Creating a realistic Milky Way in C4D without particles.
Making a realistic galaxy in C4D with particle systems can be tedious and lead to costly render times. Fortunately, there’s another method that’s much easier to setup and very render friendly.
Step 2. Open C4D and add a basic disc object to your scene. (Add Object > Disc).
Step 3. Create a new material and assign the image from above to a Layer Texture in the Luminance channel. (Create > New Material > Luminance > Texture > Layer).
-
Add a Gradient (2D – Circular) layer Overlay.
-
Add a Noise (Luka) layer Overlay.
-
Add a duplicate Image layer with an Add blend (optional).
Step 4. Check the Color channel in the Material Editor and add another Layer Texture.
-
Copy and paste the Noise texture from the Luminance channel a leave the blend type as Normal.
-
Copy and paste the Gradient Overlay from the Luminance channel.
Step 5. Using Photoshop, create a high contrast black and white version of the original image. This can be done by adding a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer and taking the Saturation value to 0. (A Levels Adjustment layer can also be added to tweak the black and white values and create more contrast).
Edited Image.
Step 6. Return to C4D and Check the Bump channel in the Material Editor and load the black and white image you just created into the Texture slot. Then increase the strength to 3000%.
Step 7. Finally, check the Alpha channel in the Material Editor and load the same image as above into the Texture slot.
Step 8. Apply the Material to the Disc in the scene.
Step 9. Make the Disc Editable, switch to Polygon Mode, and then select all the geometry.
Step 10. Right click to bring up the Mesh options dialogue box and select the settings icon next to Subdivide (Mesh > Commands > Subdivision > Settings). Then increase the Subdivision amount to 6.
Step 11. Right click to bring up the Mesh options dialogue box and select the settings icon next to Triangulate. (Mesh > Commands > Triangulate).
Step 12. Add an Explosion Effector and apply it to the Disc with the following settings.
Strength: 1.5%
Speed: 20 cm
Angle Speed: 100°
End Size: 0
Randomness: 100%
Step 13. Group the Disc and Explosion Effector into a Null Object.
Step 14. Create 3 Lights and add them to the Null Object. Scale the lights accordingly so their size increases as they radiate from the center of the Milky Way.
-
Make the center light a pale yellow color with a 100% Intensity.
-
Make the second light a brighter yellow color with a 150% Intensity.
-
Make the third light a pink/orange color with a 75% Intensity.
Step 15. Select the Null Object and then the Coord. Tab. Set a keyframe on frame 1 for the Rotation with H at 0°. Move to frame 500 and set the H value to 10°.
Milky Way Render.
To add a simple starfield, follow the steps below (optional).
Step 1. Create 3 Spheres. In the Object tab, set the Radius of the Spheres as follows:
Sphere: Radius .15 cm
Sphere.1: Radius .25 cm
Sphere.2: Radius .5 cm
Step 2. Create a New Material with only the Luminance and Glow channels enabled. (Create > New Material).
-
Set the Luminance to a yellow color with a brightness of 200%.
-
Set the Glow to white with the following settings:
Brightness: 100%
Inner Strength: 0%
Outer Strength: 500%
Radius: 10 cm
Random: 0%
Frequency: 1
Step 3. Duplicate the material twice. Change the color of each of the new materials to blue and pink. Then assign one material to each of the Spheres.
Step 4. Create a MoGraph Cloner Object and assign it to the 3 Spheres. (MoGraph > Cloner). Use the settings below:
Mode: Grid Array
Clones: Random
Size: 1000 cm
Step 5. Create a MoGraph Random Effector and assign it to the Cloner Object. (MoGraph > Effector > Random).
Stars render.
Milky Way composite with stars.
Milky Way animation.