How to Model the Sun in Outer Space

[Anonymous]

Hi. I am a beginner who uses 3ds Max 2016. I would like to model the interaction between an object in space and the sun. I want the sun to be the only light that illuminates my object "in space". What light should I use to simulate the sun? A standard light or photometric? If photometric, what values should I use? How far away should I put my sun? It doesn't seem like 3ds Max will allow me to put the sun 150 million kilometers away from my object.

[Francisco_Penaloza · Accepted solution]

Well, you could use any light actually, it depends on what render engine you will be using though.

Omni light or direct light should be fine.  REgarding the distance, the closer you get to the light source the sharper the shadows becomes, now since the Sun is so large with respect to anything closer to it, sharper shadows should be fine, you'll have to take some artistic licenses to adjust the size of your sun and intensity of the light to create the effect you are looking for.

[Anonymous]

I am mostly using NVIDIA mental ray.

Thank you for responding. The Photometric Free Light has worked the best for me.

I did not know that about the shadows. Thank you for that information.

The object I am rendering sits in a Low Earth Orbit. Now that I have an accurate sun, I want to add a second light source that acts as the Earth's Albedo. Maybe make that second light source 1/10th of the luminosity of the sun? Or, instead of a second light source, make a giant sphere with a slightly reflective material?

If you have any advice, please share.

[Francisco_Penaloza]

Well, that could be approached in many ways I guess, a omni directional light to simulate the light irradiance of earth could work. or you could apply a self illuminate material to one layer of earth that could create some light spills too. To make it work you need to use FG.

Another way could be to place a skylight, to create some even illumination, but honestly, in Space, the main light source always will be the Sun so any other light should be a lower intensity compared to what you get from Sunlight.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the different ideas.