"Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones."
-- John Wooden


Crescent Moons
Purpose: To create quick convincing crescent and fading moons in Bryce images.

Programs Used: Bryce 2/3D, PhotoPaint 8 for some slight touch up. These tutorials were written in reference to these programs; of course, countless other programs can be used.

There are several ways to create crescent and fading moons in Bryce - the method you choose depends on the effect you are trying to achieve, the version of Bryce you are using, and whether or not you have pre-existing atmospherics or plan to work from scratch.

Each of these methods is described below -- click to read more:

Atmospheric Moons Use precise sky settings to place a moon in your scene, and edit the sky so the moon appears as a desired phase.
Diffused Moons Use little or no ambience and appropriate diffusion to create a fading planet look. This method works well in naturally dark and little haze/fog settings, but will not work in many scenes with high amounts of light.
Boolean Moons Use two spheres, each identicle but one offset slightly and set to 'negative' (using booleans) to create a sliver of a crescent that is less realistic but creates a specific effect.
Texture-alpha Moons Use a fading planet texture that slowly increases the transparency of the sphere from one side to the other.