[Bobboau]

if I would have lvlshoted it, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun, now would it

[Unknown Target]

*dies*

*Laughs at all the puny 56kers whose modems have just been melted*

[Nico]

ah, yeah, I have that map, but I don't use it ( quite slow in max... ), have a smaller one instead ( still huge, but not THAT huge ).

[Lt.Cannonfodder]

Hmmm... If thats the same Earth map that I use, I can barely even load it in LW with my 1gig of RAM:) .

The Earth looks good to me, nothing to complain. And it surely isnt Fabio Passaros Earth available to download at Lightwave Group.

[Vilkacis]

I found that map as well but I wanted to use a map of my own without relying on another ones work. so I settled for the largest maps available from NASA's Visible Earth site (without extra permission) and modified them according to my needs. Hmm I think it's time to ask If I can get that 21600x10800 imagery.

[Terawatt_99]

Originally posted by Vilkacis
...If I can get that 21600x10800 imagery.

there is NO WAY IN HELL anybody needs that high resolution...

but if you want to fry your computer trying to load that up in your 3D prog of choice, then go right ahead...

[Dark_4ce]

Wow, I can see my house if I zoom in long enough.

[Thorn]

Originally posted by Ashrak
hmm it looks like fabios earth

It does.. a lot like it....

[Darkage]

I agree with you Thorn.

[Vilkacis]

I'd like to see that one but there seems to be a problem with the images at LightwaveGroup. I can view none of their pictures.

[Thorn]

They were hacked recently... lost most of their stuff...
lemme see if I have a pic on the server...

[Thorn]

Only one I could find.. ignore the Homeworld stuff. its for something I'm working on...

[Vilkacis]

Meanwhile I also found some images on Fabio's own site, and you're right both Earths look pretty similar, but what do you expect the procedure to achieve this effect seems to be quite common and works in most 3d packages.

[mikhael]

The resolution of that map is great, Bob, but it doesn't look so great on a sphere. The projection has squashed out North america so much that it hurts. It would be better if you got the same composite but centered at four points 90deg apart at the same lattitude and then mosaiced those together. There'd still be stretching, but it wouldn't be so evident.

[Bobboau]

you do know I didn't make that, right?

[mikhael]

yeah, I was just saying in general.

[J.F.K.]

Originally posted by Vilkacis
Nothing fancy here, just wanted to see if I could depict a realistic and aesthetically pleasing Earth which could be used in animations without the need of extra postproduction. Well it's not perfect but I think it's a good start, even if it's not suitable for real close ups, because the mere 8K maps just don't offer enough detail and I didn't have the patience to wait for the NASA guys to give me access to the larger images. A small video can be found here and here is a bigger still. So tell me, did I succeed or does it look too CG?

Really professional. If you'd like an unbridled opinion, I think the grey reflection from the Sun is a little too bright/large. But that's just my opinion.

[Vilkacis]

Originally posted by J.F.K.
I think the grey reflection from the Sun is a little too bright/large.

Yes judging from real Earth images maybe I should feather it out a bit.

[Sandwich]

I used 4kx2k maps for this:

and it's not nearly as big a render as I could have done.

[Nobilis Draco]

hey bob are there a bump, spec, light maps to go with that?
not that it really matters because LW turns itself inside out when i try to load it.