Hi Anthony,

Since your planet is far away, you may also want to consider using the aoi
pattern to fake an atmospheric glow. Although it doesn't give that soft/hazy
look, it renders very fast.  Here's a code snippet and an example of what it
looks like (with the USS Enterprise, of course! :-)

#declare p_planet_atmosphere =
      pigment {rgbt <0.5,0.5,0.5,0.5>}; // adjust transparancy component to
change atmospheric translucency

#declare p_planet_atmosphere_glow =
    pigment {rgb <0.9,0.95,1>*1.8}; // atmospheric glow

#declare p_planet_atmosphere =
pigment {
  aoi
  pigment_map {
  [0.5 p_planet_atmosphere_glow]
  [0.7 p_planet_atmosphere]
  }
};

#declare t_planet_atmosphere =
      texture {pigment {p_planet_atmosphere}
              finish {ambient 0}
      }
    union {
      sphere {0,3   texture {T_Stone22  finish {phong 0 ambient 0 reflection 0}}
}  // planet surface
      sphere {0,3.0001 texture {t_planet_atmosphere}}
   // planet atmosphere
     }

// need a bright light to make it glow

---
Rob.
Rob Fitzel
www.fitzel.ca/dart

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'aoiatmosphere.jpg' (176 KB)

Preview of image 'aoiatmosphere.jpg'