noise = Wavy Turbulence, Low Clip = 35%, High Clip = 65%, Contrast = 20% and click OK. Copy this channel by going to the Right Arrow next to the texture window and select Copy Channel. This will give a nice wavy cloud effect for the Color channel.

In the Luminance channel you will be using a slightly darker color then the color used in the Color channel. Change the following color values: R = 30%, G = 62%, B = 75%, and Br = 35%. Now paste the channel you just copied by going to the Right Arrow next to the texture window and select Paste Channel. Click the Edit button to open the bhodiNUT 2D Noise dialog and change only the Contrast to 0%, click OK. Change the Mix to Multiply and you are done with the Luminance channel.

With the Transparency channel open up in the right hand corner there is a Refraction field. Change the Refraction to Additive and keep the default N value of 1. Change the following color values to have the material more opaque: R = 55%, G = 55%, B = 55%, and Br = 52%.

Under the Bump channel select the bhodiNUT 2D Noise channel shader. Change the attributes of the bhodiNUT 2D Noise to the following: Global Scale = 150%, U Scale = 200%, Noise = FBM, Low Clip = 45%, High Clip = 100%, and click OK. Lower the Bump Strength to –20% and move on to the Alpha channel.

In this channel you want to use the same bhodiNUT 2D Noise settings that you used in the Color and Luminance channels. Paste the channel via the Right Arrow next to the texture window. Click the Edit button to change one of the settings in the bhodiNUT 2D Noise dialog. Change the Contrast to –10% and click OK to complete the Alpha channel of this material.

Finally in the Displacement channel you want to use the channel shader that you used for the Bump channel. Go back to the Bump channel and copy the bhodiNUT 2d Noise channel shader, then return to the Displacement channel and paste the channel shader. In the displacement settings change the Maximum Height to 3m. Click Refresh and you are done with all of the materials that needed to be created for the actual nebula cloud.

Step 13: Now all of the materials that you created must be applied to the planes that were created earlier. When using Alpha channels you must apply the mask first as a base texture to create the cut out on the actual object. Apply the Mask_ Orange material to the Orange_cloud object by dragging the material from the Material Manager on dropping it on top of Orange_cloud object in the Object Manager. The Texture dialog will pop up and input the following settings: Projection = Flat, Size; X=1000m, and Y=1000m, Rotation; P=90 degrees. Click OK to apply the settings.

Step 14: In the same manner apply the Mask_ Blue material to the Blue_cloud object in the Object Manager. In the Texture dialog that pops up input the following settings: Projection = Flat, Position; Y=30m, Size; X=1000m, Y=1000m, and Z=60m, Rotation; P=90 degrees. Click OK.

Step 15: Apply the Dark_Matter material to the Dark_Matter object in the Object Manager. Input the following settings in the Texture dialog that pops up: Projection = UVW Mapping, Size; X=1000m, and Y=1000m, Click OK.

Step 16: Apply the Orange cloud material to the Orange_cloud object in the Object Manager. Input the following settings in the Texture dialog that pops up: Projection = UVW Mapping, and enable Mix with other Textures, then click OK.

Step 17: Finally apply the last material Blue cloud to the Blue_cloud object in the Object Manager. Input the following settings: Projection = UVW Mapping, and enable Mix with other Textures, then click OK. The nebula itself is completely finished but there are still some other modifications that need to be done to make the nebula look like it is in outer space.

Step 18: Remember the Starfield image that you rendered? You will now be applying that image to a material to use as a background for the nebula. Create a Sphere (Objects=>Primitive=>Sphere) and double click on the icon in the Object Manager to open up its attributes. Change the Radius to 10000m and click OK. Rename the Sphere 'Stars'.

Step 19: Create a New Material and make only the Color and Luminance channels active. Rename this material ‘Starfield’. Under the Color channel click on the Image button to specify the path for which you saved your Starfield.tif image on your hard drive. Change the Sampling to SAT and the Mix to Multiply.

Now in the Luminance channel you will be using the same image as a texture. To avoid specifying the path again you can go to the Right Arrow next to the Image field and choose Bitmaps=>Starfield.tif. Change the RGB values to the following: R=100%, G=100%, B=100%, and Br=45%. Also change the Sampling to SAT and the Mix to Multiply. Click Refresh and close out of the window.

Apply the Starfield material to the Stars object in the Object Manager. In the Texture window that pops up input the following values: Projection = Spherical, Tiles: X = 5, Y = 5, and Rotation: P = -45 degrees.

Select the Camera Tool (Tools=>Camera) and in the Coordiantes Manager input the following settings: Position; X=779m, Y=1846m, Z=-1293m, H=27, and P=-53. Give a quick Render in the Editor (Render=>Render View) and look at what you have created using only the bhodiNUT Channel Shaders.