presents

a plugin for Cinema 4D XL
Idea and algorithm by thorn - Implementation by Ben Johnson

Starfield creates a 3D spherical starfield. You have complete control of the size of the stars, their color, and the size of the field's diameter itself. This plugin requires Cinema 4D XL v5.1 or above.

Begin by creating a perfect sphere. This sphere will be the object used to create the stars. You should start with a size of 50, and then adjust it if your stars are not large or small enough. Next, add a Shadow object property to the sphere with both "Cast Shadows" and "Receive Shadows" turned off. Important: Perfect Spheres are used because of their fast rendering time. You may use a polygon sphere - or any other object - if you wish, but be aware that your polygon count will be incredibly high!

Highlight the sphere in the object manager. Now select Starfield from your plugin menu. You will be presented with this dialog:

Star Count: The number of stars which will be generated.
Minimum Distance: The distance from the XYZ origin (0,0,0) at which the field will begin.
Maximum Distance: The distance from the XYZ origin (0,0,0) at which the field will end.
Random Seed: Any number; used to randomize the star placements.

Simply input the values which will define your starfield. The values above are a good starting point. After the field is created, you may decide that the stars are the wrong size, or there are not enough. If so, simply delete the Starfield Parent Object. Select your Perfect Sphere Object (edit the size if needed), and run the plugin again.

After you are satisfied with your starfield, assign an appropriate material to the Starfield Parent Object. A material with a high luminous value (and perhaps a glow factor) works best.

Hints:

• Although perfect sphere render quickly, keep in mind you are still creating a lot of them. The raytracer will take a bit longer to prepare to render each frame. However, the render will often be much faster than using a traditional star-type image map - and will look better, too.
• If you want your starfield to have some color variation, try creating 2 fields and assign each fields a different color material.
• The size of the star objects depends on 2 factors: the size of the perfect sphere, and the distance of the starfield. If your starfield will be very large in diameter, you will likely need a larger perfect sphere for your starting object. Conversely, a small diameter field can use a smaller perfect sphere.

We hope you will find Starfield to be a useful plugin. If you have any suggestions (or problems) with this plugin, please don't hesitate to contact us!

Cup of C.O.F.F.E.E. plugins are created by Ben Johnson. The emphasis is on quality, reliability, and usefulness. Ben works very hard to bring Cinema 4D users great plugins at a very affordable price. Please do not distribute these plugins. They are copyrighted material, and piracy only discourages future development. Support the developer, and he will support you. And thanks for purchasing this Cup of C.O.F.F.E.E. plugin!

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Starfield ©1998, Ben Johnson